SANTA BARBARA, Calif., U.S. — Front Range Biosciences (“FRB”) a leading agricultural biotech company that specializes in tissue culture propagation of high value crops, is pleased to announce it has signed a Letter of Intent and has entered into negotiations for a multi-year production agreement with Frinj Coffee, a leader in specialty coffee breeding and production, to supply coffee plants to farmers across Central and Southern California.
Through the partnership, FRB will provide Frinj Coffee with more than 3 million coffee rooting cuttings from FRB’s Clean Stockâ„¢ program between 2018 to 2022.
Utilizing a state-of-the-art tissue culture production facility with strict quality control standards, FRB produces rooted cuttings from its Clean Stock certification program that are disease-free, pesticide-free, vigorous, and consistent.
“The specialty coffee market is on the rise and consumers are increasingly willing to pay a premium for selectively picked beans from special microclimates that offer unique flavors with little to no defects,” said Dr. Jonathan Vaught, CEO and Co-Founder of FRB. “We look forward to working with the Frinj Coffee team to better position California farmers to capitalize on this opportunity.”
Founded by Jay Ruskey, who has been an innovator in developing methods for California coffee production for more than 15 years, Frinj Coffee’s goal is to make Southern California the next speciality coffee capital of the world. The company is currently providing plant material to over 25 farms across California.
In 2002, Ruskey introduced the coffee program to his farm, Good Land Organics, which grew to become Frinj Coffee and has since produced, processed and roasted 15 different Coffea arabica varietals. Frinj Coffee recently partnered with Blue Bottle Coffee for its first release Frinj Coffee’s premier California Geisha blend in 2017 that was offered all of their retail stores.
“California’s coffee industry is gaining ground and we are proud to be at the forefront of the charge. Traditionally, American coffee production has taken place in Hawaii, but California farmers have taken an increasing interest in the crop after realizing the sub-tropical plants can thrive in the state,” said Ruskey.
“We are excited to work with Front Range Bioscience to build a Clean Stock program for our traditional and proprietary coffee cultivars while generating high quality plants for our network of growers.”
About Front Range Biosciences
FRB is an agricultural biotech company that specializes in tissue culture propagation of high value crops at industrial scale to improve consistency and efficiency for clone production.
FRB also has an advanced breeding program for identifying and improving commercially relevant traits. FRB is located in Lafayette, Colorado. For more information on Front Range Biosciences, visit http://www.frontrangebio.com.
