Microsalt (LSE:SALT) — Final Results

0:01 Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the MICROSALT PLC Fund Results Investor Presentation. The company may not be in a position to answer every question received during the meeting itself. However, the company can review your questions submitted today, and we'll publish those responses where it's appropriate to do so. Before we begin, I'd like to submit the following poll, and I'm sure the company will be most grateful for your participation. I'd now like to hand

0:31 over to Rick Good afternoon. Thank you. Again, my name is Rick Guinee. I'm the CEO of MICROSALT, and with me today is Conrad Dobrowski, our CFO, and we're very happy that you're with us. We have developed a patented protective product and process that creates scalable manufacturing of salt crystals that is approximately 100 times smaller than traditional salt. Due to its micron sized particles, micro MICROSALT has improved adhesion to food and dissolves much faster on the tongue, thereby delivering the same sensation of saltiness without the excess sodium. And that brings us to our vision.

1:19 Our vision excuse me. Technical problems. Here we go. Our vision is to lower excess sodium intake globally and to help reduce cardiovascular disease. And to do that, our mission is to help food companies reduce sodium levels in their products by offering low sodium, full flavor, patented protected salts at scale. And this is a revolutionary

1:46 new technology. I'm gonna ask Mark to start our video if that's possible. Over 307,000,000 servings and counting. That's the impact we're making by helping reduce sodium intake one serving at a time. Thanks to our groundbreaking technology, we're helping people live longer, healthier lives without sacrificing the flavor of the foods they love. 2024 was a defining year showing how strong and united we are. Thanks to our leadership team and the guidance of our board, and our mission has gained momentum as a result. In 2025, we're scaling our impact by partnering with some of the world's largest food companies and expanding our reach with new MICROSALT products designed to unlock new sales channels.

2:31 From cereal bowls in The US to snack bags in Mexico to plant based meals across Europe and french fries everywhere, our has now become global. 2026 is shaping up to be a promising and impactful year. With recurring high volume orders from commercial partners and the expansion of the MICROSALT based product line into restaurants, hospitals, and food service, we are well positioned for continued growth. As regulations tighten and consumers become more health conscious, MICROSALT is proving that it's way ahead of the pack, delivering real solutions right now. Because when it comes to health, the future is not something you wait for. It's something we build together, and we're proud to be the number one ally for a healthier tomorrow. When we say MICROSALT is different, we mean it's different down to every party. What makes MICROSALT different, it is MICROSALT's part of it.

3:20 MICROSALT is proof that big innovations can come in any size, even micro sized. MICROSALT is more than just an ingredient. It's part of a larger movement towards better health. Reducing sodium empowers brands to do better. It should all be done with one idea in mind to help improve people's lives. That is more than just a tagline. That is what MICROSALT stands for. When we launched MICROSALT, we set out to solve one of the biggest health challenges of our time. Sodium intake was to make an impact on salt reduction with an added mission to preserve the bold flavor that we all love. So we created a groundbreaking process that reduces salt crystals and increases the surface area. The result, real salt, same taste, half the sodium. We want to change the way the food industry thinks about salt, and we're helping brands lead with purpose.

4:12 Together, we can reduce sodium at scale and save lives in the process. That's the kind of impact we're here to make.

4:27 Thank you for that. I'm gonna continue on with our presentation. We are bridging the health gap one grain at a time. MICROSALT is not just an ingredient. We are enabling to be we are the enabling technology behind the sodium reduction revolution. As a food tech company, we fill the critical gap between the urgent need to address cardiovascular disease and the market's demand for uncompromised taste.

4:56 We connect science, technology, and impact. We have patented salt particles, 100% natural, 50% low sodium, delivering the same great flavor as traditional salt. We have recurring revenues from blue chip customers worldwide. This year alone, we have we have participated in over 307,000,000 servings to consumers already, and we are driving a systematic change in public health through innovation. Alright. Here's what here's a picture. Here's what we really do. Let's get right down to it.

