Water-Stocks.com New Featured Company: WaterBank of America (USA) Inc., a Company Specializing in Marketing and Distributing Patented Secured Spring Water Ice Cubes Under ICEROCKS(R) Brand and Acquiring Spring Water Sources
Market Wire, November, 2006
www.Water-Stocks.com , a global investor and industry news portal for the water sector, announces new featured publicly traded water company, WaterBank of America (USA) Inc. (OTCBB: WBKA), a diversified water company with an integrated strategy to manufacture and market secured spring water ice cubes (ICEROCKS®) and synergistically acquire a "BANK" of quality spring water sources. As climate changes, pollution and over-consumption increasingly impact the quality of water and available water supplies, WaterBank of America has created solutions for consumers to address health concerns in water and ice cubes, while simultaneously accumulating assets in spring water sources and locking in water costs.
The Company's flagship product, ICEROCKS®, is beginning to penetrate the North American retail ice market, estimated at $2.6 billion with its secured ready-to-freeze ice cubes. Patented ICEROCKS® products are hermetically packaged in disposable ice trays which have a two-year shelf-life. Due to the hygiene, safety and ease of transportation in liquid form, ICEROCKS® provides a wide variety of applications through numerous distribution channels including restaurants, bars, hotels, cruise ships and airlines, as well as the gourmet/specialty stores segment.
WaterBank of America is launching ICEROCKS® as a response to increasing concerns about contaminated ice in hotels, resorts, and airlines that pose a threat to consumers' health. In 2004, the BBC released a report from the British Food Standards Agency investigating 413 bars and restaurants, showing 44% of the ice cube samples taken from ice buckets and dispensing machines contained fecal coliforms, with 5% of the cases showing traces of E. coli bacteria. A similar themed report issued by CNN, Anderson Cooper 360, in June 2005, asked listeners: "And how clean is your ice? Before you reach for an ice cold drink, you might want to find out."
The Company has formed a Strategic Alliance for production and distribution with SO.FA.BO., one of the largest independent non-alcoholic beverage companies in France, where ICEROCKS® is produced from a naturally protected source that provides a nitrate-free and balanced product.
WaterBank's efforts to address water contamination issues through hygienic ice cubes have been validated by the Company's partnership with the Canadian Red Cross, which authorizes the use of ICEROCKS® as a vehicle to promote food safety among consumers.
The co-founders of WaterBank of America, Pierre, Robert and Jean-Jean Pelletier, have attracted a management team and Board members with wide experience in the water, beverage and finance industries. As Chairman of the Board, Mr. Byron Messier will exercise his experience in corporate governance and BOD management gained as Managing Partner of ForStar Capital (private equity), President and CEO of Lombard Insurance Company and President CEO of the holding company, Northbridge Financial. President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Jose Francisco Klujsza brings more than 20 years of experience in various executive capacities in sales and franchise operations at multinational corporations, having served as Vice President-Sales for PepsiCo Beverages in Mexico and the Latin American Region, and prior thereto, with The Gillette Company. Mr. Klujsza has a strong educational background holding degrees in Economics, Law, a post graduate degree in Finance and a MBA from IBMEC (Business School of the Brazilian Institute for Capital Markets). Portuguese being his mother tongue, Mr. Klujsza is proficient in Spanish, French, and English.
The Company's ICEROCKS® brand has received substantial media coverage in print and broadcast and has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, New York Daily News, The Washington Post, Business 2.0, Star Inc, Gourmet News, La Presse, as well as on TV with CNBC, MSNBC, NBC, CBS and FOX News.
