Bee Vectoring Technologies announces 2022 US sales on track, with 2021 trial results driving growth in new markets

Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc. (CSE: BEE) (OTCQB: BEVVF) (CVE: BEE) (the "Company" or "BVT") announces that its US sales is progressing as projected for the 2022 growing season. The sales plan is on track in the Southeast, with additional growth expected in more recently opened markets in other key growing regions.

Sales commitments in the Southeast, with two months in the selling season still to go, has already exceeded last year's total acres. BVT is still in discussions with customers representing several hundred potential new acres. High customer retention has also been confirmed in the Southeast, with 80% of growers from last year already confirmed to use BVT's natural precision agriculture system for the upcoming blueberry bloom period in February.

"The cost of inputs for growers has skyrocketed, and having customers reorder when they are cutting back in other areas shows how important BVT is to their operation. Many traditional chemical products have risen by as much as 40 percent over the last year," says Ian Collinson, Sales Manager at BVT.

"Our expansion in the US market is progressing on schedule in terms of sales growth and retention," added Mr. Collinson. "We've secured sales in the Southeast as a solid foundation, since their growing season starts first. The bulk of BVT's new sales growth will occur over the next three to four months, aligned with later growing seasons in the Northeast, Midwest, Pacific Northwest and California."

To help with growth in the newer regional markets, BVT is leveraging the powerful results from 2021 university and grower trials of BVT's bee vectoring system and Vectorite™ with CR-7 biological fungicide. Some trial results are already in and BVT has put them to immediate use in the sales process. These trials were conducted with respected agricultural academic institutions, including the University of California and North Dakota State University, as well as growers in Oregon and California.

"The trial data is rolling in, and we're all excited by how promising it is," says Ashish Malik, CEO of BVT. "We're seeing big benefits in real-world applications, with higher yields, bigger berries, higher quality crops, and reduced disease incidence and severity. This validates previous experience in specific crops and regions, and gives a major boost to our product proof so we can effectively present the BVT solution to even more growers."

Growers rely on trials conducted under their own local growing conditions when they're deciding on new technology: those trials are critical for market penetration and growth in individual regions.

These are some of the 2021 trial results available so far:

California strawberry trials with two major growers in Watsonville, California who grow for one of the world's largest berry companies (when BVT was added on top of the grower standard spray program)

• 25% and 32% greater yields

• 50% and 62% reductions in diseased fruit

• Reductions in culled fruit of 34% and 50% (culled fruit is fruit that is thrown away)

• Post-harvest data:

    - Fruit treated with BVT was healthier: 13% and 17% lower Botrytis (gray mold) incidence

    - The severity of Botrytis decreased by 12% and 45% (this is how much area of the fruit is infected)

The California strawberry grower trials were a proof-of-concept of the BVT system for this large berry company, in a market where bees are currently not being used for pollination, and demonstrated the economic benefit of the BVT system. One trial was done at an organic farm, and one at a conventional farm.

University of California conventional almond research trial in Central Valley, California (spray trial)

• CR-7 had over 80% efficacy in Monilinia laxa (brown rot blossom blight) disease control - the same level of control as leading chemical standards

• CR-7 outperformed five other biologicals for control of Botrytis cineria (jacket rot)

2021 was a very dry growing season in California's Central Valley and there was little disease on the almond orchards. The data collected from this 2021 Central Valley trial positively confirmed 2019 collected data: CR-7 sprayed produced the same control of Monilinia incidence as leading chemical standards; and CR-7 outperformed other biologicals for Botrytis control.

Conventional almond research trial in Madera County, California (bee vectoring of Vectorite with CR-7)

• 17-24% greater yield over two blueberry cultivars

• 5-6% increased flower retention

Conventional blueberry grower trial in Columbia River Basin, Oregon

• 16% average increase in berry size

• 43% more large (12mm+) berries

• Third-party packer reported higher yields over the grower standard (12mm+ sized berries)

Organic blueberry grower trial in western Oregon

• 90% reduction in Monilinia (mummy berry) disease with bee vectoring applied in 2021 compared to traditional methods used in 2020

• The section of the crop field with the lowest BVT treatment showed the highest disease incidence, but was still significantly lower than disease incidence in the previous year without bee vectoring used

• Fruit size is very large compared to past crops, especially first pick, with second pick also larger than expected

• Heavier fruit, with pallets weighting in at 1,100+ lbs.

"As a disruptive new technology, it's vital that BVT has strong, measurable third-party validation that helps customers make informed decisions," says Mr. Collinson. "We will be able to leverage this exciting data to drive sales growth in our new markets. It's a crucial tool for the BVT salesforce."