MARLBOROUGH, MA. April 1, 2007 - Cumberland Farms, Inc., a Canton, MA based convenience store chain, has selected Liquid Ice, Inc. as its exclusive beverage maintenance provider in 360 Northeast U.S. locations. The agreement covers all preventative and reactive maintenance of the soda fountain, icemaker, and frozen beverage equipment in covered locations. Covered locations are located in the Northeast U.S. states of VT, ME, NH, MA, CT, RI, NY, NJ, PA, and DE.

Until recently, Marlborough, MA based Liquid Ice, Inc. was not a major player in the beverage equipment maintenance business. Liquid Ice was originally founded in 1998 as a frozen beverage distribution company. In order to sell more supplies, the company began loaning frozen beverage equipment to its customers. In 2001, Liquid Ice added its own service department, and began offering beverage equipment maintenance services. Since then, the service department has grown dramatically, and now produces nearly half of company revenue, servicing over 600 Northeast U.S. locations.

Liquid Ice was awarded the Cumberland Farms contract because of its reputation for prompt and economical beverage repair services, made possible in part by its extensive investments in cutting-edge technology.

Each Liquid Ice technician is equipped with a GPS navigator, cell phone, and laptop computer, with mobile internet access and signature capture. Service calls are dispatched, closed, and billed using a web-based application created exclusively for Liquid Ice by Roundbox Technologies.

"We've been able to wring a great deal of productivity out of this technology," notes Al Del Re, President of Liquid Ice. "It's empowering for the customer, the technician, and dispatcher to get call status and billing information in real time. It makes for better decisions and a more efficient transaction."

In addition, Liquid Ice's experience servicing its own fleet of beverage equipment gave it an edge in the competitive contract process. Mr. Del Re continues: "We maintain a philosophy that views our service department as a cost center, not a revenue center. This keeps us striving to be more efficient and to keep service costs down for our own fleet and for our service customers as well."

The maintenance agreement mandates a 24 hour response time for most repair calls. To meet this, 100% of required parts are stocked on the service vans, and technicians must be properly certified.

"All of us at Liquid Ice are looking forward to including Cumberland Farms as one of our most important customers. We look forward to a long-term, and growing relationship."

NORTHBORO , MA , April 11, 2005 -- You’re gulping down your favorite frozen cocktail or frozen slush, when it suddenly feels like a cold steel spike has been driven into your skull!

You are the victim of a “brain freeze.” Also known as an “ice cream headache,” this painful phenomenon is well understood to be caused by drinking a cold beverage too fast.

The good news is that it is treatable and preventable. One treatment involves drinking warm water at the start of an attack presumably to counteract the frozen beverage’s cold power.

But can you do anything to prevent a brain freeze? “One thing you can do is slow down,” advises Al Del Re, president of Liquid Ice Frozen Treats, a distributor of frozen beverage mixes and machines based in Northboro, MA. “But the most important factor is how you control the product in your mouth. A brain freeze can be prevented with the right technique.”

Apparently a brain freeze is caused by a cold-sensitive nerve ending in the mouth. The culprit resides on the soft palate, in the back of the roof of the mouth. Prevent your frozen drink from touching there, and your brain freeze will can be prevented.

Mr. Del Re continues: “Melt the product on the tip of your tongue, and then swallow it. Not only will this slow you down, but you’ll get more taste sensation since the tip of the tongue is sensitive to sweet taste. Most importantly, don’t let frozen product touch the soft palate and you’ll be fine.”

So go ahead and slurp away. With the proper technique, you can keep brain freeze at bay.

NORTHBORO , MA , April 11, 2005 -- Have you noticed the growing popularity of frozen drinks in foodservice? Sweet, slush-like products in bright colors like blue, red, or green were once relegated to the occasional convenience store, but that is quickly changing.

Convenience stores and retailers were the first pioneers, beginning with 7-Eleven’s Slurpee rolling out to 5,000+ stores in the 1960’s and ‘70’s. Then came fast growing mega-retailers like Wal-Mart and Target, adding similar products to each of their stores as they expanded across the country.

Through the 80’s and 90’s, entertainment venues like movie theaters and amusement parks followed suit, as the category increased in popularity. Despite wide availability, frozen beverages were still a niche item.

“I think the industry turned a corner when Burger King added frozen beverages to all of its 8,000 stores,” notes Al Del Re, President of Liquid Ice Frozen Treats of Marlboro, MA. “Burger King helped open a huge new market by demonstrating the viability of frozen beverage in fast food.”

Mr. Del Re continues “Frozen treats used to be a niche item that you get in convenience stores, but other venues are benefiting, too. It worked for convenience stores because of the ease of operation, and that’s something that foodservice operators are looking for, too.”

New frozen beverage technology has created frozen beverage equipment that can automatically mix, measure and refill itself with frozen ingredients.

