CERES MEDIA EXPAND OPERATIONS

RNS Number : 2331S

Ceres Media International PLC

16 November 2011

 



For release: 16 November 2011

CERES MEDIA EXPAND OPERATIONS IN SCANDINAVIA AND AMERICA

New distributors appointed in the US and Scandinavia and an expansion of sales team in the US

Ceres Media (LSE:AIM: CMI) the AIM listed UK manufacturer of printable, biodegradable and compostable materials designed to replace vinyl and other non-environmentally friendly oil-based materials announce that they have appointed additional distributors in the US and Northern Europe and have expanded their sales team in North America to promote the NatureWoven^TM range of environmentally friendly products.

In the US, Ceres media has appointed two of the largest US distributors of printing materials,   MidWest Sign & Screen Printing Supply Company ("Midwest") serving a broad swathe of states across the midwest and Alpha Imaging Technologies ("Alpha") serving the North East including New York.

MidWest, founded in 1932, is a leading distributor of sign, screen printing and digital products supplying the highest quality supplies, equipment and services to the printing industry. Midwest operates from nine locations serving the Midwest to the West Coast and have branches in California, Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.

Alpha is a leading distributor serving the sign and digital sector across the entire north east and New York City. Alpha was founded in the 1990s and is committed to bringing new technologies into the mass print market. Alpha was an early adopter of large format printers utilising Aqueous, UV, fabric and latex ink technologies.  As a company it remains committed to finding new digital technologies and helping their customers incorporate these technologies so that they are successful as the various segments of the graphic arts market converge into the digital segment of the marketplace.

As part of the agreement, Midwest (www.midwestsign.com) and Alpha Imaging (www.alphaimaging.com) will stock the NatureWoven^TM range of printable biodegradable and compostable materials which can replace vinyls and other oil based products used within the printing industry. The Ceres Media products are suitable for use within the retail point of sale environment, marketing, event and advertising industries and provide a sustainable alternative to commonly used vinyls.

Ceres Media has also appointed Antalis AB, one of Europe's leading distributors in Scandinavia for the print industry, as an exclusive distributor to market the NatureWoven^TM range of products across Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland.

As part of the agreement, Antalis AB (www.antalis.se) will market the NatureWoven^TM range to their clients within the printing industry.

Antalis AB is the Scandinavian arm of Antalis (www.antalis.com) which is the largest European group in the distribution of communications support materials (Print & Office Paper, Visual Communication & Packaging). Antalis has more than 230,000 customers, from printers and resellers to large companies and communication agencies in 51 countries. They have an extensive network of knowledgeable and experienced teams who work in close partnership with their customers to ensure that their clients are always up to date with innovations in the printing world to ensure business success.

In addition, Natural AdCampaign, Ceres Media's trading subsidiary, has appointed an additional three salesmen within the US to further strengthen its sales effort and support the activities of the new distributors appointed in the US.

The salesmen are to be based in key US market areas, the Pacific North West, Northern California and the North East.

 Alex Dowdeswell, CEO of Ceres Media commented:  "Vinyls and other oil based printing products have to be incinerated or more often are sent to landfill and remain a potential hazard to the environment for many years.  The materials that Ceres Media have developed can be composted in less than 6 weeks. We are very pleased that we have been able to show the leading distributors of printing materials in the North East, Midwest of the US and in Scandinavia the benefits of the NatureWoven^TM range of products.  These distributors are known for their leadership in the adoption of new materials and technologies to support their clients in the print industry.  Although the materials that Ceres have developed can be composted in less than 6 weeks they still have the same resilience and excellent printing characteristics as the vinyls and other oil-based environmentally unfriendly printing materials used currently. We anticipate that once customers of these distributors who are looking to support the environment are made aware of the NatureWoven^TM range they will readily switch to our natural materials.  To support the efforts of the distributors in bringing the environmental credentials of the NatureWoven^TM product range to their clients, we have employed additional salesmen to provide further support in the key areas that they operate in order to create demand from major retailers looking to brand and advertise their products in an environmentally friendly manner."

For additional information please contact:

Alex Dowdeswell, CEO

Ceres Media                                                                [phone]

MikeWort/Anna Dunphy         

De Facto Financial                                                      [phone]

Notes to Editors:

Ceres Media is a specialist materials company producing natural biodegradable materials for the print industry.  The company is dedicated to providing sustainable and compostable alternatives for the petroleum-based materials such as vinyl which are used extensively by the print industry for major corporations advertising their products.  Petroleum- based materials such as vinyl do not degrade readily and have to be disposed of in landfill with an obvious negative impact on the environment.  The materials that Ceres Media have developed have the same print quality as vinyl, do not require modifications to exiting printing machines in normal use and are cost competitive with respect to vinyl.  These products can, however be composted once an advertising campaign has been completed and do not have any adverse impact on the environment.  For technical information and details of how to purchase the range of products that Ceres Media produce for various advertising needs, please go to www.naturaladcampaign.com.

 

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