| Type | Family and investor owned |
|---|---|
| Industry | Coffee roasting and chocolate manufacturing |
| Founded | 1985 |
| Headquarters | Mercedes Norte, Heredia, Costa Rica |
| Number of locations | 77 Stores |
| Area served | Costa Rica, Peru, Mexico, Chile, United States, Curaçao, St. Thomas, Antigua & Barbuda, New Caledonia. |
| Key people | Phillippe Aronson (President) Pablo Vargas (CEO) |
| Products | Costa Rican, Mexican and Peruvian coffees and chocolates, nuts, candies, gifts and specialty products |
| Revenue | $60 million |
| Employees | 875 |
| Website | cafebritt.com |
Café Britt produces gourmet coffee, fine chocolate and specialty gift items. They have more than 77 gift stores in eight countries and an online store. They operate in many countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the United States. They create and sponsor coffee-related tourism and education in Costa Rica.
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New York coffee broker Steve Aronson founded the company in 1985 to market roasted Costa Rican coffees to the domestic market. "At the time, the country's coffee-industry regulations required that all of the best coffee be exported, unroasted, to foreign markets. The company succeeded in marketing its coffees to Costa Rican hotels, restaurants and supermarkets. Café Britt also markets its coffees on the Internet.
In 1991, Café Britt became the first Costa Rican company to combine coffee with tourism. They opened their coffee plantation to the public that same year and created a fun, insightful and exciting way to experience the origins of true gourmet coffee from a red cherry to that luring, irresistible brew you sip each morning. Café Britt was thrilled to share the hidden gem of Costa Rican gourmet coffee along with Costa Rican heritage with visitors and tourists from near and far.
Its CoffeeTour, a play staged in its own coffee plantation, traces coffee’s production cycle. Some 50,000 people take the tour each year. More technically oriented versions of the tour have been developed for visiting coffee experts or serious amateurs.
Britt's CoffeeTour has become one of Costa Rica’s major tourist attractions welcoming over 500,000 visitors from amateurs to coffee lovers to business travelers.
Grupo Britt is environmentally certified according to the ISO 14001:2004 international standard. Meaning they've proven to have programs and projects in place that make efficient use of natural resources, prevent pollution and reduce their impact on the environment to a minimum.
Their coffee and chocolate plants follow strict operating procedures to optimize their environmental friendliness. These procedures govern such factors as emission control, energy consumption and proper water handling.
Grupo Britt and its Britt Shop division support local artisans with training programs and craft fair sponsorships. Though their company, many small and medium-sized Costa Rican craftsmen and women export their products to many countries abroad.
Today, the company employs nearly 1,000 people.[1] Many of the 77 coffee-and-gift stores it owns and operates are located in international airports, including the Juan Santamaría International Airport in Costa Rica, the Jorge Chavez International Airport in Perú, the Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport in Chile, the Miami International Airport in the United States, the V.C. Bird International Airport in Antigua & Barbuda, the La Tontouta International Airport in New Caledonia and Benito Juarez International Airport in Mexico.
Its coffee-roasting and chocolate-making operations are based in Costa Rica, Peru and Mexico.