The Fresh Factory Reports Strong Q3 2023 Results, with Record YTD Billed Revenue of $17.2M

• The Company reported quarterly billed revenue of $5.8M ($7.7M CAD), representing a year-over-year increase of 3.2%.
• Year-to-date billed revenue of $17.2M ($22.9M CAD) represents a YoY increase of 19.4%.
• Year-to-date total revenue of $16.9M ($22.5M CAD) represents a YoY increase of 22.7%.
• The Company increased adjusted gross margins to 30.2% in Q3 2023 vs. 27.2% in Q3 2022.
• The Company achieved +$0.1M (+$0.1M CAD) adjusted EBITDA, the first target on the path to sustainable positive net income.

CAROL STREAM, IL / ACCESSWIRE / November 29, 2023 / The Fresh Factory B.C. Ltd. (TSXV:FRSH)(FRA:Q4Z) ("The Fresh Factory" or the "Company"), a mission-driven company for fresh, clean-label, and better-for-you food and beverage brands, reports quarterly and year-to-date financial results for the period ending September 30, 2023 ("Q3 2023" and "YTD 2023," respectively).

Bill Besenhofer, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of The Fresh Factory, commented: "We are thrilled to announce our continued growth, with billed revenue totaling $5.8 million ($7.7M CAD) for the quarter. In addition, the team worked hard to achieve our first quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA results. We feel we have set the table for continued success by implementing a more disciplined, metric-driven approach to managing our day-to-day operations. As we continue to grow, we want to do so profitably and allow companies to turn to us as a trusted partner, relying on our expertise in everything from product formulation to product fulfillment. Furthermore, we recently began trading on the TSX Venture Exchange, opening up new opportunities to share our story with a broader investor audience."

Financial Highlights: YTD 2023 vs. YTD 2022

• Record billed revenue of $17.2M ($22.9M CAD) YTD 2023, vs. $14.4M ($19.2M CAD) YTD 2022, an increase of 19.4%, was driven by the onboarding of new customers, worth approximately $1.4M ($1.9M CAD) and increased demand from existing customers, representing approximately 14% organic growth.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $(0.7)M ($(0.9)M CAD) YTD 2023, an improvement of approximately ~$0.6M compared to YTD 2022, was driven by increased sales and efficiencies across the supply chain.
• Adjusted gross margin of $4.9M ($6.5M CAD) in YTD 2023, vs. $3.9 ($5.2M CAD) in YTD 2022, represents a 56.7% increase.

Financial and Operational Highlights: Q3 2023 vs Q2 2023

• Total billed revenue was $5.8M ($7.7M CAD) in Q3 2023 vs. $5.9M ($7.8M CAD) for Q2 2023.
• Adjusted EBITDA was +$0.1M (+$0.1M CAD) in Q3 2023 vs. $(0.1)M ($(0.1)M CAD) in Q2 2023, an increase of $0.2M despite slightly lower sales.
• Adjusted gross margin was $1.8M ($2.4M CAD) in Q3 2023 vs. $1.7M ($2.3M CAD) in Q2 2023.
• On October 5, 2023, the Company began trading on the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") and in conjunction was delisted from the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE").

Strategic Areas of Focus

The Fresh Factory is building a platform to serve emerging food and beverage brands in the fresh-food sector with an emphasis on better-for-you products. The Company has established three key areas of focus on which it will report on a quarterly basis moving forward.

Execution: Focus on safety, high-quality operations, and strong margins.

• Adjusted gross margins, on a percentage basis, increased by 0.7% from 29.5% in Q2 2023 to 30.2% in Q3 2023.
• Operating profits increased 1.3% to $1.0M ($1.3M CAD) in Q3 2023 from $0.9M ($1.2M CAD) in Q2 2023.
• Operating profit, on a percentage basis, increased from 16.6% in Q2 2023 to 16.9% in Q3 2023 due to operational efficiencies.

Growth: Invest in and grow with the right brands across diversified channels.

• The Company onboarded four new customers, expanding its product portfolio.
• The increase in revenue through 2022 and into 2023 was due to both the addition of new customers and increased sales to existing customers, and the company expects that trend to continue.
• The Company produced 3.2M total units in Q3 2023, a 23% increase from Q3 2022.

Sustainability: Become a market leader in sustainability.

