Peet's Coffee & Tea, Inc. Announces New Grocery Distribution to 239 Stop & Shop Supermarkets

Company Continues Grocery Expansion in New England with its Distinctive, Hand-Roasted Coffee Offerings 


EMERYVILLE, Calif., Feb. 12  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Peet's Coffee & Tea, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEET), a specialty coffee roaster and marketer, today announced the availability of its fresh, deep-roasted coffee within Stop & Shop Supermarkets, a division of Royal Ahold (NYSE:AHO).  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 distinctive, hand-roasted coffees.  Rollout of Peet's Coffee in these locations is expected to be completed by mid-March.

"We are absolutely delighted by the response to our coffee offerings in New England with our increased grocery presence," said 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."

"We are very impressed with Peet's direct store delivery program and their extraordinary commitment to delivering fresh, hand-roasted coffee to their customers," said Steven Fernandez, grocery buyer, Stop & Shop Supermarkets. "It is our goal to seek out the highest quality food and beverage offerings for our customers, and we look forward to offering them access to the premier leader in specialty coffee brands."

Peet's will be offering the following signature coffees packaged in 12- ounce bags:

* Peet's French Roast - an intense, bold coffee with pronounced smoky overtones

* Peet's House Blend - a medium-bodied blend of coffees from Latin America

* Decaf House Blend - a lively and flavorful blend of coffees from Latin America

* Major Dickason's Blend(R) - a rich, full-bodied coffee that is complex and smooth

* Sumatra - a full-bodied coffee that is sweet with slightly earthy, herbal nuances

Visit http://www.peets.com/locate for a complete list of Stop & Shop stores where Peet's will be offered.

ABOUT PEET'S GROCERY PROGRAM

To meet its ongoing commitment to provide customers with coffees of uncompromising quality and superior freshness, Peet's delivers to grocery stores in select markets throughout the United States through its own Direct Store Delivery (DSD) network.  Peet's has made a significant investment in DSD resources to carefully manage the freshness of its coffee and pledges to its customers that the coffee they buy from Peet's will always be fresh. Unlike other specialty coffee roasters, the company retains dedicated and trained DSD "Peetniks" to work directly with grocery partners to manage their orders and personally deliver and rotate freshly roasted Peet's coffee into each grocery store ensuring its coffee is enjoyed at the peak of freshness and flavor.

ABOUT PEET'S COFFEE & TEA, INC.

Founded in Berkeley, Calif., in 1966, Peet's Coffee & Tea, Inc. is a specialty coffee roaster and marketer of fresh, deep-roasted whole bean coffee for home and office enjoyment.  Peet's fresh-roasted coffee, hand-selected tea and related items are sold in several distribution channels, including specialty grocery and gourmet food stores, online and mail order, office and restaurant accounts, and company-owned stores throughout the U.S.  For information about Peet's Coffee & Tea, Inc., visit http://www.peets.com/ or call 1- 800-999-2132.  Peet's Coffee & Tea, Inc. shares are traded under the symbol PEET.

ABOUT STOP & SHOP

The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company, based in Quincy, Massachusetts, employs more than 58,000 associations and operates 385 stores throughout Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York and New Jersey.  For more information on Stop & Shop, visit http://www.stopandshop.com/.

This press release contains statements that are not based on historical fact and are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based on management's beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to management, including financial and operational information and current competitive conditions.  As a result, these statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties.  The Company's actual results could differ materially from those set forth in forward-looking statements depending on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, risks arising from accounting adjustments; the Company's ability to implement its business strategy, attract and retain customers, and obtain and expand its market presence in new geographic regions; the availability and cost of high quality Arabica coffee beans; consumers' tastes and preferences; and competition in its market as well as other risk factors as described more fully in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 1, 2006.  These factors may not be exhaustive.  The Company operates in a continually changing business environment, and new risks emerge from time to time.  Any forward- looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. 

DATASOURCE: Peet's Coffee & Tea, Inc.



CONTACT:  Jennifer Strasburg of Weber Shandwick, [phone], or

, for Peet's; or Steven Fernandez of Stop & Shop,

[phone], or 



Web site:  http://www.peets.com/ 

Copyright