NEWLY-DISCOVERED SPECIES OF ORCHID
NAMED IN HONOUR OF
PURO COFFEE’S COMMITMENT TO CONSERVATION
Turnhout, 14 September 2011.
Miko Coffee is delighted to announce the naming of an orchid in honour of their Puro brand of
Fairtrade coffees. International conservation charity the World Land Trust (WLT) organised the
scientific naming process in recognition of Puro’s on-going support and donations to their land
purchase projects. Since its launch in 2006, Miko has pledged to donate 2 % of Puro sales to WLT
and this partnership has enabled the funding and creation of a 5,330 acre rainforest reserve in
Ecuador, and now a further one in Brazil.
Whilst trekking within the Puro Rainforest Reserve in November 2007, a representative from Puro
together with Dr. Lou Jost, a world-renowned botanist, discovered a new tree species. This tree was
later named Blakea attenboroughii after Sir David Attenborough (a patron of WLT) in celebration of his
lifetime effort in matters relating to land and wildlife conservation.
A series of other discoveries have since been made, and several new orchid species and 1 new frog
species – all previously unknown to science – have been recorded within the Puro reserve. One of
these orchids has been officially named Teagueia puroana in honour of Puro. Dr. Lou Jost has stated
that the Teagueia puroana orchid is a member of one of the most remarkable plant radiations in the
world, and that “the Puro reserve is proving to be a real treasure-trove of biodiversity”.
For centuries the scientific naming of species has traditionally been used to recognise contributions to
biology and Miko is thrilled to have both their Puro Fairtrade brand and worldwide client base (whose
purchases make this all possible) honoured in such a way by the WLT and community of scientists.
ABOUT MIKO
Miko has been active in coffee service for over 200 years and in plastic packaging for some 35
years now, and was floated on Euronext Brussels in 1998. Miko follows a “two-pillar strategy”
in which its core activities – coffee service and plastic packaging – are practically independent
entities each with its own management, so that each activity can follow its own growth path.
The group employs 641 people and achieved a turnover of EUR 117.8 million in 2010. The
plastic packaging division accounted for 50.1 % of this total. The remaining 49.9 % was
provided by the coffee service division. It is an international group which owns companies in
Belgium, France, Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and
Australia.
END
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For further information, please contact Frans Van Tilborg, tel. +32 (0)14 46.27.70.
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Miko websites: www.miko.eu
www.purocoffee.com
www.coffeerecycling.eu