CAROL STREAM, IL / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2023 / The Fresh Factory B.C. Ltd. (CSE:FRSH)(FRA:Q4Z) ("The Fresh Factory" or the "Company"), a mission-driven company for fresh, clean-label, and better-for-you food and beverage brands, reports financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ending December 31, 2022 ("Q4 2022" and "Fiscal 2022," respectively).
Bill Besenhofer, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of The Fresh Factory commented: "As we close out fiscal year 2022, we are thrilled to report yet another record-breaking quarter with our ninth consecutive quarter of record billed revenue, reaching $5.9M (+64.0% YoY) in Q4 2022 and annual total billed revenue of $20.3M (+50.0% YoY). Our investments in expanding our manufacturing capabilities with new equipment and strengthening our leadership team position us for continued growth in the quarters ahead. The overall financial performance for Q4 2022 reinforces the thesis for our business, and as we put more volume through our facility, we are confident in our ability to drive profits. With a number of our expansion projects now complete, our focus will turn to filling out the capacity of our existing manufacturing lines and driving contribution margins higher. While we have begun to see easing in our supply chain, we expect to see continued inflationary pressure in the early part of 2023, with stabilization expected later in the year. Given overall market conditions and the typical early-year seasonal softness of our business, we recognize sales may not be fully linear in the quarters ahead. That being said, we believe we have the infrastructure and team now in place to ramp-up growth in a sustainable manner and solidify The Fresh Factory as a leader in the fresh, clean-label food and beverage industry in the United States."
Financial Highlights: Fiscal 2022 vs. Fiscal 2021
Financial and Operational Highlights: Q4 2022 vs Q3 2022
Strategic Areas of Focus
The Fresh Factory is building a platform to serve emerging food and beverage brands in the fresh-food sector with an emphasis on better-for-you brands. The Company has established four key areas of focus on which it will report on a quarterly basis moving forward.
Execution: Focus on safety, high-quality operations, and strong margins
Growth: Invest in and grow with the right brands across diversified channels
Brand Portfolio: Build meaningful equity participation in the sector
Sustainability: Become a market leader in sustainability
This earnings news release should be read in conjunction with the Company's audited financial statements for the year ending December 31, 2022 (the "Audited Financial Statements") and the related Management's Discussion and Analysis (the "MD&A"), both documents will be available to download on The Fresh Factory's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
For conversion purposes, this release used $0.73 as the conversion rate from CAD to USD.
All figures in this news release are in US dollars unless otherwise stated.
About The Fresh Factory B.C. Ltd.
The Fresh Factory is a vertically integrated company focused on accelerating the growth of the fresh, clean-label, plant-based food and beverage brands of tomorrow. The Fresh Factory owns or partners with emerging brands in the plant-based space to develop, manufacture, and sell products made from fresh produce and recognizable ingredients. It operates from its centrally located manufacturing facility near Chicago, serving customers across the US. As a public-benefits corporation, The Fresh Factory is ESG-focused, driven to make a lighter, greener impact on the environment and a stronger, positive impact on local communities and the food system as a whole. Learn more about The Fresh Factory at www.thefreshfactory.co and find The Fresh Factory on social media at Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. To receive news and updates about The Fresh Factory, visit their website at www.thefreshfactory.co.
Contacts
Bill Besenhofer
CEO and Co-founder
1-877-495-1638
info@thefreshfactory.co
Alyssa Barry
Media and Investor Relations
1-877-495-1638
healthyinvestors@thefreshfactory.co
Non-IFRS Measures
There are measures included in this news release that do not have a standardized meaning under international financial reporting standards (IFRS) and therefore may not be comparable to similarly titled measures and metrics presented by other publicly traded companies. The Company includes these measures because it believes certain investors use them as a means of assessing financial performance. Billed revenue, adjusted gross margin, operating profit, EBITDA, and adjusted EBITDA are financial measures that do not have a standardized meaning under IFRS. EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA refers to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, stock-based compensation, one-time transaction expenses, and change in fair value of derivative liabilities. Adjusted gross margin is defined as billed revenue minus food, packaging, and labor (i.e., COGs). Operating profit is adjusted gross margin less utilities, facilities, and maintenance costs. Billed revenue is a financial measure defined as the revenue billed to customers as opposed to total revenue, which represents billed revenue less trade and variable selling and any production credits and samples.
We prepare and release quarterly unaudited and annual audited financial statements prepared in accordance with IFRS. We also disclose and discuss certain non-GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) financial information used to evaluate our performance in this and other earnings releases and investor conference calls as a complement to results provided in accordance with IFRS. We believe that current shareholders and potential investors in the Company use non-GAAP financial measures, such as billed revenue, adjusted gross margin, operating profit, EBITDA, and adjusted EBITDA in making investment decisions about the Company and measuring its operational results.
Management believes that investors and financial analysts measure our business on the same basis, and we are providing the billed revenue, adjusted gross margin, operating profit, EBITDA, and adjusted EBITDA as financial metrics to assist in this evaluation and to provide a higher level of transparency into how we measure our own business.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" (collectively referred to hereafter as "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements that address activities, events, or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will, or may, occur in the future, including statements about the Company's new product offerings, its ability to execute on its goals, general macro and micro economic impacts of inflation on the business and operation of the Company, the timing pertaining to these goals and receipt of applicable consents and approvals, and Company's business prospects, future trends, plans, and strategies. In some cases, forward-looking statements are preceded by, followed by, or include words such as "may", "will," "would", "could", "should", "believes", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "expects", "plans", "intends", "proposes", "anticipates", "targeted", "continues", "forecasts", "designed", "goal", "anticipate" or the negative of those words or other similar or comparable words. Although the management of the Company believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that a forward-looking statement herein will prove to be accurate. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, or intended. Risks and uncertainties applicable to the Company, as well as trends identified by the Company affecting its industry, can be found in the final long-form prospectus of the Company dated November 10, 2021, and the Company's continuous disclosure record available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Such cautionary statements qualify all forward-looking statements made in this news release. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.
SOURCE: The Fresh Factory B.C. Ltd.