Food Innovation

[wow_happens28]

What is left of the company is now break even, they sold the negative parts and got a very good deal, imo. Their oat and barley mill just had a major expansion,, and that mill was the only profitable part of the company.. At the Q1CC they were already getting increased revenues from it. Q2, same condition might be a plus? With what a shareholder friend of mine told me, 100,000 shares he owns, it looks cash flow positive, but I think what may be coming ties together with the sale of the garbage to Stabil Nutrition. Thus the delay in the SEC filing and Dow Jones press elease. I'd rather they stay as is from what I see, but I don't see it all.

[gfp927z]

Reading the press release, they don't even hint that the company will remain an operating entity. They also seem to suggest that the meager proceeds ($1.8 mil in cash) from the recent sale might merely be a cash cushion they burn through while figuring out what to do with the rest of the company.

It's nice to see the stock going up, but seems like a very high risk speculation. You're familiar with the company though, so GL :o)

Btw, on my other board (Awesome Stocks) I am limited to 1 post/day 'until further notice'. I-Hub said there were too many off topic political posts.



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[wow_happens28]

3 points of interest in the RIBT story>>>

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ricebran-technologies-sells-srb-business-110000770.html

1. At the top, not part of the story is says in bold italics,
Asset Sale is First Step of Previously Announced Strategic Review

2. In the second paragraph it says,
while not jeopardizing the estimated $54.4 million in federal and $46.0 million in state net operating loss carryforwards that the Company had amassed as of December 31, 2022.

3. NO DJ release and NO posting on home page yet< why the secrecy?

My guess is something else in in the works, like selling the rest of the company. I asked Dew about the NOLS. RIBT has 8,000,000 shares which includes 2,000,000 unexercised warrants that are in the money. A buyer could use up 10% of the $104,000,000 NOLS, it is worth $1.20 per share. Add the value of the stock and a minimum $2 stock? Dew's last comment to me, "An acquiring company would be able to use, at most, 4-5% of the federal NOLs each year, about $2M per year. The state NOLs are harder to quantify and might not be worth anything in the worst-case scenario. ". I based my $2 stock(low guess) partly on that comment.

The stocks I sold yesterday, the money went into RIBT today.

{Please don't post this at the RIBT board. I want to honor the companies secrecy, assuming they have a good reason to not posting DJ release.

" Another one of me is born every second"?

[gfp927z]

Nice bounce for RIBT :o)

And made it back to the 200 MA. Looks like 'glass half full' is the current consensus, so a good sign :o)



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[gfp927z]

Re-post - >>> Lab-made chicken from_two_companies_receives USDA support:


https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=172190272

https://www.wsj.com/articles/chicken-grown-from-cells-headed-to-u-s-dinner-tables-a964fe7b


The first approvals Wednesday went to Alameda, Calif.-based company Good Meat, an arm of food-technology company Eat Just, and Berkeley-based Upside Foods


…Cultivated meat is typically produced by placing certain poultry and livestock cells into stainless-steel tanks known as bioreactors, where they are fed nutrients and oxygen before being harvested and formed into meat products.

Its proponents say the field has the capacity to reduce global reliance on tending livestock, which requires large amounts of land and water and releases greenhouse gases. However, the production of cultivated meat is also energy-intensive and supporters say companies will need to use renewable energy to reduce their environmental impact. An analysis from the University of California at Davis released last month found that producing cell-cultivated beef could require more energy and emit more greenhouse gases than conventional beef, with its environmental impact depending on what kinds of ingredients are used.

… The burgeoning cell-cultivated meat and seafood industry still faces an array of scientific and economic hurdles to producing food in enough volume and at a low-enough cost that it can viably compete against conventional meat and seafood. While many companies have been able to grow small amounts of meat from cells, producing larger volumes is significantly harder, according to industry officials, investors and outside scientists.

See #msg-171336227 for related info.

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[gfp927z]

>>> USDA approves Upside Foods, Good Meat to sell cultivated chicken


Yahoo Finance

by Brooke DiPalma

June 21, 2023


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/usda-approves-upside-foods-good-meat-to-sell-cultivated-chicken-210908105.html


On Wednesday, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) granted approval for Upside Foods and Good Meat, a subsidiary of Eat Just, Inc., to produce and sell their lab-grown cell-cultivated chicken products in the United States.

Both companies are gearing up to debut their products with well-known restauranteurs. Upside Foods plans to debut its products at 3-Michelin star chef Dominique Crenn's Bar Crenn in San Francisco. Good Meat is teaming up with celebrity chef José Andrés at one of his restaurants in Washington, DC, though there's no word on which one or when customers will start seeing the meat on the menu.

Good Meat's products have been available in Singapore since 2020 and are sold everywhere from fine-dining establishments to roadside vendors. In a press release, Josh Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of GOOD Meat and Eat Just, called its entry into the US market a "major moment for our company, the industry and the food system."

Upside founder and CEO Uma Valeti told Yahoo Finance on Wednesday that it believes its "delicious, complex, and whole-textured chicken product" will "set the gold standard for the industry."

Both companies cultivate their meat by placing chicken cells in large steel vessels. They then feed the cells nutrients to help them multiply and grow. It takes the meat about two to three weeks to develop and be harvested before it's ready to eat. On its website, Upside compared the process to that of brewing beer, "but instead of growing yeast or bacteria, we grow animal cells."

For now, however, cultivated meat will come at a cost. Valeti told Yahoo Finance the company will start with premium pricing.

“Our aspirational goal at the moment is to beat the conventional prices....we're going to start out with premium pricing when we come into the market...that's because we are on a small scale," Valeti said back in December when it received FDA approval. He said prices will likely come down over time. "We expect our products to be at parity with conventional meat, but that's going to be 5 to 15 years away.”

As of now its production center, known as the Engineering, Production, and Innovation Center (EPIC) can produce up to 50,000 pounds, with plans to expand capacity to 400,000 pounds.

A spokesperson from Good Meat said pricing for its products will be similar to those at the upscale restaurants where it's being offered. He added that the company is willing to lose money as it gains customers' interest.

"We strive to work with restaurant partners to price our chicken dish on par with traditional dishes. We're not making money on sales, in fact, we're losing money, but it's important that our consumers are paying what they would for a traditional dish. As we scale, the cost will come down."

Neither company plans to enter grocery stores in the near future. Good Meat said it will be "quite a while" until it will hit grocery stores.

The industry is only beginning to heat up though. Per Grand View Research, the cultivated meat market was valued at $246.9 million last year and is set to grow at an annual rate of 51.6% from 2023 to 2030.

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[gfp927z]

>>> Novo Nordisk Foundation: CO2 as a sustainable raw material in our future food production


Novo Nordisk Foundation

13 Jun, 2023


https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/novo-nordisk-foundation-co2-as-a-sustainable-raw-material-in-our-future-food-production-301848326.html


COPENHAGEN, Denmark, June 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In a new consortium, companies and university researchers will create a sustainable source of proteins for human food derived from CO2. The aim is to help fight the rising global problems with food insecurity and greenhouse-gas emissions from agriculture. Two leading foundations are supporting the initiative with up to DKK 200 million (€27 million).

Food insecurity is a rising global problem. A recent UN-led report shows that more than 250 million people faced severe hunger during 2022, which was an increase of 65 million compared to the year before.

To counteract this development, we need to establish a sustainable, safe and stable food production that can feed a growing world population.

With this aim in sight, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Novo Nordisk Foundation are funding a new consortium that will utilise CO2 to produce proteins for human food.

The consortium combines knowledge and expertise from Novozymes A/S and Topsoe A/S, two leading companies within biotechnology and chemical engineering, respectively, Washington University in St. Louis in the US and the Novo Nordisk Foundation CO2 Research Center (CORC) at Aarhus University in Denmark. The total funding from the two foundations is up to DKK 200 million (€27 million).

"By utilising CO2 for food production without involving agricultural land use, this ambitious consortium addresses two of our biggest global challenges: supplying nutritious food to a growing world population and mitigation of climate change. This has the potential to be the first step towards a novel bioeconomy providing a more sustainable, safe and stable food production, reducing the strain on nature's resources in multiple ways," says Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, CEO of the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

An alternative to animal protein

The basic idea is to provide a more sustainable way of producing proteins through fermentation – a way of producing food we have been using for millennia.

By using biological and electrochemical processes, the consortium partners will process CO2 and turn it into acetate, which is vinegar – a well-known substance already present in the metabolism of the microorganisms used for fermentation. The acetate can then be used to produce proteins that can be used directly in food for humans.

By creating alternatives to animal proteins, we can reduce the need for meat and dairy production, which puts a significant strain on our natural resources by using land for the animals and growing crops to feed them. In addition, using acetate derived from CO2 directly in the fermentation process will eliminate the need to use sugar, which is a big part of fermentation processes. This will free up substantial agricultural areas currently used for sugar production.

Thus, converting CO2 into acetate and using it to produce proteins for food will enable us to decouple part of our food production from land use and make room for biodiversity. This will be a major contribution to a more sustainable society.

Making use of existing production facilities

The first step for the consortium is to optimize and evaluate three potential production technologies and mature them. The goal is to lift all technologies to demonstration scale (TRL 6 or above) within two years.

The consortium partners have several relevant production technologies and facilities at their disposal, which enables them to take advantage of already existing infrastructure to verify and scale the new developments expected from the collaboration. This is a great opportunity to create synergy across the different technologies involved in the collaboration and makes it possible to speed up the upscaling process significantly.

"The possibility to engineer biology to efficiently produce protein for human nutrition from simple raw materials has been around for some time. With this programme, there is a possibility to develop a completely climate-neutral way of transforming CO2 into protein without the use of land, water, and fertilizer. I am excited and proud that we can contribute with technology and knowhow that makes this transformation possible – it holds tremendous potential for having biosolutions solve major world problems," says Claus Crone Fuglsang, Chief Science Officer in Novozymes A/S.

Beneficial for low- and middle-income countries

Once scaled up to production, the technologies developed by the consortium can represent a paradigm shift in our approach to food security, especially in low- and lower-middle-income countries. The technologies are estimated to be able to produce enough protein for more than 1 billion people every year, creating a stable source of nutritious food for people living in areas with limited potential for conventional agriculture.

An important goal for the two foundations is to make sure that the technologies are disseminated globally and are accessible at an affordable price in countries where they can be of greatest use. This will be ensured by global access agreements with the consortium partners.

"The technologies offer a big potential to provide food security globally, especially in low- and middle- income countries. It is therefore very important that the technologies can be implemented in areas of the world where they can benefit the most at a fair cost. This is ensured with the setup of this consortium," concludes Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen.

Funding and consortium partners
The two foundations are each funding half of the activities in the consortium.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is funding activities at:

Novozymes A/S – a global leader in biosolutions.
Washington University in St. Louis.
The Novo Nordisk Foundation is funding activities at:

Topsoe A/S – a global leader in carbon emission reduction technologies.
The Novo Nordisk Foundation CO2 Research Center (CORC) at Aarhus University.
The total funding budget is up to DKK 200 million (€27 million) and covers a two-year period. If the work in the consortium is successful, it will be possible to continue the support for later stages of the project, where the technologies can be matured even further.

About the Novo Nordisk Foundation

Established in Denmark in 1924, the Novo Nordisk Foundation is an enterprise foundation with philanthropic objectives. The vision of the Foundation is to improve people's health and the sustainability of society and the planet. The Foundation's mission is to progress research and innovation in the prevention and treatment of cardiometabolic and infectious diseases as well as to advance knowledge and solutions to support a green transformation of society.

