The strongly flavoured Guatemala Antigua, from the slopes of extinct volcanoes surrounding the old Guatemalan capital town of Antigua, and the medium strength Colombian San Agustin - grown in the high altitude valleys of the Andes in southern Colombia - are sourced from sustainable coffee businesses created by local farmers.

Both coffees were only previously available as featured ‘coffees of the month’, where rare beans are stocked for a limited period. These two have proved so popular that Whittard is selling them all year round.

Whittard’s master of tea and coffee, Giles Hilton, said: “Whenever either of these two coffees appeared as coffee of the month, coffee aficionados just snapped them up so we have taken the unusual step of listing them in our stores.”

The coffees are both part of Whittard’s unique ‘Fair to Farmers’ initiative, which ensures certain coffees are bought directly from farmers and mills at a premium price on long term contracts to allow profits to be directed back into coffee producing communities.

Said Giles: “These coffees are what our ‘Fair To Farmers’ initiative is all about. The sustainable coffee business created by farmers around the town of San Agustin is helping ease social pressures by providing the community with regular source of income.

“In Antigua, local farmers, assisted by the Guatemalan Coffee Board, have created smallholding groups to pool resources, gain market recognition and attract foreign customers like us to finance improvements to their crops, farms and local facilities.”

“Customer research has shown strong and medium strength coffees are most in demand and we are delighted to boost our pre-packed range with such high quality products,” he added.

San Agustin coffee grows in prime conditions, which help create a bean with a delicious, nearly nutty, warm caramel taste.

While the characteristically smooth dark ‘chocolate and honey’ warmth of a Guatemalan creates a pleasingly firm dark coffee, with subtle hints of caramel nutty flavours, giving way to a dry, spicy smokiness.

Both coffees retail at £3.90 for 227g and are available from Whittard’s 135 stores nationwide, online at www.whittard.co.uk