JUNAN COUNTY, China, May 3 /PRNewswire-Asia/ --American Lorain Corporation (NYSE Amex: ALN) ("American Lorain" or the "Company"), an international processed snack foods and convenience foods manufacturer based in Shandong Province, China, today announced that it began promoting open bottom frozen chestnuts at Lorain(R)-branded retail food counters in 40 locations in Beijing and Chongqing.
American Lorain Corporation maintains a network of approximately 5,000 locations where consumers can purchase Lorain(R) foods. Part of this network includes 200 Lorain(R)-branded "counters" which sell Lorain(R) roasted chestnuts directly to consumers. American Lorain also uses its counters to market and promote new products to its customers while driving more consumer traffic and revenues. Adding to the roasted chestnut counters, American Lorain recently installed 40 Lorain(R) counters with equipment to prepare, display, and sell "open bottom" frozen chestnuts in ready-to-eat packaging to shoppers. Lorain's target markets for this campaign are initially Beijing and Chongqing. The Company anticipates this new product initiative will achieve monthly sales of about $4,500 per counter, an increase by 20% per counter versus prior year.
While sales of roasted chestnuts are seasonal and thus more popular in cold weather months, sales of frozen chestnuts are especially popular in the Summer and in cities throughout China. American Lorain expects to have 70 counters selling frozen open bottom chestnuts by the end of May in Beijing and Chongqing before expanding the program to other cities. The 70 counters are forecasted to generate $300,000 sales per month, or $3.6 million per year for the 70 counters. American Lorain is promoting its counter sales model throughout China and is preparing to expand its counter sales in Japan, Korea and South East Asia.
"As the leading marketer of chestnuts in China, we are very excited on our new counters of frozen open-bottom chestnuts for our customers to enjoy in the warm summer months," said Mr. Si Chen, Chairman and CEO of American Lorain. "This promotional idea was just one of many that were commercialized to drive sales and brand-equity in our products. The ancillary benefit of this program is our ability to increase revenues during the non-traditional months of chestnut consumption, while leveraging the fixed costs and strong foot traffic of our counters. We are constantly looking for new approaches to grow sales of our core product line and will leverage our extensive distribution and retail network to cost-effectively launch new products. We are confident that our frozen open-bottom chestnut program will be a success during the summer months and become a measurable component of our chestnut revenue segment going forward," concluded Chairman Chen.
About American Lorain Corporation
American Lorain Corporation is a Nevada corporation that develops, manufactures and sells various food products. The Company's products include chestnut products, convenience food products and frozen food products. The Company currently sells over 230 products to 26 provinces and administrative regions in China as well as to 42 foreign countries. The Company operates through its four direct and indirect subsidiaries and one leased factory located in China. For further information about American Lorain Corporation, please visit the Company's website at http://www.americanlorain.com.
Forward-looking statements:
Statements contained herein that relate to the Company's future performance, including statements with respect to forecasted revenues, margins, cash generation and capital expenditures are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those anticipated. Such statements are based on current expectations only, and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those anticipated, estimated or projected. Among the factors that could cause actual results to materially differ include: general business and economic conditions, particularly the current downturn in the worldwide economy; our ability to obtain adequate supplies of raw materials; our ability to manage our expansion strategy; changes in foreign currency exchange rates; government regulation; difficulties in new product development; changing consumer tastes in disparate markets worldwide and our ability to address those changes; our ability to attract and retain highly qualified personnel; and other factors affecting our operations that are set forth in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
