YAVNE, Israel, June 10, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
G. Willi-Food International Ltd. (NASDAQ: WILC) (the
"Company" or "Willi-Food"), a global company that
specializes in the development, marketing and international
distribution of kosher foods, announced today that the Company's
wholly owned subsidiary Gold Frost Ltd. ("Goldfrost")
announced the extension of its Exclusive Distribution Agreement
with the Danish producer of dairy products, Arla Foods amba
("Arla"), for a term of one year commencing from the
expiration in June 2017 of the
current distribution agreement between the parties.
Under the original agreement, Arla had the right to terminate
the agreement on 18 months' notice if Gold Frost failed to satisfy
the minimum purchase requirements, or on 30 days' notice under
certain circumstances, including but not limited to in the case of
the death or permanent incapacity of Zwi
Williger, the previous Chairman of the board of the Company
or his ceasing to be involved in Gold Frost's business.
Zwi Williger ceased to hold any
positions with the Company as of January 21,
2016.
After the departure of Mr. Zwi
Williger from the Company on January
21, 2016, Arla notified the Company that, among other
changes, it is seeking to reduce the period of exclusivity of the
contract.
Under the the extension, Arla granted Goldfrost an exclusive
non-transferable right to import, export, market and distribute in
Israel cheese and butter products
manufactured by Arla. Goldfrost's exclusivity is subject to its
purchase of certain minimum quotas of Arla products. In addition,
Arla has the right to terminate the Agreement under certain
circumstances, including in the case of the death or permanent
incapacity of Mr. Iram Graiver or
his ceasing to be involved in Goldfrost's business.
Mr. Iram Graiver, CEO of the
Company, added "We are pleased that Arla, one of the biggest
producer of dairy products in the world, has demonstrated its
confidence in us. After the Company built an experienced new
managerial team, Arla has agreed to provide us with an additional
year of exclusivity in distributing their cheese and butter
products in Israel."
About G. Willi-Food International Ltd.
G. Willi-Food International Ltd. (http://www.willi-food.com) is
an Israeli-based company specializing in high-quality,
great-tasting kosher food products. Willi-Food is engaged directly
and through its subsidiaries in the design, import, marketing and
distribution of over 600 food products worldwide. As one of
Israel's leading food importers,
Willi-Food markets and sells its food products to over 1,500
customers in Israel and around the
world including large retail and private supermarket chains,
wholesalers and institutional consumers. The Company's operating
divisions include Willi-Food in Israel and Gold Frost, a wholly owned
subsidiary who designs, develops and distributes branded kosher,
dairy-food products.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENT
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995 relating to future events or our
future performance, such as statements regarding trends, demand for
our products and expected sales, operating results, and earnings.
Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results,
levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially
different from any future results, levels of activity, performance
or achievements expressed or implied in those forward-looking
statements. These risks and other factors include but are not
limited to: monetary risks including changes in marketable
securities or changes in currency exchange rates- especially
the NIS/U.S. Dollar exchange rate, payment default by
any of our major clients, the loss of one of more of our key
personnel, changes in laws and regulations, including those
relating to the food distribution industry, and inability to meet
and maintain regulatory qualifications and approvals for our
products, termination of arrangements with our suppliers, in
particular Arla Foods, loss of one or more of our principal
clients, increase or decrease in global purchase prices of food
products, increasing levels of competition in Israel and other markets in which we do
business, changes in economic conditions in Israel, including in particular economic
conditions in the Company's core markets, our inability to
accurately predict consumption of our products and changes
in consumer preferences, our inability to protect our intellectual
property rights, our inability to successfully integrate our recent
acquisitions, insurance coverage not sufficient enough to cover
losses of product liability claims and risks associated with
product liability claims. We cannot guarantee future results,
levels of activity, performance or achievements. The matters
discussed in this press release also involve risks and
uncertainties summarized under the heading "Risk Factors" in the
Company's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended
December 31, 2013, filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission on April
30, 2014. These factors are updated from time to time
through the filing of reports and registration statements with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. We do not assume any obligation
to update the forward-looking information contained in this press
release.
Company Contact:
G. Willi - Food International Ltd.
Pavel Buber, CFO and Secretary
(+972) 8-932-1000
pavel@willi-food.co.il
SOURCE G. Willi-Food International Ltd.