Bartlett Mitchell launches Fairtrade coffee Perkee
Independent catering company Bartlett Mitchell has launched Perkee, a new premium and sustainable coffee brand in partnership with Bewleys of Ireland and the Soppexcca coffee co-operative in Nicaragua.
The co-op (which is 40% female run), was set up by Fatima Ismael and aims to improve the lives of its members and the community. Soppexcca's profits are ploughed back into education, diversification and health centres in Nicaragua.
Simon Houston, sales director at Bartlett Mitchell commented: "Customers increasingly expect a brand of coffee in the workplace with exceptionally strong ethics and Perkee has been developed to meet these expectations and more and we have carefully designed every element of the Perkee brand including training, merchandising and uniform.
"Perkee delivers a lively, uplifting and positive experience for our customers and consumers and we have seen really encouraging commercial results from our initial rollout," he added.
With dark chocolate and caramel notes, Perkee coffee is single origin 100% Arabica bean from Nicaragua, roasted in Yorkshire.
Bartlett Mitchell's chef director, Pete Redman has created a complimentary sweet and savoury all-day range to be served alongside the new coffee brand and the company has recently appointed Miguel Camara to the newly created role of Coffee Brands manager.
Camara, a former Barista Champion Award winner will lead the implementation of Perkee and head up barista training at Bartlett Mitchell's Barista Academy.
Wendy Bartlett, CEO, added: "I was determined that we would partner with Soppexcca to create Bartlett Mitchell's brand new coffee."
"The UK coffee market in 2014 turned over in excess of £7.9b and we take it very seriously within the business. With Perkee, our customers can drink a great tasting, fair-trade coffee and make a positive difference to the Soppexcca community."