2008-08-28 01:21:02 -

- The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) today announced the promotion of Mark Phillips to Vice President of Sales for Alkar and MP Equipment.

In his expanded role, Mark will be responsible for oversight of all domestic sales within Alkar and the domestic sales team will report to him. He will retain his previous responsibilities as Vice President of Sales for

MP Equipment, a company Middleby acquired in 2007. Mark will report to Magdy Albert, Executive Vice President of the Middleby Food Processing Group.

"Mark has been a driving force in greatly expanding sales with MP Equipment over the past several years. His industry knowledge and long-standing customer relationships are invaluable as we continue to bring new, technologically-advanced Alkar products to market," said Magdy Albert.

Prior to joining MP Equipment in 2002, Mark was Director of Global Sales and Service for FMC Corporation. Before joining FMC, he held top sales positions with Weiler & Co. and Frigoscandia-Stein. Mark earned his B.A. Degree in Agriculture Economics from the University of Tennessee.

The Middleby Corporation is a global leader in the foodservice equipment industry. The company develops, manufactures, markets and services a broad line of equipment used for commercial food cooking, preparation and processing. The company's leading equipment brands serving the commercial foodservice industry include Blodgett(R), Blodgett Combi(R), Blodgett Range(R), Bloomfield(R), Carter Hoffmann(R), CTX(R), FriFri(R), Giga(R), Holman(R), Houno(R), Jade(R), Lang(R), MagiKitch'n(R), Middleby Marshall(R), Nu-Vu(R), Pitco Frialator(R), Southbend(R), Star(R), Toastmaster(R) and Wells(R). The company's leading equipment brands serving the food processing industry include Alkar(R), MP Equipment(R), and RapidPak(R). The Middleby Corporation was recognized by Business Week as one of the Top 100 Hot Growth Companies of 2007 and 2008, by Crain's Chicago Business as one of the Fastest 50 Growth Companies in 2007, and by Forbes as one of the Best Small Companies in 2007.

For more information about the Middleby Corporation and the company brands, please visit www.middleby.com.

Middleby Corporation
Darcy Bretz, Investor and Public Relations
(847) 429-7756