Edible Garden AG Incorporated

Good morning everyone and welcome to the Edible Garden Incorporated 2025 second quarter business update conference call. At this time all participants are in a listen only mode and the floor will be open for questions following the presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during this conference please press star zero on your phone keypad. Please note this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to your host Ted Avath of Crescendo Communications. Ted, the floor is yours.

Thanks, Jenny. Good morning, and thank you for joining Edible Garden's second quarter 2025 earnings conference call and business update. On the call with us today are Jim Kress, Chief Executive Officer of Edible Garden, and Costas Tafoulis, Interim Chief Financial Officer of Edible Garden. Earlier this morning, the company announced its operating results for the three-month end of June 30, 2025. The press release is posted on the company's website, www.ediblegarden.com. I'm sorry, www.ediblegardenag.com. In addition, the company will file its quarterly report on Form 10-Q with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which will be available on the company's website as well as the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. If you have any questions after the call or would like any additional information about the company, please contact Crescendo Communications at 212-671-1020. Before Mr. Crash reviews the company's operating results for the quarter end of June 30 and provides a business update, we would like to remind everyone that this conference call may contain forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this conference call, including statements regarding our future results of operations and financial positions, strategy and plans, and our expectations for future operations are forward-looking statements. The words aim, anticipate, believe, could, expect, may, plan, project, strategy, will, and the negative of such terms, in other words, and terms of similar expression are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based largely on the company's current expectations and projections about future events and trends that it believes may affect its financial condition, results of operations, strategy, short-term and long-term business operations and objectives, and financial needs. These forward-looking statements are subject to several risks, uncertainties, and assumptions as described in the company's filings with the SEC, including the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024. Because of these risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, the forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this conference call may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Although the company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance, or achievements. In addition, neither the company nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. The company disclaims any duty to update any of these forward-looking statements except as required by law. All forward-looking statements attributable to the company are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements as well as others made in this conference call. You should evaluate all forward-looking statements made by the company in the context of these risks and uncertainties. Having said that, I would now like to turn the call over to Jim Kress, Chief Executive Officer of Edible Garden. Jim?