5:42 We take any any kind of salt, no matter where it comes from, whether it's, mine salt or sea salt, and we reduce the crystal size. By reducing the crystal size, we increase the surface area, and that allows the salt to dissolve immediately or almost immediately on your tongue. It gets you the full flavor of what you're looking for without ingesting untasted sodium. It's a simple patented process that works every time because it still remains salt. There's a little bit of science behind this. I don't want you to think that it's just us making it up. Here in the screen, you see a spider chart. Spider chart details 28 test data points that that we tested Microsoft against our control.

6:34 Here in The US, the control is Morton standard SALT. Here in the spider chart, you see Morton is the gold chart on the left, and we are the green line. And as you can see, we mimic the control group almost identically. And those changes that aren't identical are so small that the consumer is never gonna know. Now there are 28 test data points is a lot of data. So we know that we're spot on when we come to mimicking the attributes of traditional SALT. Not only can we offer you that, but real quick quickly, we'll offer you a quick look at the dissolution rates. And real simply point, you can see the control line, which is the gray line, takes almost, seventy five to eighty seconds to completely dissolve.

7:24 Whereas on the left side of the chart, you see both MICROSALT Premium and MICROSALT dissolving right around between zero and ten seconds. So we are way ahead of traditional SALT, and that's the secret. You get the flavor of everything you're you're ingesting.

7:44 MICROSALT, we have a couple of different things. We have a base product, and we have what we call MICROSALT PERMU. Our base product is designed for use in in doughs, in in slurries, prepared meals, tropical in line topical in line applications. We have two different formulas. Listen, this is the base product. It works great across all those those venues. We then improved upon that to have a second group of products called MICROSALT premium. And what we did was we we targeted the French fry market in in what's called the BOH, back of the house use in restaurants, hotels, health care market, and it works for anything coming out of a fryer. That's fine.

8:31 I just wanted to add, as a kind of context in terms of our sales. So the MICROSALT based product is something that we've been ramping since 2024, and, the annual sales volume is growing. Now Microsoft Premium was introduced in January 2025. We're already seeing strong interest in one of the top international fast food brands as in final consideration for launch later this year. We'll talk a little bit more about the commercial pipeline later on too, but just wanted to throw that into the context of these two product lines. Thanks, Connor. And then, yeah, it's really important to realize how what it how the French fry and the and the restaurant business in general will refer to that as a QSR, the quick serve restaurant business is for us. So we have two significant things happening at the same time. We have the the larger industrial, customers running, you know, production equipment twenty four seven, and we have the food service part of the the business that addresses the french fries, the restaurant business, the health care business, and the prepackaged single serve packs.

9:38 Switch slides. We're gonna talk a little bit about the bulk here. Basically, the bulk, you know, we've talked about it, it's a patented technology that delivers the same saltiness. And because of the micronized size of the particles, we also have improved its adhesion. So when you mix it with liquid slurry or you apply it online in a production capacity, it sticks to where it's going to go. So it's

10:03 a plus on the production side. One of the biggest things about us is we deliver full flavor without potassium chloride. Potassium chloride was the old school way that food companies used to reduce sodium. However, potassium chloride has its own strong flavor, and that required additional ingredients to cover that flavor up. So you basically killed your chance of having a clean label. We have resolved that friction point as well. So it works just like salt does. Tortilla chips, nuts, crackers, popcorn, energy drinks, bars, cookies, you name it. If there's salt in it, we can, we can apply MICROSALT. And we took that concept and we we improved upon it.

10:52 Now Microsoft base still works great and it's still our number one seller and will be for years. However, the Microsoft premium is a fantastic improvement because it opened up additional markets. We improved its flow capacity by increasing the density. Basically, just what we did is we took a a number of the existing MICROSALT crystals and we bound them together to make it bigger. So we had larger density, less dustiness, and it looked like regular salt. So if you have a product that, for example, has crackers sometimes have visible salt on the cracker. Well, the producers want, the manufacturers want that, so we can now deliver that. We are having ability to to be now working restaurants where you shake it on french fries, you shake it on your your fried fish or whatever comes out of a restaurant.

11:42 And as Condren mentioned, a significant market expansion for us because now we're basically across the entire food chain. And from just a couple of comments about competitiveness. Here on the slide across the bottom, you see, well, there are pictures of the major, salt excess sodium tools in the market today. You know, different brands out there in the market. When you look across the bottom at the ingredients, and and other than Morton salt, which is just salt, at five hundred ninety milligrams per serving versus MICROSALT at 150, you can see potassium chloride across the bottom. And that's really reflecting on what I mentioned earlier.

