Swine flu plunges St Davids Mexican Coffee Company into hot water (From Western Telegraph)

Swine flu plunges St Davids Mexican Coffee Company into hot water

1:30pm Saturday 16th May 2009 in

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Swine flu fears have plunged a St Davids-based coffee company into hot water.

Rafael Hernandez and his wife Alison say prejudice and misinformation stirred up by the outbreak is grinding their business down, and they are now fighting to keep their company afloat.

The Mexican Coffee Company has seen sales fall by 50% and the family business, which sells high-quality coffee to small outlets, is facing financial repercussions as a direct result of consumer panic.

The couple have even been told to change the company’s name, and say they have been met with greater prejudice from English companies than those based in Wales.

Alison said: “I’m not going to sit there and watch all our years of work go down the drain because of the prejudice.

“Swine flu is passed from person to person, not through products and packaging, and our coffee was in this country long before the outbreak.”

The couple were due to promote their product at a Mexican food fair in Dublin this month, but the show was cancelled because the hotel where it was to be held pulled out because of negative images of Mexico.

Alison added: “You walk into a place and you know you are wasting your time, people even shy away from the samples we leave.

“You phone people to find new clients and the moment you mention the word Mexico they go quiet. People just want to keep their distance, it’s having a massive effect.”

Rafael is also concerned about the impact the outbreak is having on his native country’s economy.

He said: “People in Mexico will not have an income because of this prejudice. Millions and millions of them who work every day to make just enough to live on will be hit by this.”

For more information about the coffee company visit: www.mexicancoffeeco.com.