Rogers Family Company

100 Year Tree Planting

ROGERS FAMILY CO. FIGHTS GLOBAL WARMING WITH ‘100 YEAR’ TREE PLANTING PROGRAM
Plants a Rainforest Tree for "Java Perks" & "Audubon Coffee Club" Members.

SAN LEANDRO/LINCOLN, CALIF. (April 20, 2009) – To reduce carbon emissions, fight global warming and protect vanishing bird habitat, the San Leandro, Calif.-based Rogers Family Company (www.rogersfamilyco.com) – a nationwide producer of “responsibly grown” gourmet coffee – will plant a native rainforest tree on one of its own organic coffee farms for the next 100 years for anyone who joins its online “coffee clubs.”

From now through at least ‘Earth Day’ 2109, the Rogers Family Company (also of Lincoln, CA) will plant trees on its 100% organic coffee farms in Central America on behalf of anyone who joins their coffee Clubs on the Rogers Gourmet Coffee & Tea Market (www.gourmet-coffee.com) or Audubon Premium Shade-Grown Coffee (www.auduboncoffeeclub.com) online stores.

By having trees planted in their names, Club customers will help the Rogers family fight global warming by offsetting the carbon emissions created in the coffee production, roasting and transportation process. The fast-growing trees – which ‘sequester’ (absorb) carbon dioxide - can live hundreds of years and also provide habitat for birds and other wildlife. The trees will be planted once a year. Club members also get other perks such as discounts and loyalty points for each order.

"We’ve been committed for many years to producing coffee in an environmentally responsible way and we are happy to continue this pledge for the next century and beyond,” said Rogers Family Company CEO Jon B. Rogers. “This program is a small but hopefully enduring symbol of our commitment to produce coffee in concert with nature. Long after a customer leaves, their tree will stay. Of course, we hope our customers stay.”

The 30-year old, family-owned company, whose divisions include the Organic Coffee Company and San Francisco Bay Premium Gourmet Coffee, also produces a premium shade-grown coffee line under license from the National Audubon Society and certified by the Rainforest Alliance. Shade-grown coffee preserves habitat for migratory and native bird species – a vital part of the mission of the National Audubon Society which recently issued a report on how global warming has already affected birds in North America - and can restore local water supplies.

Shade grown or mixed ‘agro-forestry’ farming is one of the rare human industries that can actually fight global warming via rapid carbon sequestration. When coffee trees are planted amid fast-growing, highland rainforest trees, this ‘blend’ can sequester up to 20 tons of carbon per hectare (2.5 acres) per year. In comparison, a full-sun, ‘mono-culture’ (row after row of a single coffee tree species) coffee plantation removes typically six tons per year.

For now, the company will be planting the native trees on its own 100% organic coffee farm at Rancho Quilco in the remote highlands of Mexico’s Chiapas region. The company will email the Club customer a photo of the tree growing in its new, natural home. Species include Chicharro, Mezcal, Hormiguillo, Albaricoque, Aguacate de Montana, Cola de Pava and Tepemixtle. The company will expand this pilot program to its other organic coffee farms in the coming decades.

In the past decade alone, the Rogers family has purchased farms in Mexico and Central America with the goal to create completely organic and sustainable farms and restore clear-cut land to their natural rainforest state for birds and wildlife.

The Rogers purchased Rancho Quilco several years ago from a family whose patriarch was 80 years old and wanted to retire. The Rogers purchased the land - which has large swaths of rainforest - and also collaborated with Costco de Mexico to build a new middle school as part of the Rogers’ Community Aid program. In cooperation with farmers and help from partners and customers, Community Aid has completed hundreds of social and environmental projects. Projects include building more than 30 schools, 1,000 houses as well as medical facilities, schools and day care centers for thousands of workers. Community Aid also provides permanent educational programs and scholarships, doctors, nurses, teachers, food and clothing, clean drinking water and energy systems and protects rainforest and wildlife.

One of the company’s farms in Panama has become a regional showcase for organic farming, drawing other farmers, students and even government officials. The former, 94-acre cattle ranch – once devoid of trees - now harbors dozens species of birds and animals amid restored rainforest. The company’s organic approach has also helped reduce runoff of toxins into local water supplies, lessened the risk of birth defects and preserved such “globally threatened” species as the Polymorphic Robber Frog and Painted Bunting bird in Nicaragua and Mexico. The Rogers Family Co. also recently launched a Community Aid program and organic coffee operation in Rwanda. As millions of rainforest vanish each year, the Rogers Family Co. will continue to fight this trend through its tree planting and organic farming on its own farms. The company will also continue to require its partner farmers to preserve native forests, plants, soil, water supplies and wildlife and practice natural methods of fertilization.

The Rogers Family was founded in 1979 by Princeton University graduate and ex-Revlon executive Jon B. Rogers and his wife Barbara Rogers. The company is one of the nation’s leading importers and roasters of “Fairly Traded” branded gourmet coffee and tea. All four of their adult children play a key role in the company that supplies its “Responsibly Grown/Fairly Traded” coffee and tea to customers worldwide. Headquartered in San Leandro, California the company’s divisions and brands include the Organic Coffee Company, San Francisco Bay Premium Gourmet Coffee, Pleasant Hill Farms, Café Jerusalem, Audubon Shade-Grown Coffee Coffee, East India Coffee & Tea, the Organic Tea Co. and Black Mountain Gold. With 150 employees, the company makes approximately 3,500 individual coffee and tea products. The company has an additional roasting operation in Lincoln, California.

For more information, please visit www.rogersfamilyco.com or call 1/800/829-1300. Media can contact Jim Zelinski/Zelinski Public Relations – 925/242-0918 or 415 /420-6050 or email – This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it – to request a coffee farm tour or obtain photographs or video of floral, fauna or people of coffee growing regions.

Now in its second century, Audubon (www.audubon.org) connects people with birds, nature and the environment that supports us all. Our national network of community-based nature centers, chapters, scientific, education and advocacy programs engages millions of people from all walks of life in conservation action to protect and restore the natural world.