12:29 Everybody has been using potassium chloride because we are the only ones that have this patented process to take regular salt and make it taste the same at least half the sodium. And another thing to mention about competition at this point is that when customers go through the reformulation to lower the sodium as a result of their commitment to health or as a result of the ever growing regulation pressure to lower sodium no matter where you are, it's very difficult, if not impossible, for them to go backwards. So what that means in a real world business sense for us is that when we get a large scale food manufacturer to convert to MICROSALT, they're gonna become customers for years. They're not gonna reformulate back to higher sodium.

13:16 We're gonna continue to work with them and to reformulate more and more and more items in their brand portfolio. So it's it's it's great news for us.

13:26 And really, we we we've already produced our system. We've already created our system so that we can scale production. And that there's no reason why anybody in the in the in the world can't turn to Microsoft and say, hey, I need x amount. And we can say, great. It's not a problem. Part of our part of the genius of Microsoft is its simplicity. From a foods from a food industry standpoint, here's the here are the major the major categories that Microsoft applies to. And as you can see, some of these are really big. The bolded green ones are ones that we're already doing business in. We're already receiving recurring purchase orders. The light green is the brand new one that we that Conrad referred to as the the premium that we are very confident that within the next three or four months, we will have a major commitment.

14:19 It's the food industry is extremely large. And as you can see, it all works together. Once you start working in french fries, for example, they're gonna want you in their cheese products. They're gonna want you in the front of the restaurant for their take home bags. The snack the snack category, the major manufacturers, they're not gonna wanna have one or two or three items be low sodium. They're gonna want all of their items to be low sodium. It's it's a big snowball rolling downhill for us, and we're we're just now getting going.

14:56 Bear with me here. I'm switching slides. You know, the the multiple addressing markets, what we've been talking about for a little bit, they're big numbers. But to give you just a picture of scale, 95% of the WHO companies, countries, excuse me, geographies aren't going to make their low sodium initiatives. They're not even going to be close. So as time goes by and as these regulations stiffen, more and more companies are forced to lower their sodium. Now we don't wait for that. We're much more proactive than that, but we're first in line. We're helping these companies

15:37 craft their way to low sodium products with the same flavor. Everybody knows no one buys food that tastes bad and we know that. And we can deliver the same taste before the salt reduction as after the salt reduction. And almost twenty one million people here die from cardiovascular disease. It's issue a across the globe. We have we have regulatory pressures in The UK, Canada, EU, US, Lantam, and Lantam is specifically Mexico. The Mexican template is very widely replicated, and it's specifically in The UK. The Asia Pacific corridor is just now beginning aggressive sodium reduction initiatives. So the market for us and mark and MICROSALT is extremely large and really has no boundaries at all.

16:30 And in this next slide, I'm gonna turn it over to Conrad.

16:37 Alright. Thanks, Rick. Yeah. I think, you know, the overarching headline of of of this session really was 2024 results. We're happy, obviously, to give the background and and the technology and the product detail to to new investors on the call.

16:55 But it it's worth talking a little bit about 2024, 2025, our financial results as it helps to put helps put things in context, obviously. There's obviously a lot of aspects that, you know, you would look when evaluating a company between product supply chain team. But if there's one headline I want everybody to get out of this is that in 2024, and specifically in late twenty twenty four, that's important in q four twenty twenty four, we established regular and repeating revenues with one of the world's largest leading

17:27 food and beverage companies across multiple countries. It's not just one country. It's not just Mexico, but it's also now US, Canada, and also an international seasoning and flavor supplier. This helped us in q one of twenty twenty five where our buck sales, b two b sales, to be specific, exceeded the totality of 2024 sales.

