PJ's Coffee today announced it is assuming the brand name PJ's Coffee of New Orleans to emphasize its roots.
The New Orleans brand will be in stores this fall starting with a new line of coffee packaging and coinciding with the 28-year anniversary of the company. Four distinct, nostalgic coffee bags will feature classic New Orleans images such as the Canal Street Trolley, Jackson Square Chapel, Bourbon Street Jazz Band and a Garden District Antebellum Manor.
 
Coming up on the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which affected 30 percent of PJ's Coffee shops, the 28-year-old coffee brand still maintains a roasting facility 4 feet above street level overlooking the Mississippi River.
 
While the name change to PJ's Coffee of New Orleans is subtle in print, it is significant in the minds of our constituents, especially our franchisees, said Chris Morocco, president, PJ's Coffee of New Orleans. It reflects our commitment to New Orleans in physical presence and in distinguishing our coffee from the rest of the United States where specialty coffee has become a very competitive and crowded marketplace. New Orleans represents one of the leading coffee ports in the world, and we feel a sense of ownership and responsibility to New Orleans.
 
The new line of whole bean packaging created by New Orleans- based Innovative Advertising represents PJ's entry into 16-ounce whole bean packaging.
Customers will see other elements of New Orleans inside the stores, including stories of PJ's Coffee founder Phyllis Jordan, framed in antebellum-style windows repurposed from turn of the century New Orleans homes. The windows, in part, are being sourced from Jordan who has an initiative called Green Project that salvages remnants of historic homes.