VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(Marketwired – Nov. 19, 2013) – EnWave Corporation (TSX VENTURE:ENW)(FRANKFURT:E4U) (« EnWave », or the « Company ») announced today that it has signed a Commercial Royalty-Bearing License (the « License ») with a division of Bonduelle (« Bonduelle »), the world’s leading processed vegetable producer. Bonduelle’s global distribution reaches into over 100 countries worldwide, primarily selling fresh, frozen and canned vegetables. The License grants Bonduelle the exclusive global rights to develop and launch dehydrofrozen (« DHF ») vegetables using the Company’s Radiant Energy Vacuum (« REV™ ») technology.
DHF vegetables are partially dehydrated and then quickly frozen. The purpose of this process is to retain nutritional content, color, flavor and most importantly texture when cooked from the frozen state. When perfected, DHF vegetables can yield product qualities that are similar to fresh product. The lower moisture levels inherent of DHF products reduce the amount of ‘weeping’ that typically occurs when cooking frozen vegetables.
Before signing the aforementioned License, Bonduelle conducted an extensive market evaluation of REV™-dried DHF vegetables with a number of foodservice and retail food companies, as well as chef clients. The market evaluation results illustrated that the majority of participants could not tell the difference between fresh and DHF products after being cooked. These results combined with the economic value of DHF products derived from longer controlled shelf-life, more efficient delivery and better product consistency over a calendar year, contributed to Bonduelle’s decision to secure global exclusive licensing rights for REV™ technology.
Moving forward, EnWave plans to build a 120kW MIVAP™ machine, via their subsidiary Hans Binder Maschinenbau GMBH (« Binder »), for Bonduelle to use for their North American operations. EnWave plans to provide the capital to finance the initial machine build under an equipment lease agreement provided the Company can secure equity financing for the project and Bonduelle is able to secure acceptable levels of government subsidies to help finance the project and support ongoing product development and technology expansion. Both parties anticipate securing financing and signing a definitive equipment lease agreement by January 31st, 2014 to enable the initial plant to start up by Q4 2014.
Additionally, EnWave and Bonduelle have agreed to collaborate on the design of a commercial-scale quantaREV™ machine for DHF vegetable applications with a target capacity in the range of 3-4 tonnes finished product per hour. The two companies plan to complete final technical design work and prototype testing by early 2015, with the goal of making quantaREV™ technology available for a larger global rollout in 2015 and beyond. This represents EnWave’s first chance to develop a commercial application for quantaREV™ in partnership with a commercial licensee in the vegetable sector. EnWave has also agreed to set up a pilot-scale quantaREV™ machine at Bonduelle’s North American facilities by Q2 calendar 2014, so Bonduelle can continue market development for DHF vegetable applications. Bonduelle’s European group also plans to rent a lab-scale REV™ unit to initiate product development efforts for the European and other global markets.
« This represents a new global market sector for EnWave to penetrate with an industry leader, » stated Dr. Tim Durance, Chairman and Co-CEO of EnWave. « It also provides an opportunity for EnWave to advance the development of quantaREV™ for vegetables in partnership with a commercial licensee. »
« REV™ technology is potentially game-changing as it could allow Bonduelle to redefine industry and consumer expectations regarding the quality of frozen vegetables, » stated Mr. Daniel Vielfaure, President of Bonduelle Americas. « We look forward to working with EnWave to develop our DHF offerings in the North American and other global markets. »
About Bonduelle
Bonduelle has a clear goal: to be a nutrition partner for consumers. It does all it can to encourage people to eat vegetables by offering a very wide product range which is extensively available in over 100 countries worldwide. Today the company has over 80 types of vegetable and has been present since 1998 in four segments: canned, frozen, fresh and delicatessen salads. Bonduelle is above all a ‘corporate’ brand and a family brand. The brand name is both the name of the company and the name of the founding family, whose activities began back in the middle of the 19th Century. Giving the family’s name to the product ensures that consumers immediately identify the product and recognize the name, Bonduelle. Its Chief Executive Officer, Christophe Bonduelle, represents the 6th generation of this family business. For more information on Bonduelle please visit www.bonduelle.com.
About EnWave
EnWave Corporation is a Vancouver-based industrial technology company developing commercial applications for its proprietary Radiant Energy Vacuum (REV™) dehydration technology. EnWave aims to sign royalty-bearing commercial licenses with leading food and pharmaceutical companies for the use of its revolutionary technology. Thus far the Company has signed commercial licenses with Bonduelle, a global leader in the production of vegetables, for the processing of dehydrofrozen vegetables; Hormel Foods Corporation, a major processed meat manufacturer, for the production of healthy dried meat products; Milne Fruit Product, EnWave’s first major licensee, for the production of several dehydrated fruit and vegetable products in the whole, fragmented and powdered form; a leading North American enzyme company, to dehydrate a series of food-related enzymes for their Tier 1 clients; and Napa Mountain Spice Company, to dry high-quality California bay leaves. In addition to these licenses, EnWave has formed a Limited Liability Partnership with Lucid Capital Management to develop, manufacture, market and sell all-natural cheese snack products in the United States under the Moon Cheese® brand. Also, EnWave has entered into a wide range of research and collaboration agreements with an expanding list of multinational companies, including Nestlé, Kellogg’s, Grupo Bimbo, Grimmway Farms, Ocean Spray Cranberries, Cherry Central, Sun-Maid Growers, Gay Lea Foods and Merck. EnWave is introducing REV™ as a new dehydration standard in the food and biological material sectors: potentially faster and cheaper than freeze drying, with better end product quality than air drying or spray drying.
EnWave currently has six REV™ platforms: commercial-scale nutraREV® and MIVAP® are used in the food industry to dry fruits, vegetables, meat, herbs and seafood quickly and at low-cost, while maintaining high levels of nutrition, taste, texture and colour. The Company is also developing powderREV™ for bulk dehydration of food cultures, probiotics and fine biochemicals such as enzymes; quantaREV™ for continuous, high-volume low-temperature drying of pastes, gels, liquids, or particulates; and bioREV™ and freezeREV™ as new methods to stabilize and dehydrate biopharmaceuticals such as vaccines and antibodies. More information about EnWave is available at www.enwave.net.
EnWave Corporation
Dr. Tim Durance, Chairman & Co-CEO
Safe Harbour for Forward-Looking Information Statements: This press release may contain forward-looking information based on management’s expectations, estimates and projections. All statements that address expectations or projections about the future, including statements about the Company’s strategy for growth, product development, market position, expected expenditures, and the expected synergies following the closing are forward-looking statements. All third party references to market information in this release are not guaranteed to be accurate as the Company did not conduct the original primary research. These statements are not a guarantee of future performance and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
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Contact Information
EnWave Corporation
Mr. John McNicol
President & Co-CEO
(604) 601-8524
john.mcnicol@enwave.net
EnWave Corporation
Mr. Brent Charleton
Vice President, Corporate Affairs
(778) 378-9616
bcharleton@enwave.net
