News & Media

Contact: Aimee Yamamori, Phoenix Zoo
602.914.4305 or pager 602.223.8222

March 16, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

PHOENIX ZOO AND STARBUCKS PARTNER TO HOST 'ORIGINS' EVENT

The Phoenix Zoo, in partnership with Starbucks coffee, will host an eight day 'Origins' event that will highlight the regional origins of Starbucks coffee, and animals that tie to the regions. Origins will be hosted from 10 am to 2 pm daily on March 23rd-26th and March 30th-April 2nd.
Three regional areas that will be highlighted include Mexico, Sumatra and Kenya. Each Origin station will include authentic cultural experiences, coffee tasting, information about the regional animals, interactive children's activities and artifacts from the area, as well as information on how the coffee is grown in the locales. The activities in the areas will include:
• Sumatra/Tiger: Starbucks will sample Sumatra coffee at the Sumatran tiger exhibit. The station will highlight the important role the endangered Sumatran tiger plays in the local culture, as well as the effects of the tsunami in the area.
• Mexico/Monkey Village: This area will highlight Starbucks shade-grown coffee, which helps sustain the forests and the animals that inhabit them.
• Kenya/White rhino: This Origins location will feature Starbucks Kenya coffee near the exhibit of the white rhino, which is found in the areas around Kenya. Kenya is also the birthplace of coffee.

Phoenix Zoo/Starbucks Origins Event
"We are genuinely excited to be partnered with the Phoenix Zoo to share the unique flavors from each coffee-growing region around the world, " said Firat Taydas, Starbucks Phoenix-based coffee diplomat. "We share with the Zoo a keen interest in environmental sustainability and natural resource conservation, especially in Indonesia, Latin America and East Africa—the three regions that produce the world's supply of coffee."
The Origins activities are free with regular Zoo admission. For more information click here or call 602.273.1341.