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>>> Else Nutrition Reports 23% Sequential Revenue Growth in the First Quarter of 2023


Else Nutrition Holdings Inc.

May 15, 2023


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/else-nutrition-reports-23-sequential-113000994.html


Conference call will be held on Monday, May 15 at 10 AM ET

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 15, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ELSE NUTRITION HOLDINGS INC (BABY) (BABYF) (0YL.F) ("Else" or the "Company") the Plant-Based baby, toddler, and children nutrition company, today reported first quarter 2023 financial results for the period ending March 31, 2023. The financial statements and MD&A are available on SEDAR under the Company’s profile.

First Quarter 2023 Financial Highlights

1Q23 total revenues were $2.9M, an 82% increase versus $1.6M in 1Q22, and a 23% increase versus $2.3M in 4Q22. Revenue growth continued to be hampered by product shortages. While the company increased its production pace, the demand for its products also continued to grow, a combination that challenged available supply, especially in the first half of the quarter. Management estimates the revenue loss from inventory constraints was roughly $1M in 1Q23.

Sales to brick-and-mortar retailers in the US and Canada during 1Q23 increased by 105% versus 4Q22. As of 1Q23, Else products were listed in nearly 12,000 stores in North America, compared with 1,200 stores in 1Q22. Management expects to reach 20,000 listed stores and 50,000 points of distribution by the end of 2023.

Sales in Canada, via Amazon and brick-and-mortar retailers increased over 240% in 1Q23 versus 4Q22 and represented over 28% of the Company’s formula sales.

Retail sales velocity is growing, and as additional products are added to existing accounts, annual revenue per store is improving as well.

Cash balance as of March 30, 2023, was $10.1M CAD, including restricted cash and short-term bank deposit.

Recent Business Highlights

Expanded distribution to more than 7,000 CVS stores, more than 750 Walmart stores, over 440 Loblaws stores, over 600 Sobey’s stores and to 161 Giant Food Stores.

Else products were listed in nearly 12,000 stores in North America, compared with 1,200 stores in 1Q22 reflecting 10 times growth.

Significantly increased in-store sales velocity. For example, according to Spins data, the sales velocity of our Toddler Organic product in natural food stores grew by more than 50% in the last year (measured in 12-week periods).

Expanded production capacity by adding a second manufacturing facility in the US and launching its first production facility in Europe. The additional facilities will increase the Company’s production capacity by about three times, greatly reducing the risk of future out of stock situations. The Company anticipates the new scaled manufacturing capacity to significantly decrease its manufacturing costs, beginning in 2H23.

Entered the Canadian market with the launch on Amazon.ca and in brick-and-mortar stores. The success of the launch exceeded expectations given a fast entry into major retailers across the country and the strong demand for Else’s products. The Company expects to be listed in more than 3,000 Canadian stores by the end of 2023.

The Company plans to enter Western Europe in 2H2023. The initial launch will be in the UK via Amazon and natural food distributors, with other European countries to follow.

The Company plans to enter Australia in 2H2023. The initial launch will be via Amazon to be followed by drug and grocery chains.

Received critical approval by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the infant growth study protocol for the testing of the Else Infant Formula.

Management Commentary

Hamutal Yitzhak, CEO of Else Nutrition, commented, “In 1Q23, Else returned to strong sequential growth, after two quarters in which we experienced severe product shortages. Over the past months we secured two additional manufacturing facilities in the US and Europe. The two new facilities have more than tripled our current production capacity, mitigating the risk of future out-of-stock situations.

Although our manufacturing facilities are fully operational, out of stock and product shortages were still a limiting factor for sales growth in the first quarter. Limited inventory continued to force us to prioritize retails orders over Amazon and our E-store orders. We estimate the revenue impact due to the product shortage to be approximately $1M in 1Q23, mostly in January and February. In March and April, we have begun to see a rebound in our ecommerce sales as we have been building inventory to meet the growing demand.

Our sales to retail stores accelerated in 1Q23 as retailers are seeing strong sales of our products and we continue to grow our store count. Else is becoming a recognized national brand in the US, carried by major grocery and drug retailers. Our customers now include prominent retailers such as CVS and Walmart, as well as leading e-commerce sites such as Amazon and Walmart.com. We expect to reach 20,000 retail locations by end of 2023.

Our international expansion remains strong, growing over 200% in 1Q23 versus 4Q22. Our launch into the Canadian market in 3Q22 was above our expectations, and the consumer enthusiasm has continued. In recent months we entered the Chinese market, and while our presence is currently nascent, we are continuing to make inroads.

As we look out over next few months, we remain focused on our growth objectives to become a global leader in the plant-based nutrition arena. We plan to increase the number of retailers we sell in and expand our shelf space in those stores. We remain enthusiastic about our international expansion. Our entry into Canada in August had a much greater than-anticipated start, and we expect to reach 3,000 stores in Canada in 2023. Furthermore, we are excited to enter the UK and Australia in the second half of 2023, and to continue our journey into the large Chinese market.

In 2023 we remain on track to begin our infant growth clinical study for the FDA and European permits. Receiving FDA approval is a very high priority for Else Nutrition, as we believe that becoming the first non-dairy and non-soy FDA-approved infant formula will be transformational for the valuation of the Company.

FDA Update

As part of the pathway to bring its infant formulation to market under FDA and other authorities’ approvals, Else concluded two successful preclinical safety studies during 2021 and 2022 on its plant-based infant formula, to demonstrate safety and nutrient bioavailability of the infant formula and its ingredients. The results demonstrated proper growth, similar to dairy-based infant formula, in a neonatal preclinical model, as well as the infant formula protein efficiency and quality. Those are the key two steps out of three, on the path to obtaining the FDA and other regulatory permits to bring the product to market.

In February 2023, the Company announced that the Institutional Review Board (the ethical committee) approved the infant growth study protocol for the testing of the Else Infant Formula.

As a final step before initiating the study, the Company has now submitted the infant growth study protocol to the FDA for review and is awaiting the FDA confirmation, in parallel to continuously seeking for a comparator formula which is currently unavailable due to the continuous infant formula shortage followed by several recent product recalls in the US.

Conference Call

Hamutal Yitzhak, CEO and Co-Founder, will hold a conference call to discuss the quarter's financial results at 10:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) on May 15, 2023.

Interested parties can listen via a live webcast, from the link available in the Investors section of the Company's website or at https://app.webinar.net/baVn86WGdw0

A replay will be available after the call, in the Investors section of the Company's website at https://app.webinar.net/baVn86WGdw0

About Else Nutrition Holdings Inc.

Else Nutrition Holdings Inc. is a food and nutrition company in the international expansion stage focused on developing innovative, clean, and plant-based food and nutrition products for infants, toddlers, children, and adults. Its revolutionary, plant-based, non-soy formula is a clean-ingredient alternative to dairy-based formula. Else Nutrition (formerly INDI) won the "2017 Best Health and Diet Solutions" award at Milan's Global Food Innovation Summit. The holding company, Else Nutrition Holdings Inc., is a publicly-traded company, listed on TSX Venture Exchange under the trading symbol BABY and is quoted on the US OTC Markets Q.X. board under the trading symbol BABYF and the Frankfurt Exchange under the symbol 0YL. Since launching its Plant-Based Complete Nutrition for Toddlers, made of whole foods, almonds, buckwheat, and tapioca, the brand has received thousands of powerful testimonials and reviews from parents and gained national retailer support from Sprouts Farmers Market, and achieved rapid sales growth. Else became the #1 Best Seller on Amazon in the Fall of 2020 in the New Baby & Toddler Formula Category. It recently won the 'Best Dairy Alternative' Award 2021 at World Plant-Based Expo and was a Nexty Award Finalist at Expo West 2022 in the Plant-Based lifestyle category.

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[gfp927z]

Re-post - (APPH, LOCL) - >>> High-tech farming startups have been crushed:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/high-tech-farm-startups-are-laid-low-by-financing-drought-pests-1bf6a60a

https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=171989758


Startups that promised to make farming a high-tech business are withering, suffering from rising costs, tight financing, pests and other problems that have troubled traditional agriculture for centuries.

Investors poured billions of dollars into companies such as AppHarvest and Local Bounti that grow lettuce, tomatoes and other crops in indoor farms that use advanced technology such as sensors and robots to offset weather-related risks, use less water and produce more consistent crops. Shares of the two companies are down more than 95% since they went public in 2021, and in recent months at least four companies in the sector have shut down or filed for bankruptcy...

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[gfp927z]

>>> Steakholder Foods® Unveils 3D Bio-printing Business Model


Steakholder Foods Ltd.

May 25, 2023


https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/steakholder-foods-unveils-3d-bio-printing-business-model-301834537.html


The business model will focus on selling 3D bio-printers and bio-inks designed to develop delicious, nutritious, safe, and consistent cultivated meat from ethically harvested cells.

3D bio-printers: the Company is developing Ready-to-Cook 3D printers, for the production of hybrid cultivated products, incorporating a unique printing process that gives the product its fibrous texture.

Bio-inks: the Company is developing various bio-inks to print different species, and will offer customization options intended to allow clients to purchase bio-inks for any type of species they would like to produce, tailored to their specific needs and preferences.


REHOVOT, Israel, May 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Steakholder Foods Ltd. (Nasdaq: STKH), an international deep-tech food company at the forefront of the cultivated meat industry, today announced that it has focused its business model to target B2B meat manufacturers and cultivated meat producers, by offering manufacturers the ability to produce a cultivated meat product that aims to closely mimic the taste, texture, and appearance of traditional meat. The Company intends to monetize its 3D printers and bio-inks that are needed to support printer operation.

The Company's competitive advantage lies in its top-of-the-line expertise in 3D bio-printing technology and its ability to create highly–sophisticated, structured end products that aim to closely mimic real meat in terms of taste, texture, and appearance.

In accordance with Steakholder Foods' new business model, the products it plans to offer:

1. 3D bio-printers

The Company's 3D printers are state-of-the-art technology designed to produce cultivated meat products that mimic the texture, taste, and appearance of conventional meat. The Company is developing two types of printer platforms:

Ready to Cook (RTC) printer

The flagship product, the RTC printer, produces a hybrid cultivated meat product made from a mixture of cultivated and plant-based ingredients.

The Company plans to offer lab- and industrial-scale printers using one of two types of technology to produce different end products. DropJet technology, based on drops of gel-based materials to create a 3D structure, is ideal for producing fish and seafood products, while for all other meat products, Fusion technology extrudes paste materials through a narrow nozzle, enabling the creation of fiber texture that best simulates conventional meat fibers.

3D printer for incubated products

The Company's innovation team is developing a 3D printer for an incubated product, such as tissue-engineered steak, considered the holy grail of the industry. This printer is expected to be a future value proposition for the Company when economies of scale support a market for fully cultivated products. This printer is designed to produce a fully matured, cultivated, printed meat product, which will require live cells to grow, differentiate, and mature, forming complex fibrous tissue that resembles the texture and taste of conventional meat.

2. Bio-inks

Bio-inks are an integral part of the Company's 3D printing technology. Steakholder Foods' bio-inks are made of plant-based ingredients and cultivated cells. They are developed to ensure the production of tasty, safe, and consistent products. The Company plans to offer customization options intended to allow clients to create bio-inks for any type of species they would like to produce, tailored to their specific needs and preferences. The bio-inks will be available for purchase alongside the 3D printers.

