Centennial Specialty Foods Corporation Sees Opportunity With Resolution of Southern California Grocery Strike

Centennial Specialty Foods Corporation Sees Opportunity With Resolution of
Southern California Grocery Strike 


DENVER, March 3  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Centennial Specialty Foods
Corporation (Nasdaq: CHLE; Boston: CSJ) has been advised that the grocery strike
that has been on-going for over four months in Southern California has been
resolved, re-creating new openings for growth in sales of Centennial's products
in this region.  A settlement was agreed upon earlier this week and workers are
expected to go back to work over the next couple weeks.  The grocers involved,
including Albertsons, Ralph's, and Vons, are expected to resume normal business
operations in the immediate future.  The grocery strike affected many food
companies in the country,including Centennial, as certain retail grocers
decided to delay new products approvals, shipments, and new store sets in the
stores involved in the strike.

Although the strike delayed Centennial's plan to expand its products into
Southern California and surrounding new regions, the company is now in the
process of scheduling appointments with grocery retailers in Southern California
to move forward in executing its business plan.  Most grocery retailers are
expected to set appointments for new product introductions over the next 30 to
45 days, after they have had a chance to regroup following the prolonged strike.
 Getting approved new products onto the grocery shelves normally takes another
30 to 60 days.  Centennial believes that the groundworkit performed for its
market rollout while the strike was in process will help move appointments and
resulting new product approvals forward.

Jeff Nieder, Chief Executive Officer of Centennial, expressed his optimism about
the resolution of the work interruption, stating, "The conclusion of the
Southern California grocery strike is expected to have a positive effect on the
grocery industry in general, especially in California and surrounding states, as
regional grocery managers can now focus on theirnormal operations."  One of the
challenges that the grocery retailers will face is re-attracting customers to
their stores following the long strike.  "We believe that the grocery stores
will be looking for new products to bring a point of difference for their
returning customers, opening doors for companies like Centennial to expand their
product distribution," Mr. Nieder added. Centennial also believes that shipments
of its premium Stokes Green Chile Sauces to 327 Vons stores in Southern
Californiathat were approved before the strike started will take place sometime
in the next month.

Centennial Specialty Foods Corporation is a manufacturer and distributor of
ethnic Southwestern food products.  Its products are sold under the Stokes and
Ellis labels, two well-known Southwestern brands that date back almost 100
years.  Principal channels of distribution for Centennial's products are grocery
retailers, superstores and club stores in Colorado and, to a lesser extent,
several major metropolitan markets in adjoining states.  More information about
Centennial can be found on its website at
http://www.centennialspecialtyfoods.com/.

Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements:

Certain matters discussed in this press release could contain forward- looking
information that involves risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ materially from current trends or expected results. We
identify forward looking statements through our use of words such as "expect,"
"believe," "project,""anticipate," "intends" and similar expressions.  These
risks that may affect our ability to achieve forward- looking statements are
discussed in our final prospectus in the section entitled "Risk Factors" and
other documents that are on file with theSecurities and Exchange Commission. 
Without limiting the foregoing, statements concerning the retail grocers' future
approval of Centennial's products for distribution in any particular region or
for specific stores, and the time period required to get Centennial's products
on store shelves, are forward looking statements.  There is no assurance that
Centennial's products will be receiving retail grocers' approvals for
distribution into new regions or stores or that, once approved, Centennial's
products will be stocked on store shelves on a timely basis, either of which may
impact Centennial's future operating results.

Stokes and Ellis are registered trademarks of Centennial Specialty Foods
Corporation. 

DATASOURCE: Centennial Specialty Foods Corporation



CONTACT:  Stephanie Hinkle of Preserve Communications, [phone],

for Centennial Specialty Foods Corporation; or Jeffrey Nieder of Centennial

Specialty Foods Corporation, [phone]



Web site:  http://www.centennialspecialtyfoods.com/ 

Copyright