Maple Leaf Bakery named "Bakery Supplier Of The Year" by Leading National Grocery Retailer

Des Plaines, ILLINOIS – Maple Leaf Bakery announced today that it has received the “Bakery Supplier of the Year” award from Kroger, the largest grocery retailer in the United States. The Bakery Supplier of the Year award is presented in recognition of the supplier who has helped Kroger to profitably grow its business.

“It’s an honor to be recognized as “Bakery Supplier of the Year” by the leading grocery retailer in the United States,” said Richard Lan, President of Maple Leaf Bakery. “Our goal is to be the leader in par-baked technology and products. We have invested significant resources in our people, plants, technology, and product development to make our products and service the most innovative in the industry. Congratulations to everyone at Maple Leaf Bakery for this achievement.”

Maple Leaf Bakery is an independent operating company of Maple Leaf Foods Inc. producing top quality par-baked bread, rolls and bagels for the in-store grocery and foodservice market segments across the United States. In addition to Canadian operations, the company owns and operates manufacturing facilities in Roanoke, Virginia, Franklin Park, Illinois, and Oxnard, California. Maple Leaf Bakery distributes its products across the United States under the California Goldminer, Sourdough and Eurofresh Crusty Breads brands.

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. is a leading global food processing company. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, the company employs more than 13,000 people at its operations across Canada and in the United States, Europe and Asia. Maple Leaf Foods reported sales of $3.5 billion in 1999.

Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, Kroger is the nation's largest retail grocery chain. At the end of the third quarter, the Company operated 2,343 supermarkets and multi-department stores in 31 states under nearly two dozen banners, including Kroger, Fred Meyer, Ralphs, Smith's, King Soopers, Dillon, Fry's, City Market, Food 4 Less and Quality Food Centers. Kroger also operates 787 convenience stores, 396 fine jewellery stores, 71supermarket fuel centers and 42 food processing plants.