RETRANSMISSION: Bee Vectoring Technologies Announces Inaugural Grower Trials with Two of the World's Largest Berry Growers within a Month of Achieving California License

February 25, 2021 8:00 AM EST | Source: Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc.

Mississauga, Ontario and Sacramento, California--(Newsfile Corp. - February 25, 2021) - Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc. (CSE: BEE) (OTCQB: BEVVF) (CVE: BEE) (the "Company" or "BVT") is pleased to announce its first grower trials in berry crops in California, where the Company received state regulatory approval less than a month ago on its proprietary Vectorite with CR-7 (Clonostachys rosea CR-7) (CR-7) biological fungicide. Eight commercial-scale grower trials have already been confirmed, including with two of the world's largest berry companies and their growers. The trials will be conducted on blueberries, caneberries (blackberries and raspberries) and strawberries in the three main growing regions in the state for berries, which are among the most productive and diverse agricultural growing areas in the world.

"Securing this level of trials from California growers, in such a short period of time, signifies the momentum that BVT is now achieving, and that our solution is gaining traction and profile among growers across the US," said Ashish Malik, CEO of Bee Vectoring Technologies. "We have been delighted by the reception from growers and their desire to trial our technology with little previous exposure, which is quite unusual in the industry, and thus speaks to the opportunity for acceleration of BVT's growth in the largest agricultural market in the US."

The California trials span the Central Valley, Northern Coastal Valley (Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, including Salinas and Watsonville) and the Central Coastal Valley (Ventura and Santa Barbara counties). The Central Valley is one of the world's most productive agricultural regions, with more than 230 crops. About 1/6 of the irrigated land in the US is in the Central Valley, so more water-efficient crop production practices are in high demand particularly given the droughts California has experienced in recent years. BVT's system does not use any water to deliver plant protection products to crops.

"Sustainable agricultural practices are top of mind with growers in California. BVT's natural precision agriculture system is a strong fit here, which contributes to the very positive response we are seeing in the state and we are very encouraged by the reception we are receiving," said Ian Collinson, Sales Manager at Bee Vectoring Technologies. "In addition to the eight grower trials confirmed, we are in discussions with numerous growers for additional trials before the next growing season commences, and we expect to fill our allocation."

BVT's sales adoption cycle consists of four market stages that span three to four growing seasons. The first stage is awareness, which involves proof of concept and initial trials. In the second pilot stage, small-scale sales are secured via grower demos. The launch stage is when commercialization happens, with initial revenues coming from a small percentage of the acreages of large, influential growers as they validate the product. Finally, the expansion stage sees revenue growth achieved through increased share of acres with existing customers and more new customers as word-of-mouth spreads.

"Right now in BVT's sales adoption cycle, we are in the initial awareness stage in the California market and are initiating strategic grower trials as planned. Our goal is to get our presence in California to match what we are doing successfully in Georgia, where we have a solid customer base and are in the market expansion stage - with high retention and a customer base that increases every year. With the first market stage now mobilized in California, we are well on our way," adds Mr. Collinson.

California is America's largest berry market (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries) with an estimated 55,000(1) acres representing 30% of the country's berry acreage. BVT has three blueberry grower trials confirmed: one is underway and two more will start in the next few weeks. Three caneberry trials are confirmed for late March to early April, one of them is an R&D trial that will be conducted on a grower's field through a key researcher at the University of California. And two strawberry trials are set to begin by late March.

About Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc.

BVT, an agriculture technology company, is a market disruptor with a significant global market opportunity in the $240 billion crop protection and fertilizer market. BVT has pioneered a natural precision agriculture system that replaces chemical pesticides and wasteful plant protection product spray applications by delivering biological pesticide alternatives to crops using commercially grown bees. BVT's award-winning technology, precision vectoring, is completely harmless to bees and allows minute amounts of naturally-derived pesticides (called biologicals) to be delivered directly to blooms, providing improved crop protection and yield results than traditional chemical pesticides - and improving the health of the soil, the microbiome and the environment. Currently, BVT has over 65 granted patents, over 35 patents pending in all major agricultural countries worldwide, and has US EPA registration of its Vectorite™ with CR-7 (EPA Registration No. 90641-2) for sale as a registered biological fungicide for use on the labeled crops.

Additional information can be viewed at the Company's website www.beevt.com. To receive regular news updates from the Company, subscribe at www.beevt.com/newsletter.

Company Contact:
Ashish Malik, President & CEO
info@beevt.com

Investor Contact:
Babak Pedram, Investor Relations
Virtus Advisory Group
Tel: 416-995-8651
bpedram@virtusadvisory.com

The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Certain statements contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking information" as such term is defined in applicable Canadian securities legislation. The words "may", "would", "could", "should", "potential", "will", "seek", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions as they relate to the Company, "annual revenue potential", are intended to identify forward-looking information. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking information. Such statements reflect the Company's current views and intentions with respect to future events, and current information available to the Company, and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including: planted acres, selling price of competitive chemical pesticides and the US to Canadian dollar exchange rate. Material factors or assumptions were applied in providing forward-looking information. Many factors could cause the actual results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking information to vary from those described herein should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize. These factors include changes in law, competition, litigation, the ability to implement business strategies and pursue business opportunities, state of the capital markets, the availability of funds and resources to pursue operations, new technologies, the ability to protect intellectual property rights, the ability to obtain patent protection for products, third-party intellectual property infringement claims, regulatory changes affecting products, failing research and development activities, the ability to reach and sustain profitability, dependence on business and technical experts, the ability to effectively manage business operations and growth, issuance of debt, dilution of existing securities, volatility of publicly traded securities, potential conflicts of interest, unlikelihood of dividend payments, the potential costs stemming from defending third-party intellectual property infringement claims, the ability to secure relationships with manufacturers and purchasers, as well as general economic, market and business conditions, as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to in the Company's Filing Statement dated August 14,2020, filed with the CSE and securities regulatory authorities in certain provinces of Canada and available at www.sedar.com. Should any factor affect the Company in an unexpected manner, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect, the actual results or events may differ materially from the results or events predicted. Any such forward-looking information is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Moreover, the Company does not assume responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such forward-looking information. The forward-looking information included in this press release is made as of the date of this press release and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable law. All figures are in Canadian dollars.


(1) Source: USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service

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