Arik Kaufman, CEO of Steakholder Foods: "By offering 3D printing production methodologies to B2B clients, Steakholder Foods has the opportunity to become a backbone supplier that enables the production of products that consumers seek and expect. Our 3D bio-printing technology and customized bio-inks reflect our commitment to revolutionizing the food industry."

About Steakholder Foods

Steakholder Foods Ltd., formerly MeaTech 3D Ltd., is an international deep-tech food company at the forefront of the cultured meat revolution. The company-initiated activities in 2019 and is listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker "STKH" (formerly MITC), with headquarters in Rehovot, Israel.

The company is developing a slaughter-free solution for producing cellular agriculture meat products, such as beef and seafood, by offering manufacturers the ability to produce a cultivated meat product that aims to closely mimic the taste, texture, and appearance of traditional meat— as an alternative to industrialized farming and fishing. With its membership in the UN Global Compact, Steakholder Foods is committed to act in support of issues embodied in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which include strengthening food security, decreasing carbon footprint, and conserving water and land resources.

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[wow_happens28]

I already feel the relief. Like walking out of my first AA meeting. I knew my drinking days were over. 41 years later, still sober

[gfp927z]

I guess it will be a relief to finally get some 'closure' to the RIBT saga. Following a stock closely for years, an emotional attachment develops, and there can be a sense of loss once the company is history. I once followed some bio stocks very closely for years, but in biotech the stocks often live on virtually forever as sub-penny 'shells'. Hopefully RIBT will end in a buyout or merger so the 'saga' has a clear resolution :o)



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[wow_happens28]

I think they were waiting for the official Q1 before making the final deal. Next week is my guess
.

[gfp927z]

With the RIBT conf call, it was very short and no Q+A? Sounds like they might be in the 'quiet period' of a deal for the company, merger, etc. Just a guess though. Should be interesting to see what happens.



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[wow_happens28]

I think we will see a divestiture next week. They are bringing in a man and his company that specializes in the rules, regulations, forms to fill out, etc. I think it is a done deal, the price? I have no idea. I have my hopes and fears. Nobody outside the company knows how good or bad Q1 was.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ricebran-technologies-names-william-j-200600370.htm

He only will make $4500 per month. If he as to be making a deal himself from scratch, he'd demand more, so deal is done, IMO.

https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1063537/000143774923009991/ribt20230410_8k.htm

I'd like $3.00 per share, but doubt that happens. With the stock rising, I guess $1.50 the lowest. But, I have never ever seen a divesture , when parts are sold to various parties. If just a normal sale, I doubt they'd bring in CXO Partners. Maybe Monday we get the story, that is when Keneally takes over the the CFO resigns.

[gfp927z]

Nice to see RIBT back to 1.00, and the chart is starting to look promising again. Sounds like a potential sale of the company might be in the cards (?), or at least some type of restructuring, based on the recent comments from management.

Your idea of another company using RIBT's listing to go public sounds interesting, although I'm not too familiar with how that overall process would work. The alternate 'SPAC' route has been out of favor lately, but might have a resurgence if the overall market conditions continue to improve.

With the food and agro sectors I have mainly stayed with the larger cap names, so nothing too exciting. I figure these provide some stability to the portfolio, and should be fairly 'recession-proof' -

Coca Cola (KO)
Diageo (DEO)
Flowers Foods (FLO)
Hershey (HSY)
Kroger (KR)
Mondelez Intl (MDLZ)
Nestle (NSRGY)
Pepsico (PEP)



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[wow_happens28]

Italy’s ban on cultivated meat could set the industry back

https://techcrunch.com/2023/03/28/italy-ban-cultivated-meat/

Just when the U.S. government was getting more comfortable with the concept of cultivated meat, the Italian government put forth a bill banning the use of lab-grown food.

The process of making cultivated meat includes a method, like precision fermentation in a laboratory, that uses animal cells without slaughtering the animals.

Reuters reported that the bill “aims to safeguard the country’s agri-food heritage,” according to the country’s agriculture minister, Francesco Lollobrigida, who also said, “Laboratory products in our opinion do not guarantee quality, well-being and the protection of our culture, our tradition.”

The bill will now go in front of parliament, and if passed, any violation of the law in the future could result in fines of up to €60,000, or about $65,000.

In a response to the proposed ban, Cellular Agriculture Europe called it “bad public policy,” and that it would “reduce consumers’ ability to choose the food they want,” especially new products for those “who are concerned about animal welfare and the environmental impact of their food.”

Currently, Singapore is the only country allowing sales of cultivated chicken. Good Meat was the first company to get approval to sell its cultivated chicken product there and received a U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance last week, joining Upside Foods, as the only two companies to move to the next stage of commercializing their products in the U.S.

Dozens of companies, both in the U.S. and elsewhere, are not far behind in getting cultivated, or cell-cultured, meat products on the market. In the U.S., these companies have to receive approval from both the FDA and U.S. Department of Agriculture before commercializing their products in this country.

[gfp927z]

>>> Cultured meat firm resurrects woolly mammoth in lab-grown meatball


Tech Crunch

by Paul Sawers

3-28-23


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/cultured-meat-firm-resurrects-woolly-mammoth-in-lab-grown-meatball/ar-AA19aVqD?OCID=ansmsnnews11


Truth, as the saying goes, is often stranger than fiction. The very notion of resurrecting the long-extinct woolly mammoth was the stuff of fantasy not that long ago, but scientists are already working on ways to achieve something close to that, using DNA from soft-tissue in frozen mammoth remains and meshing it with that of a modern-day elephant.

But while such “de-extinction” projects may or may not ultimately succeed, one company is already laying claim to having produced the first meat product made from mammoth DNA.

Vow, an Australian cultivated food company that creates meat in a laboratory setting from animal cells, says that it has used advanced molecular engineering to resurrect the woolly mammoth in meatball form, by combining original mammoth DNA with fragments of an African elephant’s DNA.

There’s little question that cultivated meat is coming, evidenced by the countless companies raising vast swathes of venture capital funding to produce meat and fish in a lab from animal cells, as well as the fact that companies are now starting to receiving the blessings of regulators such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). But while pork sausages and seafood make sense insofar as they are food that people are familiar with, Vow — which closed a $49.2 million round of funding just a few months ago — is clearly upping the ante with its foray into the world of extinct animals.

It’s worth acknowledging that there is a sizeable element of marketing magicianship to this announcement. The very concept was devised by communications agency and WPP-subsidiary Wunderman Thompson, which tells us something about the intent here — this is very much a promotional campaign for Vow. But at the same time, it’s also a promotional campaign for cultured meat in general, and the role it could play in creating a sustainable protein source that doesn’t involve killing animals. By some estimations, around 60% of greenhouse gas emissions from food production emanate from animal-based foods, double that of plant-based equivalents.

“The goal behind creating the mammoth meatball was really about starting that discussion around food, and what that decision to eat meat really means to the world at large, by bringing an extinct protein back to life,” James Ryall, Vow’s chief science officer, said in a video promoting the mammoth meatball.

Ryall said that the company first identified the mammoth myoglobin, a protein that is key to giving meat its color and taste, and then used publicly available data to identify the DNA sequence in mammoths.

“We filled in any gaps in the DNA sequence of this mammoth myoglobin gene, by using the genome of the African elephant, the mammoth’s closest living relative,” Ryall said. “We inserted the mammoth myoglobin gene into our cells using a very low-current and high-voltage charge. Then we continued to grow and multiply these cells just as would occur in a mammoth thousands of years ago. And the amazing thing about this is that not a single animal needed to die to produce the mammoth meatball.”

This isn’t the first time scientists have created food products from extinct animals. Back in 2018, a VC-backed Silicon Valley startup called Geltor made gummies using protein from a mastodon, another distant relative of elephants. However, in this latest instance, it’s believed that nobody has actually tasted one of the mammoth meatballs. Speaking to the Guardian newspaper, Professor Ernst Wolvetang, from the Australian Institute for Bioengineering at the University of Queensland which worked with Vow in this project, suggested that it’s probably not safe to try the meatball just now.

“We haven’t seen this protein for thousands of years,” Wolvetang said. “So we have no idea how our immune system would react when we eat it. But if we did it again, we could certainly do it in a way that would make it more palatable to regulatory bodies.”

The mammoth meatball is set to be officially unveiled at Nemo Science Museum in the Netherlands today.

Cultured meat firm resurrects woolly mammoth in lab-grown meatball by Paul Sawers originally published on TechCrunch

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>>> Lab-grown chicken clears FDA safety hurdle


CBS News

by Aliza Chasan

March 21, 2023


https://news.yahoo.com/lab-grown-chicken-clears-fda-020946735.html


Lab-grown chicken has taken a step closer to hitting American grocery stores.

The Food and Drug Administration on Monday cleared cultured "cultured chicken cell material" made by GOOD Meat as safe for use as human food. While the FDA said the lab-grown chicken was safe to eat, GOOD Meat still needs approval from the Agriculture Department before it can sell the product in the U.S.

If approved, acclaimed chef José Andrés plans to serve GOOD Meat's chicken to customers at his Washington, D.C. restaurant. He's on GOOD Meat's board of directors.

"The future of our planet depends on how we feed ourselves," he said in a press release. "And we have a responsibility to look beyond the horizon for smarter, sustainable ways to eat."

The FDA previously gave the green light to lab-grown chicken made by Upside Foods in November.

Upside Foods and GOOD Meat both use cells from chickens to create the cultured chicken products.

Once cells are extracted, GOOD Meat picks the cells most likely to produce healthy, sustainable and tasty meat, the company explained. The cells are immersed in nutrients inside a tank. They grow and divide, creating the cultured chicken, which can be harvested after four to six weeks.

"It's real, delicious meat with an identical nutritional profile to conventionally raised meat but with less impact on our planet and less risk of contamination," GOOD Meat said on its website.

GOOD Meat's chicken is already sold in Singapore.

Global livestock accounts for nearly 15% of greenhouse gasses, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations found in 2013. Advocates for lab-grown meat say it can help cut back on methane emissions and combat climate change (LOL).

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[gfp927z]

Yes, it sounds like RIBT management could be looking at all 'strategic options', based on the CC comments. It might be to re-focus the company on the most promising and profitable areas, or to sell the company, etc. These would be 'material events' that have to be disclosed, but it sounds like it might still be in the review stages.

Sorry to see the stock tank so much. These tiny stocks are full of risks and surprises, so I guess it 'goes with the territory'. But hopefully it will get a bounce back to the 1.00 area.


>>> Despite the progress in parts of the company in 2022, notably in the rice and specialty milling businesses, the Core-SRB has not moved forward as we wanted it to and the value-added derivatives business continues to suffer major market and operational challenges. Accordingly, we were not able to achieve the goal of positive adjusted EBITDA.

The Board is in the midst of a strategic review of all the possibilities for RiceBran Technologies. These alternatives are at various stages of review. And given the sensitive nature of this process, I am currently unable to provide any further details.<<<



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[wow_happens28]

I am afraid RIBT will be sold. At their CC today, it was short and closed with like "We can't say anymore do to ongoing discussions". And those were probably waiting for the Q4 to become official. They had a 32% revenue increase, but their yeast replacement made for rice bran fell through.

