MOREHEAD, Ky., Aug. 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — AppHarvest, Inc., a sustainable food company, public benefit corporation and Certified B Corp building some of the world’s largest high-tech indoor farms to grow affordable, nutritious fruits and vegetables at scale while providing good jobs in Appalachia, today announced its operating and financial results for the quarter ending June 30, 2022, showing continued improvements in core operations and progress to quadruple its farm network and diversify its produce offerings by the end of the year.
Second Quarter 2022 Results
For the second quarter 2022, net sales were $4.4 million on 6.0 million pounds of tomatoes sold with a net sales price of 72 cents per pound versus net sales of $3.1 million on 8.6 million pounds of tomatoes sold with a net sales price of 36 cents per pound in the second quarter of 2021.
That represents a nearly 40% increase in quarterly net sales year over year. The improvement was driven by a stronger overall market for tomato pricing, a more favorable mix of premium tomatoes, expanded product variety commanding higher prices, enhanced training and productivity improvements and a lower distribution fee percentage versus the second quarter 2021, which helped offset the reduced yield from the plant health issue discussed in the first quarter 2021 earnings call.
In the second quarter of 2022, the company recorded a net loss of $28.7 million and non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA loss of $17.9 million in line with expectations while the company continues to expect to rapidly expand its farm network, compared to a prior year net loss of $32.0 million and non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA loss of $22.6 million. See reconciliation of the non-GAAP measure at the end of this news release.
“Our food system remains broken, and continued food security issues, inflation and commodity price increases have only heightened interest in CEA as a more sustainable solution to decrease U.S. reliance on imported fruits and vegetable,” said AppHarvest Founder & CEO Jonathan Webb. “With the largest CEA build out in the U.S. supported in part by nondilutive capital such as our recently announced USDA-backed loans, we believe the company is well positioned to demonstrate the value of this approach to more sustainable agriculture.”
Operations
The company continued to drive improved operating metrics at Morehead in the second quarter of 2022, resulting in increased tomato quality, lower distribution fee percentage and enhanced labor productivity versus the same quarter last year.
“Our team’s continued focus on training, quality and execution drove significantly better results compared to the prior year, as our second quarter net sales rose nearly 40%,” said AppHarvest Chief Operating Officer Julie Nelson. “Our percentage of premium tomatoes has continued to improve, and our net sales price per pound doubled from the prior year, demonstrating our ability to successfully navigate the challenging inflationary environment. Recruitment efforts to ramp up staffing at our three new planned farms are robust, and we will apply lessons learned from Morehead to drive more productivity across our rapidly expanding farm network.”
Development
AppHarvest continued to show strong progress on its strategy to quadruple its number of farms by year-end and to diversify its produce portfolio to include salad greens and berries. The 15-acre Berea, Ky., salad greens facility is about 91% complete. The 60-acre Richmond, Ky., tomato facility is approximately 86% complete. A 30-acre Somerset, Ky., berry facility is approximately 84% complete.
The company continues to expect all three farms to be operational by year-end unless affected by supply-chain disruptions, and the net sales for the full-year 2022 outlook are adjusted to reflect current expected timing on initial commercial shipments from the new farms.
AppHarvest continues to make progress on its plans with Mastronardi Produce Ltd. to explore a FarmCo joint venture under which AppHarvest could benefit from a broader national footprint and additional network scale. The companies are in exclusive discussions with an institutional investor who has expressed interest in becoming a partner in FarmCo. While considerate due diligence and negotiation of terms is still outstanding, if a FarmCo transaction can be completed, it could have the benefit of securing additional capital for adding farm acreage.
AppHarvest secures $50 million USDA loan guarantee, one of largest ever supporting CEA
AppHarvest secured new sources of non-dilutive capital through two USDA loan guarantees announced August 1, totaling $50 million.
The arrangement guarantees loans from the Greater Nevada Credit Union that will help fund construction of AppHarvest’s 30-acre Somerset, Ky., high-tech indoor berry farm.
“The Biden-Harris administration is steadfastly committed to lessening the effects of climate change and improving domestic food security. The partnerships we have with AppHarvest further those commitments while helping to create well-paying jobs in rural Kentucky. Rural Development’s $50 million loan guarantee with AppHarvest will bring higher wages to rural Kentuckians and nutritious, locally grown food to America,” said Dr. Tom Carew, USDA Rural Development Kentucky State Director.
