In the coffee supply chain, Cafe Britt focuses mostly in the making, delivery, and service of coffee rather than the planting forcing them to source from local farmers. This allows them to  then take the coffee beans and roast the beans themselves, so they can focus more on the branding, distribution, and customer experience of their coffee. In contrast, Doka is more involved in the earlier stages of coffee manufacturing like growing, harvesting, and processing coffee beans. I find it interesting that Britt actually owns Doka now, allowing them to be vertically integrated, which increases efficiency and expands their control across the entire manufacturing process.

After taking the tour of Cafe Britt and observing the shop, I realized they are not just selling coffee, rather they’re selling an experience. Tourists, like me, are drawn to Britt because it feels authentic and like we’re taking a little piece of Costa Rica home. From a business perspective, I believe they are extremely innovative since they have designed an entire ecosystem around their brand. Their tours, theatrical presentations, and airport shops create a strong visual branding for the company and these delivering strategies make their products attractive and easily accessible locally and abroad through e-commerce. 

While I enjoyed what I saw at Britt, I’d love to see Britt put more emphasis on the actual farmers behind the beans. Since hand picking coffee cherries is such a labor-intensive process, I believe it would be valuable for the brand to show this aspect more. By giving visitors a firsthand look at the effort involved in harvesting, they could better appreciate the hard work behind a product that is so easily accessible for most and often taken for granted.

All of that coffee got me energized for our dance lesson that was later in the afternoon. I really enjoyed learning about the origins of each dance style and trying out different moves. I’m excited to shake up the dance floor at my next opportunity!