NEWS RELEASE
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Leading Brands, Inc. North American Bottling Division Announces: New Co-Packing Agreement with Major Beverage Company


LEADING BRANDS, INC. LBIX (TSX:LBI) - December 11, 2002 - Canada's largest independent, fully integrated brand management company, announces that it has entered into a new co-packing agreement to provide significant new volume to its Edmonton plant.

The Company has agreed to a new, multi-year contract with a major international beverage company to add new products and package sizes to the portfolio presently bottled for them.

North American Bottling President Tim Dagg said: "We are very proud to expand our relationship with this customer, as well as finalize a multi-year contract with them. Under the terms of this arrangement we will add both new products and package sizes. With 1,500,000 new cases, we anticipate that this agreement will also be significantly accretive to earnings in 2003. This is the fourth new co-packing agreement we have entered into in the past three months, which is indicative of the growing demand for our specialized hot-fill packaging services."

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About Leading Brands, Inc.

Leading Brands, Inc. LBIX (TSX:LBI) is the largest independent, fully integrated premium beverage company in Canada. The Company's unique Integrated Distribution System (IDS)™ offers turnkey, one-stop shopping to food and beverage brand owners, including manufacturing, distribution, sales/marketing and licensing. In addition, Leading Brands produces their own line of beverages such as TREK™, Pez® 100% Juices™, Johnny's Roadside® Iced Tea and Lemonade, Country Harvest® Juices, Caesar's® Bloody Caesar Cocktail, and Cool Canadian® Water. Leading Brands recently undertook a major expansion into the United States, with its US headquarters located in Stamford, CT. Its subsidiary, Quick, Inc. is building a home replenishment and delivery system for the new economy.

Statements in this news release that are not historical are to be regarded as forward-looking statements which are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Such risks and uncertainties with respect to the Company's business include general economic conditions, weather conditions, changing beverage consumption trends, pricing, and the availability of raw materials and economic uncertainties, including currency.

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