Vejii Holdings Ltd. (VEJI.C) Packs Its Bags, Visits California

Vejii Takes a Trip to SoCal

$10.29M Market Capitalization ($0.09)

Vejii Holdings Ltd. (VEJI.C) announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary, VEDGEco USA Inc., will be exhibiting at the Natural Products Expo West. The expo will take place from March 9-12 and will provide Vejii with an opportunity to increase exposure for its B2B platform, which services an extensive network of independent restaurants and grocers. Let’s take a look at the bigger picture.

“VEDGEco’s platform, as the B2B division of Vejii Holdings targets a massively underserved market of independent restaurants and grocers by providing hassle-free access to a wide offering of plant-based products, allowing restaurant owners to add new items to their menu without the burden of weekly financial commitments or minimum order values that are typical with most national distributors…,” said Kory Zelickson, CEO of Vejii Holdings.

On January 4, 2022, Vejii announced that it had completed the acquisition of VEDGEco on December 31, 2021. The acquisition enables the Company to leverage VEDGEco’s existing facilities in Hawaii, Northern California, and Georgia while providing VEDGEco with access to Vejii’s facilities in Texas, Wisconsin, and the Company’s soon-to-be operational third-party logistics operation in Southern California.

VEDGEco USA Inc.

Launched in 2020, VEDGEco represents the first nationwide plant-based wholesaler. Think Costco but for plant-based. The company ships frozen plant-based products, including plant-based meat, dairy, and egg alternatives, in bulk to restaurants and businesses within the wholesale industry, as well as to consumers across the United States (US). Furthermore, all of VEDGEco’s products are shopped in recyclable compostable packaging to reduce the company’s carbon footprint.

In addition to big-name brands like JUST and Impossible, VEDGEco works with independent brands, such as ForA: Butter and The BE-Hive, to help expand their reach and brand awareness across the US. VEDGEco also offers exclusives including NoDoh Brand Mozzarella-Style Sticks, which have become quite popular at pizzerias across the country. To top it all off, as of January 21, 2021, VEDGEco has removed its minimum order requirement, with orders over $250 shipped for free.

“Between going public and completing our acquisition of Vegan Essentials and then VEDGEco, 2021 closed on a high note for us…I feel we have proven our ability to execute our plans and objectives, getting two deals closed in two months, and the stage is now set for growth in 2022 as Vejii will be able to service our brand partners through our direct to consumer marketplace and business to business through the addition of VEDGEco,” saidDarren Gill, President and COO of Vejii.

With this in mind, Vejii’s acquisition of VEDGEco is expected to drive synergies across purchasing, customer service, technology, and logistics for both Vejii and VEDGEco. Moreover, this acquisition will allow Vejii to offer VEDGEco’s existing portfolio of wholesome plant-based products. This will also enable the Company to significantly expand VEDGEco’s product selection by leveraging its existing case-lot purchasing.

As previously mentioned, VEDGEco operates its distribution centers from Hawaii and California, which will further expand Vejii’s distribution network, reducing shipping costs and expanding the Company’s offering of regionalized same-day delivery. In total, VEDGEco ships to the lower 48 US states and Hawaii. It is worth noting that VEDGEco’s flagship store is located in Hawaii, representing the company’s only physical store.

Natural Products Expo West

The Natural Products Expo West represents the largest natural health and organic products trade show in North America. Annually, 60,000 organic and natural products industry professionals meet at Expo West, combing the entire value chain of healthy products. Expo West is primarily visited by retail buyers and gathers an average of 3,000 exhibitors.

With this in mind, Vejii intends to showcase its B2B platform, obtained through the acquisition of VEDGEco. Previously, Vejii relied on business-to-consumer (B2B) sales, whereby the Company provided its platform to brands and vendors to sell their products. Having now integrated VEDGEco into its business, Vejii now has access to a variety of B2B benefits including improved scalability, efficiency, and increased sales, to name just a few.

An effective B2B e-commerce platform can assist a company in reaching new customers, however, it can also increase sales by utilizing a variety of tools. For example, a company can increase its sales by offering relevant suggestions to customers and encouraging them to purchase related items. In doing so, this drives sales while also facilitating a B2B platform’s ordering process. That being said, Vejii fits this bill to a tee.

If VEDGEco is the Plato of B2B sales, then Vejii is the Socrates of e-commerce. Before acquiring VEDGEco, Vejii had already mastered the art of successful e-commerce, utilizing data gathered from its marketplace to inform every aspect of the Company’s business. This includes using logistics infrastructure and distribution network technology integrations to improve customer experiences and supports vendors.

“There is clear demand from our B2B clients, as they are not only seeking access to a wide range of exceptional plant-based products but also that they are leveraging tools like our new auto-reorder functionality to ensure that they can count on consistent, quality service every time,” said Kory Zelickson.

With this in mind, before its acquisition, Vejii had already laid the groundwork for a B2B platform like VEDGEco to excel on the Company’s existing e-commerce platform. As a result, Vejii’s integration of VEDGEco was seamless. In fact, on February 3, 2022, Vejii announced that the percentage of orders using the Company’s automatic reordering functionality had increased, with approximately 25% of its January repeat customers using the platform’s new B2B automatic reorder functionality.

Thus far, Vejii has been focused on improving its gross margins, reducing the cost of customer acquisitions, and increasing return on ad spent. Vejii has made several acquisitions, however, we will likely not see the benefits of these acquisitions until Q4 2021. It is worth noting that Vejii expects revenues for Q4 2021 to be somewhere between $1.1 and $1.2 million. Personally, I am hoping that, with VEDGEco under its belt, the Company will be able to transition its focus towards sales.