¡Tierra!

¡Tierra! is the sustainable development project undertaken by Lavazza in co-operation with the Rainforest Alliance. As the UK market is at the forefront of global demand for sustainably grown products, Italy's No. 1 roaster is responding by putting sustainability at the heart of its environmentally sound, economically viable and socially equitable sourcing strategy.

Top quality vending solution

Lavazza's OCS Vending System continues to provide a real coffee experience to its customers. ¡Tierra! is blended from beans grown in selected plantations in Honduras, Columbia and Peru and brings together ethically sourced ingredients to create a delicious 100% Arabica blend.

The product is characterised by its aromatic and sweet quality. The ¡Tierra! blend means that consumers can enjoy an ethical product without having to compromise on the quality of their coffee choice. And by offering the blend as part of the OCS Vending System, Lavazza is ensuring consumers can enjoy ethical coffee in their office. With Lavazza's two capsule vending systems to choose from, either BLUE^TM or Espresso Point^TM, depending on the individual customers' needs, the ethically sourced coffee experience is easy for offices to supply.

Changing consumer behaviour

Silvio Zaccareo, Lavazza's OCS and Vending Sales and Marketing Manager, has seen a growing demand in the vending industry for ethically sourced products and believes ¡Tierra! fills that gap. "The ¡Tierra! capsules appeal to coffee lovers with a desire to behave ethically in their working environment. People today want to enjoy a real coffee taste with the additional assurance that coffee sourcing is meeting high standards of social economic and environmental care. Our 100% Rainforest Alliance-certified coffee blend does exactly that."

¡Tierra! Project success

The ¡Tierra! project was set up in 2003 to ensure that the Lavazza coffee is grown and harvested to the benefit of the workers, the community and the environment of the three selected areas. Through the project, Lavazza is guaranteeing long-term support to producers and communities helping them to improve the quality and consistency of their coffee. It also uses new coffee processing and drying systems enabling the farmers to obtain a higher market price.

As part of the Lavazza Tierra initiative, new housing, medical facilities and schools have been constructed, and water treatment and improved cultivation techniques implemented.

The project has enabled the following work:

Housing: Over 50 coffee-growers in Colombia have received newly constructed or refurbished homes.

Education: In Honduras a new school with toilets and a canteen and community meeting area were built. A new schoolroom was also added to a school in Peru.

Health: An infirmary and a Medical centre were built in Honduras.

Environment: Coffee drying mechanics have been provided for single-owner coffee plantations in Colombia and a nursery has been built in Peru for growing local species for future reforestation.

There are also several projects currently underway including the building of a test farm in both Honduras and Peru, improvement of schools services in Honduras and development of a micro-credit project in Peru. Farmers in Colombia are receiving technical assistance for improving production quality and efficiency including agronomic training for best practices.

With these and many more projects in the pipeline and a strong long-term commitment to value and safeguard precious resources of the coffee growing regions: their work, their environment and their product, a real guilt-free coffee experience is guaranteed with Lavazza's ¡Tierra!.

For information:

Lavazza Coffee (UK) Ltd, Silvio Zaccareo, OCS Vending Sales & Marketing Manager;

Tel: 01895 209750

Email: s.zaccareo@lavazza-coffee.co.uk or visit our website: http://www.tierra.lavazza.com/

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