Glg Life Tech Corp (OTC:GLGLF)

WEB NEWS

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Deal Flow

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / November 9, 2017 / GLG Life Tech Corporation (TSX: GLG, OTC PINK: GLGLF) ("GLG" or the "Company"), a global leader in the agricultural and commercial development of high-quality zero-calorie natural sweeteners, is pleased to announce today that it has completed the China Government approval of the Joint Stock Company status and formally registered the GLG-controlled new subsidiary – Anhui Runhai Biotechnology Joint Stock Company Limited ("RHJS").

This milestone allows GLG's RHJS to add new investors to its capital base including the conversion of the third-party debt into equity holders and the potential to add new China-based investors. This formal approval of the Joint Stock Company is critical to the second phase of debt restructure.

The Company is also pleased to provide an update on the second phase debt restructure. The negotiations are going well for a draft agreement with all the lenders and the Company expects to reach a final agreement to convert all third-party debt into equity into GLG's RHJS. The company plans to provide all necessary public disclosure once the final plan is agreed by all parties including GLG's Board of Directors.

In addition, the Company has been in discussions with other potential investors who have shown interest in investing in GLG's RHJS. Potential investments by additional third parties in GLG's subsidiary are expected to close in the first quarter of 2018.

Dr. Luke Zhang, CEO and Chairman of GLG, commented: "We have made significant progress for our China operation from a wholly owned foreign enterprise (WOFE) into a Joint Stock Company. This approval by the Anhui Provincial Government marks many months of discussions and negotiations with various levels of Government and I am pleased to report to our shareholders that we believe that we are in the final stages of finalizing a deal with our lenders to convert all their debt and interest into equity in our Runhai Joint Stock Company. During this process we have demonstrated to our lenders and other potential investors the exciting opportunity that the stevia market represents and that GLG is well positioned within this market to gain good market share and continue to grow our sales. Our shareholders can be assured that the Company will work hard to complete the second phase of debt restructure and with it bring strong new shareholders in our Runhai subsidiary."


Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Comments & Business Outlook

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 12, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GLG Life Tech Corporation (TSX:GLG) ("GLG" or the "Company"), a vertically-integrated leader in the agricultural and commercial development of high quality stevia, announces the signing of a Letter of Intent ("LOI") with COFCO Nutrition and Health Research Institute Co Ltd. ("COFCO NHRI"), a 100% owned subsidiary of China National Cereals, Oils, and Foodstuff Corporation ("COFCO"), for a strategic collaboration for the Chinese market.

The LOI focuses on the two party's cooperation on the research and development of food and beverage products and on the development, marketing and sale of stevia extracts and formulated products to promote the development of the stevia industry, nutrition, and the healthy food industry in China. Under the LOI terms, COFCO NHRI shall preferentially use the materials, products, and technologies provided by GLG. The parties shall work together to develop the strategies and promotions and industrialization of stevia in the process of developing health food and functional food. The Company expects that additional agreements will result of this framework agreement and the LOI specifically provides for future agreements for major developments that are to occur.

China has one of the largest populations of diabetics globally with approximately 90 million diagnosed, and approximately 200 million people are classified as obese. Both parties are focused on the health and social well-being of the Chinese people in the development of products sweetened with stevia for zero or low calories. In addition, the parties recognize the high agricultural value of stevia to China's farmers, and the continued requirement for China to import sweeteners.

The LOI specifies that COFCO NHRI is responsible for introducing the related co-developed products to COFCO Innovation of Food (Beijing) Co., Ltd and the sales channel of COFCO. NHRI will also be responsible to bring the stevia products of GLG to China Mengniu Dairy Company Limited and to assist in the expansion of the distribution channel of GLG's products.

The LOI also states that investment may occur under the right circumstances, including COFCO NHRI investment in GLG and other forms of investment.

Dr. Luke Zhang, Chairman and CEO of GLG said, "We are very fortunate to have entered into this strategic cooperation with COFCO which is on the Fortune 500 list of global companies and is the largest food company in China. We share a common vision for the need for healthier food and beverages for the China market and stevia is the only scalable all natural zero calorie sweetener that can meet the scale requirements for the China market. We have had a lot of strategic discussions with COFCO Executive over the past several months and we have a good roadmap to begin execution of their ambitious vision to bring healthier food and beverages to the China market. We are truly excited to be the preferred stevia partner to COFCO and to be recognized as the leading vertically integrated player in the stevia industry."

