Food on the move: in search of the lesser spotted riser

FFF’s weekly roundup of listed FoodTech’s movers & shakers

A case of trying to spot the lesser spotted riser among listed FoodTech this week – by close of play on Friday 02 September 2022, companies with share prices down on the week outnumbered those with gains by more than four to one.  In all, 39 companies were nursing share price falls, while only 9 ended the week in positive territory.

Top of the tree was AgTech/MedTech investor The Trendlines Group (42T) – the shares ended the week up 8% at SGD1 per share. Not much in the way of news, although it was announced that Trendlines had won a gong at the 17th annual Singapore Corporate Awards. Must have been some award.

Elsewhere, shares in Agriforce Growing Systems (AGRI) built on the previous week’s gains.  The AgTech announced “the launch of un(Think) Awakened Flour. The production, which uses a 100% natural patent-pending process, creates a flour that is more nutritious, easier to digest, and better tasting than traditional alternatives.” The shares closed up 5% at US$1.95 – that’s flour power for you.

Matching AGRI’s 5% rise was CubicFarm Systems (CUB).  No new news out from the indoor farm techie.  The shares closed at C$0.2 still some way off the C$1.2 levels they were trading at six months ago.

Weakest performer was Zevia (ZVIA) – shares were off a quarter at US$4.02.   No announcements from the zero sugar drinks company either.  In fact, all quiet on the news front since August’s better than expected Q2 results.  Zevia’s stock went on a tear following the numbers, so perhaps a little profit-taking accounts for the shares losing some of their fizz this week.

Eggfree Cake Box (CBOX) was not far behind – the shares closed 24% lower at 145p after the company revealed trading has deteriorated since its year end results with sales coming in lower than expected.  Consumers, it seems, are going cake free for now.

Finally, there was a 21% fall in the share price of Verde Agritech (NPK).  The potash fertilizer company announced its second production plant is now up and running in Brazil.  Makes one wonder how the stock price would react to any bad news.  To be fair, the shares are still more than double what they were at the beginning of the year, so investors who bought then and have held on since are sitting pretty.  Thought best to end on a positive note…