Diedrich Coffee Expands Its Distribution to 300 Albertsons Grocery Stores in Southern California

Diedrich Coffee Inc. announced that it has entered into an agreement with Albertsons, one of the largest food retailers in the United States, to provide its freshly roasted coffee through more than 300 grocery locations in southern California. The company expects to begin distribution in October 2002. A variety of Diedrich's finest specialty coffees will be available at selected Albertsons stores.

"We are pleased to be working with Albertsons to introduce more consumers to the Diedrich Coffee brand," said Phil Hirsch, chief executive officer of Diedrich Coffee. "We have a terrific reputation, both within the specialty coffee industry and among our customers for producing some of the best tasting and highest quality specialty coffees available anywhere. We believe that we can leverage that reputation and the visibility created through our popular coffeehouses and other branded distribution channels here in southern California to be very successful in grocery stores. This new distribution channel also provides us the opportunity to introduce new customers to our coffeehouses through cross promotion initiatives."

Diedrich Coffee also announced that Jeff E. Hansen has joined the company as director of sales, Grocery Division. Hansen joined Diedrich Coffee from McCormick & Co., the world's largest spice company. For the last 14 years, Hansen has managed a network of national brokers for McCormick & Co., generating brand profit within multi-channel markets in the consumer packaged goods industry.

Ed Apffel, vice president of sales at Diedrich Coffee commented: "Our strategy is to continue increasing Diedrich Coffee brand awareness by entering promising new distribution channels on a selective and disciplined basis. This new distribution agreement with Albertsons is a good example of that strategy. We are pleased with the recent addition of Jeff Hansen to our team. Jeff adds the right skill set and experience to get this new distribution channel launched successfully, which we hope will become a significant component of our wholesale business."

Diedrich Coffee specializes in sourcing, roasting and selling the world's highest quality coffees. The company's three brands are Gloria Jean's Coffees, Diedrich Coffee and Coffee People. The company's 377 retail outlets, the majority of which are franchised, are located in 37 states and 10 foreign countries. Diedrich Coffee also sells its coffees through more than 390 wholesale accounts including office coffee service distributors, restaurants and specialty retailers, via mail order and the Internet.