COFCO HNRI President Xiao Ming Hao stated, "GLG is a company in the global stevia industry which has developed its own intellectual property and vertically integrated supply chain covering from seed to shelf. This time, we will do collaborations using each party's strength; create new mechanisms for our mutual benefit. We plan to increase the health value of stevia from developments of technology, basic applica


Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Comments & Business Outlook

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 21, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GLG Life Tech Corporation (TSX:GLG) ("GLG" or the "Company"), a vertically-integrated leader in the agricultural and commercial development of high quality stevia and all natural and zero calorie food and beverage products, provides a regulatory update.

Following the cease trade order issued on May 2, 2012 by British Securities Commission (the "BCSC"), and subsequently adopted by the other Canadian securities regulators in jurisdictions where GLG is a reporting issuer, the BCSC launched a continuous disclosure review in September 2012. The Company expects that it is now nearing completion of that process and will be able to then file its year-end financial reports including its annual audited Financial Statements, Management Discussion and Analysis, Annual Information Form, and CEO and CFO Certifications for the period ending December 31, 2012 shortly.

The main reasons for the delay in filing were due to third party valuation reports required to support its transition from US GAAP to IFRS and in particular to look at tangible and intangible assets impairment testing and to meet the BCSC's information request as part of the Continuous Disclosure review. 2012 is the first year that the Company is reporting under IFRS. 

The Company also will be re-filing its financial statements for the nine month period ended September 30, 2012 and related MD&A to correct an error associated with its IFRS impairment testing. The Company will provide more details in an accompanying news release once it formally re-files the interim financial statements and related MD&A


Friday, June 1, 2012

Investor Alert

NASDAQ Update

The Company also announced today its intention to delist its shares from the Nasdaq Global Select Market as soon as practicable. The Company's shares of common stock will continue to be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Following its delisting from Nasdaq, the Company intends to voluntarily terminate its public reporting obligations under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act as soon as possible.

The Company has determined that the costs of maintaining GLG's listing and registration in the U.S. and complying with SEC reporting and other applicable U.S. obligations, including the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, outweighs the benefits of continuing such listing and registration of the Company's shares.

As previously announced on May 4, 2012, the Company received notice from Nasdaq regarding noncompliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1) as a result of not timely filing its Form 40-F for the period ending December 31, 2011. In light of the Company's change in its independent auditor, the Company does not anticipate that it will be able to regain compliance with the Nasdaq rules within the time periods prescribed by Nasdaq.


Auditor trail

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - May 31, 2012) - GLG Life Tech Corporation (TSX:GLG)(NASDAQ:GLGL) ("GLG" or the "Company") wishes to announce that its former auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP ("PwC"), has resigned effective May 22, 2012, at the request of the Company, and Thomson Penner & Lo LLP ("TPL") has been appointed as the successor auditor. In accordance with National Instrument 51-102, the Company has filed the attached Change of Auditor Notice on Sedar, together with letters from PwC and TPL, each confirming that it is in agreement with the statements contained in the notice, as applicable. Thomson Penner & Lo LLP were the Company's previous auditor from 2005 to 2008.

PWC had not expressed any audit opinion in relation to the Company's most recently completed fiscal year, nor any subsequent periods. A description of the "reportable event" in connection with PwC's resignation is set out in the attached notice of change of auditor and PwC resignation letter. PwC had required an independent investigation from another large international accounting firm with respect to confirmation of third party information in connection with its audit opinion. The Company assessed the costs, delays, and uncertainties associated with the process proposed by PwC and determined that it was more likely to obtain a complete audit in a reasonable time and at a cost that it could afford if the Company appointed its previous auditor.


Monday, May 7, 2012

Investor Alert

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 4, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GLG Life Tech Corporation (Nasdaq:GLGL) (TSX:GLG) ("GLG" or the "Company") announced today that on May 3, 2012 it received a notice from the Nasdaq Stock Market ("Nasdaq") regarding noncompliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1) as a result of not timely filing its Form 40-F for the period ending December 31, 2011. This news release is being issued in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(b).

Under Nasdaq Rules, the Company now has until May 18, 2012 to submit a plan to regain compliance. If the plan is accepted, Nasdaq can grant an exception of up to 180 calendar days (September 26, 2012) to regain compliance. If the plan is not accepted, the Company may appeal the decision to a Hearings Panel.

