Q1 sales are over five times the prior year run-rate

April sales largest single month ever, with sequential growth continuing in May

Manufacturing begins at Arkansas facility

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., May 16, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Barfresh Food Group, Inc. (OTCQB:BRFH), a manufacturer of frozen, ready-to-blend beverages, is providing an update on recent business developments. In addition, the Company is filing its form 10-Q for the first fiscal quarter of 2016 ended March 31, 2016, with the SEC today.

Riccardo Delle Coste, the Company's CEO stated, "Since our last update at the end of March, I’m pleased to report that the completion of the National roll-out of our product with our exclusive distributor is yielding a pronounced acceleration in sales.  Our first quarter 2016 sales came in at over $275,000, more than five times the sales we achieved in the year ago quarter.  Early results from the second quarter accelerated markedly, with April sales topping $185,000, making April the largest monthly sales to date for our company.  Furthermore, this sequential growth has continued in May. While the Cutting Edge Solutions platform is still in its early stages, our product is now available nationally, and we are seeing strong demand for re-orders as well as strong new customer acquisition.”

Mr. Delle Coste continued, “We are also seeing momentum building with our exclusive partnership with PepsiCo.  Our national and regional account prospects have significantly increased, with our new relationship with PepsiCo generating a majority of this new activity.   This partnership is very important to the growth of our business, as we continue to migrate our customer profile towards larger regional customers and national accounts.”

Business Highlights

  • National Distribution Product Roll-out Complete

As a result of our inclusion in our distributor’s Cutting Edge Solution (“CES”) platform, our products are now available nationally.  We are the only beverage offered as part of this initiative, where Barfresh represents 5 of the total 15 SKUs that are featured on the CES platform.  We’ve seen strong re-ordering patterns in the distribution network, with more than half of the distribution locations already re-ordering product at least twice within the first six weeks of the roll-out.    

  • PepsiCo partnership is building momentum

Our relationship with PepsiCo has begun delivering results. PepsiCo has embraced the relationship, including our products as part of their product portfolio, providing access to their customers which has already resulted in customers purchasing and committing to purchase product as a direct result of our new relationship. We are being included in major national customer conferences, such as the National Restaurant Association conference next week in Chicago, alongside PepsiCo products.  The support and enthusiasm from the PepsiCo team continues to be outstanding, and our sales force is fully integrated with the PepsiCo team, which is generating sales leads and participating in customer demonstrations on a daily basis.

  • Key national and regional accounts

We are currently selling product in market tests with twenty-seven national and regional customers. 

In addition, several of the largest national account QSR chains have finalized dates and are set to launch in market tests this summer.

Our national and regional customer account pipeline has grown significantly with the majority of this new activity coming from our PepsiCo partnership. We are now seeing an acceleration of customers entering the testing phase as well as customers transitioning from testing into rollout. We have added multiple casinos as well as a national casino chain that are rolling out Barfresh products throughout their properties and in multiple locations within each property.  We have also moved another national amusement theme chain customer from test to roll-out. 

  • Expansion of our manufacturing capacity has proceeded according to our expectations with commercial production commencing at the new facility in Arkansas.
  • For the three month period ended March 31, 2016, sales were $275,000, five times the year ago three month period ended March 31, 2015.  As a reminder, the first quarter results did not yet reflect the full impact of our national distributor roll-out which was accelerated by the Cutting Edge Solutions marketing initiative, which occurred in the final weeks of the quarter.  Preliminary sales estimates for the month of April are at $185,000 and we already see month over month sales continuing to grow.

The Company’s President, Joe Cugine said, “Our sales team is now fully staffed, and engaged with our distributor reps and the PepsiCo sales team.  We are focused on demonstrating our product with potential customers and the response has been incredible as we provide such a unique offering in the foodservice industry.”

Joseph Tesoriero, the Company's CFO, added, "On the operations side of the business we are focused on improving customer service, streamlining our product delivery system, and taking advantage of operational efficiencies presented by our increasing scale.  We continue to focus on maintaining execution of our supply chain commensurate with the acceleration of sales volumes and our growing national presence.” 

Conference Call

The conference call to discuss these results is scheduled for today Monday, May 16, 2016, at 1:30 pm Pacific Time (4:30 pm Eastern Time).  Listeners may dial (877) 407-4018 in North America, and international listeners can dial (201) 689-8471. Participants from the Company will be Riccardo Delle Coste, Founder and CEO, Joseph Cugine, President, and Joseph Tesoriero, CFO.

A telephonic playback will be available approximately two hours after the call concludes and will be available through Monday, May 30, 2016. Listeners in North America can dial (877) 870-5176, and international listeners can dial (858) 384-5517. Passcode is 13637463.

Interested parties may also listen to a simultaneous webcast of the conference call by logging onto the company's website at www.barfresh.com in the Investors-Presentations section. A replay of the webcast will also be available for approximately 30 days following the call.

About Barfresh Food Group

Barfresh Food Group, Inc. (OTCQB:BRFH) is a developer, manufacturer and distributor of ready-to-blend beverages, including smoothies, shakes and frappes, primarily for restaurant chains and the foodservice industry. The company's proprietary, U.S. patent-pending system uses portion-controlled pre-packaged beverage ingredients that deliver freshly made frozen beverages that are quick, cost efficient, better for you and without waste. PepsiCo North America Beverages, a division of PepsiCo, Inc., is the exclusive sales representative in North America within the food service channel for Barfresh's full line of beverages. Barfresh has an exclusive distribution partnership with the leading food distributor in North America. For more information, please visit www.barfresh.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Except for historical information herein, matters set forth in this press release are forward-looking within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements about the Company's commercial progress and future financial performance. These forward-looking statements are identified by the use of words such as "grow", "expand", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "believe", "expect", "plan", "should", "hypothetical", "potential", "forecast" and "project", among others. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included in the press release that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on certain assumptions made based on experience, expected future developments and other factors the Company believes are appropriate under the circumstances. Such statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the Company and may not materialize. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance. The contents of this release should be considered in conjunction with the warnings, risk factors and cautionary statements contained in the Company's recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10K and Quarterly Report on Form 10Q. Furthermore, the Company does not intend, and is not obligated, to update publicly any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

Contact

John Mills
ICR
646-277-1254
John.Mills@icrinc.com

Jeff Sonnek
ICR
646-277-1263
Jeff.Sonnek@icrinc.com