000330 Pillsbury Serving Chicken Noodle Soup to Hungry

Chicago - On Monday, March 13, the Pillsbury Company will announce that its Vineland, N.J. and Hannibal, Mo. plants will produce 184,800 cans of Progresso Chicken Noodle Soup to feed hungry children in America this spring. This special production of six truckloads of soup is part of Pillsbury's on-going commitment to America's Second Harvest, the nation's largest domestic hunger-relief organization.

Both the Vineland and Hannibal plants will produce Progresso Chicken Noodle Soup exclusively for America's Second Harvest food banks, which will distribute the soup to as many as 369,600 hungry children. A total of 15,400 cases will be routed to food banks in Minnesota, Anchorage, Alaska, Columbia, Mo., Charlotte, N.C., New York, N.Y. and Hillside, N.J. The food banks will distribute the product to meal service programs such as Kids Cafes and other organizations that focus on children and childhood nutrition. Providing essential nutrients and vitamins, vegetables and soups are much needed and continually requested by food banks for hungry Americans.

“The commitment and generosity of Pillsbury is a model to America's corporate community in the fight against hunger. Pillsbury's Production Alliance is an innovative program that delivers healthy, nutritious food to needy Americans,” said Deborah Leff, President and CEO, America's Second Harvest.

“As a major food company, Pillsbury is committed to providing food and improving nutrition for people in need, especially children and their families,” said Rebecca Erdahl, Vice President, Community Relations and Diversity at Pillsbury.

Pillsbury was the nation's first corporation to support Production Alliance, a groundbreaking program in which companies produce first-line product exclusively for donation to those in need through the America's Second Harvest network of 190 regional food distribution centers. With Production Alliance, a company's philanthropy budget and available production capacity process high quality, first-line grocery products that are donated to America's Second Harvest member food banks.

Since 1980, Pillsbury has donated more than 100 million pounds of product through America's Second Harvest food banks nationwide. Pillsbury commits to four Production Alliance projects a year. These four projects, including 7,800 cases of Wild Berry waffles and Cinnamon Toast mini-waffles and 129,000 bags of Green Giant frozen corn, provided hungry children with wholesome food for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

America's Second Harvest is the nation's largest domestic hunger-relief organization with a national network of nearly 200 regional food banks, serving all 50 states and Puerto Rico, which distributes one billion pounds of donated food and grocery products annually. The America's Second Harvest network supports approximately 50,000 local charitable agencies, operating more than 94,000 food programs, including food pantries, soup kitchens, women's shelters, Kids Cafes, and other local organizations that provide food assistance to 26 million hungry Americans, including eight million children and four million seniors each year.

Pillsbury, a Minneapolis-based subsidiary of Diageo plc produces a range of grocery items, frozen foods, and refrigerated dough products for international consumer markets, including North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Far East. The company is also a major supplier of baking and other food products to the foodservice and commercial baking industries. The company's portfolio of leading brands includes Pillsbury, Green Giant, Old El Paso, Progresso, Haagen- Dazs, Progresso, Hungry Jack, and Totino's.

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