Edible Garden (NASDAQ:EDBL) released first-quarter financial results and hosted an earnings call on Friday. Read the complete transcript below.

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Summary

Revenue increased 22.9% year-over-year to $3.3 million, driven by retail expansion and growth across multiple categories, notably a 46% increase in cut herb sales.

The company is focusing on expanding into higher margin, shelf-stable categories, particularly the Ready to Drink (RTD) segment, with significant demand and retailer interest.

Operational expenses increased primarily due to cost of goods sold and depreciation, but cash flow improved with a positive operating cash flow of $251,000.

International sales grew by 50% year-over-year, supported by distribution expansion and demand for clean label products.

Management is optimistic about the future, focusing on scaling revenue, improving cost structures, and advancing the RTD platform with Tetra Pak, while maintaining disciplined capital management.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good morning and welcome to the Edible Garden AG Inc 2026 First Quarter Business Update Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode and the floor will be open for questions following the presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press 0 on your phone keypad. Please note this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to your host, Ted Avas, Investor Relations at Crescendo Communications. Ted, the floor is yours.

Ted Avas (Investor Relations)

Thanks Jenny. Good morning and thank you for joining Edible Garden's 2026 first quarter earnings conference Call and Business Update. On the call with us today are Jim Krause, Chief Executive Officer of Edible Garden, and Costas DeFoulis, Interim Chief Financial Officer of Edible Garden. Earlier today, the Company announced its operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2026. The press release is posted on the Company's website, www.ediblegarden.ediblegardenag.com. in addition, the Company has filed its Quarterly report on Form 10Q with the U.S. securities and Exchange Commission, which can also be accessed on the Company's website as well as the SEC's website and at www.sec.gov. if you have any questions after the call, would like any additional information about the Company, please contact Edible Garden AG Inc at 212-671-1020. Before Mr. Krass reviews the Company's operating results for the quarter ended March 31, 2026 and provide the business update, we would like to remind everyone that this conference call may contain forward looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in the conference call, including statements regarding our future results of operations and financial position, strategy and plans, and our expectations for future operations are forward looking statements. The words aim, anticipate, believe, could, expect, may, plan, project, strategy, will, and the negative of such terms, in other words in terms of similar expressions, are intended to identify forward looking statements. These forward looking statements are based largely on the Company's current expectations and projections about future events and trends that it believes may affect its financial condition, results of operations, strategy, short term and long term business operations and objectives, and financial needs. These forward looking statements are subject to several risks, uncertainties and assumptions as described in the Company's filings with the SEC, including the company's annual report on Form 10K for the year ended December 31, 2025. Because of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward looking events and circumstances discussed in the conference call may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the you should not rely upon forward looking statements as predictions of future events. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance or achievements. In addition, neither the Company nor any person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any of these forward looking statements. The Company disclaims any duty to update any of these forward looking statements except as required by law. All forward looking statements attributable to the Company are expressly qualified in their entirety. By these cautionary statements as well as others made on this conference call, you should evaluate all forward looking statements made by the Company in the context of these risks and uncertainties. With that, I would now like to turn the call over to Jim Krause, Chief Executive Officer of Edible Garden.

