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Non-Tech : LIFEWAY FOODS (LWAY) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mark cox who wrote (195)	3/2/1998 11:37:00 AM
From: mark cox	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 352

I have just received an email from the Loblaw company. I posted previously that someone from Canada informed me that Loblaw had just started carrying Lifeway's kefir. The following is a copy of the email I received: Dear Mark: Our apologies for the delay. Regarding Kefir products, Loblaws is listed to carry Kefir yogurt drink. The majority of our stores will carry this product, however shelf constraints may limit some of our smaller stores from carry the entire line of yogurt drinks.ÿ There are approximately 70 Loblaws stores in Ontario.ÿ We do have other "banner" stores in Ontario and across Canada.ÿ Please feel free to browse our web site for more information.ÿ www.loblaw.com .ÿ In the U.S., there are affiliated store that carry some our President's Choice products.ÿ Please contact our U.S. office at 1-800-823-3085.ÿ For more information on Kefir, please call Transcontinental Gourmet Foods Inc. at 905-669-0700.ÿ Mark, we would like to wish you all the best in your future endeavours. Regards, Sally Teodoro Customer Service Co-ordinator Loblaws Supermarkets Limited In my email to Loblaw I mentioned Lifeway Foods many times. In the reply they didn't mention Lifeway Foods once. Being the stickler for accuracy that I am, I have just sent another email to Sally asking her to confirm that the kefir she talked about is Lifeway Food's. The email I received from the Canadian previously stated that it was Lifeway's but I just want to hear it from someone at Loblaw's. The email stated that a majority of their stores will be carrying kefir. I don't know if she meant a majority of the 70 Loblaw stores just in Ontario, all of the Loblaw stores in all of Canada, or all of the stores in their "banner" stores in just Ontario or all of Canada. The least amount of stores according to this info would be more than 35 Loblaw supermarkets in Ontario. If she meant a majority of all the Loblaw stores and "banner" stores in all of Canada, Oh my......... In the email I just sent back to her I asked her to clarify this. I will post the reply as soon as I receive it. Mark

To: mark cox who wrote (195)	3/2/1998 2:09:00 PM
From: mark cox	Respond to of 352

I just received the article about Bascis Plus in the Dairy Foods Magazine in the mail. I will type the entire article: KEFIR and COLOSTRUM BEVERAGE This past December, a small Chicago-area dairy specializing in the manufacture of kefir for national and international distribution, together with a biopharmacuetical company with roots in the Minneapolis-based cooperative Land O'Lakes, introduced the first U.S. milk-based, refrigerated dietary supplement: Basics Plus(tm). Lifeway Foods, Skokie, Ill., and GalaGen Inc., Arden Hills, Minn., had agreed only seven months earlier to co-develop and promote this creamy, smooth, fruit-flavored and slightly effervescent drink. The companies were committed to this venture, and dedicated substantial efforts to get the product to grocers' refrigerated dairy cases by the end of the year. As America's leading supplier of the fermented dairy beverage kefir, and with strong beliefs in the probiotic benefits of active kefir culture, Lifeway's Pres. and CEO Michael Smolyansky recognized this opportunity with GalaGen and took it. "Research indicated that kefir worked symbiotically with the colostrum antibodies GalaGen isolates from dairy cows. We wanted to develop a drink to pass these benefits on to consumers," he says. "Basics Plus is intended to support the body's natural microflora and to maintain gastrointestinal health, thus supporting the immune system. This product is targeted to all health-conscious consumers, especially those with weakened immune systems," Smolyansky says. Robert Hoerr, Pres. and CEO, GalaGen, says, "Basics Plus is the first mainstream product to contain natural components prepared from the colostrum of dairy cows. It's also the first dietary supplement to be sold in grocers' refrigerated dairy cases. This type of business partnership, between dairy and biopharmaceutical company, is unique and may represent the wave of the future. "We feel this is a revolutionary product that is going to pave the way for other unique dietary supplements, which we are currently developing," says Smolyansky. GalaGen's primary business is focused on developing anti-infective drugs for intestinal diseases. The company uses a proprietary process to isolate poyclonal antibodies from bovine colostrum,the milk collected from a dairy cow in the first few days after its calf is born. GalaGen currently has access to about 250,000 dairy cows at more than 4,000 Grade A dairy farms in the LOL cooperative system. When polyclonal antibodies are administered orally to humans, they can provide passive immunity within the gastrointestinal tract. Because the antibodies are derived from cows milk, they do not represent new chemical compounds with uncertain toxicity, rather they are components found in widely consumed dairy foods. The antibody components used in the manufacture of Basics Plus have been branded with the name Proventra(tm). Basics Plus, along with all other future dietary supplements and nutritional products formulated with Proventra, will sport the logo. Lifeway is responsible for manufacturing and marketing Basics Plus and GalaGen provides the technical support for claims, which the product is able to make on its label because it is classified as a dietary supplement. As a dietary supplement, Basics Plus is regulated by the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). Dietary supplements are categorized as providing nutritional support for the structure and function of the human body. Basics Plus' back label states its recommended use is as a dietary supplement. A one-cup serving contains 140 calories and no fat. That's the article, it also has a picture of two bottles of Basics Plus, they have nice looking labels. Basics Plus is still in its test market phase so I personally don't expect this product to have a big impact till sometime later. The above sentence that I made bold makes me see the future LWAY as a company with a broad product line of dietary supplements, cheeses, and drinkable kefirs and yogurts. Mark