Innovative Food Holdings, Inc. (IVFH) research, news, and more from GeoInvesting

Company description

Tue, 14 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Innovative Food Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides origin-specific perishables and specialty food products. It distributes approximately 7,300 perishable and specialty food products, including origin-specific seafood, domestic and imported meats, exotic game and poultry, artisanal cheeses, caviar, wild and cultivated mushrooms, micro-greens, heirloom and baby produce, organic farmed and manufactured food products, estate-bottled olive oils, and aged vinegars, as well as healthcare food products. The company serves restaurants, hotels, country clubs, national chain accounts, casinos, and catering houses. Innovative Food Holdings, Inc. is based in Naples, Florida.

Research

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 20:46:45 GMT

Innovative Food (OTCQB:IVFH) ($2.20; $112.4M market cap), announced Q4 and full year 2024 results:

Q4 Sales of $15.7 million vs $16.6 million in the prior year
Q4 Non-GAAP EPS of $0.01 vs a non-GAAP EPS of $0.00 in the prior year
Full year sales of $72.1 million vs $70.3 million in the prior year
Full year non-GAAP EPS of $0.04 vs $0.03 in the prior year

“We’re very pleased to see our new growth businesses and acquisitions begin to materialize this quarter and demonstrate the growth potential of the Company. We also continue to see strong growth with our new national distributor partner announced last Spring, triple-digit growth in our Amazon sales channel, double-digit growth in our airline catering business, and double-digit growth in our Chicago Artisan business. In fact, we are continuing to experience greater than 25% organic growth in the first quarter-to-date of 2025. We’re also thrilled to have recently announced in Q1 of 2025 that the large retail customer we on-boarded in 2024 has expanded their program with us, and that we won a first-class custom cheese program with an international airline, which represents a new line of business for us.”

Innovative Food Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides origin-specific perishables and specialty food products

Research

Fri, 25 Oct 2024 12:25:48 GMT

Innovative Food (OTCQB:IVFH) ($1.73; $86.0M market cap), announced the fulfillment of the largest purchase order in the Company’s history yesterday during the trading day. We issued the following alert:

Outlook comments from the release show an expectation that profits will expand in 2025:

As IVFH continues to ramp up production to serve its new retail partner, the Company expects substantial revenue growth throughout Q4 of 2024. Due to startup costs associated with the expansion, IVFH expects profits from this partnership to begin materializing in early 2025.

Bill Bennett, Chief Executive Officer of IVFH, commented, "This is an exciting time for our company as we expand into the retail market. The size and scale of this order speak to the tremendous opportunity ahead, and we are confident that our investments in people, infrastructure, and technology will continue to drive long-term value for our shareholders."

Innovative Food Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides origin-specific perishables and specialty food products

Research

Wed, 15 May 2024 17:57:14 GMT

Innovative Food (OTCQB:IVFH) ($0.93; $46.4M market cap), announced Q1 2024 results:

Sales of $15.7 million vs $16.6 million in the prior year
Non-GAAP EPS of $0.00 vs a non-GAAP loss of $0.01 in the prior year

“During the past twelve months as my tenure as CEO has progressed, my confidence in the opportunity that lies ahead for IVFH continues to increase. We have a solid foundation, a passionate and committed team, and an industry with tremendous long-term potential. We recognize the importance of maintaining a laser focus on our top priorities in a complex economic environment to create a robust, profitable, and sustainable business model. As we navigate the ever-changing landscape of the food industry, we believe in our ability to adapt, innovate, and capitalize on opportunities that will hopefully drive long-term shareholder value,”

IVFH is a specialty food company serving national chains.

Research

Mon, 15 Apr 2024 20:06:38 GMT

Innovative Food (OTCQB:IVFH) ($0.96; $47.8M market cap), announced a new partnership with Cheney Brothers, a southeast broadline distributor generating more than $3 billion in revenue, and one of the fastest growing distributors in the United States.

“This new contract is an exciting step forward in demonstrating the growth potential for IVFH. As we mentioned on our recent earnings call, we’ve been highly focused for months on opportunities to expand our profitable, asset-light drop-ship offering, and it’s great to see those efforts begin to bear fruit. Most importantly, this contract is evidence of our platform’s wide appeal, strong value proposition, and ease of deployment. As I’ve mentioned before, we are focused on developing many similar relationships, and will continue to announce them as they formalize. That said, we remain focused on execution, and are intent on ensuring we develop these opportunities to their fullest potential.”

See an investor pitch from research contributor Sebastian Krog that was published to GeoInvesting on March 19, 2024.

IVFH is a specialty food company.

Research

Tue, 19 Dec 2023 19:13:29 GMT

Innovative Food (OTCQB:IVFH) ($0.80; $39.1M market cap), a specialty food company, announced progress on its strategic plan that it believes will enable it to strengthen its financial performance. The 5 related updates were listed as follows

“...:

First, the Company has received and accepted an offer to purchase its building in Bonita Springs, FL. The sale is expected to close in approximately 60 days.
Second, the Company has listed its e-commerce fulfillment center in Mountain Top, PA for sale or lease through CBRE, a national commercial broker.
Third, the Company has entered into an agreement with Sampford Advisors Inc., a Technology M&A advisory firm, to run the process of exploring strategic alternatives for the Company’s e-commerce business.
Fourth, the Company has signed a letter of intent to sell its Grow Brand Management consulting business to the current manager of that entity. The deal is expected to close in the next 30-60 days.
Fifth, the Company has entered into an agreement to sell off its minority stake in a small ecommerce startup called Curdbox.com, and expected to close by the end of the year.

…”

The company’s CEO, Bill Bennet, reiterated the overall goal that the plan originally outlined, adding:

“As we progress through my first year with the company, it’s critical that we continue to make progress towards our ‘100/10 Plan’, by achieving our first $100 million in revenue and $10 million in adjusted EBITDA.”

—

Research

Thu, 10 Aug 2023 15:14:35 GMT

Innovative Food (OTCQB:IVFH) ($0.50; $24.8M market cap), a specialty food company, announced Q2 2023 results:

Sales of $18.8 million vs $20.5 million in the prior year
Non-GAAP EPS of $0.00 vs a non-GAAP loss of $0.03 in the prior year

“We also exit our second quarter with a dramatically reshaped balance sheet, enabled by the restructuring of our loans through Maple Mark bank, receiving a loan guarantee from the USDA, and receiving additional working capital from the USDA. As a result, we improved net working capital to a positive $4.5 million in the second quarter, compared to a deficit of $4.7 million in the prior quarter, an improvement in net working capital of over $9 million. As part of the transaction, Maple Mark has also increased our revolver by an additional $1 million. Due to the Company’s improved operations performance along with its restructured balance sheet, we believe that we now have adequate near-term liquidity to implement our business plan.”

Research

Tue, 16 May 2023 14:48:46 GMT

Innovative Food (OTCQB:IVFH) ($0.41; $19.9M market cap), a specialty food company, announced Q1 2023 results:

Sales of $17.0 million vs $15.6 million in the prior year
Non-GAAP loss of $0.01 vs a non-GAAP loss of $0.03 in the prior year

“I am pleased with the strong start to the year as we achieved record first-quarter revenue. The reopening of restaurants, hotels, and other travel related foodservice customers post-COVID has continued to provide us with a tailwind, enabling us to serve our customers and drive our business forward. As many of these positive trends are normalizing, we are focused on leveraging our recent success as a springboard to build a more resilient and adaptable business model, as evidenced by the year-over-year improvement in gross margin and reductions in SG&A expenses. Overall profitability during the quarter was impacted by approximately $1.9 million of one-time employee severance as a result of our recent leadership transition. Backing out these one-time expenses, our first quarter adjusted net loss would have improved by 49%, reflecting the third consecutive quarter of improved adjusted profitability.

Research

Tue, 04 Apr 2023 19:06:49 GMT

Innovative Food (OTCQB:IVFH) ($0.37; $17.6M market cap), a specialty food company, announced Q4 2022 results:

Sales of $23.9 million vs $20.9 million in the prior year
Non-GAAP EPS of $0.03 vs a EPS of $0.00 in the prior year

“I am pleased to report we produced our second consecutive profitable quarter as net income increased significantly from $9,746 for the 2022 third quarter to $1.1 million for the fourth quarter. We believe this reflects growing momentum within our business and the successful actions underway to scale revenue, drive efficiencies, and leverage fixed operating costs. The progress we made throughout 2022 is encouraging even as we made the difficult decisions to proactively reduce eCommerce sales by limiting digital marketing investments in response to higher customer acquisition costs and expanded privacy rules. In addition, gross margin during 2022 was impacted by revenue mix and inflationary pressures. Stabilizing gross margin is an important near-term initiative and we believe there are opportunities to offset inflationary trends...

...IVFH has a compelling platform and value proposition. I am excited by the opportunities to take the Company to the next level and create value for our shareholders,”

Consistent profitability and poor decisions by the previous CEO (botched acquisition & failed on-line strategy) have been the major issue with the IVFH story. We’ll track the new CEO’s ability to mitigate/manage these issues.

Research

Fri, 01 Apr 2022 15:23:57 GMT

Innovative Food (OTCQB:IVFH) ($0.35; $12.5M market cap), a specialty food company, announced Q4 2021 results:

Sales of $20.9 million vs $15.1 million in the prior year
Non-GAAP EPS of $0.00 vs a loss of $0.03 in the prior year

The results are via a 10K only, No press release has been issued yet. We need to read through filing to see if management offers any outlook for 2022.

