Today we visited Café Britt, which is one of the most well known coffee companies in Costa Rica. However, even though it is very well known, most Ticos don’t drink Café Britt coffee. This is because the company has focused so much on targeting their tourist population that Costa Ricans don’t see Café Britt as an everyday coffee that they would drink. They instead view it as s nice gift they would give someone, which is something that Café Britt is trying to get away from. Tourists, on the other hand, love Café Britt, which makes sense because Café Britt has made an effort to push their brand at every step of tourist’s trip in Costa Rica. They have stores in the airport, their coffee is in hotels, and of course their coffee tour is a very popular tourist attraction.

Interestingly enough, coffee isn’t even Café Britt’s most popular product. I think that their tourism experience is what is most popular, such as the coffee tour, souvenirs, and overall theatrical experience that Café Britt provides. This contrasts a lot with what we experiences at the Doka coffee plantation. Not only do Café Britt and Doka have different roles in the supply chain, Café Britt focuses on coffee roasting while Doka is a coffee grower plantation, but the way each place conducted their tour was also incredibly different. Doka was very informative on their coffee process and got directly to the point, while Café Britt’s tour was more of a performance. Café Britt is also involved in the supply chain aspect of marketing and store franchises, which was interesting to learn about.

It is clear that Café Britt is a very successful company, and we were able to learn about the financial practices they implement to remain that way. Regarding my field project of sourcing, I learned that Café Britt imports a lot of their materials from local farms. This keeps their costs low as well as supporting the local economy. Being such a large company, it is important for Café Britt to help out their community, as they benefits everyone. I think this is smart for them to do financially and also very respectable.