Wide Open Agriculture unveils another consecutive quarter of revenue growth

Regenerative and ethically sourced food and agriculture company Wide Open Agriculture’s (ASX: WOA) continued to gain traction during the September quarter (Q1 FY2022) – with the company achieving another consecutive period of increased revenue.

For Q1 FY2022, Wide Open posted revenue of $1.67 million – up 17% on the June quarter’s figure of $1.46 million and more than double the $764,807 achieved in the same period last year.

The company’s food service and wholesale division continued to be the largest contributor to revenue, with online and retail sales also rising.

Wide Open managing director Dr Ben Cole pointed out Q1 FY2022 was the company’s ninth consecutive period of revenue growth – with double digit increases across all three sales channels.

“Our outlook is equally as promising, as we ramp up lupin development activities and set the business up for increased OatUp sales momentum heading into the end of the year.”

Dirty Clean Food

Wide Open’s regenerative farmed and sustainable food and beverages are sold under its Dirty Clean Food brand, which accounts for all the company’s revenue.

The company’s world first regenerative carbon-neutral oat “milk” OatUp is now available at more than 300 retail and food service venues across Australia.

It will soon be accessible in South East Asia after Wide Open announced its first international distribution partnership earlier this month.

GrowHub International agreed to exclusively distribute OatUp throughout Singapore under an initial two-year deal.

Under the deal, GrowHub will purchase a minimum of $500,000 of the product over the first 12 months to distribute as part of Wide Open’s first step into the region.

The first commercial shipment of OatUp has been dispatched to GrowHub, with Wide Open anticipating revenue in the December quarter.

Wide Open is also in negotiations with other potential distributors in South East Asia.

As well as OatUp’s successfully roll-out, Dirty Clean Food launched a vegan oat milk based ice cream which is increasingly available at independent retailers across Perth.

The brand has also made key enhancements to its digital properties and continues to expand its product portfolio.

These initiatives have driven higher sales to retailers as well as its food service channel.

“The company’s beef and lamb offerings continue to gain traction with many of the best chefs in Perth,” Wide Open stated.

Lupin protein

Another of Wide Open’s key milestones during Q1 FY2022 was progressing development of its modified lupin protein as part of its expansion strategy in the plant-based market.

The company’s plan is to secure food and ingredient companies as offtake partners that will incorporate the modified protein in a variety of food and drinks.

As part of this leading food and ingredient companies from various regions worldwide have received samples of the product.

Analysis against other plant-based proteins reveals Wide Open’s modified lupin has advantages over all of them.

It has a higher protein concentration than traditional legumes and comes with gelation properties due to the company’s proprietary processing technology.

An in-house pilot manufacturing facility to produce the modified protein will be established at Wide Open’s distribution centre in WA’s suburb of Kewdale.

The initial pilot equipment has been received and will enable testing of the manufacturing technology and further refinement.

FY2022 outlook

Wide Open closed out the September quarter with $10 million in the bank, which it says is sufficient to continue its growth plans.

As FY2022 advances, Wide Open will continue advancing its Dirty Clean Food brand to build customers and revenue.

One initiative will be applying cloud-based technology for inventory and forecasting optimisation to boost efficiency, and another will be increasing customers through search engine optimisation.

Expanding OatUp further nationally and internationally will be priority with the company also planning to develop and launch new flavours.

Wide Open’s goal is to manufacture the product locally.

Work on the modified lupin protein will also continue to be a priority.

The company will continue acquiring equipment for the pilot plant, developing product prototypes and collaborating with potential customers to support their product development with the lupin protein.