Since visiting Cafe Britt a couple of weeks ago, I have noticed that Cafe Britt products are sold everywhere. Every little restaurant or shop seems to sell Cafe Britt. Cafe Britt is by far the most commercial company we have visited while in Costa Rica. As mentioned previously Cafe Tal is a much smaller company and I honestly do not even know how you go about getting the Del Cafe Tal coffee. I do not know what the packages look like or who buys from the farm. Although it offers a high quality product, Cafe Tal is just a small grower that did not seem to have much exposure until recently. Cafe Britt on the other hand offers dozens of products including multiple coffee roasts, chocolates, gourmet coffee beans and other beverages such as hot chocolate and coffee liquor. You could make a meal out of all the things they offer and you can have it sent anywhere you desire. We did not get to have a private question time with anyone at Cafe Britt like we did with Daisy Rodriguez so I do not know a whole lot about the company aside from what they explained in the tour, but I would be interested in knowing how their selling prices compare to the prices that Daisy sells for. Their website states that they pay high prices and I know that Daisy earns a very good price on her products, so I wonder what a difference being such a large company can make. The Cafe Britt name is certainly more recognizable so I just wonder what affects that has on their business and on their products. Being so commercial I would almost think that they could slack off on the quality, or social issues a little simply because they reach so many consumers, so if they lost a few it would not really make much of a difference. At the same time, they need to work hard to please the consumer because the shear volume of customers is so high and if they do something that the consumers do not like, well then they are bascially screwed. But the word they are putting out there is that they are a company of fairness and quality and I think I believe it. They seem like a pretty genuine company to me. When we visited, the guides and workers seemed happy enough. They claim to pay well, they offer organic products, and will soon be adding the certification to their coffee. Based on our visit, the company website and the products I sampled, Cafe Britt seems to be a company that wants to make good products, please their consumers, and do so while helping the environment when they can.
I have not tried any Cafe Britt coffee but I can say that the hot cocoa and the chocolates are phenomenal. I did try Daisy's coffee but since I do not actually like coffee at all, I would not be able to say if it was any good or not. So I am not the person to ask which I prefer, but from my point of view, both plantations seem to be decent companies run by decent people.
1 comment:
Hi Diane
Cafe Britt started out as a VERY VERY small company. Probably smaler than Daisy.. with two employees.
Things have changed over 23years but our basic idea has always been the same.. Roast and pack the best quality coffee and sell it in the Costa Rican Market and to visitors to Costa Rica.
I am sure Daisy produces a good coffee--which doesn't necesarily mean that she is a coffee roaster or can train people to use espresso machines or package in Nitrogen flush bags or produce a product that will be consistently good 12 months out of the year.
That takes another skill set and creates a lot more jobs and value than farming.
The problem is that people in the USA have been conditioned to think that all people in Latin America can do is farm--let all the sophisticated stuff be done in the states.. So its a great idea to give farmers awards for their products and pay them a bit more--say 3dlrs a pound or 4 dlrs a pound green and then sell for 2dlrs a cup (80dls a pound) in starbucks.
I always think it is funny to hear about "fair trade" which means "give the farmers a bit more so they will produce more and the price will go down"--
Our model is a bit different..
We pay the best prices in the country for coffee--we process it from the Fruit on.. we use all best practices in processing roasting and marketing (that means we can be suppliers to people like Four Seasons) and we create value IN COSTA RICA.
Instead of one Daisy.. we have 500 employees of all kinds of skills from architects, to designers, to specialized factory workers, to salespeople etc.
To put it another way.. A farm that produces say 30,000 pounds of coffee (about Daisy's size) will hire about 5 full time people who are basically farm workers and about 100 immigrant coffee pickers during the season. Then the coffee goes to the US roasters--from her plantation to the boat
Cafe Britt processes about 3 million pounds which we buy from people like Daisy and we have created 500 jobs..That is lot of money that stays in the country and feeds families and sends kids to college gives opportunites to all sorts of people.
Lastly I wonder why you think that if we sell stuff to people and have stores and distribution, that means that Britt Coffee would "slack off" --We weren't born with a birthright to be commercial, we had to earn it by consistently producing the best quality, giving the best service and being fair to our workers and suppliers.
Just to brag a bit.. on Friday.. the Central American version of Fortune magazine published a poll of the 100 most admired compnaies in Central America.. and Cafe Britt came in 3rd in the region and 1st in Costa Rica..
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