Thanks, Ted. Good morning. Thank you to everyone for joining us today. The results that we reported this morning show that our strategy is working and that the disciplined decisions that we've made are delivering real impact. We've been intentional about focusing on higher margin, innovation-driven categories that align with where we see the market heading. rather than trying to be everything to everyone. A year ago, we announced a strategic decision to exit two underperforming low-margin categories, lettuce and floral. While at the time it was a difficult decision, we've since freed up resources to invest in areas where we can lead, like CEA-informed Better For You shelf-stable products that meet the growing demand for healthy and sustainable options. These choices are not just about improving margins, they're about building a portfolio that's more resilient, more adaptable, and better positioned to serve consumers over the long term. We believe this strategy has right-sized our product portfolio, expanded capacity for our core portfolio, and over time will not only drive profitability, but also strengthen our role as a trusted provider of wellness-focused solutions to consumers around the world. These results give us a solid foundation as we look ahead, and I'm excited to walk you through the highlights of the quarter. Private label products sold through major big box retailers delivered a standout second quarter performance, climbing 19.1 percent year-over-year. This growth was driven by expanded retail programs and strong sell-through of our sustainably grown, CEA-produced herb products that continue to resonate with consumers seeking freshness, quality, and sustainability. These results underscore the strength of our retail partnerships and our ability to capture share in higher margin, demand-driven categories. That momentum extended into our core produce category, with hydroponic basil leading the way, growing 7.1% quarter over quarter, followed by potted herbs up 6.4% and wheatgrass up 4.1%. These results highlight the enduring appeal and consistency of our core offerings, supported by our controlled environment agriculture model, which delivers reliable quality, yield, and sustainability advantages, while exceeding major retailer fill rate expectations, consistently delivering at 98% or better. In the second quarter, we made significant progress on our strategic priorities, innovation, brand expansion, and operational sustainability. Furthermore, we've clearly defined our better-for-you market strategy. This is made up of three key pillars of existing fresh produce and fresh condiments, farm-to-formula supplementation, and performance beverages. Our fresh produce segment posted unit growth, supported by new product introductions and ongoing consumer loyalty. A notable highlight was the launch of Kik Sports Nutrition Line on Amazon, which expanded our digital marketing reach, introducing the brand to a broader and stickier customer base and strengthening our direct-to-consumer engagement. Early results from these efforts drove an increase in e-commerce sales, demonstrating both the scalability of our product portfolio online and the growing strength of our digital sales. We also advanced brand expansion initiatives with continued retail growth of Pickle Party, which is gaining strong consumer traction and celebrated the debut of the industry's first USDA organic hydroponic basil, further reinforcing our leadership in sustainable agriculture. Together with robust gains in our non-perishable lines, these achievements are diversifying our revenue streams, enhancing long-term portfolio resilience, and positioning Edelberg Garden to capitalize on emerging opportunities. Internationally, revenue grew 66.5% as we secured new distribution partnerships and expanded retail placements in key global markets, providing a broader platform for sustained growth and global brand visibility. Demand for better-for-you CPG products continues to rise, creating a powerful tailwind for our business. Globally, the functional food and beverage market is projected to expand from $400 billion to $610 billion by 2030, according to Virtue Market Research. In the U.S., sales of natural, organic, and functional products are expected to reach $386 billion by 2028, growing at roughly 5% annually per the Nutrition Business Journal. With a differentiated Brand portfolio built around innovation, sustainability, and wellness. We believe Edible Garden is well-positioned to capture share in these large and fast-growing categories and benefit from these long-term trends. As these consumer preferences increasingly influence the fresh category, our produce business is equally poised to deliver exactly what today's shoppers are seeking, fresh, sustainably grown, and high-quality products that align with their health and lifestyle goals. On the operational side, we took a significant step forward with the acquisition of Natural Shrimp Aquaculture in Iowa, now operating as Edible Garden Prairie Hills. This site expands our R&D capabilities in aquaponics, supports year-round climate control production, and brings with it a portfolio of patented water treatment technologies that recycle water, improve yields, and reduce environmental impact. These patents are now part of our IP portfolio, giving us exclusive rights to advanced aquaculture methods we can not only use at Prairie Hills, but potentially across our entire growing network. strengthening both our competitive position and our sustainability profile. Its central Midwest location also gives us a real advantage in distribution, allowing us to get products to retailers faster, lowering our transportation costs, and delivering fresher products to customers. And with plenty of room to grow, Prairie Hills provides the capacity and flexibility to scale production and roll out new product lines, making it a key driver of innovation, efficiency, and long-term growth. The second quarter, proved that our strategy is working. And we're just getting started. We're delivering growth in categories that matter most, expanding into high-margin opportunities, and strengthening our leadership in sustainable, innovation-driven food production. The acquisition of Prairie Hills adds powerful new capabilities in aquaponics, R&D, and distribution that position us to scale faster, operate more efficiently, and bring even more differentiated products to market. With strong market tailwinds, a growing portfolio of brands consumers love, and the infrastructure to support our ambitions, we're entering the next phase of our growth story with confidence, momentum, and a clear path to creating long-lasting value for our shareholders. With that, I'll turn the call over to Costas Tafoulis, our interim CFO, who will interview the financial results for the quarter-ended June 30, 2025. Costas?

Thanks, Jim, and good morning, everyone. Revenue for the second quarter was $3.1 million compared to $4.3 million in the same period last year. The year-over-year decline primarily reflects our strategic decision to exit the floral and lettuce categories, which accounted for roughly $740,000 of the difference. While we haven't yet fully replaced the revenue from floral and lettuce, these categories carried high costs and low returns, and they didn't align with our focus on higher margin opportunities. Gross profit came in at $634,000 compared to $1.6 million in Q2 of last year. The decrease was driven by changes in product mix, lower sales volume following the category exits, and some margin pressure for increased investments in infrastructure and personnel. We viewed these investments as necessary to enhance scalability and improve efficiency over time. Selling, general, and administrative expenses were $4.2 million compared to $2.7 million last year. The increase was mainly due to expenses related to the natural shrimp asset purchase and legal expenses related to an Orion and our capital market activities in the quarter, along with increased labor and raw material costs. Net loss for the quarter was $4 million compared to $1.9 million in the same period last year, with the change largely reflecting the higher SG&A expenses. Over recent quarters, we have taken decisive steps to strengthen our balance sheet meaningfully, reduce leverage while enhancing our equity base. These actions position us to execute against our strategic priorities with greater financial flexibility. We close the corridor with $2.8 million in cash and remain focused on driving inventory efficiency through improved production planning and optimized distribution, supporting both margin expansion and cash generation. And with that, operator, please open the line for questions.

Thank you very much. We will now be conducting our question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your phone keypad now. A confirmation tone will indicate that your line is in the queue. You may press star 2 if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For anyone using speaker equipment, it might be necessary to pick up your handset before you press the keys. Please wait a moment whilst we poll for questions. Thank you. Our first question is coming from Anthony Vendetti of the Maxim Group. Anthony, your line is live.

