ROCHESTER, N.Y. (March 11, 2010) – Dairy Queen, a wholy owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway company based in Edina, MN, has renewed its contract to provide safety and sanitary consideration to its customers using the Buddy System, said Robert C. Sotile, president and CEO of Buddy Cone Systems, Inc., headquartered in Winton Place in Rochester. Dairy Queen features more than 5,900 stores in the United States, Canada and 20 other countries.

Mr. Sotile said millions of units will be manufactured and shipped from Rochester to fulfill this contract.

Patented in 1998, the Buddy System is a polystyrene cone holder that prevents the transfer of germs from anyone handling your ice cream, while also catching drips from melting ice cream. Laboratory tests have proven the Buddy System to be more effective than paper sleeves or no sleeve in preventing germ transfer. The product was 2001 Ameristar Award winner for North America's Food Safety Product of the Year, as named by the Institute of Packaging Professionals.

“This commitment from Dairy Queen means that millions of ice cream lovers will receive the greatest attention to customer satisfaction in the world. Restaurants like DQ serving ice cream are finding the Buddy System to be profitable accessories in their business,” Mr. Sotile said. “We sold more than 60 million in 2009, slightly more than the previous year, but we expect record growth for the Buddy System in 2010.”

Since its inception in 1998, more than 320 million of the patented polystyrene cone-holders have been shipped from the Rochester, N.Y. manufacturing plant to customers in 14 different countries, and ships at sea. The Buddy System cones are manufactured in four different sizes and shapes to accommodate almost every cone. The Buddy System Cone Company, with offices in Brighton, N.Y., can be reached on the internet at www.buddysystemusa.com or by phone at (585) 427-9940.