Edible Garden (EDBL) Q1 2026 Earnings Transcript

Image source: The Motley Fool.

DATE

Friday, May 15, 2026 at 8 a.m. ET

CALL PARTICIPANTS

• Chief Executive Officer — James Kras
• Interim Chief Financial Officer — Kostas Dafoulas
• Investor Relations — Ted Ayvas

Need a quote from a Motley Fool analyst? Email pr@fool.com

TAKEAWAYS

• Revenue -- $3.3 million, up 22.9% year over year, supported by retail expansion and growth across categories.
• Cut Herb Sales -- Increased 45.9% year over year, driven by existing account growth and new contributions from Kroger and Weis Markets.
• Vitamin and Supplement Sales -- Rose 27% year over year, showing greater product mix diversification.
• Condiment Sales -- Increased 51% year over year as part of expansion into shelf-stable, branded products.
• International Sales -- Grew 50% year over year, primarily through PriceSmart relationship and expansion in the Caribbean and South America.
• Retail Network -- Now exceeds 6,000 locations, with new partners added including Target, Safeway, the Fresh Market, Hannaford, Busch's Fresh Food Market, and Woodman's Market.
• Operating Expenses -- Totaled $10 million, up from $5.6 million, attributed to increased cost of goods sold for third-party sourced herbs and $2.5 million in accelerated depreciation linked to the RTD pivot.
• Net Loss -- Reported at $3.7 million compared to $3.3 million prior year, reflecting margin pressure and higher costs.
• Income Tax Benefit -- $3.4 million, a nonrecurring event tied to the release of a valuation allowance under New Jersey's Technology Business Tax Certificate Transfer Program.
• Cash Position -- Ended at $2 million, an increase from $1.1 million at year-end, with positive operating cash flow of $251,000 due to working capital improvements and financing inflows.
• Business Mix (Management Estimate) -- CEO James Kras provided that cut herbs represent 40%-50% of business, vitamins and supplements about 20%, remainder from other products (including potted, wheat grass, hydroponic basil).
• RTD Product Demand and Supply -- CEO James Kras stated, "We are working with a co-manufacturer to start driving the business and servicing the overwhelming demand. And I think we're probably going to be close to capacity with them probably in the next few weeks."
• Prototype and Production Timeline (RTD Initiative) -- CEO James Kras indicated, "we'll be running our prototype to get more specific in mid-July with product beginning to manufacture at a co-man in September, while we build out the factory in Iowa."
• Strategic Shift -- CEO James Kras articulated, "you're going to see a shift towards the investment in the RTD and nutrition platform because that's the future, and it's the larger opportunity with the shelf stability, just the overwhelming demand."
• Operational Efficiency Measures -- Management cited ongoing labor reductions, automation investments, and renegotiation with suppliers to lower costs and enhance margins.

SUMMARY

Edible Garden AG (NASDAQ:EDBL) reported rapid diversification of both products and revenue streams, marking significant expansion in international markets and shelf-stable categories. Executives emphasized the continuing shift of investment and operational focus into the ready-to-drink segment, with talks of near-term capacity constraints at partner co-manufacturers due to "overwhelming demand." Management characterized recently secured retail partnerships as both drivers of current growth and key to ongoing shelf-stable product launches, particularly RTDs. The quarter's nonrecurring $3.4 million income tax benefit was specifically linked to New Jersey's technology tax program, distinguishing it from operational gains. Executive commentary outlined targeted efforts to optimize business mix by focusing allocations on higher-margin opportunities, supplier renegotiation, distribution rationalization, and measured capital management.

• CEO James Kras described future product mix as likely to favor vitamins, supplements, and RTDs, with the latter projected to command higher margins and velocity, "especially with the ready-to-drinks down the road, that becoming a larger part of our business and at a much higher velocity as well as margin."
• Management highlighted the use of Tetra Pak processing at the Iowa facility as a core operational improvement for scaling RTD manufacturing.
• The company is reprioritizing investments toward shelf-stable and functional nutrition categories, including leveraging automation and integrating regulatory and food safety staff across both produce and RTD divisions to limit incremental costs.
• International expansion success is directly tied to the longstanding PriceSmart relationship, which was identified as the principal growth engine in the Caribbean and South America this quarter.
• Retailer interest and collaborative development in protein-based beverages have created additional manufacturer partnerships, resulting in prototyping plans and anticipated product launches later in the year.