Profit margins are higher than fountain soda because frozen beverages retail for 25 – 50 cents more than a comparable fountain soda, but cost about the same to make.

What about fountain soda sales? Do customers just switch from soda to slush? “Frozen beverage buyers are not our regular soda customers,” notes Carol Troxell of Steve’s Ice Cream at Fanueil Hall in Boston . “We operate in a food court. We rarely sell a soda a-la-carte. But frozen beverage is a great a-la-carte item. People come to us specifically to get a frozen beverage. It’s a destination item.”

Research indicates that frozen treats are most often consumed during afternoon hours, when restaurants experience slower traffic. Industry observers refer to this period between lunch and dinner as the “snack daypart,” a largely untapped opportunity that can be filled by frozen beverages.

NORTHBORO, MA, APRIL 11, 2005 -- Like many new businesses, Liquid Ice started in the founder’s garage.

“We started with 1 machine, 5 cases of product, and our garage.” recalls founder and company president Al Del Re. In 1998, after a decade of serving as an executive at The Coca-Cola Company, Mr. Del Re unexpectedly felt the icy sting of corporate downsizing. After a few weeks of unsuccessful job searching, Mr. Del Re decided to start a small business to market soft drinks in frozen form throughout New England .

Known as frozen carbonated beverage, or FCB, these products are made with soda, syrup, and CO2 . A specialized dispenser whips the mixture and freezes it into a unique, fluffy, fizzy consistency. Popular in other parts of the country FCBs had not yet caught on in New England .

Mr. Del Re had experience selling the FCBs of his former employer, including the famous Frozen Coke and Frozen Minute Maid line. He had high hopes that his new company could successfully bring these and other products to foodservice customers throughout New England , but he soon learned there were unique barriers in the New England marketplace.

“I remember trying to buy Frozen Coke syrup from a local Coca-Cola salesperson. The salesperson didn’t carry the product. I actually had to explain to him what it was because he had never heard of it! When I needed a FCB machine the equipment representative said he’d never sold one before. Frozen Coke has been at 7-Eleven, Wal-Mart, and other locations for over 30 years. It was wildly successful in other markets. Why not New England ? Was New England just stuck in a FCB time warp?”

Maybe New England wasn’t ready for Frozen Carbonated Beverages? Maybe the winter is too severe, or regional tastes lean towards hot drinks?

“I looked at per capita Frozen Beverage figures throughout the country, and I learned that places like Detroit , Indianapolis , and St. Louis lead the nation in per capita frozen beverage consumption. Winter weather in those cities makes New England look like the tropics.”

Another barrier to New England ’s frozen beverage business was the high cost of frozen beverage equipment and services. A 2-flavor machine with a 3-year warranty costs about $13,000. That’s a big investment for any potential customer, even considering FCB’s 80% profit margins.

Liquid Ice started slowly, placing just 9 machines in the first year. After some financial struggling, Liquid Ice finally came up with a unique approach to jump-start the market. The company decided to give the $13,000 equipment and services package away for free, making up for this by charging extra for the supplies like syrup, cups, lids, and straws. It wouldn’t work everywhere, but for high volume locations the arrangement proved to be very popular.

Mr. Del Re explains: “Foodservice operators understand food cost. With Liquid Ice all they pay for is food cost. The equipment and services are free, so the operator knows he’s making 80% profits, and he doesn’t have to budget for equipment and service expense. Everything is bundled into food cost.”

Selling locations was difficult in the beginning, says Mr. Del Re. “We were ahead of the curve. Customers didn’t know what our products were. We had to show them the benefits.”

Slowly but steadily, sales began taking off. Liquid Ice expanded from frozen carbonated beverage into new products like 100% juice concentrate, frozen coffee, and frozen cocktail mixes, and uncarbonated frozen beverages. Liquid Ice is now a one-stop-shop for all frozen beverage categories, and of course is no longer based out of the founder’s family garage.

Today, Liquid Ice operates a warehouse in a Randolph , MA industrial park, The modest shop reveals no hint of the vibrant company within.

“We sold our 12 millionth serving this month, and we’re not done yet!” concludes Mr. Del Re. “That’s enough product to bury Boston Common!

No, thanks, we’ve had enough slush on Boston Common this year!

NORTHBORO, MA, APRIL 15, 2005 -- Frozen beverage firm Liquid Ice, Inc., of Northboro , MA announces the launch of Frozen Shirley Temple as the next Limited Edition flavor for slush machines.

Frozen Shirley Temple is based on the soda fountain classic made famous by child actress, Shirley Temple, who ordered this non-alcoholic cocktail at her movie premieres in the 1930’s.

Like the original, Frozen Shirley Temple is made with lemon-lime soda, and a splash of bright red, cherry syrup.

Frozen Shirley Temple is available in bag-in-box exclusively from Liquid Ice, for use with a frozen carbonated beverage dispenser.

Approximately 200 of Liquid Ice’s customers will be offering this unique frozen treat throughout New England , beginning May 1, 2005.

