Caribou Coffee Pledges $100,000 to Children of Tsunami Disaster; Caribou Partners with Coffee Kids to Keep Donations Rolling in One Month after Tsunami Hits

Business Wire, Jan 18, 2005

MINNEAPOLIS -- Caribou Coffee Company has pledged to donate a minimum of $100,000 to the Coffee Kids "Sumatra Relief Fund" on the one-month anniversary of the tsunami disaster. The donation will directly benefit child victims of the devastated coffee-growing region of Aceh in Sumatra. One hundred percent of funds contributed will be used for buying food and clothing and rebuilding community structures. Caribou Coffee is timing their effort one month after the disaster to help drive home the point that donations are still needed after the initial outpouring of assistance.

On Wednesday, January 26, Caribou will donate $1 of every cup of Sumatra coffee and every bag of Sumatra beans sold. All 300 Caribou coffeehouses will brew only Sumatra and Sumatra Decaf as their Coffee of the Day. Caribou has guaranteed a contribution of $100,000; however any dollars that exceed that amount will also be donated. Proceeds from Internet sales of Caribou Coffee's Sumatra coffee will also go toward the donation efforts. Visit Caribou online at www.cariboucoffee.com.

"We have chosen to partner with Coffee Kids due to the tremendous impact that this natural disaster has had on the children of Sumatra and the rest of the region," said Caribou CEO Michael J. Coles. "This is consistent with the goals of our charitable foundation, Caribou for Kids. Everyone at Caribou is compelled to give back to a region of the coffee-growing industry that has been so good to us. Some of the best coffee we have comes from the hard-struck area. We feel as if our friends and colleagues have been impacted by this natural disaster."

Coffee Kids founder Bill Fishbein said, "The response from Caribou and other companies to this tragedy has renewed my faith in the human spirit. We are all horrified at the extent of the disaster caused by the recent earthquake and tsunami. Coffee-farming families in Aceh Province in Sumatra are working feverishly to address the serious problems they face. Coffee Kids considers it an honor and a privilege to be able to act, even in a small way, as a means for so many individuals and businesses who would like to direct their contributions to the coffee-farming families in Aceh."

About Caribou Coffee

Minneapolis-based Caribou Coffee Company is the second largest non-franchised coffee house chain in the United States with 300 stores in 12 states and the District of Columbia. Caribou Coffee opened its first store in December 1992 in Minneapolis. Today, 4,000 people work for Caribou.

About Coffee Kids

Coffee Kids is an international non-profit organization established to improve the quality of life for children and families who live in coffee-growing communities around the world. Coffee Kids has formed a partnership with ForesTrade to provide much needed disaster relief services to Sumatra's coffee-growing region of Aceh.