Research

Tue, 25 May 2021 14:48:08 GMT

Innovative Food (OTCQB:IVFH) ($0.35; $12.5M market cap), a specialty food company announced Q1 2021 results:

Sales of $12.2 million vs $13.3 million in the prior year
Loss per share of $0.05 vs a loss of $0.09 in the prior year

Results are currently only via a 10-Q, while the press release has not crossed the wires yet. Here are some comments on the quarter from the 10-Q:

“The decrease in revenues is primarily attributable to a decrease in specialty foodservice revenues which was driven by the nationwide closures of restaurants and other foodservice establishments related to COVID-19. As more foodservice establishments and restaurants have re-opened we have experienced improving foodservice revenues, although revenues still remain below historical levels. The decline in specialty foodservice was partially offset with revenues increases mainly associated with e-commerce revenues. The increases in e-commerce revenues were driven by the Company’s ability to increase sales at its e-commerce properties and convert significant shifts in e-commerce specialty foods, supermarket trends, and e-commerce grocery trends, into e-commerce revenues.”

“We continue to assess the potential of new revenue sources from the manufacture and sale of proprietary food products, private label products and additional sales channel opportunities in both the foodservice and consumer space and will implement a strategy which based on our analysis provides the most beneficial opportunity for growth.”

Research

Fri, 16 Apr 2021 16:36:31 GMT

Innovative Food (OTCQB:IVFH) ($0.35; $12.6M market cap) a specialty food company announced Q4 2020 results:

Sales of $15.1 million vs $17.7 million in the prior year
Loss of $0.03 vs EPS of $0.01

The company has not issued the Q4 press release yet. However, in January the company issued a release disclosing record Q4 e-commerce orders.

Research

Thu, 28 Jan 2021 05:00:00 GMT

Innovative Food (OTCQB:IVFH) ($0.32; $10.9M market cap) a specialty food company, announced record Q4 e-commerce orders. Highlights from the release:

Fourth quarter e-commerce orders increased over 90% year-over-year to approximately $10.5 million from approximately $5.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Approximately 1.9 million website visitors in the 2020 fourth quarter, compared to approximately 1.0 million website visitors in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Approximately 1.0 million website visitors in the month of December 2020 alone, compared to approximately 0.5 million website visitors in the month of December 2019.

“We experienced strong e-commerce growth throughout 2020 and fourth quarter performance exceeded our expectations as e-commerce orders surged over 90% to a quarterly record of approximately $10.5 million. E-commerce momentum has accelerated as consumers have shifted to online purchasing. Furthermore, we have been able to drive and support record demand through the investments we have made in our e-commerce platform over the past two years and we achieved record orders, website visitors, and conversions across our e-commerce business. We believe we are very well-positioned for further growth in 2021 and beyond, as consumer trends continue to shift towards online purchasing and as we build upon our record fourth quarter e-commerce performance. In addition, we continue to see the acceleration of new e-commerce related market opportunities as the value of our e-commerce platform is unlocked and our momentum continues to build.”

On a side note, IVFH is one of longest tenured Run to One stocks, add to that list on September 4, 2013 at a price of $1.75

Research

Tue, 17 Nov 2020 19:21:17 GMT

Innovative Food Holdings Inc (OOTC:IVFH) (Specialty Foods) announced Q3 2020 results:

Sales of $11.2 million vs $13.4 million in the prior year
Loss of $0.05 vs $0.00 in the prior year

“The decrease in revenues is primarily attributable to a decrease in specialty food service revenues which was driven by the nationwide closures of restaurants and other foodservice establishments related to COVID-19.”

Research

Tue, 18 Aug 2020 04:00:00 GMT

Innovative Food Holdings Inc (OOTC:IVFH) (Specialty Foods) – announced Q2 2020 results:

Sales of $11.9 million vs $13.9 million in the prior year
Loss per share of $0.04 vs $0.01 in the prior year

“The COVID-19 crisis continues to have a meaningful impact on the specialty foodservice market. We are working hard to support our customers during this challenging period, and we believe we are strongly positioned to grow specialty food service revenues as economic conditions improve. Our direct-to-consumer e-commerce platform as well as our leading procurement and logistic capabilities allowed IVFH to quickly pivot resources and respond to the rapidly-changing market, which partially offset lower foodservice revenue during the quarter as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. We believe that IVFH’s leading multi-channel infrastructure and e-commerce-centric platform are uniquely positioned to offer our products directly to a growing customer base. In addition, we continue to accelerate compelling partnership opportunities with large, national retailers and other specialty food companies, leveraging years of experience working with corporate partners. Going forward, we are focused on continuing to leverage the positive momentum underway at IVFH and the multiple opportunities we have to expand e-commerce sales and bottom-line profitability.”

Research

Wed, 25 Mar 2020 17:40:41 GMT

Innovative Food (OTCQB:IVFH) ($0.32; $10.9M market cap) a specialty food company, provided a business update in response to Covid-19 pandemic.

“We are currently experiencing surging ecommerce sales at www.igourmet.com and www.mouth.com for a variety of specialty food categories including higher demand for themed food kits. Simultaneously, ecommerce sales have significantly accelerated for our specialty grocery products offered through our other online channels including www.amazon.com and www.walmart.com.”

Mr. Klepfish added: “Strong direct-to-consumer sales are partially offsetting reduced specialty foodservice distribution revenue experienced as a result of the affects the COVID-19 pandemic on the restaurant, travel and hospitality industries. Based on current information, we expect our cash balances on hand, plus availability under our existing credit line, to provide sufficient liquidity to manage the business, while supporting the surge in ecommerce demand. As part of our multi-channel distribution strategy, we have continued to expand our platform to serve evolving specialty food buying trends. We anticipate a continued shift towards ecommerce channels and our unique food distribution model has allowed us to quickly expand our ecommerce offerings, while seamlessly adjusting resources and products from our foodservice business to keep up with recent specialty grocery demands.”

Yesterday via tweet we mentioned that we were adding IVFH to the bucket of stocks that could possibly benefit from this crisis. See our latest weekly email for the full recap. In related news, a 13D/A filed today showed a slight increase in stake by Denver Smith, who increased his stake from 6.2% to 7.6%.

There is no doubt that part of IVFH's business will be negatively impacted by coronavirus because 84% of Is derived from servicing its direct to chef business in the restaurant and hospitality industry. It's good to see that the company will be able to partially offset some of this negative impact, but it's unclear how much the direct to home business will soften this blow.

Research

Thu, 15 Aug 2019 17:27:29 GMT

Innovative Food (OTCQB:IVFH) ($0.55; $18.6M market cap) a speciality food company announced Q2 2019 results:

Sales of $13.9 million vs $11.9 million in the prior year
Non-GAAP EPS of $0.01 vs $0.01 in the prior year

“IVFH experienced strong growth across both our specialty foodservice and e-commerce channels during the 2019 second quarter, reflecting increasing customer awareness of our product offerings, as well as successfully leveraging the resources of our interconnected platform. Our continued emphasis on providing customers with new, exciting, and unique products that reflect the latest food trends helped drive strong second quarter results...

...IVFH’s focus on unique specialty foods supports growing consumer preferences to smaller, high-quality, digitally-driven suppliers. As a result, we are experiencing higher levels of demand and interest from current and potential customers. I am excited by our growth opportunities for the remainder of 2019 and beyond,” concluded. Mr. Klepfish.

Research

Tue, 21 May 2019 15:19:19 GMT

Innovative Food (OTCQB:IVFH) ($0.59; $21.5M market cap) a speciality food company, announced Q1 2019 results:

Sales of $12.8 million vs $10.9 million in the prior year
Non-GAAP EPS of $0.01 vs $0.01 in the prior year

"As we stated last quarter, we are investing in our platform to support and accelerate current growth opportunities. We expanded our team, enhanced our IT infrastructure, and incurred additional costs associated with iGourmet and Mouth, which increased SG&A expenses in the first quarter. While additional investments are needed, especially as we begin to focus on the seasonally strong fourth quarter, we believe we can leverage SG&A expenses in the future as investments stabilize and revenues continue to scale. In addition, we are working to improve efficiencies across all our businesses. Also impacting overall profitability compared to 2018, was the decline in revenues from our national brand category. We are working on initiatives to turn around this high margin business over the coming quarters. Overall, I am pleased with our first quarter results and the direction we are headed to reach our goal of increasing long-term shareholder value.”

Our Q4 update conveyed that we have more confidence in the CEO’s path to growth, but still believe investing in IVFH will require patience, as investors are still hesitant from past failed acquisitions like the one previously consummated with Fresh Diet.

Research

Thu, 18 Apr 2019 14:29:15 GMT

Innovative Food (OTCQB:IVFH) ($0.55; $18.5M market cap) a speciality food company, announced Q4 2018 results, which we covered in yesterday’s email. At the time of our morning email the company had only filed its 10-K. Shortly after the open yesterday, IVFH issued its press release for the 2018 results. We wanted to highlight some of the comments from management, specifically management’s plans to increase its investor relations efforts after years of little investor outreach.

