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Newsfile Corp Mississauga, Ontario and Sacramento, California--(Newsfile Corp. - February 25, 2021) - Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc. (CSE: BEE) (OTCQB: BEVVF) (CVE: BEE) (the "Company" or "BVT") is pleased to announce its first grower trials in berry crops in California, where the Company received state regulatory approval less than a month ago on its proprietary Vectorite with CR-7 (Clonostachys rosea CR-7) (CR-7) biological fungicide. Eight commercial-scale grower trials have already been confirmed, including with two of the world's largest berry companies and their growers. The trials will be conducted on blueberries, caneberries (blackberries and raspberries) and strawberries in the three main growing regions in the state for berries, which are among the most productive and diverse agricultural growing areas in the world. "Securing this level of trials from California growers, in such a short period of time, signifies the momentum that BVT is now achieving, and that our solution is gaining traction and profile among growers across the US," said Ashish Malik, CEO of Bee Vectoring Technologies. "We have been delighted by the reception from growers and their desire to trial our technology with little previous exposure, which is quite unusual in the industry, and thus speaks to the opportunity for acceleration of BVT's growth in the largest agricultural market in the US." The California trials span the Central Valley, Northern Coastal Valley (Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, including Salinas and Watsonville) and the Central Coastal Valley (Ventura and Santa Barbara counties). The Central Valley is one of the world's most productive agricultural regions, with more than 230 crops. About 1/6 of the irrigated land in the US is in the Central Valley, so more water-efficient crop production practices are in high demand particularly given the droughts California has experienced in recent years. BVT's system does not use any water to deliver plant protection products to crops. "Sustainable agricultural practices are top of mind with growers in California. BVT's natural precision agriculture system is a strong fit here, which contributes to the very positive response we are seeing in the state and we are very encouraged by the reception we are receiving," said Ian Collinson, Sales Manager at Bee Vectoring Technologies. "In addition to the eight grower trials confirmed, we are in discussions with numerous growers for additional trials before the next growing season commences, and we expect to fill our allocation." BVT's sales adoption cycle consists of four market stages that span three to four growing seasons. The first stage is awareness, which involves proof of concept and initial trials. In the second pilot stage, small-scale sales are secured via grower demos. The launch stage is when commercialization happens, with initial revenues coming from a small percentage of the acreages of large, influential growers as they validate the product. Finally, the expansion stage sees revenue growth achieved through increased share of acres with existing customers and more new customers as word-of-mouth spreads. "Right now in BVT's sales adoption cycle, we are in the initial awareness stage in the California market and are initiating strategic grower trials as planned. Our goal is to get our presence in California to match what we are doing successfully in Georgia, where we have a solid customer base and are in the market expansion stage - with high retention and a customer base that increases every year. With the first market stage now mobilized in California, we are well on our way," adds Mr. Collinson. California is America's largest berry market (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries) with an estimated 55,000(1) acres representing 30% of the country's berry acreage. BVT has three blueberry grower trials confirmed: one is underway and two more will start in the next few weeks. Three caneberry trials are confirmed for late March to early April, one of them is an R&D trial that will be conducted on a grower's field through a key researcher at the University of California. And two strawberry trials are set to begin by late March. |