Aug 25, 2005 9:11 AM, from staff and wire reports

The Hain Celestial Group Inc, a natural and organic food company, has signed a licensing agreement with Stremicks Heritage Foods LLC, a family-owned and -operated manufacturer and distributor of organic products, for the trademarks and formulas of Hain Celestial’s refrigerated Rice Dream and Soy Dream non-dairy beverage products.

Effective Oct 1, 2005, Heritage Foods will produce, market, and distribute Rice Dream and Soy Dream refrigerated products exclusively throughout the United States.

Irwin D Simon, president and chief executive officer of Hain Celestial, said, “This agreement is a natural evolution from our partnering with Heritage Foods as contract manufacturer, which should broaden our non-dairy beverage distribution. Additionally, this initiative allows us to focus on our aseptic products while Heritage complements our efforts in refrigerated non-dairy beverages and enables us to accelerate growth in the non-dairy category.”