Stake Technology Ltd.: Sunrich, Inc. And Northern Food And Dairy Form Joint Venture To Expand Regional Soymilk Production.

Business Editors

NORVAL, ONTARIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 11, 2000

Mr. Jeremy N. Kendall, Chairman and CEO of Stake Technology Ltd.(NASDAQ:STKL); Mr. Allan Routh, President of SunRich, Inc. and Mr. Dennis Anderson, Chairman and CEO of Northern Food & Dairy, Inc. today announced that SunRich and Northern Food have created a joint venture to be known as Star Valley Natural Foods.

Under the terms of the venture, the partners have purchased a plant and equipment to manufacture soymilk in Afton, Wyoming. The plant will supply the West Coast market, with the highest quality whole soybean extracted soymilk produced by the partners' proprietary process. Production will start up in September of this year. This expansion will allow the partners to increase their present soymilk production capacity and improve service for their West Coast customers.

The 20,000 square foot plant is located in the Star Valley in the Teton Range of the Rocky Mountains. These mountains boast the world's largest cold-water geyser; its crystal clear water will be used in manufacturing the soymilk. All of the additional equipment for the plant has been purchased and installation and commissioning of equipment is in progress.

Northern Foods currently produces 65 percent of the soymilk in the United States at its facilities in Alexandria, Minnesota. With Stake's subsidiary, SunRich, Northern Food has recently formed a joint venture, known as Nordic Aseptic, to purchase a soymilk packaging plant. On June 14, 2000 Stake announced a Letter of Intent to acquire Northern Food, subject to the approval of the shareholders at a meeting to be held on August 18, 2000.

Stake Technology Ltd. is an owner/operator of high-growth ethical businesses, focused on environmental responsibility and the health and well being of its communities. StakeTech was named by Profit magazine in its 1999 'Profit 100' as the 5th fastest growing company in Canada over the past 5 years. Currently, the company has three business units: Steam Explosion, marketing clean pulping technologies; BEI/Pecal, a producer, distributor, and recycler of industrial materials; and SunRich, Inc., an agritech company specializing in Identity Preserved grain products and natural food ingredients. Each of these business units has proprietary products and services that win it a solid competitive advantage in its sector.

Note: This news release may contain forward-looking information. Actual future results may differ materially. All figures are in Canadian dollars. The risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could influence actual results are described in the company's annual report to shareholders and in SEC reports.