SEATTLE, April 1, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Seattle's Best Coffee(r) (SBC) tied for first place in the Best New Food and Beverage Concept category for small companies in Airport Retail News' 2003 Best Concessions Poll, sponsored by Diner's Club. SBC also earned third place honors in the Best Food and Beverage Operator category for small companies. The ARN Best Concession Poll, now in its eighth year, selects an independent panel of industry experts to vote for the best airport concession programs and concepts in the United States.
"Our debut on the ARN poll is a testament to the strong partnership that exists between our franchise development team and our highly committed franchise partners," said Steve Schickler, president of Seattle Coffee Company, parent company of SBC. "Franchise development in airports is a key strategy for SBC's retail growth and we will continue to maintain our standards of excellence as the SBC concept grows in the airport retailing industry."
According to ARN publisher Pauline Armbrust, the Best Concessions awards have earned their preeminence over the years as a result of the rigorous process involved in choosing the winners in each of 16 separate categories. Industry participants first nominate stores, restaurants and airport programs that represent the highest standards in the industry. The panel of industry experts then ranks their favorite nominees. Based on the panel's experiences and their degree of preference for the program or concept, the nominees are awarded points. Contenders with the most accumulated points win.
Seattle's Best Coffee franchisees operate 32 SBC airport cafes in 10 airports across the U.S. including Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport, Corpus Christi International Airport, Dallas Love Field Airport, Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport, Denver International Airport, Newark International Airport, Orlando International Airport, Pittsburgh International Airport, San Antonio International Airport, and the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
About Seattle Coffee Company
Founded in 1970, Seattle Coffee Company, a subsidiary of AFC Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq:AFCE), franchises and operates 196 Seattle's Best Coffee(r) (www.seattlesbest.com) and 21 Torrefazione Italia(r) Coffee (www.titalia.com) cafes in eight countries. The company has more than 12,000 wholesale points of distribution, including grocery stores, restaurants, foodservice locations, airlines and hotels. The company supports TransFair USA, a non-profit monitoring agency, by offering Fair Trade Certified(tm) coffee. Seattle's Best Coffee(r) also offers organic coffee certified by the Organic Crop Improvement Association (OCIA(r)). The OCIA is an international program of certification to strict organic standards. It is the world's largest organic certification agency and has been accredited by the USDA. OCIA is a respected voice in the international organic community.
About AFC Enterprises
AFC Enterprises, Inc. is the franchisor and operator of over 4,072 restaurants, bakeries and cafes in the United States, Puerto Rico and 33 foreign countries under the brand names Church's ChickenTM, Popeyes(r) Chicken & Biscuits, Cinnabon(r), Seattle's Best Coffee(r) and Torrefazione Italia(r) Coffee. AFC's primary objective is to be the world's Franchisor of Choice(r) by offering investment opportunities in highly recognizable brands and exceptional franchisee support systems and services. AFC Enterprises(r) had system-wide sales of approximately $2.6 billion in 2001 and can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.afce.com.
- Fair Trade Certified is a pending trademark of TransFair USA
- OCIA is a registered trademark of the Organic Crop Improvement Association.