Supermarket Chain Introduces New Concept in Selling Seafood; COX Technologies'
Vitsab -R- Tags Will Help Consumers at Brown & Cole Stores
BELMONT, N.C., Jul 22, 1999 (BUSINESS WIRE via COMTEX) -- COXTechnologies (OTC BB: COXT) Thursday
announced the sale of its Vitsab(R) tags to Brown & Cole Stores, a company operating 36 food stores in
Washington, Oregon and Montana.
Vitsab(R) tags are unique self-adhesive labels that monitor the time-temperature history of perishable food items.
Most people believe that supermarket seafood stored on ice and sold by a store attendant is the freshest
available. Actually, seafood wrapped and stored in a 35-degree display case will have a longer shelf life. Vitsab
tags will tell the buyer if the product being purchased is truly fresh.
Brown & Cole's Thrifty store, in Mt. Vernon, Wash., will begin using the tags this month on fresh fish. They will be
placed on the product as it arrives from the supplier and is packaged for consumers. The tags are customized for
different types of fish. Customers will be able to tell if their fish is still fresh after it leaves the store display case
and goes home to their refrigerators.
The buyers of fresh seafood at Thrifty will be assured their purchase is good because the Vitsab tag will give them
a time-temperature history of each package of fish. At home, in the refrigerator, the tag will change color to warn
the buyer when the fish should no longer be eaten or frozen.
"We are improving the quality and freshness of our fish by making our seafood department self-service," said Kevin
Weatherill, vice president of marketing for Brown & Cole Stores. "The new Vitsab tags will provide our customers
with a guarantee that our fish is stored and handled properly at consistent temperatures."
With headquarters in Bellingham, Wash., privately held Brown & Cole Stores started as a family business in 1909.
Today, they operate Thrifty, Food Pavilion and Cost Cutter supermarkets throughout Washington, Oregon and
Montana.
"Vitsab represents the wave of the future in food temperature monitoring," said James L. Cox, chief executive
officer of COX Technologies. "We commend Brown & Cole Stores for positioning their company at the forefront of
the retail food industry by using leading-edge technology for the benefit of theircustomers."
Vitsab(R) time-temperature integrator (TTI) tags are inexpensive labels that work by utilizing a
temperature-sensitive enzymatic solution. They can be placed on packages of individual products to track their
exposure to damaging temperatures. The tags are available in adhesive-type labels for attachment to master
cartons or individual consumer packages.
The tags can be "tuned" to monitor different commodities. Chill or freezer indicator tags are available in time
durations from one to 120 days. In addition, supermarkets can have the Vitsab(R) tags bar-coded for assuring their
own time-temperature monitoring when receiving their perishables from suppliers. Vitsab(R) meets the
time-temperature monitoring needs for seafood, meat, poultry, eggs, fresh produce, prepared foods,
pharmaceuticals, live plants and cut flowers.
Based in Belmont, COX Technologies has been providing time-temperature management solutions for perishable
commodities since 1976. It is an industry leader in food safety technology and quality assurance systems for all
facets of the food industry.
For more information about COX Technologies' products, visit the company's Web site at www.cx-en.com. For
more information about Brown & Cole Stores, contact Public Affairs Manager Sue Cole at 360/714-7740.
Statements in this news release about future results are preliminary and based on partial information and
assumptions, and actual results may differ. Except for historical information presented, the matters discussed in
this announcement contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including the
development and growth of markets targeted by COX Technologies, the acceptance of time-temperature
monitoring recorders by customers, the impact of competition, government regulations, general economic
conditions in the United States and abroad, and other risks detailed from time to time in the company's public
disclosure filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
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