“Our business strategy leverages the experience, relationships and scale of our core foodservice business, which allows us to identify disruptive opportunities across the food industry. As a result, we have developed a diversified data driven business strategy focused on expanding e-commerce opportunities that resonate with our customers. We believe these additional channels and go-to-market approaches are highly synergistic to our overall business, diversify our revenue mix, and can drive rapid and profitable revenue growth. I am pleased with the initial success we have experienced in 2018 as e-commerce sales represented 17% of total revenue in 2018, compared to 1% of total revenue in 2017. Specialty food e-commerce is both a key component of our platform and an important driver of our growth plans and I am encouraged by the strong momentum underway in this channel.

I appreciate our shareholders’ patience through this period of investment and transformation. Across our organization our highly talented and expanded team has been working extremely hard to build unique, well positioned, and compelling direct-to-chef and direct-to-consumer businesses as well as working towards the launch of our line of high-quality branded specialty food products. 2018’s results reflect the initial foundation of the expanded platform we have created, and we believe we are well positioned for long-term sustainable growth. Now that we have accomplished key components of our business transformation, we plan on expanding our engagement with investors and I look forward to significantly increased investor interaction as the year progresses.”

As we mentioned in yesterday’s note, the majority of the sales increase came from the Innovative Gourmet acquisition. The legacy business is not growing much, however the Innovative Gourmet is pushing the growth on the E-Commerce side as well as giving a boost to the legacy direct to chef business.

We have more confidence in the CEO’s path to growth now than we’ve had before, but still believe investing in IVFH will require patience as investors are still hesitant from past failed acquisitions like Fresh Diet. Seasonality will remain as a hurdle, as a large part of Innovative Gourmet’s business comes in Q4.

Research

Wed, 17 Apr 2019 04:00:00 GMT

Innovative Food (OTCQB:IVFH) ($0.50; $16.8M market cap),a speciality food company, announced Q4 2018 results: (results via 10k only thus far)

Sales of $18.0 million vs $10.8 million in the prior year
EPS of $0.02 vs $0.04 in the prior year

Strong organic growth and recent acquisitions continue to boost top line results, but Q4 represents another quarter where the bottom line was down year over year. Q4 sales were boosted by the Innovative Gourmet acquisition which is highly seasonal and fueled more than 40% of the company’s revenues in the fourth quarter. The EPS results over the last few quarters have been uninspiring the company continues to integrate acquisitions into its operations. It's good to see that the company has been able to maintain profitability through this process. While the next litmus test will be the company’s ability to start growing its earnings as sales, we’re also going to be keeping an eye integration costs in Q4 2018 and any more costs going forward in 2019.

Research

Thu, 27 Dec 2018 15:46:26 GMT

** Notable Filing

Innovative Food Ho (OOTC:IVFH) - A 13D/A was filed in IVFH by JCP Investment Partnership, who took their position in the company from 1,712,233 shares (as was last disclosed in early December) to 2,040,445 shares. We are long the company, will continue to keep our eye on the name and you can view our past coverage of IVFH here.

Research

Thu, 15 Nov 2018 15:59:44 GMT

Innovative Food (OTCQB:IVFH) ($0.62; $20.9M market cap),a speciality food company, announced Q3 2018 results:

Sales of $12.0 million vs $10.5 million in the prior year
EPS of $0.01 vs $0.05 in the prior year

“Third quarter financial results reflected strong sales growth at Innovative Gourmet and a continuation of specialty foodservice sales trends we experienced for the first half of 2017. We currently expect specialty foodservice sales trends will remain stable for the remainder of 2018. It is important to note that for several years we have made significant progress building and scaling our leading “plug and play” specialty foodservice platform. We continue to believe that there is a significant opportunity to further expand and leverage this platform across several sales channels and we are aggressively pursuing multiple opportunities.”

IVFH’s poor bottom line performance is likely the result of the negative contribution from its recent I-Gourmet acquisition still being integrated into the business. Overall, we are slightly disappointed in the direction management has taken the Company in the near-term, off the heels of a poorly executed acquisition it shuttered in 2016. Investors might view the next few quarters as key indicators of whether or not recent acquisitions will begin to positively impact profitability. The Innovative Gourmet acquisition is a highly seasonal business with more than 40% of its revenues typically recorded in Q4.

Research

Wed, 15 Aug 2018 14:41:12 GMT

GBR Innovative Food (OTCQB:IVFH) ($0.74; $25.0M market cap) is a speciality food company announced Q2 2018 results:

Sales of $11.9 million vs $$10.5 million in the prior year
Non-GAAP EPS of $0.01 vs $0.05 in the prior year

“We remain strongly optimistic in regard to future opportunities within the specialty food space. We intend to continue to focus on expanding Innovative Food Holdings’ capabilities through both internal investments in our platforms and through synergistic acquisition opportunities which have the potential to add significant value to our multifaceted specialty food platform. We believe that this strategy provides significant growth opportunities for Innovative Food Holdings. We will continue to focus on executing on those opportunities with a goal of building value for all Innovative Food Holdings shareholders.”

We are somewhat disappointed in the bottom line performance for the quarter. We understand that management is integrating a recent acquisition into its operations which will require short term capex and expenses to complete integration. Given the company’s track record of poor execution on past acquisitions, we are not quite sure how investors will react to this quarter and if they will put confidence in management commentary that bottom line growth should start to reemerge as we exit 2018. The good news is that the company is still growing its revenue.

Research

Mon, 21 May 2018 15:02:42 GMT

Looking to possibly add IVFH and FCCG to round out our ‘Buy on Pullback’ Mock Portfolio 7.0

Innovative Food (OTCQB:IVFH) ($0.81; $27.3M market cap) is a speciality food company whose shares have pulled back on its recent Q1 2018 results. Non-GAAP EPS was $0.02 vs $0.03 in same quarter last year as management attempts to integrate its recent acquisition of Innovative Gourmet.

We need to interview management to determine if they can achieve near term profitability with Innovative Gourmet. Investors should be cautious due to the failure of the Fresh Diet acquisition in 2014.

Research

Wed, 16 May 2018 14:44:28 GMT

GBR Innovative Food (OTCQB:IVFH) ($0.90; $30.3M market cap), a speciality food company announced Q1 2018 results:

Sales of $10.9 million vs $$9.5 million in the prior year
Non-GAAP EPS of $0.02 vs $0.03 in the prior year

The quarter was hurt by some one time costs associated with a recent acquisition. Once the acquired company is integrated into the company, we think EPS growth will resume. Here is a link to an article that gives a good overview on IVFH and its value proposition. We hope that with a P/E of around 5, downside will be limited.

Quotes from management:

“Our financial results for the first quarter reflect planned investments in digital transformation, personnel and other areas of our specialty foodservice business. Revenues were also impacted by inclement weather in the first quarter and by pricing strategies targeted at gaining market share and increasing the number of our end users of our specialty foodservice programs.”

Mr. Klepfish continued, “With respect to our recent acquisition completed in the first quarter, Innovative Gourmet’s first quarter revenues exceeded our expectations, including an approximate 30% year over year increase in revenues for the month of March. Furthermore, we are excited to have initiated the leveraging of certain key operational and sales synergies between Innovative Gourmet and other IVFH subsidiaries. Along those lines, we are pleased to announce that in May, we launched, together with our foodservice partner, a new regional specialty foodservice program. The program offers a full line of both dry and perishable specialty foodservice products to chefs and other foodservice customers in the Pennsylvania area directly from Innovative Gourmet’s warehouse.”

Research

Mon, 02 Apr 2018 14:49:40 GMT

GBR Innovative Food (OTCQB:IVFH) ($1.06; $34.5M market cap), a speciality food company, announced Q4 2017 results (results were released during the trading day on Friday):

Sales of $10.75 million vs $9.75 in the prior year period
Non-GAAP EPS of $0.04 vs $0.04 in the prior year period

Quotes from management:

“Our record full year financial results reflect the overall strength of our business in 2017. We enter 2018 with record 2017 GAAP fully diluted EPS, a strong balance sheet, and a simplified cap table including the complete elimination of warrants and convertible notes. I believe that these financial results represent important milestones for Innovative Food Holdings and I would like to take the opportunity to recognize our team for their extraordinary efforts towards accomplishing these goals.”

Mr. Klepfish concluded “We believe that Innovative Food Holdings is uniquely positioned to capitalize on significant changes occurring across multiple market segments within the food space. Our focus for 2018 is to continue to execute on those opportunities with the goal of driving long term top and bottom line growth and growing future value for all shareholders.”

Research

Wed, 31 Jan 2018 18:26:34 GMT

GBR Innovative Food (OTCQB:IVFH) ($1.06; $34.5M market cap), a speciality food company, announced that it acquired substantially all of the assets and certain liabilities ofiGourmet LLC and iGourmet NY LLC.

The acquisition was announced in an 8K filing, and IVFH issued a press release this morning. The 8K fails to include disclosure regarding iGourmet LLC’s financials.

The purchase price consists of a total of $1.7m in liabilities that Innovative Food Holding has to assume, and IVFH will advance iGourmet a small bridge loan of $325,000. The release also mentions the potential assumption of $2.3m of certain debt under certain circumstances, but fails to elaborate under which circumstances this becomes applicable.

There will also be an additional purchase price consideration payable dependent on iGourmet’s performance, which gives us a hint at iGourmet’s financial potential. The additional purchase price consideration is based in iGourmet’s EBITDA, 25% payable in cash, 37.5% IVFH stock valued at currently prevailing prices, and 37.5% in either IVFH stock at future prevailing prices or cash, at the time when the earn out becomes applicable.

