Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
January 22, 2019
Calyxt, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLXT) a consumer-centric, food- and agriculture-focused company, announced today that it has contracted over 34,000 acres of its High Oleic Soybean with more than 100 farmers in the upper Midwest region including South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska. With this number of acres secured for 2019, the company has doubled the 17,000 acres planted in 2018.
“We are pleased that growers are seeing the value of planting Calyxt High Oleic Soybean,” said Jim Blome, CEO of Calyxt. “Not only are they receiving better revenues from additional premiums, but we have expanded seed company purchasing options and allowed them to be closer to the consumer through our Identity Preserved Program. These benefits position Calyxt as a strong partner for other global food brands who are looking to increase sustainability and traceability.”
Calyxt's Identity Preserved Program is a unique supply chain model that encompasses seed and grain production, processing of soybean and selling to food industry customers in order to deliver a high-quality, premium product to consumers. This allows food manufacturers to provide full traceability of ingredients in the brand to the county in which crop was grown, and potentially, even to the grower level in the future.
Calyxt growers collectively farm over 300,000 acres, with 40% of these acres producing soybean. It is estimated that 22% of the soybean planted will now be Calyxt High Oleic Soybean, increasing the average High Oleic Soybean acres per grower from 218 acres to 312 acres.
“Partnering with Calyxt as a grower has benefited my business in multiple ways,” said Kent Mettler, Calyxt Grower from Yankton County, SD. “Just last year, I entered into the South Dakota Soybean Association yield contest with 57 bushels per acre. I'm excited to see how my 2019 crop grows.”
Increase in total acreage can be attributed to the high retention rate of growers from 2018, with over 70% of growers returning to Calyxt's High Oleic Soybean program. These repeat growers have increased their acres committed in 2019 to Calyxt High Oleic Soybean by 42% versus last year.
“Calyxt has reached this important milestone within the first three months of launching its High Oleic Soybean program,” commented Manoj Sahoo, Calyxt's Chief Commercial Officer. “This shows that growers are embracing innovation and are excited to grow crops with healthier traits, a demand which consumers have been making at their grocery stores.”
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