Jim Krause

Thanks Ted and good morning everyone. The first quarter of 2026 reflected continued progress across the business as we began seeing stronger traction from many of our of the investments and strategic initiatives we put in place over the past year. Revenue increased approximately 22.9% year over year to approximately $3.3 million, supported by continued retail expansion and growth across multiple categories. One of the strongest contributors during the quarter was our cut herb business where sales increased approximately 46% year over year, driven by continued growth within existing accounts as well as new account contributions from Kroger and Weiss markets. That momentum also extended beyond our core produce categories. Vitamin and supplement sales sales increased approximately 27% year over year while condiment sales increased approximately 51%. We also continued seeing strong growth internationally with sales increasing approximately 50% year over year reflecting continued expansion of our distribution footprint and our growing demand for clean label better for you products across multiple markets and categories. As a result, we continued expanding distribution with both existing and new retail partners during the quarter including Target, Safeway, the Fresh Market, Hannaford Bush's Fresh Food Market and Woodman's Market. At the same time, we broadened distribution across our branded consumer product portfolio including Pickle Party Pulp Kick Sports Nutrition, Vitamin Wave and Jealousy products GLP1 support products. We believe this momentum reflects the broader platform we have been building over the past years, leveraging the Controlled Environment foundation, vertically integrated infrastructure, retail relationships, operational capabilities and product development expertise established through our core business. We continue expanding into adjacent higher margin and shelf Stable categories as we continue evolving beyond our traditional greenhouse and fresh herb business. One of the areas we are most focused on is is the Ready to Drink or the RTD category. We believe RTD's represent a compelling long term opportunity with the global market projected to grow from approximately $842.5 billion in 2025 to roughly 1.26 trillion in 2033, according to Phoenix Research. More importantly, through ongoing discussions with both existing and prospective retail partners, we continue seeing increasing demand for scalable and domestic production solutions that can deliver clean label, shelf, stable functional nutrition products with consistency, transparency and operational reliability. We believe this reflects a meaningful unmet need as retailers and brands continue searching for reliable US based partners across functional, beverage and wellness focused nutrition categories. To support that opportunity, we continue advancing our Iowa Midwest RTD initiative during the quarter which including ongoing work related to the integration of Tetra Pak processing and packaging solutions. Tetra Pak is a globally recognized leader in food processing and aseptic packaging solutions and we believe this relationship significantly strengthens the operational foundation of our RTD platform. Our retail footprint now exceeds 6,000 locations across the United States, Caribbean and South America. During Q1, we added new retail partners including Target, Safeway, Bush's Fresh Food Market and the Fresh Market. This expanding distribution network is not only driving current revenue growth but but also represents the foundation for our future RTD product placement. These are relationships that are already in place that we will nurture and look to leverage More broadly. Our foundation in controlled environment agriculture has allowed us to build deep expertise in traceability, sustainability, operational discipline, supply chain management and retail execution. We believe those capabilities naturally support a broader farm to formula strategy and zero waste inspired initiative while supporting our continued expansion into shelf, stable and functional nutrition categories. While we are we're in the early stages of this evolution, we believe the foundation is firmly in place through expanding retail network, growing branded product portfolio and continued advancement of our RTD manufacturing initiative. At the same time, we remain focused on improving operational execution, scaling higher margin categories, strengthening margins over time and positioning the company for long term scalable growth and value creation. With that, I'll turn the call over to Costas to review the financials.

Costas DeFoulis

Thanks Jim and good morning everyone. Revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2026 increased approximately 22.9% year over year to approximately 3.3 million compared to approximately 2.7 million in the prior year period. The increase was primarily driven by continued growth across the company's Cut Herb portfolio which increased approximately 45.9% year over year. That growth was supported by expansion within existing customer accounts along with new account contributions from Kroger and Weiss markets. We also saw broad based growth across hydroponic, basil, wheatgrass, vitamins and supplements and condiments. International sales increased approximately 50% year over year and condiment sales grew 51%, reflecting expanding demand for our branded product portfolio across a retail footprint that now exceeds 6,000 locations. Operating expenses were 10 million for the three months ended March 31, 2026, compared to 5.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025. The increase of 4.4 million was primarily driven by two factors. First, cost of goods sold increased as we scaled cut or distribution through third party sourcing, the dynamic we view as transitional as we work to renegotiate supplier terms. Second, depreciation and amortization increased approximately 2.5 million, primarily reflecting accelerated depreciation of certain fixed assets in connection with the company's pivot to RTD. Clean Nutrition Manufacturing at our Prairie Hills facility. The company recorded an income tax benefit of approximately 3.4 million for the three months ended March 31, primarily related to a valuation allowance release in connection with the sale of certain tax benefits under the New Jersey Economic Development Authority's Technology Business Tax Certificate Transfer Program. This benefit is a discrete non recurring item. Net loss for the quarter was approximately $3.7 million compared to approximately $3.3 million in the prior year period. Turning to the balance sheet and cash flow, cash increased to approximately 2 million at the end at March 31 from 1.1 million at year end for a sequential increase in five quarters. That improvement was driven by positive operating cash flow of approximately 251,000, which reflected favorable working capital including collections on receivables and inventory reductions as well as net financing inflows. We continue to manage a working capital deficit and are focused on improving the company's capital position as we execute on our growth strategy. Looking ahead, our priorities for 2026 are clear. Continue scaling revenue through our expanding retail network. Improve our cost structure by transitioning category sourcing and scaling higher margin branded categories. Advance the RTD manufacturing platform with Tetrapak and maintain disciplined capital management. We're encouraged by the top line momentum and the cash flow improvement this quarter and we are focused on translating that momentum into margin improvement over the balance of the year with that operator, please open the line for questions.

