Yes, GIC. Made my way to a couple of other supermarkets in the area, and also discovered Raspberry and White Chocolate, Lemon Curd, and Speights Old Dark.
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I couldn't disagree more. Blis was just a product and a plan 4 years ago. Now it is in over 50 products around the world, and including chewing gum and ice cream and yoghurt, which they had to create the technology for. And M18 and Q24 have been added. GRAS is on tap. Many companies have signed on to the sales potential. It is now legal to sell it in countries with a population of over 3 billion! China 1400m, India 1200m, US 300m, Russia 142m, Japan 128m, Mexico 112m, Canada 34m, Malaysia 28m, Taiwan 23m, Australia 22m ...) In the US there are nationwide products selling into thousands of stores.
The company has had problems, but few of its own making. Worldwide regulations for supplements have got incredibly tight during this time, including considerable legal restraint on advertising. The world economy has got more and more panicky, and a lot of consumers and companies have shut their wallets. GRAS got harder and harder to get, but they still got it, it just took 2 years longer.
Obviously the one thing they haven't got is sales revenue coming out of their ears. The question, equally obviously, is whether that will or won't happen. But I find it really odd that people seem to have got bored with BLT when so very, very much is happening.
I don't see that the ice cream is unimportant either. Yes, they want it for proof of concept on functional foods, but I do care whether it is going to bring in cash flow too.
So, yes, we'd like the sales revenue to get a move on. But nothing to talk about? No, I can't agree. The current share price reflects only that the shareholders are currently doing nothing much. But the company itself is surely very, very active for those reading the reports.
For those who haven't noticed this before, by the way:
"More than 50 million doses of Streptococus salivarius K12-containing products have been distributed since 2001" http://blis.co.nz/default/probiotic-...ct-safety.html
Just trying to balance out the debate a little. But, yes, some certainty would be welcome sometime. Time does indeed pass.
That 2 yr chart is not a nice picture--hang on,ill just turn my computer screen upside down--ahhh thats better LOL Seriously though,we are all hopeing they make it in the end,but you cant blame those that look at the bottom line .
Yes, we'd all like to know that! The company has created a pretty large infrastructure now, and it's hard to put your finger on exactly why the profits haven't flowed yet. Various possibilities, of course. They are selling stuff, but the expansion costs exceed the income? Consumers are scared? Intermediate companies are wary of using cash to promote a new product? Regulations make it very tough to advertise? Etc. Or perhaps it just takes time to grow a new product concept?
As you say, Skid, we are all hoping they make it in the end. I look on it as rather binary now. It will succeed or it won't. All that infrastructure means there's not much room to start again now.
But I'm pretty hopeful. All that infrastructure seems likely to pay off sooner or later, it seems to me. And when I see Blis's ice cream in a prominent supermarket chain, I'm not seeing bad news. I take the simple and obvious view: Good!
Still, a variety of views is good. We're here to debate and discuss, the better to form a view on our investments. The more views the better for that. I'm always interested in every view.
After a week in Wellington, I notice that ice cream sales appeared to be: 13 in 6 days at Thorndon (large store, upmarket), 8 in 4 days in Newtown, 2 in 4 days at Porirua (and not including what I bought.) That's an average of about 2 pottles a day per store over that time, if that has any statistical meaning, which is doubtful. Wikipedia report that New World had 132 stores 3 years ago. It sells for $6.89 (more in some stores), so would BLT hope for $1 to $1.50 profit per pottle maybe? Don't have a clue. And it's currently summer, of course. Anyway, useful, I'd have said.
Price wise, the $6.89 makes it the cheapest in the pottle section. Combined with attractive packaging, it has appeal. The most expensive pottles sell for about $20 for a litre, amazingly.
I've also come to seriously like this ice cream. The trick with premium ice cream (as this range is called) is that you don't eat it by the plateful. It has an intense flavour and small amounts (a teaspoonful is nice) are about as nice as a plate of the normal stuff. All the women in the house like it, and one went to buy some more "because we're running out".
I deliberately didn't do the sums, as the margin of error seems way too high from such a small sample. But it seemed a bit cheerful to me, I must admit. Way too early to judge annual sales though.
But it does seem to clearly demonstrate that the product can attract a following, which is good.