The story
This article is written by Danica Cullinane and the original article can be found here: Small Caps.
Wide Open Agriculture (ASX: WOA) has posted a 198% increase in revenue for the full financial year of $4.3 million, demonstrating the growing demand for regenerative and ethical food and drinks.
The regenerative food and farming business achieved its eighth consecutive quarter of growth in June through its food brand Dirty Clean Food and launched new products including the world’s first regenerative, carbon-neutral oat milk. During the year, it also progressed towards a pilot plant to create a unique plant-based protein from Australian sweet lupin.
Wide Open said this near-tripling of revenue highlights its effective commercial scaling strategy and expects its growth trajectory to continue.
“This growth also demonstrates that our regenerative and ethical food platform is deeply aligned with shifting consumer preferences towards nutritious food produced on healthy farms,” it reported.
The company has also begun expanding its local Western Australian market presence into other domestic and Asian markets with initial sales secured in South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria along with Singapore.
Building momentum
Wide Open’s net loss for the year extended from $1.86 million to $7.53 million, with the company noting its OatUP product only launched halfway through the financial year and “significant” research and development programs were undertaken that are “expected to add long-term company value”.
The company said it has built a resilient business model and looks forward to building local market share in WA, increasing its presence and sales in other domestic states, as well as launching its carbon-neutral oat milk globally over the next 12 months.
“Sales momentum is anticipated to continue across 2021 and beyond, providing a robust revenue foundation to reach our ultimate goal of becoming profitable in the future,” it stated.
Improving its balance sheet
Wide Open successfully raised $7 million last October from both institutional and sophisticated investors, then an additional $1.5 million via a share purchase plan to existing shareholders.
At 30 June 2021, the company had $12.98 million cash on hand and declared itself adequately funded to accelerate its growth initiatives.
Outlook for the new year
In a new presentation, Wide Open outlined four areas of focus for the 2022 financial year. The first is its plan to introduce new, high margin products to expand its OatUP range including coffee and chocolate flavoured milks and potentially an oat and lupin milk product.
Secondly, the company plans to transition into manufacturing after completing development of its pilot-scale lupin processing facility, launch new products under the Dirty Clean Food brand and engage with global food and ingredient manufacturers with the aim of becoming a leader in the plant-based sector.
Another strategic goal is to scale the Dirty Clean Food brand by launching new product lines into scaled distribution networks across Australia and Asia, building customer loyalty and expanding delivery service.
Wide Open’s fourth aim is a focus on regenerative farming and building net carbon zero manufacturing capabilities by supporting large-scale uptake of regenerative farming practices, eliminating food waste, increasing access to plant-based food and drinks, and reducing carbon emissions from vehicles and refrigeration.