INDUSTRY GLOSSARY

• RTD (Ready-to-Drink): Shelf-stable beverage products prepared for immediate consumption, requiring no additional preparation by end users.
• Tetra Pak: An aseptic food processing and packaging technology company, referenced here as a key partner in Edible Garden's shelf-stable beverage production initiative.
• Co-manufacturer: A third-party contract manufacturer engaged by Edible Garden to produce new ready-to-drink product lines ahead of in-house facility completion.
• PriceSmart: A membership warehouse retailer in Latin America and the Caribbean, cited as Edible Garden's primary international channel.

Full Conference Call Transcript

Ted Ayvas: Thanks, Jenny. Good morning, and thank you for joining Edible Garden's 2026 First Quarter Earnings Conference Call and Business Update. On the call with us today are Jim Kras, Chief Executive Officer of Edible Garden; and Kostas Dafoulas, Interim Chief Financial Officer of Edible Garden. Earlier today, the company announced its operating results for the 3 months ended March 31, 2026. The press release is posted on the company's website, www.ediblegarden.ag.com. In addition, the company has filed its quarterly report on Form 10-Q with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which can also be accessed on the company's website as well as the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.

If you have any questions after the call, would like any additional information about the company, please contact Crescendo Communications at 212-671-1020. Before Mr. Kras reviews the company's operating results for the quarter ended March 31, 2026, I'll provide a business update, we would like to remind everyone that this conference call may contain forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in the conference call, including statements regarding our future results of operations and financial position, strategy and plans and our expectations for future operations are forward-looking statements.

The words aim, anticipate, believe, could, expect, may, plan, project, strategy will and the negative of such terms in other words in terms of similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based largely on the company's current expectations and projections about future events and trends that it believes may affect its financial condition, results of operations, strategy, short-term and long-term business operations and objectives and financial needs. These forward-looking statements are subject to several risks, uncertainties and assumptions as described in the company's filings with the SEC, including the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025.

Because of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in the conference call may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Although the company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance or achievements. In addition, neither the company nor any person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. The company disclaims any duty to update any of these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

All forward-looking statements attributable to the company are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements as well as others made on this conference call. You should evaluate all forward-looking statements made by the company in the context of these risks and uncertainties. With that, I would now like to turn the call over to Jim Kras, Chief Executive Officer of Edible Garden. Jim?

James Kras: Thanks, Ted, and good morning, everyone. The first quarter of 2026 reflected continued progress across the business as we began seeing stronger traction from many of our -- many of the investments and strategic initiatives we put in place over the past year. Revenue increased approximately 22.9% year-over-year to approximately $3.3 million, supported by continued retail expansion and growth across multiple categories. One of the strongest contributors during the quarter was our cut herbs business, where sales increased approximately 46% year-over-year, driven by continued growth within existing accounts as well as new account contributions from Kroger and Weis Markets. That momentum also extended beyond our core produce categories.

Vitamin and supplement sales increased approximately 27% year-over-year while condiment sales increased approximately 51%. We also continued seeing strong growth internationally with sales increasing approximately 50% year-over-year reflecting continued expansion of our distribution footprint and our growing demand for clean label, better-for-you products across multiple markets and categories. As a result, we continued expanding distribution with both existing and new retail partners during the quarter, including Target, Safeway, the Fresh Market, Hannaford, Busch's Fresh Food Market and Woodman's market. At the same time, we're broadening distribution across our branded consumer product portfolio, including Pickle Party, Pulp, Kick, Sports Nutrition, Vitamin Whey and JEALOUSY GLP-1 support products.

We believe this momentum reflects the broader platform we have been building over the past years, leveraging the controlled environment foundation, vertically integrated infrastructure, retail relationships operational capabilities and product development expertise established through our core business. We continue expanding into adjacent higher margin and shelf-stable categories. As we continue evolving beyond our traditional greenhouse and fresher business, one of the areas we are most focused on is the ready-to-drink, or the RTD category. We believe RTDs represent a compelling long-term opportunity with the global market projected to grow from approximately $842.5 billion in 2025 to roughly $1.26 trillion in 2033, according to Phoenix Research.

