Central Garden & Pet Elects David N. Chichester to Its Board of Directors.

Business Editors

LAFAYETTE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 23, 2002

Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ: CENT) today announced that David N. Chichester has been elected to its Board of Directors and has joined the audit and compensation committee of the Board.

Mr. Chichester is senior vice president, Finance, of Starbucks Coffee Company. At Starbucks, Mr. Chichester is responsible for accounting, treasury, risk management, corporate development, investor relations, business planning and analysis, and tax and customs.

"David Chichester brings over 25 years of financial management experience and leadership skills to Central," said William E. Brown, Chief Executive Officer of Central. "David's financial expertise and broad background in multiple industries will be extremely helpful to Central, and we are delighted that he has joined the Central team."

Prior to joining Starbucks, Mr. Chichester served as executive vice president and chief financial officer at Hecklers Online, Inc. and at Red Roof Inns, Inc. Prior to these positions, he held senior management positions in finance at Marriott Corporation, Integrated Health Services, Inc., and General Electric Credit Corporation, and served as a vice president of Warburg Paribas Becker Incorporated. He also served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. Mr. Chichester earned a bachelor of arts degree from Brown University and an MBA from Harvard University.

Central Garden & Pet Company is a leading producer of consumer garden and pet products. Central's proprietary branded products include Pennington Seed(R), Norcal Pottery(TM), AMDRO(R), Maxide(R), Strike(R), Lilly Miller(R), Grant's(R), and Matthews(R) Four Seasons garden products, and All-Glass(R), Oceanic Systems(R), Island(R), Kaytee(R), TFH(R), Nylabone(R), Zodiac(R), and Four Paws(R) pet products. For additional information on Central Garden & Pet, including access to the Company's SEC filings, please visit the Company's website at http://www.centralgardenandpet.com.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The statements contained in this release which are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in or implied by forward-looking statements. These risks are described in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including, without limitation, the resolution of the litigation between the Company and The Scotts Company; the success of and the costs associated with the realignment of the Company's lawn and garden distribution operations; any liabilities to which the Company may become subject as a result of the August 2, 2000, fire at its Phoenix distribution center; and the impact of any other outstanding or potential litigation.

As previously announced, Central has instructed its financial advisors to study alternatives for maximizing shareholder value, including among others, asset sales and new strategic alliances.