Contact Information: Contact: United States: Tom Bostic (800) 793 0087 Aurelius Consulting Group, Inc. (800) 644-6297 Canada: Christopher Haugen (604) 561-0697
Edgewater Foods Announces Major Expansion With Construction of New Processing Facility
| Source: Edgewater Foods
GAITHERSBURG, MD -- (MARKET WIRE) -- February 21, 2007 -- Edgewater Foods International, Inc.
(OTCBB : EDWT ) announced today that the Company has completed its new
scallop processing facility. The new facility is 11,000 square feet and
includes a live holding facility, processing and packaging rooms, as well
as new administrative and sales offices. The facility meets Canadian
government HACCP specifications (License: BC1907SP) and includes new
scallop cleaning and washing equipment recently purchased from Japan that
can process 2,000 pounds per hour. The Company currently sells its scallops
in a variety of sizes from medium (5-8 per lb) for $3.31, to extra large
(1-3 per pound) for $3.57 per pound. The facility has the capacity to hold
15,000 pounds of live scallops and, along with the Company's current
facilities, will represent the largest private marine research hatchery and
fully-integrated shellfish producer in Canada.
"The increased capacity made possible through the addition of a new
facility enables us to keep pace with the tremendous demand for scallops,"
said Robert Saunders, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Equally
important, as evidenced by this latest expansion announcement, we fully
intend to maintain our leadership position in the scallop market. This is a
critical step in our plan for rapid revenue expansion."
The scallop produced by the Company, the "Pacific scallop," is the largest
scallop in the world, reaching 15 cm in size and weighing up to
approximately 1.1 pounds. As demonstrated by the increased weight of
scallops harvested in February 2006, the benefits of our 5 years of
selective breeding are beginning to bear fruit. The addition of DNA-based
family analysis, which started in 2000, provides the tools for the
selective breeding of superior scallops in terms of growth, survival and
meat yield.
The Company is the predominant producer of live "in the shell" scallop
products in North America. There are no known direct competitors in the
scallop farming business in British Columbia and Island Scallops Limited,
the Company's wholly owned subsidiary, is the only hatchery producing the
Pacific scallop. The Company sells scallop seed to a number of small
independent scallop growers who sell their products into the same
marketplace; however, these growers are generally only able to purchase and
grow less than 300,000 scallops per farm. Five British Columbia joint
venture farmers are currently farming scallops and receive scallop seed,
technology, and support in an arrangement with ISL.
ISL currently distributes the scallops through specialty wholesalers with
particular expertise in selling to restaurants, and has developed a market
for whole live scallops that exceeds 5,000 lbs. per week into Vancouver. As
distribution is expanded, the Company will continue to focus on specialty
wholesalers with strong ties to major restaurants.
ISL, a Vancouver Island aquaculture company, was established in 1989 and
for over 15 years has successfully operated a scallop farming and marine
hatchery business. ISL's scallop farms are situated along both the east and
west coasts of Vancouver Island. These facilities represent the largest
private marine research hatchery and the first fully integrated shellfish
producer in Canada.
ISL is dedicated to the farming, processing and marketing of high quality,
high value marine species: scallops and sablefish (or blackcod). Farmed
scallops are relatively new to North America and ISL is the only producer
of both live-farmed Pacific scallops and live sablefish. ISL has
developed proprietary hatchery technology for the hybridization of Pacific
scallops and production of juvenile blackcod. These new husbandry
techniques significantly increase growth yields, while strengthening the
selected strain's ability to resist disease. In the case of blackcod,
there were a number of technical difficulties associated with spawning that
ISL has solved with its technological innovations. As such, there are no
existing competitors that produce and/or harvest both scallops and
blackcod. Edgewater seeks to become a leader in the highly profitable
niche seafood industry.
Through ISL, Edgewater is an aquaculture and marine hatchery that provides
consumers with healthy, environmentally friendly alternatives to the
current market. The unique hatchery technologies held by Edgewater give it
the advantage of being a "Green" environmentally friendly business. For
additional information on Edgewater Foods International, Inc., please visit
http://www.edgewaterfoods.com or call (800) 793-0087.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995: The statements contained in this news release include certain
predictions and projections that may be considered forward-looking
statements under securities law. These statements involve a number of
important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially including, but not limited to, the performance of joint venture
partners, as well as other economic, competitive and technological factors
involving the Company's operations, markets, services, products and prices.
With respect to Edgewater, except for the historical information contained
herein, the matters discussed in this news release are forward-looking
statements involving risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements.
Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to,
Edgewater's extremely limited operating history, uncertainties related to
the Company's access to additional capital, competition and dependence on
key management.