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Lifeway Foods Secures First Foodservice Distribution Contract

Posted on: Monday, 21 May 2007, 09:00 CDT

Lifeway Foods, a leading manufacturer of cultured dairy product kefir and provider of other natural and organic dairy products, has signed a distribution agreement with US Foodservice, the second largest broadline foodservice distributor in the country.

Lifeway said the agreement will expand its footprint from retail grocery stores to restaurants, schools, hotels and other institutional sites for the first time.

From this quarter onwards, the Midwest division of US Foodservice will make 10 Lifeway products available to customers in the Chicago area, including independent and multi-unit restaurants, educational institutions, and healthcare and hospitality facilities. The selection will include three flavors of the Lifeway's ProBugs kefir for children and seven SKUs of the company's 8-oz. single-serve natural and organic kefir.

Lifeway said that over time it expects to expand its presence in the foodservice channel to address other geographic markets. US Foodservice's operations cover an area in which over 95% of the US population resides and national accounts ranging from the Hilton, Holiday Inn and Westin hotels to Macy's and Premier Healthcare.

"Americans spend nearly half of every food dollar on meals prepared away from home. That makes the foodservice market a strong potential area of growth for us, particularly with the rising interest in healthy eating in general and kefir and probiotics in particular," said Lifeway president and CEO Julie Smolyansky, "This agreement is an important first step in reaching that market and building a completely new revenue stream that will help us continue growing the company."

Source: Datamonitor

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