Biocorp N.A. Expands Market Reach: Signs Key Distributors.

Business Editors

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 10, 2003

Biocorp N.A. announced today the signing of key distributors for the company's line of biodegradable and compostable products.

With the signing of AC Paper & Supply in Hercules, Calif., and Mansfield Paper Company, Inc. in West Springfield, Mass., Biocorp N.A. has greatly expanded its market reach and national presence. The two distributors will help drive more sustainable and environmentally responsible packaging and service items into mainstream use.

"We have had such tremendous customer interest in our range of biodegradable products that we are looking to bolster our presence and reach throughout the country," said Frederic Scheer, chairman and CEO, Biocorp N.A. "AC Paper & Supply and Mansfield Paper give us expanded market outreach on both coasts. The bottom line is that they will allow us to offer our broad line of reliable and cost-competitive products to a wider range of customers."

Through the distributor agreement, both companies will be offering the full range of Biocorp's ecologically responsible products, including: food service products and disposables, liners, and bags. In addition, the distributors will be featuring Biocorp N.A.'s new line of 100-percent commercially compostable cutlery called Nat-ur(TM) brand utensils.

Nat-ur brand utensils offer a more sustainable solution for tableware. The new forks, spoons, and knives feature annually renewable corn-based NatureWorks(a) PLA and offer consumers and the food service industry a more sustainable alternative to petroleum-based plastic cutlery. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C.; Sodexho; U.S. Food Service; Aramark; and a number of colleges, universities, and national state parks are already replacing their disposable utensils with the commercially compostable cutlery.

"Our products, especially Nat-ur utensils, offer restaurants, large venues, and other food service providers an unprecedented option for meeting their service needs in an ecologically responsible manner," Scheer continued. "Our success with food service applications in both the public and private sectors proves that service providers, as well as consumers, place significant value on having functional serviceware that helps reduce the environmental impact."

Biocorp's products provide more than just the performance and durability desired in serviceware, liners, and bags. They will not deplete the Earth's limited resources like traditional, petroleum-based disposable serviceware. Many of the products carry the endorsement of stringent regional compostability standards as well as carry certification from the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI).

AC Paper & Supply began operations servicing the San Francisco Bay Area in June 1961. The company's original focus was aimed primarily at the janitorial side of business -- towels, tissues, napkins, and chemicals, as well as food service disposables and related items. Since then, the company has grown and expanded its offering, allowing customers to obtain their products from a single source. The company now serves a range of regional, national, and international customers in food service, industrial, and specialty markets.

Mansfield Paper Company is the oldest and largest distributor of food service disposables, packaging supplies, maintenance, and janitorial items, and other related products in western Massachusetts and northern Connecticut. Today, Mansfield Paper Company operates a modern 130,000-square-foot distribution facility, with state-of-the-art technology, which provides over 5,600 food service, packaging, maintenance, and disposable supplies as well as custodial cleaning systems and seasonal business products. The company's fleet of tractor-trailers and straight trucks service all of southern New England and New York state.

Biocorp N.A. is a leading provider of biodegradable packaging designed to meet the highest needs for sustainability. The company assists individuals, communities, schools, businesses, and governments in finding innovative ways to reach sustainability in the use and disposal of biodegradable packaging, relying on organic material through waste recovery systems. Biocorp offers a full line of certified biodegradable/compostable bags and liners for organics recovery programs as well as food service ware, including cutlery, cups, straws, lids, plates, and food containers. The company is involved in all levels of the supply and the recovery of sustainable packaging.

Please visit http://www.nat-ur.com.

(a) Trademark of Cargill Dow LLC 

Nat-ur and the Nat-ur logo are trademarks of Biocorp North America 

Editor Note: More information on the Nat-ur brand coming soon.