Café Britt

Café Britt is a Costa Rican company that produces and markets gourmet coffee, chocolate and other products. They create and sponsor coffee-related tourism and education in Costa Rica. Products are sold in retailers, online, in Britt Café • Bakery locations, and in Grupo Britt-owned Morpho Travel shops. The company currently employs around 450 people.[1] Its coffee-roasting and chocolate-making operations are based in Costa Rica, Peru, and Colombia.[2][3]

Café Britt
IndustryCoffee roasting and chocolate manufacturing
Founded1985
FounderSteve Aronson
Headquarters
Heredia
,
Costa Rica
ProductsCosta Rican, Colombian, and Peruvian coffees, chocolates, nuts, candies, and gourmet products
ServicesCoffee tour
ParentGrupo Britt
Websitecafebritt.com

History

North American coffee broker Steve Aronson founded the company in 1985 to market roasted Costa Rican coffees to the domestic market.[4] It was the first gourmet coffee roaster in the country;[4] since at that time, most high-quality coffee was exported to foreign markets. Aronson decided to promote the idea that good quality should also be consumed locally.[5] The name Britt is a tribute to Scandinavian countries, which are some of the largest consumers of coffee;[5] Britt was chosen through a contest to pick a name.[5]

The company expanded its operations with the introduction of chocolates in 2000, as well as opening its first store at Juan Santamaría Airport in 2001.[4] In 2003 it added further stores at various hotels popular with tourists in Costa Rica.[4] In 2005 new stores were opened in Perú, the Caribbean, and Chile. In 2009, after a successful transition, Philippe Aronson replaced his father and assumed the role of president.[4]

In 2017, Grupo Britt split into two different companies: Morpho Travel Retail and Café Britt.[6] This allowed the company to focus on producing and commercializing gourmet products, operating cafés, and running the Britt Coffee Tour.[6] Philippe Aronson is the CEO of Café Britt.[7]

Products

Café Britt produces and sells gourmet products, with a focus on coffee and chocolate.[6] Product lines includes Café Britt, Britt Chocolates, and Britt Cookies. The company offers capsules for espresso machines under the brand Britt Espresso, as well as related espresso machines.[8]

In 2017, Café Britt opened the first location of its eponymous café, Britt Café · Bakery.[6]

Tourism

In 1991, Café Britt founded Costa Rica's first coffee tour, the "Britt Coffee Tour," as a play staged in its own coffee plantation. Currently the tour offers an interactive journey through the coffee production cycle.[5] Some 50,000 people take the Britt Coffee Tour each year,[5] and more than half a million people have taken it since its founding.[9] In addition to the general tour, technically oriented versions of the tour have been developed for visiting coffee experts or serious amateurs.[5]

Environment

Café Britt has sold certified organic coffee since 1991.[10] Currently, the company produces more than 200,000 bags of organic coffee a year, 80% of which is sold in Costa Rica.[11]

The production of Café Britt coffee and chocolate in Costa Rica has been certified Carbon Neutral since 2013.[12]

See also

References
  1. Our Story Retrieved: 2018-10-31.
  2. "Cafe Britt's Premium Gourmet Coffee Selection". Cafe Britt. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
  3. "Café Britt se expande en Antigua, México, Chile y Perú". La Nación, Grupo Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-07-25.
  4. Arce A., Sergio (2009-12-07). "Café Britt invertirá $8 millones en expansión durante el 2010". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 2016-10-13.
  5. Cordero, Juan Fernando (2005-11-27). "El profeta del grano de oro". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 2016-10-13.
  6. Grupo Britt Retrieved: 2018-10-31.
  7. "Grupo Britt se divide en dos empresas para fortalecer su expansión". La Nación (in Spanish). 2017-09-21. Retrieved 2018-10-31.
  8. Britt Espresso Retrieved: 2019-16-01.
  9. Mesalles, Nuria (2010-10-28). "Britt: 25 años de historia". Revista Apetito (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-10-31.
  10. "Britt suma el sofisticado café orgánico cultivado bajo sombra a su oferta gourmet". Santiago Diferente (in Spanish). 2015-11-26. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  11. Fallas Villalobos, Cristina (2017-10-21). "Demanda de café orgánico motiva a negocios en Costa Rica". El Financiero (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  12. Barquero, Marvin (2013-03-07). "Primeras siete empresas reciben sello de 'carbono neutral'". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-11-13.
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