Thank you.

Jim or Costas, I was just wondering if we could dive a little bit deeper into the numbers on private label. Is that a growing part of your business? What percent of your revenues is private label? And then I have a couple of follow-up questions.

Costas, I can want to do this one together. I'll start, you know, kind of high-level strategy and anything you can sort of add in the way of, you know, percentages or reinforce what I have to say, that'd be great. Look, it's a growing part of our business. There's been a huge shift over the last few years. I mean, all you have to do is, you know, obviously read the papers to see that as it relates to these retailers, you know, looking to shift as many natural brand equivalents to their portfolio and private labels. So our business on the private label side continues to grow significantly. It's what's nice about it. is the marketing costs and some of the other costs that are involved in branded business we forego, since it's under, whether it's Meijer's label or Hannaford Ajo Delahaze's label, or we'll be doing some work in the largest grocery store chain in the U.S. in Q4, we're launching some private label there. So it's a nice mix. What I like about it is the cost. There's not a lot of... a lot of marketing costs that's involved in it. So it's pretty straight that way and clean and, uh, it's consistent, consistent and it's usually contracted. So, you know, like with Meyer, you know, we've got a, we've got a three year, three year contract with them that allows us to, uh, you know, to, you know, have some security and commitment on both ends to the business. And, you know, like I said, it's been going quite well. And we've done a nice job as a team, I think, really executing on all aspects of the business. But the private label, you know, it really deepens the relationship and opens a lot of opportunities over and beyond maybe the private label business. So contracted business, low cost for us as it relates to marketing and, you know, and a growing part of our business that continues to accelerate.

Yeah, and just to answer to what Jim said, you know, kind of we started down this private label path, you know, about a year ago with the contract that Jim mentioned with Meijer. You know, and we've seen kind of now some positive results of our efforts and partnering with these retailers. particularly Meyer, as Jim referenced, which is probably the largest piece of private label, is seeing some great growth. You know, it's about 19% in dollars and about 22% in units. So, you know, I think we're going to start capitalizing on that relationship and augmenting it across other retailers going forward as we're receiving other opportunities. And this is sort of one of the main drivers that we're looking to to replace the lost revenue from categories we exceeded last year and, you know, pretty optimistic for the back half of 25.

Okay, great. Maybe that's a good segue into the lost revenue. And then I'll have just a quick follow-up on the vitamin supplement business, as well as a natural shrimp. So first, you mentioned there's about $740,000 in lost revenue this quarter from exiting the lower margin floral lettuce business. But the revenue difference between this quarter and last quarter was about $1.2 million. So what accounted for the other uh, or for the remainder of the, of the shortfall, um, and what part of the business or what categories were, were, um, were not.

I think we, I know again that, so, um, yes, you're correct. Uh, plural and, uh, let us, you know, contribute, you know, majority of that change. Um, we saw some softness also in the condiments business. Fortunately, it's not a material part of our revenue. I think, um, The rest of the gap there is we announced earlier a new sports nutrition line called Kick Sports Nutrition. And as a result, our legacy vitamin whey products, you know, we're kind of taking those out of the market. So as this transition is happening, we saw a little bit of softness there as well, kind of continuing to drive growth. explaining kind of the remainder there. And I think we're just seeing kind of flat, a little bit soft year-over-year comps on the core portfolio of herbs. But, you know, as we look to the back half with Kik coming into market and coming online with a bunch of our retail partners, we're confident that, you know, the lost revenue will get replaced with these opportunities and more that are coming.

Okay. And these opportunities, in terms of kick sports nutrition and these are the higher margin products, correct?

Yes, that's right. We announced, you know, a partnership that we're starting to work with Amazon to put these on e-commerce tiers as well. So I think, you know, with a refresh of the brand kind of tied in with our better for you promise to our customers, you know, we're really excited about the opportunity and we have a lot of eyeballs online via Amazon on these new products. So I think combined with our marketing efforts there, you know, we're, we're expecting acceleration in that category.

Okay. Thank you. And lastly, the natural shrimp acquisition, maybe just, just a quick overview of what that brings to your portfolio.

