Winning
Brands Awarded Solvent Free Solutions Contract in Florida
to Address Dry Cleaning
Pollution in Billion Dollar Industry
August 15, 2006 Barrie, Ontario,
Canada -
Winning Brands Corporation (PINK
SHEETS: WNBD) announces that its Solvent Free Solutions partnership with
Miele USA has been awarded a
new contract to outfit Naples,
Florida Diamond Cleaners with a
professional garment care technology that may rescue a multi-billion
dollar industry facing new regulations.
The new system replaces hazardous chemicals still used
by conventional Dry Cleaners, whose old Perchloroethylene solvent days may be
numbered. The new proprietary form of Wet Cleaning delivers environmentally
advanced cleaning agents with plain water instead of “Perc”, the conventional
toxic solvent. Using the new method it
is now possible to have “Dry Clean Only” garments professionally “Wet Cleaned”
without using Perchloroethylene. The United States Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) considers Perc to be hazardous to the health of workers, customers
and the environment. Most of America’s
35,000 Dry Cleaners are still using Perc and many are facing stiff legal
regulations and even outright bans on further use. The National Institute of Environmental Health
Service (NIEHS) www.niehs.nih.gov.external/faq/dryclean.htm says
that Perc accounts for 80-85% of all Dry Cleaning chemicals used.
The new technology being installed in Naples, Florida
provides Dry Cleaners and their customers with a way out of the environmental
headaches and business problems associated with their use of Perc.
Naples Florida is known for its upscale lifestyle,
setting a standard that others emulate.
The flagship plant of new Diamond Cleaners will be located at the
Bellagio Shoppes directly on US 41 North, to service affluent North Naples,
with additional drop sites scheduled to open within three and five months in
Central and South Naples. Diamond
Cleaners is an initiative by Naples
resident Gerhard Helbig to bring advanced standards to the heart of this
waterfront community. “Less electricity
is used and water leaves the plant ready to bio-degrade for starters” says Mr.
Helbig. “Employees are safer and customers don’t take toxic residue and toxic
smell home in their garments” he adds . The new system to be installed is a
proprietary combination of advanced non-toxic cleaning agents manufactured by
Winning Brands Corporation, its Solvent Free Solutions Systems Team and
breakthrough machine technology from leading European appliance manufacturer
Miele. Miele’s US headquarters is in Princeton, New Jersey.
Diamond Cleaners is under construction now and plans to commence operations in
November 2006.
The State of California
has already enacted a law to phase out Perc to protect residents of that State,
prompting pressure in other States for similar protection. As a result there is a growing concern by Dry
Cleaning operators in the USA
to identify a winning alternative as technology suppliers vie to design
non-Perc systems. The proprietary form
of Wet Cleaning which combines Miele hardware with Winning Brands Corporation’s
Solvent Free Solutions is emerging as a leading contender because of the stable
economic operation of their installed sites, an ability to treat all “Dry Clean
Only” labelled garments as well or better than Perc with no harmful effects and
high consumer satisfaction.
Winning Brands
Corporation CEO Eric Lehner, whose company designs and manufactures the
advanced cleaning agents for use in Miele Wet Cleaning systems
thanks the Naples
entrepreneurs for being leaders in their community. “The momentum is unmistakable” says
Lehner. “The business viability of our
team’s approach is proven. Now it’s just
a question of who will emerge as leaders within the Dry Cleaning industry to do
the right thing and convert” he adds. (www.WinningBrands.ca)
Miele Corporation, a German based company with over
107 years of experience was recently given the Readers Digest Pegasus Award for
being the most trustworthy brand in Europe for
domestic and kitchen appliances. Readers
Digest contacted 24,832 people
in 14 participating European countries in 12 languages. Across all countries and all product categories
information for many brands was collected and analysed for its 2005
European Trusted Brands Survey. Each respondent was asked to name the brand
he or she trusted the most in the applicable category. Miele emerged as number
one it is field. Miele has now turned
its attention to the issue of safer “Dry Cleaning”, by means of an alternative technology
called “Wet Cleaning” for which it is the manufacturer of the hardware
described in this News Release.
Certain statements in this press release
that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such
statements may be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate,"
"believe," "expect," "future," "may,"
"will," "would," "should," "plan,"
"projected," "intend," and similar expressions. Such
forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and
other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements
of Winning Brands Corporation (the Company) to be materially different
from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The
Company's future operating results are dependent upon many factors, including
but not limited to the Company's ability to: (i) obtain sufficient capital or a
strategic business arrangement to fund its expansion plans; (ii) build the
management and human resources and infrastructure necessary to support the
growth of its business; and (iii) competitive factors and developments
beyond the Company's control. Release
Nbr: 13
Contact Information
Winning Brands Corporation
Rhonda Windsor, Vice-President Investor Relations
905-898-0918
www.WinningBrands.ca
roni@WinningBrands.ca
Solvent Free Solutions Team
OJ Macdonald, Executive Assistant
(866) 300-8042
www.SolventFreeSolutions.com
OJ@solventfreesolutions.com
Diamond Cleaners
Uwe Schlegel, Gerhard Helbig
877 91st. Ave. North
Naples, Florida 34110
(239) 564-9053
uschlegel@aol.com