Book value at the end of Q3 was $2.50. I can guess now below $2. I have no idea how much above book value a buyout can go for. With revenues increasing, well, that might help.

https://greenstocknews.com/news/nasdaq/ribt/ricebran-technologies-reports-fourth-quarter-2022-results

[wow_happens28]

gfp, I was glad to see the bounce too. I hope someone knows something. It started out weak, but 21,000 worth of buys sent it up after about an hour. Still some selling going on, but buy volume is 97K over sell 37K. Yesterday with fall, buy volume was just a bit less than buy volume. On Fridays big fall, buy was lower than sell volume.

https://ih.advfn.com/stock-market/NASDAQ/ricebran-technologies-RIBT/trades?_ga=2.256236424.2012683222.1554897425-334505475.1554897425

I am happy to see closing above the 50 and 100 day MA's

https://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=RIBT&p=D&yr=0&mn=7&dy=0&id=p55203955733

Else holding over 1/2 of the recent gain. And it is staying above the 200
MA. Looks bullish yet to me.

https://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=BABYF&p=D&yr=0&mn=7&dy=0&id=p63886487057

[gfp927z]

Nice bounce for RIBT today, and higher volume. Looks like anticipation is building for the upcoming earnings report and CC on Thursday, and the bounce in the overall market also helps. RIBT put in a bullish 'hammer' candlestick yesterday, and then today's bounce, so a good sign :o)



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I have not been watching Else, nice move and nice PR>>>
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/else-nutrition-increases-production-capacity-120000049.html

RIBT? Well, they were working on a replacent for yeast in pet food, guessing with Purina, that is owned by Nestle. Somehow the ingredients in rice bran were turned into a liquid and the filter(screen or whatever) had coagulation and a new part was being developed. They had expansion in 3 places getting ready for the new product. That is the last we heard at the last CC in Noivember CC. Maybe next week and we might hear something. Shareholders I know are getting NOTHING out the the IR or others, extreme quite. So, it could be bad or good.

With the SEC investingating FinTwit over pump and dump of other stocks, I can guess management wants total quiet. iI Fintwit is sued over RIBT, RIBT would be the victim. But still it is best management be quiet. If the new yeast replacement is working out, Q4 results if good could lead to a partership or a big deal or such. The history of the stock has not been good.

Yes, the stock chart looks "intersting". I see the bid raised quite often in the afternoon on down days and selling into the raised bid gets the stock even or up, like today.. Last years Q4 CC was March 17th, I am guessing a PR comes out later this week or early nest week announcing the CC date and time.

[gfp927z]

The RIBT chart looks like it might be getting ready for some additional upside. Just a guess, but it's starting to have 'that look' again, and news flow should be forthcoming, so GL :o)

Btw, I see that BABYF is finally having a nice rebound, although the press release hype will need to be backed up by growth in sales in the quarters ahead -


>>> Else Nutrition Increases Production Capacity to Satisfy the Increasing Strong Demand


Else Nutrition Holdings Inc.

March 2, 2023


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/else-nutrition-increases-production-capacity-120000049.html


Else adds a second US powder production facility and begins manufacturing in Europe, tripling its production capacity.

Else increases production pace to end out-of-stock and build up inventory levels.


VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 02, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ELSE NUTRITION HOLDINGS INC. (BABY) (BABYF) (0YL.F) ("Else" or the "Company"), announces that it has begun manufacturing in a second powder production facility in the US and that it will perform the first commercial production in Europe in March 2023. The additional production facilities more than triple Else’s production capacity.

Until the end of 2022 Else Nutrition had a single powder manufacturing plant that supported its sales in North America and globally. The addition of the two new production facilities will allow Else to satisfy the fast-growing retail demand from brick-and-mortar retailers and online sales from Amazon and Else’s e-store. The additional production will reduce the risk of future out-of-stock dramatically.

In January and February Else performed two commercial production campaigns in the US, resolving many out-of-stock issues. In March Else will perform three additional production campaigns, two in the US and one in Europe, resolving all remaining out-of-stock issues. Else plans to continue its accelerated manufacturing plan throughout 2023 to support the growing demand and to establish a higher level of available inventory.

“The additional production facilities will allow us to stabilize our production and build up sufficient inventory levels to meet the robust demand from our customers.” - Hamutal Yitzhak, Else's CEO, and Co-Founder. “We are excited to have entered a new phase in our journey, where leading grocery and mass North American retailers are now adding our products to their shelves, our ability to properly support this fast-growing demand is critical for our success.”

For more information, visit: www.elsenutrition.com or follow Else Nutrition on LinkedIn

About Else Nutrition Holdings Inc.

Else Nutrition Holdings Inc. is a food and nutrition company in the international expansion stage focused on developing innovative, clean, and plant-based food and nutrition products for infants, toddlers, children, and adults. Its revolutionary, plant-based, non-soy formula is a clean-ingredient alternative to dairy-based formula. Else Nutrition (formerly INDI) won the "2017 Best Health and Diet Solutions" award at Milan's Global Food Innovation Summit. The parent company, Else Nutrition Holdings Inc., is a publicly traded company, listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol BABY and is quoted on the US OTCQX Market under the trading symbol BABYF and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol 0YL. Since launching its Plant-Based Complete Nutrition for Toddlers, made of whole foods, almonds, buckwheat, and tapioca, the brand has received thousands of powerful testimonials and reviews from parents, gained national retailer support, and achieved rapid sales growth. Else became the #1 Best Seller on Amazon in the Fall of 2020 in the New Baby & Toddler Formula Category. It won the 'Best Dairy Alternative' Award 2021 at World Plant-Based Expo and was a Nexty Award Finalist at Expo West 2022 in the Plant-Based lifestyle category. During September 2022 Else Super Cereal reached the #1 Best Seller in Baby Cereal across all brands on Amazon.

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[wow_happens28]

Looks like a lot of day traders got in and got out. Not as bad as RKDA, who the same group promoted early on. CC coming in 2 weeks or less, no new money raised lately, cash flow neutral could happen in Q4, but more likely in Q1, which they could give guidance at the CC in 2 weeks. Any bad news and back to .65 the stock goes.

https://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=RKDA&p=D&yr=0&mn=7&dy=0&id=p46870482523

IT has 49,000 folowers, many paid who get a stock before he posts it.

Is $RKDA going to ignite other reverse splits. $SINT $RIBT $RELI showing signs ..

— IT (@IncredibleTrade) March 2, 2023

[gfp927z]

Big volume for RIBT today, almost 1/2 mil shares traded, and looks like a lot of the activity was in the morning from 11 - noon. Does RIBT release their earnings soon, and the 2022 full year results? A good sign that the stock is perking up ahead of earnings :o)



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[wow_happens28]

Lab meat makes me cringe. But hey, I am skeptical of over weight EV's run by coal and solar panels on homes saving money in the long run, but some day revisions , maybe. I feel there is a lot of BS on both sides of every issue in 2023, and here is a negative view of lab meat. Yet, I do believe the pills the Star Trek crew took as food could happen some day, lol, but not in my lifetime.

Don’t Be Fooled: Lab-Grown Meat Is a Disaster in the Making

https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/lab-grown-meat-ultra-processed-product-farmers-ranchers/

Story at-a-glance:

Underneath the greenwashed façade, lab-grown meat has been hyped beyond reality and its promises are slated to fall flat.

In February, the Good Food Institute (GFI), a nonprofit group behind the alternative protein industry, released a techno-economic analysis of cultivated meat, which claims cultured meat could be economically feasible by 2030; this is disputed by several experts.

One expert estimated that the cost for 1 kilogram (kg) (35.27 ounces) of cell culture product for human consumption would cost in excess of $8,500 to $3,600 per kilogram.

Pharmaceutical-grade specifications and aseptic “clean rooms” would be necessary due to the slow growth rate of culture cells, which makes them extremely vulnerable to contamination from bacteria and viruses — GFI’s report assumes only “food-grade” specifications.

When lab-grown chicken made by U.S. startup Eat Just debuted in Singapore in 2020, it was produced using fetal bovine serum, largely canceling out one of the key tenets of the cultured meat rhetoric — that it’s made without animals.

GFI’s life-cycle analysis found that cultured meat may be worse for the environment than conventionally produced chicken and pork if conventional energy sources are used.

Fake meats are not about your health or the environment’s — they’re a tool to phase out farmers and ranchers and replace them with an ultraprocessed food product that can be controlled by patents.

[gfp927z]

>>> Why Is Vertical Farming Bad: 9 Disadvantages


Vertical Farming Planet

by Mateusz Piechowiak


https://verticalfarmingplanet.com/why-is-vertical-farming-bad-9-disadvantages/


With an estimated 9.7 billion people on earth by 2050, food security will become a real concern for many countries around the world. Vertical farming is often regarded as a solution to our food scarcity issues due to its many advantages which I described in this article. Although vertical farming is becoming more popular, there are some red flags. It has high upfront costs, requires large amounts of energy, and requires a highly trained workforce.

This article explores all the disadvantages of vertical farming while suggesting possible solutions, as well.

1. High initial costs

Vertical farming is a cost-intensive endeavor, as every step of the process from finding the right facilities to choosing the best-performing crops requires a substantial amount of money. Land prices alone greatly increase the initial upfront costs, as land in urban areas is usually very expensive. However, many vertical farms have been able to minimize facility-related costs by using existing structures, such as shipping containers, old factories, and abandoned office buildings. Alternatively, vertical farms could be built in barren land unsuited to conventional agriculture.

In many vertical farming startups, equipment costs put additional pressure on the budget. Most vertical farms need expensive equipment such as climate controls, shelving units, LED lights, water lines, computers, etc. Nevertheless, the cost of indoor agriculture equipment is expected to drop dramatically as indoor agriculture becomes more popular and the number of vertical farms increases.


2. High operational costs

Distribution of the main operational costs in a small-scale vertical farm (less than 10,000 square feet). * includes costs related to nutrients, growing mediums, and seeds. The data were sourced from a Pure Greens Arizona LLC article.

Energy

Vertical farming is undoubtedly an energy-intensive endeavor, but even more so if farms rely solely on artificial lighting systems. Approximately 40 to 50% of the total production costs come from energy consumption and lighting costs alone can account for 25-30% of the operational costs.

Labor

For all indoor farming operations, labor is usually the highest operational cost, as it is estimated that a small hydroponic farm spends on average 57% on labor. Vertical farming is also expected to experience a significant reduction in operating costs as technology advances and becomes more efficient.

Other

Operating costs for most vertical farms depend largely on the farming method employed, as each has its requirements. Geoponic, hydroponic, and aeroponic methods are currently among the most widely used in vertical farming. For example, geoponic systems are less costly in terms of maintenance, labor, and technical costs, whereas, hydroponic and aeroponic methods, on the other hand, require highly skilled workers to function effectively. Aside from this, the costs of seeds, nutrients, and growing mediums in these systems add to the final operating costs. Small hydroponic farms spend, on average, 6% of their total operating expenses on seeds, growth media, and nutrients, while large ones spend, on average, 13%, according to Pure Greens Arizona LLC.


3. A limited number of crops that can be grown economically

A vertical farm can be customized to support the growth of any plant species, however, only a limited number of them can be grown economically. In the global vertical farming industry, leafy greens and herbs remain the primary crop due to their rapid growth cycle, high cost, and short shelf life. Along with their relatively easy growing process, leafy greens have a high-profit margin that makes them very appealing to vertical farmers.

