TAAT Global Alternatives (CSE:TAAT / OTCQX:TOBAF / FRA:2TP) updated its investors with results for the last six months this week. It reported accelerated growth over the three months ended 21 July, with gross revenues growing to an all time high of C$1.3m, an increase of 1956% over the same period in 2020.
Gross profit for Q3 2021 was C$781,226 with a gross profit margin of 59.84%. Shares in the company remain part of the CSE Composite Index and its CSE 25 subset of the largest 25 companies in the CSE composite by market cap. It retains a healthy balance sheet with C$10m in working capital.
TAAT has just landed its first distributor in the UK and Ireland as well as one in Australia. The company has received the necessary regulatory approvals and shipped its first batch of product into the UK.
Setti Coscarella, CEO of TAAT, sees this as very important landmark, as he feels non-US distributors have been keenly watching TAAT’s ability to get through the regulatory and tax hurdles involved.
TAAT acts on customer feedback to improve core product
Coscarella says the initial wave of consumer feedback is now in and the company has been able to make improvements to its Beyond Tobacco product on the basis of this. He and his team have been spending a lot of the summer going to trade shows and meeting distributors. Using its manufacturing hub in Nevada, TAAT Global Alternatives is already supplying a widening distribution network in the US, including key states like Georgia, North Carolina and Illinois.
TAAT is trying to be as smart as it can in terms of how it scales up – where it makes sense, for example in Europe, it will look to partner with other companies to assist in the main. Coscarella says this will mean it will not need to spend as much on fixed assets.
Coscarella also told us he expected to achieve seven figures in sales this year and eight figures in sales next year (and nine figures in sales in 2023), but the company has been able to achieve that seven figure target in just one quarter. “This isn’t par for the course, this isn’t normal, it requires a lot of work and a keen appreciation of the industry,” he explained.
Coscarella: TAAT aiming to double retail outlets next six months
Looking ahead to the next six months, Coscarella would like to be in at least double the number of stores in the US and to add a couple more European markets. He says many distributors had been waiting to see if TAAT could go international. The approval in Ireland and then the UK are very significant steps. TAAT Global Alternativesalso wants to be in as many US states as possible, as quickly as possible.
The revised formulation for TAAT’s proprietary Beyond Tobacco means that waste inefficiencies in the manufacturing process have been reduced from around 30% to 1%.
TAAT still needs to be seen in the context of the change of direction in Big Tobacco itself. The company has done a very good job in terms of building moats around its brand, both in terms of patents and in IT protection. Coscarella says it is no coincidence that Big Tobacco firms are now using the phrase Beyond Nicotine in their marketing.