17:51 As I said, it was really the q four of twenty twenty four when that b two b call it buck sales ramp up started to occur. It has continued well into q one twenty twenty five, and we expect it to continue for rest of 2025 and going to 2026, obviously, with projected revenues around 300% of 2024. What's important to note as we evaluate 2024, 2025 is also the product sales mix. Right? So our 2024 sales and related gross margins really

18:30 were concentrated on the b two c sales that are lower margin, have lower economics. In q four and q one of twenty twenty five right now, that sales mix got flipped on its head with the b two b volume, the, call it, bucking grid and volume being much larger part of our sales mix. And we we we expect it to continue,

18:54 obviously, as this is our preferred business model. Why? Because it has better gross margins. We're targeting around 35 to 40% gross margins. In fact, that's what we were actually billing some of the largest customers already.

19:11 One important distinction is, as I mentioned before, the q four and q one ramp up we've been discussing is based on MICROSALT based product, which is for snack food market. So chips, popcorn, all different kinda dry more dry topical applications, and this is really where that projection on twenty twenty five comes in place. In January of this year,

19:37 as I mentioned, we launched additional product, which is really separate addressable market, which is the quick service restaurant and fast foods. Right? So we're obviously targeting some of the largest international fast food chains. One of them, like, as Rick mentioned, is already in final consideration for the launch later this year. We feel very good about it. We have not really included in in those sales projections this year, but we hope this would be a nice upside for us, obviously.

20:04 So we're growing our sales while maintaining a pretty lean structure, I would say. The team is still less than 10 people. We're also hoping to continue to improve our gross margin just based on that b to b focus that I mentioned. But, also, in 2024, we've had a number of one off costs. Obviously, you know, IPO costs was one of them. A lot of them went into the for our income statement for our p and l over a million dollars. We've also incurred a nonrecurring r and d expenses related to the Microsoft premium work. So in 2024, other than getting ready for the launch in q four of the of the food and beverage company products, we'll also work on the r and d on premium. Right? So that was launched in January.

20:53 We no longer have that, call it, although it's it's obviously a good it was a good investment. So we expect our r and d to be a little bit lower this year as well.

21:04 At the same time, our operating cash flows are expected to increase. They're already increasing, obviously, as we're getting the benefit of the the the bulk sales increasing. So overall, it's you know, across pretty much any financial statement line item, the the things are trending

21:23 in the in the right direction. And we're we're very happy about it. You know, 2025, obviously, is gonna be better than 2024, and we just expect the trajectory simply to continue in 2026. Rick, back to you. Thank you, Conrad. And I'd like to add that he's Conrad's a spot on all things he's saying that and as we grow and as our volume grows, so do our economies of scale. You know, we our components cost less because we're buying more. There is or there are less accessorial fees

21:55 to us from our third party manufacturers. We're cleaning the machines less. We're saving significant amounts amount of money. So it's all good. You know, the more we sell, the more we make. And that's a great business model to be in.

22:10 I'm gonna switch the screen here. I just wanna give you a little bit oh, I see. They did it already. K. I wanna just talk quickly about supply chain. We could. Our current capacity through contract manufacturers is 5,454 metric tons, and that gives us plenty of room to grow. That's about $2,021,000,000 dollars US dollars in sales.

22:34 Everything is food safety certified, non GMO verified kosher. You don't sell the companies that we sell as customers without being completely vetted. Everything is checked. Everything is double checked. Our shelf life for Microsoft is sixty months. Typically, in food, the food business, shelf life is a huge problem because it creates supply chain issues. We do not have those. With a five year shelf life, we we don't have any of those kind of problems. We have redundancy in production and we have redundancy with our vendors. That means if something happens, we can go to somebody else and get the exact same product made or we can get the exact same product components from somebody else. Our major third party manufacturing party that we use is a multinational company on its own. They have over 30 facilities worldwide and are very capable of growing with us if elected to bring them with us.

23:33 And there's there's I'm not gonna say there's no additional CapEx required for for worldwide scalability, but it's very, very little. Our technology sits on industry standard equipment. So we don't have to have customized machinery made. I can go to Central Europe and buy the equipment. I can go to Japan and buy the equipment. I can go to Australia and buy the equipment. So it's a very doable business model. The picture you see here, I don't want you to think that these are, you know, just copy and paste. This is real these are real pictures. This is our warehouse in Mexico that we used to deliver to that large customer in Mexico City. You can see the products, how they're it's bagged, how it's palletized, how it's inspected. So this is it's this is a real world thing. This is not, you know, not something we're just talking about.

