NEW YORK – Artisanal Brands, Inc., a marketer and distributor of specialty, artisanal and farmstead cheeses and other specialty food products, announced that it is today officially relocating to the new Artisanal Cheese Center in the Falchi Building in Long Island City. Plans are underway to open the first Artisanal Premium Cheese cafe at the front entrance of the Falchi building by Spring 2014. The store will be a combined cheese shop and cafe with a cheese-centric menu embracing a wide range of Artisanal branded products. As part of these expansion plans, the company is continuing to raise capital through the sale of convertible preferred shares.
Daniel W. Dowe, President and Chief Executive Officer of Artisanal, said, "After two long years of searching for a facility to accommodate our cheese aging operation, a retail store and offices in one affordable location, we are relieved to finally bring our relocation plans to conclusion. The Long Island City neighborhood is booming with changes from new residential high-rises and major corporate tenants like Jet Blue. The Falchi Building itself is undergoing renovations and we see the building and neighborhood continually evolving.
We are pleased that we are close to completing half of our $2 million convertible preferred stock offering. If closed by the end of our second fiscal quarter ending November 30, 2013, this would result in an improved balance sheet and trigger the conversion of $4.5 million of early stage shareholder loans into preferred shares and common stock at the conversion price of $.30 per share. Our new investor relations plan that was announced months ago is starting to bear fruit with higher trading volume on a daily basis.
Operationally, several online wine merchants have agreed to cross-promote Artisanal Premium Cheeses directly on their sites by placing the Artisanal CheeseClock(TM) icon on each product page. There is no out-of-pocket cost to the wine retailers who now have a new stream of income from our revenue-sharing plan. The "icon" program is a natural business extension for retailers as their customers can click over to a page at www.artisanalcheese.com that offers several cheeses that pair well with the particular wine that they purchase. There are hundreds of wine websites we can partner with and we've already signed contracts with www.invino.com, www.finewineonline.com, www.b-21.com and www.plonkwinemerchants.com. We are working to bring them online as early as this week. Collectively, these first partners market over 1,000 wines which will create visibility for the Artisanal brand on thousands of wine product pages. As we complete our equity offering, we intend to hire additional sales personnel to develop more partnerships with online wine merchants and websites that cater to foodies–two major channels that are a natural fit for the Artisanal brand.
About Artisanal Brands, Inc.
Artisanal Brands Inc. is based in New York City and markets Artisanal Premium Cheese's line products to food wholesalers and retailers, and directly to consumers through its website, www.artisanalcheese.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
Forward-looking statements made in this press release are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. They are based on management's expectations that involve potential risks and uncertainties (more fully described in Company filings made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) that may result in such expectations not being realized.
Source: Artisanal Brands, Inc.