January 28, 2002 -- White Castle restaurants recently faced a dilemma. The time had come for the restaurants to replace their aging milkshake equipment, but newer models were expensive, daily machine sanitation procedures remained time-consuming and product waste was high. Then, Wayne Jensen, area manager for White Castle operations, heard about Coca-Cola brands served in a frozen form. The products offered an alternative snack/dessert option for consumers, while simplifying day-to-day restaurant maintenance. A 12-store test produced remarkable results.

Consumers loved this new menu option that delivered taste and refreshment without the fat. From the start, the frozen treats outsold milkshakes 3-to-1. Meanwhile, behind the counter, shake machine cleanup time - which sometimes exceeded an hour per day - was now a thing of the past. Frozen machines only required a sanitizing wipe down at the end of each day and a scheduled preventive maintenance call twice each year. Waste was eliminated too, since up to a gallon a day of milkshake mix (20 percent) was previously disposed of each day in every restaurant.

Rather than marketing Frozen Treats as a beverage, White Castle elected to position them as a snack/dessert, and to actively support that positioning through merchandising. The approach paid off and Frozen treats performed very well. In addition, there was no negative effect on soft drink sales. Minute Maid® Grape, Minute Maid® Cherry and Barq's® were chosen by White Castle, and offered in different brand sets depending on restaurant consumer profiles.

Daily average sales improved 70% over shakes per restaurant after Frozen Coca-Cola Brands were introduced. Along with these impressive results, White Castle's profit margin is up significantly with Frozen Coca-Cola Brands versus shakes.

November 2, 2001 -- Combine the great taste of Frozen Minute Maid Cherry and Lemonade by switching your FCB dispenser to Cherry and Lemonade.

First, pour 1/3 frozen lemonade, then 1/3 frozen cherry, then 1/3 lemonade. It's like adding a third flavor to your 2-flavor dispenser!

Liquid Ice supports this exciting promotion with a frozen treat p.o.s. package featuring cherry and lemonade product shots. P.O.S. is free to Liquid Ice customers.

May 15, 2001 -- Break out the spoon straws! Coca-Cola's newest move in its strategy to hit 50 percent market share domestically by the end of the decade is the coolest yet.

After years of testing, the Atlanta-based soft drink company has begun to sell frozen carbonated versions of its well-known carbonated soft drinks in fast-food restaurants, movie theaters, sports arenas and amusement parks.

Slushy-like renderings of Coke Classic, and even flavors like Minute Maid Cherry are now being slurped in about 100 United Artists movie theaters, 8,000+ Burger King locations, 1.200 McDonald's, eight Six Flags theme parks, and even 4 major league baseball stadiums.

Coca-Cola wants to capture growth in a highly fragmented segment of the $ 53 billion carbonated soft drink industry that is estimated at only $ 100 million.

"This is an emerging priority for us," said Jeff Dunn, vice president of field sales and marketing for Coca-Cola's fountain division. "We are learning our way ... and I'm sure we don't have it right yet. But we think there's something there. We're just trying to get into a number of different locations and see how it does with the consumer. This is a growth vehicle."

Customers that want to sell Frozen Coke require specialized equipment and services that Coca-Cola does not currently offer. The strategy is to refer customers to local market partners.

One such Frozen Coke partner is Liquid Ice, Inc., of Natick, Massachusetts. Liquid Ice is the leading supplier of Frozen Coke in markets throughout New England.

"We supply absolutely everything needed for a customer to profitably sell Frozen Coke," says Al Del Re, president of Liquid Ice. "Loaned equipment, free service, syrup, cups, lids, straws, and promotions are all an important part of the recipe."

Frozen Coke is highly profitable for the customer, with up to 80% margins, according to Del Re.

With that rate of return, we can be sure that this summer will be very cool.

April 25, 2001 --Liquid Ice unveiled a bigger, better booth at the Northeast Foodservice and Lodging Exposition. The event was open to Foodservice professionals April 22 - 24 at Bayside Exposition Center in Boston, MA.

March 1, 2001 -- Liquid Ice is now selling its famous syrups in convenient, 1 gal. jugs for use in granita or slush machines.

Each case contains 4, 1 gallon jugs. Mix 4 gallons of water to each gallon of syrup to yield 2,560 oz. per case. Serving cost is only about 1¢ per ounce.

Profits on Liquid Ice granita syrup are usually 80%+, depending on the retail price.

Flavors include banana, blue raspberry, cherry, grape, kiwi, orange, pina-colada, pineapple, and vanilla.

January 3, 2000 -- Liquid Ice unveils a portable trade show booth for use at local and regional industry events. The booth has been demonstrated at events such as the Roller Skating Association of America, Massachusetts Bowling Proprietor's Association, and the Northeast Ice Skating Manager's Association.

Having the booth at your meeting is a great way to introduce a proven, high profit product to your trade association.