However, the popularity of vertical farming has led many to expand their cultivation repertoire by starting to grow more challenging crops like strawberries and tomatoes. For instance, the New Jersey-based vertical farm “Oishii” by reproducing the climate conditions of Japanese mountains indoors supplies New Yorkers with vertically grown strawberries of the rare Omakase variety.

In the near future, the use of cutting-edge technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) should enable vertical farming to produce cheaper crops with a long shelf life, like grains. With the present technology, this may not be economically feasible just yet.


4. Crops that are currently grown have a small caloric density

Calorie density measures how many calories a food contains in relation to its mass or volume. At present, crops grown in vertical farms have a very low caloric density. For example, 100g serving of lettuce and spinach contains just 15 and 23 calories, respectively. By contrast, the British National Health Service (NHS) recommends 2500 calories per day for men and 2000 for women. Thus, vertically produced food only accounts for a small proportion of daily calorie intake proving that in the current state of cultivation vertical farming cannot meet all the nutritional needs of an adult human.


5. Very high demand for energy

Natural light in vertical farming is replaced by artificial illumination provided by LED (Light Emitting Diode) lighting systems. Depending on the needs of the plant species, the lights can be on for 12- 16 hours and in some cases even up to 20 hours per day. Lighting is the most critical component of a vertical farm, and it consumes large amounts of energy. A German study analyzing the economics of vertical farming estimated a 37-floor vertical farm would consume 3.5GWh of energy annually. In addition to increasing production costs, this substantial energy consumption also increases the carbon footprint and carbon emissions.

Vertical farming can drastically reduce its carbon footprint by gradually shifting toward renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power. Various vertical farms are rapidly replacing traditional energy sources with renewables and some of them such as “Harvest London” are now entirely powered by renewable energy. As renewable energy becomes more prevalent in many countries, switching to it will be easier than ever. Furthermore, technological advances in the LED and HVAC systems will reduce both equipment and production costs as well as energy consumption.


6. Running a vertical farm requires sophisticated skills

Running a vertical farm is not an easy job as it requires advanced technological and horticultural skills that only a small percentage of people around the world possess. Due to the high tech involved in every stage of the production process, highly educated and trained individuals are needed to set up, run, and maintain a vertical farm.

For example, automation engineers and software engineers are required to install the climate stations, lighting system, and water recycling system. In addition, horticulturists and biologists are needed to select the best-performing crops and monitor each stage of plant growth, as well as maintenance engineers to ensure that every piece of equipment functions properly.

The availability of open-source materials online is helping to spread knowledge, enabling everyone interested to learn new skills. Furthermore, various vertical farming conferences are held annually, allowing people in the field to exchange their knowledge and experience with each other and newcomers. The introduction of vertical farming to the school system would also increase awareness in the younger generation and remove misconceptions and myths regarding the sector. The involvement of AI and ML in vertical farming will make this industry more attractive to younger generations, thereby revitalizing and boosting innovation in the aging farming industry.


7. The knowledge about indoor farming is still small

The concept of vertical farming was introduced in 1999 by Dr. Despommier and his graduate students and since its inception, vertical farming has rapidly become a global phenomenon. More countries are embracing vertical farming as a way to address global food security, driving an increase in the number of vertical farms around the world.

Even as vertical farming technology and production techniques continue to improve, a lack of knowledge still lingers in the industry. Highly trained professionals such as horticulturists and agriculture engineers, gain most of their skills through exposure to information and technologies associated with outdoor farming, thus creating a knowledge gap regarding newer approaches such as vertical farming.

Various vertical farms are reported to be losing money due to this lack of knowledge. For instance, supplying indoor systems with CO2, an essential component in the process of photosynthesis is crucial to ensure optimal plant growth, however, only a limited number of growers were aware of this. The confusion for many growers stems from the fact that outdoor farmers do not provide CO2 to their crops.

In order to fill this knowledge gap, extensive research is essential for vertical farming. In the fast-developing sciences of biotechnology and nutrition, controlled growing conditions and year-round production provided by vertical farms may be useful in getting a better understanding of the physiological, nutritional, and molecular processes of vertically grown crops.

Initiatives such as “Upstart University” are already offering online training courses about various techniques utilized in vertical farming such as hydroponics and aquaponics. Moreover, by providing these online training courses to agriculture students, they will not only gain a better understanding of the industry but also be more inclined to pursue it.


8. Pollination is more difficult

Pollination entails the transfer of pollen from the another of one flower to the stigma of another resulting in fertilization and the production of seeds and fruits. The pollination process in outdoor farming is carried out by bees, birds, wind, and other natural pollinators. The absence of these pollinators in vertical farming represents a major challenge that if not addressed could result in substantial economic losses. Poor pollination rates often result in poor fruit sets and the production of small and misshapen fruits. While hand-pollinating crops is an effective way of solving this problem in small farms, it can quickly become a hassle for vertical farms that span millions of square meters.

In order to solve this problem, various companies have developed innovative methods that can be applied to any vertical farm, regardless of its size. The US-based “Polybee” has developed small drones called pilots that can fly from flower to flower and pollinate them. The technology is currently used for pollinating vertically grown crops like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. Furthermore, an Israeli company ‘Edete‘ has developed an automated laser that can locate almond flowers and blow pollen into them. Currently, this technology is only used in outdoor farming, but it shows great promise for future use in vertical farming as well.


9. High dependence on technology working correctly

A typical vertical farm relies on technology to ensure the smooth operation of critical systems, such as temperature, lighting, irrigation, and humidity. Vertical farming’s reliance on technology also makes it susceptible to unpredicted events as even the most sophisticated equipment and software can suffer from malfunctions and glitches.

For instance, the occurrence of power outages even for a short period can result in catastrophic losses if not addressed immediately. Power outages can be fatal for plants because irrigation is usually done by pumps that operate on power and without power, they won’t be able to bring water with nutrients to the roots. And since there is no soil serving as a buffer, the plant can dry out really quickly.

Having maintenance engineers on staff can help vertical farms avoid technical problems and ensure all equipment is functioning properly and that problems are identified before they arise. Moreover, having a backup power system that is activated when the primary source of energy fails can help to avoid damages.

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[wow_happens28]

Fun list, BABYF mentioned twice>>>

VEGAN AND SUSTAINABLE
STOCKS + ETFS

https://www.vegpreneur.org/vegan-stocks

More and more people are looking for sustainable investment opportunities. Luckily, there are opportunities to put your money in companies that don’t just value profits, but also their impact on people, animals, and the planet. Depending on your strategy there are various ways for you to invest your funds. From stocks to private companies, there is sure to be a way for you to put your money to good work. Discover the most up to date list of vegan, climate tech, sustainable, earth-friendly, eco-focused, and impact focused companies on the stock market. This list is updated from time to time with the latest investment opportunities!

Reminder:
This is not financial or investment advice. Please consult a financial advisor/expert when making investment decisions. Investing is risky.

Publicly Traded Companies (Public Stocks)
Once a company goes public, it can be found on the publicly traded stock market under a ticker symbol (for example, Beyond Meat can be found under ticker BYND). Not every company can be found on every stock exchange though depending on various factors (location, etc.). Be sure to find out which markets you can access through your broker (Robinhood, Interactive Brokers, WeBull, etc.).

How Do I Trade Stocks?
We recommend using WeBull (get 4 free stocks when you sign up with this link) or Robinhood (get 1 free stock when you sign up with this link) if you are located in the USA. If you are outside the US, we recommend looking into Interactive Brokers.

Food + Beverage
Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND) (100% vegan ??)

Laird Superfood (NASDAQ:LSF) (100% vegan ??)

The Very Good Food Company (OTCMKTS:VRYYF) (100% vegan ??)

Else Nutrition (OTCMKTS:BABYF) (100% vegan ??)

Sol Cuisine (TSX: VEG) (100% vegan ??)

Zevia (NYSE: ZVIA) (100% vegan ??)

The Planting Hope Company (TSXV:MYLK) (100% vegan ??)

MGP Ingredients (Nasdaq:MGPI)

Vegano Foods (CNSX: VAGN) (100% vegan ??)

Forum II Merger Corporation (NASDAQ:FMCI)

Eat Beyond (CSE: EATS or OTCMKTS: EATBF)

Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE: INGR)

Sensible Meats (NEO: HOTD) (100% vegan ??)

AAK (STO: AAK)

Celsius Holdings (NASDAQ: CELH) (100% vegan ??)

Farmmi (NASDAQ: FAMI)

SenzaGen (STO: SENZA)

Local Bounti (NYSE: LOCL)

Oatly (NASDAQ: OTLY) (100% vegan ??)

Modern Meat (CSE: MEAT or OTCMKTS: SUVRF)

Else Nutrition (TSX Venture Exchange: BABY)

Total Produce PLC (LSE: TOT)

Burcon Nutrascience (TSX: BU) (NASDAQ: BRCN) (Frankfurt: WKN 157793)

Simris Alg (FRA: 5LU or STO: SIMRIS ALG)

Globally Local (TSX: GBLY) (100% vegan ??)

National Beverage Corp. (NASDAQ: FIZZ)

Mission Produce (NASDAQ: AVO)

Billy Goat Brands (CSE: GOAT or FRA: 26B)

Natural Order Acquisition Units (NASDAQ: NOACU)

Plant & Co. Brands Ltd (OTCMKTS: VEGNF)

PlantX (CNSX: VEGA) (100% vegan ??)

Komo Comfort Foods (CSE:YUM) (100% vegan ??)

Impossible Foods - Coming Soon!

JUST - Coming Soon!

Perfect Day - Coming Soon!

Veganz (VEZ.F) (Frankfurt, Germany) (100% vegan ??)

Vejii (CNSX: VEJ) (100% vegan ??)

Farming
AppHarvest (NASDAQ: APPH)

[wow_happens28]

Federal Oats Mills ready for plant-based boom

Let's hope RIBT's management is getting their MGI Oat and barley mill ready too.

https://www.world-grain.com/articles/18130-federal-oats-mills-ready-for-plant-based-boom

PENANG, MALAYSIA — With its new state-of-the-art oat mill in Malaysia, Federal Oats Mills (FOM) is positioned to meet the ever-growing needs of the plant-based beverage and meat industries.

That was a key factor in deciding to build the new facility in Penang Science Park in Penang, Malaysia. Overall, the demand for oats has expanded significantly in the last 15 years, and FOM needed more capacity than was available at its original mill in Butterworth, Penang. That facility, built in 1965, had a capacity of 5 tonnes per hour (tph).

Completed in 2020 after 24 months of building and installation, the new mill has a production capacity of 10 tph and can be expanded to 25 tph.

The facility features a total floor area of more than 260,000 square feet and produces various oat products such as oat flakes, kilned dried hulled oats, oat bran and oat flour. Integrated packing lines pack products in everything from a 40-gram sachet to a 1-tonne bulk bag for retail, foodservice, and food and beverage manufacturers.

“We envision FOM to be the leading oats brand in Asia and the Middle East through our Captain Oats range of products, the preferred partner for private labels and the No. 1 choice for plant-based food and beverage manufacturers,” said Michael Chew, deputy managing director of FOM. “We may not be the biggest oats mill around but I’m confident that our diversified portfolio and service through over 50 years of expertise will make FOM a major player in the oat market in the future.”

A history in oats

FOM was founded in 1965 by the late Chew Choo Han (Michael Chew’s grandfather) as part of his plan to expand the family’s biscuit and flour businesses. He had a hunch that producing oatmeal was a potential business opportunity.