More importantly, through ongoing discussions with both existing and prospective retail partners, we continue seeing increasing demand for scalable domestic production solutions that can deliver clean-label, shelf-stable functional nutrition products with consistency, transparency and operational reliability. We believe this reflects a meaningful unmet need as retailers and brands continue searching for reliable U.S.-based partners across functional beverage and wellness-focused nutrition categories. To support that opportunity, we continue advancing our Iowa Midwest RTD initiative during the quarter, which is including ongoing work related to the integration of Tetra Pak processing and packaging solutions. Tetra Pak is a globally recognized leader in food processing and aseptic packaging solutions, and we believe this relationship significantly strengthens the operational foundation of our RTD platform.

Our retail footprint now exceeds 6,000 locations across the United States, Caribbean and South America. During Q1, we added new retail partners, including Target, Safeway, Busch's Fresh Food Market and the Fresh market. This expanding distribution network is not only driving current revenue growth but also represents the foundation for our future RTD product placement. These are relationships that are already in place that we will nurture and look to leverage. More broadly, our foundation in controlled environment agriculture has allowed us to build deep expertise and traceability, sustainability, operational discipline, supply chain management and retail execution.

We believe those capabilities naturally support a broader farm-to-formula strategy and Zero Waste inspired initiative while supporting our continued expansion into shelf-stable and functional nutrition categories. While we're in the early stages of this evolution, we believe the foundation is firmly in place through expanding retail network, growing branded product portfolio and continued advancement of our RTD manufacturing initiative. At the same time, we remain focused on improving operational execution, scaling higher-margin categories, strengthening margins over time and positioning the company for long-term scalable growth and value creation. With that, I'll turn the call over to Kostas Dafoulas to review the financials. Kostas?

Kostas Dafoulas: Thanks, Jim, and good morning, everyone. Revenue for the 3 months ended March 31, 2026, increased approximately 22.9% year-over-year to approximately $3.3 million compared to approximately $2.7 million in the prior year period. The increase was primarily driven by continued growth across the company's cut herb portfolio, which increased approximately 45.9% year-over-year. That growth was supported by expansion within existing customer accounts along with new account contributions from Kroger and Weis markets. We also saw broad-based growth across hydroponic basil, wheat grass, vitamins and supplements and condiments. International sales increased approximately 50% year-over-year and condiment sales grew 51%, reflecting expanding demand for our branded product portfolio across the retail footprint that now exceeds 6,000 locations.

Operating expenses were $10 million for the 3 months ended March 31, 2026, compared to $5.6 million for the 3 months ended March 31, 2025. The increase of $4.4 million was primarily driven by 2 factors: First, cost of goods sold increased as we scaled cut herb distribution through third-party sourcing. The dynamic we view as transitional as we work to renegotiate supplier terms. Second, depreciation and amortization increased approximately $2.5 million primarily reflecting accelerated depreciation of certain fixed assets in connection with the company's pivot to RTD, clean nutrition manufacturing at our Prairie Hills facility.

The company recorded an income tax benefit of approximately $3.4 million for the 3 months ended March 31, primarily related to a valuation allowance release in connection with the sale of certain tax benefits under the New Jersey Economic Development Authority's Technology Business Tax Certificate Transfer Program. This benefit is a discrete nonrecurring item. Net loss for the quarter was approximately $3.7 million, compared to approximately $3.3 million in the prior year period. Turning to the balance sheet and cash flow. Cash increased to approximately $2 million at the end at March 31 from $1.1 million at year-end for a sequential increase in 5 quarters.

That improvement was driven by positive operating cash flow of approximately $251,000 which reflected favorable working capital, including collections on receivables and inventory reductions as well as net financing inflows. We continue to manage our working capital deficit and are focused on improving the company's capital position as we execute on our growth strategy. Looking ahead, our priorities for 2026 are clear. Continue scaling revenue through our expanding retail network, improve our cost structure by transitioning cut herb sourcing and scaling higher-margin branded categories, advance the RTD manufacturing platform with Tetra Pak and maintain disciplined capital management.

We're encouraged by the top line momentum and the cash flow improvement this quarter, and we are focused on translating that momentum into margin improvement over the balance of the year. With that, operator, please open the line for questions.

Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first question is coming from Nick Sherwood of the Maxim Group.

Nicholas Sherwood: My first question is across the 6,000 retail locations your products are found in, how many of those stores are carrying the cup herb products? How many of them are carrying vitamin supplements? How should we conceptualize what's being held across the stores?

