After another fabulous day surrounded by the smell of coffee and rain, Costa Rica shows us what exactly makes them such a unique place to visit. Today we took a short bus ride to Cafe Britt where they roast coffee to sell in 11 different markets through their partner Morpho. While coffee may not be Britt’s most popular product due to its location in Costa Rica and how they curated an experience perfect for tourism, tourists in particular will be drawn to the Britt shops to say that they got souvenirs from Britt. It’s not necessarily the product that these tourists are after, but rather the brand of “Cafe Britt’s Costa Rican Coffee”.
As opposed to the Doka Estate that we went to yesterday which dealt strictly in planting and growing the green beans that Costa Rica exports, Cafe Britt buys 2% of all Costa Rican green beans, roasts them, and sells them on a larger scale. So in the supply chain stream, the Doka Estate is an example of a Supplier and Cafe Britt is a manufacturer. My team has been tasked with paying special attention to how coffee is made in the supply chain and during our tour I noted a few things in this respect. Like we learned at the Doka Estate, coffee making is a very long, complex process that involves several quality control tests. Well that was all only until they got to the green beans. They then must roast them at the correct temperature and for the right amount of time in order to create light, dark, and medium roasts.
This part of the process is mostly automated and as such can be done quickly, efficiently, and in a controlled environment where consistency is ensured. Obviously, afterwards quality tests are still conducted to ensure the actual quality of the product. Packaging of the final products is also consistent based on the type of coffee they are dealing with. Considering this, I think they could benefit from introducing more varieties of coffees throughout the different markets they cater to. I only say this because as the cost of coffee continues to increase exponentially, they will have to compete on not only quality, but also variety in order to take a real stance in the market.
We then finished off our day with dance lessons that were a great way to get some hands on learning about the culture that exists here in Costa Rica, besides the coffee of course!
