Seattle Coffee Company Introduced at 13 Intrawest Resort Properties

Press Release: Seattle Coffee Company
January 25, 2001
SEATTLE, WA -- Seattle Coffee Company, a division of AFC Enterprises, and parent company of Seattle's Best Coffee® and Torrefazione Italia® Coffee, recently announced a partnership with Intrawest Resort Properties to serve Seattle's Best and Torrefazione Italia coffees in 13 winter and summer resorts throughout the U.S. and Canada.

``Intrawest's high quality resorts complement both of our premium coffee brands,'' said Dave Pellegrini, Vice President, Foodservice Sales. ``We are excited about providing our coffee in these great resorts in response to guest request.''

Seattle's Best Coffee created fresh brew stations and espresso stands to fit comfortably within the mountain lodge environments. The authentic Italian experience and upscale image offered by Torrefazione Italia will primarily be featured in the resorts' white tablecloth dining facilities and in-room coffee service.

``After thorough research, we selected Seattle's Best Coffee® and Torrefazione Italia® based on the taste, training, marketing and operations support. Equipment, signature branding programs and specialized requirements of each resort fit into place. The opening of ski season made a tight launch date, but their ease in rolling out the program exceeded our expectations,'' said Malcom Scott, Director of Food and Beverage, Intrawest Corporation.

Intrawest resorts serving Seattle's Best Coffee® and Torrefazione Italia® include: British Columbia's Whistler/Blackcomb, Panorama Mountain Village, Canadian Mountain Holidays and Swan-e-set Bay Resort and Country Club; Quebec's Mont Ste. Marie; West Virginia's Snowshoe Mountain; New Jersey's Mountain Creek; Colorado's Copper Mountain; Vermont's Stratton; as well as Raven Golf Clubs in Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, Destin, Florida, and Silverthorne, Colorado.

Seattle Coffee Company is the third largest specialty coffee retailer based on revenue, which approached $100 million for 2000. The company has over 5,500 wholesale customers, including restaurants, airlines and hotels, plus 119 Seattle's Best Coffee® (www.seattlesbest.com) and 18 Torrefazione Italia® (www.titalia.com) company-owned and franchised cafes in eight countries, worldwide.

AFC Enterprises (www.afc-online.com) operates and franchises more than 3,600 restaurant, bakeries and cafes in 27 countries, including Church's® Chicken, Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits® and Cinnabon®, and in 1999 had system-wide sales of more than $2 billion.

SOURCE: Seattle Coffee Company