Bee Vectoring Technologies Eyes Global Market

Bee Vectoring Technologies (TSXV:BEE) is targeting the European and global market as the company has started trials in Europe in a bid to expand its products beyond North America.

The company is engaged in sustainable farming practices and took part in the Extraordinary Future conference in Vancouver last week where it held a presentation on its future plans.

The Investing News Network (INN) had the chance to speak with Ashish Malik, CEO of Bee, where he explained that the opportunity for the company’s technology is “global.”

Bee uses crop pollinators to deliver its pest control, Vectorite, which is a process that the company says uses less chemicals and less machinery, which translates to less carbon footprint while promising higher yields for growers.

In terms of its plans to reach a wider market, the company announced in June that Bee is targeting the European market through its submission of registering its advanced disease control technology.

Malik said that Europe is arguably the ‘most strategic market’ for its technology as the company is closing in on the launch of its products in Switzerland, a country that’s not part of the European Union (EU). The company is hoping to start registration of its products with the EU in mid 2019.

“ [The] problem with Europe is that it is expensive and it takes time to get the registrations and development [done],” Malik said. “We are already doing trials to generate data that can support the registration in EU.”

Malik stressed that the European market is very crucial for the company and that the market is always on the hunt for alternative solutions with less chemicals. Crucially, Malik said that if Bee develops its solutions in Europe, the adoption rate for its technology will be faster than the North American market.

“The revenue opportunity is similar in Europe as in North America but the speed to get to peak sales will be quicker in Europe than it is over here,” Malik said. “There’s a significant indoor market in Europe…where our technology fits in nicely.”

In terms of product solutions, the company has entered into its third year of sunflower trials with North Dakota State University where the company is set to use bumble bees to deliver its microbial based biofungicide.

Malik said that sunflowers are a big opportunity for them as close to 800,000 acres of sunflowers are grown in North Dakota and Minnesota region. Further, he explained that the growers look for positive results on multiple seasons rather than one off results due to which the company has opted to trial its solutions for third year in a row.

“We are hopeful that this will be the final year of trials. We are expecting our EPA registration shortly,” Malik said. “Once [you] have EPA registration and compelling data, you’re in revenue.”

While the results of these trials are expected ins October or November, Malik revealed that Bee is just shy of six months of getting its EPA registration.

The company is also set to target strawberry growers as the launch market for its solution, followed by the commercialization of its sunflower market solution by next summer.

Malik also revealed that the company has entered a “key period” with regards to finding clients for its strawberry solution, especially in the Florida market. According to Malik, growers in the coming weeks would be deciding on what solutions they would be using for the strawberry season, which is set to commence soon.

“In November is when we could be in revenue for that market,” he said. “We expect to get a number of signed contracts from the growers and we will be able to deliver the bees in November.”

In terms of its portfolio expansion, Malik said that the company is already looking at seven or eight products from third parties which could be brought in and delivered through Bees systems.

“Initially, we are focused on bumble bee but we already worked on honey bee system,” he said. “We have patents on our honey bee system and that will open up additional crops.”

Malik said that the company plans to generate revenue in North America and target emerging countries like India and China where farmers have less land and where its solutions are more crucial for safe and affordable food.

Shares of Bee are priced at C$0.21 as of September 27. Although the company has lost over 25 percent year-to-date, it has gained 10 percent in the last month. Bee has a “Buy” ranking on TradingView with 10 verticals in favor, 10 neutral and six against.

Image courtesy of Bee Vectoring Technology.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Bala Yogesh, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in contributed article. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.