Orang Utan Coffee: ethical, worthwhile, and a great taste!

This news article about the Orang Utan Coffee Project was originally published here:
http://www.hospitalityandcateringnews.com/2014/04/orang-utan-coffee-ethical-worthwhile-and-a-great-taste/

Last week’s London Coffee Festival was – as you would expect – a cornucopia of coffee and coffee equipment. And visitors displayed an impressive ability to sample their way around the stands, ensuring that they tasted as many coffees as possible.

Amongst the many coffees, all with the provenance that the coffee market requires of its suppliers, was Orang Utan Coffee – newly launched by UCC, and very precisely introduced, measured and brewed by the excellent team on the stand. Coffee expert Dr. Andrej Godina (PhD) and UCC’s coffee development manager Gayan Munaweera took visitors on a journey through the Orang Utan project, as well as how to roast, profile and brew this ethical and delicious coffee through both espresso and filter methods.

Orang Utan Coffee is the first coffee that directly protects critically endangered orang utans and supports the local farmers of Sumatra, and will be available on the high street from May 2014 when it launches exclusively in Waitrose. In addition, it will also form part of UCC’s out of home range.

Provenance

Orang Utan Coffee – a 100% Arabica, single origin coffee – is born from a mission to save the rapidly declining rainforest habitat of the Sumatran orang-utan: only 6,000 of the native primates remain in the wild today.

With areas of rainforest spanning the size of 88 football fields being cleared every hour, Orang Utan Coffee is grown on sustainable plantations, which protect the land from deforestation while guaranteeing a stable income, fair trading price and future for the farmers.

For each kilogram of green coffee produced, the coffee farmer receives a premium, and a further donation is given directly to the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Project.

Taste

Exclusive to UCC Coffee in the UK, the high quality balanced, medium bodied coffee also delivers on taste – evoking chocolate and cherry top notes with hints of date and rosehip.

Certainly not as strongly flavoured as some coffees that H&C News sampled at the Festival, Orang Utan delivered a milder but nonetheless well flavoured and balanced coffee that we thoroughly enjoyed.

Inspirational and worthwhile

Phil Smith, category manager, UCC Coffee UK & Ireland comments: “This coffee has gone on an incredible journey from bean to cup. I’ve been lucky enough to visit the Orang Utan Project: where I experienced firsthand the enormous effort that has been put in to protecting the environment for the future of this species and safeguarding the livelihoods of farmers in the region, as well as producing a world class product for us all to enjoy.

“Not only is there an inspirational story behind the Orang Utan brand, but the coffee itself rates highly in flavour and quality. So we’re delighted to be able to exclusively supply it in the UK – as well as allow coffee lovers to enjoy an incredible taste experience, safe in the knowledge they’re positively contributing to a worthwhile cause.”

For each kilogram of green bean coffee, the coffee farmer receives a premium of €0.50 with a further €0.50 contributing directly to the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Project.

For more information on Orang Utan Coffee contact UCC Coffee UK & Ireland on 01908 275 520 or visit www.orang-utan-coffee.ch