Shortly after discovering an old roaster with five bags of green beans in a wood cabin nestled in the Montana wilderness, Montana Coffee Traders was born. By 1989, MCT serviced the entirety of Glacier National Park and the surrounding areas, and continues to do so today. In 1990, RC decided to trace coffee back to its source, and planned a trip to Monteverde, Costa Rica. During his visit he met with Carlos Vargas, the manager of a coffee-producing co-op called Santa Elena. At the time, coffee in the Monteverde region was bought at discounted prices by one person, and sold to the government. Very few of the farmers had ever tasted their own coffee. Fortunately, RC carried a small hot-air roaster with him on all of his travels, so he offered to roast some of their green coffee beans. The result was an amazing cup of coffee worth far more than what the farmers were told. Having read about the fair-trade movement in Europe, RC offered to buy some of their green coffee at a price much higher than usual, along with the benefit of giving a dollar back to the farm for each pound sold. This established one of the first fair-trade relationships in the United States, and began a lifelong friendship between RC and Carlos.