On our final day, we visited strawberry gardens and La Paz waterfall. The strawberry field experience showed us how to grow strawberries in a sustainable manner with no pesticides, a common theme surrounding Costa Rican produce. The La Paz waterfalls were beautiful, and the animal enclosures surrounding them showed us the diverse ecosystem that Costa Rica has. Additionally, it was interesting to see how different elevations have drastically different wildlife.

My final project was focused on the design and launch marketing of Costa Rican plantations. These processes started at the farms. At Doka, we walked through the coffee plantations where the cherries were picked, and the tour emphasized how meticulously picked the coffee cherries were. This tour emphasized sustainability and quality, which, from the farming perspective, caused me to have a greater interest in purchasing their products. Similar tactics were used at the strawberry and chocolate farms. At many of the plantations (chocolate, strawberry, banana, and pineapple), we were able to try their fresh fruits and chocolate, which emphasized the quality of their food since it was so much fresher than anything I have ever tasted from these fruits before.

At processing mills, we were further shown the sustainable practices used to process coffee cherries into beans, cacao into chocolate, and fresh produce preparation. For example, at Doka and Cafe Monteverde,, they showed us their natural fertilizers and then their processing mills. These were particularly important to highlight since they were smaller and required working labor. This emphasizes quality since such care is taken, and they don’t produce their beans on an industrial scale.

At coffee roasters and retail stores, we saw very strong marketing strategies. For example, at Cafe Britt, after the tour put on by the actors, they ended up in the gift shop. The coffee bags they used were brightly colored and had images of the local landscape or culture on the bag. These strategies cause the buyer to trust the brand’s authenticity and feel more connected to the local culture. Britt also had deals where if you bought a certain number of coffee or chocolate bags, you would get an additional one for free, encouraging customers to buy more. Also, I noticed on some products, like bracelets and magnets, the prices weren’t on the product, but they had a color indicator. The color indicator lined up with a price, but you had to look for this key in order to know how much the product cost. And, of course, they weren’t dispersed in many locations. This strategy is used to people see something they like and buy it regardless of looking at the price. Additionally, the strawberry and pineapple gift shops had products with their fruits available, where they stressed the quality and freshness of their products.

The last stop is the customers. Britt’s engaging tours keep customers involved and interested in buying Britt’s products. Also, since Britt is such an expansive brand, they set up shops in airports, local stores, and other locations where they can be the only competition. This means that if customers want a cup of coffee, then Britt might be the only option available. The strawberry, chocolate, pineapple, and banana tours all allowed us to try their food, which in turn led us to the gift shop to buy their products directly.