The group has tried to control the market by buying beans for a buffer stock.

"I buy funds like some people buy jelly beans," he said.

To better your chances, buy beans at stores where inventories move apace.

Puerto Rico does not even produce enough to meet its own demand, forcing the island to buy beans from other countries.

According to de Lima, the money they made was barely enough to buy rice and beans.

Never buy beans that are kept in open sacks; they promote staleness.

The cost to retailers who buy unroasted beans at wholesale is probably a fraction of that.

Meanwhile, by 1989, a Nicaraguan worker earned the equivalent of $15 a month, enough to buy beans and rice for one person.

And always buy whole beans that you grind at home in small batches.

It is best to buy beans packaged in sealed glass, and to store them only six months to a year.