A coffee bean-powered car will be grinding to a halt in Locks Heath as part of a UK-wide tour celebrating Fairtrade Fortnight.
The Co-operative food store’s Coffee Car – dubbed the Bean Machine – will pit stop at the supermarket in Centre Way to give shoppers a caffeine boost.
The Bean Machine drives into Locks Heath for Fairtrade Fortnight
Customers can pick up a free sample of the Fairtrade coffee, by heading to the store on Saturday March 2 between 10.30am and 11.30am.
The event marks 10 years since the foodstore converted all its own-brand coffee to 100 per cent Fairtrade and celebrates during the Fairtrade Fortnight, which runs until March 10.
Alan Dickerson, Manager of the Locks Heath Co-operative Food store, said they were proud to celebrate a decade of Fairtrade.
He added: “It’s vital that we educate people about the Fairtrade movement and the power it has to change lives.
“I’m sure the eye-catching tour of our coffee car will certainly spark conversations around the subject.
“Whether a coffee-producer in Guatemala or a tea producer in Kenya, Fairtrade enables people living in some of the world’s poorest countries to escape poverty and empower themselves and their families.”
The Bean Machine is powered by coffee chaf pellets, the waste product from coffee production. It was invented by eco-engineer and conservationist Martin Bacon, from the Teesdale Conservation Centre, in County Durham.
The vehicle recently set the Guinness World Land Speed Record for a car of its kind, and its tour aims to set another world record, for the longest ever journey by a coffee-powered car – more than 1,600 miles.