Packaged Ice Inc. (AMEX:ICY) today announced that it has entered into a multi-year contract to supply packaged ice to up to 2,200 of Albertson’s approximately 2,500 stores nationwide. The Company is presently supplying approximately 1,200 Albertson’s stores through traditional ice or Ice Factory(TM) distribution methods. The number of additional stores to be serviced by Packaged Ice will be determined by the Company’s current distribution areas and Albertson’s stores that are not presently selling ice. The contract also includes the purchase of equipment from two ice production facilities in Los Angeles and the Northern California Bay area, as well as Albertson’s owned ice merchandisers in the stores to be serviced. By combining this additional ice manufacturing equipment with this week’s opening of Packaged Ice’s new plant in Santa Maria, Calif. and its existing plants in San Diego and Brawley, Calif., the Company has effectively positioned itself to service the entire California market place for the first time.
“We are pleased to have greatly expanded our relationship with Albertson’s, one of the nation’s largest grocery chains, which will result in increases in revenue for Packaged Ice going forward,” stated James F. Stuart, Packaged Ice chairman and CEO. “Additionally, this agreement allows us to penetrate the important California market in a substantial way. After reconfiguring some of the newly acquired ice production equipment to create excess manufacturing capacity, we will be well positioned to pursue additional marketing opportunities in the California market.”
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Packaged Ice is the largest manufacturer and distributor of packaged ice in the United States and currently serves over 74,000 customer locations in 27 states and the District of Columbia. The Company services all significant markets of the ice industry, including supermarkets and convenience store retailers, restaurants, commercial users and the agricultural sector. Packaged Ice’s proprietary technology, THE ICE FACTORY(TM), has changed the competitive landscape in the ice industry and is the driving force behind the Company’s stated strategy to increase market share in regions where the Company targets expansion.
This press release contains various forward-looking statements and information that are based on management’s belief as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to management. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Such statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Should one or more of these risks materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those expected. For a discussion of the risks, investors are urged to refer to the Company’s reports filed under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