With an EBITDA of $5.25m in the last twelve months for IVFH, the earn out seems to indicate that this acquisition could be quite significant.

The verbiage in the press release hints that iGourmet is currently unprofitable, but has a lot of underutilized capacity and opportunities for synergies with 19,000 square feet of underutilized space available in the igourmet 65,000 square foot warehouse

“We plan on working closely with the igourmet team towards quickly driving bottom line profitability through operational efficiencies, cross-company synergies and margin improvement,” explained Justin Wiernasz, President of Innovative Food Holdings.

“We believe this acquisition provides Innovative Food Holdings with both near term and long term revenue and bottom line opportunities, in several key specialty food market areas.”

GB Meritage Hospitality Grp (OTCQX:MHGU) ($20.79; $126.9M market cap), a restaurant operator announced the acquisition of 38 Wendy’s restaurants in Connecticut and Massachusetts. The Company expects the 38 restaurants acquired to add approximately $75.0 million in annual sales and be accretive to earnings going forward.

“We are inspired by the opportunity to welcome new employees and guests into our newly acquired 38 Wendy’s restaurants in Connecticut and Massachusetts. We intend to immediately integrate each of restaurants into our customized predictive operating and financial suite, followed by an extensive remodeling program designed to modernize the Wendy’s restaurants and enhance the overall guest experience. The acquisition is consistent with the Company’s 5-year growth plan to expand our operating base up to 400 Wendy’s and 20 casual dining restaurants,” stated Chief Executive Officer, Robert Schermer, Jr.

Research

Thu, 21 Dec 2017 18:49:26 GMT

GBR Innovative Food (OTCQB:IVFH) ($1.25; $40.7M market cap), a speciality food company strengthened its executive team with appointment of Michael Fabrico as CIO.

“Mike’s formidable background as a highly regarded senior executive at successful organizations, combined with his demonstrated track record of driving innovation, and leading digital transformation and getting results, provides a key addition to the Innovative Food Holdings team,” said Sam Klepfish, CEO of Innovative Food Holdings. See more...

Research

Fri, 01 Dec 2017 18:39:33 GMT

GBR Innovative Food (OTCQB:IVFH) ($1.24; $40.4M market cap), a speciality food company, announced on November 30, 2017 that Nathaniel Klein has been appointed to the Board of the Directors. The Company stated:

“We are very excited to add Nathaniel Klein to the Board,” said Sam Klepfish, Chief Executive Officer of Innovative Food Holdings. “We believe that Nathaniel’s extensive private equity background and his data driven approach towards growing companies to the next level with a focus on unlocking shareholder value, are valuable resources for the Board of Directors of Innovative Food Holdings. We expect he will provide significant opportunities to build additional value for all Innovative Food Holdings shareholders.”

Mr Klein commented:

“Innovative Food Holdings is well positioned—financially and strategically—to take advantage of the considerable growth opportunities in the specialty food sector,” commented Mr. Klein. “It is an exciting time to be joining the Board of IVFH, which contains the critical attributes to create significant shareholder value. I have tremendous respect for the management team and Board, and I look forward to working with them.”

Research

Tue, 14 Nov 2017 15:45:13 GMT

GBR Innovative Food Ho (OTCQB:IVFH) ($0.95; $29.9 market cap), a speciality food company, announced Q3 2017 results:

Sales of $10.5 million vs $9.1 million in the prior year
Non-GAAP EPS of 0.05 vs $0.04 in the prior year

Quotes from management:

“There are significant changes occurring within the food space and we believe that the Innovative Food Holdings business model provides significant opportunities to capitalize on those changes. We will continue to focus on growing our core sales channels, and at the same time we continue to asses and aggressively pursue new synergistic market opportunities.

We ended the third quarter of 2017 with a simplified capital structure, a strong balance sheet including a strong cash position, and full availability of our commercial line of credit. Given the strength of our core business as well as our strong financial position, and the multitude of potential opportunities within the rapidly changing food space, we continue to believe that Innovative Food Holdings’ shares are undervalued and we will continue to focus on driving future value for all shareholders.”

Research

Wed, 18 Oct 2017 15:50:59 GMT

IVFH ($0.98) - Speciality food product provider IVFH reached exactly $1.00 per share in yesterday’s trading session. In IVFH’s case, it was recapturing this threshold as shares had reached much higher levels in its early tenure as a Run to One stock (late 2013 to 2015). Back then, after its first bid for and eclipse of $1.00, shares tumbled as a failed acquisition (Fresh Diet) hampered the Company’s growth and profitability. Since divesting of the Fresh Diet business, IVFH has been reporting solid earnings. Shares have climbed back from a low of $0.39 in late 2016 and built on bullish momentum to yesterday’s precipice. You can see our full coverage on IVFH here.

Research

Fri, 25 Aug 2017 14:50:20 GMT

IVFH ($0.82) - Speaking of our Run to One Mock Portfolio, shares of IVFH have been trying to make a push back to the $1 level. Shares closed at a new 52 week high of $0.82 in yesterday’s trading session. The company has now posted 6 straight quarters of top and bottom line growth since the sale of the failed Fresh Diet acquistion. With trailing twelve month non-GAAP EPS of $0.16, we believe shares are still undervalued even at a discounted P/E of 10. Normally we would assign a TTM P/E of 20 to 25 for a Company which is growing at a healthy clip. However, due to the botched Fresh Diet acquisition and customer concentration risks we have mentioned before, we believe a TTM P/E of 10 to 15 is a fair discount, equating to $1.60 to $2.40 at those multiples.

Research

Tue, 15 Aug 2017 14:35:24 GMT

GBR $IVFH ($0.70) announced Q2 2017 results:

Sales of $10.5 million vs $8.3 million in the prior year
Non-GAAP EPS of $0.05 vs non-GAAP EPS of $0.03 in the prior year

Quotes from management:

"We are pleased by our strong financial results for the 2nd quarter and for the first six months of 2017, which included both record revenues and profits as our team continued to execute across multiple sales channels. We will continue to focus on driving top and bottom line growth in existing sales channels and within new, synergistic sales channels.

We believe that Innovative Food shares are undervalued, and that going forward, the strength of our financial results and business model, combined with our strong balance sheet and streamlined capital structure, provide significant opportunities for unlocking shareholder value for all Innovative Food Holdings shareholders."

Research

Thu, 20 Jul 2017 15:12:49 GMT

IVFH ($0.62) - A new 13D/A filed yesterday shows a slight increase in stake by 73114 Investments and Youth Properties, LLC. The group of investors added 183,000 shares from July 13 to July 18, 2017.

Deal Flow

Fri, 23 Jun 2017 11:58:26 GMT

BONITA SPRINGS, FL--(Marketwired - Jun 22, 2017) - Innovative Food Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: IVFH) announced today that it has reached an agreement with its largest institutional investor in which 2.51 million warrants have been exchanged for 250,000 shares of the company's common stock.

As a direct result of this transaction, potential dilutive securities of Innovative Food Holdings have been reduced by over 2.2 million shares.
Sam Klepfish, CEO of Innovative Food Holdings commented, "Given Innovative Food Holdings' recent strong financial results and its unique position within the rapidly growing specialty food space we continue to believe that Innovative Food Holdings' shares are significantly undervalued. Accordingly, we are extremely pleased to have been able to reduce potential share dilution at these price levels. Furthermore, we believe that this transaction is a key step towards streamlining our capital structure, increasing IVFH investor visibility and unlocking IVFH shareholder value."

Comments & Business Outlook

Tue, 16 May 2017 15:30:41 GMT

IVFH ($0.57) announced Q1 2017 results:

Sales of $9.4 million vs $8.0 million in the prior year
Non-GAAP EPS of $0.03 vs non-GAAP EPS of $0.02 in the prior year

Quotes from management:

"We are very pleased with our first quarter results which reflect our focus on driving both revenue and bottom line growth. At the same time, we continued to prudently position the Company to capitalize on additional short term and long term revenue opportunities within the specialty food space. In addition, we continue to take tangible actions towards minimizing shareholder dilution and towards streamlining our capital structure.

We strongly believe that these tangible actions, combined with strong financial results and capitalizing on future specialty food opportunities are key elements towards achieving our goal of increasing value for all Innovative Food Holdings shareholders."

Research

Fri, 05 May 2017 14:27:33 GMT

IVFH ($0.58) - Yesterday, a group of investors collectively filed a 13D disclosing a 7.1.% stake in IVFH. The purpose of transaction indicated that the investors will pursue some changes with the Company:

“The Reporting Persons acquired their positions in the Shares in the belief that the Shares were undervalued. The Reporting Persons have recently held, and intend on continuing to have discussions with representatives of the Issuer’s management and board of directors relating to capital allocation policies, executive and board member compensation practices, corporate governance, and capital structure. The Reporting Persons may also seek shareholder board representation and to discuss the size and composition of the board.”

Please note our premium tweet yesterday showed only shares held by one of the investors, Denver Smith who has a 6% stake.

Research

Fri, 31 Mar 2017 17:33:20 GMT

IVFH ($0.50) reported Q4 2016 results:

Sales of $9.7 million vs $8.4 million in the prior year
Non-GAAP EPS $0.05 vs $0.03

Quotes from management:

“Going forward, we believe that the specialty food market continues to remain poised for continued growth, as consumer demand shifts towards higher quality specialty food products resulting in potentially significant overall market opportunities across multiple markets, including specialty foodservice. We believe Innovative Food Holdings is uniquely positioned for 2017 and beyond, and we look forward to executing on multiple specialty food market opportunities and to delivering significant value to our shareholders."

