A GREAT TASTE FOR CAFÉDIRECT Outstanding products achieve 5 Great Taste Awards in 2010

Ethical hot drinks brand, Cafédirect, has won five prestigious Gold Great Taste Awards for their tea and coffee. Widely regarded to be the equivalent for specialty food and drink what Michelin is to fine dining, the coveted awards are purely awarded on taste following a rigorous judging process.

Best known and celebrated for its award-winning coffees, Cafédirect is delighted to announce that 3 of the 5 Great Taste Awards have been bestowed upon its premium range of teas. Well-nourished, quality leaves are hand picked and carefully processed to give the optimum colour, body and briskness that was praised by the judges.

“We are thrilled that the growers’ hard work and dedication has lead to these exciting wins. These awards demonstrate how our direct grower partnerships deliver the best quality products. We’re honoured this has been recognised once again by these important awards.” Anne MacCaig, CEO Cafédirect.

In 2003 Cafédirect pioneered a minimum price for tea to protect growers from the impact of low international tea prices – this was five years before the official Fairtrade minimum price in 2008. Committed to creating the highest quality tea Cafédirect has a unique way of rewarding quality through a price differential paid for the highest grade of tea. This is in addition to funding quality improvement programmes via profits from tea sales, all of which results in exceptional tasting blends.

Andrew Ethuru is a Cafédirect Producer Director and Chair of the Fairtrade Premium Committee at Michimikuru Tea Factory in Kenya, whose tea goes into the Everyday Tea. He says “I'm really delighted by the news of these awards. At Michimikuru, our partnership with Cafédirect started in 2005, during which time they supported us for two years in qualifying for Fairtrade certification. Cafédirect is very different from other Fairtrade certified buyers as, alongside the normal premiums paid, they use their profits to support us through their yearly reinvestment programme.”

Gold Star Award-Winning Products:

Machu Picchu Organic Fresh Ground Coffee This nutty, mellow and chocolately gourmet coffee only contains the finest, hand picked Machu Picchu Arabica beans. The beans are expertly roasted by the growers to yield their fulsome flavour. Price: 227g pack £3.49

Rich Roast Fresh Ground Coffee A great after dinner blend this rich coffee is dark and intense with a perfect spicy finish. The combination of the finest Arabica beans, for a rounded flavour with a sweet toffee aroma, and Robusta beans, for full-bodied finish, provides a complex balance of flavours. Price: 227g pack £2.79

Everyday Tea Top quality Tanzanian and Ugandan tea leaves, selected for their body and distinctive rosy colour, are blended with Kenyan leaves, specially chosen for their fresh, delicate flavours, to produce a light- refreshing blend. Price: pack of 80 tea bags £2.29

Decaffeinated Everyday Tea Cafédirect believes tea growing is an art and The Great Rift Valley in Kenya has been home to some of the greatest tea growing communities in the world since 1903. The best leaves are carefully selected and gently decaffeinated to preserve their great tasting flavour. Price: pack of 80 tea bags £3.39

English Breakfast Tea Cafédirect’s English Breakfast Tea is the perfect invigorating morning cuppa. The Kenyan tea leaves give body and briskness and is subtly balanced by the mellow characteristics of the Sri Lankan tea. Price: pack of 50 tea bags costs £1.99.

For more information visit www.cafedirect.co.uk .

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Notes to editors:

For more information about Cafédirect and its award-winning hot drink products, for product samples and high resolution images please contact Jane Sheard or Paul McNicholl at Unity. Email [email protected] or call 020 7440 9810.

About Cafédirect

Cafédirect is the UK’s first and largest 100% Fairtrade drinks brand.

Providing an important link between the grower and consumer communities, the business works with over 40 grower organisations across 14 developing countries, encompassing over quarter of a million farmers and directly improving the lives of more than 1.6 million people around the world.

In the past ten years, the business has invested more than £3 million of its profits directly into the businesses and, in total, paid more than £10.5 million towards the businesses and communities of its grower partners.

Pioneering grower initiatives and consumer engagements for 19 years, Cafédirect works to its own Gold Standard, consistently setting the bar for ethical business leadership. In 2009 we won the coveted Ethical Business of the Year Award at the Triodos Bank Women in Ethical Business Awards. In 2010 we have been shortlisted for the Sustainable City Awards, hosted by the City of London, in the 'Tackling Climate Change' category.

About the Great Taste Awards

Over 6,000 products are blind tasted over a two-month period by a discerning high profile panel of judges made up of buyers, retailers, chefs and food writers.