FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

DAVISCO FOODS INTERNATIONAL ANNOUNCES OLSON PROMOTION

Pauline Olson Promoted to Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Business Development

Le Sueur, MN (December 17, 2001) - Davisco Foods, an international leader in cheese making, specialized food ingredients including whey protein isolates, and nutraceuticals, announces the promotion of Pauline Olson to the position of Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Business Development.

Olson, a graduate of the University of Minnesota with a degree in Food Science, is currently completing course work for her MBA. She had held the position of Director of Sales and Marketing.

In her new role, she will oversee all facets of sales and marketing throughout Davisco. She will carry the added responsibility of recognizing and developing new markets for the specialized food ingredients for which Davisco is best known. Olson will also continue her involvement in product development.

Davisco President Mark Davis called the promotion well deserved. "Polly has earned this opportunity," said Davis. "We at Davisco have relied on her ability to not only market our products successfully, but also as a key player in product development. It is rare to find that combination in one person. Polly's skill-set is what makes her unique, and why she is so valuable to Davisco."

"Polly has long been a key component in the success and growth of Davisco and in ensuring that we move ahead in our efforts to expand our markets and our products," stated Marty Davis, General Manager of Davisco's Food Ingredient Division. "She has an intuitive sense for the real applications and markets of our products, in particular our specialized food ingredients which continues to be a real growth area for our company."

Her vision, creativity, hard work and passion have helped make it possible for Davisco to become, and remain, an industry leader in the dairy, cheese and food ingredient fields. Polly is such a key to our success," continued Davis. "We're confident with her added responsibilities that she will contribute to Davisco even more significantly than she has in the past."

"I'm thrilled with the opportunity to help grow Davisco at an even higher level," said Olson. "It's always been exciting for me to be part of such a dynamic company, and I can't wait to tackle the new challenges ahead. The potential for our new products is virtually unlimited, particularly with nutraceuticals and our whey protein fractions. Developing and expanding markets for these products will let me stretch the limits of creativity and innovation, which incidentally is what Davisco does everyday. You'll find that Davisco has so much more to offer."

Her promotion is effective immediately.

About Davisco:
Davisco Foods International (www.daviscofoods.com) is a privately held, family-owned, dairy business headquartered in Le Sueur, MN Operating five dairy processing plants (cheese, whey and other dairy-based food ingredients) in South Dakota, Minnesota and Idaho, Davisco produces more than 600,000 pounds of cheese daily, and is one of the largest suppliers of cheese to Kraft Foods.

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