GLG Life Tech Corporation (Nasdaq:GLGL) (TSX:GLG) ("GLG" or the
"Company"), the vertically-integrated leader in the agricultural
and commercial development of high quality stevia and all natural
and zero calorie food and beverage products, introduced 34 AN0C
beverages and two tabletop products during the National Conference
it held jointly with the Chinese Government in Beijing on August
29, 2011. Members of the Chinese National Olympic Swim team were
also on hand for the official signing of the two-year exclusive tea
sponsorship agreement with AN0C company officials.
The National Conference celebrated the success of Xiaogang's
economic progress and AN0C's major role in its development. Many
leading national health experts and representatives of China's
health associations were in attendance in support of contributions
from GLG and AN0C towards improving consumer diets, helping combat
obesity and diabetes, and promoting overall health and
wellness. One of the keynote speakers, Professor Hong
Zhaoguang, who has over 200 million followers of his books and TV
show and is a director of GLG, spoke on the importance of diet to
maintain and improve one's health.
All participants of the conference were given the opportunity to
sample AN0C products across six main beverage categories and two
functional beverage categories, as well as two tabletop
products. There is an additional five beverage SKUs that are
now planned for launch in 2011, with 34 SKUs available at the
conference. Including the two tabletop products, zero-calorie
and low-calorie sweeteners, AN0C expects to launch a total of 39
SKUs by the end of 2011. The additional five SKUs are:
Chrysanthemum Tea, Almond Protein Drink, an additional anti-aging
beverage, and two new health drinks. The first shipments of
the carbonated soft drinks are expected in the second half of
September and production is currently underway. AN0C has been
able to leverage both its existing distribution network as well as
new distributors who were recently signed on who have expertise in
the placement of vitamin waters and carbonated soft drinks to
quickly ramp-up the placement of its vitamin enhanced waters and
carbonated soft drinks. The other upcoming beverages are all
on schedule, with Juice milks, Children's drinks and the Herbal tea
production to commence within the next few weeks. The
anti-aging and de-toxification functional drinks were also
available for tasting at this event. This widespread launch
across six major beverage categories and two functional drinks
categories is the realization of AN0C's product development
strategy to provide the most extensive line of zero calorie
naturally sweetened beverages in China. GLG and AN0C is the
first company to have such an extensive line of zero-calorie stevia
sweetened products distributed nationally in China and the
world.
AN0C has increased the number of its distributors from 400 in
July to over 600 partners, with some new distributors brought in
for their specialization with vitamin enhanced waters. This
growth has resulted in an expansion in the distribution reach of
AN0C's products to over 100,000 stores, ahead of the original
schedule. AN0C has also expanded its regional
infrastructure to major offices established in 68 core cities.
Katzu Cheng, President of AN0CTM stated, "We are pleased to
announce that we will leverage our existing distribution channels
to get our new beverages to the market even faster than our
previous products. Our distribution partners continue to be an
important part of AN0C's business model, as key distributors have
already been trained and will be ready to take orders for the new
AN0C products." Mr. Cheng pointed out, "According to a recent
consumer survey on the AN0C brand, we learned that over 11% of
respondents recognized the AN0C brand when placed alongside other
leading brands. In this same survey, participants identified
that TV ads, online advertising and point-of-sale materials were
the top three media vehicles from which they learned about the
brand, and when asked which key messaging they remembered most
about the AN0C brand, they identified 'zero-calorie' and
'non-fattening'. When given the choice to buy one brand of
tea, 11% choose AN0C. Based on these consumer responses to our
brand in such a short period since launching, I am confident we
will continue to build brand equity and solidify our position as
the #1 all-natural zero-calorie beverage and food brand in
China."
As part of the conference, Katzu Cheng, on behalf of AN0C,
signed the official sponsorship agreement with the China Swim
Association for exclusive tea sponsorship of the National Olympic
Swim team. World record-holder and gold-medalist Sun Yang and
two other swim team members were in attendance for the signing
ceremony and the premier of the new AN0C TV commercial which
featured the swim team. A limited edition ready-to-drink tea
packaging features three gold-medalists from the swim
team. Mr. Shang Xiutang, the representative signing on behalf
of the China Swim Association, pointed out, "Only the highest
quality products and companies are approved as sponsors of national
teams. Members of the national swim team have very strict dietary
requirements and standards, and the AN0C teas meet these
requirements with its all-natural and zero-calorie
characteristics. The spirit and growth philosophy of GLG and
AN0C is a perfect match to the Swim Team's continuous strives for
breakthroughs and to win honours for the country."
The event was well-attended, with key government officials from
Fengyang County, Chuzhou City, and Xiaogang Village, as well as
many domestic media providing national coverage. A summary of
news articles and TV news clip coverage of the conference will be
posted soon on the AN0C section of GLG's
website: http://www.glglifetech.com/AN0C/AN0C-in-the-News/.
