LOS ANGELES—The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Los Angeles-based specialty coffee and tea retailer, has announced that their strategic partnership with Ralphs Grocery Company will include on-site cafes.
For the new program, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf will immediately replace Seattle's Best Coffee in 11 existing cafes. The initial agreement is for 24 in-store cafes with plans to double that number throughout the three-year contract.
The news release said Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf-branded cafes will offer a full range of beverage items, available in limited flavors. Ralphs employees will operate the cafes, which will serve the full range of menu items, although some limited-edition and promotional items will be available only at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf locations. Customers will continue to obtain packaged coffee in the aisles of the grocer's coffee section.
The release said Ralphs will have exclusive for the licensing rights to The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf cafes in all large supermarket chains (more than 50 locations) in California.
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf currently has 389 stores in California, Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii, the Middle East, Asia, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Australia.
