Lotao Press Release - Lotao celebrates one year anniversary

++ Press Release ++

A year ago, the Austrian Stefan Fak ventured into the European market with forgotten Asian rice specialties - today LOTAO is listed at more than 80 retailers
Berlin, February 1, 2012. With six unique Asian rice varieties and a suitcase full of tried-and-tested secrets of traditional rice art, 39-year-old Stefan Fak began implementing his business model exactly a year ago. The LOTAO founder successfully demonstrated in his first business year that rice can be much more than just a filling side dish: more than 80 renowned delicatessen retailers not only in Germany, Austria and Switzerland but also in France, Belgium, Spain, Poland and Great Britain and the Netherlands have added the LOTAO product range to their range. Numerous rice fans - even from Japan, India and Saudi Arabia - regularly buy from the LOTAO online shop and the fan base is still growing continuously.
“The first year of LOTAO showed me that rice has endless surprises and exciting stories and that Northern Europeans are also very open to the miracle grain,” says Stefan Fak, who lives in Berlin happily. “Many people came up to me and told me about theirs “People who have reported rice experiences have sent me new types of rice or invited me to publish their rice stories in my blog,” reports the young entrepreneur. There is, for example, Jayanath, the Ayurvedic doctor from Sri Lanka, who has been working with rare varieties of rice since his childhood and attributes each variety with its specific health-promoting effects. Or Martin, who is friends with a Filipino banana trader in the Netherlands, who in turn has brought back rare red rice from the rebel area in the central Philippines...
The young company founder has now made a name for himself as Europe's first risolier (rice expert). In his expert blog www.risolier.com he regularly publishes interesting knowledge about the miracle grain. Numerous events and a webinar on rice topics are planned for this year. “My primary goal is still to spread the tried and tested rice secrets and to preserve the variety of varieties,” says the Risolier.
In addition to the organic certification of its rice specialties, the expansion of the rice range and the development of further spice compositions are on the agenda this year. The special thing about LOTAO rice specialties is, in addition to the careful selection of varieties and grains, the refinement with fine spice compounds. For each of his rice varieties, Stefan Fak and his team have developed so-called perfectioners (fine spice mixtures) and elixirs (enrichments with fruits and spice plants based on rice oil), which bring the respective rice to its highest level in terms of taste and consistency. For example, the “Royal Pearl Black” variety, the forbidden rice of Chinese dynasties, is perfected by the perfectioner “Aromaticum Herbal Spice”, a composition of dates, rose and poppy flowers, almonds, pink pepper and nutmeg in combination with sea salt .
The LOTAO rice range is offered in high-quality, individually designed packaging and is available, among others, at Feinkost Käfer in Munich, in Galeries Lafayette and KaDeWe in Berlin, at OSCHÄTZCHEN in Hamburg, at Billa Corso (all over Austria), at Caviar House Prunier ( Europe-wide) and in Frische-Paradies (Germany-wide). Lotao rice products are also available online and by mail order. For example, the products are available at Gourmondo.de, vincent-becker.de, Biber.de and Hagengrote.de. A complete list of trading partners is available at www.lotao.com . All products can also be ordered via the online shop and are available for delivery worldwide.

For interview requests and to request product samples and images, please contact the press office. You can find out more about the rice specialties, packaging and the LOTAO philosophy at www.lotao.com .
Visit us at Biofach in Nuremberg, Hall 9, Stand 231/h, February 15th - 18th, 2012 www.biofach.de

About LOTAO

Since February 2011, the Austrian and Berliner Stefan Fak (39) has been selling exquisite Asian rice varieties in the European delicatessen market under the LOTAO label. Its goal is to contribute to the preservation of rare, forgotten Asian rice varieties and to spread and preserve associated traditional stories and myths. With the expert blog “Der Risolier” he has also created a forum for the exchange of topics relating to the miracle grain of rice ( www.risolier.de ).
By refining them with perfectors and elixirs, LOTAO's rice specialties spark new culinary experiences. Perfectioners develop in the rice when added shortly before serving. The loose structure of the rice is retained and is refined by the bouquet of the spicy mixtures. Elixirs are rice oil-based compositions that give the finished rice a smooth consistency and a stimulating shine. They are enriched with selected notes and give the rice a fragrant fullness.
Since October 2011, fine organic Javanese coconut blossom sugar variants have also enriched the LOTAO range. In addition to the pure JAVA-KISS and the GINGER-KISS with its fresh spiciness, the KISS series is to be expanded to include further exotic variants in 2012.
LOTAO's high-quality products are in the delicatessen segment and are primarily aimed at discerning connoisseurs who care about the quality and origin of food. LOTAO's rice and palm sugar specialties are purchased under fair conditions for the producers. Further information at www.lotao.com .

Press contact:
Press office LOTAO
c/o Katja Weinhold
Tel.: +49 (0)30 397 944 06
Email: presse@LOTAO.com
www.LOTAO.com

Contact person LOTAO:
LOTAO GmbH
Stefan Fak
Anna-Louisa-Karsch-Straße 9
10178 Berlin
Email: stefan.fak@LOTAO.com
www.LOTAO.com