During British colonial rule, Malaysians were exposed to oatmeal porridge. Post-war, they became aware of the health benefits of oatmeal as a natural supplement for heart health due to its high beta-glucan content.

The mill’s initial location in Butterworth provided a skilled workforce pool, robust supply chain, strong infrastructure and government support. Shortly after its initial startup, FOM created its Captain Oats brand, which was exported successfully to the Middle East in the 1970s. Exports gradually expanded across Asia and Africa, with its products now available on supermarket shelves in more than 30 countries.

Originally, the mill had a capacity of 1.5 tph but it underwent numerous upgrades through the years until the capacity reached 5 tph.

But FOM quickly outgrew the facility and opted to construct a new mill in collaboration with Uzwil, Switzerland-based Bühler. FOM had worked with the company before on several milling projects.

“Bühler is an expert in this field, and we benefited from their technical know-how and open platform where we got to engage their experts from Uzwil, Switzerland, to design and build the oats mill,” FOM said. “With Bühler’s plant design, we are ready to meet future demand for oats through additional product streams within our plant or through expansion of our existing capacity.”

Given the wide scope of the project, a main challenge was the coordination among various stakeholders, such as architects, civil engineers, contractors and machine suppliers, in different phases of the project.

“We appreciate Bühler’s professionalism and holistic support throughout the different phases of the project,” FOM said.

State-of-the-art processing

The seven-floor milling process includes cleaning, dehulling, kilning, cutting, steaming, flaking and packing.

FOM imports raw oats in containers that go through security and cleanliness checking before the tipping process. To meet the diverse demands from its customers, FOM works closely with a select group of Australian oat suppliers for the highest quality oats. It also ensures that the oats are sustainably farmed and certified in keeping in line with the global drive toward sustainability and traceability, FOM said.

Raw oats are transferred to the pre-cleaning process before they are stored in the silos. FOM has more than 16,000 tonnes of storage capacity. The raw oats go through TAS (a high-capacity pre-cleaning machine), Sortex A with SmartEject technology to detect and remove impurities, destoner and intended separators in the cleaning process. All coarse and light impurities are removed.

Next, the cleaned oats are dehulled, separating the hulls from groats. All oat groats then go through the kilning process or hydrothermal treatment. In this stage, an enzyme in the groats is deactivated to ensure a high level of food safety compliance.

The kilned oats are cut according to the specifications of instant oats and quick cooking oats. Rolled oats bypass the cutting process. The cut groats or whole groats go through a streaming process where the groats’ structure is strengthened for the flaking process. At the same time, the streaming process adds to the food safety assurance.

Steamed groats are rolled into flakes with the desired thickness. Quality checks are done at this stage to ensure the flakes are meeting the specifications.

FOM has several packing lines for different packing formats such as pouch, sachet, jar, tin can and industrial bag. The packing and storage processes are supported by an ERP system to comply with traceability requirements. The mill is certified by global food authorities (MS 1480, ISO 22000, FSSC 22000), Halal certified and non-GMO certified.

Automated packing lines can pack oat products in consumer pouches, tin cans and reusable jars ranging from 40 grams to 2 kg. FOM can also pack 25-kg bags and 1-tonne bulk bags for industrial users.

Growth of oats

The facility has allowed FOM to broaden its supply toward the plant-based beverage and meat industries, where it has seen tremendous growth in recent years. It also increased automation within FOM’s operations and provided better control of the entire oat milling process.

All aspects of the facility — the production building, grain intake and grain storage silos — were designed and built for future expansion of the mill. FOM said it frequently reviews development of the oats market and evaluates the opportunities for further expansion.

Oats have increased in popularity as society seeks a healthier lifestyle and diets. Oats are one of the most nutritious grains with multiple health benefits. Additionally, they are versatile in food and beverage preparations and one of the main drivers of the current plant-based trend globally, FOM said.

“We believe that the oats segment will continue to grow in line with the positive trajectory of the plant-based trend,” it said.

[gfp927z]

Yes, the RIBT chart setup looks great for a move to 2, and then the 200 MA (2.84) and 3 area will be in the crosshairs. Will keep fingers crossed :o)



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[wow_happens28]

$RIBT traded all day above the 100 day moving average for the first time since the bottom. The tape shows the move was fueled by the bid being raised, good sign as smarter buyers are coaxing weak holders into selling.. The $1.30 official close was was exactly double the 12/16/22 intraday low of .65. The next test is the 200 day MA at $2.84. The lower channel line is rising at about 36% per month. That is a nice sustainable increase, IMO. If it lasts until the August CC, we'd be over $7.60, yes, probably slim chance of that, unless good news comes out. Super news and bast off time.

https://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=RIBT&p=D&yr=0&mn=7&dy=0&id=p88393334426

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>>> Angel Yeast plans plant-based organic nitrogen sources production line


Food Navigation Europe


https://www.foodnavigator.com/News/Promotional-Features/Angel-Yeast-plans-plant-based-organic-nitrogen-sources-production-line


Building an intelligent production line for plant-based nitrogen sources

Nitrogen is essential to biomanufacturing. Because the element is a key media ingredient for cell culture, manufacturers of large molecule medicines and other biologic products need reliable access to stable, high-quality nitrogen.

The status of nitrogen as an essential nutrient for biomanufacturing reflects its role as a building block for ribonucleic acids, amino acids, and proteins and its ability to promote high numbers of cells during the fermentation process. As a key enabler of biomanufacturing, nitrogen is used across a number of vital and fast-growing areas, including the production of biologic medicines and artificial meats.

Traditionally, companies used organic nitrogen sources of animal origin to support biomanufacturing. However, authorities including the European Pharmacopoeia and the US Pharmacopeia now ask medical product manufacturers to prioritize materials from “non-transmissible spongiform encephalopathy-related animal species” or “non-animal origin” to minimize safety risks associated with infectious agents.

At the same time, biomanufacturers have identified plant nitrogen sources as a more sustainable option that supports a harmonious coexistence between human beings and nature. The energy crisis is also disrupting the nitrogen market and steering biomanufacturers toward plant-based sources.1??

Biomanufacturers need to manage the transition to plant organic nitrogen smoothly to maintain their upward trajectory, which is tipped to drive a 12.5% compound annual growth rate for biologic medicines from 2021 to 2030.2?? Yet, the fast-growing global industry faces a shortage of companies capable of providing high-end plant organic nitrogen, creating a pressing need for new entrants with the scale and expertise needed to meet rising demand.

Why nitrogen production is challenging

The production of plant organic nitrogen poses three sets of challenges: meeting key quality indicators; handling multiple plant species on the same manufacturing line; and establishing a quality system that improves product stability.

Addressing the quality indicator challenge entails the pre-treatment of plant protein raw materials and directional enzymatic digestion, the removal of nutrient-inhibiting components, endotoxins, and other heat-source components, and the development of process technology. Mastery of all those elements is needed to consistently produce nitrogen with the desired solubility, content, and degree of hydrolysis of endotoxin and other indicators.

The second challenge reflects the wide range of plant species that are used to produce the variety of nitrogen sources required by the biomanufacturing industry. There are large differences between the physicochemical properties of different materials, making flexible manufacturing capabilities essential to the co-production of multiple varieties of plant organic sources on single manufacturing lines.

Rising to the challenge entails the design of multi-functional production lines that are made up of carefully chosen and verified equipment at each process link and supported by technical and engineering experience. Integrating tangential flow ultrafiltration, multi-stage continuous centrifugation, and other key equipment brings further benefits, resulting in production lines capable of producing plant peptones from soy, wheat, pea, chickpea, and more.

The third core challenge is to implement an effective quality system and standardize the raw materials, production process, and inspection. While manufacturing lines need to be flexible, management of the production process must be standardized to provide customers with stable, safe, effective, and traceable plant organic nitrogen sources. Nitrogen suppliers should also use fully certified, non-GMO raw materials that are free from animal products and meet International Organization for Standardization (ISO) criteria.

How Angel Yeast entered the market

Angel Yeast, the largest yeast extract supplier in the world, has worked through the challenges faced by new entrants to the nitrogen market, positioning it to open a production line with a capacity of 5,000 tonnes in Binzhou, Shandong province. The facility will produce a wide range of peptones derived from soy, wheat, corn, and pea, giving Angel Yeast a globally unique portfolio that spans nitrogen products and yeast-sourced fermentation nutrients that can be combined to improve downstream performance.

Work to build on the platform provided by the plant is underway. Angel Yeast plans to develop more categories of organic plant nitrogen sources to meet the needs of different markets and customers while also offering customized services. The expansion plan covers applications including plant protein products, food flavoring, special medical diets, nutrition and healthcare, and biological agriculture.

Angel Yeast began the expansion project with the goal of establishing the most complete plant organic nitrogen source production line in the world. With the opening of the production, the company has taken a step toward the realization of that objective, positioning it to support manufacturers in Europe and other parts of the world as they transition toward more sustainable sources of organic nitrogen.

References?

1.? Energy chaos disrupts European nitrogen market? (2022).
2. ?Biopharmaceuticals market size to surpass US$ 856.1 billion

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>>> ADM Ventures investing in its vision of the future


01.23.2023

By Keith Nunes


https://www.bakingbusiness.com/articles/58234-adm-ventures-investing-in-its-vision-of-the-future


CHICAGO — The future of food and beverage innovation may run through the myriad venture capital investment groups seeking to launch and scale potentially disruptive technologies and services. For ADM Ventures, the venture capital arm of ADM, Chicago, the future of food may emerge from six broad categories, including alternative protein, human nutrition, health and wellness and the microbiome, animal nutrition, sustainability and biomaterials, and agriculture technologies.

“One of the first focus areas for ADM Ventures was alternative proteins,” said Darren Streiler, vice president of venture capital. “ADM has an over 75-year history in plant-based proteins, but ADM Ventures was charged with looking beyond ADM's business in plant proteins.

“We are looking at new ways to manufacture proteins. What is disruptive about some of these technologies is it is changing how protein is being manufactured. Instead of relying on livestock and animals, you can have a very small manufacturing footprint in any country. I think Singapore is a good example. You can establish protein factories in such a small area.”

The focus on alternative proteins led the group to invest in a cross-section of companies vying for funding and scale, including Air Protein, Believer Meats (formerly Future Meat), Geltor, Nature’s Fynd and Perfect Day. Recently, ADM Ventures has shifted its focus toward the other five categories.

“Where we've been most active lately is in health and wellness in and around the microbiome, and pet nutrition,” Mr. Streiler said.

Recent investments include Bond Pet Foods, Boulder, Colo., which raised $17.5 million in a Series A round, and Innovafeed, Paris, a processor and supplier of insects for use in animal and plant nutrition that raised $250 million in a Series D round. Both were announced in September 2022.

When considering investments, ADM Ventures takes a variety of topics into consideration regarding personnel and technologies.

“No. 1 is passion,” Mr. Streiler said about what he looks for in founders. “These folks go through some time where its fits and starts. There is not going to be hockey stick growth. They need to be passionate and knowledgeable about the industry they are going into.

“Then there is the question of product fit. What is the market demanding? What niche areas can they find? Where can they begin selling and executing? That is where you see a lot of creativity come in.”

When evaluating the potential of a technology or service, a key question is what impact will it have?