James Kras: It's a combination and a mix, obviously. We're seeing growth come out of cut herbs as that's the preferred form that consumers like based on convenience, and that continues to accelerate. We have Target which is going to be coming online in the next week or so. That will be significant for us as a business -- as a blend with the largest percentage being cut herbs with some potted herbs as well.

As we start to evolve as a business and get into higher, more shelf-stable opportunities and products, you'll see that mix start to even out where I think you're going to see, especially with the ready-to-drinks down the road, that becoming a larger part of our business and at a much higher velocity as well as margin, the RTD business.

But near term, let's say, the next 6 to 12 months as we bring on the RTDs, it's going to be, I think, driven primarily by the vitamin supplements, which currently right now, I would say, is 20% of our business with cut herbs being probably 40% to 50% and then the rest is kind of everything else, potted, wheat grass, hydroponic basil, which is also a big player for us at a nice margin. So I think a lot of top line growth coming out of cut herbs, even I think even more coming out of vitamins and supplements, knowing that the ring for a lot of these products is much higher than the clamshell cut herbs.

And then the rest of it is going to be some of the other products that are in the mix that have, I think, better margins that will offset some of the top line growth that's coming out of the cut herbs with once again the vitamins and supplements, I think, becoming a bigger and bigger part of our business.

Nicholas Sherwood: Understood. I appreciate the detail on that answer. And then kind of looking at this new ready-to-drink platform, have you been able to provide some of your retail partners with prototypes? Can you kind of talk about the reception from your retail partners? How should we think about...

James Kras: The reception has been overwhelming. It looks great about being in the food business is people have to eat, right? And ready-to-drink is in the segment, which is just incredibly compelling with the growth in protein consumption, you can't turn the television on and not see it come up, whether in advertisements or people speaking about just the growing need, whether you're looking to be an active individual and put on muscle mass or to recover which is with a healthier lifestyle or if you're older and you're looking to keep your weight on or if you may unfortunately be sick, the protein needs just continue to grow across the full spectrum of consumers.

So for us, the retailers, many of which that we are -- we've already gotten significant commitments with the factory that's going up. I think we're going to be at a point where it's going to become more and more of a negotiation to figure out who we're going to start to bring in post launch. We are working with a co-manufacturer to start driving the business and servicing the overwhelming demand. And I think we're probably going to be close to capacity with them probably in the next few weeks. So it's really been incredibly exciting. We are focused on the core business. The greenhouse has got us here.

But the RTD business, it's just a monster with the product lines that we have in there, both a performance high-protein drink and then we'll have an adult nutrition drink that's in there that will be launching in once again in a tail end of 2027, early 2028 in our own factory, and we'll be launching prior or servicing business prior out of a co-manufacturer. So once again, just overwhelming demand, and we're going to be seeing this paradigm shift for us as a business directed more and more towards that.

And once again, I think we're so uniquely qualified because there's really no one out there that is coming out of the greenhouse business that's doing the innovative things that we're doing. And isn't as qualified as we are to really stand for something, whether it's clean label, which is what's driving the thrust of this or just having an eye on sustainability and working with someone like Tetra Pak has been a phenomenal resource for us as we build out this platform So I mean, we're -- like I said, we're -- we've got probably more orders than we can handle.

And we're already -- we'll be running our prototype to get more specific in mid-July with product beginning to manufacture at a co-man in September, while we build out the factory in Iowa. And so we're already in the final stages of finalizing the product. We teamed up with McCormick in order to develop the products. Like I said, one is a Sports Nutrition, dairy-based premix that then gets turned into an RTD in a Tetra Pak and then the other one is an adult product, not unlike Boost, Ensure and those types. And so it's just fantastic.

A joke, I said to people, I've always wanted to be in the hot cakes business and now we've got -- we're in the hot cakes business because everything is selling like hot cakes. So it's been pretty cool and all honestly, exciting, I think, for the team, the company, investors, I mean, just fantastic.

Nicholas Sherwood: Yes. It sounds like there's a lot of momentum there and something we look forward to. And then my last question is how do you keep -- or how do you make customers sort of loyal to your brand across product categories so that someone is recognizing that you're the people behind the cut herbs that they buy and the vitamin supplements that they may buy or maybe the condiments that they buy in ensuring that they're buying across your product categories as opposed to just kind of buying one of them.

