But there are plenty of bright spots as well. We're making inroads in offshore sales of ingredients. We've broadened our distribution channels to the point where even last year's long and bitter grocery strike in our key southern California market had limited volume repercussions. Consumers merely shifted their purchases of our juice and sauce to club stores and Wal-Mart. Our Wal-Mart share in California now matches our share in other channels and we're optimistic that our regional strength will continue to assure us shelf space.

Sales of our new rectangular gallon juice containers in club stores are tracking those of our old 96 ounce containers, meaning our volumes and profitability are growing in this channel. We've also convinced most of our grocery customers to promote our products roughly 50% more often. These factors allowed us to grow our gross consumer product volumes over 7% last year. This momentum, combined with broader distribution in drug stores and food service, should allow us to recoup some of the shortfall from the demise of our WIC involvement.

New businesses and products will also drive revenues in the coming year. On September 1, we will fully integrate Northwest Naturals, a manufacturer and marketer of bulk flavors and bases, headquartered in Bothell Washington, into Tree Top. Northwest Naturals supplies flavors and bases for the beverages and ice creams of major food product companies. Tree Top already manufactures and ships some of Northwest Naturals products but expects the new relationship to significantly strengthen Tree Top's presence in the concentrates business.

We are gaining distribution for our 100% fruit bar line of products and are seeing steady volume growth. The product's small size and portability make it an ideal snack for kids. We continue to target the food service industry with our Fresh Apple Slices. You may have enjoyed them when flying Alaska Airlines or visiting your local McDonalds. We're systematizing our procurement and handling of low-color pack grade fruit to support this effort and will be targeting other retail outlets with this product in the near future.

Watch for a steady stream of new products. We have roughly a dozen product extensions or ideas in queue for a rigorous evaluation and are revamping our screening process so we can target our investments to products where Tree Top can sustain a competitive edge.

Our cost containment program has, and will continue, to drive costs out of our processes, but we've resolved to do more. We were sobered by the advanced technology we encountered in a recent tour of Chinese processing facilities. A key thrust in the coming year is a thorough evaluation of our fixed assets and asset utilization. We have a task force focused on evaluating how to align our production capacity with market supply and demand and how to build leading technologies into our business processes.