04/11/05 UPS Supply Chain Solutions to Deliver 700,000 Bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau to Japan

UPS Supply Chain Solutions, the supply chain unit of UPS(NYSE: UPS), is preparing to transport 700,000 bottles of BeaujolaisNouveau to Japan. The shipments will enable Japanese wine lovers toenjoy a glass on Thursday, Nov. 17, the official date for releasingthe new vintage of Beaujolais Nouveau.

"This is an exceptional delivery operation both in terms of tightdeadlines and tonnage. In less than 72 hours, we must move 750 metrictons of wine from France to Japan. This compares to 130 metric tons in2004. So we are marshalling all our expertise to meet this challenge,"said Alain Gambuli, sales director for UPS Supply Chain SolutionsFrance.

To facilitate the move, UPS Supply Chain Solutions has charteredseven cargo aircraft to fly to Japan between Nov. 5 and 11. The planeswill take off from Vatry (in the Marne), Chateauroux (in the Indre)and Brescia (Italy), bound for the Japanese airports of Tokyo, Nagoya,Osaka and Fukuoka. From there, the cargo will be delivered to leadingwine and spirit merchants in Japan.

The success of the operation depends on lengthy preparations andextremely fast execution. At the beginning of 2005, when Japanesefirms placed orders for Beaujolais Nouveau, UPS Supply Chain Solutionsbooked its flights to ensure delivery. At the beginning of November,the enterprise started collecting the 750 metric tons of wine fromlocal wine storehouses, located in the Burgundy region of France.

The cases of wine will be taken to the airports and thentransferred to dedicated warehouses using special pallets adapted toair transport. Once in Japan, UPS Supply Chain Solutions will use itsskilled employees to oversee customs operations, then the Japaneseteam will put cases on special road-transport pallets to theirdestinations.

UPS Supply Chain Solutions is well-established in Japan andprovides daily import and export freight shipping by air and sea.

UPS is the world's largest package delivery company and a globalleader in supply chain services, offering an extensive range ofoptions for synchronizing the movement of goods, information andfunds. Its UPS Supply Chain Solutions division provides services fortransport and cargo, supply chain, distribution and internationaltrade. UPS's stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange (UPS) and thecompany can be found on the Web at www.ups.com.