James Kras: Sure. Look, it comes down to an exercise in marketing and distribution, right? So -- and customer service, both for our retailers and our end user. It comes down to quality and consistency. I mean the art of this is communicating and hopefully training consumers, for lack of a better word, to know that when they want the best and that they only deserve the best, they buy Edible Garden. And so putting forth the marketing initiatives that communicate that is something that I think we do a fairly good job of, whether it's through advertising and marketing and in-store promotions and reinforcement or social media.

But once again, I think if you're -- if you've got the quality and the consistency and the availability and you're shipping at 98% like we have, I mean, it drives not only, I think, loyalty because people know when they go in your product is going to be in there and look for Edible Garden because you know what you're going to get. You're going to get safe, high-quality, best quality produce that's super fresh. I think you just continue to give a consumer that experience and it tastes great and it makes sure everything that you cook taste that much better.

And we believe if we deliver on that and we do our job, I think people will continue to be loyal and want our product, and we see that through the fact that we have a very stable revenue line, albeit a small comparison to maybe other companies out there now with the RTDs and our reputation with not only the consumers, but the retailers, once again, talk about this notion of Farm-to-Formula and what that means, it's harnessing the greenhouses and all the great R&D stuff that we do.

And we don't talk enough about it at the company, the universities we're involved in the partnerships with the EPA, the USDA to things that just help drive quality, consistency and elevate us beyond anybody else in the category. There's not too many people left because I don't think people made the investment. And I think the shareholders was backing us to allow us to get to where we are to do the great things that we're doing.

And I think all of that goes into building brand loyalty because people know that, hey, this is -- if I want the best in herbs, I want the best in condiments, I want great tasting, better-for-you products and somebody who's got an eye on the environment as well, usually buy Edible Garden. And I think we've seen that. Once again, I think what really reflects is our consistent relationships and the opportunities that it drives for something like the RTDs where major retailers came to us and say, can you do this? We've got a problem.

We've got -- I mean, the shortfall in the marketplace on this item is tremendous and to be able to do it better, cleaner and do it where, like I said, where people are calling us and saying, "Hey, we've heard about what you guys are doing. Can you do it for us? It's just -- I mean, you work a lifetime to get to this position and the company has put in 10 years and thought hard to be where we are, and now it's starting to pay off. So it's an exciting time, and I couldn't be any more bullish on the business, and we're just in a great spot.

And I got to think, frankly, the retailers for their support -- and because they're excited, they've got a problem, we've got a solution, and they've worked with us to craft a solution that works for all parties. And like I said, it's a huge opportunity that's only accelerating and growing.

Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our next question is coming from Ellen [indiscernible] of Forest Capital.

Unknown Analyst: You discussed the growing RTD opportunity and increasing retailer interest in domestic clean label functional nutrition products. As you look ahead, how are you balancing investment between the company's core produce business and really like the larger RTD opportunity? And what do you think positions Edible Gardens to compete effectively in that market?

James Kras: Well, welcome. Nice to meet you, and thanks for joining the call. We're looking to make -- look, where the future is going to be the shelf-stable, better-for-you products. And we are going to be kind of allocating our resources along where we see the growth is. The core business, I think, look, I know that we've made a significant investment in the operations, adding greenhouses, tying them to contracts, that's the thing -- that's the other thing that's very unique about the relationships we have. The distribution platform of 6,000 stores holds steady and is growing every day that we're out there selling and working with our retail partners.

But I think you're going to see a shift towards the investment in the RTD and nutrition platform because that's the future, and it's the larger opportunity with the shelf stability, just the overwhelming demand. I think only if you're lucky once in your career, I've been fortunate to have it a few times harking back to my days in nutritional supplements with [indiscernible], where you catch a craze. And right now, we've got a protein craze. People want convenience. They want liquids. They don't necessarily want to mix powders. They want to have their nutrition, and they want to have it on the go. They want to have it when they need it.

And what's great is everybody from kids all the way to seniors have these nutritional needs and these protein needs. And we're just starting there. I mean there's so many other segments, hydration and whatnot that we could play in. And so we're going to be investing a good chunk of our resources, our money in that platform, really backed by the greenhouses and the wherewithal and the reputation that we have for being a supplier that supplies very difficult, highly perishable products at 98% ship rate, which is just unheard of. And so I mean, all of that has driven the retailers. This RTD opportunity came from the world's largest retailer said, hey, can you help us out?

