Bartlett Mitchell has become the first caterer to be awarded two stars for its premium sustainable coffee brand – at the Great Taste 2018 awards.
The Perkee espresso was described by the Great Taste judges as having a “marked richness” and “deep dark chocolatey backbone”. The judges also liked “the subtle smokiness to this coffee and enjoyed the brilliant balance of acidity”.
Perkee was created in 2016 in partnership with beverage supplier Bewleys and the female-run Soppexcca coffee co-operative in Nicaragua.
Launched with sustainability and the empowerment of women at its core, the Perkee brand has proved popular with Bartlett Mitchell’s clients and is now the coffee of choice in almost 65% of the its sites.
More than 100 Perkee baristas have been trained, and approximately 1.5 million cups of Perkee have been sold since it was first launched two years ago.
Wendy Bartlett, executive chairman of Bartlett Mitchell, said: “We have been thrilled with the way in which Perkee has developed both in terms of its popularity and the way it helps to support the Soppexcca, the superb coffee producer behind the beans. Miguel Camara, our coffee brands manager specially selected the bean and roast with our partner Bewleys.
“So for its quality to be recognized by Great Taste is fantastic. It is testament to the passion and pride of everyone involved in both its production and service to our customers.”
The Great Taste awards is a food accreditation scheme for artisan and speciality food producers.
More than 500 judges, including food critics, chefs, cooks, restaurateurs, producers, food writers and journalists, took part in comprehensive blind tastings of more than 12,600 products.
Winners are awarded the honour of adding the black and gold Great Taste label to their product.