Product details:
The new blend, which is designed to help protect African wildlife, uses coffees sourced from countries in which the Born Free Foundation is actively involved, including India, Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania. Normally Coffee Real only supplies single origin filter coffee - however this unique blend will also be available as a filter coffee.
According to the Horsham-based firm, the new blend produces 'a very rich, buttery espresso with some sweet pleasing acidity, notes of cocoa and a juicy berry finish.'
The Indian beans provide a base to the blend, while the Kenyan beans add acidity, the Ethiopian addition develops the coffee's cocoa notes and the Tanzanian beans add berry notes.
Virginia McKenna OBE, founder of the animal welfare charity, roasted the first batch of the green beans at the company's Horsham base.
USP:
Fifteen per cent of the foodservice sales revenue from the new blend will be donated directly to the charity.
Availability:
The Born Free espresso is available to foodservice customers in cases containing nine 1kg packs. Like all the Coffee Real products, the new espresso can be supplied as roasted whole beans or ground depending on the method customers will use to prepare the coffee.
Price:
A 250g pack of the Born Free espresso will cost individual online customers £5.70, while potential foodservice customers are advised to contact the firm directly to enquire about beginning a wholesale relationship and to get a wholesale quote.
Why should you buy it?
Coffee Real, which was founded by Gary Best and Maarit Lotvonen in 2007, hand-roasts single estate and single origin Arabica and Robusta coffee. Today the company roasts more than 40 filter coffees while offering around 10 espresso blends.
It supplies a number of cafes, coffee shops, hotels, restaurants and contract caterers and has recently invested £90k to acquire a new roaster allowing it to increase its production capacity.
Gary Best, Coffee Real managing director, said: “We could have halved our investment and bought a traditional roaster but as a company we have to challenge ourselves to improve constantly – we believe this is important for us and our customers.
"We chose the Loring Smart Roast because of the control it gives us over the roast and the quality and clarity of the roast. Its environmental credentials are an added bonus, giving us even more flexibility. We are pleased to be able to do our bit to help the environment, but the quality of the coffee remains the most important factor to us."
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