Cuizina Italia Re-Purchased by Founder

June 15, 2003 - WOODINVILLE, WA - Cuizina Italia, Inc, a specialty pasta, soup and sauce manufacturer, announced today the sale of its company by parent company Tokasui America a subsidiary of Tokasui Ltd of Fukuoka, Japan.

New owner, Ric Ferrera, president and co-founder of Cuizina Italia will remain as CEO of the company. The sale completes a circle of ownership that started in 1984 with the opening of Cuizina Italia, then Ferrera's Pasta, by Ric and his brother John.

Over the years, Cuizina has been purchased and sold by investors and food manufacturers, including National Frozen Foods and Orca Bay Foods. Those partnerships formed from Cuizina's ability to invent and produce food concepts that added value to commodities such as frozen vegetables and frozen seafood.

With roots in the 1962 World's Fair, the Ferrera brothers grew up in the restaurant business with hands on training in cooking and menu development. The company started selling ravioli and has now expanded into tortellini, cut noodles, sauces and soups.

State-of-the-art flash freezing at Cuizina has eliminated the need for preservatives, while maintaining the flavor and texture of fresh.

"It feels great to have the company back," Ferrera said. "The niche that we fill is much larger now that many of our competitors have been acquired by other companies or have gone out of business. I plan on adding capacity immediately as well as bringing in personnel that will help us grow."

A strong business plan as well as the opportunity for growth, once management was unfettered, made the purchase a desirable package for Washington Mutual and the Small Business Administration (SBA) to back. The warm reception and support by the SBA was evident by their nomination of Cuizina for "Small Business of the Year".

Questions about capabilities and products or this announcement can be directed to Erik Bugge, Vice President of Cuizina Italia.