Mississauga, ON Canada and Sacramento, CA USA (June 28, 2023) – Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc. (the “Company” or “BVT”) (CSE: BEE) (OTCQB: BEVVF) (CVE: BEE) is pleased to announce its expansion into the cranberry market and the signing of its first customer. The Wisconsin-based grower will be using BVT's proprietary Vectorite with CR-7 (Clonostachys rosea CR-7) biological fungicide and natural precision agriculture system on their cranberry field for the upcoming growing season.
“During the 2022 paid trial of the BVT system, we were able to demonstrate the effectiveness of our system on their cranberry crops in reducing fruit rot, improving fruit quality and increasing overall yield,” said Ian Collinson, Sales Manager at BVT. “As a result, the grower has doubled their BVT order for 2023. The BVT bumblebee system will be integrated on a portion of their cranberry acres, with plans to scale to additional acreage next season.”
“BVT has been successful in establishing and growing sales in a number of markets including blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries,” said Ashish Malik, CEO of BVT. “The addition of this new cranberry customer is further validation of BVT’s growing momentum of our strategy to expand BVT’s addressable market.”
With more than 38,000 acres harvested annually, the United States is the world’s leading cranberry producer, followed by Canada.(1) Of which, Wisconsin is the biggest cranberry-producing state, with 21,000 acres of bogs across 20 counties(2)growing an estimated 5.2 million barrels of cranberries a year (about 63% of U.S. output).(3)
“We are very impressed by the increase in yield we have experienced through utilizing the BVT system,” said the grower. “Last year we saw a historically low fruit rot percentage – reduced to 1.99% compared to an average of 4 to 5% that we typically experience, and I am confident that the BVT system was the main contributor to this efficiency. BVT’s system allows us to significantly reduce the use of chemical sprays that often negatively impact beneficial organisms, both in and out of the soil, that are important for healthy development of crops and the overall yield.”
Continued Mr. Collinson, “Growers like our new cranberry customer realize that our solution not only controls diseases, but also contributes to fruit quality, size and yield. Despite the fact that our CR-7 is registered for disease control, growers recognize that it can directly improve their ROI on several levels in addition to disease pressure situations, opening new opportunities for BVT in a variety of crops and markets.”
The Company also announces that it has issued an aggregate of 841,172 restricted share units (the “RSUs”) to employees pursuant to the Company’s shareholder approved restricted share unit plan (the “RSU Plan“). 50% of the RSUs will vest immediately with the remaining 50% vesting three months from the date of issuance. Each RSU shall entitle the holder thereof to acquire one common share of the Company by delivering a notice of acquisition to the Company in accordance with the RSU Plan. In accordance with the RSU Plan, the RSUs were priced at $0.08 which was the closing market price on June 27, 2023. The RSUs were awarded to employees who have agreed to restructure their compensation and receive RSUs in lieu of certain cash payments for past and future services. | | (1) Source: USDA, 2022
(2) Source: Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association
(3) Source: The U.S. Cranberry Marketing Committee, 2022 | | | About Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc.
BVT, an agriculture technology company, is a market disruptor with a significant global market opportunity in the $240 billion crop protection and fertilizer market. BVT has pioneered a natural precision agriculture system that replaces chemical pesticides and wasteful plant protection product spray applications by delivering biological pesticide alternatives to crops using commercially grown bees. BVT’s award-winning technology, precision vectoring, is completely harmless to bees and allows minute amounts of naturally-derived pesticides (called biologicals) to be delivered directly to blooms, providing improved crop protection and yield results than traditional chemical pesticides – and improving the health of the soil, the microbiome and the environment. Currently, BVT has over 65 granted patents, over 35 patents pending in all major agricultural countries worldwide and has US EPA registration of its Vectorite™ with CR-7 (EPA Registration No. 90641-2) for sale as a registered biological fungicide for use on the labeled crops.
Additional information can be viewed at the Company’s website www.beevt.com. To receive regular news updates from the Company, subscribe at www.beevt.com/newsletter. | | | BVT Company Contact:
Ashish Malik, President & CEO, BVT
info@beevt.com
BVT Investor Contacts:
Babak Pedram (Canada & International)
Virtus Advisory Group
Tel: 416-995-8651
bpedram@virtusadvisory.com
William Maze (United States)
RB Milestone Group LLC (RBMG)
bee@rbmilestone.com | | |