Today was our second day of site visits, and our stop was at Café Britt. This visit was directly connected to yesterday’s tour of the Doka Estate, which is owned and operated by Café Britt. While Doka focuses on growing and harvesting the coffee beans, Café Britt plays a role in the supply chain relating to processing, roasting, and distribution.

After the coffee beans are harvested at Doka, they are sent to Café Britt to be dried roasted and packaged for local and international markets. Café Britt operates as a multilocal business meaning it establishes operations in multiple countries but customizes its approach to fit each region. For example, in countries like Peru, Café Britt produces the coffee beans within the country, reducing shipping costs and supporting regional economies. Then, Café Britt will customize the menu items to directly relate to each countries cultures. This multilocal strategy allows the company to stay competitive while remaining economically and culturally relevant in each market.

Café Britt’s financial success is closely tied to its planning process. Both Café Britt and Doka carefully plan each stage of the coffee production cycle, from harvesting and drying to roasting and distribution. This approach allows Café Britt to maximize efficiency, reduce waste, and be sustainable. One of the aspects of this process is Café Britt reusing different parts of the coffee bean within each stage. For example the coffee parchment is repurposed as fuel for some drying methods. Branches of dead or old coffee plants are also used to make furniture and souvenirs. These methods minimize their environmental impact, demonstrating how planning can lead to both economic and ecological benefits.