We had a chance to listen to the conference call. Although the overall tone of the call was very bullish, we urge interested investors to listen to the Q&A section, where management and a few shareholders had a heated exchange regarding a small non-material acquisition made earlier in the year and management’s use of capital.

Shares are now trading at a TTM non-GAAP P/E multiple of 3.4 (fully taxed TTM P/E of 5). There a few reasons why shares are trading at such a depressed multiple:

Management's recent botch of the Fresh Diet acquistion
Customer concentration risk
We are still verifying the fully diluted share count. (We currently estimated it to be 38 million)

Normally we would give a company that is growing its sales and earnings at a good clip a trailing P/E of 20 to 25. Considering the above concerns, we have discounted our multiple to 10 to 15 on fully taxed non-gaap EPS of $0.09, equating to a stock price range of $0.90 to $1.35, with upside if investors become more comfortable with management. While we expect there may potentially be some selling pressure from disgruntled shareholders (whose concerns we do not totally disagree with) we may add some trading shares around our core position.

It is worth noting that IVFH has nearly $13.2 million in NOL’s (net operating losses), so the company will likely not need to pay taxes for 2 to 3 years. More aggressive investors may value the company on non-taxed numbers.

Research

Tue, 15 Nov 2016 18:29:40 GMT

IVFH ($0.39) reported Q3 2016 results and continues to make progress after the sale of failed acquisition (Fresh Diet) on February 29, 2016 back to its original owners.

Sales of $9.1 million vs $8.0 million in the prior year
EPS of $0.03 vs a loss of $0.01 in the prior year

Quotes from management:

"We are very pleased with the financial results generated by our chef driven specialty food platform, which included record revenues, record GAAP Net Income, record GAAP EPS and record Cash EBITDA for the third quarter. As demonstrated by our financial results, Innovative Food Holdings continues to see increased demand for its specialty food platform offerings and we believe that we are uniquely positioned to take advantage of key trends occurring within the rapidly growing specialty food market."

Comments & Business Outlook

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 17:45:48 GMT

IVFH ($0.48) reported Q2 2016results:

Sales of $8.3 million vs $7.6 million in the prior year
EPS of $0.02 vs $0.005 in the prior year

Quotes from management:

"We are pleased that we were able to drive record top and bottom line results. As we enter the second half of 2016 we will continue to focus on driving sustainable sales and profitability growth, and towards increasing inherent value for IVFH shareholders."

Research

Tue, 17 May 2016 17:57:55 GMT

IVFH ($0.43) reportedQ1 2016 results:

Sales of $8.0 million vs $6.5 million in the prior year

Non-GAAP EPS of $0.02 vs $0.01 in the prior year

Q1 2016 results seem to be continuing the positive trends established in Q4 2015. It may take investors time to realize that IVFH is back to what seems to be a growing and profitable company. At current prices, we have to agree with management that the stock price does not adequately reflect the value of the Company.

Quotes from management:

"We reported record sales in the first quarter of 2016 and strong bottom line results, including $0.015 fully diluted GAAP EPS, as our business continues to gain momentum. In addition, Innovative Food Holdings is a leader in the direct to chef specialty food space with a highly profitable, highly scalable direct to chef specialty food platform. We strongly believe that the current stock price does not adequately reflect the potential of our business and our position within the fast growing specialty food sector. We look forward to continuing to focus on growing top and bottom line results with a goal of driving increased value for Innovative Food Holdings' shareholders."

In our May 9, 2016 earnings preview email we stated:

After a long ordeal with its failed acquisition of Fresh Diet, IVFH finally sold off Fresh Diet on February 29, 2016. IVFH’s Q4 2015 financial results, which did not include the Fresh Diet operation showed, that IVHF’s core business is doing just fine. We feel if the Company can continue to build upon its Q4 results which saw revenues grow to $8.4 million from $6.8 million and EPS double to $0.02, investors may once again begin to value IVFH on its core profitable business.

Research

Mon, 09 May 2016 15:04:28 GMT

IVFH ($0.39) – After a long ordeal with its failed acquisition of Fresh Diet, IVFH finally sold off Fresh Diet on February 29, 2016. IVFH’s Q4 2015financial results, which did not include the Fresh Diet operation showed, that IVHF’s core business is doing just fine. We feel if the Company can continue to build upon its Q4 results which saw revenues grow to $8.4 million from $6.8 million and EPS double to $0.02, investors may once again begin to value IVFH on its core profitable business.

Research

Thu, 31 Mar 2016 13:51:52 GMT

May Look To Add To Our Long Position In IVFH

IVFH ($0.48) reported Q4 2015 results:

Sales of $8.4 million vs $6.8 million in the prior year
Adjusted net income of $803k vs $240K in the prior year
Non-GAAP EPS of $0.02 vs $0.01 in the prior year

Shares of IVFH have fallen dramatically over the past few months as it became evident that management's efforts to turnaround the operations of Fresh Diet acquired in August 2014 could not be accomplished. Fresh Diet is a nationwide leader in freshly prepared gourmet specialty meals. This lack of progress resulted in IVFH reporting losses since the acquisition, which masked the strong growth of its core Direct to Chef business. On February 29, 2016 the company announced that it reached an agreement to sell Fresh Diet. Q4 2015 financial results do not include the Fresh Diet operation and shows that IVHF’s core business is doing just fine. We think investors will eventually see this and bid shares up again as we move through 2016 (provided the company continues to grow its core business).

It seems with the failed Fresh Diet experiment mainly behind them, IVFH was able to get back on track of reporting profitability. Quotes from management:

"We saw strong results from continuing operations in 2015 and particularly strong results in the fourth quarter of 2015 as our specialty food business continued to gain momentum through the end of the year. We believe that we have successfully overcome significant challenges in 2015 and going forward we are looking to relentlessly focus on growing our core specialty food business. Looking at 2016, we believe that we are well positioned to continue to grow our leading specialty food platform, to executing on core growth opportunities within the specialty food space, and to growing value for Innovative Food Holdings' shareholders."

Research

Tue, 01 Mar 2016 15:44:12 GMT

IVFH ($0.47) completed the sale of of Fresh Diet. On February 16 we stated that IVFH had plans to sell Fresh Diet rather than spin-off its majority stake in the company. In a 8k filed last night, IVFH states it has closed the sale of 90% of its ownership stake in Fresh Diet. The company provided pro-forma condensed combined financial information which we have begun to analyze. The first notable item is that IVFH has gone from a stockholder deficit of $3.1 million to shareholder equity of $1.5 million after factoring in the de-consolidation. Another positive is that pro-forma net income per share for nine months ended September 30, 2015 goes from a loss of $0.32 to breakeven.

While this is certainly a positive development for the Company, it is unclear how much FD debt and related interest expense burden has been assumed by the company . There is no doubt that the 2014 acquisition of FD was a disaster, especially taking into the account that IVFH diluted shareholder interest by 50% to fund the acquisition and ensuing operations of FD. Luckily, IVHF is left with a proven core business that is getting stronger.

Quotes from management:

Mr. Klepfish continued, "We now enter a new chapter for Innovative Food Holdings. We strongly believe in the strength of our core specialty food business which continues to set record sales and continues to drive bottom line growth. We have a great team of foodservice professionals on the specialty food side of the business who have continued to execute flawlessly over the last several years, including, specifically the last 18 months. We are focused on growing the business even further and to providing value for Innovative Food Holdings' shareholders. In addition, we are pleased to announce that we had record revenues from our core chef business in FY 2015."

Mr. Klepfish concluded, "We continue to believe that our shares are undervalued, therefore, as previously disclosed, we have allocated up to $1 million for a stock repurchase program. We intend to begin implementing this buyback upon reporting our FY 2015 financial information at the end of March, and throughout 2016 as market conditions permit."

Research

Tue, 16 Feb 2016 15:45:16 GMT

IVFH – Plans to sell rather than spin-off majority stake of The Fresh Diet

IVFHacquired The Fresh Diet (“FD”) in August 2014. The purchase price consisted of 10.0 million shares of the company’s common stock valued at $14.0 million and the assumption of a majority of FD’s current liabilities consisting of $3.8 million deferred revenue, $2.1 million short term commercial loans and other liabilities for routine business expenses. In addition, there were interest free loans of approximately $2.2 million to former FD shareholders.

In November 2015, the company announced its intention tospin-off FD as a separate public company. IVFH was to retain 10% to 19.9% of FD and distribute 70% to 85% of the FD shares to IVFH shareholders. The financial backing for the planned spin-off was detailed in an8-K filing regarding a term sheet the company entered with an institutional investor who agreed to provide, subject to certain conditions, $1.0 million direct funding to FD. At the time of the filing, the company had received $342,000 and expected to receive the balance within 30 days following execution of a definitive purchase agreement.

An8-K filing on February 12, 2016, disclosed that subsequent to the announcement regarding the proposed spinoff, discussions were initiated by several interested parties regarding the possible acquisition of FD. Management determined that one of the offers was the most likely way to maximize value for IVFH shareholders and, on February 9, 2016, entered a letter of intent to sell a controlling interest in FD. The company contemplates closing the transaction within 21 days. Upon closing, IVFH will hold a non-controlling interest in FD and carry the investment as an asset on its balance sheet.

