Martinelli's Introduces New, Award-Winning Plastic Apple Bottle.

WATSONVILLE, Calif. -- S. Martinelli & Company, the 138-year-old Watsonville, California producer of Martinelli's Gold Medal Apple Juice and Sparkling Cider, received the prestigious DuPont Packaging Award for innovation in food processing and packaging announced August 11, 2006. Martinelli's recently introduced its trademark apple-shaped 10 oz. Golden Apple in plastic to satisfy strong consumer demand for a shatterproof bottle. The DuPont award recognizes the technical innovation in developing a round bottle without ribbed structural panels which maintains its shape when the juice is cooled after being flash-pasteurized and hot-filled.

General manager S. John Martinelli, fourth-generation vice president of the company, states, "It was a difficult engineering feat to duplicate Martinelli's renowned brand icon in plastic, but we believe our consumers associate the apple-shaped bottle, dating back to the 1930's, with the fact that our product is made from fresh apples, not from concentrate like nearly all other brands."

The new plastic bottles are now distributed in the western United States, the southeast and Midwest at Costco stores and at Sam's Club in California, and will soon be available in the northeast.

Winner of more than 50 gold medal awards, the 138-year-old company introduced the familiar "Golden Apple" bottle in the 1930's, along with the slogan "Drink your apple a day." The apple-shaped design is still produced in clear, recycled glass in both 1.5 liter and individual serving 10 oz. sizes. A popular plastic jug was introduced a few years ago for both apple juice and organic apple juice in the gallon size.

Martinelli's Gold Medal Apple Juice products, including America's best-selling sparkling cider, are made exclusively from U.S.-grown, fresh, tree-ripened apples. They contain no added water, preservatives, concentrates, sweeteners or additives of any kind. Recent additions to the product line include organic sparkling cider and sparkling cider blends with mango, pear, peach, wildberry, raspberry, cherry and pomegranate juices. Available in every state and 32 foreign countries, Martinelli's juices are non-alcoholic and certified kosher.

For additional information visit www.martinellis.com or call 1-800-662-1868.