Kettle Valley Opens New Plant at Omak, Washington State
TORONTO--Oct. 15, 2003--Jeremy Kendall, Chairman
& CEO of Stake Technology Ltd. (To become "SunOpta Inc." effective
October 31, 2003) (Stake) (Nasdaq:STKL) (TSX:SOY) is pleased to
announce that its subsidiary, Kettle Valley Dried Fruit, has completed
construction of its new plant at Omak, Washington, and has completed
its first production run in the facility. This new 30,000 square foot
facility is located in the heart of the U.S. apple district and will
manufacture natural and organic fruit based nutritional bars.
The plant, which will initially employ approximately 15 people,
has an annual capacity of 42 million bars and can be expanded as
required.
John Boot, President of Kettle Valley, noted the importance of a
U.S. facility in supplying the expanding U.S. markets for Kettle
Valley's natural and organic products.
Stake Technology Ltd., soon to be SunOpta Inc., is an
owner/operator of high-growth ethical businesses, focusing on
integrated business models in the natural and organic food markets.
For the last five consecutive years, Stake was included in Profit
magazine's 'Profit 100' list of the 100 fastest growing companies in
Canada. The company has three business units: the Food Group, which
specializes in sourcing, processing and distribution of natural and
organic food products; integrated from seed through packaged products;
the Environmental Industrial Group; a producer, distributor, and
recycler of environmentally friendly industrial materials; and the
Steam Explosion Technology Group who engineer and market clean pulping
systems using patented steam explosion technology. Each of these
business units has proprietary products and services that give it a
solid competitive advantage in its sector.
Websites: www.staketech.com or www.sunopta.com www.sunrich.com
www.bei.ca www.steamexplosion.com www.sunrichvalley.com
www.organickitchen.ca www.wildwestorganicharvest.com
www.kettlevalley.net www.opta-food.com
CONTACT: Stake Technology Ltd.
Jeremy N. Kendall, Steve Bromley and Susan Wiekenkamp,
Tel: 905-455-2528, ext 103
info@staketech.com
or
Investor Relations Counsel
The Equity Group Inc.
Linda Latman, 212-836-9609
www.theequitygroup.com
SOURCE: Stake Technology Ltd.