Marley Coffee, a sustainably grown, ethically farmed and artisan roasted gourmet coffee, announced that is has now set up a national distribution network in the natural grocery retail space. The company recently added United Natural Foods (UNFI) to its roster of distributors to establish a national footprint. Its products are currently distributed nationally through KeHE/ Tree of Life Distributors and DPI Specialty Foods. Regionally, the company works with epicurean distributors like Gourmet Merchants International and Renaissance Specialty Foods. The company's national and regional distributors now cover 100% of the US in the natural grocery space.

UNFI is an independent national distributor that ships from eighteen centers throughout the US and Canada. The company provides services for retailers and manufacturers, including marketing and promotions, merchandising, category management, and store support services. KeHE / Tree of Life utilizes state-of-the-art procurement systems to distribute products throughout North America utilizing twelve distribution centers and working with retailers and manufacturers in the same way.

"When I first thought about Marley Coffee, I wanted to primarily make a great product that customers would love the taste, that is sustainable to the Earth and that would resonate with customers for years to come," says Rohan Marley, Founder and Chairman of Marley Coffee. "Once we had the base products we wanted to bring to market, my team and I sat down to determine our distribution and channel strategy. For the past year and a half, we've been working on these two areas and with the addition of UNFI and KeHE, we feel we've accomplished our strategy."

"I've been in the coffee business all of my life and I can tell you that having a great product and a great brand is just the tip of the iceberg," says Brent Toevs, CEO of Marley Coffee. "As Rohan clearly stated, a company needs to have a clear route to market strategy and a plan on what products go to what channels. When I met Marley Coffee 2 years ago, the company mainly had 12oz Whole Bean bags, which were sold to specialty retailers. Today, we have an entire portfolio of products that can be utilized in just about any channel that you can put coffee into. We laid out which products belong in which channels and then we went out and looked for the right distribution partners in each of those channels. The biggest mistake a company can make is trying to fit a limited number of products into all channels. What we have going for us is our brand and our taste profiles. Now, we've got the right channel partners and with these distributors, we have a national distribution network for the natural grocery retail space."