OPERATOR

Thank you very much. We are now opening the floor for questions. If you would like to ask a question, please press Star one on your phone keypad. Now we ask that while you're posing your question, you please pick up your handset if you're listening on a speakerphone to provide optimum sound quality, you may press Star two if you would like to remove your question or from the queue, please wait a moment while we poll for questions. Thank you. Our first question is coming from Nick Sherwood of the Maxim Group. Nick, your line is live.

Nick Sherwood (Equity Analyst)

Hi, Jim. Good morning. Thank you for taking my questions. My first question is, you know, across the 6,000 retail locations your products are found in, how many of those stores are carrying the cut herb products? How many of them are carrying vitamin supplements? How should we conceptualize what's being held across the stores?

Jim Krause

Good morning, Nick. It's a combination and a mix. Obviously we're seeing growth come out of cut herbs. That's the preferred form that consumers like based on convenience and that continues to accelerate. We have Target is going to be coming online in the next week or so. That will be significant for us as a business at the blend with the largest percentage being cut herbs with some potted herbs as well. As we start to evolve as a business and get into higher, more shelf, stable opportunities in products, you'll see that mix start to even out where I think you're going to see, especially with the ready to drinks down the road, that becoming a larger part of our business. And that's at a much higher velocity as well as margin the RTD business. But near term, let's say the next six to 12 months as we bring on the RTDs, it's going to be I think driven primarily by vitamin supplements, which currently right now I would say is 20% of our business with cut herbs being probably 40 to 50. And then the rest is everything else, potted wheat grass, hydroponic basil, which is also a big player for us at a nice margin. I think a lot of top line growth coming out of cut herbs. I think even more coming out of vitamins and supplements. Knowing that the ring for a lot of these products is much higher than clamshell of cut herbs. And then the rest of it is going to be some of the other products that are in the mix that have I think better margins that will offset some of the top line growth that's coming out of the cut herbs with once again the vitamins and supplements, I think becoming a bigger and bigger part of our business.

Nick Sherwood (Equity Analyst)

Understood and I appreciate the detail in that answer. And then kind of looking at this new ready to drink platform, have you been able to provide some of your retail partners with prototypes? Can you kind of talk about the reception from your retail partners?

