Rochester, New York
September 29, 2003

Birds Eye Foods Inc., the nation's largest processor of frozen vegetables, signed a licensing agreement this week with tomato provider NationFresh, LLC of Springfield, Missouri. The agreement gives NationFresh exclusive rights to tomatoes marketed under the Birds Eye Fresh label.

"This is a brilliant alliance," said Birds Eye Fresh senior marketing manager Lyn Hughes, noting NationFresh's unique network of growers, packers and shippers, premium programs, and their unparalleled national distribution system. "Matching these capabilities with the equity of the Birds Eye name -- a name that is synonymous with quality and freshness - creates a valuable strategic alliance for both companies."

NationFresh provides an array of tomato programs to food service and retail customers across the country using a network of suppliers from across the globe. The company reported over $775 million dollars in sales in 2002. "The strength and leverage in NationFresh and Birds Eye Fresh combined equities will prove to be a major force in shaping our industry," said NationFresh's Steven Phipps, national director sales and marketing. He continued, "Birds Eye is the strongest vegetable brand and the massive NationFresh group accounted for over 40 million cartons of tomatoes sold in 2002."

In addition to providing top quality tomato programs and service, Hughes said NationFresh's Just-In-Time delivery and distribution systems will also support other Birds Eye Fresh products to retailers across the country.

Rochester-based Birds Eye Foods, with sales of over $1 billion annually, processes fruits and vegetables in 30 facilities across the country. Its Birds Eye Fresh product line includes potatoes, onions, iceberg lettuce, leaf lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, celery, cauliflower, carrots, cucumbers, peppers, squash, eggplant, and hard shell squash, all of which are provided by other licensee partners including Wilcox Marketing Group, Fresh Kist Produce, Peter Rabbit Farms, and Westendorf Produce Sales. Other Birds Eye Foods brands include Birds Eye, Birds Eye Voila!, Freshlike and McKenzie's. Processed foods marketed by Birds Eye Foods include canned vegetables (Freshlike), pie fillings (Comstock and Wilderness), chili and chili ingredients (Nalley and Brooks), salad dressings (Bernstein's and Nalley) and snacks (Tim's, Snyder of Berlin and Husman's). Birds Eye Foods also produces many of these products for the private label, food service and industrial markets.

Company news release
P2044