“Disruptive is an idea, product or service that helps to solve a problem in new ways; it makes meaningful change,” Mr. Streiler said. “In order to disrupt the market, you have to find that niche.”

Startup founders must also be willing to work with ADM.

“First and foremost, it is a mandatory requirement that we collaborate with all of our startups,” Mr. Streiler said. “We're trying to drive results. We use our extensive network and assets in ingredients and services to leverage that to help these startups go to market much faster than they would.”

An example is New Culture, San Leandro, Calif., a producer of animal-free casein and mozzarella that raised $25 million in a Series A funding round in November 2021 that ADM Ventures participated. Less than a year later the two companies entered into a partnership to advance the development and commercialization of New Culture’s products.

“We’re working toward accelerating New Culture’s foodservice and consumer applications with the support of our global product development and flavor resources, further accelerating technical capabilities to make plant-based cheese alternatives more delicious and accessible for consumers,” Mr. Streiler said. “The addition of New Culture’s casein enables their animal-free cheese to stretch and melt, something that’s never successfully been done before with alternative cheeses.”

He added that ADM is the “largest fermentation player in North America” and New Culture now has access to ADM’s scale to increase its alternative casein production.

“We have a lot of assets to move from pilot to scale,” Mr. Streiler said. “New Culture is a wonderful example of how we leverage existing assets to develop a novel technology. They have figured out how to make casein with precision fermentation. We are helping them reach full scale production much quicker. These assets are very expensive to manufacture and build. We have those assets.”

Mr. Streiler has been in his role with ADM since 2018 and has worked with numerous startups. In his experience, he has learned what some of the most difficult challenges are to bring a food technology concept to market. One is finding someone adept at working with the Food and Drug Administration and understands the regulatory process.

“A regulatory resource is hard to come by,” he said. “There is a shortage of people who know how to bring novel ingredients through FDA. They are expensive to hire and in short supply. We recommend consultants to help them.”

Another area is adding scale.

“It is a skill to take something that is in a pilot to full scale commercial production, particularly for food ingredients,” Mr. Streiler said. “That's our core business and it's something startups can tap in to.”

Choosing where to make investments can be more art than science. There are numerous factors that go into the decision-making process. Mr. Streiler said one advantage ADM Ventures has is access to the company’s Outside Voices market research.

“We do heavily rely on them for the current and future trends,” he said. “We leverage that group to understand consumer behaviors. That knowledge helps to shape our investments.

“We can go back to alternative protein. We saw this trend forming much earlier because of our place in the market. Groups like (Outside Voices) helped us understand where we should be focusing.”

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Looks like a nice chart setup for RIBT developing. 1.25 looks like the key resistance level to watch, which was the trading range from Oct/Nov, and was also the recent Feb high area. The 100 MA is also in this general area (1.19).

If it can get through 1.25 that would be a great sign, and then 1.50 will be beckoning. The Q-4 quarter and 2022 full year results should be coming, along with an overall business update, so hopefully a positive push from those :o)





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$RIBT finally traded above the Ichimoku Cloud all day and the 20 day MA held. The next hurdle is the 100 day Moving Average. And above average volume for the day.
https://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=RIBT&p=D&yr=0&mn=5&dy=0&id=p58129432415

[wow_happens28]

Robobees Are Back — This Time In The Image Of A “Fairy” That “Could Help Save The Planet”

Tough cut and paste for me>>>>>

https://www.naturalblaze.com/2023/02/robobees-are-back-this-time-in-the-image-of-a-fairy-that-could-help-save-the-planet.html

[wow_happens28]

$RIBT broke a declining resistance today and it broke away from the 50 day MA. Looks like it goes through the 100 day MA soon up toward $3. By then we should have the Q4 and year end SEC filings. Last year that was on March 17th. Hopefully good news then or before.

https://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=RIBT&p=D&yr=1&mn=0&dy=0&id=p76610759797

[gfp927z]

Nice pop for RIBT, and strong volume :o)

No company specific news that I saw, but that article you posted (excerpt below) says that the Chinese govt is pushing for rice bran to supplement diets, so maybe that helped light a fire under the stock. With over 1.4 billion people to feed, that's a lot of rice bran :o)

The stock is closing in on the 100 MA (1.27), and next stop might be the 1.50-1.75 area, based on the chart. Then 2.00 or more seems possible if the momentum builds and continues :o)

RIBT's market cap is so small, still only ~ $7 mil, and the stock could potentially recover a ton of ground if business picks up strongly. That 3-9 area looks like a good longer term target to shoot for. 3 is the 200 MA and 9 was the June high from last year.


>>> the Chinese Communist Party says the country has reaped bountiful harvests for the past 13 years. But at the same time, it’s encouraging citizens to add something called rice bran into their diets. The fiber is usually reserved for livestock feed and fuel-making, and was only consumed widely by Chinese people some 60 years ago, during the Great Famine. <<<



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Beijing Promotes Rice Bran as Food Amid Famine Fears

https://www.theepochtimes.com/beijing-promotes-rice-bran-as-food-amid-famine-fears_5021445.html?&utm_medium=ChinaInFocus&utm_source=SocialM&utm_campaign=FoodShortageFamine&utm_content=1-30-2023

Does China have enough food to feed its people? After months of summertime flooding in recent years and a three-year COVID-19 lockdown that locked farmers inside their homes and away from their fields, the Chinese Communist Party says the country has reaped bountiful harvests for the past 13 years. But at the same time, it’s encouraging citizens to add something called rice bran into their diets. The fiber is usually reserved for livestock feed and fuel-making, and was only consumed widely by Chinese people some 60 years ago, during the Great Famine.

[gfp927z]

>>> Japan firm opens whale meat vending machines to push sales


Jan 2023

By MARI YAMAGUCHI and KWIYEON HA

Associated Press


https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/japan-firm-opens-whale-meat-vending-machines-to-push-sales/ar-AA16PH9j?OCID=ansmsnnews11


YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) — A Japanese whaling operator, after struggling for years to promote its products amid protests from conservationists, has found a new way to cultivate clientele and bolster sales: whale meat vending machines.

The outlet features white vending machines decorated with cartoon whales and is the third location to launch in the Japanese capital region. It opened Tuesday after two others were introduced in Tokyo earlier this year as part of Kyodo Senpaku Co.'s new sales drive.

Whale meat has long been a source of controversy but sales in the new vending machines have quietly gotten off to a good start, the operator says. Anti-whaling protests have subsided since Japan in 2019 terminated its much-criticized research hunts in the Antarctic and resumed commercial whaling off the Japanese coasts.

Conservationists say they are worried the move could be a step toward expanded whaling.

“The issue is not the vending machines themselves but what they may lead to," said Nanami Kurasawa, head of the Iruka & Kujira (Dolphin & Whale) Action Network.

Kurasawa noted the whaling operator is already asking for additional catches and to expand whaling outside of the designated waters.

Kyodo Senpaku hopes to set up vending machines at 100 locations nationwide in five years, company spokesperson Konomu Kubo told The Associated Press. A fourth is to open in Osaka next month.

The idea is to open vending machines near supermarkets, where whale meat is usually unavailable, to cultivate demand, a task crucial for the industry's survival.

Major supermarket chains have largely stayed away from whale meat to avoid protests by anti-whaling groups and remain cautious even though harassment from activists has subsided, Kubo said.

“As a result, many consumers who want to eat it cannot find or buy whale meat. We launched vending machines at unmanned stores for those people,” he said.

Company officials say sales at the two Tokyo outlets have been significantly higher than expected, keeping staff busy replenishing products.

At the store in the Motomachi district of Yokohama, a posh shopping area near Chinatown, 61-year-old customer Mami Kashiwabara went straight for whale bacon, her father's favorite. To her disappointment it was sold out, and she settled for frozen onomi, tail meat that is regarded as a rare delicacy.

Kashiwabara says she is aware of the whaling controversy but that whale meat brings back her childhood memories of eating it at family dinners and school lunches.

“I don’t think it’s good to kill whales meaninglessly. But whale meat is part of Japanese food culture and we can respect the lives of whales by appreciating their meat,” Kashiwabara said. "I would be happy if I can eat it.”

Kashiwabara said she planned to share her purchase of a 3,000 yen ($23) handy-size chunk, neatly wrapped in a freezer bag, with her husband over sake.

The meat mostly comes from whales caught off Japan's northeastern coast.

Japan resumed commercial whaling in July 2019 after withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission, ending 30 years of what it called research whaling, which had been criticized by conservationists as a cover for commercial hunts banned by the IWC in 1988.

Under its commercial whaling in the Japanese exclusive economic zone, Japan last year caught 270 whales, less than 80% of the quota and fewer than the number it once hunted in the Antarctic and the northwestern Pacific in its research program.

The decline occurred because fewer minke whales were found along the coast. Kurasawa says the reason for the smaller catch should be examined to see if it is linked to overhunting or climate change.

In a show of determination to keep the whaling industry alive in the coming decades, Kyodo Senpaku will construct a 6 billion yen ($46 million) new mother ship for launch next year to replace the aging Nisshin Maru.

But uncertainty remains.

Whaling is losing support in other whaling nations such as Iceland, where only one whaler remains.

Whales may also be moving away from the Japanese coasts due to a scarcity of saury, a staple of their diet, and other fish possibly due to the impact of climate change, Kubo said.

Whaling in Japan involves only a few hundred people and one operator and accounted for less than 0.1% of total meat consumption in recent years, according to Fisheries Agency data.

Still, conservative governing lawmakers staunchly support commercial whaling and consumption of the meat as part of Japan’s cultural tradition.

Conservationists say whale meat is no longer part of the daily diet in Japan, especially for younger generations.

Whale meat was an affordable source of protein during Japan's undernourished years after World War II, with annual consumption peaking at 233,000 tons in 1962.

Whale was quickly replaced by other meats. The whale meat supply fell to 6,000 tons in 1986, the year before the moratorium on commercial whaling imposed by the IWC banned the hunting of several whale species.

Under the research whaling, criticized as a cover for commercial hunts because the meat was sold on the market, Japan caught as many as 1,200 whales annually. It has since drastically cut back its catch after international protests escalated and whale meat supply and consumption slumped at home.

Annual meat supply had fluctuated in a range of 3,000-5,000 tons, including imports from Norway and Iceland. The amount further fell in 2019 to 2,000 tons, or 20 grams (less than 1 ounce) of whale meat per person a year, the Fisheries Agency statistics show.

Whaling officials attributed the shrinking supply in the past three years to the absence of imports due to the pandemic, and plan to nearly double this year's supply with imports of more than 2,500 tons from Iceland.

Japan managed to get Iceland's only remaining whaler to hunt fin whales exclusively for shipment to Japan, whaling officials said. Iceland caught only one minke whale in the 2021 season, according to the IWC.

Criticizing Iceland’s export to Japan, the International Fund for Animal Welfare said it “opposes all commercial whaling as it is inherently cruel.”

With uncertain outlook for imports, Kyodo Senpaku wants the government to raise Japan’s annual catch quota to levels that can supply about 5,000 tons, which Kubo describes as the threshold to maintain the industry.

“From a long-term perspective, I think it would be difficult to sustain the industry at the current supply levels,” Kubo said. “We must expand both supply and demand, which have both shrunk.”

With the extremely limited supply, whale meat processing cannot be a viable business and may not last for the next generations, he added.

Yuki Okoshi, who started serving whale meat dishes at his Japanese-style seafood restaurant three years ago when higher quality whale meat became available under commercial whaling, said he hopes whale meat supply will stabilize.