Jim Krause

How should we think about that? The reception's been overwhelming. What's great about being in the food business is people have to eat right and ready to drinks is in the segment which is just incredibly compelling with the Growth in protein consumption. You can't turn the television on and not see it come up. Whether in advertisements or people speaking about just a growing need. Whether you're looking to be an active individual and put on muscle mass or to recover or just live a healthier lifestyle, or if you're older and you're looking to keep weight on or if you may unfortunately be sick, the protein needs just continue to grow across the full spectrum of consumers. For us, the retailers, many of which that we are, we've already gotten significant commitments with the factory that's going up. I think we're going to be at a point where it's going to become more and more of a negotiation to figure out who we're going to start to bring in post launch. We are working with a co manufacturer to start driving the business and servicing the overwhelming demand. And I think we're probably going to be close to capacity with them probably in the next few weeks. So it's really been incredibly exciting. We are focused on the core business. The greenhouse has got us here. But the RTD business, it's just a monster with the product lines that we have in there, both performance high protein drink and then we'll have an adult nutrition drink that's in there that'll be launching once again in a tail end of 2027, early 2028 in our own factory. And we'll be working will be launching prior or servicing business prior out of a co manufacturer. Once again, just overwhelming demand. And we're going to be seeing this paradigm shift for us as a business directed more and more towards that once again, I think we're still uniquely qualified because there's really no one out there that is coming out of the greenhouse business that's doing the innovative things that we're doing isn't as qualified as we are to really stand for something whether it's clean label, which is what's driving the thrust of this, or just having an eye on sustainability and working with someone like Tetra Pak who's been a phenomenal resource for us as we build out this platform. So like I said, we've got probably more orders than we can handle and we're already. We'll be running our prototype to get more specific in mid July with product beginning to manufacture at a coman in September while we build out the factory in Iowa. And so we're already in the final stages of finalizing the product. We teamed up with McCormick in order to develop the products. Like I said, one is a sports nutrition dairy based Premix that then gets turned into an RTD in a techa pack and then the other one is an adult product, not unlike Boost and Shure and those types. It's just fantastic. A joke. I said to people I've always wanted to be in the hotcakes business and now we're in the hotcakes business because everything's selling like hotcakes. So it's been pretty cool. In all honesty. Exciting, I think for the team, the company, investors, just fantastic.

Nick Sherwood (Equity Analyst)

Yeah, it sounds like there's a lot of momentum there and something to look forward to. And then my last question is, how do you keep or how do you make customers sort of loyal to your brand across product categories so that someone is recognizing that you're the people behind the cut herbs that they buy and the vitamin supplements that they may buy or maybe the condiments that they buy, ensuring that they're buying across your product

Jim Krause

categories as opposed to just kind of buying one of them. Sure. Look, it comes down to an exercise in marketing and distribution, right? In customer service, both for our retailers and our end user, it comes down to quality and consistency. The art of this is, is communicating and hopefully training consumers, for lack of a better word, to know that when they want the best and that they only deserve the best, they buy edible garden. Putting forth the marketing initiatives that communicate that is something that I think we do a fairly good job of, whether it's through advertising and marketing, in store promotions and reinforcement or social media. But once again, I think if you've got the quality and the consistency and the availability and you're shipping at 98% like we have, I mean, it drives not only, I think, loyalty because people know when they go in, your product's going to be in there and look for edible garden because you know what you're going to get. You're going to get safe, high quality, best quality produce that's super fresh. I think you just continue to give a consumer that experience. It tastes great and it makes your everything that you cook tastes that much better. If we deliver on that and we do our job, I think people will continue to be loyal and want our product. And we see that through the fact that we have a very stable revenue line, albeit small comparison to many of the other companies out there now with the RTD's and our reputation with not only the consumers but the retailers. Once again, talk about this notion of farm to formula and what that means. It's harnessing the greenhouses and all the great R and D stuff that we do we don't talk enough about it at the company. The universities were involved in the partnerships with the epa, the usda to things that just help drive quality, consistency and elevate us beyond anybody else in the category. There's not too many people left because I don't think people made the investment and I think the shareholders was backing us to allow us to get to where we are to do the great things that we're doing. I think all of that goes into building brand loyalty because people know that, hey, if I want the best in herbs, I want the best in condiments. I want great tasting, better for you products and somebody who's got an eye on the environment as well, you should buy edible garden. And I think we've seen that once again. I think what really reflects it is our consistent relationships and the opportunities that it drives. For something like the RTD's, where major retailers came to us and said, can you do this? We've got a problem. We've got. The shortfall in the marketplace on this item is tremendous. And to be able to do it better, cleaner and do it where, like I said, where people are calling us and saying, hey, we've heard about what you guys are doing. Can you do it for us? It's just, I mean, you work a lifetime to get to this position and the company has put in 10 years and fought hard to be where we are and now it's starting to pay off. So it's an exciting time and I couldn't be any more bullish on the business and we're just in a great spot. And I got to think, frankly, the retailers for their support because they're excited. They've got a problem, we've got a solution and they've worked with us to craft solution that works for all parties. And like I said, it's a huge opportunity that's only accelerating and growing. Yeah.

