For Immediate Release

Contact: Ryan Croy

212.255.8455

CHILE PEPPER/COOKING ZESTY ANNOUNCES

THE WINNERS OF THE 2003 FIERY FOOD CHALLENGE

Salmon Arm, British Columbia ’s Denzels Gourmet Foods Ltd.

Seizes Third Place Golden Chile Award

Fort Worth, TX (January 22, 2003)— As the winter weather puts a chill in the air, Chile Pepper/Cooking Zesty magazine heats up, announcing the winners of the 2003Fiery Food Challenge , the longest running and most prestigious competition in the fast flourishing world of zesty food. Among the winners was Denzels Gourmet Foods Ltd., from Salmon Arm, BC, whose Peaches & Scream won a third place Golden Chile award in the Hot Sauce/Fruit category.

“T his year’s Fiery Food Challenge boasted the highest number of categories in the contest’s history,” said Chile Pepper/Cooking Zesty Publisher Joel Gregory. “Seven of these categories were larger than last year – some up 120 percent. This spike reflects continual growth within the industry, as more categories were created to accommodate the quantity and diversity of products. The overwhelming popularity of the Fiery Food Challenge is a testament to the zesty food movement’s omnipresence in today’s food culture.”

Conceived as a means of acknowledging top-quality products and implemented through a series of blind taste tests by culinary professionals, the Fiery Food Challenge has become the zesty food industry benchmark, and the Golden Chile award the supreme honor for producers of spicy foodstuffs. This year, the panel convened to judge the submissions in Fort Worth , TX the week of November 18, 2002 .

As the sole consumer voice for the zesty food movement, Chile Pepper/Cooking Zesty serves a rapidly expanding universe. Salsas outsell ketchups as the number one condiment purchased in America; major food processors, such as Frito Lay, Tyson and McCormick are adding several spicy flavors to their product lines; and industry sources indicate that there were 3.1 billion barbecue and grilling cookouts in 1999 (up from 1.4 billion in 1987). Chile Pepper/Cooking Zesty speaks to this large and growing body of people who favor Barbecue, Mexican, Italian, Southwestern, Cajun, Asian and other zesty cuisines.

Fanning the flames of the national obsession with hot sauces, salsas and zesty products, Chile Pepper reports the best of zest: recipes, celebrities, destinations, barbecuing, grilling and gardening. Founded in 1987, Chile Pepper distributes more than 140,000 copies of each issue to discriminating spicy food enthusiasts.

To learn more about the spicy spectacular of Chile Pepper /Cooking Zesty ’s Fiery Food Challenge, please contact Ryan Croy at the Rosen Group, 212.255.8455 or ryan@rosengrouppr.com.

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