Dallas, Texas, U.S.A.-basedNaturalShrimp announced it entered into a purchase agreement with Gulf Seafood Inc., a distributor in Florida, for a three-month trial and delivery of 25,000 pounds of live shrimp.
NaturalShrimp has developed a land-based shrimp recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) that the company has so far deployed in Webster City, Iowa and Lacoste, Texas. The company has rebounded quickly from a fire in 2020 that destroyed a production plant – and is now stocking shrimp at both its Iowa and Texas facilities.
The new agreement, NaturalShrimp CEO Gerald Easterling said, is a “major milestone” for the company as it seeks to commercialize its land-based gourmet-grade shrimp.
“In addition to the fresh retail and wholesale markets, NaturalShrimp’s ability to provide live shrimp to the market on a weekly basis is unique to the industry. GSI is a well-known distributor with a large network of buyers with the logistics and capacity to market our products,” Easterling said. “We are confident that after an initial successful partnership period, we will embark on a longer-term distribution agreement with GSI. At this stage of commercialization, with weekly production on track for the first quarter of 2022, we have numerous sales channel partners in place.”
NaturalShrimp CFO William Delgado said that the company will sell various sizes of shrimp to GSI at a price of USD 10.50 (EUR 9.01) per pound. He added that the company projects sales for the December 2021 quarter of between USD 300,000 and USD 500,000 (EUR 257,000 and EUR 429,000).
“As sales and customers begin to ramp, we expect to be cash flow positive from sales and licensing agreements somewhere between the first and second quarters of calendar 2022,” Delgado said. “We are eager to enter the commercialization phase of our company and continue to build long-term value for our shareholders.”
A shareholder update by NaturalShrimp, which filed a listing application with the Nasdaq Stock Exchange in 2020, also indicates the company is considering an expansion into Florida. Delgado met with state and local officials in northern Florida to discuss a roughly USD 25 million (EUR 21 million) grant for an expansion plant in the area.
“The meetings went well and we expect to make a decision on the location in the next 30 days,” NaturalShrimp said. “The company is not expecting to finalize any agreements until late second quarter calendar.”
In addition to the new building, the company is also in “active negotiations” with a salmon producer on the licensing of some of its technology, “specifically around the technology from our most recent acquisition, Hydrenesis,” the company said. The company acquired Hydrenesis Aquaculture in February, and along with it acquired the company’s technological processes for wastewater treatment, desalination, and drinking water applications.
“We have been approached by several groups regarding licensing of our technology,” the company said. “We will entertain license opportunities in all areas of aquaculture except for the production of shrimp.”
Photo courtesy of NaturalShrimp