Nick Sherwood (Equity Analyst)

Thank you for answering all my questions. And it looks like there's a lot of momentum there. I'll return to the queue.

Jim Krause

All right, thanks, Nick. Take care.

OPERATOR

Thank you very much. Just a reminder there. If you would like to ask a question, you can still join the queue by pressing star1 on your phone keypad. Now our next question is coming from Ellen Litzak of Forest Capital. Ellen, your line is live.

Ellen Litzak (Equity Analyst)

Hey, good morning, guys. Thank you so much for taking my questions. You discussed the growing RTD opportunity and increasing retailer interest in domestic clean label functional nutrition products. As you look ahead, how are you balancing investment between the company's core business and the really like the larger RTD opportunity and what do you think positions Edible Garden to compete effectively in that market.

Jim Krause

Well, welcome. Nice to meet you and thanks for joining the call. We're looking to make sure look where the future is going to be. The shelf stable, better for you products, and we are going to be kind of allocating our resources along where we see the growth is the core business, I think. Look, I know that we've made a significant investment in the operations, adding greenhouses, tying them to contracts. That's the other thing that's very unique about the relationships we have. The distribution platform of 6,000 stores holds steady and is growing every day that we're out there selling and working with our retail partners. But I think you're going to see a shift towards the investment in the RTD and nutrition platform because that's the future and it's the larger opportunity with the shelf stability. Just the overwhelming demand. I think only if you're lucky once in your career. I've been fortunate to have it a few times, you know, harking back to my days in nutritional supplements with Nature's Bonnie, where, you know, you catch a craze. And right now we've got a protein craze. People want convenience, they want liquids. They don't necessarily want to mix powders. They want to have their nutrition and they want to have it on the go. They want to have it when they need it. And what's great is everybody from kids all the way to seniors, you know, have these nutritional needs and these protein needs, and we're just starting there. There are so many other segments, hydration, whatnot that we could play in. So we're going to be investing a good chunk of our resources, our money in that platform, really backed by the greenhouses and the wherewithal and the reputation that we have for being a supplier that supplies very difficult, highly perishable products at a 98%, you know, ship rate, which is just unheard of. And so, I mean, all of that has driven the retailers, you know, this RTD opportunity came from, you know, the world's largest retailer said, hey, can you help us out? I mean, and it wasn't necessarily something that was on our radar. But then when we started working with them and with their resources, you know, we were able to partner with a Tetra Pak, partner with a McCormick's. And when you think about Edible Garden, our size and the partners that we're working with, it's a real credit to everybody at Edible Garden who sat there and made sure. The truck left on time in full because that means everything to the retailers. They want availability. If you don't have a product on the shelf, you're missing a sale. And I think that's just boiling it down. In simple terms, that's kind of what I think has made us effective. Like I said, we're going to be putting more and more resources towards that. I think I answered your second question, which is what positioned us for this opportunity? And that was really just our commitment. I tell people at Edible Garden we're a customer service company first. That happens to make things or grow things. I think just getting in there and understanding the importance of the retailers and addressing their needs is something that I think we've just done really well as a team. And it's paying off. You know, it's paying off and I mean, it's frustrating because it's been years of investment, you know, and managing costs and managing suppliers and, you know, those challenges aren't going to stop. But now we have such a huge opportunity and when you're. When everybody's got something in it, you know, to gain, you know, people come to the table with resources because we're all going to win. So I hope I answered the question. Was that, Was that. Was that enough?

