Arcadia Biosciences Rallies After Announcing Financial Guidance, Partnerships To Market High-Fiber Wheat

Agricultural biotechnology company Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. RKDA announced Monday that it has signed a binding term sheet agreement with Arista Cereal Technologies and Bay State Milling Company for the commercialization of its high-fiber wheat.

Bay State Milling will become the exclusive commercial partner for the company’s high-fiber wheat in North America under Bay State Milling’s HealthSense brand portfolio.

Arista, on the other hand, will obtain exclusive rights under Arcadia’s intellectual property in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and Europe.

Arcadia said it will carry on with the marketing of its high-fiber wheat in other international markets under its GoodWheat portfolio.

"We are pleased to have entered into an agreement with Arista and Bay State Milling that will accelerate commercialization of our high-fiber wheat in key wheat markets and capture revenue in 2019 and beyond," Raj Ketkar, president and CEO of Arcadia Biosciences, said in a statement.

"Bay State Milling is an excellent partner for North America, bringing its strengths in milling, identity preserved supply chains and technical support of customer food companies."

Arcadia also announced Monday that Ketkar will retire Sept. 1, with CFO Matthaw Plavan set to take his place.

Plavan said in a statement that Arcadia expects its revenue to exceed $10 million in 2020 and $30 million in 2021, with operations beginning to generate net cash in mid-to-late 2021. 

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Arcadia's high fiber content means food producers and other buyers don’t have to add other sources of fiber in their final food products, the company said.

"We continue to see tremendous opportunity for high fiber wheat flour — particularly in the United States, where consumers are increasingly mindful about the nutrition their food delivers," Peter Levangie, president and CEO of Bay State Milling, said in a statement.

Arista Cereal Technologies CEO Eric Vaschalde said the company is pleased to reach an agreement that resolves an ongoing patent dispute and shifts the focus to bringing high-fiber wheat to market. 

Arcadia Biosciences creates and sells high-value food ingredients, as well as nutritional oils to meet the ongoing healthy diet needs of consumers.

Its Arcadia Specialty Genomics business unit is focused on improving and standardizing cannabis plant content, yield, quality and resiliency.

The stock was rallying by 28.01% at $8.28 at the time of publication Monday. 

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