24:25 It's it's it's happening as we speak. You know, and to kinda wrap all wrap all this up, you know, we have a significant competitive advantage. We have patented technology that no one else can replicate. And once we get a converted customer, then they're gonna be our customer for a long, long time. And we're talking to the biggest customers in the food business. So these are blue chip customers with significant resources so that that they're great customers to have long term. We have significant demand delivering significant health benefits. And, you know, for example, just talk about Canada for a minute. Canada pays much of their health bills for their population.

25:15 $1 of investment in low sodium returns $12 to their economy. So they're paying attention. It's a it's a great concept for them. We have very very limited risk profile in our capacity. We know how to get this stuff made. We know how to where to get it made, and we have been getting it made. So it's not like we're inventing the wheel on our own behalf. We have dynamic development potential. Markets continue to get bigger for us. As Condren mentioned about the premium, the premium has opened up an entire new world for us. We haven't even spoken about, other non food applications that may apply to Microsoft in the future. So our growth trajectory is almost unlimited.

26:03 It's a product that truly is timed right. The world needs low sodium. The world knows it needs low sodium, and we're the people with the technology to help the food companies get there. And we haven't, you know, we haven't talked much about the team, but I do wanna say a few words. The team the management team here is outstanding. They're all experienced people. They're all food people. They know how to get this job done. They understand what it takes to sell to to the companies the size companies that we're talking to. Like the small guy. Don't don't don't get me wrong. The small guy that wants to buy a little bit of Microsoft for his his his small little store, a small little lineup, fantastic.

26:49 But we're after the big guys because we wanna change the food supply. And I and I end I'll end my my pitch with the way I with the way I do when I talk to our customers. And this is this is true. I have a 16 year old son, and my goal for him is that when he's 50, he doesn't have high blood pressure because of the food he's eating. And that's what we're doing. We're changing every single item in every single grocery store to be healthier. And with that, Conrad, I am gonna bail out, and it's all up to you. Oh, well. Before you jump in there, Conrad, let let me just give you a couple of moments as I can see you've had a number of questions from investors. So thank you to Yeah. You both for your presentation. Thank you to everybody for your engagement this afternoon. If you want to, just please continue just to submit your questions. Just using that Q and A tab on the right hand corner of the screen. But while Comrade and Rick just take a moment or two to review your questions submitted already, I'd just like to remind you a recording of this presentation along with a copy of the slides and the Q and A will be accessible via your investment company dashboard.

27:51 Comrade, you had a number of questions as you see. I'll hand over to you, if I may. If you could just read out the questions and give a response where it's appropriate to do so, I'll pick up from you at the end. Sure. Absolutely, Rick. And, don't get too excited because I'm going to return the ball in your record. Yeah, there's a number of questions. Some of them will will probably merge. One question from Peter was, you know, let let's start with the kinda more logistical questions, then we'll move on to the customer and the margins. But question from Peter m was, are there any material dependency in your supply chain, like single source suppliers, raw material pricing? And and, Rick, before before I give it back to you, I think we've kinda addressed that question by just saying where the the off the shelf equipment and nature of the dry spraying facilities makes it such that it's it's it's essentially easily replicable off the shelf in other countries. So merging that with other question, ask about location of our contract manufacturers, which is in Minnesota in The US right now, the main one. But we can we have relationship with others, Rick, if you wanna talk about it.

29:07 Yes. And and, Conrad, it's correct. And, Peter, it's a good question, but we do have redundancy across all of our components even down to the bag supplier. Our secondary facility, is in use, we keep them both going. We want them both in the game, is in New Jersey. So we have our main facility in Minnesota and our secondary facility in Germ in New Jersey, but they are both producing for us so that we always have them, ready when we really need them, and that includes all the required food safety certifications that are in place. Alright. Thanks, Rick. Yeah. And we're obviously, we've done the research and have relationships with potential suppliers in The UK and and Europe as well.

