UPDATED: MIKE AND IKE(R) and HOT TAMALES(R) Take First and Second Place At the Box Office

UPDATED: MIKE AND IKE(R) and HOT TAMALES(R) Take First and Second Place At the Box Office

BETHLEHEM, Pa., July 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Just Born, Inc.'s MIKE AND IKE(R) and HOT TAMALES(R) Brand Candies are stars in the Theater Box Category. MIKE AND IKE(R) maintains its role as the #1 brand with HOT TAMALES(R) #2 in the latest Theater Box Category retail dollar sales rankings (including Sugar and Chocolate brands - source: IRI 52 wk 3/25/07). Box sales have increased 19.5% over the latest 52 weeks, far outpacing Total Candy growth of 2.1%. Just Born has 20.9% of Theater Box sales in the 52-week period.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070724/NETU092-a )
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070724/NETU092-b )

Just Born leads the Sugar Candy Theater Box segment with 33.3% of 52-week dollar sales. Sugar Candy represents the largest portion of theater box sales with 61.7% or $87.7 Million, chocolate is 38.3% or $54.4 Million.

Donald Houston, Brand Manager of the MIKE AND IKE(R) and HOT TAMALES(R) Brands commented, "As a leader in the Theater Box category we are pleased that our brands have helped drive category growth. For the 12-week period, Just Born's Theater Box sales were up 34.4% compared with the same year ago period.

We attribute this in large part to our additional theater box varieties. As an example, Tangy Twister accounts for 10% of the growth of MIKE AND IKE(R) in the latest 24 week period. This success includes only the initial sales impact of our new product, HOT TAMALES(R) ICE(TM), introduced in January and off to a good start!"

Just Born has also seen significant success with its two new Theater Box sizes in 6-oz. and 9.5-oz. The smaller theater box has an SRP of $1.19 and "The Big Box!" an SRP of $1.59. Beyond these packs, MIKE AND IKE(R) and HOT TAMALES(R)Brand Candies are offered in an assortment of sizes to meet all consumer needs.

THE MIKE AND IKE(R) brand was introduced in 1940 and HOT TAMALES(R) in the 1950s. Both MIKE AND IKE(R) and HOT TAMALES(R) are Kosher.

Just Born, Inc. is a privately owned company founded in 1923 and headquartered in Bethlehem, PA. Just Born also manufactures PEEPS(R) Brand Marshmallow Candies, ZOURS(R) Chewy Sour Candies, PEANUT CHEWS(R) Candies, and TEENEE BEANEE(R) Jelly Beans. The company employs over 560 associates and markets its candy in over 50 countries. For more information, fans can visit http://www.mikeandike.com/, http://www.hottamales.com/ or http://www.justborn.com/.

Images available upon request.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Photo: NewsCom:

http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070724/NETU092-a
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070724/NETU092-b
AP Archive:

http://photoarchive.ap.org/
AP PhotoExpress Network:
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Just Born, Inc.

CONTACT: Ellie Deardorff, +1-609-279-0977, edeardorff@justborn.com, or
Milena DeLuca, +1-609-921-1695, mdeluca@justborn.com, both of Just Born, Inc.

Web site:

http://www.mikeandike.com/
http://www.hottamales.com/
http://www.justborn.com/

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