Today was our last day exploring the adventurous and unique parts of Costa Rica. Tomorrow will be our last full day here before leaving on Friday :((( We went to La Paz Waterfall Gardens, and we were able to explore Costa Rica’s native animals including cougars, panthers, white-throated monkeys, sloths, and a variety of birds and monarchs. The beginning half was almost like a zoo, and we were able to walk around different exhibits to see the animals. I even held a few butterflies on my hand! Then the second part was of the waterfalls, there were four different ones, each with a different lens and viewpoint. My favorite one by far was Encantada, and then Mystica Blanca coming close in second. We also went to the final soccer game tonight, Alajuela vs Saprissas (Heredia). This was such a fun and unique experience! I was a little nervous to go at first but everyone was friendly and the spirit and liveliness at the game was unmatched. I am so glad I went, it is something I’ll never forget!

As we reflect on our last few days here, I’ve been able to see the industry, culture, and the environment, and its effects on shaping Costa Rica’s tropical agriculture industry. As I look through the processes through a design and launch perspective, I noticed a few things that stuck out to me. Beginning with the farm, focusing on sustainable practices and branding all starts with having responsible sourcing and cultivation materials. In coffee specifically, farmers look for high quality coffee cherries, meaning they are bright red and weigh a lot when starting the washing process. Investing in machinery may not seem sustainable, but the layers of the coffee cherry are reused to fuel the machine or put into the water to wash the cherries. If the coffee is not of high quality, no company would be able to market and launch their product due to poor taste.

Next, moving onto the processing mills and exporter, marketing focuses more on the packaging aspects and logistics. Specifically, they focus on how the beans are processed through the machines, from washing, to drying, to storing them before being exported. All of this is important to watch over and maintain consistent as said before, high quality is important. As for step three, coffee roasters and retail stores/cafes, selling the product through branding and storytelling are what will catch customers attention. The factors that should be considered here are the roasting techniques and processes, which usually depends on how long the coffee beans will spin in the drum. From there, retailers should focus on the layout in which they display their coffee and products. If they provide background history about the coffee and promote the coffee, they are more likely to draw in customers.

Lastly, looking at customers, we need to know who to target market in order to be successful. Once discovering that, we can draw in customers through interaction with the brand such as tastings, experience, packaging, and loyalty rewards, and incentives. These factors help promote a successful launch and lead to loyal customers and high satisfaction. In addition to customizing coffee to their customer’s liking, we can also highlight sustainable practices such as packaging and processing. In all, it is not just important to promote the product, but the values behind it and what it means to the company, and how you can cater to your customers.