What is a cajuela in coffee harvesting?

A cajuela is the standardised volume measurement used in Costa Rica to quantify harvested coffee cherry - a basket of approximately 20 litres, equivalent to around 11–12 kilograms of ripe fruit. It's the unit by which pickers are paid: daily earnings are calculated by counting cajuelas filled.

It matters as a buyer because Costa Rican farm records, yield data, and producer payment documents reference cajuelas rather than kilograms. One cajuela of cherry yields roughly one kilogram of exportable green - a practical conversion when reviewing harvest data or production figures.

The system is Costa Rica-specific. Other origins use different units - a fanega in other Latin American countries, a debi in Ethiopia - but the underlying function is the same: a standard measure that enables verifiable payment at the farm gate.