The Company intends to submit its plan to regain compliance by May 18, 2012. 


Thursday, May 3, 2012

Investor Alert

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 3, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GLG Life Tech Corporation (Nasdaq:GLGL) (TSX:GLG) ("GLG" or the "Company") announced today that a full cease trade order ("CTO") has been imposed on the securities of the Company by the British Columbia Securities Commission resulting from the delay in filing its annual financial statements, its Annual Information Form (and related Form 40-F in the United States) and the CEO and CFO certifications (collectively, the "Required Documents") for the period ended December 31, 2011.

GLG continues to work to obtain further audit evidence as required by its auditors to complete the filing of its year end financial statements. KPMG has been engaged by the Company's Audit Committee to assist with third party audit evidence to properly conclude on certain third party transactions.   For further information, readers are referred to the Company's news release of April 30, 2012, for details on the engagement of KPMG, the closing of a $6.5 million financing, and its latest business update on its sales progress. 


Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Investor Alert

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 30, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GLG Life Tech Corporation (Nasdaq:GLGL) (TSX:GLG) ("GLG" or the "Company") announced today that it continues to work towards finalizing its annual financial statements, its management discussion and analysis relating to its annual financial statements, its Annual Information Form (and related Form 40-F in the United States) and the CEO and CFO certifications (collectively, the "Required Documents") for the period ended December 31, 2011.

The Company continues to work to obtain further audit evidence from third parties as required by its auditors.  The Company's auditors have required that the Company's Audit Committee engage a third-party audit firm in order to assist with third party audit evidence in order to properly conclude on certain third party transactions. The Company's Audit Committee has engaged KPMG LLP in order to assist in the process. The Company's auditors have communicated to the Company that it has not uncovered any wrongdoing by the Company. 

The Company's management, together with its Audit Committee, will continue to cooperate with its auditors and KPMG LLP to provide any remaining information as soon as possible. Although the Company cannot provide a definitive date of completion of the audit, it anticipates completion of the audit process outlined above by the end of May, 2012.

The Company has been granted a management cease trade order ("MCTO") from applicable Canadian securities regulatory authorities. However, the applicable Canadian securities regulatory authorities may issue a general cease trade order against the Company for failure to file the Required Documents.

There are no insolvency proceedings that GLG is subject to and there is no other material information concerning the affairs of the Company that has not been generally disclosed.


Friday, March 30, 2012

Investor Alert

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 30, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GLG Life Tech Corporation (Nasdaq:GLGL) (TSX:GLG) ("GLG" or the "Company") announced today that it will delay the filing of its annual financial statements, its management discussion and analysis relating to its annual financial statements, its Annual Information Form (and related Form 40-F in the United States) and the CEO and CFO certifications (collectively, the "Required Documents") for the period ended December 31, 2011, beyond the prescribed deadline of March 30, 2012.

The Company is working to obtain further audit evidence, primarily from third parties, required by its auditors in order to complete the audit. The Company's management, together with its audit committee will continue to cooperate with its auditors to provide the information as soon as possible and the Company expects that the Required Documents will be filed on or before April 30, 2012.

In the interim, the Company has applied to the applicable Canadian securities regulatory authorities for a management cease trade order ("MCTO"). There is no certainty that the MCTO will be granted. Until the Required Documents are filed, the Company intends to satisfy the provisions of the alternative information guidelines in accordance with National Policy 12-203 – Cease Trade Orders for Continuous Disclosure Defaults by issuing bi-weekly status reports in the form of news releases so long as it remains in default of the filing requirements noted above.

The applicable Canadian securities regulatory authorities may issue a general cease trade order against the Company for failure to file the Required Documents within the prescribed time period or sooner if GLG fails to file its default status reports during the prescribed time limits. Full release


Monday, December 19, 2011

Company Rebuttal

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 16, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GLG Life Tech Corporation (Nasdaq:GLGL) (TSX:GLG) ("GLG" or the "Company"), the vertically-integrated leader in the agricultural and commercial development of high quality stevia and all-natural and zero-calorie food and beverage products, announces that the Company learned that a class action lawsuit has been filed against GLG for alleged failures to disclose certain information under US federal securities laws.

The Company has reviewed the allegations, believes they are without merit, and stands behind its continuous public disclosure record. GLG believes that there is no basis for the lawsuit, and GLG will defend itself vigorously.


