C&H Sugar Company Captures Prestigious 2007 ChefsBest™ Award

In a Blind Judging the Independent Chefs at American Culinary ChefsBest™ Named C&H PURE CANE BROWN SUGAR as America's Best Tasting Brown Sugar

(Crockett, Calif.) January 1, 2007 — C&H Pure Cane Brown Sugar received the ChefsBest™ Award for Best Taste for its Brown Sugar from the independent, professional chefs at American Culinary ChefsBest.¹ C&H Brown Sugar was evaluated blind in a competitive judging among leading brands and was rated highest in overall quality.

By using experts to judge the best, the ChefsBest Award is an unbiased, credible way for consumers to make an informed buying decision at the grocery store. By choosing products such as C&H Brown Sugar, consumers are assured they are getting the Best Tasting product for their dollar.

The ChefsBest judging process follows a strict, proprietary protocol. All of the ChefsBest judgings are done blind so the chef panelists do not know which brands are being evaluated. To further ensure objectivity, the products are served in random order with only a three-digit code identifying product samples. The products are then judged on many different aspects of taste. To receive the ChefsBest Award for Best Taste, a brand must have a statistically significant quality difference from its competitors. In the event there is no difference among products, no winner is declared.

In addition to being professionally trained in the culinary arts, all of the ChefsBest chef panelists are certified as Master Tasters™. They have been rigorously trained and screened for palate acuity. This screening ensures the chefs' taste buds are sophisticated enough to detect various flavor nuances. In fact, to protect these "prized" taste buds, chefs avoid caffeine, cannot smoke, drink or eat spicy food several hours before judging to prevent any residual flavors from tainting the products being judged.

To uphold the high integrity standards for the ChefsBest Award for Best Taste, the judging process is protected from outside influence. Products are purchased nationwide by ChefsBest, just as a consumer would. ChefsBest determines categories independently of manufacturers. All testing is done outside of manufacturers and they do not pay to be judged. Only one brand within the category can win the ChefsBest Award. There are no second or third place awards so consumers can be sure they are getting the Best product.

"Food is the third largest expenditure of the American household. Yet with thousands of products in the average grocery store, it can be hard to determine which is the best product for your dollar," said Heidi Wissmiller, Chief Operating Officer, American Culinary ChefsBest. "The ChefsBest Award provides unbiased, credible information about the best products in America."

"The ChefsBest Award reinforces our promise to provide high quality, great-tasting products. Winning the ChefsBest Award emphasizes to C&H Pure Cane Brown Sugar consumers that they have made the best buying decision for their family," said Connie Hunter, Consumer Relations Specialist, C&H Sugar Company.

ChefsBest Award Winning products are easily identified by the three chef heads profile on the double gold medallion. To find out more about ChefsBest and other award-winning products, please visit www.chefsbest.org.

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American Culinary ChefsBest™ is the independent, chef-based organization dedicated to recognizing and honoring the Best products in America. Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, the organization conducts taste and performance testing for food and food-related products. All testing is done independent of manufacturers and they do not pay to be judged. The prestigious ChefsBest Award can be found on over 1,500 products including such revered products as Lay's Classic Potato Chips, Yoplait Light Yogurt, Kraft Mayonnaise and Sara Lee Frozen Pies.

¹ The ChefsBest™ Award for Best Taste is awarded to the brand rated highest overall among leading brands by independent professional chefs.

Contacts:

Kelda Kast Torme Lauricella PR (415) 956-1791 kelda@torme.com

Jennifer Barnhart American Culinary ChefsBest (415) 248-5115 jenniferb@chefsbest.org