Washington's at-that-time unique product saw major use as combat rations in World War I. Coffee consumption on the battlefield was seen as valuable since it gave soldiers a caffeine boost. E.F. Holbrook, the head of the coffee section of the U.S. War Department at the time, also considered it an important aid in recovery from mustard gas. It was employed by the Canadian Expeditionary Force from 1914 until the American Expeditionary Force entered the war in 1917, and all production was shifted toward American military use. New, smaller producers also sprung up to meet the incredible level of demand from the Army, which in the final period of the war was six times the national supply.