CEO'S COLUMN

Pablo has been CEO of Grupo Britt since June, 2000. Under his term the Company expanded its coffee and chocolate business (Britt Brands division) with the addition of the Britt Shops concept, a travel retail, “sense of place” based concept that currently operates 80 gift shops in 9 countries. From 1992 to 2000 Pablo held positions in Finance, Exports and Planning, reporting to Britt´s Founder. He has previous experience as consultant for international private, academic, and non-profit organizations in Costa Rica, México and USA. Britt has an Integrated Management System that incorporates international standards for quality and environmental management like ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, among others. Mr. Vargas holds a B.S. in Agricultural Economics from the Universidad de Costa Rica (1987), an MBA from Michigan State University (1991) and a M.Sc. degree in Agricultural Economics from Michigan State University (1991). He is a Fulbright scholarship alumni.