Fresh Del Monte created the Pindeco Educational Center for primary and secondary school levels (the CEP) in Buenos Aires, Puntarenas, Costa Rica in 1984. In 2015, the CEP became the first cooperative (CoopeCep R.L) of educational services in the country and the whole of Latin America, ranking #14 among national private institutions. Currently, 39 students are children of Pindeco employees and 211 students are from the Buenos Aires and Pérez Zeledón communities.
CoopeCep R.L shares the same values of sustainability and community outreach as Fresh Del Monte and supports low-income students, allowing them to attend the institution with a partial or total scholarship. The CEP also recently installed solar panels, generating 100 percent of its electricity consumption through clean energy. CoopeCep R.L has signed national and international agreements with other cooperatives (such as GSD from Madrid). It serves as a model to other cooperatives in Costa Rica, where it was declared of national interest by INFOCOOP (National Institute for Cooperative Development).
