For the academic portion of our day, we toured Cafe Britt. Later, we will take dance lessons and attend a soccer game, further immersing ourselves into Costa Rican culture. Cafe Britt was a great start to this busy day. The land is made to replicate a full ecosystem and the staff was incredibly friendly. They were founded with a mission of allowing the people of Costa Rica to experience the rich, delicious coffee they provide to the rest of the world. They’ve grown significantly and have a model that other businesses look at for inspiration. Cafe Britt, like any business, is trying to sell themselves to customers. In fact, they had their coffee and chocolate samples throughout and ended our tour with a “break” in their souvenir shop. They have a diverse array of products that make you want to buy 5 variations of the same thing. They have coffee grounds and beans from different regions sold separately and a variety of unique blends.

With that being said, I’d say they sell a somewhat stereotypical, but strong idea of Costa Rica. Their tours specifically were very engaging in a way that would attract tourists (a necessity for Costa Rica) to their coffee business (another necessity that tourists happen to love). Supporting the coffee and the tourist industry is a great help to Costa Rica. In these tours, we looked at some “basic” things about Costa Rica, but the tour guide expanded on these notions in a way that was highly educational and helped us stray from the stereotypes. It provided a space to receive deep explanations and insights. However, as a brand overall I can see how this could be “watering down” Costa Rica. Images of volcanoes and tropical animals are certainly iconic, but relying on how “exotic” the country of origin is doesn’t allow for true understanding. It’s likely easier to play on stereotypes when selling their products, but I’m sure they could do more to represent Costa Rica better as the tour alone brought me more clarity on their country. With all of our experiences so far, it’s interesting to see that Costa Rican companies aren’t 100% clean energy and community based, but I can definitely tell that their emphasis is strong. I’m so excited to see more.