Cafeology, Sheffield's exclusively Fairtrade, out-of-home beverage company, welcomed the arrival of a special guest - the president of the Colombian coffee producer group which supplies the majority of its beans.

During his first visit to Europe, he saw where his coffee is sold and Cafeology customers, including Sheffield College, learnt how Fairtrade purchases are benefitting his community.

The visit by Francisco Herrera, who is president of the non profit Asoapia Growing Co-operative, was timed to coincide with the annual Fairtrade Fortnight, which started on February 22nd. The theme of this year's Fairtrade Fortnight is encouraging consumers to swap their usual brands for Fairtrade alternatives.

Francisco spent his first night at Sheffield's Beauchief Hotel and ate at the recently refurbished and opened Christian's Restaurant, which are two of Cafeology's most recent customers, to whom Cafeology supplies a full range of its Fairtrade hot beverages, branded crockery and ancillary products.

The new proprietor of Christian's Restaurant, Christian Kent - latterly of Sheffield's Blue Room Brasserie - laid on a Yorkshire-themed meal in honour of Francisco's visit when he not only had a taste of local produce but also of his own roasted coffee beans!

During his visit Francisco met a selection of Cafeology's customers on their own grounds, both in Sheffield and across the country, from colleges and universities to caterers, businesses and restaurants.

Anna Fielding, Cafeology's national account manager, said: "Everyone at Cafeology was delighted to welcome Francisco to the UK. His visit was extremely exciting for the business as it enabled him to experience the wide range of our customers across the UK. It was especially beneficial for the customers he visited as they heard first-hand how Fairtrade benefits the Colombian producers and growers like him."

Cafeology originally sourced its Colombian coffee beans from larger co-operatives but, when its managing director, Bryan Unkles visited Colombia last year, he decided that buying directly from smaller grower organisations, such as Asoapia, was the most effective way of benefitting them directly and upholding Fairtrade principles.