Tinley's Hemplify on sale at Amazon
2016-08-29 16:29 ET - News Release
Mr. Jeff Maser reports
TINLEY PROVIDES OPERATIONAL AND SALES UPDATE
The Tinley Beverage Company Inc. has provided an update on its sales and operations.
The company has launched its Web store and has also listed its flagship Hemplify product for sale on Amazon. The company has initiated the build-out of an affiliate marketing program with a Denver-based agency and has expanded its Instagram and other social media followings, both in support of its on-line sales strategy.
Over the past several months, the company completed a series of production runs to test shelf stability and other facets of the company's beverage and distribution operations. Prior to its most recent run, the company's products demonstrated relatively short periods of shelf stability, thereby limiting their sales to on-premise and perishable-distribution channels. This limitation prevented the company from fulfilling retail interest received, which consists primarily of channels requiring long-term shelf stability.
While long-term shelf-stability issues were being resolved, the company worked to generate sales interest through on-premise consumption channels, where shorter shelf-life requirements exist. These channels primarily consisted of consumer events, including the Chalice Festival (Victorville, Calif.), First Friday (Las Vegas, Nev.), AppoShow (Las Vegas, Nev.) and several events related to the Electronic Daisy Carnival (Las Vegas, Nev.), as well as sampling at SupergirlPro Surf (Oceanside, Calif.) and X-Games Action Sports (Austin, Tex.). The Tinley product was well received by consumers at each of these events, and it has helped to draw social media following for marketing and e-commerce sales, building brand awareness and generating wholesale store interest in placing orders.
In the final week of the quarter, the company shipped 1,492 bottles of tropical flavour to distributors and used an additional 700 bottles for sampling. As products with long-term shelf stability are now available for distribution, the company expects to begin generating sales.
In July, the company retained Total Marketing Systems to resolve the products' shelf-stability issues. The company is pleased to report that both flavours have now been produced, and the company is comfortable shipping the products through non-perishable channels. These channels represent the vast majority of the sales pipeline that the company has built since first quarter. The product is now suitable for shipping through on-line channels as well.
The sales backlog currently consists primarily of: (1) two independent store distributors, which collectively represent approximately 500 stores and are contracted to take delivery, (2) direct sales to approximately 30 stores from five states, consisting primarily of independent convenience, smoke and head shops, and (3) larger-format stores in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. To date, none of these stores have had their sales indications fulfilled; however, the company believes it now has sufficient inventory of shelf-stable product to do so and is working diligently to complete these deliveries. The company is also positioned to significantly increase production as a result of the Total Marketing Systems personnel.
With shelf-stable product in stock, Total Marketing Systems is currently in a position to deploy its network of 20-plus independent boots-on-ground salespeople, who have begun selling in priority neighbourhoods in Southern California, and brokers across the country, who have presented to a number of national chain stores.
The company incurred several start-up and/or non-recurring expenses related to developing and scaling production of its products. These included conducting a series of test bottling runs, prepaying future bottling runs, completing shelf-stability studies, transitioning to new operational staff, conducting launch and consumer-feedback events, building the e-commerce platform, purchasing a product liability policy from a specialist insurer for the hemp extract category, designing a lineup of point-of-sale materials, building social media channels, and receiving regulatory consulting.
Lastly, the company has initiated partnership discussions with several licensed cannabis producers in several U.S. states and Canada. The company expects to unveil its lineup of cannabis-based drinks prior to the end of 2016 and endeavours to consummate co-production partnerships with licensed producers during this time frame.
About Hemplify Inc. and the Tinley Beverage Company
The Tinley Beverage Company (Toronto, Canada) is the parent company of Hemplify Inc. (Santa Monica, Calif.). Hemplify Inc. manufactures the Hemplify line of products.
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