American Lorain Corporation Announces Over 1,666 Acres of New Chestnut Cultivar Has Been Planted and Expects to Reach Harvest in 2016

JUNAN COUNTY, China, June 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- American Lorain Corporation (NYSE MKT: ALN) ("American Lorain" or the "Company"), an international processed snack foods, convenience foods, and frozen foods company based in Shandong Province, China, today announced that the Company's previously announced cultivation plan of new chestnut cultivar is well ahead of schedule. To date, the total acreage of our new chestnut cultivar has reached over 1,666 acres (or 10,000 mu), with the Company operating about 50% of the planted acreage and our local farmer partners operating the remaining acreage. We expect to enter harvesting season for the new chestnut cultivar in 2016.

As previously announced in 2014, American Lorain has successfully developed a new cultivar of chestnuts comparable to the European chestnut, after five years of internal research and development efforts. The new chestnut cultivar features larger size, longer storage life, better taste and sweetness, easier processing and higher quality. Since its launch, the new chestnut cultivar has been well received by both the farming community and Chinese government. Various local governments not only provided strong policy support, but also granted about US$400,000 in subsidies for planting and promoting the new chestnut cultivar. The Company will continue to work with all parties and plans to double the planted acreage of new chestnut cultivar within the next 1-2 years.

Mr. Si Chen, Chairman and CEO of American Lorain, commented, "We are very pleased to see the early result of 1,666 acres of cultivation for the new cultivar of chestnuts, which is nine months ahead of our original plan. Once those chestnuts are harvested, we plan to ship them to our factory in France which we acquired last year for further processing, and sell the finished chestnut products to the European market. This will not only greatly enhance our profit margin, as Europe has one of highest prices for chestnut products in the world, but also allow us to raise the public awareness of the Lorain brand in the European market."

Contact:

Johnny Zhou
Tel. : +86 13917303401
E-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE American Lorain Corporation