I mean, and it wasn't necessarily something that was on our radar. But then when we started working with them and with their resources, we were able to partner with a Tetra Pak, partner with McCormick. And when you think about Edible Garden and our size and the partners that we're working with, it's a real credit to everybody at Edible Garden who sat there and made sure the truck left on time in full because that means everything to the retailers. They want availability. If you don't have a product on the shelf, you're missing a sale. And I think that's just boiling it down in simple terms, that's kind of what I think has made us effective.

And like I said, we're going to be putting more and more resources towards that. And I think I answered your second question, which is what positions us for this opportunity, and that was really just our commitment. I tell people at Edible Garden, we're a customer service company first that happens to make things or grow things. And I think just getting in there and understanding the importance of the retailers and addressing their needs is something that I think we've just done really well as a team, and it's paying off -- paying off. And it's frustrating because it's been years of investment in managing costs and managing suppliers.

And those challenges aren't going to stop, but now we have such a huge opportunity. And when you're -- when everybody has got something in it to gain, people come to the table with the resources because we're all going to win. So I hope I answered your question. Was that enough?

Unknown Analyst: Yes. Yes. No, you definitely did. And obviously, it looks like you run a very tight ship. I mean I have another question. So like as you continue to evolve toward higher margin and shelf-stable categories, like what specific initiatives are you underway with, with the core produce business to improve the operational efficiencies and strengthen the margins over time?

James Kras: Well, right now, a lot of it is not only a redeployment of existing resources that we have of people that, let's say, like whether it's in our regulatory department or our food safety, things like that can be deployed across the whole platform, including the RTD. So it's not like you're hiring another person. We'll be looking to probably shift the business around, blend the business with our suppliers, negotiate harder with our suppliers based on the growing demand, which I think puts us in a more advantageous position than we've been in the past to get some price considerations on what we're bringing in-house.

I also think you're going to see a lot of, I think -- I think I know we're going to be looking to focus on the accounts where we make money. And I think we'll start to remove some of the businesses that are maybe too far from the greenhouse with the rising diesel costs and if we're delivering it that way. We've already begun and have impacted in this quarter quite a bit of labor reduction just based on the investments that we made in Q1 or the investments we made in Q4 to bring in more automation and more lines especially in preparation of what we anticipate to be a growing business.

When you think about it, the overall business is up 22% with growth coming out of that core produce business. I don't see that stopping. And I think we've got a bunch of opportunities lined up. It's just going to be -- it's going to be a margin play for us, reduction of some costs and operations, negotiating better with our suppliers and focusing on where we know that we can drive margin and profit and because we've got a lot of the market share now. So that's kind of happened and that investment has paid off.

So I think it's really a refinement and focus on what is traditionally a low-margin business especially cutters and so that drags us down a little bit. But once we start to shift to these higher-margin products and we pick up velocity, that will start to shift. And I think we're already starting to see that while we reduce costs because we've been -- I appreciate you saying I run a tight ship, but there's more to do, and we'll just -- we got to continue to refine our costs so that we can focus our energies where we need to, where we can drive margin as well as drive top line.

Unknown Analyst: Yes. No, no, that definitely makes sense. It looks like you guys are on your way. You also mentioned that international sales increased approximately 50% year-over-year. Can you discuss what's driving that growth and how important international markets could become within the broader business over time?

James Kras: Yes. A lot of it is driven -- or the majority, honestly, is driven by PriceSmart. They are the major player in big box. So think Costco, except in the Caribbean and in South America. And they are continuing to grow. I know that they're opening stores in Chile. They're already in Colombia and some of the other countries in South America as well as throughout the Caribbean. They're NASDAQ listed as well. They're performing extremely well. And we've been able to continue -- we've been in business with them for almost a decade. And so we've been able to benefit from their growth. It's been a phenomenal relationship.

They continue to not only drive an existing product that's been there for a while, but also expand into our Kick Sports Nutrition line. I think you'll see even more growth out of that over the next year. Like I said, your earlier question about what does that product mix look like? You're going to see vitamin supplements, our sports nutrition lines, the clean label products even before we start benefiting from this tremendous upside that we see on the RTDs. You'll see our existing protein powders, plant protein powders, all clean labeled.

Those will start to come online, I would say, towards the tail end of this year as well in significant numbers at a much -- and a really nice margin. So once again, as that mix shifts, the lower-margin cut herb business doesn't become such -- and I don't like using the word drag. It's just -- it is a little bit of a drag on margin just because it's a lower-margin product line that right now, we're getting requests to whether it's Target or others to say, "Hey, can you take this business and you do such a great job for our competitors? Can you do it for us.

