Naturally Splendid Enterprises Ltd (CVE:NSP) (OTCPINK:NSPDF) (FRA:50N) reported fiscal 2020 sales of C$1.6 million, as coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions weighed on its operations, although the company remains optimistic that 2021 will yield better results.
“2020 was a year of contrasts as we entrenched ourselves further into the plant-based consumer markets even while managing the significant operational challenges presented by the COVID pandemic,” Naturally Splendid CEO Craig Goodwin said in a statement.
“Sales of our premium bars sustained significant setbacks in 2020 due directly to the pandemic. However, we are now seeing plant-based products such as our bars and bites, regain and even increase in popularity as the health benefits of plant-based nutrition become increasingly undeniable,” Goodwin added.
READ: Naturally Splendid Enterprises has a plant-based focus on developing health food products and ingredients
Naturally Splendid also noted that its manufacturing facility in Pitt Meadows, which focuses on developing and manufacturing nutritional bars and bites, has received Safe Quality Food Level 2 (SQF2) certification, which the company said allows it to focus on higher-margin product opportunities.
As well, the company extended its plant-based offerings in 2020, becoming the exclusive Canadian distributor for one of Australia's largest manufacturers of plant-based entrees, providing alternatives to beef, chicken, pork and fish.
“The company believes plant-based foods and supplements have never been in higher demand and we expect this trend to accelerate, and we are well-positioned to capitalize on this opportunity with the investments we have made,” Goodwin concluded.
Naturally Splendid Enterprises is the current 'go-to' manufacturer for health food products and ingredients and its focus is plant-based. The company also provides contract manufacturing services for many global healthy food companies, private labeling a wide variety of nutritional food products.
And although COVID-19 presented many challenges for Naturally Splendid in 2020, the company said the pandemic created a significant opportunity as Health Canada approved a Phase 2 clinical trial for Cavaltinib, a potential COVID treatment, through the company’s joint venture with Biologic Pharmamedical (Biologic).
It added that Cavaltinib has already been shown to inhibit the transcription of cytokines that are known to partake centrally in the COVID-related cytokine storm phenomenon, which is widely considered at the centre of the escalating treatments many COVID infected patients require.
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