Audubon, Rogers Family Coffee Companies, Rainforest Alliance Launch Audubon™ Coffee

National Audubon Society
Wednesday, 19 November 2003

"Brew The Right Thing" with Audubon Shade-Grown Certified Organic Coffees

National Audubon Society and Rogers Family Coffee Companies - are honored to announce the launch of a new, habitat friendly, socially responsible, shade-grown, organic coffee line certified by the Rainforest Alliance.

Audubon ™ Coffee features a full line of new premium products offered at select retail outlets, gourmet stores, pet stores, supermarkets, through corporate service, and the Audubon Coffee Club www.auduboncoffeeclub.com . This premium line of coffee reflects the goal of Audubon, the Rogers Family and the Rainforest Alliance to promote environmentally and socially responsible products that protect bird species, wildlife habitat, and dwindling rainforests, and which raise the quality of life for people in the world's coffee growing regions.

"Audubon Premium Shade Grown Coffee proves you can provide consumers with excellent coffee and do so in a progressive way that takes into consideration environmental and social concerns," said Patrick Milliman, National Audubon Society Chief Communications Officer. "Audubon is pleased to work with the Rogers Family and Rainforest Alliance on this worthy project."

Coffee lovers everywhere can now purchase Audubon premium blends certified by Rainforest Alliance that meet its rigorous standards for environmentally and socially responsible coffee farming. Audubon ™ Coffee is also 100-percent certified organic and shade-grown. The product line includes Audubon French Roast, Audubon Breakfast Blend, Audubon Rainforest Blend, and Audubon Decaf blends. These Rainforest Alliance-certified Audubon™ Coffees can also be purchased online at www.auduboncoffeeclub.com or by calling: 1-800-770-9381.

"We are very pleased to forge this partnership with Audubon and the Rainforest Alliance, whose shared goal of protecting the world's threatened wildlife and natural resources mirrors our own commitment to preserving nature and improving the quality of life in the world's coffee-growing regions," said Jon B. Rogers, President of the Rogers Family Coffee Companies which includes San Francisco Bay Gourmet Coffee, Organic Coffee Co., and Fairwinds. "Audubon Coffee reflects our goal to always 'Brew the Right Thing' for all of the people, flora, and fauna associated with our coffee."

Like all coffee roasted, distributed, and sold by the Rogers Family Coffee Companies, since their inception in 1979, Audubon ™ Coffee is grown on farms where the Rogers Family mandates protection of nature and provides direct, continuous aid for thousands of coffee farm workers and their families throughout Latin America and Africa.

Audubon™ Premium Shade Grown Coffee is made exclusively from carefully selected Arabica beans cultivated by farmers in the world's premier coffee regions. These exceptional farmers use traditional techniques to grow beans as nature intended - under a lush canopy of tropical trees, habitat for hundreds of bird species such as toucans and migratory warblers, and rainforest wildlife such as jaguars and tree frogs. To boost production, many coffee farmers have switched to full sun farming and destroyed native shade trees, leaving little possibility for wildlife habitation. The introduction of Audubon™ Coffee helps reverse this destructive trend.

"It is only natural for Audubon, a like-minded conservation organization, to launch a certified sustainable coffee product, and we are pleased that Audubon has chosen for its coffee program beans that meet Rainforest Alliance's guidelines for protecting workers, wildlife, and communities. Increasingly, businesses and consumers are looking for the seal of approval that guarantees social and environmental responsibility," says Tensie Whelan, Executive Director of the Rainforest Alliance.

For more information on the Audubon Coffee program, Source Aid program, Fair Trade, any coffee industry issue, to purchase products or to help the Rogers Family continue to "Brew the Right Thing," please visit www.auduboncoffeeclub.com, www.sfbaycoffee.com , www.o-coffee.com , www.fairwindscoffee.com or www.naturefriendly.org . Or call 1-800-829-1300 or 1-510/638-1300.

For more information, or to contact National Audubon Society, see their website at: www.audubon.org