Society Picks of The Week

Cannabis Strategic Ventures Inc.
(OTC: NUGS)

Cannabis Strategic Ventures Inc. (OTC: NUGS) is an emerging leader in the U.S. cannabis marketplace as a publicly traded cannabis cultivator. The company is based in Los Angeles, with a 6-acre cannabis farm in Northern California called NUGS Farm North. The company’s vision is to acquire and scale assets in the legal cannabis market while achieving efficiencies through economies of scale and vertical integration.

Cannabis Strategic Ventures recently expanded its portfolio by completing the transfer process for cultivation, retail, distribution and manufacturing licenses issued by the City of Los Angeles and the State of California, and it is now working toward taking operational control of each license. The company also recently announced the upcoming grand opening of its cannabis dispensary, MDRN Tree. Following that launch, Cannabis Strategic Ventures intends to deploy another of its new licenses to establish an indoor cultivation facility with capacity to produce two to three pounds of premium exotic cannabis flower per light per harvest. The facility will have up to 1,200 grow lights and is anticipated to yield 5.75 harvests per year, bringing it to a total production capacity of over 15,000 pounds of cannabis flower annually.

Brand Portfolio

The company owns multiple brands under the Cannabis Strategic Ventures umbrella. The firm’s NUGS brand provides operational and financial strategic partnerships and a range of essential services to emerging and existing cannabis consumer brands.

The NUGS Farm North brand operates as a six-and-a-half-acre cannabis cultivation property located in northern California. The company believes that the key to success in its business is consistent quality and reliable supply to fit growing consumer demand. Cannabis Strategic Ventures addressed these consumer needs by building NUGS Farm North. At NUGS Farm North, the company’s process is customized, and its product is consistent. Located in the heart of an agricultural mecca for globally distributed produce, NUGS Farm North finds power in its product, not in its size. Decades of agricultural experience and a dedication to consistency ensure quality cannabis.

MDRN Tree is Cannabis Strategic Ventures’ customer-facing dispensary brand. MDRN Tree will open its first Los Angeles location sometime in the fall of 2021. MDRN Tree will be the company’s factory retail store – a direct interface with the end-market community – where Cannabis Strategic Ventures plans on showcasing the cannabis flower produced at its NUGS Farm North cultivation site. This farm-to-sale model offers the potential to drive simultaneous gains in quality control and profitability.

Investment Considerations

• Cannabis Strategic Ventures’ 2020 revenue jumped 517% year-over-year to $14.6 million.
• 2020 revenues from cannabis sales were $14.1 million, up 975% compared to fiscal 2019.
• The company’s gross profit spiked 483% year-over-year, reaching $2.78 million in 2020, while gross margins held steady at about 20 percent.
• Cannabis Strategic Ventures will launch its first Los Angeles dispensary in Q4 2021.
• The company will open an indoor cultivation facility with capacity to produce up to 15,000 pounds of premium cannabis flower annually.

- Recent Coverage -

May 17, 2022 4:20 PM

The U.S. IRS Taxpayer Advocate, an agency under the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), has published a blog post in which the agency discusses the tax obligations that marijuana companies have and the efforts which are being taken at the Congressional level to resolve some of those challenges.

The blog post pointed out that, although companies in the cannabis industry are expected to meet their federal tax obligations, the firms aren’t at liberty to deduct many of the expenses that firms in other industries normally deduct when determining their tax obligations. This disparity stems from the fact that under federal law, marijuana is a controlled substance that cannot be bought or sold legally, so businesses engaged in cannabis business can’t claim tax deductions on an illegal activity.

Eat Well Investment Group Inc.
(CSE: EWG) (OTC: EWGFF)

Eat Well Investment Group Inc. (CSE: EWG) (OTC: EWGFF), headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, is a publicly traded vertically integrated plant-based foods company combining the best of agribusiness, foodtech, and CPG brands to supply the world with innovative, delicious, and better-for-you foods. The company supplies Beyond Meat, Ingredion, Nestle, General Mills and more.

