Today, for our third day in Costa Rica, we traveled to Alajuela and back for our first two coffee tours at Doka and Café Britt. During both tours we learned how coffee is grown, roasted, and prepared for shipping as well as how the quality of coffee can be maintained. Doka, a company at the supplier end of the coffee industry, grows and sells containers of dried coffee beans to other companies such as Café Britt, a manufacturer and distributer of coffee, who roasts coffee and sells it across the world. Both companies have many processes they must complete in order to make quality coffee, meet the constant demand for it, and make financial benefits.

In taking a closer look at Café Britt specifically, many techniques used in their making of coffee can be noticed in order for their company to be financially successful. One of the biggest methods used is the diversity in the products that are made. Café Britt is a gourmet coffee company that offers a wide variety of coffee roasts and coffee-based products. The company sources their coffee from the different regions in Costa Rica to obtain coffee year-round and also uses the coffee to make chocolates and other delicious snacks. This wide variety entices customs to keep coming back to try different roasts and expand their coffee pallets. Another technique Café Britt uses is their focus of quality instead of quantity. By using the Arabica coffee tree, a tree that produces less fruit but better tasting coffee, instead of the Robusta coffee tree, a tree that produces a lot of coffee with twice as much caffeine, Café Britt can sell their coffee at a higher price knowing that it will be consumed by tourists because of its high quality.

However, despite Café Britt’s success with tourists and other countries, their brand of coffee is not wildly popular in Costa Rica. This could be the effect of the history of Café Britt and the expansion of the company since. In the beginning, Café Britt only sold its gourmet coffee to other countries and never to the locals. This initial separation is a huge factor in the coffee’s popularity in Costa Rica because Ticos stick with tradition. Additionally, Café Britt has expanded to other countries and is not specific to Costa Rica. Ticos are very proud of their country and would much rather support a coffee company specific to Costa Rica instead of one across Latin America. Finally, the decrease in popularity could also be the effect of the high prices of Café Britt’s coffee compared to other coffees in Costa Rica.

Ultimately, Café Britt should continue making different coffee-based products and should try to increase the consumption of their own brand in Costa Rica. Coffee is one of the biggest exports of Costa Rica and after today I feel all the richer with knowledge of why it is so popular. I cannot wait to learn more about the coffee industry and more importantly, taste more coffee. Until next time, thanks for chiming in.