Part of its expansion efforts are based around brand-building in the US. The company signed a deal earlier this year with grocery giant Supervalu Inc. to carry products in 215 of its Shaw's and Star Markets in the New England area. So far, Peet's only has six stores in the Boston area, which are part of the 18 it has outside of the California market.

"The longer term opportunity for us is clearly there," says Patrick O'Dea, president and chief executive officer of Peet's. "Our share nationally is still tiny." Starbucks, the segment leader, operates 12,000 units worldwide and has plans next year to open 1,700 in the US alone.

During the quarter which ended July 2, Peet's retail revenue jumped 17.5%, to $33.6 million. Hot weather in California during the period hampered the sale of traditional coffee drinks, but a new line of frozen beverages helped fuel sales growth, executives say.

The company's specialty business, which is made up of grocery-store and home-delivery sales, rose 22.5%, to $16.1 million. Peet's products were offered in 4,000 supermarkets across the country, up from 3,600 at the end of last year's second quarter.

For the current quarter, executives are forecasting 19% sales growth and a 20% to 23% jump for the year. They are also predicting earnings per share to come in between 62 cents and 65 cents for 2006.