Monthly news letter from management Greetings Shareholders,
With 2018 coming to a close, the Company has a lot to be thankful for. We have made significant progress in our efforts to become a premium functional food and beverage company. In order to improve our communication with shareholders, Phivida will be releasing monthly newsletters starting with this inaugural letter. The goal of these newsletters is to provide an update on the Company’s milestones and strategic initiatives underway to create transparency and accountability to our valued shareholders.
Launching an exciting health and wellness brand
Excelling at marketing and communications is key to success in the consumer products space, and we are committed to achieving this through channel expansion, building partnerships and growing our brand ambassadors.
An important initiative underway is the launch of a new Oki e-store in the first quarter of 2019. Selling Oki products online to U.S.-based consumers will increase our market reach and also help build our national brand in support of an expanded brick and mortar presence. The Vida+ brand of clinical hemp products is undergoing a refresh, with newly-designed packaging and a new website that is expected to be launched in the first quarter of 2019 as well.
To manage the brand visibility and media relations strategy, primarily for the Oki lifestyle brand, we’ve partnered with Covet Public Relations, a full-service consumer lifestyle public relations firm. Covet is known for working with disruptive consumer brands and has a roster of notable clients that include Suja Juice, Beyond Meat, EPIC foods and Cali’Flour Foods. Their success with our target markets should translate into strong consumer response to our Oki products.
Brand ambassadors are one essential way we can connect to our consumers, and Malia Manuel epitomizes the spirit of Oki. Malia is a top World Surf League athlete and has been collaborating closely with us to produce a new campaign. She will be featured in an upcoming photo shoot in January that will incorporate new Oki products, and the images will be used in social media campaigns throughout 2019. We will continue to look for additional brand ambassadors to support and raise the brand’s awareness among our target audience and expect to announce the new partnerships in early 2019.
Supporting these activities will be an advertising campaign that is about to commence production by our creative agency, Sid Lee. It will be launched in early 2019.
Overall Sales Activity
Sales distribution continues to be a prime focus of management. We have been travelling extensively and negotiating with retail chains in several markets. Currently, we are nearing completion of a number of distribution contracts in key U.S. states. The recent passing of the Farm Bill opens even more opportunities for us, including with nationwide retailers who have been reluctant to move forward with hemp-based products until there was certainty of national distribution.
What will help us bring retailers on board will be the substantial growth of the CBD industry. According to SPINS industry sell out data CBD product sales continue to expand with tinctures and capsules growing at over 300 percent over the past 12 months and generating $19 million in revenue in the natural speciality channel alone.
Overall we are pleased with the progress we’ve made in building a robust platform for growth. It takes time to launch a national brand, and by securing strong partners and executing on a well-planned strategy, we are confident in our success.
On behalf of our management team, we would like to express our gratitude to you for being a valued shareholder and continuing to participate in our journey to become a premium functional food and beverage company. We would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and happy holidays on behalf of the entire team at Phivida.
Sincerely,
James Bailey, President and CEO