Blue Heron Raises $2.6M in Oversubscribed Seed Round and Appoints Industry Veterans to Board

December 22, 2020 11:24 AM EST | Source: Blue Heron Creamery

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 22, 2020) -  Blue Heron Creamery ("Blue Heron" or the "Company"), a global leader in the next generation of plant-based cheese products announces the closing of a successful oversubscribed non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") for proceeds of $2.6M.

CEO Karen McAthy stated: "Blue Heron blends classical cheese making methodologies with cutting edge modern science. This funding will enable us to rapidly expand production to meet ever growing demand for our products, while continuing to focus heavily on product innovation. Our mission at Blue Heron is to help consumers transition away from the devastating impacts of dairy farming, and to embrace products with a positive impact on the planet. With a constant backlog of demand, we are excited for this next leg of our journey in which we significantly scale our operations and disrupt the current paradigm of animal based dairy products."

The market for plant-based food is growing at an incredible pace as consumers are demanding products that prioritize the health and well-being of animals and the environment. The plant-based cheese industry alone is expected to reach $3.9B by 2025.

To satisfy the growing list of wholesale and retail demand for Blue Heron products, the Company intends to use proceeds from the Offering to dramatically scale production. This includes addressing current capacity constraints through a new leased production facility located in South Surrey ("South Surrey Facility" or the "Facility").

The Facility is anticipated to provide Blue Heron the capacity to produce upwards of 1,600,000 lbs annually of non-dairy cheese and non-dairy alternative products. Modification of the Facility and minor leasehold improvements will take approximately 6 weeks, with new production expected to be underway by mid-March 2021.

The remaining funds will be used for general operations including hiring key management, undertaking marketing and branding initiatives, website & e-commerce upgrades, product packaging improvements, and R&D.

Appointments to Board of Directors

The company is also pleased to announce the appointment of Jerin Mece and Dean Shillington to the Blue Heron Board of Directors.

Jerin Mece is the Co-Owner and Global Head of Sales at Nude Beverages, North America's largest independent alcohol beverage company in the ready to drink category. Nude Beverages has sold over 75,000,000 cans since its inception in 2017 and is available in well over 15,000 outlets across North America. With over 15 years in the food, beverage and hospitality industry, Jerin will be instrumental in scaling the retail sales of Blue Heron's core product line.

Prior to his current position as President at Knightsbridge Capital, Dean Shillington spent several years at GE Capital specializing in equipment and property finance. During this time, he was responsible for managing a debt portfolio in excess of $2 billion and was integral to its double-digit growth, while maintaining the lowest delinquency rates in the business globally. In 2007, Dean founded Knightsbridge Capital, a financial services company based in Western Canada offering specialized corporate financing solutions. Knightsbridge today manages its own debt portfolio of more than $250 million and is the market leader in turnaround financing in Canada. Dean then became Co-Owner/Co-Founder of Pacific FC Sports, a Vancouver-island based team within Canada's new soccer league, the Canadian Premier League.

About Blue Heron Creamery

Blue Heron Creamery is an award-winning, next-generation plant-based innovator and producer of 100% Dairy-free, vegan artisan cheeses. Blue Heron uses true cheese-making methodologies by utilizing a proprietary science-first approach with active bacterial cultures and enzymes specific to plant-based protein reactions.

For further information please contact:

Karen McAthy
Chief Executive Officer
Chef@blueheroncheese.com

604-710-6846

Kevan Matheson
Corporate Communications and Investor Relations
Invest@blueheroncheese.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

In the interests of providing Blue Heron Creamery Ltd. ("Blue Heron " or the "Corporation") potential investors with information regarding Blue Heron, including Management's assessment of future plans and operations relating to the Corporation following the transaction, this document contains certain statements and information that are forward-looking statements or information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, and which are collectively referred to herein as "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements in this document include, but are not limited to statements and tables (collectively "statements") with respect to: proposed acquisitions and strategies for acquisitions, capital projects and expenditures; strategic initiatives; anticipated activity and industry trends; and anticipated performance. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, as well as known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur and which may cause Blue Heron's actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any estimates or projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These assumptions, risks and uncertainties include, among other things: Blue Heron's ability to successfully implement strategic initiatives and whether such initiatives yield the expected benefits; future operating results, Blue Heron's ability to generate sufficient cash flow from operations to meet its current and future obligations; its ability to access external sources of debt and equity capital; economic conditions; and other risks and uncertainties described from time to time in the reports and filings made with securities regulatory authorities by Blue Heron. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive. The forward-looking statements contained in this document are made as of the date of this document or the dates specifically referenced herein. All forward-looking statements contained in this document are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Any financial outlook or future-oriented financial information, as defined by applicable securities legislation, has been approved by management of Blue Heron. Such financial outlook or future-oriented financial information is provided for the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations and goals relating to the future of Blue Heron. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Corporation is not a "reporting issuer" in any province or territory in Canada or equivalent in the United States. There is no guarantee that a going public transaction will be completed or that the Corporation will become listed on any stock exchange. Accordingly, the Corporation may never complete a going public transaction and may never become a "reporting issuer" in any jurisdiction in Canada or the elsewhere.

Not for dissemination in the United States or for distribution to U.S. newswire services

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/70829

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