Diedrich Coffee Joins Russell 2000 Index

By: Diedrich Coffee | 13 Shares 85 Reads

Irvine, Calif. // PRNewswire-FirstCall // -- Diedrich Coffee, Inc. (Nasdaq: DDRX), a leading roaster and wholesaler of the world's finest coffees, was added to the U.S. small-cap Russell 2000(R) Index after the equity markets closed on June 26, 2009.

Membership in the Russell 2000, which remains in place for one year, is based on membership in the broad-market Russell 3000(R) Index. The company was also added to the Russell 2000 Growth style index.

Annual reconstitution of Russell's U.S. indexes captures the 4,000 largest U.S. stocks ranked by total market capitalization as of the end of May. Russell determines membership for its equity indexes primarily by objective market-capitalization rankings and style attributes.

"The addition of Diedrich Coffee to the Russell 2000 Index represents another milestone for our company," said J. Russell Phillips, president and CEO of Diedrich Coffee. "Our inclusion in the Russell 2000 increases the awareness of our accomplishments among institutional investors and the investment community, as well highlights our potential for strong growth this year. We believe this listing is another affirmation of our strategy to capitalize on the growth of the wholesale specialty coffee market with our strength as a premier roaster and distributor of the world's finest coffees."

With the increasing demand for specialty coffees in homes, restaurants and offices, Diedrich Coffee is realizing strong growth in its wholesale business, especially in the sale of K-Cups through office coffee distributors, specialty stores and online retailers. Diedrich Coffee is one of only four roasters under license to produce K-Cups for Keurig's top-selling single-cup brewing system. The award-winning design of Keurig's single-cup brewing system combines a pressurized hot water brewer with its patented K-Cups, which feature a design that preserves the freshness of specialty coffees and teas. System wide, more than 2 billion cups of Keurig Brewed(R) coffee and tea have been enjoyed since 1998.

The Russell 3000 also serves as the U.S. component to the Russell Global Index, which Russell launched in 2007. Russell indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for both passive and active investment strategies. An industry-leading $4.4 trillion in assets currently are benchmarked to them. These investment tools originated from Russell's multi-manager investment business in the early 1980's when the company saw the need for a more objective, market-driven set of benchmarks in order to evaluate outside investment managers.

The Russell 2000 Growth Index measures the performance of the small-cap growth segment of the U.S. equity universe. It includes those Russell 2000 companies with higher price-to-value ratios and higher forecasted growth values.

The Russell 3000 Index measures the performance of the largest 3000 U.S. companies representing approximately 99% of the investable U.S. equity market.

About Diedrich Coffee

With headquarters in Irvine, California, Diedrich Coffee specializes in sourcing, roasting and selling the world's highest quality coffees. The company markets its three leading brands of specialty coffees, Diedrich Coffee, Coffee People and Gloria Jean's Coffees, through office coffee service distributors, restaurants and specialty retailers, and via the company's web stores. Diedrich Coffee is one of only four roasters under license to produce K-Cups for Keurig Incorporated's top-selling single-cup brewing system.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this news release that relate to future plans, financial results or projections, events or performance are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and fall under the safe harbor. Actual results and financial position could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the financial and operating performance of Diedrich Coffee's wholesale operations, the company's ability to maintain profitability over time, the successful execution of the company's growth strategies, the impact of competition, the availability of working capital, and other risks and uncertainties described in detail under "Risk Factors and Trends Affecting Diedrich Coffee and its Business" in the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 25, 2008 and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except where required by law, the company does not undertake an obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or changed circumstances.

Trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE: Diedrich Coffee, Inc.

###