Our take on this story is that the acquisition of FD clearly did not work out as expected. It became far more difficult of management to guide FD to profitability than anticipated. FD’s operating losses, unsustainable drain on cash flows, and distraction from IVFH’s growing and consistently profitable direct to chef business is compelling the company to dispose of its majority stake in FD.

Although the terms of the proposed sale of the company’s majority stake in FD have not been disclosed, we anticipate the buyer will assume FD’s debt and other liabilities. There will no doubt be adjustments to the carrying values of goodwill and other intangible assets, and FD’s liabilities that will materially impact the IVFH’s financial statements in Q1 2016. In the short term, uncertainties concerning the ultimate disposition of FD and its impact on IVFH’s financial statements could serve as a drag on the share price until investors have clarity. We believe, however, that once the dust settles that IVFH and its shareholders will benefit from the sale of FD. IVFH should come out the other side of the FD experience a more focused and profitable company.

Here is a look at actual Q3 2015 financial results and what our modeling suggest results would of looked like excluding FD.

Acutal:

Sales of $12.1 million
Net loss of $0.13

Without FD:

Sales of $7.6 million

EPS of $0.01

Comments & Business Outlook

Thu, 10 Dec 2015 17:16:30 GMT

BONITA SPRINGS, FL--(Marketwired - Dec 9, 2015) - Artisan Specialty Foods, a nationwide specialty food distributer, re-packer and importer and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Innovative Food Holdings (OTCQB: IVFH), has launched its new 28,000 sf. distribution facility in Broadview, Illinois.

The Broadview facility was purchased in July 2015 and built out to meet Artisan's custom specifications. Its central location and large size enables Artisan to better serve its customers in Metro Chicago and the surrounding areas. The greater capacity also allows the company to introduce a wider range of products that are repacked or private labeled, and allows for growth in stocked inventory for all products, including products sold nationally. The successful launch and integration of this facility enables Artisan, as well as other Innovative Food Holdings subsidiaries, to better serve a fast-growing customer base.

"The new customized build out, integration and warehouse transition to this new facility went seamlessly due to the hard work of our talented and dedicated team at Artisan Specialty foods," said Justin Wiernasz, president of Innovative Food Holdings. "We continue to see strength in the Artisan business and expect this distribution facility to help drive growth with our current local chefs and customers, and to also help facilitate further national sales growth across Innovative Foods' subsidiaries."

Mr. Wiernasz continued, "This facility also provides the opportunity to service the growing number of chefs in the Greater Chicago area that are seeking artisanal specialty and local, farm-to-table products. Furthermore, I expect that this expansion of Artisan Specialty's capabilities and offerings will open the door for the growth of Artisan's unique business model into additional specialty food verticals and markets."

Comments & Business Outlook

Tue, 17 Nov 2015 18:26:40 GMT

IVFH ($0.85) reported Q3 2015 results:

Sales of $12.1 million vs $8.7 million in the prior year period
Net loss of $0.13 vs a net loss of $0.08 in the prior year
Announced planned spin-off of The Fresh Diet; See our recap of this development here.
Direct to Chef segment (the remaining operating entity for IVFH) reported adjusted earnings of $0.03 vs $0.07 on 22.8 million and 9.3 million shares outstanding, respectively.

Quotes from management:

“As recently announced, we plan to spin-off The Fresh Diet as a separate public company in 2016, which will enable us to focus on our strong, cash flow generating, direct-to-chef business. We believe that two distinct, segment-focused companies will more effectively drive growth in shareholder value and command a more appropriate valuation from the capital markets."

Comments & Business Outlook

Thu, 12 Nov 2015 16:49:59 GMT

BONITA SPRINGS, FL--(Marketwired - Nov 12, 2015) - Innovative Food Holdings Inc. (OTCQB: IVFH), an industry-leading specialty food platform, is planning to spin-off its wholly-owned subsidiary, The Fresh Diet, as a separate public company.

The move will establish The Fresh Diet's direct-to-consumer operations as distinct from Innovative Food Holdings' long-established, industry leading direct-to-chef specialty food platform. As part of the transaction, institutional investors have agreed to provide $1 million in funding directly to The Fresh Diet, Inc.

The spin-off of The Fresh Diet as a publicly traded company is expected to provide a variety of benefits to shareholders:

Innovative Food Holdings and The Fresh Diet management will each be able to better focus on their core businesses and more effectively drive growth in shareholder value
The Fresh Diet will become a pure-play direct-to-consumer business, ideally positioning The Fresh Diet to realize the higher valuations typically associated with foodtech and food-delivery public companies
As a standalone public company, The Fresh Diet will be able to take advantage of acquisition opportunities in multiple fresh meal verticals, building upon its leading last mile specialty food delivery platform
Innovative Food Holdings shareholders will continue to benefit from future success of The Fresh Diet through Innovative Food Holdings' remaining ownership stake
Two separate companies will allow potential new investors to delineate the risk/return characteristics of each business and better match their own investment objectives

"These numerous benefits strongly support our decision to spin off The Fresh Diet," said Sam Klepfish, CEO of Innovative Food Holdings. "We believe the market value of The Fresh Diet and our profitable direct-to-chef businesses are not being fully appreciated or captured in Innovative Food Holdings' stock price. By establishing our direct-to-chef and direct-to-consumer businesses as distinct operations -- each with their own particular business characteristics and dynamics -- we believe it provides the best opportunity to maximize shareholder value."

"Furthermore, in connection with driving value in our company, our board of directors has also approved allocating up to $1 million for a stock repurchase program to be implemented in open market purchases from time-to-time. While we continue to invest our capital in strategic business initiatives, we are prepared to be opportunistic in purchasing our own shares."

The Fresh Diet's CEO, Bryan Janeczko, added: "We believe that operating The Fresh Diet as its own entity will provide greater transparency into operations, and further establish its current position as the leading specialty food platform in the fast-growing direct-to-consumer, fresh-meal category. This will also better position The Fresh Diet to attract additional partners and the capital markets support it requires, as demonstrated by the institutional funding commitment."

Transaction Details

Completion of the spin-off is subject to conditions, including required approvals and agreements. Additional details of the proposed spin-off, including proportionate shareholding and separate financial information relating to The Fresh Diet and Innovative Food Holdings will be provided to shareholders prior to the closing of the transaction. In connection with the transaction, Innovative Food Holdings expects there to be a separate listing of The Fresh Diet on a U.S. exchange in the first quarter of 2016, following appropriate filings and approvals with the SEC and NASDAQ. Innovative Food Holdings also plans to retain between 10% to 19.9% of The Fresh Diet, and expects to distribute 70% to 85% of The Fresh Diet shares directly to Innovative Food Holdings' shareholders.

Research

Thu, 12 Nov 2015 16:48:02 GMT

Adding To Our Long Position In $IVFH (Previous Close $0.67, trading higher)

Shares of GeoBargain IVFH have been weak over the last several months as they have had difficulties implementing the 2014 Fresh Diet acquisition. Fresh Diet (FD), is a direct-to-consumer operation. IVFH’s efforts to grow FD profitably have not been working, and are draining company resources. In order for the company to continue to attempt to turn the tide around it would allegedly have to raise money, a scenario the market was obviously pricing into the stock. Today's announcement of management to spin-off FD from the legacy business (direct to chef) and the fact the company has continued to improve topline through the FD process as well as the fact IVFH was profitable before FD acquisition leads us to believe shares should push higher. We believe investors will soon value IVFH on a stand alone entity and thus lead to stock price appreciation.

We alerted members via premium tweet that we would be adding to our position. More details to come on our valuation analysis of IVFH as a stand alone entity.

Comments & Business Outlook

Wed, 12 Aug 2015 16:02:29 GMT

IVFH ($1.05) reported Q2 2015 results:

Q2 2015 sales of $12.5 million vs $6.4 million in the prior year period
Q2 2015 loss per share of $0.08 vs EPS of $0.03 in the prior year

Quotes from management:

"Following a strong start to 2015, our second quarter was highlighted by the second consecutive quarter of 18% sales growth in our Direct-to-Chef business as well as sequential gross margin improvement in the Direct-to-Consumer business," said Sam Klepfish, CEO of Innovative Food Holdings.

"The Direct-to-Consumer business continues to make progress as The Fresh Diet continued its transformation into a data-driven e-commerce business, and we believe The Fresh Diet has strong opportunities for exponential growth. In addition, we continue to add technological and operational capabilities to the overall direct-to-consumer platform, including the development of a direct-to-consumer API, with key goals of on-boarding additional partners and offerings to the platform in 2015. Furthermore, it is important to note that gross margin improvements have the additional benefit of further enhancing the value-add and cost profile that the platform offers to potential brands and partners.

"Finally, we achieved positive cash EBITDA in the second quarter, which is ahead of our own internal expectations."

Comments & Business Outlook

Wed, 01 Apr 2015 04:00:00 GMT

$IVFH ($1.58) - GeoBargain on the radar IVFH, a specialty food foodservice distribution business,

reported financial results for the year ended December 31, 2014, yesterday. Operating results for Q 4 and all of 2014 indicate the company is making steady progress. The IVFH story, however, is really a tale of two businesses. The legacy, direct to chef, specialty food business is making steady progress while the recently acquired (August 2014), Fresh Diet (“FD”), a direct to consumer specialty meal platform business, is undergoing transformational changes as management positions the company for sustained revenue growth and profitability.

