25th Anniversary

Next month we will be celebrating our 25th Anniversary.

When Steve Aronson started Café Britt in 1985, he didn’t realize that he was launching the world’s first gourmet roaster headquartered in a coffee-producing country. Many years have passed, and that original dream has long become reality – Café Britt sells Costa Rica’s best gourmet coffee to the world. And we roast and package it from right here at home.

I would say that the original dream has also been complemented by two strategic moves that give our company its current “personality.” First, we saw the need to serve our international customers who traveled to the region. So, we set up shops in the same airports they use, to make it easy for them to buy and enjoy our coffees, chocolates and other gift items. In doing so, we developed a successful destination-based retail division. And second, as we expanded our international reach, we discovered the great coffees of other coffee-producing nations. We started in Peru, and have since become aficionados of some of the finest Latin American coffees. We are now roasting Peruvian coffee in Peru and, more recently, discovered Mexican gourmet beans in places around the regions of Veracruz and Chiapas.

As we continue to set up operations in coffee-growing countries, you can expect to be introduced to a collection of some of the finest coffees of Latin America.

I've known Britt for 20 years. Back in 1990, Steve Aronson helped me as a student at Michigan State University when I was doing a master’s thesis in Agricultural Economics and had to decide whether to study the market for Michigan apples, or the market for Costa Rican coffee. Well, now you know what I decided to do for research!

I spent summer at home collecting all kinds of information and data about Costa Rica coffee prices and production. Before I returned to Michigan to finish my research and coursework, Steve told me, "Adiós, pero no se pierda!" – Good-bye, but don´t get lost! Well, he didn't realize the full meaning of his words. I’m still around! Happy and in love with what we do.