Centennial Specialty Foods Restructures Bank Debt

Centennial Specialty Foods Restructures Bank Debt 


DENVER, Jan. 12  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Centennial Specialty Foods
Corporation (Nasdaq: CHLE; Boston Stock Exchange: CJS) ("Company") and its bank
have agreed to amend the Company's loan agreement effective January 6, 2005. 
The amount of the line of credit under the loan agreement has been reduced from
$5,000,000 to $4,000,000, while the consolidated net worth covenant of the
Company has been reduced from $7,000,000 to $6,400,000. Outstanding borrowings
under the line of credit are approximately $2,400,000. These amendments were
negotiated with the bank, as the Company determined it was likely that it would
not meet the existing loan agreement's $7,000,000 consolidated net worth
requirement as of December 31, 2004, which the bank waived as part of the
amendments.  While management does not believe that the decrease in
availability under the line of credit will impact ongoing operations, the
reduced availability may limit the Company's ability to pursue part of its
planned expansion into additional markets.  Accordingly, the Company will be
exploring other financing alternatives.  Additional information about the debt
restructuring with the bank is set forth in the Company's Current Report on
Form 8-K filed with the SEC on January 6, 2005.

Centennial Specialty Foods Corporation is a 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, Arizona, California 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," 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 the Securities and Exchange Commission.

For further information, please contact Jeffrey Nieder, CEO or Douglas Evans,
CFO at [phone].

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

DATASOURCE: Centennial Specialty Foods Corporation



CONTACT:  Jeffrey Nieder, CEO, or Douglas Evans, CFO, both of Centennial

Specialty Foods Corporation, [phone]



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

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