I feel like I won a golden ticket with our visits today. Today we took a chocolate tour, went to a farm-to-table restaurant, and heard a lecture on medical devices, one of Costa Rica’s biggest exports. Out of everything we’ve seen so far, the chocolate tour was by far my favorite. That says a lot…
Category: Plus3 Costa Rica
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Triple Bottom Line, Triple the Snacks
Today was one of those days that sounds random on paper but ends up making complete sense by the end. We visited Sibö Chocolate, had lunch at Riverside Gastropub, and sat in on a lecture about Costa Rica’s medical device industry. Three completely different businesses, but each one is asking the same question: what does…
Day 5 – Sustainability You Can Taste
Visiting Sibö Chocolate showed me what sustainability looks like when it’s lived out, not just talked about. Julio Fernández Amón, a historian-turned-chocolatier, built his company around the belief that business should support people, protect the environment, and honor culture. He pays his farmers well and provides steady, meaningful jobs, making Sibö a place where the…
Riverside is a win-win-win
Today’s visits demonstrated how the triple bottom line framework can operate across completely different industries and reflect Costa Rican values. The triple bottom line focuses on balancing profit, environmental sustainability, and positive community impact. First, at the bean-to-bar chocolate company, Sibö. One of the most interesting things I learned was that the founders entered the…
May 14th – Mas Chocolate Por Favor
One specific detail that stuck out to me was at Sibo Cafe when the tour guide spoke about how his company asked farmers to plant cacao seeds in their farms because it was good for the environment. He touched upon the idea that people’s first worry is themselves and this was shown when they were…
May 14th – It Finally Rained!!
Today we visited Sibo Chocolate, Riverside, and went to Universidad Latina to learn about medical technology, and I think the best example of the triple bottom line was at Sibo Chocolate. The triple bottom line measures business success by people, planet, and profit instead of profit alone, and today has made that concept a lot…
More Than Just Chocolate
I really loved our visit to Sibö Chocolate. Our presenter showed us how a business can focus on more than just profit. He was extremely passionate and knowledgeable, which made the experience much more interesting because you could tell how much he cared about his work and about Costa Rica. Sibö was founded because the…
Turning Cocoa Beans Into National Pride
Today we visited Sibo Chocolate, Riverside Pizzeria and Gastropub, and La Universidad de Latina to learn about medical devices. During our time at Sibo Chocolate we sampled lots of rich chocolates while learning about the history of it and where it came from. Lots of stuff we learned was super interesting and I heard lots of things…
Going Loco for Cocoa 🍫 – 05/14
Otro día: completado ✓. Today was actually the first day it rained while on the trip, though it was more of a sprinkle. So much for a rainy season. Luckily, we were inside most of the time. Today we visited Sibö Chocolate, Riverside Pizzeria & Gastropub, and ULatina for a medical devices presentation. Today I…
May 14th – The Greatest Chocolate for the Greatest Reasons
Out of all the amazing places we saw today, one of the best examples of the triple bottom line working today was at Sibo Chocolate. During the presentation, they explained the long history of cacao in not just Central America, but also how the world reacted as well. He spoke on how chocolate has become…
May 14th: Hershey’s is out, Sibo is in
Today, we visited Sibo Chocolate, Riverside Pizzeria and Gastropub, and a local university to learn about medical device production. This day was my favorite so far because of our first stop, Sibo. Sibo Chocolate was founded in 2007 and was one of the first companies to fully produce chocolate in Costa Rica. During our visit,…
Burnt Ruins & Chocolate Bars
Today we visited Sibo Chocolate and Riverside and they both seemed completely different at first. One focused on chocolate and the other food and music, but both businesses actually shared the same goal of creating something sustainable and meaningful. Both places really cared about helping the community, supporting local culture, and using resources responsibly rather…
Day 5
Cafe Britt is an example of a company that markets a Costa Rican culture and shapes it for foreigners and tourists during the same time. The company shows people Costa Rica’s coffee traditions, the agriculture, and its cultural identity. The tour and how they promoted the story all focus on Costa Rican pride and help show…
May 13: Grounds for a Marketing Lesson
After visiting Café Britt today, I honestly think the company does a really good job of celebrating Costa Rican culture while also turning it into a really successful business and tourist experience. Throughout the tour, it was obvious how intentionally they market not just the coffee, but Costa Rica itself. Everything from the storytelling and…
Costa Rica Blog Post 5 – 05/13
Café Britt made me think about how a company can has to identify their strengths. In the tour our guide mentioned how they cannot compete with Columbia or other large coffee exporters, but they can compete in quality. That is their strength and their hot climate further strengthens it. The company was founded in 1985…
Britt-erally obsessed with Costa Rican Coffee
Today, we had the pleasure of attending an informational lecture about Café Britt, a Costa Rica based coffee and chocolate company, and taking a tour of each step in the coffee production process. Throughout the tour, we were able to taste test several types of coffee, from light to dark roast, and their various different…
Café With a Side of Salsa – 05/13
¡Ey! ¿Qué tal? Today we got to wear shorts again, thank god! For breakfast our host mom gave us fruit and pancakes, honestly I could probably eat that everyday. Moving on… The events today were café with a side of salsa. In the morning, we had the opportunity to go on a coffee tour at…
Day 4 – Café Britt: Sharing Costa Rican Pride
Today’s visit to Café Britt showed how a company can truly lift up Costa Rican culture and economy. From the very beginning, Britt focused on quality over quantity, putting a lot of care into every step of the process. They undergo strict quality checks to ensure each bag of coffee meets their high standards. You…
Spilling the Beans!
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…
Brewing Up Business
I really enjoyed our visit to Café Britt today. The tour guide was funny and interactive the entire time, making the experience enjoyable. We learned a lot about the coffee process, from bean to cup, and about how important coffee is to Costa Rica. Coffee was first discovered in Ethiopia when goats supposedly ate coffee…