September 29, 2004

OLD ORCHARD MAKES BOLD MOVE TO SOLIDIFY POSITION AS NATIONAL JUICE BRAND WITH EXPANDED EAST COAST DISTRIBUTION

SPARTA, Mich., September 29, 2004 — The East Coast is now getting a taste of the Midwest as juice maker Old Orchard Brands expands its distribution to New England states including Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. A variety of the company’s most popular 100 percent fruit juices, fruit juice cocktails and its popular line of low- carbohydrate fruit juice cocktails are now available in 64-oz. plastic bottles at a range of grocery stores and food marts. Many of its popular juices from frozen concentrate also are available.

Old Orchard previously had limited distribution along the East Coast, as other national brands and regional juice producers captured the majority of sales in these populous markets. Two years ago, the company began aggressively expanding into new markets and has successfully secured distribution deals with Wal-Mart, Target Stores and several other major retailers, in addition to regional retailers in more than 30 states.

“We’ve done very well in the Midwest and have seen our sales increase significantly in the South and Southwest,” said Michael McDonald, vice president of sales and marketing for Old Orchard Brands. “A lot of our growth can be attributed to the variety of 100 percent juices and fruit juice cocktails that we offer. We also believe that the introduction of our low-carbohydrate juice cocktails attracted heath-conscious adult consumers. Once they tasted the great flavor of Old Orchard LoCarb, parents purchased the 100 percent fruit juices for their kids.”

Old Orchard, which began as a regional juice producer of apple juice blends in 1978, has seen exponential growth in the last few years. It has added new juice flavors and a successful line of nine low carbohydrate juice cocktail flavors that contain 75 percent fewer carbohydrates, calories and sugar than traditional fruit juices.

“Taste and selection have been key to our success,” said McDonald. “Within the past six months we’ve been recognized with a best taste award, we’ve added grape seed extract to our 100 percent Purple Grape juice to enhance its nutritional value, and we’ve added a new cranberry based LoCarb line.”

Old Orchard Brands has significantly increased its product offerings and community involvement over the past six months. Following is a summary.

• Old Orchard was recognized in March 2004 with the American Culinary Institute’s “2004 Best Taste Award” for its 100 percent Purple Grape juice from frozen concentrate after a blind taste test by an independent panel of chefs ranked it above two other leading national brands.
• In May, the company expanded its LoCarb fruit juice cocktail offering to nine distinct flavors — Apple, Apple Kiwi Strawberry, Apple Cranberry, Apple Raspberry, Grape, Cranberry, Cranberry Raspberry, White Cranberry, and Cranberry Grape.  All of its LoCarb fruit juice cocktails have 75 percent less sugar, carbohydrates, and calories compared to other Old Orchard fruit juices. They contain 22 to 27 percent juice, are preservative free and naturally sweetened using Splenda® no-calorie sweetener. 
• In July, Old Orchard introduced two new tropical flavors — Papaya and Mango — with bilingual labels on the bottles for the Hispanic market. In addition, the company’s website was updated to include both English and Spanish versions.
• In August, the company began adding grape seed extract to its bottled 100 percent Purple Grape juice, providing the beverage with similar health benefits to those found in red wine.
• Old Orchard donated $125,000 worth of 100 percent fruit juices to victims of Hurricane Charley in August 2004. Old Orchard worked with Publix Supermarkets in Florida to coordinate the distribution of 54,000 bottles of juice to relief agencies working in the state.

Sparta, Michigan-based Old Orchard Brands is one of the fastest growing fruit juice brands in the United States. The privately held company started operations in 1978 and offers consumers 29 frozen concentrate flavors and 36 bottled flavors in a variety of 100 percent fruit juices, blends and low-carbohydrate fruit juice cocktails. For more information visit www.oldorchardjuice.com.