TradeWindow links with US firm FoodChain ID
Trade software company TradeWindow said it had signed a partnership deal with US food testing outfit FoodChain ID — a company recapitalised in 2020 by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Partners.
The agreement is for TradeWindow’s Assure+ solution — previously known as Rfider, a supply chain traceability platform — to be offered to FoodChain ID clients as an integrated solution.
NZX-listed TradeWindow said the move meant it had staked a position in the huge US and European food assurance market.
FoodChain ID provides technology-enabled food safety, quality and sustainability solutions for about 30,000 customers in the food and agricultural industry.
TradeWindow said Assure+ is designed to assist businesses to meet broad market and consumer demand for more transparent and digitally enabled supply chains. In combination with FoodChain ID’s integrated platforms, Assure+ would enable more compliance, safety and transparency in these supply chains, the company said.
TradeWindow chief executive AJ Smith said the partnership agreement “amplifies” the company’s progress over and above the new wine, honey and coffee customers that it had already gained in Australia, South America, UK and the US since completing the acquisition of Rfider in mid-July this year and integrating it into its supply chain solutions as Assure+.
FoodChain ID’s senior vicepresident for Digital Solutions Jason Grimm said TradeWindow’s Assure+ was a welcome addition to FoodChain ID’s integrated digital offerings.
“As Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) expectations on food producers continue to grow, our customers are seeking efficient ways to prove where their food comes from and provide visibility all the way from the paddock to the plate,” he said.
FoodChain ID is headquartered in Fairfield, Iowa, and has offices in Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Mexico, Romania, Serbia, Thailand and the UK.
TradeWindow has also appointed its first US-based business development manager — Eric Salting — to support the relationship with FoodChain ID and grow the US market.
In separate disclosures to the NZX this month, TradeWindow said Smith had been allotted 134,551 options to buy shares in the company at 74c a share.
Likewise, director Kerry Michael Friend had been allotted 97,410 options and senior manager Guy Kristoffer Kloss 117,118.
The options vesting date is July 2025.
Last month, non-executive directors Alasdair MacLeod, Diana Puketapu and Phil Norman were allotted 100,000 options each, with a vesting period over two years, with an exercise price of 70c a share.
TradeWindow was founded in December 2018 and listed on the NZX late in 2021, having received early backing from ASB and Zuru Group coowner Anna Mowbray.
The software tech startup debuted strongly on the NZX, giving it a market capitalisation of $99 million.
The company initially saw its share price trade at $1.15 — up from its 92c reference price.
Since then, the shares have dropped back sharply — and were trading yesterday at 50c, up 1c.
TradeWindow was a compliance listing, which meant that by complying with NZX disclosure rules it had the option of raising capital from the market at some point in the future.
In July, the company obliged by raising $10m million from a share placement and share purchase plan, at 70c a share, to part-fund the purchase of Rfider.