Financial highlights for the year ended December 31, 2014 include:

Total Revenue for 2014 of $30.8 million, increased approximately 37% compared to the same period in 2013.
Revenues associated with the direct-to-chef business, specialty food business totaled $25.8 million, an approximate 15% increase compared to 2013.
FD, which was acquired August 15, 2014, contributed $5 million revenue. FD’s revenue was reduced by a GAAP adjustment to the carrying value of deferred revenues acquired of around $1.2 million.
Specialty foodservice adjusted EBITDA (excluding non-cash and one-time charges) increased over 40% year over year to approximately $2.8 million.
Adjusted EBITDA for IVFH was $1.4 million indicating FD generated a negative adjusted EBITDA of around $1.4 million.
The total GAAP loss for the year was $3.7 million compared to a net loss of $1.4 million in the same period of 2013. GAAP EPS for 2014 was ($0.32) per share compared to ($0.23) per share in the year ago period. Adjusted EPS for 2014 was $0.10 per share compared to $0.28 per share in 2013.
Q4 2014 revenues of $10 million vs $6.1 million in Q4 2013
Q4 2014 adjusted loss per share of $0.03 vs adjusted EPS of $0.07 in Q4 2013.

Our takeaway from IVFH’s 2014 financial results is that the direct to chef, specialty food business is making steady progress and we expect that to continue. However, the company’s transitional stage is apparent in the recent recruitment of a new CEO who is in turn is making key hires, the revamping of marketing programs, pricing adjustments to ensure long term profitability, and the aggressive addressing of other challenges facing the business. We expect the FD turnaround to take the better part of 2015 but once completed, the combination of specialty foods and FD will put IVFH on a solid and exciting path for sustained growth and profitability over the long term. Quote from management:

“we have made good progress in just a few months in working towards transforming The Fresh Diet into a data-minded, e-commerce marketing-driven leader in the health and wellness category. In addition, by effectively leveraging the management, resources, and core expertise of Innovative Food Holdings, we believe we can take advantage of the opportunity to benefit from additional synergies, enabling us to transition this segment of our business to profitability."

Deal Flow

Mon, 09 Mar 2015 04:00:00 GMT

GeoBargain on the radar $IVFH ($1.60) a specialty food foodservice distribution business announced it has completed funding to accelerate growth.

that an investor group led by Yorkmont Capital Partners LP has acquired approximately 3.2 million restricted shares of the Company's common stock in connection with the Company's share block purchase option agreement with a former dissident shareholder of The Fresh Diet®.
In addition, the Company has completed a non-brokered private placement of 943,829 restricted shares at $1.30 per share, raising approximately $1.2 million from accredited investors and institutions. Please note, that the GeoTeam has participated in part of the restricted share offering.

Quote from management:

Sam Klepfish, CEO of Innovative Food Holdings noted, "Over a period of several months the Company was able to negotiate and structure a block purchase transaction, enabling the replacement of a dissident shareholder with sophisticated and value-added long-term institutional shareholders. We view this transaction as an important step to further broadening the company's institutional shareholder base and key to building long term value for Innovative Food Holdings shareholders."

Comments & Business Outlook

Wed, 19 Nov 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Third Quarter 2014 Results

Third quarter 2014 total revenue was approximately $8.7 million, up 50% as compared to $5.8 million in the third quarter of 2013.
GAAP Basic and Fully Diluted EPS in the third quarter of 2014 was $(0.07) per share compared to $(0.05) per share in the third quarter of 2013. Non-GAAP loss per share of $0.02 vs EPS of $0.06 in prior year.

Sam Klepfish, CEO of Innovative Food Holdings, commented, "We utilized the power of our Specialty foodservice platform to drive solid revenue growth and enhanced profitability, as we benefited from the operating leverage intrinsic in our business model. We continued to show both top line revenue growth and bottom line growth in the Specialty foodservice segment as we focused on the execution of our business model and strategic goals. We believe that the purchase of The Fresh Diet provides a unique opportunity to add a valuable, strategic, and operational asset to Innovative Food Holdings, including the ability to add an efficient, low-cost, last mile, direct to consumer platform to our business which is highly synergistic to our core specialty food offering. We further believe that this platform is highly scalable, with the ability to handle significant growth without extensive infrastructure investments and that the Fresh Diet platform substantially fills gaps within both the direct-to-consumer and foodservice food distribution system in the United States, giving us a comprehensive, efficient, source-to-table offering unmatched in the industry."

Mr. Klepfish continued, "The Fresh Diet management team continues to leverage their years of food service expertise in systems and processes gained as senior executives at Fortune 100 global food companies. Under the leadership of Chief Executive Officer Raj Rawal, former CIO of Burger King and of Budget Avis, and Asif Sayed, COO of The Fresh Diet, former Senior Director, Global Operations for Burger King, who was responsible for ensuring the profitable, efficient and customer-focused operations for 8,750 restaurants in 29 countries across the Americas, the team has made significant progress in streamlining and improving key operational and quality metrics and continues to focus on optimization and integration of further operational efficiencies in the platform.

"We entered into The Fresh Diet acquisition with high expectations for the market opportunity. Based on further analysis of the expanding addressable market and feedback from industry executives in this space, we now believe that The Fresh Diet platform has growth and new market opportunities that significantly exceed our initial expectations.

"In that regard, we believe that The Fresh Diet is uniquely positioned to take advantage of several key consumer trends such as eating healthy, source to table, same day and next day delivery, customized food nutrition and specialty daily meals, the growth in e-grocery, and specialty food ecommerce amongst several other fast growing markets. Finally, the barriers to entry to create a viable platform in this market remain significant and we believe that our market presence, combined with the power of a scaled platform uniquely positions us to potentially capture several key organic growth opportunities and select focused synergistic acquisition opportunities."

Mr. Klepfish concluded, "We look forward to executing in both our Specialty foodservice segment and in our Direct to Consumer segment to capture key identified market opportunities in the rapidly growing specialty foodservice and consumer markets."

Acquisition Activity

Thu, 02 Oct 2014 04:00:00 GMT

BONITA SPRINGS, Fla., Oct. 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Innovative Food Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: IVFH), a leading nationwide provider of specialty foods, gourmet specialty meals, gluten free foods, and direct from source artisanal foods, today announced it has launched a retail channel offering for new and emerging food brands via the acquisition of Organic Food Brokers, LLC (OFB), a Boulder, Colorado-based company. Organic Food Brokers focuses on launching and growing retail sales for small and emerging organic and specialty food brands nationwide.

Organic Food Brokers works closely with emerging food brands to develop and execute sales, marketing and distribution plans via its nationwide network of retail-related food broker relationships while providing emerging food brands distribution and shelf placement access in all of the major metro markets in the food retail industry. Organic Food Brokers has been instrumental in the launch and nationwide growth of many highly recognizable specialty food brands over the past several years. As a result, the company has established a nationwide network of retail decision makers and buyers representing key retail shelf space for thousands of supermarkets and other food retailers across the United States. OFB's success and capabilities can offer clients a distinct competitive advantage over the thousands of other products that seek to enter the food retail market each year.

Innovative Food Holdings plans to leverage synergies related to its specialty and artisanal food capabilities to further accelerate the growth and conversion rate of OFB's pipeline. Expected synergies include the ability to offer nationwide foodservice distribution opportunities for new and select existing and potential OFB clients with retail products, which can potentially crossover and succeed in the foodservice space. In addition, foodservice oriented offerings within the Company's core foodservice markets will have the potential to successfully and efficiently cross over to retail shelves.

The acquisition purchase price includes cash consideration of $100,000, a performance based earn out of up to $225,000, seller financing in the form of a $200,000 note, convertible at $1.54 per share and options to purchase 100,000 shares of Innovative Food Holdings at $1.46 per share. OFB generates revenue through monthly recurring revenues as well as through earning a percentage of future sales of client company products. Organic Food Brokers, generated approximately $550,000 of unaudited revenues in 2013 and is expected to be immediately accretive to earnings. OFB will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Innovative Food Holdings.

Sam Klepfish, CEO of Innovative Food Holdings, commented, "Innovative Food Holdings continues to pursue opportunities to leverage our unique position in the specialty food space to grow synergistic opportunities and to enter into new complimentary specialty food markets, utilizing a low capex model. We are excited about the opening of this new and potentially promising market area for Innovative Food Holdings, and we look forward to being able to take advantage of the numerous growth opportunities and synergies available in the retail space."

Justin Wiernasz, President of Innovative Food Holdings, noted, "We have been seeing continued convergence between retail and foodservice products in the rapidly changing specialty food distribution market. We are particularly enthusiastic about this acquisition as we believe it uniquely positions Innovative Food Holdings to offer unique, highly synergistic capabilities and relationships in both the rapidly growing specialty foodservice and specialty food retail area."

Acquisition Activity

Thu, 21 Aug 2014 04:00:00 GMT

BONITA SPRINGS, Fla., Aug. 20, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Innovative Food Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: IVFH), a leading nationwide provider of specialty foods, healthcare foods, gluten free foods, and direct from source artisanal foods, to the professional foodservice market, today announced that it has acquired 100% of The Fresh Diet, Inc. The Fresh Diet is the nationwide leader in freshly prepared gourmet specialty meals, using the finest specialty, artisanal, direct from source ingredients, delivered daily, directly to consumers using The Fresh Diet® platform. The Fresh Diet's platform includes a company managed and owned preparation and logistics infrastructure, including a comprehensive company owned network of same day and next day last mile food delivery capabilities.

