Organto Foods Inc., an integrated provider of fresh organic and conventional vegetables and fruits announced that it has re-commenced supply of organic blueberries for sale into various European markets.
Organic blueberries were Organto's largest selling product in 2018 and represented the Company's first sales of organic soft fruit, a key step in the expansion of Organto's year-round value-added organic fruits and vegetables product offering. Organto sees strong demand for organic blueberries in the European markets it serves.
Sales from the current Argentine supply source are expected to commence the week of September 30, 2019 and run through to the end of 2019. Organto continues to develop a year-round organic blueberry supply program, that once fully implemented is expected to include supply from strategic growers located in Argentina, Mexico, Peru and other locations.
"We are very pleased to have re-commenced sales of organic blueberries, a key product in our organic fruits and vegetables portfolio," commented Rients van der Wal, CEO of Organto Europe BV. "The addition of organic soft fruits, including organic blueberries, remains consistent with our realignment that we announced last year. We are focused on increasing revenue streams beyond value-added organic vegetables, deepening our supply relationships and rightsizing our cost base. We have made progress on all three strategies, and are encouraged by the progress we are achieving."
Concurrent with the start of the current blueberry season, the Argentine supplier of organic blueberries will be taking a strategic ownership interest in Organto via the receipt of 885,000 common shares of Organto, in satisfaction of €35,435 of indebtedness resulting from the blueberry supply in 2018. The deemed issue price of the common shares for this indebtedness is CDN $0.059 per share based on current foreign exchange rates. "We are excited to have such an important supplier as a new shareholder, providing Organto with continued access to a value-added product," commented Mr. van der Wal. The shares will be issued upon acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange and will be issued in 4 tranches withhold periods of 4, 6, 8 and 10 months from the date of issuance.
