Belfast Coffee Firm Secures Major Contract With Ferry Giant

Specialist coffee roaster Bailies Coffee has secured a contract to supply hand-roasted FairTrade coffee to Northern Ireland's leading ferry company Stena Line. The deal, valued at over £450,000, includes supply of coffee, barista training and machine servicing, all of which are provided in-house by the Belfast-based company.

The Bailies coffee package is being supplied to all of Stena Line's ferries on its five Irish Sea routes.

Ian Jamieson, Head of Purchasing for Stena Line on the Irish Sea, explained: "In creating the ultimate experience for our passengers, food and beverage is a key focus for us, and coffee was an area we had identified as being in need of improvement. Bailies demonstrated an impressive level of expertise in all areas of coffee production, and we witnessed a definite passion for the product amongst all the staff on our visit to the Belfast roasterie.

"We trialled Bailies' recommended approach on our Belfast-based Stena Navigator vessel and we have been blown away by the improvement in coffee quality and the positive customer feedback that has quickly resulted.

"The decision to roll out Bailies coffee on all of our Irish Sea vessels was a logical next step and has proven to be very popular with passengers on all of our routes," concluded Ian.

Bailies is supplying 100% Arabica FairTrade Espresso Beans to Stena Line. The Belfast company is FairTrade registered and it sources, roasts and supplies a broad range of fine coffee from across the world, including FairTrade, Rainforest Alliance, Organic and fully traceable single origin and single estate beans.

The deal marks the most significant in a series of recent achievements for Bailies Coffee, which has established a growing reputation for supplying some of the finest quality coffee in the UK and Ireland.

Bailies has supplied espresso beans to two of the last four Irish Barista Champions, and the company's founder Russell Bailie has been invited onto the prestigious international Cup of Excellence judging panels in Guatemala and Brazil.

Business Development Manager for Bailies, Ross Kane explains: "Consumers have become very knowledgeable and discerning about all types of food and drink in recent times, and coffee is no exception. In a rapidly evolving industry, outlets of all sizes now recognise the need to align themselves with a coffee roaster that can provide the expertise and resources to ensure they serve a consistently high quality coffee.

"With so many outlets now providing great coffee, consumers will simply not accept anything less, and it is our ability to respond to this evolving demand that I feel sets us apart," he added.