TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / June 27, 2019 / Toronto based CO2 GRO Inc. ("GROW") (TSX-V: GROW, OTCQB: BLONF, Frankfurt: 4021) is pleased to provide a review of operations and business prospects ahead of its Annual Shareholder meeting June 27 at 11 AM 40 King Street West 58th floor.
Entering 2020 Revenue Projection Unchanged
GROW's first lease revenue from a commercial U.S. installation began in March. A second mostly U.S. hemp installation is now contributing for a combined revenue run rate of C$240K/y from about 100,000 square feet of combined grow area. The contracts are perpetual while CO2 Delivery Solutions are onsite.
GROW still forecasts a contracted year-end lease revenue run rate of $10M/y entering 2020 expecting half of its sixteen active grow trial and commercial pilot proposals to proceed to commercial agreements. Nine are in the U.S., six are in Canada with Licensed Producers (LPs) and one is for a large UAE lettuce greenhouse. Several are with our AG Industrial Partners.
Further Indoor and Outdoor Research Trials and Patents
GROW has retained the University of Guelph to perform an outdoor grow trial in the Holland Marsh Ontario area on lettuce, celery, carrots and onions.
Indoors, GROW is working with the University in Guelph and a medical tobacco company in a grow trial to assess faster speed to plant maturity, larger plant biomass and greater targeted bacteria efficacy and concentration for cancer and other human drugs.
Internationally outdoors, GROW expects to move forward with Praxair Inc. on a flower grow trial in Columbia at their request. Equipment procurement is expected shortly that would activate a signed technology assessment agreement.
GROW has further strengthened its patent portfolio by filing patents relating to pathogen resistance and suppression and for selectively increasing plant metabolism.
Management Title Changes
The following title changes are to more closely reflect current responsibilities:
John Archibald from CEO to President, CEO
Aaron Archibald from VP Operations to Chief Operating Officer
Sam Kanes from VP Business Development to VP Communications
Branding Name Change to CO2 Delivery Solutions
GROW is operating with aquaponic, hydroponic, aeroponic and regular plant growers indoors and outdoors. Generation two equipment has both dissolved CO2 and dissolved oxygen capability. GROW is changing its brand name from CO2 Foliar Spray to CO2 Delivery Solutions to more accurately reflect the variety of Solutions GROW envisions for enhancing plant growth.
About CO2 GRO Inc.
GROW's mission is to accelerate all indoor and outdoor value plant growth naturally, safely, and economically using its patent pending CO2 Delivery Technology. GROW's global target retail plant markets are food at $8 trillion per year (Plunkett Mar 2017), non-food at an estimated $1.2 trillion per year with retail tobacco at $760 billion (BA Tobacco 2017), floriculture at $100 billion by 2022 (MarketResearch.Biz estimate). Legal cannabis at $52.5 billion per year by 2023 (Statista) and legal US hemp CBD at $22B per year by 2022 (the Brightfield Group).
GROW's CO2 Delivery Solutions are commercially proven, scalable and easily adopted into existing irrigation systems.
They work by dissolving CO2 gas into water for use on plant leaves across the entire plant leaf surface which is a semi permeable membrane. The dissolved concentrated CO2 then penetrates a leaf's surface area naturally, similar to how humans dissolve oxygen in their lungs into liquid bloodstreams.
Foliar spraying of dissolved nutrients and chemicals on plant leaves has been used for over 60 years by millions of indoor and outdoor growers. To date, outdoor growers have not had any way to enhance plant CO2 gas uptake for faster growth.
Indoor CO2 gassing has enhanced plant yields for over 60 years but 60% of the CO2 gas used is typically lost from ventilation. Current greenhouse CO2 gassing levels of up to 1500 PPM are not ideal for worker health and safety. GROW's safer CO2 Delivery Solutions can be used both indoors and outdoors with minimal dissolved CO2 gas lost and much greater CO2 plant availability resulting in higher plant yields than both CO2 gassing and no CO2 gassing plants.
Forward-Looking Statements This news release may contain forward-looking statements that are based on CO2 GRO's expectations, estimates and projections regarding its business and the economic environment in which it operates. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to control or predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements and readers should not place undue reliance on such statements. Statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update them publicly to reflect new information or the occurrence of future events or circumstances, unless otherwise required to do so by law.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
For more information, please visit www.co2gro.ca or contact Sam Kanes, VP Communications at 416-315-7477.
SOURCE: CO2GRO Inc.