CANTON, MA - July 3rd, 2002 - Equal Exchange, the nation's leading purveyor of fair trade coffee, has announced that the Stop & Shop Supermarket Company is carrying its packaged coffees and tea in approximately 35 of its stores throughout Connecticut and Western Massachusetts, making it one of the first supermarket chains in the U.S. to offer consumers such a wide line of fairly-traded, organic beverages.

The eight coffee SKU's will include a variety of roasts, regular or decaf, as well as both whole bean or ground choices. The four tea SKU's are comprised of Equal Exchange's fairly traded, organic, bagged teas from Darjeeling, India. The coffee and tea will be prominently displayed together in the Natural Foods section.

Equal Exchange has pioneered a business model that ensures a decent income for small-scale farmers in poor communities around the world. Equal Exchange's coffee and tea purchases are currently benefiting 19 small farmer organizations in 11 different countries from Indonesia to Mexico.

Coffee is to date, the most widely-traded agricultural commodity in the world and recently, the fair trade approach has gained attention as millions of coffee farming families struggle with a prolonged collapse in market prices. Prices paid on the conventional market have been below 50¢ a pound for months, their lowest level in 100 years, causing widespread economic distress and malnutrition. As the public learns of this ongoing economic disaster they have welcomed the benefits offered to farmers through fair trade. National sales of certified fair trade coffee have doubled each year since 1998.

The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company, based in Quincy, Massachusetts, employs more than 56,000 associates and operates 323 stores throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey. Stop & Shop is a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Ahold, one of the largest food retailers in the world.

Equal Exchange, the pioneer and U.S. market leader in fair trade coffee since 1991, is a full service provider of specialty, coffee and premium tea to supermarkets, natural food stores, restaurants, colleges and places of worship across North America. One hundred percent of Equal Exchange's products are fairly traded, and the firm offers the world's widest selection of fairly traded coffee, and four varieties of organic, fair trade tea. Based in Canton, Massachusetts, Equal Exchange is also a market leader in certified organic coffee with over 20 varieties.