29:55 So we we we know how to to to scale it. You know, right now, Rick mentioned, I think, what we have available in terms of the annual capacity is around $20,000,000, which takes us in sales, which takes us into 2026. Beyond 2026, you know, there there there's always a level of sales where we could build our own facility and just stack the equipment vertically with certain volume commitment, which would also help us increase our margins. And the margin question was there, actually. I think we answered it. But what are our targeted gross margins on this? They're around 35 to 40% right now. This is our target. And there's a percentage to there is a possibility to add a few percentage points once we have our own facility in the down in the future just because the cleaning costs could be better controlled and, obviously, eliminate the vendor's margin.

30:54 But we feel right now they're good enough enabling us to scale quick at good margins and get to breakeven points fairly fairly fairly quick. Alright. There's a question from Sid that's more technical also, more general, I guess. Other than new product formulation, what is really, the main step to get the sale in terms of large bulk orders and with international companies, Rick? That's that's for you. Well, you know, it there there's a couple things that are going on. We have a very active outreach program by our by our marketing department to make sure that the large food manufacturing companies, wherever they are in the world, know about MICROSALT.

31:41 We spend a great deal of effort and time going to regional and international food shows and trade organizations to talk about MICROSALT and to make sure that the large food manufacturers know who we are. And even though we may not be in their country, they know that they can reach out. Our salespeople one of our sales is a five language guy. We have a our local representative in The UK is she speaks three languages. We can talk SALT across the globe. And so we are we are really ready to grow with them. Now one thing that you have to remember is that you don't just sell these large food companies on one of their items. Large foods companies have multiple brands.

32:27 They have multiple flavors under their brand heading. So when you sell one thing, you wanna sell them all. So it's it's a never ending cycle of opportunity for us. It's just, it's really fascinating for me. Being in the food business my whole my whole life, I have never seen anything line up like it's lining up for MICROSALT. Yeah. Go ahead, Garnet. Yeah. And it's and it's it's it's it's, you know, it's it's a little bit of a free flowing conversation right now as we go for the q and a, but there was a question on, well, you know, are you working with one customer on the number of geographies and products? The answer is no. I mean, yes. We're working with them. And, you know, the reason we're we're we have seen in q four and q one, the scale up was the scale up we've experienced was obviously growing within that organization.

33:20 But at the same time, we are adding new customers. So one of them was the international seasoning and flavor supplier. We started receiving orders from them as well. And then later this year, as we mentioned with MICROSALT PRISMUM, we have received a very, very good reception from one of the top fast food companies for the french fries and then other products thereafter. So the answer is yes. It's more than that, you know, call it customer ABC. We've been we've been talking a bit. Although with them alone, you know, this could make its own business, but we're obviously we're diversifying our our customer base. And, you know, we're focusing obviously on on on on b to b box sales because, you know, the simplicity is the key. I mean, it's it's it's the key in in terms of the product, but, you know, scalability of supply chain and anything else. And it's also the business that has better margins than CPG or or consumer or, you know, b two c, products.

34:22 You know, if I could just you if I could just give you one example of that. You know, one of the latest trends in the food industry, it's been building for a few years, is plant based proteins, you know, alternative meats. And we spent we just spent two days with several of the main largest manufacturers of the plant plant based protein industry, and that's an would be a new channel for us. But as those guys develop new products, we're there for them. So then when when the plant based proteins actually hit the market in in a scalable fashion, they'll be made with MICROSALT from the beginning, not having to reformulate. So there's a lot of different things going on in addition to the relationship we have now with, these larger manufacturers.

35:08 Yeah. And then we have a question from William who's asking, MICROSALT for home, is very powdery. Are you going to look at changing this to become more crystal like? And, that's a perfect question for it, but it it's it's it's it's a good question because it it shows the versatility of of the product and the team. So, you know, the powdery, the MICROSALT based product, call it, right, the the the smallest one, is the one that's perfect for incorporation into slurry mix, into snacks, crisps, you know, stuff that we're working with the with that large food and beverage company. Right? Because you just put it in the production line. It has very good adhesion, and and the texture of it doesn't matter, and you can get, you know, millions of kilos of orders.

