A North East coffee maker has received royal approval for its range of flavoured beverages.
Beanies Flavoured Coffee, which is based in Darlington, recently won a Queen’s Award for International Trade, following six years of growth overseas.
The team received their award at an event earlier this month, which was attended by Lord Lieutenant of County Durham Sue Snowdon, Darlington MP Peter Gibson and Manuel Fantin, food and drink sector specialist at the Department for International Trade North East. The guests, including members of the Beanies team, enjoyed a presentation and tour of its factory.
John Evans, executive chairman of Beanies, said: “We got involved with the award scheme following a conversation with our MP, Peter, who got in touch to say that the North East was very underrepresented in the Queen’s Award. I investigated it further and found that food and drink companies, particularly in export, were also underrepresented – an area in which we’ve done very well.
“The application involved an extensive questionnaire to highlight our export strategy, successes and growth, along with an independent examination of our accounts. Once we were shortlisted, all the entrants went to firstly the prime minister for selection and then Her Majesty The Queen for final endorsement – in fact, we’re one of the last to be honoured with a Queen’s Award, as opposed to a King’s.”
Beanies was launched in 2013 to offer coffee lovers a choice of easy-to-make flavoured coffees, and it now sells to more than 30 countries. Since winning the Queen’s Award, it has added Turkey, Indonesia, Malta, Kazakhstan, Trinidad and Tobago, and Sweden to its list of exports.
Darlington MP Peter Gibson said: “We don’t shout loud enough about how great businesses are here in the North East, and Beanies is a business that I really felt deserved recognition through the Queen’s Award.
“The company has achieved fantastic things across the globe, and is putting us on the map thanks to its exporting efforts. It was a pleasure to see the team receive the well-deserved award.”
John added: “It’s a very proud moment for Beanies and represents a significant milestone in our progress.
“The award is also an opportunity for the whole team to be recognised for their contribution to the export process. Selling is only the first step. Production, technical, logistics and marketing all play their valuable roles in ensuring that orders get out on time, in full and correctly. And we are supplemented by the excellent external support we get from our close contacts at DIT, our colleagues in the Northern Powerhouse Export Champions and our local MP.
“It was a proud day for the whole extended Beanies family!”
For more information on Beanies and its range of products, visit https://beaniesflavourco.co.uk/