Cascara Valorization & Economics

Modeling and process development

Study 03

Modeled result

Study ID: CHRS 03

Research question

Under the thesis assumptions, can cascara sales cover the costs of handling and drying it?

Location and scope: Puerto Rico · modeled case study.

Principal site: Copper Hill, Las Marías & Maricao, Puerto Rico (modeled case study) · Academic context: master’s thesis, Harvard Extension School

Approach and context

The thesis examined the costs and revenues of drying and selling cascara. Its regenerative scenario with cascara sales returned a modeled mean ten-year net present value of −$32,644 per hectare, below the regenerative baseline without additional biomass sales.

Classification: Modeling and process development
Research domain: Agricultural Economics
Research site: Copper Hill Farm, Las Marías & Maricao, Puerto Rico

Data and figures

In the thesis model, cascara adds $1,296 per hectare in year-1 revenue, against $11,765 for coffee leaf.

Stacked bar chart of modeled year-one revenue by source and scenario — Modeled year-1 revenue by source (deterministic baseline). Source: McOsker (2026), ALM thesis, Harvard Extension School, Table 16.

What the record supports

Follow-on process questions concern fractionation and how to handle wet pulp. The thesis result applies to its case assumptions.

Read the full thesis on Harvard DASH

Thesis result published; process-development work summarized separately.

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