22 September 2011

NutraCea (NTRZ), a global leader in the production and marketing of value added products derived from rice bran, today announced that Alothon Group, LLC, through its AF Bran Holdings subsidiaries ("Alothon"), has purchased an additional 450,000 membership interest units of Nutra SA, LLC ("Nutra SA"), the 100% owner of Industria Riograndese De Oleos Vegetais Ltda. ("Irgovel"), from NutraCea for $900,000, thereby increasing Alothon's ownership interest in Nutra SA to from 45% to 49%.

W. John Short, Chief Executive Officer of NutraCea, commented, "We are pleased with the progress made at Irgovel , our state-of-the-art rice bran oil bio-refinery located in Pelotas, Brazil. Leo Gringas, CEO of Nutra SA, and the management team at Irgovel, have done an excellent job, increasing sales and improving operating performance in all areas of Irgovel's business."

"Based on the continuing improvement and solid prospects at our Irgovel bio-refinery, Alothon exercised its option to increase its ownership interest in Nutra SA, the holding company for Irgovel, to 49%. We intend to use the proceeds towards meeting our general unsecured creditor obligations and for general working capital needs. I want to thank the team at Alothon for their support."

Juan Lucena, Partner of Alothon, commented, "The Irgovel and Nutracea teams have continued to execute successfully on the plan, in a market which we continue to be convinced offers significant opportunity and profitability for Irgovel."

http://www.nutracea.com/AlothonIncreasesOwnershipInterestinNutraSA