No surprise then that they’re doing their bit to save the planet by shifting their coffee supplier to the Fairtrade brand, Puro.

Puro and Puro Organic Coffee are the Fairtrade brands of Miko Coffee — a Belgian coffee roaster since 1801 who now has distribution centres across Europe, Australasia and Africa.

Customers purchasing a Fairtrade product have peace of mind that their money will not be used to further exploit third world communities. Fairtrade is a global strategy for poverty alleviation and sustainable development in these communities. Its purpose is to create opportunities for producers and workers who have been economically disadvantaged or marginalised by the conventional trading system.

In addition to its Fairtrade commitment the Puro brand contributes a further two percent of its turnover to the World Land Trust who actively buys and protects rainforests in South America.

Puro is the only Fairtrade coffee brand that works with the World Land Trust and so far Puro has saved 1660 acres of rainforest (or roughly 2000 football fields). By January 2008 33 new species of orchid had been discovered in the Buenaventura Reserve. For a peek into the reserve visit the webcam.

In South Africa, Puro has gone one step further and are in the process of launching a local initiative known as Trees for Schools, which will green schools across South Africa.

Puro Fairtrade beans are sourced from Guatemala and the Congo and Puro Organic beans originate from Peru. Puro has chosen Peru to be the site for its next rainforest reserve.

In addition to sourcing Fairtrade coffee, the Hotel is also actively working to ensure its magnificent gardens are as indigenous as possible. All new plantings are of indigenous plants, and only organic compost is used. All garden irrigation is from borehole water

The Vineyard is also involved in the Silvermine Project, which has seen the hotel adopt and rehabilitate an 8.5 hectare plot in the Sillvermine section of the Table Mountain National Park.