Excellence in Food and Drink Awards 2007
Category: Hot Beverages - Coffee
Winner: First Choice Coffee Grand Café 100% Rainforest Alliance Certified
Grand Café 100% Rainforest Alliance Certified coffee is sourced from plantations in El Salvador and Guatemala located high in the mountains, where coffee beans are sun-dried and traditionally slow roasted. The coffee beans are packed into valve bags to ensure consistent quality and are date-stamped to guarantee freshness.
The 100% certification means that workers are paid and treated fairly and the land is well managed, natural resources are conserved and forests and rivers are protected - things that resonate strongly with consumers.
Judges praised the excellent packaging and visually good blend of beans used. The bags are printed with photographic images of a lush green tropical setting, and the Rainforest Alliance logo is displayed prominently on the front. Directors from the company personally visited Rainforest Alliance Certified farms in Guatemala and El Salvador to select two farms, Santa Isabel and San Gabriel, which provided the best-tasting coffee beans. Judges agreed that the Rainforest Alliance Grand Café had a "nice flavour that was slightly acidic".
The company claims that Grand Café coffee should appeal to every operator who cares about social and environmental issues and the kind of people who print menus on recycled paper, use energy-saving light bulbs and make an effort to source ethically produced goods.
The coffee comes in cases of 45 x 70g bags, 40 x 220g bags and 10 x 500g bags.
Shortlisted
Cafédirect Organic Espresso Coffee Beans
Coffeehouse Fairtrade Espresso