For the trailing 12 months ended June 30, 2014 The Fresh Diet generated approximately $24 million in revenues. The Fresh Diet will be operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, and the transaction is currently expected to be accretive to the Company's earnings in fiscal year 2015.

The total purchase price for the acquisition of the business was 10 million shares of the Company's common stock plus the assumption of debt. In addition, connected to the acquisition, the Company raised approximately $1.4 million of equity capital at $1.00 per share from accredited investors and institutions. There was no placement agent and no warrant coverage on the transaction. The capital raised will be targeted towards growth and expansion opportunities related to The Fresh Diet. The Fresh Diet's platform offers the opportunity to expand into additional specialty food market categories including non-diet daily specialty meals, meal kits, allergen specific and additional platform based specialty food opportunities, in the direct to consumer market as well as in select foodservice markets.

"We believe that the expansion of Innovative Food Holdings' platform to include the capabilities of The Fresh Diet's platform is an extraordinary opportunity for the Company," commented Sam Klepfish, CEO of Innovative Food Holdings, "As evidenced by our recent strong second quarter financial results, we are focused on executing and delivering on a specialty food platform based strategy which has the capability to expand sales with low fixed infrastructure costs. We further believe that the Fresh Diet platform, which includes both daily prepared specialty foods and leading last-mile capabilities, is a platform which is uniquely positioned to complement the existing platform of Innovative Food Holdings, enabling us to leverage the rapidly changing specialty food market and provide unique source-to-table capabilities and dramatically enhance our direct-to-consumer infrastructure and capabilities.

Justin Wiernasz, President of Innovative Food Holdings, noted "In addition, we welcome the deep industry knowledge and food operations expertise which the executive team at The Fresh Diet brings to the table. We look forward to working with the entire The Fresh Diet team of professionals as we build upon their more than 100 combined years of operations, process management, marketing, franchising, logistics and distribution excellence to drive future growth for Innovative Food Holdings and The Fresh Diet."

Comments & Business Outlook

Wed, 20 Aug 2014 04:00:00 GMT

Comments & Business Outlook

Thu, 14 Aug 2014 04:00:00 GMT

Second Quarter 2014 Results

Revenue increased 21% to $6.4 million.
GAAP Basic EPS increased to $0.05 per share, up from a loss of $(0.015) per share in the second quarter of 2013.

Sam Klepfish, CEO of Innovative Food Holdings, commented, "Leveraging the strength of our platform, we delivered strong revenue growth and improved financial metrics across the board, as we capitalized on the operating leverage inherent in our business model. The continued growth in revenue and profits demonstrates the expansion power of our platform and highlights our ability to execute on our business plan. Our performance also reflects continued and growing demand for our solutions, as professional chefs, forward-thinking restaurants and discerning consumers seek the freshest, highest quality specialty foods delivered with unrivaled logistics."

Mr. Klepfish concluded, "In addition to our core foodservice market we continue to focus on platform type of opportunities that can be scaled, can handle incremental growth without extensive infrastructure investments and which solve existing shortfalls in current specialty, artisanal and direct-from-source food distribution systems. We believe the rapidly changing food consumption trends towards high quality, artisanal foods, presents a compelling market opportunity and due to our proven platform, we are confident that Innovative Food Holdings is uniquely positioned to pursue and execute on those opportunities."

Comments & Business Outlook

Tue, 01 Apr 2014 04:00:00 GMT

Fourth Quarter 2013 Results

Q4 2013 revenue of $6.4 million, up 9% compared to $5.8 million for Q4 2012.
Adjusted EPS grew over 13% to approximately $.08 per share for Q4 2013 vs. $.07 per share in Q4 of 2012.

Sam Klepfish, CEO of Innovative Food Holdings, commented, "At the beginning of 2013, we planned to achieve several key goals: increased revenues, higher profits, and continuing to solidify our financial strength. We succeeded with all three of these targets in fiscal 2013, delivering another record year. Revenues increased 26%, as we secured new program customers, increased sales to our current end user chefs and expanded the number of chefs with which we have relationships. Additionally, we made strategic progress in our direct-to-consumer business, 'For the Gourmet.' Leveraging existing infrastructure, our focus in the online specialty food retail and direct to consumer space, is to expand our core business model into the consumer space and to access the sizable consumer market with a low cost shared risk, incremental approach.

Mr Klepfish added, "Our Food Hatch accelerator program, which is designed to provide shareholders additional upside through a portfolio of equity positions in early stage food related companies, continues to provide access to new food ideas, serving as a valuable incubator for promising seed and early stage food related and foodtech related companies. In addition, we believe that the potential appreciation in the value of the current and future holdings in the Food Hatch portfolio can offer additional shareholder upside and create additional incremental positive capital markets opportunities for Innovative Food Holdings shareholders in the future."

Mr Klepfish noted, "In addition, we believe that the accomplishment of several complex, but highly important, strategic initiatives taken in 2013 have strengthened Innovative Food Holdings as a company and has strongly solidified our unique and growing position in the specialty food market.

These accomplishments included:

Despite an extremely tight and difficult small business lending environment we were able to establish a commercial banking relationship with one of the top 20 banks in the United States which included a $2.0 million credit line extended to the Company. The availability of credit, and the credibility of the banking relationship combined with our stronger balance sheet, have led to significantly expanded strategic and business development opportunities.
Additional beneficial note restructurings including subordination of noteholders which placed the company into the position to enter into the commercial banking relationship and we believe, has further enhanced the company's profile for institutional investors.
The company purchased and moved into new headquarters further cutting costs and expanding warehouse capabilities with room for expansion. The building had a purchase price of $770,000 and had a current estimated replacement value of $1.8 million.
The Company paid down in full, the loan associated with the purchase of Artisan Specialty Foods.

Mr. Klepfish concluded, "During the year we grew sales, cash flow and profits ending the year with over $2.0 million in cash. In addition to a number of key strategic initiatives targeted for 2014, our goal is to continue generating profitable sustainable growth and significant cash flows from operations, enter into new market segments, and expand market share through existing and new partners in order to fuel growth in 2014, and over the longer term."

Deal Flow

Tue, 17 Dec 2013 05:00:00 GMT

BONITA SPRINGS, FL--(Marketwired - Dec 17, 2013) - Innovative Food Holdings (OTCQB: IVFH), a leading nationwide provider of specialty foods, healthcare foods, gluten free foods, and direct from source artisanal foods to the professional foodservice market, today announced that it has completed a financing transaction with Fifth Third Bank that will provide a $1.0 million revolving credit facility and a $1.0 million term credit facility.

The financing package will be used to pay down the balance of the Company's $1.2 million loan it incurred for the acquisition of Artisan Specialty Foods, Inc., as well as general corporate purposes.

Sam Klepfish, CEO of Innovative Food Holdings, commented, "We believe that this is a significant step for the Company as it strengthens our capitalization and financial flexibility, provides us greater access to capital for investments and acquisitions, and pays down certain notes. In addition, we are pleased to be able to secure financing which reduces dilution to our shareholders."

For additional details, please access Innovative Food Holding's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 16, 2013.

Comments & Business Outlook

Thu, 14 Nov 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Third Quarter 2013 Results

Q3 2013 revenues of $6.0 million, up 17% compared to $5.1 million for Q3 2012.
Adjusted EPS (EPS without amortization and equity related gains/losses) grew approximately 54% to $0.06 per share for Q3 2013 vs. $0.04 per share in Q3 of 2012.

Sam Klepfish, CEO of Innovative Food Holdings, commented, "The strong third quarter results, including sales growth and strong bottom line performance, demonstrate our positive momentum and strong positioning in the fast-growing specialty food space. We delivered across the board organic growth by continuing to gain market share, bringing on new customers, adding more chefs and increasing sales to existing customers. Our unique low infrastructure business model, which results in low sales-related costs, enabled us to drive solid bottom-line improvements as well. Turning to new growth catalysts, we expect that our continuing focus on expanding market share in the nationwide specialty foods market through existing and new partners, to make positive contributions in the coming quarters."

Mr. Klepfish added, "We remain focused on the sales and bottom line growth of our core businesses. In addition, we continue to see many unique opportunities in the evolving specialty food space and we are continuing to invest in additional specialty food synergistic areas relating to all our subsidiaries, which we believe will allow us to continue to be uniquely positioned within a growing spectrum of the specialty food market. We strongly believe that a laser-like focus on core sales and profitability, combined with investments in synergistic opportunities, represent key factors to building long-term value for Innovative Food's shareholders."

Research

Fri, 06 Sep 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Premium Alert Sent To Members on 9/5/2013

IVFH is a company that distributes healthy food products to both consumers and the professional foodservice market. In our 5/14/2013 email we mentioned we would start tracking IVFH when the stock was trading at $0.44. We stated that revenues were on track to top $31 million in 2013 and that we liked the industry they served. Here are few updated reasons for optimism:

The company has a trailing EPS of $0.16 fully taxed or around $0.13 fully diluted.
Shares are trading at a trailing P/E of around 5.
The stock has now reported ten straight quarters of superior revenue growth.
The company is increasing its investor awareness initiatives.

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