Monday, December 12, 2011

Deal Flow

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 12, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GLG Life Tech Corporation (Nasdaq:GLGL) (TSX:GLG) ("GLG" or the "Company"), the vertically-integrated leader in the agricultural and commercial development of high quality stevia and all-natural and zero-calorie food and beverage products, announces that it has received funds from the first loan under the previously announced financing support agreement with Fengyang County Government in June 2011.

The first loan has been arranged with the Huishang Bank for RMB 17 million (approximately CAD 2.7 million).  The Company plans to arrange additional loans on an as-needed basis and has the support of the Fengyang County Government under the June 2011 financing support agreement for credit facilities up to RMB one billion (approximately CAD 160 million). 

The Company's Chairman and CEO, Dr. Zhang, commented, "This first RMB 17 million loan arranged with the support of the Fengyang County Government is an important first milestone in accessing the financing support in our June 2011 Agreement with the Fengyang County Government and underscores the support GLG has for its AN0C™ and stevia businesses in China.  The credit environment in China has been extremely challenging for many companies in China including GLG in 2011 and the support the Fengyang County Government has given us are a key enabler with the banks we are in talks with. GLG has the ability to talk with multiple banks in China to arrange future loans under the financing support agreement with Fengyang County and we will continue to look for the best terms available to our company. We have worked closely with the Chuzhou City Government and the Fengyang County Government to develop both the AN0C and stevia business, which is a role model for how a rural agriculturally based economy can build a value-added industry around an agriculture crop like stevia.  We are creating jobs in the Xiaogang region and bringing healthier food and beverages to the Chinese consumer."


Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Comments & Business Outlook

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 30, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GLG Life Tech Corporation (Nasdaq:GLGL) (TSX:GLG) ("GLG" or the "Company"), the vertically-integrated leader in the agricultural and commercial development of high quality stevia and all-natural and zero-calorie food and beverage products, is pleased to announce the signing of a renewable five-year product supply agreement with International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. ("IFF") for high-purity Rebaudioside C ("Reb C") extracts.

IFF is a global leader in the creation of flavors and fragrances used in a wide variety of consumer products and packaged goods. The signing of the exclusive product supply agreement by GLG and IFF jointly leverages each company's strengths to pursue exploration and commercialization of Reb C, one of the eleven primary glycosides in the stevia leaf. Reb C has demonstrated its proficiency as a flavour modulator in food and beverage formulations and is expected to provide an exciting market opportunity for the companies.

The Company's Chairman and CEO, Dr. Luke Zhang, commented, "Our leading capabilities in the separation of steviol glycosides, production quality, and scale, coupled with IFF's global strengths in innovative and advanced flavour systems for high purity Reb C, make this an exciting global opportunity for GLG. We are pleased to be working with International Flavors & Fragrances to help develop the market for high purity Reb C."

Mark Dewis, Vice President R&D, Flavors for IFF, said, "Commercialization of Reb C marks another step forward in the evolution and development of IFF flavor solutions. This technology will play an important role in supporting healthy and great-tasting flavors for our customers. I am delighted with the dedicated efforts of GLG and IFF in the commercialization of this technology and look forward to making it a success."


Monday, November 14, 2011

Comments & Business Outlook

Third Quarter 2011 Results

  • Revenue for the three months ended September 30, 2011 which was derived from stevia sales and the sale of consumer beverage products was $1.7 million, a decrease of 92% compared to $20.9 million in revenue for the same period last year.
  • For the three months ended September 30, 2011, the Company had a net loss attributable to the Company of $24.6 million compared to a net gain attributable to the Company of $1.8 for same period in 2010.

The decrease in gross profit for the stevia business for the third quarter of 2011 compared to the third quarter of 2010 is driven by the lower sales achieved in the third quarter 2011 compared to the third quarter in 2010. Gross profit was negative in the third quarter 2011 for the reasons described earlier.

Business Outlook Summary

  1. World sugar prices were close to 30 year record high prices at the start of 2011 (approximately $700 per tonne) and have remained in the range $600 to $800 per tonne for the past nine months. We believe in the long term that sugar prices will remain high driven by supply shortages and material increases in demand.
  2. Shortages for sugar continue to occur in some key markets such as China and Indonesia, resulting in higher ingredient prices that food and beverage companies will need to pay.
  3. Health concerns over obesity and diabetes remain high and are driving both government policy (e.g. Mexico, China) and new product introductions. We are now seeing government policy in China starting to come into place such as the Capital Municipal Health Bureau in Beijing that will be focusing on decreasing student obesity rates through a variety of new initiatives including ensuring healthier foods and drinks to be served at the schools.
  4. New markets for stevia are expected to open up late in 2011 including the European Union and India.
  5. We are seeing a slower rate of product launches in North America as we originally expected. 
  6. We are seeing a slower rate of product launches in Mexico, Central and South America than we originally expected in 2011.
  7. We expect that our focus on China and surrounding Asian markets will lead to higher rates of growth than in North America.