35:55 And then there's a different market segment where that matters, right, like the french fry or or or other examples that Rick mentioned like crackers. So we just said, okay. Well, you know, let's let's do that too. Right? That's that's the r and d investment we've made into 2024 exactly for that reason. So we we're we're suddenly, you know, around all these different markets, which which which is good for us, obviously. So it's a little bit more crystal like. Right? It has increased density. Rick, correct me if I'm No. No. Right spot on. The premium product works much better for home use. I will say, you know, as a matter of business, that 70% of the excess sodium consumed across the world is comes from food outside the home. Now it's important for us to to have Microsoft become a a well well recognized brand, but the way to solve the excess sodium is through the food people buy outside the house.

36:50 So when we created MICROSALT premium, we knew that we at some point, we're gonna replace the at home product with the premium. We just haven't got there yet, but we will. Yeah. Exactly. Let me see. Oh, there's there's a question on on, you know, obviously, timing of being able to disclose some of the names. I mean, we're, it's it should be this year. We're working on this. And and, you know, it's it's kinda early to to the question that was answered, and asked before, you know, other than, the big international food and beverage company. Do we have other customers? The answer is yes. So that one started the earliest. Right? So we started working with them, you know, in 2024, 2023, really.

37:36 And, you know, and and it it led us up to that second half of twenty twenty four and and and start up the scale up, right, and adding more lines as we go into 2025 and we expect going. But, you you know, just on the timeline, obviously, we have other customers and potential for announcements. They're just you know, they came after the blue chip company we've we've discussed. We do expect, you know, at some point to be able to to name them name them later this year, at least one this year. Let me see. Rick, there was a question earlier on on the, you know, patent, what it really covers, you know, without really disclosing, obviously, anything operationally sensitive. You just wanna talk about what's really in the process and kinda key parameters that that main patent covers.

38:30 Sure. Even though we use traditional spray drying equipment, how you use it is how we is what's covered by our patent. There are a number of different components that create MICROSALT, heat, temperature, timing, pressure, and specific nozzle sizes used in in various parts of the machinery. Those are all patented for us because it's a there's a lot of moving parts in there, and I'm not a food scientist per se. And so I tend to step over some of the science involved in creating MICROSALT, But it's it's a very clean product, but it does have some considerable amount of know how to make it happen.

39:15 And then we have a second layer of patents that sits on top of that to create Microsoft premium. Because you can't create premium without Microsoft base. So we have a double protection for premium. It is because that process, it's is a standalone patent by itself. Yeah. That's that's that's right. And, you know, really, you know, without going into too much technical detail, but it really covers kind of the parameters or specific settings that you would need in a factory to make MICROSALT. So it's not like you can just take it and go. You know, certain levels of pressure, water temperature, humidity, and and settings. So it's really like a process patent. Right? And and we've most of the patents we have coverage well into twenty thirties.

40:02 So some of them on premium going into, you know, early twenty forties. So that's obviously a good good time to, you know, to make headway and continue build out our first mover advantage. And and and, you know, competition wise, I mean, Eric mentioned that before, but, you know, we've been working with this company for two years now. And not once any competitor, you know, came along as as an alternative. You know? So we feel we feel very good. We're already in a number of products, and we'll we'll just continue across the board. As I'm scanning other questions, it was a question from Cedric whether any customers are asking to do exclusive deals for certain geographies.

40:49 We do get that request. And, as it as it stands today, we have not granted any of those. We welcome any customer. And if a particular customer wants to move quicker than their competitors, then we're very happy to accommodate that. And that just by itself by, you know, nature of things will give them a first mover advantage. We have not granted any exclusivity to anyone as of yet. Yeah. I I I don't think, to to be honest, will happen anytime soon. And, I mean, we just just because of the versatility and the interest already from a number of of customers, it just does not make it just does not make sense. And there was a question from CB in terms of what is really how long the sales pipeline, you know, on a specific customer takes takes place. You know, in in a snack food, the MICROSALT PLACE product used to be around twelve to eighteen months.

41:48 We've made some process improvements that cut it more towards, you know, a year. That's for MICROSALT PLACE. But, for example, with MICROSALT premium, it's actually shorter because you you're talking about not necessarily having to reformulate a bunch of products and work, you know, for good chunk of the year on that. If you talk about French fries, right, there's there's no additional formulas there, so that can happen fairly quickly. And it's it's much shorter than a year. So the answer is the it depends. And if I can just add to that while Cameron looks, you know, we provide food technology to the food processing companies. It is food. So they they have their own processes that they have to go through.

