Centennial Specialty Foods Restructures Bank Debt DENVER, Jan. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Centennial Specialty Foods Corporation (Nasdaq: CHLE; Boston Stock Exchange: CJS) ("Company") and its bank have agreed to amend the Company's loan agreement effective January 6, 2005. The amount of the line of credit under the loan agreement has been reduced from $5,000,000 to $4,000,000, while the consolidated net worth covenant of the Company has been reduced from $7,000,000 to $6,400,000. Outstanding borrowings under the line of credit are approximately $2,400,000. These amendments were negotiated with the bank, as the Company determined it was likely that it would not meet the existing loan agreement's $7,000,000 consolidated net worth requirement as of December 31, 2004, which the bank waived as part of the amendments. While management does not believe that the decrease in availability under the line of credit will impact ongoing operations, the reduced availability may limit the Company's ability to pursue part of its planned expansion into additional markets. Accordingly, the Company will be exploring other financing alternatives. Additional information about the debt restructuring with the bank is set forth in the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on January 6, 2005. Centennial Specialty Foods Corporation is a distributor of ethnic Southwestern food products. Its products are sold under the Stokes and Ellis labels, two well-known Southwestern brands that date back almost 100 years. Principal channels of distribution for Centennial's products are grocery retailers, superstores and club stores in Colorado, Arizona, California and, to a lesser extent, several major metropolitan markets in adjoining states. More information about Centennial can be found on its website at http://www.centennialspecialtyfoods.com/ Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements: Certain matters discussed in this press release could contain forward-looking information that involves risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from current trends or expected results. We identify forward looking statements through our use of words such as "expect," "believe," "project," "anticipate," and similar expressions. These risks that may affect our ability to achieve forward-looking statements are discussed in our final prospectus in the section entitled "Risk Factors" and other documents that are on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For further information, please contact Jeffrey Nieder, CEO or Douglas Evans, CFO at (303) 292-4018. Stokes and Ellis are registered trademarks of Centennial Specialty Foods Corporation. DATASOURCE: Centennial Specialty Foods Corporation CONTACT: Jeffrey Nieder, CEO, or Douglas Evans, CFO, both of Centennial Specialty Foods Corporation, +1-303-292-4018 Web site: http://www.centennialspecialtyfoods.com/

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