So, well, it brings quite a bit, and I mentioned it in the call. First of all, it's a big facility. It's 6.2 acres. We've made an announcement a couple weeks ago, I think. We've rebranded it Edible Garden Prairie Hills. It's located in a central location. It's a few hours from from some of the major retailers in the Midwest distribution centers, Target's big distribution centers, not that far from there. So there's great, it expands our penetration and reach even more westward and towards the coast and leveraging and extending both the Midwest facilities. Additionally, there's that patent portfolio that came along with it, which will help with water treatment, lowering our costs, as well as improving our sustainability profile. We've got some pretty major plans for that facility to not only drive R&D, but to really become a functioning sustainability hub with some next-generation products that are higher-margined, that align with our relationships. And I can't talk too much about it. That's in development. It's very significant. We're working with one of the major retailers to help develop a facility that would host and drive some of their private label, a nutraceutical business. Um, and then obviously the rest of it would be, you know, kind of filled in with branded, our branded products as well as any other new business that we pick up. So, uh, multifaceted facility, big facility, um, and, uh, you know, dedicated workforce out there that's excited to have, um, have somebody, uh, edible garden come in and, and breathe, you know, breathe new life into, into what I think is just a, you know, really a fantastic, uh, you know, like I said, multifaceted facility that's going to do quite a bit. And I think it's going to really expand our capabilities, uh, We've already started that process. So I'll be more than happy to answer any other questions around that or any specifics, Anthony.

That was helpful. Thanks for all the color. I'll hop back into the queue. Thank you.

Thank you, Anthony.

Thank you very much. Just a reminder there, if there are any remaining questions, you can join the queue by pressing star 1 on your phone keypad now. Our next question is coming from Nick Pinkus of Forest Capital. Nick, your line is live.

Great. Thanks for taking the call. First off, congrats on the progress that you're making in executing the new business strategy. My first question, just in terms of the seasonality, we're traditionally very seasonal with Thanksgiving and the holidays driving significant revenue. And I was just wondering if you can give us a little bit of color around what you're anticipating in the fourth quarter.

Well, yeah, look, in a Q4 for our business is the Super Bowl, right? So you get the two main lines of business. Let's call it the Edible Garden branded fresh business. And then you've got the Edible Garden brand. vitamins and supplements business, you know, those, both those businesses, Q4 is on the, on the, on the, you call it the produce side, um, uh, across, you know, you know, those segments, those, the sub segments too, as well as private label. That is, you know, that is a big holiday programs, um, that start in the beginning of November and run really through the middle of January. I think what's great about this is as we continue to evolve as a company, we've really been able to identify not only what it is that we need to do, but how to start to do it where we are much more efficient and our labor costs are much more stable because we can anticipate and add in the revenue. Look, that part of the business continues to grow. We've already got our pre-orders in for Q4, and there's a significant increase there, to be quite frank. We will be bringing in some new accounts. um, um, that will be, you know, pretty significant as well that will add to the Q4 on the produce side. So I'm incredibly bullish on a strong, strong Q4. And I think going in this year, um, you know, we're in a much more stable position than we were last year considering, you know, just some of the uneasiness with labor last year and some of the changes of, you know, that were potentially going to happen, you know, with labor. I think we've been able to kind of get through that over the last year, and now that people are securing their jobs, I think we've done a great job of outsourcing and working with a partner, especially in Michigan, to bring in a very strong, outsourced, committed workforce that we can manage versus sort of having it in-house. And it was kind of clunky in the past. And this year, I think we're going to be in a much better position to really execute. Plus, we've made considerable investment in facilities and refrigeration and, you know, production lines. So, you know, we're ready to go. And we can add in this other business, which will be, you know, fantastic without any real, you know, increasing costs. It'll be incremental at best, you know, really the kind of the concept through, you know, like manufacturing. So you increase the throughput, but, you know, a lot of your costs kind of just go up incrementally versus, you know, the growing revenue line. So that I'm super excited about on the vitamin supplements. you know, this quarter was such a kind of, you know, it's kind of the last of the wash through between, you know, lettuce, floral, whatnot, you know, the changeover to kick and having a more contemporary line. That's, that's targeted towards where the customer is going versus kind of where the customer has been is working out quite nicely, both with Amazon and with some of the partners like Meijer and PriceMart. PriceMart load-in is going to be happening shortly for Q4. Our overall international business is up significantly, PriceMart being a huge driver of that. um you know the business is starting to morph and shift and what's nice about it's more morphing and shifting into into a higher margin business with q4 being a big loading quarter for us you know on on the vitamin and supplement knowing that you know january is with new year's resolution you know everybody you know new year's you know you have your new year's resolution You're looking to get in shape, lose weight. The consumption, I think it's 60% to 65% of all dietary supplements, nutraceuticals, and protein powders are sold in the first four or five months of the year, with the real bulk of it in January. So all those orders, and they're already... We're already building them right now. Those get shipped in September and October, so they flow through to be on shelf for big promotional schedules in January. So, like I said, I think Q4 is going to be great, and I'm excited about it. And I think we've worked really hard and had to kind of endure some of, like I said, some of this wash on exiting some of these lines to get to where we are right now. But I think the platform is ready to go.

