more jobs A COFFEE importer and distributor is launching a blend that will create jobs in the North-East after a £250,000 investment in the business.

Moran Beverage Services, in Middlesbrough, has spent more than two years developing Caffe Vinci with expert coffee bean roasters in northern Italy.

Following extensive research, testing and constant tasting, the blend is being launched to the UK market.

The move is expected to add to the company’s five-strong workforce.

It is the latest step in Moran’s growth, after being founded in the Eighties and moving into a new office, warehouse, showroom and training facility last year on the town’s Skippers Lane Industrial Estate.

The business, which has ties with one of Italy’s most esteemed independent coffee bean roasting companies, counts the newly-opened Rockliffe Hall, in Hurworth, near Darlington, and Gisborough Hall Hotel, east Cleveland, among its customers.

Jim Moran, who founded the company, said he felt the time was right to launch Caffe Vinci into the ever-expanding coffee market.

“We decided that the time was right to launch Caffe Vinci into the UK market as we have spent a long time, and a lot of money, developing the blend and ensuring that it would be a popular choice for our Customer base,” he said.

“Coffee is still growing in popularity and this has certainly contributed to our business growth and desire to bring new coffee to the market.”