Our commitment to rainforest protection through our Puro Fairtrade Coffee brand earned us the prestigious honour of being shortlisted for the 2014 Guardian Sustainable Business Awards. These awards shine a spotlight on the people, projects and initiatives that help drive businesses, society and the environment towards a sustainable future.

Being shortlisted for the awards is the result of our steadfast efforts to raise €1 million from the sale of Puro Fairtrade Coffee and use it to fund the protection of more than 15,000 acres of tropical rainforest, spanning 6 countries.

Now 2% of every bag of Puro coffee is put back into the environment where it grows and used for the creation and protection of tropical rainforest areas rich in biodiversity. In partnership with the World Land Trust, we have taken South America’s most threatened ecosystem under our wing, and we are helping it to flourish. At our Ecuadorian reserve, we have welcomed newly discovered species of frogs, trees and orchids into the forest fold. Our ranger there helps protect these gifts from nature against poachers and loggers. And the gravely endangered golden poison arrow frog finds new sanctuary in our Colombian reserve. In addition, some of our funds have gone to reserves in Honduras and Guatemala, where we are helping safeguard the rainforests and water sources used by local villages and coffee farmers.

These initiatives are supplemented by efforts to raise awareness of nature in places where it is so often taken for granted. Like the webcam transmitting footage from a hummingbird feeder to Puro coffee drinkers in cafes across London, a place where the rainforests of South America are but a distant concern. This is just one example of our efforts to bring those concerns to the doorsteps of people who enjoy coffee, and want to continue to enjoy coffee.