Ellen Litzak (Equity Analyst)

Yeah, no, yeah, no, you definitely did. And obviously it looks like you run a very tight ship. I mean, I have another question. So, like, as you need to evolve toward, you know, higher margin and shelf stable categories, like what specific initiatives are, you know, are you underway with. With the core produce business to improve the operational efficiencies and strengthen the margins over time?

Jim Krause

Well, right now, a lot of it is not only a redeployment of existing resources that we have of people that, let's say, like, whether it's in our regulatory department or our food safety, things like that can be deployed across the whole platform, including the rtd. So it's not like you're hiring another person. We'll be looking to probably shift the business around, blend the business with our suppliers, negotiate harder with our suppliers based on the growing demand, which I think puts us in a more advantageous position than we've been in the past to get some price considerations on what we're bringing in the house. I also think you're going to see a lot of. You're going to see a lot of. I think, and I think. I know we're going to be looking to focus on the accounts where we make money and, you know, and I think we'll start to remove Some of the businesses that are, that are maybe too far from the greenhouse with the rising diesel costs and if we're delivering it that way, we've already begun and have impacted in this quarter quite a bit of labor reduction just based on the investments that we made in Q1 or the investments we made in Q4 to bring in more automation and more lines, especially in preparation of what we anticipate to be a growing business. When you think about it, the overall business is up 22%. With growth coming out of that core produce business. I don't see that stopping. I think we've got a bunch of opportunities lined up. It's just going to be a margin play for us. Reduction of some costs in operations, negotiating better with our suppliers and focusing on where we know that we can drive margin and profit. And because we've got a lot of the market share now, so that's kind of happened and that investment's paid off. So I think it's really a refinement and focus on what is traditionally a low margin business, especially cut herbs. And so that drags us down a little bit. But once we start to shift to these higher margin products and we pick up velocity, that will start to shift. And I think we're already starting to see that while we reduce costs because we've been. I appreciate you saying I run a tight ship, but there's more to do and we've got to continue to refine our costs so that we can focus our energies where we need to, where we can drive margin as well as drive.

Ellen Litzak (Equity Analyst)

Yeah, no, no, that definitely that makes sense. And looks like you guys are on your way. You also mentioned that international sales increased approximately 50% year over year. Can you discuss what's driving that growth and how important international markets could become within a broader business over time?

Jim Krause

Yes, a lot of it's driven, you know, or the majority honestly is driven by Pricemart. They are the major players, player in big box. So think Costco. Except in the Caribbean and in South America. They are continuing to grow. I know that they're opening stores in Chile. They're already in Colombia and some of the other countries in South America as well as throughout the Caribbean. They're NASDAQ listed as well. They're performing extremely well and we've been able to continue. We've been in business with them for almost a decade and so we've been able to benefit from their growth. It's been a phenomenal relationship. They continue to not only drive in an existing product that's been there for a while but also expand into our kick sports nutrition line. I think you'll see even more growth out of that over the next year. Like I said, your earlier question about what does that product mix look like? You're going to see vitamins, supplements, our sports nutrition lines, the clean labeled products. Even before we start benefiting from this tremendous upside that we see on the rtds, you'll see our existing protein powders, plant protein powders, all clean labeled. Those will start to come online I would say towards the tail end of this year as well in significant numbers at a much really nice margin. So once again, as that mix shifts, the lower margin cut herb business doesn't become such a, and I don't like using the word drag. It's just it is a little bit of a drag on margin just because it's a lower margin product line that right now we're getting requests, whether it's Target or others to say hey, can you take this business? You do such a great job for competitors, can you do it for us? But you're going to start to see a lot of this higher margin vitamins and supplement type of products, sports nutrition come online this year as well as the high velocity, better margined RTD's as well towards the tail end of the year.

