Food Lion LLC Signs Exclusive Arrangement to Introduce Holly Farms Premium Chicken at a Great Price WILKESBORO and SALISBURY, N.C., Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- After being absent from retail grocery stores in the southeast for more than 10 years, one of the most well-respected national brands of fresh chicken is making a comeback. Today, Tyson Foods, Inc. and Food Lion LLC announced an arrangement to reintroduce Holly Farms® fresh chicken at more than 1,200 Food Lion, Bloom and Bottom Dollar Food grocery stores throughout the eastern United States. "Food Lion has a unique opportunity to reintroduce one of the most well-respected brands of fresh chicken at our stores," said Hans Lefebvre, vice president of meat and seafood merchandising at Food Lion LLC. "In an economy where consumers are always searching for premium products at great prices, we are able to provide both to our customers through this arrangement. This is a fantastic opportunity to provide a unique product offering exclusive to our customers, while delivering on our commitment of quality products at great prices. The Holly Farms brand has a strong heritage in many markets in which we operate as a provider of quality, premium fresh chicken at a great price. The reintroduction of this brand enables us to provide a differentiated product to our customers at or below current store brand fresh chicken prices." Consumers will begin seeing packages of Holly Farms fresh chicken in stores this week. As part of the arrangement, Food Lion LLC will replace all store brand fresh chicken with Holly Farms premium brand chicken at Food Lion, Bloom and Bottom Dollar Food stores. "We're excited about working with Food Lion LLC to offer Holly Farms-branded chicken to consumers again," said Tim Price, vice president of business development for Tyson Foods' retail fresh poultry business. "We plan to produce a wide variety of tray-packed chicken products with the same freshness, safety and quality people have historically expected from products bearing the Holly Farms name." The Holly Farms poultry company was founded in Wilkesboro, N.C., in 1958 and over the years built a reputation for high-quality, fresh, tray-packed chicken. The company and its operations were bought by Tyson Foods in 1989. By the late 1990s, Holly Farms was phased out as a national brand. The reintroduced line of chicken will primarily be produced at the same Wilkesboro poultry complex where Holly Farms began. In addition, plant locations in Monroe, N.C.; Temperanceville, Va., and Shelbyville, Tenn., will also be involved in the production of this product. "We believe this initiative will help ensure continued economic stability for our plant," said Mark Welborn, manager of Tyson's Wilkesboro Complex. "In fact, we expect it will actually lead to an incremental increase in the volume of fresh chicken we produce in Wilkesboro." About Food Lion LLC Food Lion LLC is a subsidiary of Brussels-based Delhaize Group (NYSE: DEG). Food Lion LLC operates more than 1,300 supermarkets, either directly or through affiliated entities, under the names of Food Lion, Bloom, Bottom Dollar Food, Harveys and Reid's. These stores meet local customer needs and preferences for the freshest and best quality products. Food Lion LLC employs approximately 74,000 associates in 11 Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states. DATASOURCE: Food Lion LLC CONTACT: Christy Phillips-Brown, Food Lion, +1-704-633-8250, Ext. 2221, ; or Gary Mickelson, Tyson Foods, +1-479-290-6111, Web Site: http://www.foodlion.com/

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