Press Release

Feb 2009

NEW RANGE AND NEW LOOK FOR PIONEERING RETAILER TROPICAL WHOLEFOODS

Award-winning fair trade dried fruit company Tropical Wholefoods is introducing a new product range and unveiling a new design for its packaging.

Its new products, which will be available from end of February, are Fairtrade apricot kernels - the small, almond-shaped hidden treasures which you find if you crack open the stone inside an apricot. These kernels taste like almonds with hints of amaretti and are rich in mono- and polyunsaturated fats and fibre.

They are being marketed in three flavours - natural, tamari soya roast and chilli roast. Tropical Wholefoods Marketing Director Kate Sebag says: "We have high hopes that these innovative and delicious snacks will be hugely popular. "We're always looking for ways of increasing dividends to our farmer partners, and we are all aware now that the world has limited resources, so it's wonderful to establish a two-fold way of generating income from a single fruit - the apricot."

The kernels come in packs of 50g and sell for a suggested retail price of 99p. They are savoury, unlike the dried fruit snacks and fruity cereal bars for which Tropical Wholefoods is best known.

The apricot kernels will be carrying the company's new design, together with its dried fruit and dried mushroom ranges. The new look involves bold, black and white packaging with an African or Asian feel, and includes strong splashes of colour depending on the pack contents - oranges and greens for dried mango, yellows and greens for bananas, orange for apricots and pinks and browns for mushrooms.

The company's striking new logo is a lino-cut style impression of the sun. Using this logo, Tropical Wholefoods aims to reinforce the positive environmental impact of its products which are dried in the villages where they are picked using solar energy. They are also economical on food miles as they are transported by sea in non-chilled container ships.

Tropical Wholefoods and design agency Simmer worked with illustrative artist Amanda Enright on the new packaging. Kate Sebag says: "We felt it was time for a new look to welcome in our new product development. We wanted our packaging to show the spirit of the communities we are working with in Africa and Pakistan.

"The packaging shows African and Pakistani village life," adds Kate. "We see gardens being tended, fresh fruit sliced, children learning their lessons, and playing - games of football for Africa and cricket for Pakistan. We didn't want to idealise rural life but we did want to convey the beauty and positive spirit of the communities we work with - and to do so in a visually arresting way.

"The sporting images are intended to suggest the energy that eating dried fruits gives you - as well as the health of the communities which Tropical Wholefoods trades from. These are products which really do 'keep you going'. We also see images of people enjoying fruity refreshments which Tropical Wholefoods hopes will give people a taste for snacking on the products and also cooking with them."

Tropical Wholefoods new packs are also in new 'Quad style' packaging which uses less film and takes up less shelf and storage space in shops and warehouses and reduces distribution costs.

Ends

For more information, samples, packshots and other images please contact Margaret Rooke margaretrooke@btinternet.com 0790 44 55 666 or Helen Riley helenriley@headlinemedia.co.uk 020 8348 3103 / 07931 300 425

Notes to Editor

Tropical Wholefoods' range of products includes: organic Fairtrade mango, sun dried pineapple, chewy banana chips, bogoya bananas, Fairtrade apricots, Fairtrade apricot kernels (three flavours), four types of dried mushrooms - organic chanterelles, shiitake, porcini, oysters, six flavours of organic, Fairtrade organic fruit and cereal bars - mango &brazil, date & walnut, apricot & kernel, pineapple & cashew, banana & honey, tropical fruit bar. Pack sizes range from 50g to 150g. Bars are 40g. All fruits are also available in bulk to trade.

The company was established by husband and wife team Adam Brett and Kate Sebag seventeen years ago in order to win lasting markets for farmers in developing countries. It supplies its branded products to supermarkets and also supplies dried fruit to them for use in their own brand offers. Most of their products carry the FAIRTRADE Mark, the only independent consumer guarantee of a fair deal for farmers in developing countries. In the UK the FAIRTRADE Mark is administered by the Fairtrade Foundation. Tropical Wholefoods supplies Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Oxfam, Boots and smaller health food stores nationwide. It has a significant niche in the independent sector with products well known for their healthy and ethical qualities.

Tropical Wholefoods works with business partners in some of the world's poorer countries. It buys dried bananas and pineapples from Fruits of the Nile in Uganda which in turn works with more than 700 farmers. It buys dried apricots, walnuts, almonds and apricot kernels from Mountain Fruits which works with more than 1500 farmers in the remote, arid mountains of northern Pakistan . It buys dried mangoes and cashews from Farming Associations WOUOL and TON in Burkina Faso .

The company which packs and bakes all its own products on site, employs 30 people in Sunderland and three in London. In addition to manufacturing the Tropical Wholefoods range, the company also does contract and own label manufacture of bars and packing of fruits.