AUSTIN, Texas (November 4, 2003) Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFMI), the world's largest retailer of natural and organic foods, proudly presents an exclusive new organic coffee from Finca El Pintado, which has earned its Authentic Food Artisan (AFA) designation. Allegro Coffee Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Whole Foods Market has purchased the entire crop from this Guatemalan family farm.
As a child, Enrique Arzu Cobos was regaled with tales of his family's coffee farm in Antigua, which the family lost in the late the 1800's. Cobos vowed that he would own a coffee farm in Guatemala and carry on the family legacy. Cobos purchased the farm known as El Pintado in the 1960's and today that farm grows the very finest quality organic coffee while sustaining the land and nourishing the people who farm it. Finca El Pintado has been carefully roasted to bring out its inherent character. This bittersweet full-bodied coffee exhibits a tartness at first sip. Combined with its sweet, cocoa-y nose, it is, as it cools just a bit, a smooth, mildly-flavored coffee that would pair well with spicy and creamy desserts — such as pumpkin pie with fresh whipped cream.
Whole Foods Market's AFA seal is reserved for products of excellence selected by buyers who search the world handpicking products made to exacting standards. AFA products are organic and must be made using the methods traditional to their trade, in small batch production from the finest ingredients.