Ellen Litzak (Equity Analyst)

That's fantastic. I just got one more question. So you highlighted expansion with several major retail partners during the quarter. Right. And as an investor, how should I think about the opportunity to continue increasing distribution within your existing retail relationships going forward?

Jim Krause

Well, it's going to be a. I mean we're in an advantageous position when you think about the fact that we're in 6,000 stores. Once again, super stable relationships really based on performance. We're servicing Walmart, we're servicing Target, we're servicing Meijer, we're servicing Wakeford and shoprite, we're servicing Hannaford and the Ajo Delahays family of Banners, Safeway. These are the who's who of people who sell food to the majority of the country. We're going to continue to look to go deep versus while we kind of go wide. But really it's about selling more products across our total portfolio to the existing customers that we have. We will add on new accounts as new accounts make sense. Once again, this whole idea of rationalizing out the relationship, the portfolio, the retailers and making sure that we're going deep and driving the business at a higher margin while addressing the operational inefficiencies that the business has that we've continued to improve upon so that we're more efficient. Our whole seed to store or cradle the grave or whatever you want to say it process here is efficient. And that we are benefiting from the margin that we need by servicing the retailers in a way that allows them to have the products that sell at an efficient rate for them as well as us. And that we're gaining the margin and getting the margin expansion that we need because we have the optimal mix. I think a lot of it's going to be continuing to work with the retailers that we've been working with for the last decade that we've worked so hard to prove ourselves. And that's paying off. It's selling more of what we currently have to the existing platform of retailers and distribution that we have versus going after necessarily new accounts. We've got a lot of business that we can do better at, I guess is the best way to do it. We're going to focus on that by getting them to take in, ideally the pickles, which has been gaining momentum, or the fermented hot sauces. And then, like I said, the vitamin supplements is really probably going to be on its own, segmented out and focused on separately. But they all kind of dovetail. And so it's better for you overall push that we have as a company and that aligns obviously not only with what the consumers are looking for, but what the retailers are looking to do. There's been such a dramatic and overwhelming initiative by the retailers to remove artificial colors, artificial sweeteners from products. For us, timing was great. We were already doing it. Not only were we doing it with what we grew and being USDA organic, the first out there with a USDA certified organic product with our Hydrobazil, which was incredibly innovative from the team. But we're just in a position where we've got the right product at the right time. And the retailers are pushing this as they understand the importance of getting into better for you products because they're getting that pressure from a consumer base that's demanding it and an administration that's pushing it as well in Washington. So we're in a good spot.

Ellen Litzak (Equity Analyst)

Well, thank you so much for taking my questions. I really appreciate it and congratulations on the quarter. I'll hop back on the queue if I have any other questions. Thanks again. All right, thank you.

OPERATOR

Thank you very much. Well, we appear to have reached the end of our question and answer session. I will now hand back over to the management team for any closing comments.

Jim Krause

Thank you, operator. And thanks again to everyone for joining us today. And for your continued interest in Edible Garden AG Inc. We believe the first quarter reflected meaningful progress across the business and continued validation of the broader strategy we have been executing against over the past several years. We are seeing encouraging momentum across our retail footprint, branded product portfolio and operational initiatives while continuing to build the foundation for future growth and opportunities in higher margin, shelf stable nutrition categories. As we move through 2026 and beyond, our focus remains on disciplined execution that includes continuing to expand distribution, improve operational efficiencies, strengthen margins over time, advance our RTD initiative and further leverage the infrastructure and retail relationships we have already established across the business. While we are still in the early stages of this evolution, we believe Edible Garden AG Inc is becoming increasingly well positioned as a diversified clean label nutrition company with expanding capabilities across fresh, functional and shelf stable categories and a stronger foundation for long term growth. We appreciate everyone's continued support and look forward to updating you on our progress in the quarters ahead. Thanks again and have a great day.

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