Today we visited Café Brit to see a beautiful business and a captivating tour. However, pretty immediately it was easy to see the target audience of this thriving business: tourists. The company was a trailblazer in coffee tours, showing those who enjoy gourmet coffee the background and framework for how it is produced. However, this tour was not for normal ticos (Costa Ricans), who do not care very much about buying more expensive coffees. Culturally, ticos don’t really care about the quality of the coffee, which is ironic as they have some of the best in the world, but most of this is exported.

Café Brit is primarily known as a roaster, supplier, and seller of coffee. They take coffee beans from plantations such as the Doka plantation we went to yesterday, and they roast them and distribute them to airports, cafes, hotels, or specific customers. However, due to the nature of the tourist target audience, the company capitalizes just as much if not more on merchandise such as shirts and trinkets.

On this trip, my team is focusing on the design process, i.e. marketing. Marketing was very evident throughout the whole tour, and then was further explained in our lecture after. Upon arriving to the location, there was a petting zoo. After, we were led through a tour by actors who were very personable and enjoyable to watch, all the while giving us endless coffee samplings as they described the process. We wound through a small forest of coffee plants, there for the aesthetic and show. We were finally showed the roasting process and led to the store, full of chocolates, shirts, trinkets, hats, and different types of coffee with tasting stations. There was also a counter from which one could order drinks or specialty desserts. I say all of this to highlight the hoops the company jumps through on the tour to create a “magical” experience, also evidenced by all the trip advisor awards framed on the wall. All of this was its own form of marketing their product and their brand as elite.

After, we learned about the partnerships with hotels, airports, and cafes. Most notably was how all give samples to would-be customers in order to convince them of the difference in quality. Furthermore, the company works with social media influencers, and has a design team that launches several new flavors every year. In every way, Café Brit repeatedly goes above and beyond to implement effective marketing to draw as many consumers as possible. The goal of their efforts is seemingly to draw and hook customers first, and sell coffee second. Frankly, I not only agree but am impressed by their marketing efforts and clearly it is working. The company is growing with no end in sight and is expanding into new countries and locations. Through all of their design and launch work, they have created a company that sells tourism with an aroma of fun, the body of innovation, and the flavor of gourmet coffee.

Here are some pictures of our tour as well as some of our other activities today: