AHAVA FOOD CORPORATION SIGNS LEASE AGREEMENTS WITH ECOVATION

Company will design, build and finance two wastewater treatment plants

Ahava Food Corporation has signed lease agreements with
Ecovation, Inc., Victor, NY, to design, build and finance wastewater treatment plants at its Lewis County Dairy and St. Lawrence Foods locations in New York State. Ahava, located in Brooklyn, NY, is the USA’s largest distributor of Kosher dairy products.

The construction of these facilities will dramatically change the way the dairies dispose of manufacturing byproducts. Currently, the Lewis County facility’s wastes are hauled to local municipal or agricultural facilities for treatment or land disposal. The St. Lawrence Dairy facility discharges to the City of Ogdensburg’s municipal wastewater plant. In addition to being extremely costly, these disposal methods don’t support Ahava’s commitment to being environmentally responsible.

Ecovation performed analytical testing, preliminary engineering and analysis for the waste streams produced at the plants to choose the best option from its broad portfolio of wastewater treatment systems. The final solution for each plant included the integration of a customized waste stream treatment system based on Ecovation’s proprietary Krofta dissolved air flotation (DAF) and aerobic treatment technologies.

“Ecovation is able to meet the specific wastewater treatment needs of our customers—both large and small,” noted Diane C Creel, chairman and CEO. “By offering a wide range of treatment technologies and unique financing options, we were able to offer Ahava Foods a customized solution to treat their waste streams without the need for an upfront capital investment.”

Moise Banayan, owner of Ahava Foods, adds that turning over his waste stream treatment challenges to Ecovation will let him focus on production. “The cost of managing our waste streams was quickly becoming an impediment to our ability to meet the growing demand for our Kosher dairy products. I am confident that Ecovation can resolve these issues with a long-term solution that will allow us to grow the business and remain highly profitable.”

The two new treatment facilities are expected to begin operating mid-summer 2006.



February 27, 2006

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