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SINGAPORE BUSINESS AWARDS 2012 THE ENTERPRISE AWARD 2011 THE COFFEE BEAN & TEA LEAF BACKGROUND Mel Elias has been instrumental in the strategic positioning and dynamic expansion of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf®, helping lead the company's growth from 60 to 835 stores worldwide since 1997. As President and CEO, he is responsible for setting strategy and directing the day-to-day operations of the company’s global brand and business. Mr. Elias has been with the company over 15 years, and has been President and CEO since 2008. He worked first in both the Singapore and Malaysia offices in business development. He moved to the U.S. home office in 1999 as Director of Business Development, became VP of Operations in 2000 and was COO from 2001 until assuming the President and CEO position in 2008. Since becoming CEO, Mr. Elias has implemented fiscal and strategic initiatives that resulted in tripling the company profits in less than three years. System-wide sales now exceed US$430 million (S$542 million). Most recently, he spearheaded the launch of two new growth platforms for The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® in wholesale and single serve. Under his leadership, the company has evolved from a specialty coffee and tea retailer into a dynamic global coffee and tea brand and business, across all formats. Prior to joining the company, Mr. Elias was the Director of Development for the Sunvic Group, overseeing the development and operations for Tower Records and Sunvic’s The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® franchise in Malaysia and Singapore.

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Mr. Elias has lived and worked in Asia, Europe and the U.S. As a citizen of Singapore, he attended United World College and completed his National Service. He completed his Law studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Called to the International Bar of the Middle Temple and the Bar of the High Court of the Republic of Singapore, he practiced as an advocate and solicitor in Singapore from 1995 through1997. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf®, serves more than 100 million coffee and tea beverages annually worldwide. It currently has 840 stores in 23 countries, including the United States, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Brunei, Indonesia, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Mexico and the Philippines. The company opens a new store every 72 hours. COMPANY PROFILE The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf®, the oldest and largest privately-held chain of specialty coffee and tea stores in the United States, was founded in 1963 by Herbert B. Hyman, known as the founding father of gourmet coffee in California. The Bean, as it is affectionately known, has become the model of a successful coffee and tea company. Now nearly 50 years old, the brand has become an international icon with pop culture cachet, due to its Los Angeles origins and popularity among celebrities. The company expanded into Singapore in 1996, when the current company owners became the first franchisees. After rapidly expanding in Singapore and Malaysia to 27 stores, they bought out the company in 1998. Today there are 840 stores in 23 countries including company owned and franchised stores. From its earliest days, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® has been known for the premium quality of its coffee and tea, including proprietary roasts and blends. The company maintains direct relationships with the finest small artisan coffee farms and private tea estates around the world to ensure quality and exclusivity. The company prides itself on knowing where every bean and leaf comes from. Sourcing only the top1% of Arabica beans, the company hand blends and roasts its coffee in small batches at its roasting and distribution facility in Camarillo, California, just north of Los Angeles. And the company sources only hand-plucked, whole leaf tea, using just the top two leaves and a bud, to make its numerous varieties of hand blended teas. The company has a history of innovation, most notably the introduction of the Original Ice Blended® drink in 1989, which started the worldwide frozen coffee drink craze. Another milestone was the creation of tea lattes, in particular the chai tea latte, in the late 1990’s. Both of these have become signature beverages of the brand and among the most popular offerings in all The Coffee Bean® stores.

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The company’s most recent innovation came in December 2010 with the introduction of the CBTL™ Single Serve Beverage System. Recognizing that most coffee is still consumed at home plus the explosive growth of single serve coffee around the world, the company decided to launch CBTL™. Introduced in Singapore in March 2011 by Mr. Elias himself, CBTL™ makes authentic espresso, coffee and tea and allows users to enjoy all their favorite beverages from The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® easily at home, at the touch of a button. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® has a fundamental commitment to social responsibility. Its Caring Cup program includes initiatives in origin countries that benefit both the growing communities as well as the workers. Recent examples have ranged from providing cooking stoves to tea estate workers in Darjeeling, India to providing funds to the Aid Lanka foundation (formed after the 2004 tsunami to assist orphaned children) to helping fund educational tutoring and skills training for underprivileged boys and girls in Ethiopia (via KIMSSA). Other Caring Cup programs benefit the local communities in which the company does business. In the U.S., one of the largest programs is an annual holiday season program that benefits The Help Group, the largest non-profit in the U.S. serving kids with autism and related disorders. Through the efforts of the company’s team members and customers, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® has donated nearly $1million over the past several years.