• The Company reported quarterly billed revenue of $5.9M ($8.0M CAD), compared to $4.9M ($6.6M CAD) in Q2 2022, representing a year-over-year increase of 20.7%.
• The Company reported total revenue of $5.8M ($7.8M CAD), compared to $4.7M ($6.3M CAD) in Q2 2022, representing a year-over-year increase of 22.7%.
• The Company increased adjusted gross margins to 29.2% in Q2 2023 vs. 26.6% in Q1 2023.

CAROL STREAM, IL / ACCESSWIRE / August 29, 2023 / The Fresh Factory B.C. Ltd. (CSE: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 financial results for the second quarter ending June 30, 2023 ("Q2 2023").

Bill Besenhofer, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of The Fresh Factory commented: "Reflecting on the progress we've made over the past few quarters, I'm pleased to announce that our billed revenue for the first half of the year has reached US$11.3 million, showing year-over-year growth of 30.0%. We continue to expand the top line of the business with new customers (four in Q2 2023) and organic growth, especially with our co-pack customers. With a focus on operational efficiencies and strategic financial management, we continued to make the necessary improvements that have helped drive better bottom-line results. As we look to the back half of 2023, we expect to execute a similar playbook and drive both top-line and bottom-line results towards strategic targets. Looking ahead to 2024, we are excited to continue as a leader in the fresh, clean-label food and beverage industry in the United States."

Financial Highlights: H1 2023 vs. H1 2022

• Billed revenue of $11.3M ($15.2M CAD) in H1 2023 vs. $8.7M ($11.7M CAD) for H1 2022, an increase of 30.0%, was mainly driven by the addition of new customers and increased sales through existing customers.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $(0.6)M ($(0.8)M) CAD) in H1 2023, was favorable $0.2M ($0.3M CAD) vs. H1 2022.

Financial and Operational Highlights: Q2 2023 vs. Q2 2022

• Total billed revenue of $5.9M ($8.0M CAD) in Q2 2023 vs. $4.9M ($6.6M CAD) for Q2 2022, mainly driven by new customers added in late 2022 and incremental growth of existing business
• Adjusted EBITDA of $(0.1)M ($(0.1)M CAD) in Q2 2023 vs. $(0.4)M ($(0.5)M CAD) in Q2 2022
• Adjusted gross margins of $1.7M ($2.3M CAD) in Q2 2023 vs. $1.4M ($1.9M CAD) in Q2 2022
• As of June 26, 2023, the Company purchased 167,000 of the eligible 546,436 common shares at a cost of $0.1M ($0.1M CAD), representing a weighted average price of $0.53 ($0.72 CAD) per share under its June 2022 Normal Course Issuer Bid ("2022 NCIB").
• On August 2, 2023, the Company renewed its Normal Course Issuer Bid ("2023 NCIB"). Under the 2023 NCIB, the Company may purchase up to 5% of the issued common shares, resulting in a maximum limit of 540,169 shares.

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 brands. The Company has established four 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 2.9% from 26.6% in Q1 2023 to 29.5% in Q2 2023, mainly driven by increased sales, operational efficiencies, and a March 2023 price increase.
• Operating profit, on a percentage basis, increased by 7.0% from 9.6% in Q1 2023 to 16.6% in Q2 2023, driven by gross margin improvement and spend management.
• The Company successfully completed its annual Safe Quality Foods ("SQF") audit at its bars production facility.
• The Company successfully completed its annual GFCO-gluten-free audit, SQF.

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

• Total revenue in Q2 2023 continues to remain broadly diversified across direct-to-consumer, quick-service restaurants, retail customers, and food-service customers.
• The Company expanded capacity at its bars production facility with minimal capital spend to satisfy increased demand.
• The Company produced 5.4M total units in H1 2023, a 24.0% increase from H1 2022.
• The Company on-boarded four new customers, expanding its portfolio of produced products.

Sustainability: Become a market leader in sustainability

• The Company continues to use solar-farm 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 installed a FOG mitigation system, enabling collection and recycling of oils used in production, which materially improves the quality of wastewater expelled from the facility.

This earnings news release should be read in conjunction with the Company's interim financial statements for the second quarter ending June 30, 2023 (the "Audited Financial Statements") and the related Management's Discussion and Analysis (the "MD&A"), both of which will be available to download on The Fresh Factory's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.com.

For conversion purposes, this release used $0.74 as the conversion rate from CAD to USD.

All figures in this news 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 US. 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
info@thefreshfactory.co

Alyssa Barry
Media and Investor Relations
1-877-495-1638
healthyinvestors@thefreshfactory.co

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+ at www.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.