ORLANDO, FL, (September 20, 2021) — Kalera AS (Euronext Growth Oslo: KAL, Bloomberg: KSLLF), one of the largest and fastest-growing vertical farming companies in the world and a leader in plant science for producing high-quality produce in controlled environments, announces several positive developments including strong Orlando sales momentum, encouraging operating efficiencies in Atlanta, and receipt of a $1.2M energy efficiency incentive for its new facility in Houston.
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Orlando Experiencing Strong Sales & Production Growth, August Sales up 29% Compared to June
Kalera’s Orlando facility is experiencing strong sales growth as the local foodservice sector has begun to recover from COVID-19 in addition to further growth from the retail channel. Orlando’s positive Q2 sales trend has continued so far in both July and August, with the combined months’ sales being 69% above the respective first two months of Q2, and August sales being up 29% compared to June. The facility has recently added Disney as a key foodservice customer with shipments beginning in September 2021.
“The recovery in Orlando’s foodservice sector has been extremely strong and we also continue to see solid momentum in retail driven by Publix, a key retail partner,” said Daniel Malechuk, Kalera’s CEO. “Given the current demand trends and outlook we expect our Orlando capacity utilization to average approximately 70% in Q4 2021.”
Kalera’s unit costs in Orlando were impacted both by its decision to reduce output temporarily due to COVID-19’s severe impact on foodservice demand and by operating the facility for both retail and foodservice channels despite being designed for foodservice only. A structural retrofit and expansion project is planned for Orlando in the first half of 2022, which will help the facility to service both segments together at close to budgeted unit costs. The Orlando facility will also add greater micro-greens capacity, a premium product for which Kalera is experiencing strong demand.
Atlanta accelerating production ramp-up with strong sales results and additional gains in operational efficiency
Kalera’s Atlanta facility has accelerated production ramp-up, with a larger than expected planting capacity due to particularly strong demand from Kroger, the largest grocer in the U.S.
“The plant size and throughput yield from Atlanta’s recent harvests were extremely encouraging and have exceeded our expectations at this stage of development” said Malechuk. “The LED lighting has performed even better since we upgraded electrical switches in July. We will continue to fine-tune light recipes to further improve tray yield.”
The unit costs per head produced in Atlanta are in line with initial budgeted unit economics. The company expects to further ramp up production as demand increases. Kalera’s Atlanta facility is designed to service both retail and foodservice customers, and contains upgraded lighting and airflow compared to its Orlando facility. It will have an eventual production capacity of close to 10 million heads per year.
Houston facility first harvest scheduled for first week in October, receives $1.2 million energy efficiency incentive to lower construction costs
Kalera’s Houston facility will be its largest to date, with 25% greater capacity than Atlanta and 2.5x the output of Kalera’s Orlando facility. Houston’s first harvest features multiple varieties of fresh, leafy greens and is scheduled for the first week of October.
The farm has been awarded an energy efficiency incentive of $1.2 million towards the capital cost of the facility from CenterPoint Energy, Inc, the utility company supplying electricity to the farm. “This financial contribution to our company supports Kalera’s local-first approach to sustainability and the reduction of long-haul trucking in the food supply chain,” said Malechuk.
Kalera is confident that the Houston farm will benefit from multiple production efficiencies such as improved airflow and lighting, as well as economies of scale. The company continues to advance and iterate with each additional farm.
Houston has also been designed to serve both retail and foodservice customers which require different packaging, while Orlando was designed for 100% foodservice, despite supplying approximately 50% of its product to retail because of COVID disruption to Orlando’s foodservice market.
As announced previously, Kalera has added the large US retailer H-E-B as an initial anchor customer for its Houston facility. H-E-B is the #1 multi-unit grocery retailer in the state of Texas, operating more than 340 stores.
For further information:
Daniel Malechuk, CEO
Email: dmalechuk@kalera.com
About Kalera
Kalera AS is a vertical farming company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. Kalera uses technology to ensure that more people around the world have access to the freshest, most nutritious, and cleanest products possible. It has spent several years optimizing plant nutrient formulas and developing an advanced automation and data acquisition system with Internet of Things, cloud, big data analytics and artificial intelligence. Kalera currently operates farms in Orlando, Florida, Atlanta, Georgia and Houston, Texas. The company has plans to open more farms in the US, the Middle East and in Asia in the coming months. More information is available at www.kalera.com.
Important notice:
Matters discussed in this announcement may constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and may be identified by words such as “believe”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “strategy”, “intends”, “estimate”, “will”, “may”, “continue”, “should” and similar expressions. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions. Although the Company believe that these assumptions were reasonable when made, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other important factors which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond their control. Actual events may differ significantly from any anticipated development due to a number of factors, including without limitation, changes in public sector investment levels, changes in the general economic, political and market conditions in the markets in which the Company operates, the Company’s ability to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel, changes in the Company’s ability to engage in commercially acceptable acquisitions and strategic investments, and changes in laws and regulation and the potential impact of legal proceedings and actions. Such risks, uncertainties, contingencies, and other important factors could cause actual events to differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied in this release by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not make any guarantee that the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements in this announcement are free from errors nor does it accept any responsibility for the future accuracy of the opinions expressed in this announcement or any obligation to update or revise the statements in this announcement to reflect subsequent events. You should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements in this announcement.
The information, opinions and forward-looking statements contained in this announcement speak only as at its date and are subject to change without notice. The Company does not undertake any obligation to review, update, confirm, or to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that arise in relation to the content of this announcement.
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