Leading Distributor of Natural Foods to Carry Equal Exchange's Fairly Traded Packaged Coffees and Hot Cocoa

CANTON, MA - March 8th, 2003 - Equal Exchange, the nation's leading fair trade coffee company, today announces national distribution through United Natural Foods, a leading independent national distributor of natural foods and related products. Through this arrangement select Equal Exchange products will for the first time be easily available to thousands of retailers nationwide. Working with United Natural Foods in this way significantly advances Equal Exchange's long term strategy of putting their gourmet and organic fair trade products within easy reach of America's natural food shoppers.

Products initially available through the United Natural Foods warehouses include six SKU's of organic Fair Trade Certified™ 12 oz. packaged coffee along with organic Fair Trade Certified™ hot cocoa mix: Organic Breakfast Blend (whole bean and drip grind); Organic French Roast (whole bean and drip grind); Organic Mind, Body & Soul blend (drip grind); Organic Decaf (drip grind); and Organic Hot Cocoa Mix.

Equal Exchange Fair Trade Certified™, organic 12oz. coffees and hot cocoa mix will be available in the Western Region warehouses starting in May of 2003 and in Eastern Region warehouses in June of 2003.

"We're excited to get the benefits of the Equal Exchange fair trade model out to thousands of new stores throughout the country. Now it will be easier than ever for consumers to find Equal Exchange products." - Rink Dickinson, President of Equal Exchange.

Fair trade certification guarantees consumers that the coffee they purchase comes from democratically organized cooperatives of small farmers that were paid a just price for their crop. This arrangement stands in contrast to the situation of millions of other coffee farming families who have struggled during the last two years as world coffee prices have reached 100 year lows. Under fair trade farmer cooperatives are paid at least $1.26 per pound of coffee, and $1.41 for organic coffee. In contrast the current world market price is 65 cents per pound, and has reached as low as 42 cents in the last year. Individual farmers are often paid as little as 30 cents per pound. International relief and development agencies have cited this collapse of coffee prices as the cause of widespread hunger, unemployment and the loss of family farms in coffee growing regions worldwide.

Equal Exchange, the pioneer and U.S. market leader in fair trade coffee since 1986, is a full service provider of high quality, organic coffee, tea and hot cocoa to supermarkets, cafés, and places of worship across North America. 100% of Equal Exchange products are fairly traded, benefiting 29 small farmer cooperatives in 14 countries around the world. In keeping with its business philosophy Equal Exchange is a worker cooperative, owned and controlled by its employees.