That's great, and it's very encouraging. You also touched on this a bit earlier, and it was clearly a big announcement regarding KIC and its launch on Amazon. But I was wondering, can you expand on the status of that and your plans for the line and growth and other stuff?

The status is it's been accelerating, which is great. Unfortunately, once again, in this reporting cycle, we just launched in the middle of May, so we had really a month of data, and obviously it was significant on a small base. But that business continues to accelerate. We've put resources towards it. We've got a great partner in Purwana. We've got a great buyer at Amazon who's got a real interest in Better For You products, understanding where the category is going. So having that kind of support. And, you know, Ada's Seattle is fantastic. And, you know, they, you know, there's a big category for them. And so, you know, our success, you know, and being on trend and them, you know, supporting us and us putting the resources towards it is important. And, you know, we're starting to see that return. We've been seeing that return, frankly. And the business just continues to accelerate and, you know, drive trial. We've made an investment in everything from social media. to paid media on AdWords and kind of all the tools of the trade and digital to start to drive engagement and trial. We've got great reviews online. And so that's really great. We've got two new items, our pre-workout and post-workout. Once again, Better For You position. Those will be launching at PriceMart as well as some other retailers in the next, geez, in the next probably 45 days for that Q4 load-in that I'd mentioned. as well as online at Amazon. And what's great about that is you continue to not only differentiate yourself, but you expand the portfolio. And the retail rings are great on this. The margins are good on it. We've got a great manufacturing partner who's helping us with it. And as we continue to drive it, it'll help drive not only innovation, but it also is driving a lot of the other private label opportunities that we didn't speak too much about on the vitamin supplement area, which it's kind of, You know, it's kind of haloing the whole business as it relates to, hey, you know, if Edible Garden can do what they do in produce in such a difficult category at such a, you know, high rate of excellence, imagine what they can do in more shelf-stable products. And they're driving this innovation, and they're really the first. company out there with this farm to formula notion that, you know, is taking the greenhouse and marrying it to, you know, you know, to finish goods. You know, like I said, it's, I couldn't be more happier about where we are right now and how we've evolved over the last couple of years to get into this position to really, to really be a leader.

That's, that's fantastic. And lastly, you mentioned the international business being up. Can you just expand a little bit on how those markets fit into the longer term growth plans?

Well, what's great about it is, you know, look, it's hard to ship basil from, you know, Michigan or Iowa or New Jersey to, you know, to the Caribbean or South America, right? It's not going to make it unless it's dried or processed. You know, so, you know, we have our limitations geographically and based on transportation and how much we can sort of stretch outside of the, you know, a certain area with the greenhouses. without putting a greenhouse up. And we all know that our competitors who are no longer around, most of them know they tried to, you know, build greenhouses everywhere and then they just kind of ran out of gas because they either didn't have the relationship to the revenue or the capex was so high. And we've been so prudent with our money, repurposing facilities. We've proven that, you know, with our, you know, our Heartland facility in Grand Rapids and servicing Meyer and the Midwest. And now what we're doing out in Iowa is But, you know, the reality is these shelf-stable products, whether it's the vitamins and supplements, which has driven the majority of that growth that you see, and the growing demand globally for protein. And, you know, once again, all you have to do is read the papers to see, you know, that people are bringing in more and more protein. And, look, people want better-for-you products. They're reading labels. They're not, you know, they don't want some of these nasty ingredients and preservatives. And so if we can meld that freshness with shelf-stable products, and position our products to capture that demand, we're going to not only see that stateside, but internationally. And we see that, like I said, on the vitamins and supplements. And I think that's just a start. We're working on some very interesting new products that should align with other type of products that extend outside of vitamins and maybe even more to functional foods. We see that with Pickle Party and some of the big box opportunities there. But all those products, because they're more shelf-stable, allow us to, you know, have more global reach with them and partner with, you know, with some of these more bleeding-edge, you know, retailers like a Price Mart that's trying to bring in, you know, bring in goods to their, you know, into these different markets, you know, that are on trend and that, you know, that consumers want, you know, beyond the U.S. So super excited about that part of the business. It's been on fire lately, and I don't see it stopping, which is awesome.

That's great. Well, good luck and keep up the good work.

I appreciate it. Thank you, Nick.

Thank you very much. Well, we appear to have reached the end of our question and answer sessions. I will now hand back over to the management team for their closing comments.

Thank you very much.