As a result of these key trends and issues, the Company sees long term growth ahead for its products. The Company further expects the majority of its revenue growth to come from China in 2011 and beyond. Other markets have moved slower in 2011 than we originally expected, however our success with our consumer products in China is starting to positively influence the other markets where we operate. For example, the Company is able to demonstrate its success in formulating all-natural zero-calorie drinks through its current AN0C products to international food and beverage customers. A key new initiative that has generated significant interest in our international stevia business and that we expect will increase the speed at which food and beverage customers will launch products is our AN0C Stevia Solutions Company. Through this new company, we are providing turn-key formulations for our beverage and food products to international food and beverage companies.   We are already working on opportunities in India, the Middle East, Asia, EU and Latin America, and we expect to further increase activities in the other markets that we currently serve.


Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Company Rebuttal

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 11, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GLG Life Tech Corporation (Nasdaq:GLGL) (TSX:GLG) ("GLG" or the "Company"), the vertically-integrated leader in the agricultural and commercial development of high quality stevia and all-natural and zero-calorie food and beverage products, provides a response to various unfounded allegations in connection with the Company's global stevia business and AN0C joint venture operations.

The Company has become aware of certain allegations made against it in an article dated October 7, 2011 published on the GeoInvest website in the United States. Generally, the allegations claim that the Company's 2011 financial statements may have been misrepresented and that the Company failed to provide adequate disclosure surrounding its operational activities.

While the Company does not typically respond to rumors or allegations raised in the market, the Company believes it is appropriate to respond to these allegations. The Company unequivocally denies that the Company's previously filed financial statements were misrepresented and believes it has properly and accurately disclosed the nature of its business and operations. The article contains a number of allegations regarding specific operational matters that the Company believes are either wholly inaccurate or misleading.

As stated in the Company's press release issued October 6, 2011, the Company remains confident in its business strategy, its growth opportunities, its people and the progress it is making with both its global stevia business and the AN0C all-natural sweetened zero-calorie products in China.


Friday, October 7, 2011

Research

On October 3rd we mentioned that that we shorted GLGL based on weak on-the-ground DD field notes that our team had just received and noted that on our blog . We were in the middle of preparing the following details when just 3 days later and to our surprise GLG Tech came out with commentary discussing operational obstacles that have negatively affected the company’s business.

See ourresearch. http://geoinvesting.com/companies/duediligence/GLGLotgdd%2010072011_Report.aspx  (copy and paste link if necessary)


Thursday, October 6, 2011

Comments & Business Outlook

GLG Life Tech Corporation (Nasdaq:GLGL) (TSX:GLG) ("GLG" or the "Company"), the vertically-integrated leader in the agricultural and commercial development of high quality stevia and all-natural and zero-calorie food and beverage products, provides a business update on its AN0C consumer products business in China and global stevia business. Full Release

Main Points:

  • Overall the China beverage industry, most notably the Ready-To-Drink (RTD) tea market, this year has been materially weaker than originally expected by industry analysts.
  • Master Kong, which holds over 50% of the Chinese RTD tea market, released second quarter earnings at the end of August that were below its guidance.
  • Master Kong further commented that its RTD sales growth in July and August was also below management expectations.
  • As the unusually cooler weather in China continued through the summer and overall inventory for the industry remained high, the sell through of AN0C's RTD teas in the old bottles has taken longer to sell in the KA stores than originally anticipated. As these KA channels have been slower to switch over to the new bottles, shipments of the new RTD teas in August have also been lower than expected
  • In early September, AN0C received complaints from a few of its distributors regarding product packaging and product appearance quality of the RTD tea products being shipped to them. AN0C's investigation found that two of its main OEM Partner's bottling plants were responsible for these production issues.    

