M&S Fine Foods Adds World Class Roses to Its Catalog of Specialty Foods and Elegant Gifts Through Partnership with Texas Flowers, S.A.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- M&S Fine Foods, Inc., a leading marketer of gourmet specialty foods and gifts through catalogs and seasonal-holiday offers, has formed a joint venture with San Antonio-based Texas Flowers, S.A. to provide its customers with long-stem roses of exceptionally rich color and extended display life, it was announced today by M&S President Deborah Collyer and Jimmy Midcap, managing partner of family-owned Texas Flowers.

In the M&S rose program, packages of 25 long-stem roses are shipped directly to the customer overnight from the grower's Ecuador plantation under a special arrangement and rate negotiated with the parcel service provider DHL. The roses can be ordered with or without a vase at a cost of $79.95 and $69.95, respectively, including shipping within the Continental USA. Monthly color and varietal selections are featured in the M&S catalog, with multiple-month programs available at discounted prices.

Texas Flowers was formed by Midcap siblings in 1994 with the purchase and development of a 50-acre property in the foothills of Cotapaxi, the highest active volcano in the world, the location of Ecuador's thriving global cut-flower industry. The flower industry is the third-largest sector of the Ecuadorian economy after oil and bananas.

Texas Flowers' plantation is an environment-friendly and socially responsible operation, shipping some 150,000 roses per week, and it employs virtually all of the people that it hired when it began operations. Eight greenhouses shelter some 500,000 rose bushes that grow to eight and nine feet tall, and another four greenhouses are planned.

"Everything about this partnership is without parallel," Collyer said. "Customers tell us that the freshness, quality, color and longevity of these roses exceed expectations formed on a basis of roses they have obtained elsewhere, whether locally or through wire or catalog sources. And they find the pricing we have been able to establish through the partnership to be very reasonable.

"Equally important to us at M&S is the socially responsible posture adopted by the principals of Texas Flowers, members of a highly respected family with multigenerational business roots in San Antonio that reach back almost 70 years. Their commitment to the environment and to the well-being of the people who work on the plantation is inspiring, and I believe that commitment shines through in the extraordinary quality of their product."

Individuals, companies and institutions wishing to order roses or to sign up for a multiple-month rose program, or to obtain a current catalog, can do so by contacting Paul Tinder at 800-350-9937 or the corporate office in Charlottesville at 800-382-8177.

About M&S Fine Foods, Inc.

Headquartered in Charlottesville, M&S Fine Foods, Inc. commenced business on January 1, 2003 upon acquiring the assets of McArthur's Smokehouse and Seyco Fine Food. McArthur's Smokehouse began operations in Dutchess County, New York as a sausage-maker and has operated continuously since 1876, smoking its meat, poultry and fish products using the time-tested methods and processes developed by the founders. Seyco Fine Food was established in Milwaukee in 1934. It markets an extensive line of products selected for their high quality, uniqueness and aesthetic appeal. For more information, call 800-382-8177, email [e-mail] or visit www.FineFoodNow.com.