Minerva Announces CEO for Minerva Dawn Farms

BARRETOS, Brazil, May. 15 /PRNewswire/ --

BARRETOS, Brazil, May 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Minerva S.A. (BOVESPA: BEEF3; Bloomberg: BEEF3.BZ; Reuters: BEEF3.SA), one of the market leaders in Brazil in the production and sale of beef products, leather and live cattle, announces to shareholders and the general market that Roberto Denuzzo will serve as CEO of Minerva Dawn Farms, a joint venture with the Ireland-based company Dawn Farms that will operate in the domestic and international Food Services market.

Mr. Denuzzo holds degrees in food engineering and business administration, and has completed the strategic planning program at Harvard Business School and continuing studies at Kellogs. He has a long career in the Food Services industry, with 13 years of experience at the group Bunge Alimentos and 10 years at Sadia.

Minerva Dawn Farms will open its first plant in the third quarter of 2008 in Barretos, Sao Paulo state, where Minerva's head offices are located. The plant required investment of US$50 million and will be one of the largest industrialized high-value-added meat products plants in Brazil. In addition to its high capacity (10-15 tons of meat per hour), another competitive advantage of the plant is its flexible structure, which can simultaneously produce meat, pork and chicken products on a variety of production scales, and will serve both domestic and world demand for products in the Food Services segment. At the start of operations, approximately 70% of products will be exported.

The plant is equipped with state-of-the-art technology equipment, with all stages controlled by computer. The machinery and control software comes from Japan, France, Italy and the United States. Strict sanitary controls have also been implemented that are in line with highest international requirements. Protecting the environment is another priority: the plant will have treatment stations for the water used in the production processes. In addition, the staff will also be highly specialized. Eleven key employees are already undergoing training in Ireland since early 2008, and will be responsible for providing training in Brazil.

Investor Relations Carlos Watanabe CFO and IRO Ronald S. Aitken IR Superintendent E-mail: ri@minerva.ind.br Phone: +55 (17) 3321-3412 Website: http://www.minerva.ind.br/ir

About Minerva S.A.

Minerva S.A. is one of the leading producers and sellers of beef, leather and live cattle in Brazil, and is one of the country's three largest exporters in the sector in terms of gross revenue.