Comments:

Dr. Luke Zhang, Chairman and CEO of both GLG and AN0C, further commented, "Management remains steadfast in our conviction that AN0C products that provide consumers healthier choices with zero and reduced calorie beverage and food offerings have a large market potential in China. It is extremely important that AN0C handled these issues as they did in order to protect our brand and our products to a very high standard of quality. We are not a one or two product brand. We have many more products that are awaiting launch, so ensuring that the AN0C brand continues to stand for high-quality and healthy food and beverage products is an extremely important objective. This situation remains a bump along the road to building a successful consumer brand in China and the AN0C team has successfully minimized the impact to the AN0C brand and our valuable Distributor network."


Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Comments & Business Outlook

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 2, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GLG Life Tech Corporation (Nasdaq:GLGL) (TSX:GLG) ("GLG" or the "Company"), the vertically-integrated leader in the agricultural and commercial development of high quality stevia and all natural and zero calorie food and beverage products, announces that its newly formed subsidiary, AN0CTM Stevia Solutions has launched launch a new zero calorie product line called AN0CTM Dream Sweetener based on GLG's BlendSureTM products. The new products are: AN0CTM Dream Sweetener x10, AN0CTM Dream Sweetener x30, AN0CTM Dream Sweetener x60, and AN0CTM Dream Sweetener x100 reflecting their relative sweetness to sugar.

The new AN0C Dream Sweetener product series are made with different formulations of GLG's BlendSureTM and other natural components.  The AN0C Dream Sweetener products have many advantages over the high purity stevia extracts products such as RA 97 that are currently available on the international market.  The core advantages to food and beverage companies looking to offer low or zero calorie products are 1) AN0CTM Dream Sweetener tastes like cane sugar and has no aftertaste, 2) AN0CTM Dream Sweetener provides a consistent sweetness for much easier formulation for a food and beverage company, 3) AN0CTM Dream Sweetener is easy to handle, unlike typical stevia extracts which come in a light powder form, 4) AN0CTM Dream Sweetener can reduce the time to market for food and beverage companies since the major formulation challenges (aftertaste & consistency of taste from batch to batch) with high purity stevia extracts have been addressed through our innovative formulation and 5) AN0CTM Dream Sweetener compares favorably to the cost of cane sugar and is more cost efficient at large volumes. 


Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Comments & Business Outlook

VANCOUVER, B.C., July 26, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GLG Life Tech Corporation (Nasdaq:GLGL) (TSX:GLG) ("GLG" or the "Company"), the vertically-integrated leader in the agricultural and commercial development of high quality stevia and all natural and zero calorie food and beverage products, announces the creation of a new subsidiary, AN0C Stevia Solutions Company Limited to focus on providing naturally sweetened zero and reduced calorie food and beverage formulations to customers outside mainland China.

Since the launch of our initial consumer products, AN0C has received an increasing number of interest and requests from both our international customers and potential customers to provide them both stevia technical help or actual food and beverage formulations to develop zero or low calorie naturally sweetened food and beverage products. We have decided to set-up this new business in order capitalize on this international business opportunity.  

The new company will be headed by Mr. James Chen who brings over 30 years of consumer beverage and food formulation experience and is responsible for developing many leading food and beverage products in Asian markets including China and Japan. Mr. Chen has held senior positions with President Enterprises Corporation as well as serving as a leading formulation consultant to many food and beverage companies in Asia. The VP of Technology will be Mr. Kevin Li who has been working as GLG's VP of Technology and Chief Engineer. Mr. Li has over 10 years experience in the stevia industry and has been involved in many of the GLG China patents developed in the last three years. A key contribution to the IP and know-how of this new subsidiary is the over 500 beverage formulations and over 1,000 food formulations developed by our partner CHAFC which all are sweetened by GLG's stevia and formulated with only natural flavors and colors. 

All solutions and formulations provided to our customers will be natural based - natural sweeteners, natural flavours and natural colours. AN0C and AN0C Stevia Solutions will only provide all natural formulae including sweeteners, flavors and colors in zero or low calorie beverage and food products.  AN0C Stevia Solutions customer mandate is to focus on customer opportunities internationally and AN0C Anhui will focus on opportunities in Greater China, Mainland Taiwan and Hong Kong. AN0C Stevia Solutions is already working on customer opportunities in the Middle East and India, and expects soon to be working on customer opportunities in other parts of the world with GLG's existing stevia distributors or through direct customer inquiries.

