The Phantom Scribbler has been busy with his crayons again; our iconic illustrator has a passion for both sketching and coffee, and has combined the two to come up with the following drawing. So after seeing this we decided to list a few truths for when you know you’ve drunk too much coffee.

You know you drink too much coffee when:

• You’ve worn the finish off your coffee table.
• Instant coffee takes too long.
• You can jump-start your car without cables.
• People can test their batteries in your ears.
• People get dizzy just watching you.
• You buy milk by the barrel.
• You can’t even remember your second cup.
• You don’t even wait for the water to boil anymore.
• You get a speeding ticket even when you’re parked.
• You grind your coffee beans in your mouth.
• You have to watch videos in fast-forward.
• Your eyes stay open when you sneeze.

Can you think of any more? We would love to hear from you.

Earlier this month we received an email to remind us that an editorial named ‘By Royal Appointment’ had been published nationwide in The Times. It was packed with excellent editorial features on the heritage of Royal Warrants, the Royal style and the business benefits to name a few.

In particular there was an article by Josh Sims that caught our attention which was named “How many products preferred by the Royal Family could you try in a day?”. In this article Josh documents 24 hours in his life as he tries to only use products that have been granted a royal warrant. In essence, Josh wanted to know what it was like “to live like a King”.

“Royal Warrants are a mark of recognition to individuals or companies who have supplied goods or services for at least five years to HM The Queen, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh or HRH The Prince of Wales. Warrants have always been regarded as demonstrating excellence and quality, and are highly prized.”

During the article Josh references an important meeting he had to attend that day, and upon arrival he was asked if he would like a coffee, to which he replied “Only if they could supply it from a Strong Vend Vending Machine”.

The Royal Household have been clients of Strong Vend for over 15 years, with Strong Vend holding a Royal Warrant of appointment from Her Majesty The Queen since 2005. Strong Vend were bestowed the honour for dedication to quality service and products, which they have supplied to many clients for over three decades.

To read the article in full, simply click here.

Farmers of Coffee being produced in countries such as Brazil and Columbia are currently facing some challenging times when it comes to their coffee crops. The production of coffee in the last year has decreased massively and this is due to adverse weather conditions in these Southern American countries which is affecting their harvesting and ruining their crops.

Drought problems have brought production to a 33-year low of 7.8 million bags, each weighing 60kg in 2009, and over the past few months’ heavy rain (which are anticipated to last until April) has disturbed the flowering cycle and brought insects and disease to coffee plantations. Many farmers have now opted to start farming more pasture, oranges and avocado as they believe that coffee is not as profitable as it use to be, such as in 2005 when coffee producing countries had a surplus of beans.

The heavy rains and flooding which has been caused over recent months has affected more than 2 million people in some way, shape or form. More than 300 people have died, thousands of homes have been destroyed, and 1.3 million hectares of land (5,019 sq miles) were submerged. Damages are put at $5.2bn (£3.3bn).

All of this has also had an impact on the pricing of coffee and back in September 2010 the price of coffee was recorded at an all time high at £1.18 per pound. Many coffee companies had to compensate for the hike in prices and duly raised their coffee prices to reflect the fluctuations of the global green coffee market. However despite, the decrease in production, demand for coffee is still very high with Global consumption growing at a pace of 2.5 percent per year since 2000.

Rainforest Alliance is an international environment NGO which ensures that most of its tea comes from certified farms, which have ecosystem conservation programmes, protection of the workforce and surrounding environments, and better working conditions and pay for the farmers.

PG Tips’ ethical and sustainable approach in ensuring that the tea in every single PG Tips tea bag is grown using sustainable farming methods has earned the producer the status of being the first tea business to be fully Rainforest Allowance Certified.

This is great news for us at Strong Vend as we embrace the age of ethical consumerism. It means that we can feel proud that we are supporting sustainable farming and the beautiful country of Kenya, where PG Tips grows its delicious tea.

Research commissioned this month by Mars Drinks has revealed that it’s important for ‘basic needs’ to be met before beginning work. The numbers back this up with 43% of employees saying that a hot beverage has a positive impact on their work and 39% saying that it helps with their concentration.

The survey also uncovered that more employees are choosing to take their coffee at work rather than go out to a cafe because of the expense, most believing that provision of tea and coffee in the workplace is a necessity rather than a ‘perk’.

The study concluded that a comfortable working environment with high quality services including beverage provision will see an improvement in productivity. So why stem the creativity and concentration of your workforce? Make sure your employees always have good coffee, and you are bound to see improvements.

You can give the quiz a try for yourself here. The results might surprise you!

In the study, 130,054 people had their coffee drinking habits tracked. The result was that those who drank four or more cups per day had an 18 percent reduced risk of requiring hospital care. People drinking 1 – 3 cups per day had a 7 percent lower risk of later problems.

Despite these findings however, researchers are keen to point out that the delicious bitter bean does not have any proven positive effects on the heart, and more studies are required to provide concrete proof. Still, it won’t stop me cranking up my daily intake – just in case!