42:33 They may come out of our initial sales meeting all loving Microsoft and saying we're gonna do it. It still might take them a year because of all the certifications they have to they have to obtain, all the testing that they're legally required to do. So it's it's it's a Conrad's right. We've been able to to shorten this this thing up. But, you know, we're all consumers at the end, and we don't want customers using uncertified ingredients. Now we know we're not uncertified, but the processes have to be there to protect the public. Yeah. There was a question, Eric, from Ben asking about whether are we, whether we are engaged into any sort of lobbying with the regulators. And I wanna say, you know, the short answer is no because we we because this stuff is kinda happening organically. Let me give you an example. You know? Even even, with the change in the administration here in The US, that's historically been, you know, anti regulatory, I guess.

43:38 They still released, FDA, I mean, released, guidance or recommendations for front of the package labels, about, for for all food products, and they would have to disclose whether a level of sodium, sugar, or fat is either low, medium, or high based on, you know, the thresholds. So suddenly, they gave us this additional sales tool that's pushing other companies that maybe previously weren't thinking about it, but now they're saying, okay. Well, by 2028, by 2029, I'll have to address that. Otherwise, it's gonna say I'm high in, you know, sodium. And so, that means they have to start working on it soon. And so, because, obviously, you know, that that takes a little bit of time. So, that stuff is happening, you know, organically and the same with the NGO and, pressure in The UK, for example, in in other countries. Rick, if you wanna add anything.

44:32 No comments. Correct on that. You know, we're a small company. We don't have, the resources or the personnel to start lobbying Washington DC or any other government agency. We just bring our message, to the consumers, and we bring our message, the to the to the companies that make food. We bring our message in The US to the school districts that that in turn put pressure on the food manufacturers. So, that's how we're doing it. Conrad's right. The the regulatory environment, matter where you are, is coming to us on its own. Yeah. Yeah. I think I think that's right. Let me just Yeah. There was a question from Justin.

45:27 You know, on one of these big customers that we have, right, right, like, have they reviewed your manufacturing and supply chain facilities? Do you foresee in your small size as being an obstacle to getting more orders from these global companies? The the first part is yes. We had a three day inspection by this one of the world's largest food manufacturers. We were they walked through the plant. They sat and they looked at all the specifications. They watched how the product was loaded on trucks. They did the whole thing. Again, you know, we're we're completely vetted by these larger companies. They have done that with both manufacturing locations. So that our capacity, our ability to produce MICROSALT really won't be a challenge for us.

46:23 Yeah. Mark, I think that's that's all the questions that, we wanted to take. Comrade, that's great. Thank you very much indeed for guiding us through that. And of course, we can make any further questions available should that should they come through. Rick and Comrade, know investor feedback will be particularly important to you both. I will shortly redirect the investors on today's call to give you their thoughts and their expectations. But, Rick, before doing so, if I may, just come back to you just for a couple of closing comments, and then I'll send investors to give you their feedback. Okay. Well, so I just wanna thank everybody for being on the call. You know, true to our vision, we're looking to lower cardiovascular disease across the globe by extending our technology to produce low sodium salt.

47:10 In whatever form we create, that's our vision. That's what's ringing true with the customers, and we really hope that you guys can can jump on board with us. This is a long term thing. We're gonna we're gonna be in business for a very long time because the customers can't go backwards. They once they go low sodium, they're all in. So we're very excited about not only where we are today and where we're gonna be in 2026, but where we're gonna be in 2029 and twenty twenty thirty. The SALT market is huge, and we're really happy to be here with you guys. And thank you very much for your time. That that's great. Rick, Comrade, thank you very much indeed for updating investors this afternoon. If you could please ask investors not to close the sessions, we'll now automatically redirect you for the opportunity to provide your feedback in order that the company can better understand your views and expectations.

48:01 On behalf of the management team at MICROSALT PLC, we'd like to thank you for attending today's presentation, and good afternoon to you all.