Mr. Kevin Li, VP Technology for AN0C Stevia Solutions stated, "The use of stevia in beverage and food applications is not easy because of the more than 10 steviol glycosides that exist in stevia extract which is different than sugar or artificial sweetener that usually has only one single component. Rebaudioside A (RA) and Stevioside (STV) are the two steviol glycosides that taste closest to sugar whereas Rebaudioside B (RB) and Rebaudioside D (RD) are the main causes of after-taste. To get the taste as close to sugar as possible, it is necessary to get the RA and STV as pure as possible and to remove as much of the RB and RD as possible to trace amounts. If RD and RB levels are not controlled to trace levels within a limited range, they will not only affect the taste but also it will affect the consistency of the extract from one production batch to the next. Through GLG's extraction technologies, we are able to reduce RD and RB to a limited range that provide for consistency of our stevia extracts to ensure a consistent taste is produced for food and beverage producers one batch to the next. We have also found that the combination of high purity of RA and STV work better than either high purity of RA or high purity of STV on their own do in most of our beverage and food formulas. As a result of this finding, we created BlendSureTM and it is the main stevia extract that AN0C is working with today in its beverage and food applications. BlendSureTM has followed the GRAS process and we recently received a letter of no objection from the FDA."

Mr. James Chen, President AN0C Stevia Solutions stated, "AN0C Stevia Solutions will provide stevia formulation solutions for different beverage and food applications to small, medium and large size customers. We see this as a real opportunity since most beverage and food companies do not have a deep knowledge of stevia technology to make it work easily.  In order to replace sugar or artificial sweeteners with stevia in different beverage and food applications, we need to use different types of BlendSureTM with natural flavors in different combinations to develop the best taste. Stevia is a high intensity sweetener and its density is light and can be difficult to apply in beverage and food production. We have seen similar problems also occur for reduced sugar volume in food applications. We have addressed all of these problems or challenges and can now provide our customers with the best solutions for zero or low calorie naturally sweetened food and beverage products."

Dr. Luke Zhang, Chairman and CEO of both GLG Life Tech Corporation and AN0C stated, "I am proud to lead GLG's and AN0C's vertically integrated team that starts from our patented seeds through to our BlendSureTM, the new form of stevia extract, and finally to the AN0C Stevia Solutions. In my over 11 years working experience on stevia, it is very important to build the vertically integrated business and team to cover agriculture, industrial processing and formulation for this new sweetener. Now we are able to provide stevia products from seeds, leaf, extracts, beverage and food products to application solutions to both of our industrial customers and to AN0C's consumer products.  Mr. Chen has worked in beverage and food formulation for over 30 years and is the right leader for our new company – AN0C Stevia Solutions. Mr. Li is the Chief Engineer and VP of Technology in GLG and has developed many know how technologies and patents including BlendSureTM, RA, STV, RB and RD and he makes the perfect partner for Mr. Chen as there is a great deal of synergy between their two areas of expertise. I have full confidence in these two world-class experts and that they will lead their teams from industrial processing to application solutions working together to satisfy any need from our customers."

The new company will be a 100% owned subsidiary of AN0C Hong Kong and will also be incorporated in Hong Kong. Under the shareholder's agreement GLG will have the right to appoint two directors and China Agriculture and Healthy Foods Company (CAHFC) will have the right to appoint one director.


Friday, June 10, 2011

Comments & Business Outlook

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 10, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GLG Life Tech Corporation ("GLG" or the "Company"), the vertically-integrated leader in the agricultural and commercial development of high quality stevia and all natural and zero calorie food and beverage products, updates the distribution growth and planned product introductions of its AN0C joint venture.

AN0C continues to sign-up more large regional 'tier one' distributors to further enhance the growth of retail distribution and sales in time to target the July to September peak season for beverage sales within China. AN0C has increased the number of its distributors from 300 in mid-May to over 400 partners. This growth over the past month has resulted in a three-fold expansion in the distribution reach of AN0C's products to over 65,000 stores, consisting of approximately 6,000 National grocery stores and 59,000 retail outlets.

GLG Chairman and CEO Dr. Luke Zhang stated, "Broadening the distribution reach and new product launches are key milestones in the development of the AN0C business and brand. The progressive expansion of AN0C's distributor network not only benefits the sales of the current line of products, but also the launch of upcoming new products." Over the next few months, AN0C will be bringing to market six new flavours of vitamin enhanced waters and five fruit flavoured dairy beverages. AN0C is developing a wide array of zero or low calorie food and beverage products sweetened with stevia.



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