Eat Well’s management team has an extensive record of sourcing, financing and building successful companies across a broad range of industries and maintains a current investment mandate on the health and wellness industry. The team has financed and invested in early-stage venture companies for more than 25 years, resulting in the ability to construct a portfolio of opportunistic investments intended to generate superior risk-adjusted returns. Eat Well’s strategic advisory board includes pioneers in the plant-based foods industry, including HRH Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of KBW Ventures, and Jeff Dunn, CEO of Bolthouse Farms who previously held senior leadership positions at both Campbell Soup Company and The Coca Cola Company.

The company’s plant-based investment thesis is centered on growing its seed-to-market operations, which include raw ingredients, processing, pulse fractionation, unique IP and premium consumer packaged goods (CPG). Eat Well Group is building a unique ecosystem that can supply these essential cornerstone needs for society. The company has plant-based foods and nutrition experts specializing in the latest science and original thinking for what consumers want most – high quality and affordability in healthy, clean and simple products.

Eat Well focuses on intellectual property, product portfolio development and long-term value creation for stakeholders in a rapidly expanding industry. As an emergent sector globally, plant-based foods represent a double-digit annual growth category, with more than 35% of the world’s supply of pulse proteins coming from Canada.

Portfolio

On July 31, 2021, Eat Well Group acquired Belle Pulses Ltd., one of the top pulse processors in Canada. Belle Pulses has been operating for over 40 years and had over $60 million in sales in 2020. The company counts a broad range of customers in over 35 countries, including global strategic food companies and major ingredient distributors. Currently, Belle produces nearly 100,000 tons of fully traceable seed and product, yielding over 26,000 tons of pure plant protein.

Eat Well also owns 100% of Sapientia Technology Inc. Led by Dr. Eugenio Bortone – one of the world’s preeminent food scientists and extrusion processing experts and the inventor of Frito-Lay’s Twisted Cheetos – Sapientia has filed four patents around the “protein curl” and crispy-puff-style snack. By focusing on texture and crunch, Sapientia’s patents solve one of the major problems that large scale snack food companies have struggled with for years – how to offer appealing texture and flavor in a guilt-free, not fried, natural and healthy alternative to the majority of snack food products available today.

Eat Well owns a 51% share of Amara Organic Foods, with an option to acquire additional ownership up to 80 percent. Amara, one of the fastest-growing baby food brands in America, is a food technology company that uses science and proprietary IP that locks in taste and texture to make healthy, organic, non-GMO, plant-based, convenient baby and children’s food possible for modern-day families. From baby food to toddler food and beyond, Amara is driven by the belief that setting kids on the right path from a young age will help them live better, feel better and think better for the rest of their lives. Amara’s revenues have grown by more than 400% since January 2021, and the brand’s success has drawn media coverage from business news outlets including Forbes and TechCrunch.

Investment Considerations

• Eat Well’s leadership team has founded, built, and sold a previous multi-hundred-million-dollar plant-based food company.
• The company’s vertical integration offers an opportunity to invest in the value chain from seed-to-market, rather than a single brand or segment.
• Eat Well’s portfolio of companies are uniquely positioned at the epicenter of grower relationships, supply chains and innovation.
• The company’s majority owned subsidiary, Amara Organic Foods, has been named the number-one new release on Amazon for its toddler line.
• Eat Well’s portfolio revenue is projected to accelerate from $60 million in 2021 to $100 million in 2022.

- Recent Coverage -

May 18, 2022 9:00 AM

• Eat Well Investment Group Inc. is a plant-based foods focused investment company dedicated to helping consumers pursue healthier food options while sustaining global food security
• Eat Well’s investments include subsidiaries Belle Pulses, Sapientia and Amara Organic Foods and establish a portfolio of plant-based food production companies targeting protein alternative and natural baby food markets
• Distribution agreements with companies such as Walmart, Whole Foods, Sprouts Farmer’s Market, Loblaws and HEB Grocery Company (H-E-B) are making it possible for Eat Well’s investee companies to rapidly increase their consumer reach
• The company recently announced developments in a special warrant indenture that will trade on the Canadian Securities Exchange through December 2024 as part of its efforts to welcome new investment

When Sodexo Campus, the college and university arm of international foodservice giant Sodexo, announced this month that it will expand its plant-based menu items to 42 percent of the total meals it offers at hundreds of universities across the United States, it heralded the growing importance consumers place on earth-friendly, nutritious plant-based foods, as noted by industry e-magazine Veg News (https://ibn.fm/9zLSS).