Today we visited another coffee company for a tour called Cafe Britt, however this company was much different than Doka yesterday. Cafe Britt was much more audience based, created more for tourists and marketing than producing like Doka.
Immediately upon arrival I noticed that Cafe Britt’s tour was much different than Doka’s tour. Cafe Britt was much more of a show than a tour, they used actors to show us around, had jokes and stories prepared as well as stations and props for the tour. Doka was more lifelike as we saw the real plants and machinery and it was primarily information based.
Another difference that was prominent between the two companies was that Cafe Britt specialized in the roasting and selling of coffee while Doka focused on more on producing and exporting coffee. This makes these two companies very different as they have different needs and strategies to accomplish their goals as a brand. Doka doesn’t have much of a need for marketing and brand awareness while that is the majority of Cafe Britt’s brand.
Cafe Britt’s main goal is to create a quality finished product and market it effectively to sell it to consumers. This goal is very different from Doka’s as they have no need for this type of business because their revenue comes from exports. You could even see this difference in their gift shops. Cafe Britt’s gift shop was much larger, more put together and had a lot more products. Doka’s was much smaller and just had a few niche items.
The main similarity I saw between these two companies is their market for tourism. Tours help both of these companies as they bring in money. Cafe Britt’s need for tourism is not only about the shopping and money spent, but also about brand awareness and introducing their product to a new set of people. Doka doesn’t need this brand awareness as much because they export almost all of their products. But never the less tourism provides good money to each company. Cafe Britt just capitalizes on it in a different way because they are seller in the supply chain and it is more necessary for them.
Because my groups focus is making it was very helpful to see some of the behind the scenes of Cafe Britt’s production and marketing. I think that is important that they advertise the sourcing and making of the product as it is a big part of Costa Rican culture and the history of Cafe Britt. I think that the making process for them is much different than Doka’s as they do not grow their own coffee beans they buy them from other Costa Rican coffee farms. It was good to compare and contrast the two.
This company and tour was eye opening as I was able to get a glimpse of the importance of marketing for brands like Cafe Britt. They have built a very successful brand and it was very fun to see.
