14 November 2007

3 minute read

North America

The company has reserved a dedicated factory space in Waverly, Neb., and has ordered the necessary molds for the manufacturing and production of "Polylactic Acid" bottle preforms.

Preforms are the second stage in the production of a PLA bottle. Preforms are formed from the raw resin into a cylindrical tube through an injection molding machine. The preforms are then used with blow molding equipment to produce the final PLA bottle.

According to William Horner, president and CEO of Naturally Iowa Inc., the new equipment and facility gives Naturally Iowa complete control over the manufacturing and production process of the biodegradable PLA bottles.

"This is one of many firsts for Naturally Iowa. After four years of research and development, Naturally Iowa became the first and only dairy in the world to integrate the blow molding of PLA preforms into our dairy production process. Now, Naturally Iowa will also control the manufacturing of PLA preforms for dairy containers, handling the entire process from resin to perform to bottle."

Naturally Iowa Inc., operating through its wholly- owned subsidiary, Naturally Iowa LLC, is a fully certified organic dairy processor that produces organic and all-natural fluid milk, ice cream and drinkable yogurt. Naturally Iowa distinguishes itself from other dairy processors and producers by offering the highest quality organic and all- natural dairy products packaged in an environmentally-friendly, sustainable container that completely biodegrades in 60 to 100 days in an industrial compost facility.

Naturally Iowa Inc., operating through its wholly-owned owned subsidiary, Naturally Iowa LLC, processes and produces organic and all-natural dairy products. The company's main product lines are organic and all-natural fluid milk, ice cream and drinkable yogurt.

Naturally Iowa, LLC was founded in 2003 by William Horner and Steve Williams, who partnered to provide an opportunity for family-operated dairy farms to make a comeback by adding value to their product. Wishing to place their dairy products in containers that would not harm the environment, Naturally Iowa found a revolutionary type of plastic made from corn that biodegrades in a commercial composting facility.

Naturally Iowa, LLC developed a working partnership with Natureworks, LLC, and became the world's first and only dairy to use Natureworks(R) PLA bottling. The acronym PLA stands for "Polylactic Acid." This substance represents the final step in a process, engineered by Natureworks, which utilizes all-natural ingredients from corn to create a compostable material. Organic milk in PLA bottles landed on grocery store shelves in October, 2005. Naturally Iowa, Inc. operates its state-of-the-art 28,000 sq. foot dairy processing facility in Clarinda, Iowa.

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