As the main speaker at the conference, Dr. Luke Zhang, Chairman
and CEO of both GLG and AN0C, reiterated his mission to bring
prosperity to Xiaogang and build a successful model for rural
economic development that can be brought forward to the entire
nation. Creating a value-added industry around stevia, from
planting seeds, harvesting leaves, and processing leaves to produce
and sell stevia extracts, to formulating, producing and selling
end-consumer products, GLG and AN0C has improved the living
standards of farmers and villagers, as well as contributed healthy
alternatives to Chinese consumers looking to reduce obesity and
diabetes. Prosperity to Xiaogang will bring prosperity to
China. Dr. Zhang introduced the 36 SKU's of AN0C's products
at the conference which covers all six major beverage categories in
China plus two functional categories. A key message Dr. Zhang
delivered was that AN0C's marketing and sales strategy is very cost
effective compared to the strategies typically followed by Beverage
companies in China. AN0C's 36 SKU's are all being marketed
under one AN0C brand rather than individual SKU marketing and sales
as other companies have done in the past. Another main theme
of Dr. Zhang's speech focused on the ability of stevia to improve
the health of Chinese consumers who now have the choice of
all-natural zero-calorie alternatives to sugar. China will be at
the leading edge of stevia and zero-calorie consumer products, and
the world will follow. As low carbon-emission is good for the
environment, low calorie is good for health. China's National
Swim Team is the perfect partner for AN0C to help promote healthier
diets. Healthier diets will contribute to a healthier body,
which is the first step towards winning championships.
Dr. Luke Zhang stated, "This event was a very important
milestone for GLG, AN0C, the people of Xiaogang, and the Chinese
people. The health and welfare of China are key priorities set
out in the recent five year plan and important to the development
of China's rural economy. AN0C is proud to be supporting both
of these priorities through launch of its all natural zero calorie
products to the China market place in 2011. The AN0C
Management Team worked extremely hard to develop and launch 36
products at this event. We now have the most extensive beverage
product line available in the world that demonstrates how to
formulate with stevia and produce a great tasting all-natural
zero-calorie beverage. We are able to support these 36 SKU's
all under one AN0C brand which makes our sales and marketing
approach very cost effective compared with supporting different
brands for different beverage categories as other companies
typically have done in China. Our next step is to launch our
major sales campaign to drive the development of sales across the
six major beverage categories plus two functional product
categories. We have recently recruited over 200 additional
distributors that specialize in the new product lines which we
believe will be effective in developing our AN0C beverage sales.
"
About GLG Life Tech Corporation
GLG Life Tech Corporation is a global leader in the supply of
high purity stevia extracts, an all-natural, zero-calorie sweetener
used in food and beverages. The Company's vertically
integrated operations cover each step in the stevia supply chain
including non-GMO stevia seed breeding, natural propagation, stevia
leaf growth and harvest, proprietary extraction and refining,
marketing and distribution of finished product. GLG's advanced
technology, extraction technique and premier, high quality product
offerings make it a leading producer of high purity, great tasting
stevia extracts. For further information, please visit
www.glglifetech.com
The GLG Life Tech Corporation logo is available at
http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=7994
About AN0C™
AN0C focuses on the sale and distribution of all-natural
zero-calorie food and beverage products in China that are sweetened
with stevia provided by GLG Life Tech Corporation. GLG is a global
leader in the supply of high quality stevia extracts and holds an
80% controlling stake in AN0C with China and Healthy Foods Company
Limited (CAHFC) holding 20%. Dr. Luke Zhang, Chairman and CEO of
AN0C, is supported by an experienced team of senior executives
recruited from the beverage industry in China. For further
information, please visit www.an0c.com.
Forward-looking statements: This press release
contains certain information that may constitute "forward-looking
statements" and "forward-looking information" (collectively,
"forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable
securities laws. Such forward-looking statements include, without
limitation, statements evaluating the market, potential demand for
stevia and general economic conditions and discussing
future-oriented costs and expenditures. Often, but not always,
forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words
such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected",
"budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends",
"anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes" or variations
of such words and phrases or words and phrases that state or
indicate that certain actions, events or results "may", "could",
"would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved.
While the Company has based these forward-looking statements on
its current expectations about future events, the statements are
not guarantees of the Company's future performance and are subject
to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors which could
cause actual results to differ materially from future results
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such
factors include amongst others the effects of general economic
conditions, consumer demand for our products and new orders from
our customers and distributors, changing foreign exchange rates and
actions by government authorities, uncertainties associated with
legal proceedings and negotiations, industry supply levels,
competitive pricing pressures and misjudgments in the course of
preparing forward-looking statements. Specific reference is made to
the risks set forth under the heading "Risk Factors" in the
Company's Annual Information Form for the financial year ended
December 31, 2010. In light of these factors, the forward-looking
events discussed in this press release might not occur.
Further, although the Company has attempted to identify factors
that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ
materially from those described in forward-looking statements,
there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results
not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The Company
undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
As there can be no assurance that forward-looking statements
will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events
could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements,
readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements.
Financial outlook information contained in this press release
about prospective results of operations, capital expenditures or
financial position is based on assumptions about future events,
including economic conditions and proposed courses of action, based
on management's assessment of the relevant information as of the
date hereof. Such financial outlook information should not be
used for purposes other than those for which it is disclosed
herein.
CONTACT: Sophia Luke, Vice President of Investor Relations
Phone: +1 (604) 669-2602 ext 104
Fax: +1 (604) 662-8858
Email: ir@glglifetech.com
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