MONTREAL, QC – Van Houtte announces that its 61 Café-Bistros across Quebec will be serving only 100% fairtrade coffee certified by Fairtrade Canada. In so doing, it becomes the first banner in Quebec to take this step.
The 25 Van Houtte Cafés-Bistros on the Island of Montreal are now serving customers a selection of top-quality fairtrade filtered coffees, including velvety Bistro 1919, velvety organic Africana, bold Colombian, bold Sumatra, velvety organic SWP decaf, Hazelnut Vanilla and Crème Caramel.
Specialty coffees such as espresso, latte, cappuccino and mocha will now all be prepared with the certified fairtrade Espresso Superiore blend.
The atmosphere in the cafés and the quality of the menu items, featuring pastries and muffins baked daily, as well as a great selection of hearty sandwiches, crispy salads, hot comforting meals and, of course, tantalizing desserts, remain the same.
“Since 1919, Van Houtte has been a pioneer in the coffee field, but it is also a leader in sustainable development. Van Houtte’s managers and franchise operators are proud to support coffee-growing communities and enable their customers to contribute to these initiatives”, said Dominic Drouin, Senior Manager of Van Houtte Café Bistro.
GMCR Holding Canada Inc. (GMCR Canada), owner of the Van Houtte brand, has been a partner of Fairtrade Canada since 2000. In 2012, approximately 25% of its coffee supply, which translates into over 65 million pounds of coffee, came from fairtrade sources.
GMCR Canada is fully aware of its social and environmental responsibilities and continues to fulfill its role as a good corporate citizen and provide support to communities.
Moreover, GMCR Canada allocates a portion of its annual before-tax revenues to support social and environmental initiatives, which accounted for approximately $30 million dollars in 2012.
To find out more about GMCR Canada’s commitment towards sustainable development, visit http://gmcrcanadasustainability.ca/.
