Bee Vectoring Technologies (BVT) International (TSXV:BEE; OTCQB:BEVVF) closed five new deals with blueberry growers in Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina to use its bee delivery system, VECTORITE with CR-7, on portions of their crops in the upcoming growing season.
In the five months since U.S. EPA approval, the company has secured committed business with growers who collectively represent about 10% of blueberries grown in the Southeastern U.S. and exceeded its sales target for that market.
Bee Vectoring’s agriculture system uses commercially-managed bees to carry its all-natural plant protection product, VECTORITE with CR-7, directly to blooms. The system is designed to increase crop yield and protects against disease, while using only a fraction of the product required with traditional spray applications. Growers using the system also see significant reductions in water consumption and fossil fuel usage.
The newly signed blueberry growers are first-time users of the BVT system. Each one will pilot BVT on a percentage of their conventional and organic crops (a total of 280 acres out of a combined 1,400 acres on which they farm), with the expectation that they will add BVT across their entire operations over two-to-three seasons based on positive results.
“We have now successfully penetrated the Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina blueberry markets as well as the Florida strawberry market,” Ashish Malik, CEO of Bee Vectoring, said in a statement. Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina have a combined 30,000 acres of cultivated highbush blueberries, representing one-third of the 90,000-acre U.S. market.
“Expanding sales to growers in additional regions is our path to revenue acceleration,” Mr. Malik said. “Our growth strategy is to next expand north and west to penetrate the blueberry markets in Oregon, Washington, Michigan and New Jersey.”
