MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Aug. 23, 2017) - Bee Vectoring Technologies (the "Company" or "BVT") (TSX VENTURE:BEE) is pleased to announce it has entered into a sales and distribution agreement with Guardian Soil Solutions LLC in Florida for the launch of its proprietary crop production system.
Guardian Soil Solutions, based in Plant City, Florida, is focused on providing agronomic advice and marketing and distribution of biological products for growers across Florida. The company's Co-Founder and Director of Field Operations is Josh Young, who was previously the Plant City branch manager for Triangle Chemical Company, a member of Tenkoz, the largest distribution entity for crop protection products in the United States. Mr. Young has longstanding relationships with the Florida strawberry growers. BVT and Guardian collaborated in the commercial demonstrations earlier this year, where Guardian could see first-hand the excellent results delivered by the BVT System.
Under the agreement, Guardian will acquire sales for BVT from its customer base and will be responsible for installing the complete BVT System on a farmer's field. This includes a bumble bee hive with dispenser technology including a replaceable tray through which BVT's proprietary plant beneficial microbe is delivered to crops using the bumble bees. Guardian will maintain the system by replacing the trays periodically to deliver fresh product to the crop throughout the season which runs typically from mid-December to the end of March, and for its disposal at the end of the season. BVT will invoice the growers directly on a monthly basis, per acre where the BVT System is being used in the season.
"Josh has an outstanding reputation across the country with key players in the agriculture sales and distribution business, and I welcome him as a partner" said Ashish Malik, CEO of BVT. "The principle focus of the company now is revenue generation. This agreement represents the start of this phase for BVT and additional discussions are in progress in other states and crops as we continue to follow the recognized process for new product introductions in the agricultural industry."
The companies are working closely together to finalize the launch plan which will be announced shortly. The initial focus is in strawberries in Hillsborough County , Florida, the major winter strawberry growing region in the US which produces around 20 million flats of strawberries on 11,000 acres every year with a BVT annual revenue potential of CAD $7.5 million. The objective of the launch plan in the first two months will be to get sales commitments from growers who did commercial demonstrations during 2017, and to secure additional commercial demos to grow the target user base. Additional opportunities on blueberries, cucurbit crops and tomatoes across Florida will be pursued through the partnership.
"I have been in the Agricultural Sales and Distribution business for over 17 years in the Plant City area and work closely with growers who have trialed the BVT system and recognize the enormous potential for its use in a foundation program for the management of Botrytis gray mold and increasing the productivity of strawberry crops," said Josh Young, Co-Founder of Guardian Soil Solutions . "The system is highly sustainable and provides improved pollination, enhances plant vigor, reduces fungicides and has demonstrated impressive increases in marketable yields. It is rare that we get to work with such a disruptive technology and we expect our customers to embrace the benefits of BVT. We are excited to be working with BVT to commercialize the system, and have already started talking to a number of key growers to secure sales commitments for this coming winter season."
About Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc .
BVT has developed and owns patent-pending bee vectoring technology that is designed to harmlessly utilize bumblebees and honeybees as natural delivery mechanisms for a variety of powdered mixtures comprised of organic compounds that inhibit or control common crop diseases, while at the same time enhancing crop vigor and productivity. This unique and proprietary process enables a targeted delivery of crop controls using the simple process of bee pollination to replace traditional crop spraying, resulting in better yields, superior quality, and less impact on the environment without the use of water or disruptions to labour.
Additional information can be viewed at the Company's website www.beevt.com
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Certain statements contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking information" as such term is defined in applicable Canadian securities legislation. The words "may", "would", "could", "should", "potential", "will", "seek", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions as they relate to the Company, "annual revenue potential", are intended to identify forward-looking information. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking information. Such statements reflect the Company's current views and intentions with respect to future events, and current information available to the Company, and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including: planted acres of strawberries in Florida, selling price of competitive chemical pesticides and the US to Canadian dollar exchange rate. Material factors or assumptions were applied in providing forward-looking information. Many factors could cause the actual results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking information to vary from those described herein should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize. These factors include changes in law, competition, litigation, the ability to implement business strategies and pursue business opportunities, state of the capital markets, the availability of funds and resources to pursue operations, new technologies, the ability to protect intellectual property rights, the ability to obtain patent protection for products, third-party intellectual property infringement claims, regulatory changes affecting products, failing research and development activities, the ability to reach and sustain profitability, dependence on business and technical experts, the ability to effectively manage business operations and growth, issuance of debt, dilution of existing securities, volatility of publicly traded securities, potential conflicts of interest, unlikelihood of dividend payments, the potential costs stemming from defending third-party intellectual property infringement claims, the ability to secure relationships with manufacturers and purchasers, as well as general economic, market and business conditions, as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to in the Company's Filing Statement dated May 29, 2015, filed with the securities regulatory authorities in certain provinces of Canada and available at www.sedar.com .
Should any factor affect the Company in an unexpected manner, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect, the actual results or events may differ materially from the results or events predicted. Any such forward-looking information is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Moreover, the Company does not assume responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such forward-looking information. The forward-looking information included in this press release is made as of the date of this press release and Inspira undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable law. All figures are in Canadian dollars.
