Today, we visited Café Britt, a large coffee company owned by Grupo Arribada N.V., a Costa Rican holding company. Unlike Doka, which grows and processes coffee beans, Café Britt buys coffee from producers. This coffee is then stored and roasted per customer order. As a result, Café Britt lies further down the supply chain and has closer interactions with customers. Another difference between Café Britt and Doka lies in their reliance on coffee beans. While Doka success relies on ideal weather conditions and amounts of Brazilian coffee production, Café Britt relies on high coffee production from multiple Costa Rican producers. To reduce risks of reduced supply from reduced production, Café Britt bought Doka, indicating vertical expansion and ensure a steady supply of upstream materials. Overall, Doka works with coffee in the growth and processing stages, while Café Britt works in marketing, roasting, and giving coffee tours.

While Café Britt is very popular with tourists, it is significantly less popular with Ticos. This is a result of the company’s marketing strategy. Over a fourth of Café Britt’s revenue is collected from sales in airports, hotels, and restaurants, all of which are well-known attractions for tourists and non-Costa Rican customers. Coffee from Café Britt is also more expensive, making it less affordable for consistent purchases. As a result, Café Britt’s customer base is mostly made up of tourists who can make a one-time purchase when traveling. This target audience is also reflected in the other companies owned by Grupo Arribada N.V. In addition to Café Britt, this company owns Morpho Travel Experience and Swiss Travel Costa Rica, both of which provide services to tourists.

Café Britt has been very financially successful before and after the COVID-19 pandemic; in fact, the company is expecting to make about $100,000,000 (USD) in sales this year. Much of this success is likely a result of their delivery process. Café Britt ships coffee to hotels, airports, and restaurants around the world, making their products available to their target audience of tourists. The coffee beans are roasted only after ordered, ensuring that the coffee stays fresh and arrives to retail customers in good shape. In addition, the beans are packaged in sealed containers with a one-way valve. This packaging enables the escape of gases from the coffee while preventing oxygen from entering the bag. This also works to ensure the freshness of coffee during the delivery process. These delivery methods ensure that customers recieve the high-quality coffee that they expect from Café Britt. As a result, customers are more likely to repeat purchases and pay more money for higher-quality coffee, therefore increasing the revenue and profit of Café Britt. I believe this delivery process is the best method for Café Britt, as it prioritizes quality and upholds the Costa Rican reputation for quality coffee. If I could change this process, I would increase the number of roasters in other countries. While Café Britt has locations in other countries, not all locations provide the same products. By increasing the number of roasting facilities, Café Britt would decrease shipping volumes and costs while sending more coffee to its stores. This would also imrpove the freshness of coffee sent to faraway airports and hotels.

And now, a limerick to celebrate our last coffee tour:

Costa Rica tiene muchas vistas,

y es mejor cuando las cerezas de café están listas.

Porque cada planta está crecida

y todos dicen, “¡pura vida!”

Y el café les encanta a los turistas.