Leading Brands, Inc. announces launch of TrueBlue(TM) Blueberry Juice Cocktail
03 Noviembre 2004 - 7:30AM
PR Newswire (US)
Leading Brands, Inc. announces launch of TrueBlue(TM) Blueberry
Juice Cocktail VANCOUVER, Nov. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- LEADING
BRANDS, INC. (NASDAQ: LBIX), North America's only fully integrated
premium beverage company, announces the launch of TrueBlue(TM)
Blueberry Juice Cocktail in both the United States and Canada. The
product will initially be available in a new rectangular 64oz (1.89
liter) PET bottle and a 16oz (473 ml) glass bottle. The Company has
assessed a recent flood of publicity over the antioxidant activity
of blueberries. According to a USDA study at Tuft's University,
Human Nutrition Center on Aging, blueberries are No. 1 in
antioxidant activity - surpassing 40 other fruits and vegetables in
their ability to neutralize free radicals in living cells. Unlike
many other healthful fruits, such as cranberries, blueberries are
naturally sweet and tasty, hence requiring significantly less added
sweetener to produce a great tasting juice. The result: a lower
calorie count per serving. Since the launch of Ocean Spray(R)
Cranberry Juice more than 70 years ago, there has not been a new
juice category created in North America. There is presently no
national blueberry brand of any kind. The Company believes that the
time for a change has come. Leading Brands Chairman & CEO Ralph
McRae said: "British Columbia is one of the most significant
blueberry growing regions in North America. Here we have grown up
anticipating the summer blueberry crop. For the other 10 months of
the year, however, there has heretofore been no other way to
experience the taste and health benefits of fresh blueberries.
About a year and a half ago a leading nutritionist made a statement
that caught my attention. In sum, he said: "If, for health
purposes, you could only choose one fruit to eat, it would be the
blueberry." Our subsequent research revealed that blueberries
contain the highest level of antioxidant activity of any fruit and
recently the number of published articles trumpeting the health
benefits of blueberries has skyrocketed." Mr. McRae continued: "We
wondered why what few blueberry juices we could identify were only
sporadically listed in health food outlets or confined to other
product line extensions such as 'cranberry-blueberry'. The simple
answer appears to be that blueberries - as a bountiful commercial
crop - are, relatively speaking, a rather recent development. It
seems that no one has yet identified a national market for
blueberries or had the foresight to develop a national brand based
on this most healthful of ingredients. At Leading Brands, we
believe the time is ripe and we hope to be the ones to do just
that." Mr. McRae added: "Part of our good fortune and timing with
this new brand relates to a capital project that we undertook two
years ago. In conjunction with Ocean Spray(R) we made a significant
investment in our Richmond, B.C. plant to allow us to fill
rectangular, multi-serve PET bottles. Their moves over the past 18
months to systematically retrench their business in their own
plants provided us the capacity and opportunity to move all our 64
oz (1.89 liter) products into that convenient and increasingly
popular rectangular format. TrueBlue(TM) multi-serve will be
launched in that new bottle, which increases store shelf awareness
and occupies less refrigerator space at home." The Company
indicated that 16 oz of TrueBlue(TM) Juice Cocktail, contains as
much juice as a full serving of fresh blueberries. Lightly
sweetened with cane sugar, not HFCS, the product is 'all natural'
and formulated to comply with the most strict health food
requirements. With 30% to 40% fewer calories per serving than most
cranberry-based products, TrueBlue(TM) is also a preferred dietary
choice. The brand will shortly be expanded to include three
additional flavors: Blueberry-Cranberry, Blueberry-Green Tea and
Blueberry-Pomegranate, each high in antioxidant activity. The
Company's intention is to price TrueBlue(TM) competitively with
national cranberry brands and to take advantage of the market
confusion generated by the uncertain future of Northland
Cranberries. Once the TrueBlue(TM) brand is established with
consumers, it is the Company's intention to work with blueberry
growers to enhance the general awareness of their remarkable crop
and integrate supply." Mr. McRae confirmed that: "64 oz (1.89
liter) TrueBlue(TM) will primarily be sold in the grocery, health
and specialty food sector. The 16 oz (473 ml) version will be
distributed to convenience and food service outlets to introduce
consumers to the great taste of this wonderfully healthful new
product. We anticipate that TrueBlue(TM) will be making its debut
in stores later this month." The Company also announced that a new
website for the brand: http://www.trueblueberry.com/, will be
operational shortly. Until then, a picture of this fresh new brand
can be found at http://www.lbix.com/. The Company will continue to
provide operational updates in its monthly newsletter on the first
of most months, posted at http://www.lbix.com/. About Leading
Brands, Inc. -------------------------- Leading Brands, Inc.
(NASDAQ:LBIX) is North America's only fully integrated premium
beverage company. The Company's unique Integrated Distribution
System (IDS)(TM) offers turnkey, one-stop shopping to food and
beverage brand owners, including manufacturing, distribution,
sales/marketing and licensing. In addition, Leading Brands produces
their own line of beverages such as TrueBlue(TM), TREK(R),
Soy(2)O(TM), Pez 100% Juices(TM), Country Harvest(R) Juices,
Caesar's(R) Bloody Caesar Cocktails, Brand X Originals(TM),
Infinity(TM) Sparkling Mountain Spring Water and Cool Canadian(R)
Mounting Spring Water. Safe Harbor. The Company relies upon the
Safe Harbor Laws of 1933, 1934, and 1995 for all public statements.
Statements, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking
statements. The Company, through its management, makes
forward-looking public statements concerning its expected future
operations, performance and other developments. Such
forward-looking statements are necessarily estimates reflecting the
Company's best judgment based upon current information and involve
a number of risks and uncertainties, and there can be no assurance
that other factors will not affect the accuracy of such
forward-looking statements. It is impossible to identify all such
factors. Factors which could cause actual results to differ
materially from those estimated by the Company include, but are not
limited to, general economic conditions, weather conditions,
changing beverage consumption trends, pricing, availability of raw
materials, economic uncertainties (including currency exchange
rates), government regulation, managing and maintaining growth, the
effect of adverse publicity, litigation, competition and other
factors which may be identified from time to time in the Company's
public announcements. We Build Brands(TM) (C)2004 Leading Brands,
Inc. Contact: This news release is available at
http://www.lbix.com/ DATASOURCE: Leading Brands, Inc. CONTACT:
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