Ground Espresso Bars Break Ground
Love your latte? Can’t live without your cappuccino? Besotted by black gold?
Around three quarters of adults in the UK can’t live coffee each day and more and more people search for Fairtrade or ethically sourced brands when it comes to their coffee.
Ground Espresso Bars are the largest independent coffee chain in Northern Ireland and pride themselves for their integrity, constantly searching for ethically sourced products.
The coffee chain employs more than 150 people in 14 outlets across Northern Ireland.
Now the brand has decided to give back to its producers, growers and co-ops around the world who produce, among other things, the trade-marked Ground Espresso Bars Purple Dragon triple certified coffee; so-called because it has been certified by the Fairtraide Foundation, the Rainforest Alliance and the Organic Food Federation.
The company announced in March the funding of a new educational hub in Honduras which would provide an IT centre with two full-time teaching staff for the use of the Capucas Co-op, growers of Fairtrade coffee.
The project was originally a small one with a budget of just $20,000 being raised through the Ground Espresso Bars throughout Northern Ireland.
However, thanks to a huge donation of more than $100,000 dollars from the University of Honduras, what was planned to be a small community hub will become an institution to transform the local area.
Thanks to the extra funding the hub will now be a large, permanent structure. The aim of the new building is to provide stronger links with the community and put an even bigger emphasis on education.
The centre will offer educational courses and even distance learning for those working adults who were never given the opportunity to go into further education because of their finances or physical location.
As well as boosting the local economy by providing construction jobs for local workers, when it’s up and running the hub will also provide permanent teaching jobs.
The hope of Ground Espresso Bars is that the hub will provide essential educational resources for everyone in a region still affected by poverty and with a literacy rate of just 75%. It will also connect the Capucas region to the rest of the world through the internet.
Karen Gardiner, Director, Ground Espresso Bars said of the project: “It’s wonderful to see what was a small project grow in to something that could change lives, thanks to the donation from the University of Honduras.”
She explained: “This is just one step in the Ground Espresso Bars Honduras Project and we’re looking forward to seeing similar projects get off the ground in other coffee-growing regions around the world in 2016 with the hope of making a real difference within the growers’ communities.”
Karen went on: “We want to ensure that all of the individuals in our supply chain, from labourers and farmers to exporters and their families are treated fairly and ethically in all stages of coffee production.”
“Fundraising will continue in all of the Ground Espresso Bars across Northern Ireland to enable similar projects to the one in Honduras.”
“Every donation is welcome, even the 5p change from a cup coffee in one of Ground Espresso’s Bars will help another growing community. ”
For further information or to donate to Ground Espresso Bars Honduras project to go www.groundespressobars.net or visit your local Ground Expresso Bars.