But you're going to start to see a lot of this higher-margin vitamins and supplement type of products, sports nutrition come online this year as well as the high velocity, better margin RTDs as well towards the tail end of the year.

Unknown Analyst: That's fantastic. I just got one more question. So you highlighted expansion with several major retail partners during the quarter, right? And as an investor, how should I think about the opportunity to continue increasing distribution within your existing retail relationships going forward?

James Kras: Well, it's going to be -- I mean, we're in an advantageous position, right? When you think about the fact that we're in 6,000 stores, once again, super stable relationships really based on performance. I mean, we're servicing Walmart. We're servicing Target. We're servicing Meijer. We're servicing Wakefern and ShopRite. We're servicing the Hannaford and Ahold Delhaize family of banners, Safeway. It's -- these are the who's who of people who sell food to the majority of the country. We're going to continue to put -- look to go deep versus we do -- while we kind of go wide -- but really, it's about selling more products across our total portfolio to the existing customers that we have.

We will add on new accounts as new accounts make sense. Once again, this whole idea of kind of rationalizing out the relationship, the portfolio, the retailers and making sure that we're going deep and driving the business at a higher margin and while addressing the operational inefficiencies that the business has that we've continued to improve upon so that we're more efficient.

Our whole seed-to-store or cradle-to-grave or whatever you want to say it, process here is efficient and that we are benefiting from the margin that we need by servicing the retailers in a way that allows them to have the products that sell at an efficient rate for them as well as us and that we're getting the margin and getting the margin expansion that we need because we have the optimal mix. So I think a lot of it's going to be continuing to work with the relations -- retailers that we've been working with for the last decade that we've worked so hard to prove ourselves and that's paying off.

And so it's selling more of what we currently have to be the existing platform of retailers and distribution that we have versus going after necessarily new accounts.

We've got a lot of business that we can do better at, I guess, is the best way to do it, and we're going to focus on that by getting them to take in ideally the Pickles, which has been gaining momentum and with fermented hot sauces and like I said, the vitamin supplements is really probably going to be on segmented out and focused on separately, but they all kind of dovetail as better-for-you and overall push that we have as a company and that aligns obviously with the -- not only with what the consumers are looking for, but what the retailers are looking to do as there's been such a dramatic and overwhelming initiative by the retailers to remove artificial colors, artificial sweeteners from products.

And so for us, timing was great. We were already doing it. Not only were we doing it with what we grew and USDA Organic, the first out there with USDA certified organic product with our hydro basil, which is incredibly innovative from the team. But we're just in a position where we've got the right product at the right time and the retailers are pushing this as they understand the importance of getting it to better-for-you products because they're getting that pressure from a consumer base that's demanding and an administration that's pushing it as well in Washington. So we're in a good spot.

Operator: [Operator Instructions] Well, we appear to have reached the end of our question-and-answer session. I will now hand back over to the management team for any closing comments.

James Kras: Thank you, operator, and thanks again to everyone for joining us today and for your continued interest in Edible Garden. We believe the first quarter reflected meaningful progress across the business and continued validation of the broader strategy we have been executing against over the past several years. We're seeing encouraging momentum across our retail footprint, branded product portfolio and operational initiatives while continuing to build the foundation for future growth and opportunities in higher-margin shelf-stable nutrition categories. As we move through 2026 and beyond, our focus remains on disciplined execution.

That includes continuing to expand distribution, improve operational efficiencies, strengthen margins over time, advance our RTD initiative and further leverage the infrastructure and retail relationships we have already established across the business. Well, while we are still in the early stages of this evolution, we believe Edible Garden is becoming increasingly well positioned as a diversified clean label nutrition company with expanding capabilities across fresh, functional and shelf-stable categories and a stronger foundation for long-term growth. We appreciate everyone's continued support and look forward to updating you on our progress in the quarters ahead. Thanks again, and have a great day.

Operator: Thank you very much. This does conclude today's conference call. You may disconnect your phone lines at this time, and have a wonderful day. We thank you for your participation.

This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. Parts of this article were created using Large Language Models (LLMs) based on The Motley Fool's insights and investing approach. It has been reviewed by our AI quality control systems. Since LLMs cannot (currently) own stocks, it has no positions in any of the stocks mentioned. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability.

The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.