EX-99.1 5 exhibit991.htm EX-99.1 exhibit991
exhibit991p1i0.jpg
Exhibit 99.1
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Contacts:
Dolph Baker, Chairman and CEO
Max P. Bowman, Vice President and CFO
(601) 948-6813
CAL-MAINE FOODS, INC. ANNOUNCES STRATEGIC INVESTMENT
IN NEW EGG PRODUCTS MANUFACTURING COMPANY
RIDGELAND, Miss. (October 4, 2021)
—
Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: CALM) today announced
the Company’s
 
Board of Directors
 
has approved
 
a strategic investment
 
that will specialize
 
in high
value commercial
 
product solutions
 
targeting specific
 
needs in
 
the food
 
industry. The
 
initial focus
will
 
include
 
hard-cooked
 
and
 
extended
 
shelf-life
 
egg
 
product
 
lines.
 
The
 
new
 
entity,
 
located
 
in
Neosho, Missouri, will operate as MeadowCreek
 
Foods, LLC (“MeadowCreek”).
Cal-Maine Foods
 
will capitalize MeadowCreek
 
with up
 
to $18.5 million
 
in debt and
 
equity to
purchase
 
property
 
and
 
equipment
 
and
 
to
 
fund
 
working
 
capital. Cal-Maine
 
Foods
 
will
 
retain
 
a
controlling interest
 
in the
 
venture. The
 
MeadowCreek management
 
team will
 
be led
 
by Ronald
 
B.
Bennett. Cal-Maine Foods will serve as the preferred provider to
 
supply specialty and conventional
eggs that
 
MeadowCreek needs
 
to manufacture
 
egg products.
 
MeadowCreek’s
 
marketing
 
plan will
expand
 
Cal-Maine
 
Food’s
 
reach
 
in
 
the
 
foodservice
 
and
 
retail
 
marketplace
 
and
 
bring
 
new
opportunities in the restaurant, institutional
 
and industrial food products arena.
 
Bennett,
 
who
 
will
 
serve
 
as
 
President
 
of
 
MeadowCreek,
 
brings
 
30
 
years
 
of
 
egg
 
industry
experience to the
 
new venture. Bennett
 
most recently joined
 
with DeJong Operational
 
Management
& Consulting to
 
create, develop,
 
and install operational
 
improvements and
 
solutions to high
 
value
ready-to-eat food and biotech companies.
 
Previously, he served as
 
Chief Operating Officer of
 
Prime
Foods from 2011 - 2019. Bennett also
 
served as Director of Egg Products
 
at Moark, LLC, which he
joined in 1998. Bennett began his career in the
 
egg products division of Cal-Maine Foods in 1991.
Commenting
 
on
 
the
 
announcement,
 
Dolph
 
Baker,
 
chairman
 
and
 
chief
 
executive
 
officer
 
of
 
Cal-Maine
 
Foods,
 
Inc.,
 
stated,
 
“We
 
are
 
pleased
 
to
 
announce
 
our
 
strategic
 
investment
 
in
MeadowCreek,
 
which
 
provides
 
Cal-Maine
 
Foods
 
an
 
opportunity
 
to not
 
only grow
 
our presence
 
in
the egg
 
products sector, but
 
position ourselves to
 
better seek out
 
solutions for economically
 
feeding
a
 
growing
 
world
 
population.
 
While
 
approximately
 
30
 
percent
 
of
 
produced
 
eggs
 
are
 
currently
directed
 
to
 
further
 
processing
 
in
 
the
 
U.S.,
 
as
 
specialty
 
eggs
 
become
 
more
 
popular,
 
we
 
see
 
the
demand
 
for
 
more
 
specialty
 
egg
 
products
 
including cage-free
 
products,
 
to
 
provide
 
for
 
industrial,
food service and retail needs. We
 
believe MeadowCreek will play an
 
important role in meeting this
demand and look forward to
 
our partnership with Ronald and
 
his operations team in support of
 
this
venture.”
Cal-Maine Foods,
 
Inc. is
 
primarily engaged
 
in the
 
production, grading,
 
packing, marketing
and sale of fresh shell eggs, including
 
conventional, cage-free, organic, pasture-raised,
 
free range
and nutritionally
 
enhanced eggs.
 
The Company, which
 
is headquartered
 
in Ridgeland, Mississippi,
is the
 
largest producer and
 
distributor of fresh
 
shell eggs in
 
the United States and
 
sells the majority
of
 
its
 
shell
 
eggs
 
in
 
states
 
across
 
the
 
southwestern,
 
southeastern,
 
mid-western
 
and
 
mid-Atlantic
regions of the United States.
Statements contained in
 
this press release that
 
are not historical facts
 
are forward-looking
statements as
 
that
 
term
 
is
 
defined
 
in
 
the
 
Private
 
Securities
 
Litigation
 
Reform
 
Act
 
of
 
1995.
 
The
forward-looking
 
statements
 
are
 
based
 
on
 
management’s
 
current
 
intent,
 
belief,
 
expectations,
estimates
 
and
 
projections
 
regarding
 
our
 
company
 
and
 
our
 
industry.
 
These
 
statements
 
are
 
not
guarantees
 
of
 
future
 
performance
 
and
 
involve
 
risks,
 
uncertainties,
 
assumptions
 
and
 
other
factors that
 
are
 
difficult
 
to predict
 
and
 
may
 
be
 
beyond
 
our
 
control.
 
The
 
factors
 
that
 
could
 
cause
actual results to
 
differ materially
 
from those projected
 
in the forward-looking
 
statements include,
among
 
others,
 
(i)
 
the
 
risk
 
factors
 
set
 
forth
 
in
 
the
 
Company’s
 
SEC filings
 
(including
 
its
 
Annual
Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly
 
Reports on Form 10-Q and
 
Current Reports on Form 8-K), (ii)
 
the
risks and hazards inherent in the shell egg business
 
(including disease, pests, weather
Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. Announces Strategic Investment
 
in New Egg Products Manufacturing
Company
Page 2
October 4, 2021
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conditions and potential
 
for recall),
 
(iii) changes in
 
the demand
 
for and
 
market prices
 
of shell
 
eggs
and feed costs,
 
(iv) our
 
ability to predict
 
and meet demand
 
for cage-free
 
and other
 
specialty eggs,
(v)
 
risks,
 
changes
 
or
 
obligations
 
that
 
could
 
result
 
from
 
our
 
future
 
acquisition
 
of
 
new flocks
 
or
businesses and risks
 
or changes that
 
may cause conditions
 
to completing
 
a pending acquisition
 
not
to be met,(vi) risks
 
relating to the evolving
 
COVID-19 pandemic, and (vii) adverse
 
results in pending
litigation
 
matters.
 
SEC
 
filings
 
may
 
be obtained
 
from the
 
SEC
 
or
 
the
 
Company’s
 
website,
www.calmainefoods.com.
 
Readers
 
are
 
cautioned not
 
to
 
place
 
undue
 
reliance
 
on
 
forward-looking
statements because, while we believe the assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are
based are
 
reasonable, there
 
can be
 
no assurance
 
that these
 
forward-looking statements
 
will prove
to
 
be
 
accurate.
 
Further, the
 
forward-looking
 
statements
 
included
 
herein
 
are
 
only
 
made
 
as
 
of
 
the
respective dates thereof, or if
 
no date is stated, as of
 
the date hereof. Except as
 
otherwise required
by
 
law,
 
we
 
disclaim
 
any
 
intent or
 
obligation
 
to
 
publicly
 
update
 
these
 
forward-looking
 
statements,
whether as a result of new information, future
 
events or otherwise.