Chicago, Illinois
May 6, 2003

CropVerifeye, LLC, the industry leader in digital traceability systems for the agriculture and food
processing industries' manager of marketing and sales Chuck Jenkins says, "Part of the success of
CropVerifeye comes from the fact that the food industry realizes they can't police their suppliers on purity and safety issues. They're coming to trust CropVerifeye as the solution for independent third-party auditing and reporting."

Thumb Oilseed Producers' Cooperative (TOPC) board chairman John Knoerr says,"Third-party traceability and verification of our non-GMO soybean purity, so important to our customers, is a very big part of what CropVerifeye provides. Our customers recognized the CropVerifeye name and it gave them confidence to know John Deere, a trusted name worldwide, is one of their stockholders." Knoerr is a leader among the 200 non-GMO soybean producers growing around 30,000 acres of CropVerifeye audited and verified non-GMO beans. Their membership area encompasses ten mid-Michigan counties in the "Thumb" region of the state. In addition to high quality non-GMO soy cooking oil, TOPC also processes and markets flour and grits.

CropVerifeye account sales manager Travis Griffin explains, "The Thumb Oilseed Producers' Cooperative scenario is a perfect example of how CropVerifeye can offer food processors a genuine marketing advantage in today's global arena. Digital connectivity to offshore customers, validation of information and cropping practices allows for real-time decision making in the supply chain."

TOPC general manager JoAnn Rutkowski notes with a sense of well deserved pride, "Our finished product is 100% soybean oil, chemical free, cholesterol free, virtually free of trans fatty acids, naturally high in Vitamin E and a product of Michigan." Our non-GMO and organic soybean oil is refined by degumming, bleaching and deodorizing with physical refining. TOPC's process does not use caustic acids for neutralizing. TOPC has been approved for QAI and JAS Seals, and is also Kosher Certified."

TOPC uses the CropVerifeye Gold Level Auditing product for several reasons, according to Rutkowski. "We wanted a trusted, independent third-party verification system that we could implement to insure that the co-op members are growing and processing non-GMO soybeans.

"We also wanted to take our paper-based auditing and verification system electronic, and for customer confidence we needed true third party auditing that CropVerifeye supplies.

"One of the CropVerifeye Gold Level Auditing program benefits is being able to supply both our clients and our farmer members a true web-based record with accountability and traceability built-in," she notes. "We committed to a 3 year contract because we recognized that CropVerifeye is the system that provides a consistent web database for long-term traceability."

During the season CropVerifeye representatives walk all member growers' fields to verify the non-GMO seed planted and documents the field locations. TOPC tests soybeans for GMO traits using the ELISA strips test. All tests are documented and kept on file for review.

Producer chairman Knoerr concludes, "Our three-year contract with CropVerifeye paid for itself in the first season in my mind, as they spotted some non-GMO beans mixed in with a seed source that could have been disastrous if we'd have mixed them in our processing system. Our customers demand purity, accountability and traceability and with the help of CropVerifeye that's what we not only provide them, but have documented on a web-based system that they can view anywhere in the world they have access to the Internet."

Due to increased awareness of food safety issues and the global movement toward greater transparency of the origination of food ingredients, CropVerifeye continues to lead in validation of stewardship practices used by several major food manufacturers, processors, and their contracted producers. As the agri-food industry continues to require additional information about issues related to GMO and non-GMO crops, country of origin labeling, etc., CropVerifeye maintains its leadership position in information capture, traceability tools, and verification practices that are customized to each client's compliance requirements.

International concern about these issues, at both the producer and processor levels, has elevated the topic to the forefront of many commercial and government agendas. Since there is no standard set of regulations that governs the method to which supply chain participants must adhere, CropVerifeye's immediately customizable, web-based platforms allow clients to insert their own compliance parameters.  Subsequently, their customers can view specific data protocols from anywhere on the globe.