Clipper Teas, the natural and ethical tea brand owned by Wessanen UK, is on track to its best year in the foodservice sector after securing a major agreement with Virgin Trains.
Supplied through Foodbuy and delivered by Brakes, around one million Clipper teas will be served on board each year. English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Green and Peppermint teas will all be available and have been selected from the brand’s ethical and organic range.
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Virgins Trains service covers long-distance passenger journeys spanning the length of the UK. It connects six of the UK’s largest cities London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and Edinburgh, which have a combined metropolitan population of over 18-million people.
In addition to Virgin trains, Clipper is also served on Virgin airlines and in all the UK Virgin Active gyms.
Clipper Teas has been working in close partnership with Foodbuy, the world’s largest food and drink procurement company, for the last year.
At Foodbuy’s inaugural conference, Clipper was named Best New Supplier in recognition for its commitment to reduce waste, increase efficiency and unwavering focus on ensuring all sites that serve Clipper are merchandised and supplied correctly.
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Through Foodbuy, the brand has also secured a large catering contract with the Compass Group, which sees Clipper’s natural, fair and delicious teas available to 7,000 large UK business and industry sites across the UK.
Adele Ward, Clipper Teas brand controller at Wessanen UK, comments:
We’re proud to be a different kind of tea company. What makes us different is our commitment not just to great taste, but also to developing pure, natural products with a clear conscience. These qualities are standing out during the tender process and helping us to create new partnerships in the foodservice sector. Thanks to a very dynamic team and having a factory that operates 24/7, we have the flexibility and drive to meet the needs of major travel operators and fast-moving foodservice operators.
We are thrilled to be supplying Virgin Trains, which gives us a greater opportunity to further strengthen our relationship with Foodbuy. We’re seeing continued growth in the foodservice side of our business. The brand achieved double-digit growth this year-to-date compared to one year ago in this channel.
Clipper Teas was the UK’s first Fairtrade tea brand and is now the world’s largest Fairtrade tea brand.
Founded in Dorset in 1984, Clipper manufactures an extensive variety of organic and Fairtrade teas and coffees – from everyday blends to green tea and infusions. All of Clipper’s products are made with pure ingredients from the highest-quality sources, with nothing artificial added; the brand never uses bleach to whiten the tea bags and is working to develop a fully-biodegradable tea bag from solely plant-based materials.
Wessanen UK is a natural and organic food company, with pioneering, healthy brands in expanding market segments: Clipper Teas produces a wide range of hot drinks including the #1 organic and white tea brands, and the first Fairtrade-accredited tea; Kallo makes market-leading, organic rice cakes, as well as other savoury snacks, stocks, gravies and cereals; Whole Earth, best known for its peanut butter, manufactures organic spreads, cereals and drinks; Mrs Crimble’s makes joyfully, wholesome and deliciously gluten-free macaroons, cakes, biscuits and nibbles, for all to enjoy, and Almond Breeze, the increasingly popular, healthy milk alternative.
Wessanen UK is Carbon Neutral certified and, either directly or through its subsidiaries, accredited by or a member of a range of industry bodies and associations including; the Fairtrade Foundation; the Soil Association; the UK Tea & Infusions Association, and the Organic Trade Board.
About Virgin Trains
Stagecoach and Virgin are working in partnership to operate the West Coast inter-city route under the Virgin Trains brand, revolutionising travel on one of the UK’s key rail arteries.
The network connects some of the nation’s most iconic destinations including Glasgow, Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester and London.
Virgin Trains is committed to delivering a high speed, high frequency service, offering shorter journey times, more comfortable travel and excellent customer service. Customers consistently rate Virgin Trains ahead of other long-distance rail franchise operators in the National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS) commissioned by industry watchdog, Transport Focus.
Virgin Trains has a proud record of challenging the status quo - from introducing tilting Pendolino trains, to a pioneering automated delay repay scheme, introducing the industry-leading onboard entertainment streaming service, BEAM, and becoming the first franchised rail operator to offer m-Tickets for all ticket types.
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