May 31, 2002

State-of-the-Art Rice Mill Completed for the Hokuren Federation of Agricultural Co-operatives

An opening ceremony was held on May 31, 2002, for a state-of-the-art rice mill supplied by Satake Corporation for the Hokuren Federation of Agricultural Co-operatives.

Rice mill design themes:

1. Food factory of the future. ISO-certified quality control. HACCP-specified hygienic environment. Establishing a brand for safe, secure, delicious food.

2. Use the latest and highest performance machinery and manufacturing systems to ensure full traceability from production to consumption.

3. An informative factory which is fun to visit and which presents grain-processing information in way that is easy to understand.

【Outline of the New Rice Mill】

Site Area : 30,548m²
Total Floor Area : 16,890m² (5 stories)
Processing Capacity : 135,000 tons/year on brown rice
Groundbreaking : May 2001
Completion : April 2002
Full Operation : July 2002 (scheduled)

Ground floor is for delivery, 1st floor is for offices and 2nd to 4th floors are for milling. There are three rice milling lines in the mill, two of which run on 150HP and one of which runs on 100HP. All milling lines consist of VTA and VBF rice milling machines. NTWP5A, a 5 t/h rinse-free rice production system, is also installed.

* Please note descriptions in news releases are accurate as of the date of release and may differ from the most up-to-date information.