Forza Coffee Company is excited to introduce gluten-free, allergy friendly, vegan products in many of its stores starting February 1st 2011

Forza Coffee has teamed with Granny Lala’s Baking Company of Tacoma, Washington to cater to customers with dietary restrictions. Products to be carried in the coffee shops include carrot cake, mini muffins, double chocolate brownies, a selection of cookies, and Granny Lala’s popular chocolate quinoa “Katie Cake” with chocolate ganache.

“We understand a number of people have dietary restrictions and cannot consume certain foods found in popular coffeehouse food selections,” Brad Carpenter, Founder and CEO of Forza says. “Secondly, much of what is available is less than delicious.”

The gluten-free, allergy friendly, vegan products are prepared locally in Tacoma in “Granny’s makery”, Lara Weihs (a.k.a Granny Lala) says, referring to what her granddaughter, Brooklynn, calls the bakery, “its where Granny makes stuff.” The “makery” is in a dedicated gluten free facility, meaning common allergens are not allowed in the facility to protect against cross-contamination.

The Forza logo, a Roman coin, includes the phrase “Forza di Vita” which translates to, “The strength of life”. In Italy, the local espresso shops define their communities. Forza strives to establish itself as a strong partner within the community. With this in mind, Granny Lala will be hosting nutrition seminars at select Forza stores to help participants learn about food intolerances, dietary restrictions and recipe substitutions.

“We know this is a very serious, life-threatening, case for some people. We want to partner with someone who is equally committed to providing top quality products.” Carpenter added. To guard against cross-contamination, the products - which are free of gluten, dairy, egg, nut, soy, and corn – are individually packaged for display at Forza stores.  Most of the ingredients are organic and Granny Lala’s products are free of refined sugar, artificial colors & flavors and preservatives.

Gluten and allergen-free products are available at these Forza Coffee stores:

• Forza at 12th and Union – 1202 South Union, Tacoma, WA 98495
• Forza at 27th – 2700 Bridgeport Way W. Suite G, University Place, WA 98466
• Forza at Cirque – 4828 Bridgeport Way, University Place, WA
• Forza at Dupont – 1520 Wilmington Dr Suite 100 Dupont, WA 98327
• Forza at Gig Harbor – 5275 Olympic Drive NW Gig Harbor, WA 98335
• Forza at Pearl – 2209 N Pearl St., Tacoma, WA 98406
• Forza at Puyallup / Pioneer Park – 210 West Pioneer, Puyallup, WA 98374
• Forza at Silverdale – 9995 Silverdale Way NW, Suite 111, Silverdale, WA 98383

About Forza Coffee Company
There are more than 23 Forza stores in the Pacific Northwest area and one in Colorado. The company plans to expand into other metropolitan markets and other states in 2011. Forza has been selected as Best Coffee for the last two years by South Sound Magazine, Best Coffee House by Crown In Town, and Best Coffee by Channel 7 in Denver, Colorado.

Forza Coffee Company was founded by Brad Carpenter in 2005 and is headquartered in Federal Way, Washington. The company operates through company-owned and franchised retail stores. For more information, visit www.ForzaCoffeeCompany.com

Forza holds frequent franchise information seminars at its stores. If you are interested in receiving information on how to open a Forza franchise, please go to www.ForzaFranchise.com and register.

Be sure to find Forza Coffee on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ForzaCoffee and Granny Lala at www.facebook.com/GrannyLalasInc

Tacoma, Wash., December 9, 2010 – Forza Coffee Company today announced that it will offer mobile printing capabilities to its customers at its Tacoma, Wash., store, located at 2209 North Pearl Street. Customers using laptops, tablets or smartphones (such as a BlackBerry® smartphone, Apple® iPhone® and iPad®, DROID or any Internet-enabled device) will now be able to print at Forza using Ricoh HotSpot technology without the need for a device-specific driver or special software.

Ricoh recently surveyed consumers on their attitudes toward mobile printing, and of those that own a laptop, tablet or smartphone and go to a local coffee shop to do work, a third of survey respondents said they would be likely to consider printing documents at a coffee shop. In addition, a third of overall respondents felt that it would be valuable for their local coffee shop to provide them with printing capabilities.*

“At Forza, we are continually looking for new ways to enhance our customers’ experience,” said Shaun Nestor, communication director for Forza. “We believe offering mobile printing to our customers, many of whom already spend time in our stores doing work on their laptops, tablets or smartphones, is a beneficial service and a natural extension to our menu.”

Forza Coffee Company is offering free printing to all customers between December 8th and January 8th. To use Ricoh HotSpot at Forza, customers simply have to email the document, with or without an attachment, to the printer at ForzaPearl@printspots.com or upload the document to www.printeron.net/Forza/Pearl. Customers will then receive a secure release code to enter at the printer to release their prints.

“Ricoh HotSpot offers customers fast and convenient printing options, all in a secure environment,” said Matt Sakauchi, vice president of the Office Printing Business Group, Ricoh US. “As mobile devices continue to gain popularity, coffee shops, like Forza, are increasingly popular places for people to do work. Installing Ricoh HotSpot technology provides an added, desired service to these customers.”

Mobile printing solutions for Ricoh HotSpot are powered by PrinterOn®. Ricoh Americas Corporation is a leading provider of digital office equipment and advanced document management solutions and services. Further information on Ricoh HotSpot along with other Ricoh document management products and solutions can be found at www.ricoh-usa.com.

*These results are based on a national probability sample of 1,011 telephone interviews among adults 18 years and older living in private households in the continental United States, conducted from November 11-14, 2010. The survey was conducted by CARAVAN®, an omnibus service of Infogroup | ORC for Ricoh Americas Corporation.