TORONTO, Aug. 22, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SunOpta Inc.(Nasdaq:STKL) (TSX:SOY) today announced that Mr. Douglas Greene and Mr. Victor Hepburn have been nominated and agreed to stand for election to the Company's Board of Directors at the next Annual Meeting of Shareholders of the Company to be held on September 25, 2008. These nominees are intended to replace Messrs. Steve Townsend and Jim Rifenbergh, two current directors who will not be standing for re-election at the Company's Annual Meeting on September 25th, 2008.
Douglas Greene has been involved in the natural and organic foods industry for over 25 years. Mr. Greene founded New Hope Natural Media, a business to business media group in the natural foods industry and ran this company for twenty years before selling it to Penton Media in 1999. From 1999 to 2005 Mr. Greene was a board member of Penton Media which was listed on the NYSE and NASDAQ, and served on its Executive, Compensation and Audit Committees. From 1994 to 2005 Mr. Greene was Chairman of Virtrina Group of Moscow, publishers and event producers for the grocery, restaurant and wine industries. Mr. Greene is a Board member of Next Foods and has served on several non-profit Boards including World Business Academy, American Farm Foundation, Tarrytown Group (100 leading executives in America), United Nations Private Sector Advisors and Sir Lauren van der Post Foundation for Africa.
Victor Hepburn is a Chartered Accountant and attended the University of Glasgow. Mr. Hepburn is currently a Director of Opta Minerals Inc. (TSX:OPM) and Chairman of its Audit Committee. He is currently self-employed as a consultant and is a director of Walker Industries Holdings Inc., an aggregate and waste management company. Mr. Hepburn was the President and CEO of Hanson Brick America in 1999 and 2000, an international building materials company that is one of the largest ready mix concrete and brick manufactures in North America. Prior to its acquisition by Hanson Brick America, from 1977 to 1999 Mr. Hepburn was employed in various capacities with Jannock Limited, a company listed on the TSX, including serving as President and Chief Executive Officer, Brick Operations from 1985 to 1999.
Pursuant to Audit Committee recommendations that were adopted by the Board of Directors in June, 2008, the Company is continuing to assess additional new independent director candidates and intends to appoint additional directors to the Board over the next few months. In the event of such appointments, the new directors will serve until the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Shareholders, at which time they would stand for election.
Jeremy Kendall, Chairman of the Board of SunOpta Inc. commented, "We are very excited to have two seasoned business professionals join the Board of Directors of SunOpta. Mr. Greene brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in the natural and organic foods industry to the Board and Mr. Hepburn comes to us with solid financial and business acumen. Both have wide experience in both private and public companies. At the same time I want to thank both Jim Rifenbergh and Steve Townsend for their many contributions to the SunOpta Board of Directors and wish them sincere best wishes in their future endeavors".
About SunOpta Inc.
SunOpta Inc. is an operator of high-growth ethical businesses, focusing on integrated business models in the natural and organic food and natural health markets. The Company has three business units: the SunOpta Food Group, which specializes in sourcing, processing and distribution of natural and organic food products integrated from seed through packaged products; Opta Minerals Inc. (TSX:OPM) (66.6% owned by SunOpta), a producer, distributor, and recycler of environmentally friendly industrial materials; and SunOpta BioProcess Inc. which engineers and markets proprietary steam explosion technology systems for the bio-fuel, pulp and food processing industries. Each of these business units has proprietary products and services that give it a solid competitive advantage in its sector.
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Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements included in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to the timing for appointing new independent directors. Whether actual timing will agree with expectations and predications of the Company is subject to many risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, identification of qualified candidates and their agreement to serve, which is partially beyond the control of the Company. Consequently all forward-looking statements made herein are qualified by these cautionary statements and there can be no assurance that the actual results or developments anticipated by the Company will be realized.