DAVIS, Calif., Aug. 26, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKDA), a leader in science-based approaches to enhancing the quality and nutritional value of crops and food ingredients, today announced a binding term sheet agreement with Arista Cereal Technologies and Bay State Milling Company for commercialization of its high fiber resistant starch wheat in key wheat markets, including North America, Europe and parts of Asia.
Under the terms of the binding agreement, Bay State Milling will become the exclusive commercial partner for Arcadia's high fiber wheat in North America under Bay State Milling's HealthSense™ brand portfolio, while Arista receives exclusive rights under Arcadia's intellectual property in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Japan and South Korea. Arcadia will continue to market its high fiber wheat under its GoodWheat™ portfolio of specialty wheat ingredients in other international markets. The agreement resolves an intellectual property dispute between the three companies over Arcadia's high fiber wheat. The agreement earns Arcadia royalties for sales of its wheat varieties in North America by Bay State Milling, plus additional considerations.
"We are pleased to have entered into an agreement with Arista and Bay State Milling that will accelerate commercialization of our high fiber wheat in key wheat markets – and capture revenue in 2019 and beyond," said Raj Ketkar, president and CEO of Arcadia Biosciences. "Bay State Milling is an excellent partner for North America, bringing its strengths in milling, identity preserved supply chains and technical support of customer food companies."
"We continue to see tremendous opportunity for high fiber wheat flour – particularly in the United States, where consumers are increasingly mindful about the nutrition their food delivers," said Peter Levangie, president and CEO of Bay State Milling. "As a result, our customers – food manufacturers – also are looking for ingredients with added nutritional value from natural sources. We are excited to add Arcadia's high fiber wheat to the HealthSense brand and bring it to customers to help close the fiber gap and improve consumer health in North America."
Eric Vaschalde, CEO of Arista Cereal Technologies, added, "We are pleased to have reached an agreement that resolves our ongoing patent dispute and puts our focus on successfully bringing high fiber wheat to market across our wide platform. After decades of research and development, Arista focused its initial market development in North America with its partner, Bay State Milling. This agreement not only bolsters Bay State Milling's commercial opportunities, but it also enhances the global intellectual property for all parties to the agreement."
Arcadia's high fiber wheat delivers multiple times the resistant starch as traditional wheat and significantly higher amounts of dietary fiber than traditional wheat flour. Because of its high fiber content, consumer product goods companies, food manufacturers and food service retailers can reduce the need to add other sources of fiber in their formulation and simplify their ingredient labels.
In 2015, the global flour market was valued at $200 billion and is estimated to reach a value of $270 billion by 2022. The United States Department of Agriculture reported the total value of wheat production in the U.S. was $9.7 billion for 2018. Wheat contributes about 20 percent of the total dietary calories and proteins worldwide, according to a 2013 paper published in Food Security. Arcadia's high fiber wheat can provide additional, proven health benefits for consumers who want to continue to enjoy the wheat-based foods they love.
About Arcadia Biosciences, Inc.
Arcadia Biosciences (Nasdaq: RKDA) develops and markets high-value food ingredients and nutritional oils that help meet consumer demand for a healthier diet. Arcadia's GoodWheat™ branded ingredients deliver health benefits to consumers and enable consumer packaged goods companies to differentiate their brands in the marketplace. The company's agricultural traits are being developed to enable farmers around the world to be more productive and minimize the impact of agriculture on the environment. Arcadia Specialty Genomics is a business unit within Arcadia Biosciences dedicated to the optimization and standardization of cannabis plant content, quality, resiliency and yield. For more information, visit www.arcadiabio.com/.
About Arista Cereal Technologies
ARISTA is a privately held, joint venture company formed by Limagrain, a fifty-year-old farmer-founded and directed, world player in wheat seeds, and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia's national research agency for nearly 100 years, a globally recognized organization focused on using science to make a positive difference in the world. The companies began collaborating in fundamental research in wheat starch more than 20 years ago and joined their efforts and expertise in 2006 to develop and commercialize wheat with direct consumer health benefits. For more information, visit www.aristacereals.com/.
About Bay State Milling Company
Bay State Milling Company has provided exceptional flour and plant-based ingredients since 1899. Its core purpose is to provide food ingredients to promote the growth of sustainable, healthful and affordable food choices for the consumer. In pursuit of this purpose, the Company has a strategic intent to be the leading supplier of plant-based ingredients for the next generation of foods in North America by leveraging distinctive crops and their foundation in specialty processing. For more information, visit www.baystatemilling.com.
Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: Arcadia's and its partners' and affiliates' ability to develop and sell commercial products incorporating their traits, and complete the regulatory review process for such products; Arcadia's compliance with laws and regulations that impact Arcadia's business, and changes to such laws and regulations; Arcadia's ability to capture revenue in 2019 and beyond; the growth of the global flour market; Arcadia's future capital requirements and ability to satisfy its capital needs; and the other risks set forth in Arcadia's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time, including the risks set forth in Arcadia's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 and other filings. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
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SOURCE Arcadia Biosciences
Arcadia Biosciences Contacts: Sara Geisner, Trailblaze, 314-401-6846, sara@trailblaze.co; Investor Relations: Matt Plavan, ir@arcadiabio.com; Arista Cereal Technologies Contact: Eric Vaschalde, info@aristacereals.com; Bay State Milling Company Contact: Colleen Zammer, czammer@bsm.com
