Nov 9, 2004 11:34 AM, from staff and wire reports

Birds Eye Foods Inc, the Rochester NY-based provider of frozen vegetables and processor of fruits and vegetables, reported net sales of about $177.3 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2005. This was a decline of $12.4 million compared with $189.7 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2004. The company’s net income for the quarter decreased $3.1 million versus the prior year.

Dennis M Mullen, chairman, president, and chief executive officer, said, “Consistent with others in our industry, we have experienced significantly higher product costs for some time. These cost increases prompted our recent pricing action. This action had a short-term volume impact in the first quarter.”