The supply chain consists of the supplier’s supplier, the supplier, the manufacturer/distributor, the customer, and the customer’s customer.  The supplier’s supplier would be those selling the coffee plant seeds in raw form to the supplier, who then plant, grow, and harvest the coffee beans.  The supplier then gives the beans to the manufacturer who roast the beans and sells them to their customers.  The manufacturer’s customers would consist of various stores or restaurants who then sell the brewed coffee to the general population.  Since Café Britt’s purpose is to roast the coffee beans they receive from various plantations, I would say they would be the manufacturer/distributor in the supply chain.  From the tour and presentation today, it is clear that Café Britt measures their general success in two ways: how sustainable their entire coffee process is and global expansion.  The hierarchy of management at Café Britt includes a CEO, president, and board of directors.  Together, they make the ultimate decisions of how the family corporation is managed.

From a management perspective, Café Britt continues to have success in sustainability manufacturing due to their part recyclable and part reusable packaging.  The coffee packages are a blend of aluminum and plastic in order to keep the coffee bean aroma and taste encased. The plastic managers have chosen to us is recyclable. However, the aluminum in their packaging must be imported since Costa Rica does not make aluminum and the type of aluminum they decide to import cannot be recycled.  In order to have continued success with sustainability, managers have decided to reuse the aluminum and make shopping bags and purses with it.  The roasting company roasts beans from 2,000 small local plantations throughout Costa Rica. Some of these plantations are fully organic, as determined by the US department of agriculture’s standards, which include avoidance of chemical inputs and genetically modified seeds.  Deciding to use these companies’ seeds to create a 100% organic blend of coffee, and upholding standards of sustainable farming for their other suppliers, Café Britt’s managers are making good choices on the path to success in sustainability.

The managers also value global expansion through travel retail.  They accomplish this feat by first choosing a country they would like to open a store in, then researching the culture of the local area for the store.  The store is designed to the culture’s likings, such as adding Moai decorations in the Café Britt Chile store.  Ultimately, this sets Café Britt apart from their competitors.

Café Britt’s approach to success is very streamlined and seems to work for them.  The proof of this lies in their fast growth, since they predict one month from now they will receive the top tier, fifth level, of certificate for sustainable tourism and by 2018 they will have acquired $250,000,000 in sales through travel retail.  The only thing I would change would be to focus more on local sales.  I believe they are loved from a tourist perspective, and maybe not as often bought by Ticos, since they capture the ideal ‘sustainable country’ that Costa Rica is marketed as. My host mom said Café Britt es su café favorito, and I’m sure she would enjoy it even more if it was marketed more towards her as well as tourists and Café Britt stores in Peru.  Other than that, Café Britt is on par with success as they view it.