Okoshi said “the future of the whale industry depends on whether customers need us" and that whale meat restaurants could hold the key to survival.

“Whaling can be a political issue, but relationships between the restaurant and our customers is very simple," Okoshi said. “We serve good food at reasonable prices and customers are happy. That’s all there is to it."

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[gfp927z]

>> seen it all <<


Yes, and looks like a lot of red flags with RIBT -- a Ch 11 filing, two rev splits, yikes.

I was similarly thrashed by some micro stocks, so now just follow them for fun. Only two now under 1 bil market cap (link below), and both are conservative with tiny $500 positions. No more 'gun-slinging ' for me :o)


https://investorshub.advfn.com/Portfolio-Ideas-40985




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In 2010 to 2011 RIBT went from .05(,04 intra day} to .36(.38 intra day. The point 05 was a chapter 11 filing. After that the stock had a 1 for 200 split in 2013 and the recent 1 for to. So the .05 low shows it at $140 and the top in 2011 as $720. LOL.

But my point is, that .05 to .36 in 10 months happened with no meanigful news.

Yes, I have been an in and out trader of RIBT since August 2006. I got out in 2007 with a 4 bagger and stayed out until the BK and took a flyer at .05 BK, a small trade. Got out again and back in and out. I fell in love in 2017 when Continental grain bought in. So, I am basically underwater all together. now I just added at .6924(average) and increased my share couint 77%, but still ashamed to tell you my average. My point is I have seen it all.

Does this mean RIBT will have another 7X rally with no news? LOL, probably not.

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/RIBT/chart?p=RIBT#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

[wow_happens28]

One concern is RIBT's new pet food product. At the CC in November they were waiting on a new screen for the process of making a spray out of rice bran for they system. Since no PR, it is very possible it is not fixed.

Yes I hope the 50 holds. It looks like short term traders got out of their bottom play, volume is tiny today?

https://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=RIBT&p=D&yr=0&mn=3&dy=0&id=p25829017290

[gfp927z]

Looks like RIBT is maintaining the 50 MA, on low volume, but it may need some news flow to get things moving. No press releases since early Nov, so they may be due.

Last year they had the Q4 and full year results out in March, but it would be nice to see something before then, maybe a general 'business update'.




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[wow_happens28]

Money can still be made in plant based and maybe cultured meat, it is bigger now than 3 years ago, but good luck finding a good investment. Impossible was to have an IPO about a year or more ago, well........................

On topic news out recently, mostly today, with disruptive technologie articles >>>

https://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/23062-plant-based-cheese-dip-maker-rebrands

https://www.fooddive.com/news/believer-meats-north-carolina-facility-2023/640786/

https://www.foodingredientsfirst.com/news/chocolate-extraveganza-cargill-powers-up-plant-based-portfolio-with-sunflower-kernel-and-rice-syrup-powders.html

https://www.bakingbusiness.com/articles/58234-adm-ventures-investing-in-its-vision-of-the-future

https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2023/01/23/An-even-more-sustainable-milk-alternative-Oat-milk-powder-developed-to-cut-packaging-by-90

https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2023/01/23/beneo-takes-next-step-in-plant-based-protein-strategy-with-start-up-investment

https://www.foodnavigator.com/News/Promotional-Features/Angel-Yeast-plans-plant-based-organic-nitrogen-sources-production-line

https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2023/01/20/Cultivated-meat-in-focus-at-Tufts-cellular-ag-innovation-day-From-bioreactor-bottlenecks-to-a-global-battle-cry-for-government-funding

https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2023/01/19/why-the-first-mass-produced-cultured-meat-product-won-t-be-food

https://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Article/2023/01/23/Mibelle-launches-haskap-berry-powder-into-sports-nutrition-market

https://www.nutraingredients.com/Article/2023/01/23/the-glucose-revolution-are-you-ready

[wow_happens28]

Another BYND ex resigns>>>

Beyond Meat chief brand officer departs

https://www.fooddive.com/news/beyond-meat-chief-brand-officer-departs/640328/

Beyond Meat’s chief brand officer left the plant-based meat company this week, adding to a high level of executive turnover during the last five months. The story was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Beth Moskowitz told employees in an internal email on Wednesday that it was her last day with the company, according to the Journal’s report. Moskowitz had been with Beyond Meat since December 2018, her LinkedIn profile indicates.

In an email, a Beyond Meat spokesperson confirmed that Moskowitz left the company. Beyond Meat has hired an executive to lead global marketing for the company, who is slated to begin work next month, the spokesperson said. The company did not identify who it is.

The publicly traded plant-based meat company has had a difficult year with slowing or stagnant sales growth, supply chain challenges and large startup costs for new product lines. It has seen several executives leave their positions, both out of personal choice and as part of layoffs instituted by the company to save on operating costs.

In September, former chief supply chain officer Bernie Adcock left the company to become the head of retail and QSR for Pilgrim’s Pride. Beyond Meat chose not to replace him and eliminated that position.

Then, as part of wider layoffs that cut 19% of the company’s total workforce in October, former global chief growth officer and President of North America Deanna Jurgens lost her job. That role was eliminated. The company also let go of former chief operating officer Doug Ramsey, who was suspended at the time following his arrest on charges related to what police say was a road rage-inspired physical altercation.

Beyond Meat also has a new chief financial officer, after former CFO Phil Hardin left the company to pursue another position in October. Lubi Kutua, who had been the company’s vice president for financial planning and analysis and investor relations, took over the CFO’s job in October.

Chart>>>>
https://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=BYND&p=D&yr=4&mn=0&dy=0&id=p17327545416

[gfp927z]

Another stock that was clobbered big but may be poised to recover is Generac (GNRC), the maker of the back-up power generators you see everywhere (article below). It was one of those ultra popular stocks that took off huge in the aftermath of the 2020 Covid crash, but then the air came out in 2022. I'm figuring it's a solid long term buy/hold type stock for patient investors. The current chart reminds me of RIBT's -


>>> Could the Worst Stock in the S&P 500 in 2022 Be a Buy in 2023?

Motley Fool

By Michael Byrne

Jan 15, 2023


https://www.fool.com/investing/2023/01/15/could-the-worst-stock-in-the-sp-500-in-2022-be-a-b/?source=eptyholnk0000202&utm_source=yahoo-host&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=article


KEY POINTS

Generac stock got crushed in 2022, and plummeted even further in the fall after management cut its guidance.

The company is still growing at an impressive clip.

Generac's valuation now looks a lot more palatable.


While the whole market was down in 2022, few stocks had a worse year than Generac (GNRC 3.01%). In fact, with a decline of 71%, it was the worst performer of the year in the S&P 500.

The maker of backup generators and other power-generating devices was a high flyer for much of 2021, when its market cap essentially doubled. But the stock began to decline after peaking in late 2021 and went on to lose an incredible 71% of its value in 2022. Generac investors are licking their wounds after a terrible 2022, but is there any reason for optimism that the beleaguered stock can bounce back in 2023?

I've got the power

Generac is best known for its generators which serve the residential and commercial markets. In recent years, it has also increasingly used acquisitions to diversify into additional areas like solar, battery storage, and energy management systems. The company has a great track record of long-term revenue growth, increasing sales at an outstanding 18% compound annual rate since going public in 2010.

It's the undisputed heavyweight in home generators, with a market share of about 75%. However, it still has a long runway for growth ahead as it estimates that this market is only 5.5% penetrated. Management sees further growth in home standby generation as a significant opportunity, and it's feasible that the severe winter storms of December 2022, which caused millions of customers across 13 states to lose power, will reinforce homeowners' interest in having backup power sources. Generac says that every additional percentage point of penetration for backup generators adds an additional $2.5 billion in addressable market for the company.

While this is a large opportunity in its core market, Generac also says that the acquisitions it has made over the past few years have expanded the size of its served addressable market by 500% since 2018. The company now makes inverters, which convert the DC electricity that solar panels generate into AC electricity -- the type that the grid supplies and our homes and businesses use. That's a market with potential -- solar power's installed capacity is expected to grow at a 12.7% compound annual rate over the next five years.

Beyond solar, the company has also moved into battery-powered lawnmowers with the acquisition of Mean Green, smart-home solutions with the acquisition of Ecobee, and more. If Generac can capture more market share in some of these new markets, it could add significantly to the company's growth in the years ahead.

Lower expectations create an attractive valuation

While Generac was punished for its sharp reduction in guidance, it's important to note that it hasn't suddenly turned into a slow-growth or no-growth company. This is still a profitable business, and the company still expects to report that it grew revenue by 22% to 24% in 2022. That isn't as compelling as the 36% to 40% it originally guided for, but it's still pretty impressive growth.

In some ways, Generac has been a victim of its own success, as the stock surged past $500 in October 2021 on the back of terrific growth. But as it lapped those difficult comps from 2021, its growth rate slowed, and the stock fell to just below $100 a share as of the end of 2022.

The stock contended with additional challenges over the course of the year, such as a lack of technicians to install its generators. The company now has partnerships with 8,500 dealers (300 more than the previous quarter), so it is working chip away at this challenge, and it says demand remains strong. Additionally, Generac dealt with a major customer declaring bankruptcy.

One area for concern is that the company's debt has increased significantly in recent times while its cash has decreased as it has pursued acquisitions. Total debt outstanding went from about $882 million in September of 2020 to over $1.3 billion as of the most recent quarter. The company now has a debt to EBITDA ratio of about 2.15. While this isn't egregious, it is something for investors to keep an eye on.

At this point, Generac's valuation looks undemanding. The stock trades at 15 times earnings and 14 times forward earnings, putting it just below the average multiple for the S&P 500.

Generac is actively engaging in share repurchases, and the company's Board recently authorized a new share repurchase program that will allow the company to buy back up to $500 million worth of its stock over the next two years.

With this lower valuation, and against a backdrop of lowered expectations, and more share buybacks on deck the stock looks a lot more palatable as a buy.

This won't be the worst stock in the S&P 500 again

Given the company's track record of growth and the long potential runway ahead of it, it seems likely that the present issues aret a speed bump on the road to Generac's long-term success. These lower prices offer investors a potentially favorable entry point. Janney Scott Mongomery recently initiated coverage of the stock with a buy rating, while Northland Capital went a step further, calling Generac its top pick of 2023.

Both analyst firms are of the opinion that the shares are undervalued, and Northland Capital thinks that the recent series of high-profile power outages across the United States could spur demand for home standby generators. The firms' new price targets of $160 and $180 imply meaningful upside from Generac's current share price. While such targets are best taken with a grain of salt, it's clear that there is the potential for plenty of upside ahead if Generac can get back on track, making it worthy of a small or more speculative investment for risk-tolerant investors.

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[wow_happens28]

IIf they put out news, it will be not be a pump. The Reddit boys were pumping RIBT and they are charged with pumping and dumping some other stocks. Not about RIBT, but charges could come. But, RIBT is the victim.

The top two posted ar RIBT last spring and "PJ: did the most. And RIBT is not mentioned, but RIBT mnangement does not want to appear that they are pumping. I believe the story was responsible for the last dive from $1.00 to .65. Definitely oversold at that point.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/14/23508963/twitter-atlas-trading-discord-pump-and-dump-sec-doj-lawsuit-criminal-charges

https://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=RIBT&p=D&yr=0&mn=4&dy=0&id=p11714133553