- Bee Vectoring Technologies (BEE) signs five new deals with south-eastern US blueberry growers
- BVT is now looking to expand north and west to penetrate markets in Oregon, Washington and Michigan
- Shares in the company are up 5.56% to $0.57, with a market cap of $41.56 million
Bee Vectoring Technologies (BEE) has announced the closing of five new deals with blueberry growers in Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina.
The agreements will see the farms deploy BVT’s proprietary bee delivery system Vectorite™ with the fungal compound CR-7, which controls diseases and increases resistance, enhances plant growth, and offers a longer shelf life to crops.
While the system will only be applied to a portion of the farms’ crops, BVT has surpassed its sales target for the south-eastern US market. The company’s original goal for blueberry growers the region was set at 10 growers and 500 acres; however, the recent agreements now bring the total to 15 growers covering 700 acres.
“We are delighted with the response from blueberry growers in the south-east, which has exceeded our expectations,” said CEO Ashish Malik.
“We had set targets to ensure adequate resources were in place to properly service the business. Based on the strong market appetite for the BVT system, we elected to increase this allocation in a structured manner. We will now focus on delivering results to these customers to ensure they expand their use of the BVT system over following seasons and increase word-of-mouth of our technology within the industry.”
BVT’s system uses commercially managed bees to carry its naturally protective product Vectorite™ with CR-7 directly to crops; increasing overall yield and significantly reducing water consumption and fossil fuel usage.
The newly signed growers are first time users, and each one will pilot the system on a percentage of their crops – a total of 280 acres out of a combined 1,400 on which they farm – with the expectation that they will extend the use of BVT’s technology across their entire operation over two to three seasons based on positive results.
“Expanding sales to growers in additional regions is our path to revenue acceleration. These blueberry grower commitments align with our growth strategy which starts with initial market penetration, moves to customer retention and expansion, and finally leverages strong results to attract new customers through positive word-of-mouth,” continued Mr. Malik.
“We have now successfully penetrated the Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina blueberry markets as well as the Florida strawberry market.”
Shares in the company are up 5.56% to $0.57, with a market cap of $41.56 million.