Edible Garden AG Incorporated (NASDAQ:EDBL) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

James Kras: Well, we’re going to see that come online. I don’t know how much I can speak to that on this call, but that, we’ve already got POs in-house from Whole Foods, which is exceptional. We’re working with major big box retailers that to bring them online. One of the great things about Edible Garden is that we’ve got great authenticity being a grower, a greenhouse grower and a CEA company. We’ve got the wherewithal in our team and some of the recent people that we’ve brought onboard from, actually 1 person from 1 of the major retailers, to really have a mindset that’s geared towards bringing these finished goods to market. Our expectation is the second half of the year as we push this stuff into retail and leveraging our distribution platform which is what I was trying to get at, we have entree into every major chain out there.

We should be able to “light this up pretty quickly,” and that’s our goal. So we had an exceptional show at Natural Product Expo West, which is sort of the Super Bowl of new products for these type of products. And we are getting on the road. I’m leaving tonight and presenting the items to big partners, and we’re excited about it. We’re thrilled. So I think that’s going to be a nice complement, excuse the pun, to our assortment and to our revenue line. We’re excited.

Paul Cooney: When you guys are done with — when we get done and we’re online with the Grand Rapids facility, is the plan then to maybe try it on another location like that, maybe more out West and start building a new facility to expand? Or are you going to be looking more to acquire existing grow houses?

James Kras: Well, I mean, look, I think that’s a great question, and I’ll tell you why. It’s because, look, an M&A is going to be part of the strategy moving forward. But as of right now, one of the key differentiators about us is the position that we’re in. The company doesn’t have a considerable amount of debt on it. We have a plan, and being cash flow positive is right within striking distance. And the focus on — with this management team right now is to get to cash flow positive and prove to everybody in this category that these businesses work because this is the future of how we’re going to feed ourselves, our country, the world. And someone needs to get out and show that it can also be commercially viable. So to me, it’s like let’s get through the next quarter or 2, let’s get to cash flow positive.

And then we’ll, in the back on be looking to identify. And I think more retrofits, Paul, to be frank. The team did a fabulous job out in Grand Rapids in a very short period of time of getting this thing ready for prime time from how well we performed on our inspections for organic and food safety. A lot of that is just leveraging the knowledge bank that we have with people who — look, our team has been together for almost 10 years. And then obviously, that team was part of the IPO this past year. We’ve had a committed, knowledgeable workforce and management team that understand what the goal is. And we’re in this thing to win it. And I think that for us, the first step is to make sure that we understand that we can make money and build shareholder value.