IVFH NEWS BTW
Innovative Food Holdings Provides Update on Launch of Web Based Premium Gourmet Retail Offering
For The Gourmet Inc. Web Sales Grow Approximately 480% Sequentially for the 4th Quarter; Core Foodservice Sales Remain Strong in December
NAPLES, FL, Jan 21, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Innovative Food Holdings, Inc.'s (OTCBB: IVFH) wholly owned subsidiary, For The Gourmet Inc., a web based marketer and purveyor of premium quality gourmet food products throughout the United States, bringing chef quality premium gourmet food directly to the gourmet consumer, provided preliminary sales results and an update on its inaugural holiday selling season.
For The Gourmet Inc., which represents a small but rapidly growing new market segment of Innovative Food Holdings' overall business, grew sales for the first 9 months of active operations to over $110,000 through December 31, 2009. Revenues for the 4th quarter of 2009 grew approximately 480% sequentially as compared to the 3rd quarter of 2009 and orders shipped grew approximately 448% compared to orders shipped in the 3rd quarter of 2009. In addition, of particular note, For The Gourmet's revenues surged towards the end of the 4th quarter as sales grew sharply to over $50,000 for the month of December alone. Mr. Sam Klepfish, CEO of Innovative Food Holdings, commented, "We are excited by what we believe are the outstanding sales of For The Gourmet Inc. and especially pleased by the extremely strong 4th quarter and our outstanding December sales growth. We believe that the strong results are indicative of the focused approach that management and our team of outstanding employees have placed on leveraging our existing gourmet foodservice platform to successfully enter new sales channels. It is especially notable that in this difficult economic environment, Innovative Food Holdings has managed to focus on working to create value for its shareholders by successfully launching a new wholly owned subsidiary into a completely new market segment, profitably growing sales, and launching an extremely successful inaugural holiday shopping season, all within the first 9 months of the new subsidiary's active operation. In addition, we are particularly pleased by the overwhelmingly positive feedback we continue to receive from our retail customers regarding For The Gourmet's highest quality, finest selection and our one of a kind, outstanding, chef provided, customer service. I believe all of this is a further testament to the truly outstanding quality and uniqueness of the premium gourmet experience we offer, and the hard work and dedication of our employees."
Mr. Klepfish further noted the following:
-- "Overall Foodservice channels revenues remained very strong as well for
the month of December and we expect to continue to focus on growing
revenues through our existing foodservice channels and premium gourmet web
based sales channels."
-- "We plan to continue to leverage our Foodservice and Retail core
competencies and continue to explore additional web based partnerships and
channel relationships, with the goal of further monetizing what we believe
is one of the premier gourmet product platforms in the specialty food
industry."
-- "Given that our gourmet products are readily available through our sales
partners, during the 4th quarter we made a strategic decision to move the
formal launch of www.forthegourmet.com to after the busy holiday months, to
be certain Innovative Food Holdings allocated the resources required to
handle the potential holiday order inflow at our usual high standards for
quality and customer service. Now, after our highly successful and
extremely busy holiday season, we currently plan on formally launching, in
the next few weeks, what we believe is one of the more unique, customized,
easy to use e-commerce websites: www.forthegourmet.com. We plan to
continue to provide updates on the status of our website and other
activities, to the investment community and to the gourmet community and as
they became available for dissemination."
Innovative Food Holdings, Inc., through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, is in the business of marketing and selling high quality gourmet food.
Food Innovations, Inc., in partnership with one of the largest Foodservice distributors in the Unites States, provides the highest quality gourmet food products to professional chefs throughout the United States. To learn more, visit the Food Innovations website at www.foodinno.com. Food Innovations is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Innovative Food Holdings, Inc.
For The Gourmet, Inc., through its website, and through additional web based sales channels, provides the highest quality premium gourmet food products to the retail consumer market. To learn more, visit the For The Gourmet website at www.forthegourmet.com. For The Gourmet is a wholly owned subsidiary of Innovative Food Holdings, Inc.
This release contains certain forward-looking statements and information relating to Innovative Food Holdings, Inc. (the "Company") that are based on the beliefs of the Company's management, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, the Company. Such statements reflect the current views of the Company with respect to future events and are subject to certain assumptions, including those described in this release. Should one or more of these underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as should, could, anticipated, believed, intended, potentially or expected. The Company does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.
Contact:
Media Contact:
March Noble Communications
Dylan Hundley
(646) 435-4069
info@marchnoble.com
Innovative Food Holdings, Inc.
Sam Klepfish
(239) 449-3235
sklepfish@innovativefoodholdings.com
Innovative Food Holdings, Inc.
IR@Innovativefoodholdings.com