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New Harvest Sets UK Trend

28th May 2008

Award winning Fairtrade and organic coffee company, Percol, is rushing its coffee beans down the mountain to ensure consumers have the freshest ground coffee available. The pioneering ‘New Harvest’ concept reaches UK supermarkets again this summer. Just like the Beaujolais Nouveau in wine, Percol’s farmers pick the coffee beans in March during the first harvest of the year and rush them through to get ‘New Harvest’ packs on sale in the UK as fast as possible. This process locks in freshness and captures the intense flavours of the early harvest.

Last year Percol launched the New Harvest Guatemala, which was so successful that 2008 will see Nicaragua and Colombia join in with a New Harvest variety of each single origin coffee.

Like wine, all coffee flavours differ according to the region and season in which the beans are grown. During the New Harvest in Guatemala, Nicaragua and Colombia, coffee beans are taken from the first coffee crop of the year to go on sale in Britain in July. Each variety of coffee is made from the highest quality arabica beans grown at an altitude of 1500m – 2000m to increase the intensity of flavours.

To demonstrate how fresh the New Harvest is, in Guatemala the coffee cherries are picked by hand at the plantation in Coco La Grande, an area where there is no electricity. They are then transported by mule to Barillas, a small village that is the headquarters of the ASOBAGRI Fairtrade co-operative. Once enough coffee cherries are collected they are taken by road to Huehuetenango itself to be milled.

Founder, Brian Chapman says; “With the New Harvest concept we at Percol are aiming to de-mystify the origin of good quality award winning coffee, demonstrating that there is more to coffee than a freeze-dried jar of instant and highlighting its premium quality.

“The New Harvest Guatemala was really popular last year and we are thrilled to be adding yet another dimension to the coffee industry with the introduction of Nicaragua and Colombia varieties. These are our top award winning coffees and although they are always at their freshest when reaching the retailers shelves we have made an extra special effort to get the first 2008 Harvest out even quicker because it is so good.”

Wine expert Angela Mount said; “There is a delightful freshness about the newly released coffees – full of smooth, exotic character – but each very different in taste. Breathe in the Guatemala and smell the rich bitter chocolate and ripe orange aromas, touched with a hint of smoke, then let your palate enjoy the lingering flavours of rich dried fruits and dark chocolate, which are balanced with a lovely citrus aftertaste – the Nicaragua is bold, with bittersweet chocolate, orange marmalade and high acidity, a seriously individual coffee – the Colombian is unmistakable. A tantalising rich aroma, a hint of nuts and complex flavours create a smooth full-bodied coffee with attractive citrus notes on the finish.”

Percol has won a total of 27 awards, more than any other coffee. Percol won five golds at the 2007 Great Taste Awards for its Fairtrade Honduras, Decaffeinated Fairtrade Colombia, Fairtrade Organic Latin America, Fairtrade Organic Espresso and Rainforest Organic Colombia, having already won 2 golds at both the 2006 and 2005 awards.