• The Company continues to use solar energy to help offset its electrical usage.
• The Company continues to compost 100% of its food waste and donate 100% of produce extras.
• The Company improved its FOG (fats, oils, grease) mitigation system, enabling better collection and recycling of the oils used in production and improving the quality of wastewater expelled from the facility.
• The Company launched a project to determine the Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon-emissions output from each of its production facilities and vehicles.

The earnings news release should be read in conjunction with the Company's interim financial statements for the quarterly and year-to-date financial results for the period ending September 30, 2023, which can be found on The Fresh Factory's issuer profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

For conversion purposes, this release used $0.75 as the conversion rate from CAD to USD.

All figures in this press release are in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

About The Fresh Factory B.C. Ltd.

The Fresh Factory is a vertically integrated company focused on accelerating the growth of the fresh, clean-label, plant-based food and beverage brands of tomorrow. The Fresh Factory owns or partners with emerging brands in the plant-based space to develop, manufacture, and sell products made from fresh produce and recognizable ingredients. It operates from its centrally located manufacturing facility near Chicago, serving customers across the United States. As a public benefits corporation, The Fresh Factory is ESG-focused, driven to make a lighter, greener impact on the environment and a stronger, positive impact on local communities and the food system as a whole. Learn more about The Fresh Factory at www.thefreshfactory.co and find The Fresh Factory on social media at Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. To receive news and updates about The Fresh Factory, visit their website at www.thefreshfactory.co.

Contacts

Bill Besenhofer
CEO and Co-founder
1-877-495-1638
[email protected]

Alyssa Barry
Media and Investor Relations
1-877-495-1638
[email protected]

Non-IFRS Measures

There are measures included in this news release that do not have a standardized meaning under international financial reporting standards (IFRS) and therefore may not be comparable to similarly titled measures and metrics presented by other publicly traded companies. The Company includes these measures because it believes certain investors use them as a means of assessing financial performance. Billed revenue, adjusted gross margin, operating profit, EBITDA, and adjusted EBITDA are financial measures that do not have a standardized meaning under IFRS. EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA refers to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, stock-based compensation, one-time transaction expenses, costs related to scaling the business, and change in fair value of derivative liabilities. Adjusted gross margin is defined as billed revenue minus food, packaging, and labor (i.e., COGs). Operating profit is adjusted gross margin less utilities, facilities, and maintenance costs. Billed revenue is a financial measure defined as the revenue billed to customers as opposed to total revenue, which represents billed revenue less trade and variable selling and any production credits and samples.

We prepare and release quarterly unaudited and annual audited financial statements prepared in accordance with IFRS. We also disclose and discuss certain non-GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) financial information used to evaluate our performance in this and other earnings releases and investor conference calls as a complement to results provided in accordance with IFRS. We believe that current shareholders and potential investors in the Company use non-GAAP financial measures, such as billed revenue, adjusted gross margin, operating profit, EBITDA, and adjusted EBITDA in making investment decisions about the Company and measuring its operational results.

Management believes that investors and financial analysts measure our business on the same basis, and we are providing the billed revenue, adjusted gross margin, operating profit, EBITDA, and adjusted EBITDA as financial metrics to assist in this evaluation and to provide a higher level of transparency into how we measure our own business.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" (collectively referred to hereafter as "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements that address activities, events, or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will, or may, occur in the future, including statements about the Company's new product offerings, its ability to execute on its goals, general macro and micro economic impacts of inflation on the business and operation of the Company, the timing pertaining to these goals and receipt of applicable consents and approvals, and Company's business prospects, future trends, plans, and strategies. In some cases, forward-looking statements are preceded by, followed by, or include words such as "may", "will," "would", "could", "should", "believes", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "expects", "plans", "intends", "proposes", "anticipates", "targeted", "continues", "forecasts", "designed", "goal", "anticipate" or the negative of those words or other similar or comparable words. Although the management of the Company believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that a forward-looking statement herein will prove to be accurate. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, or intended. Risks and uncertainties applicable to the Company, as well as trends identified by the Company affecting its industry, can be found in the final long-form prospectus of the Company dated November 10, 2021, and the Company's continuous disclosure record available on SEDAR+ atwww.sedarplus.ca. Such cautionary statements qualify all forward-looking statements made in this news release. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

SOURCE: The Fresh Factory B.C. Ltd.