Peet's Coffee & Tea Signs New Grocery Distribution Agreement

Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc., a specialty coffee roaster and marketer, continues its grocery expansion in New England with the availability of its fresh, deep-roasted coffee within Stop & Shop Supermarkets, a division of Royal Ahold. A selection of Peet's signature whole bean and ground coffees will be featured in 239 Stop & Shop stores within its Boston-Connecticut Divisions of New England to service the growing demand for the company's hand-roasted coffees. Rollout of Peet's Coffee in these locations is expected to be completed by mid-March 2007. "We are absolutely delighted by the response to our coffee offerings in New England with our increased grocery presence," says Patrick O'Dea, president and chief executive officer, Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc. "Our partnership with Stop & Shop adds yet another opportunity to make Peet's even more accessible to an audience of consumers in a grocery environment who appreciate truly fresh, artisan specialty food items. We are fully committed to delivering 'fresh from the roaster' coffee to Stop & Shop customers through our own direct store delivery network that allows us to manage a strict production rotation schedule, roast orders by hand and package them within minutes to ensure that only the freshest Peet's coffee is presented on the shelves."