Radio station, coffee company create blend

Selecta 1050 AM is hoping a new coffee blend will perk up ratings.

Selecta, which airs contemporary Spanish music, has teamed with First Colony Coffee and Tea to create Selecta Blend, which will hit some local Kroger stores Monday.

Tienda Jessy's in Norfolk and Fresh World in Virginia Beach started carrying it Thursday, said Julia Alexander, a marketing specialist for First Colony.

It is First Colony's first partnership with a radio station to create a brew, she said. "It's not only a great product for the consumer," said Andy Hindlin, Selecta 1050's general manager, "but it's great branding for the radio station."

Selecta 1050 "won't get a large percentage" of profits, Hindlin said. The real windfall, he hopes, will come from coffee lovers who see the station call numbers on the bag - which has bilingual labeling - and start tuning in.

What makes the Selecta coffee blend attractive to Hispanics? It's a Colombian medium to dark roast - a bit on the strong side - which is "preferred in the Hispanic population," Alexander said.