Press Release: February 20, 2001

WR Hambrecht + Co Initiates Coverage of Peet’s Coffee & Tea (PEET) with a Buy Rating and a Price Target of $14

San Francisco, CA, February 20, 2001—WR Hambrecht + Co today initiated research coverage on Peet’s Coffee & Tea (PEET) with a Buy rating and a price target of $14. WR Hambrecht’s Specialty Retail/Branded Consumer analyst Kristine Koerber cites Peet’s strong brand, multiple sales channels and unique product positioning as key reasons for the recommendations. WR Hambrecht + Co offers all its research reports free and real-time at www.wrhambrecht.com.

“We believe that Peet’s multi-channel distribution model has positioned it to deliver revenue growth of at least 15-20 percent over the long term. By building a national premium coffee brand, not only through flagship retail locations, but also by smartly positioning the brand within specialty and gourmet food stores, the company should continue to drive revenue growth over the next several years,” Koerber said.

Koerber added, “Infrastructure upgrades over the past several years position Peet’s to expand its non-retail store channel growth with minimal future investment. Therefore, we feel the company is poised for significant operating margin expansion.”

Koerber projects Peet’s FY2001 revenue at $95.1 million and EPS of $0.5 and FY2002 revenues of $111.3 million and EPS of $0.35.

Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Inc. is a specialty coffee roaster and marketer of branded fresh roasted whole bean coffee sold under strict freshness standards through multiple channels of distribution.