Green coffee perks up troops
6 Jun 2011 02:30 PM
A new contract was signed last week (ahead of Sunday's World Environment Day) providing Armed Forces on operations with sustainably-sourced, instant coffee from Cornish charity Cool Earth.
For each tin sold, the charity will protect five trees in the Amazon which would otherwise have fallen victim to loggers. This means that under the £375k contract around 300,000 trees covering an area four times the size of Hyde Park will be saved.
It is also estimated that, thanks to the purchase of the 100 per cent Rainforest Alliance-certified Brazilian coffee beans, around 410,526 tonnes of carbon dioxide will be offset.
Captain Jeremy Rigby RN, Defence Food Team Leader at the MOD's Defence Equipment and Support organisation, said:
"This contract is an example of how our suppliers have been able to source a quality brand of coffee for our troops which provides value for money to the taxpayer and also furthers our commitment to supporting wider green issues. "
Cool Earth coffee is produced and manufactured by Fine Foods International (FFI).
Austin Sugarman, Managing Director of FFI, said:
"Any contract to supply the MOD is subject to rigorous product and quality specifications so we are extremely pleased that Cool Earth Coffee has been selected.
"While value for money is obviously a high priority, the award of this contract proves that with Cool Earth Coffee the MOD can offer a high quality product whilst still ensuring a true ethical stance is adopted."
The contract goes live this month and will initially run for 12 months, with an option to extend.
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