TORONTO-Organic Garage Ltd. (“Organic Garage” or the “Company”)(TSXV: OG | OTCQX: OGGFF | FRA: 9CW1), one of Canada’s leading independent organic grocers and a developer of plant-based foods, is excited to announce the expansion of its Hand-Picked Partner program to include non-alcoholic beer, wine and spirits through an agreement with Rival House Limited. The program was successfully established by the Company to fulfill certain categories such as specialty cheese, baked goods, sushi, fresh juices, and prepared foods, via third-party partners. Special merchandisers will be placed in each store location and Rival House will curate, manage and supply the listings for the specific merchandisers under a revenue share agreement. According to Nielsen, U.S. non-alcoholic beverage sales totaled $331 million in the last 12 months, up 33.2% from the previous year. Non-alcoholic beer grew 31.7%, wine increased 39.4% and spirits increased 113.4%.
Matt Lurie, President and CEO of Organic Garage stated, “Continuing to expand the Hand-Picked Partner program to help fill out our offer to customers was a priority of ours as we look towards increasing our store count. Working with a partner in the non-alcoholic beer, wine and spirit category allows us to tap into the expertise of Rival House, who know the space better than anyone, and allows us to provide a dynamic and unique offer while limiting the cost of inventory and potential shrink that would normally be incurred if we were to manage the category ourselves.”
David Pierson, Co-Owner of Rival House added, “As a frequent shopper at Organic Garage prior to our partnership, it is a dream come true to be working with Matt along with the entire Organic Garage team on this program. We believe that Organic Garage and Rival House carry many of the same values and we are grateful that we’re able to contribute to their business by offering Organic Garage customers some great non-alcoholic options. The Canadian market for non-alcoholic beverages has been vastly underrepresented for years. We always knew the demand was there; it was just a matter of bringing the best possible non-alcoholic products to the Canadian consumer and raising awareness.”
Organic Garage (TSXV: OG | OTCQX: OGGFF | FRA: 9CW1) is one of Canada’s leading independent organic grocers and is committed to offering its customers a wide selection of healthy and natural products at everyday affordable prices. The Company’s stores are in prime retail locations designed to give customers an inclusive, unique and value-focused grocery shopping experience. Founded in 2005 by a fourth-generation grocer, Organic Garage is headquartered in Toronto. The Company is focused on continuing to expand its retail footprint within the Greater Toronto Area. For more information please visit the Organic Garage website at www.organicgarage.com.
Based in Toronto, Rival House is an importer and wholesaler of premium non-alcoholic wine, beers, and spirits. What began as a simple search for a satisfying non-alcoholic wine quickly turned into a mission to provide an entire line of premium non-alcoholic products to Canadian consumers in what was a vastly underrepresented market. Rival House scours the globe to seek out and carefully select high quality non-alcoholic wine, beers, and spirits that are every bit as refined, refreshing, and flavourful as their alcohol-containing counterparts. For more information, visit our website www.drinkrivalhouse.com.
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Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements
This news release contains certain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively referred to herein as “forward-looking statements”) within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements other than statements of present or historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as “anticipate”, “achieve”, “could”, “believe”, “plan”, “intend”, “objective”, “continuous”, “ongoing”, “estimate”, “outlook”, “expect”, “may”, “will”, “project”, “should” or similar words, including negatives thereof, suggesting future outcomes.
Forward-looking statements are subject to both known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of Organic Garage, that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Organic Garage to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Although Organic Garage has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended.
Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, some of which are described herein. Such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause Organic Garage’s actual performance and results to differ materially from any projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required by law, Organic Garage assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise such statements to reflect new information, subsequent or otherwise.
