Taat Producing 600 lb / 272 kg of Beyond Tobacco™ Per Day, Increased Capacity from Upgraded Equipment can Provide Material for up to 2.1 Million Taat Cartons Per Year
After beginning large-scale in-house production of Taat’s Beyond Tobacco™ base material, the Company has already reached 50% of its production capacity even before launching. Each 16-hour day of production yields approximately 600 lb / 272 kg of Beyond Tobacco™, which is sufficient to produce one full 1,440-carton pallet of Taat. Based on current volumes, the Company has procured new machinery to be installed in its Las Vegas, NV processing facility which is expected to increase production bandwidth to as much as 2,400 lb / 1,088 kg per day. Additionally, the Company’s CEO Setti Coscarella has released an informational video statement in which Mr. Coscarella details the weaknesses of mainstream alternatives to tobacco cigarettes, and explains how Taat is being developed and commercialized to address these shortcomings.
LAS VEGAS and VANCOUVER, NOVEMBER 13, 2020 - TAAT LIFESTYLE & WELLNESS LTD. (CSE: TAAT) (OTCQB: TOBAF) (FRANKFURT: 2TP2) (the “Company” or “Taat”) is pleased to announce that its in-house production of the Beyond Tobacco™ base material for Taat, its flagship product to be launched in Ohio later this month, is now being produced at a rate of approximately 600 lb / 272 kg per day, a quantity that is sufficient to produce approximately one full 1,440-carton pallet of Taat. As stated in the Company’s press release dated October 16, 2020, Taat’s Las Vegas, NV processing facility can produce up to 1,200 lb / 544 kg of Beyond Tobacco™ per day. Having already reached 50% of its in-house production capacity for Beyond Tobacco™ even before launching Taat, the Company has ordered upgraded machinery to accommodate forecasted increases in demand following the debut of Taat in the United States. In addition to current interest in Taat from tobacco wholesalers and retailers in Ohio, nearly one third of unique visitors to the Company’s TryTaat landing page (http://trytaat.com) have requested Taat product samples. With Taat’s Ohio launch set to occur later this quarter, the Company’s Las Vegas, NV processing facility has been in operation for 16 hours per day every day including weekends to prepare a sufficient supply of Beyond Tobacco™ to meet anticipated demand.
The Company has developed Beyond Tobacco™ to taste, smell, and burn similarly to tobacco, despite containing no tobacco or nicotine. Beyond Tobacco™ is the base material of Taat, an alternative to traditional cigarettes offered in a cigarette-style format in Original, Smooth, and Menthol varieties. Under executive leadership with “Big Tobacco” pedigree, the Company has chosen the state of Ohio as the launch market for Taat in the United States, where an initial supply of Taat intended for sale at retail will arrive in Ohio later in Q4 2020. The Beyond Tobacco™ base material is processed in the Company’s Las Vegas, NV facility with a 14-step refinement procedure. Finished Beyond Tobacco™ is then sent to the Company’s contract manufacturer, who also makes cigarettes for national and global brands, for production and warehousing before shipment to wholesalers.
Beginning in mid-November 2020, deliveries of upgraded machinery for producing Beyond Tobacco™ will begin to arrive at the Company’s Las Vegas, NV processing facility. The new equipment, which includes conveyor belts and a vacuum sealer, is expected to increase Taat’s daily production capacity of Beyond Tobacco™ to a maximum of 2,400 lb / 1,088 kg per 16-hour day. Based on current Taat manufacturing yields, the Company anticipates this greater production bandwidth for Beyond Tobacco™ will allow for more than 2.1 million ten-pack cartons of Taat to be made on an annual basis. At this time, the Company is continuing to produce approximately 600 lb / 272 kg of Beyond Tobacco™ per day until it establishes a supply of material sufficient to produce approximately 30 pallets (43,200 cartons) of Taat.
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Taat Herb Co. Founder Joe Deighan in front of the Company’s facility in Las Vegas, NV, where the Beyond Tobacco™ base material is produced.
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The Company is also pleased to release an informational video statement made by its Chief Executive Officer Setti Coscarella, in which Mr. Coscarella details the weaknesses of mainstream products positioned as alternatives to tobacco cigarettes, and explains how Taat has been developed to address such weaknesses. Based on positive feedback from investors and the general public regarding Taat’s proprietary video content, the Company intends to continue releasing informational videos from its management team and advisory board on its YouTube channel.
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Taat CEO Setti Coscarella in the Company’s latest informational video statement, which can be viewed by clicking the thumbnail above or clicking here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JC6_q_Hqos0&feature=youtu.be).
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Taat Herb Co. Founder Joe Deighan, who directly oversees the Company’s Las Vegas, NV processing facility operations, said “It’s very exciting to be playing a firsthand role in developments such as these as we bring the Taat vision to reality on such a large scale. As intense as it may be to lead non-stop production of Beyond Tobacco™ for 16 hours per day every day, this is a major turning point in our journey to launch. We already have the market-ready product formulation, the distribution reach, and the go-to-market plan. What we need now is inventory to meet anticipated demand, and the fact that the supply we’re producing today has a clear path to being placed on retail shelves among incumbent tobacco products soundly validates that we are now far past the initial R&D phase and well into the ‘doing business’ phase.”
Taat Chief Executive Officer Setti Coscarella commented, “With the amount of interest Taat has been getting from tobacco wholesalers and individual adult smokers from around the world, as well as thousands of free sample requests in the United States on our TryTaat landing page, it is no secret at all that quantity is now the name of the game in order to meet potential demand. This comes as no surprise considering how rapidly Taat sold out during early-stage retail market testing earlier this year. Accordingly, we have taken it upon ourselves to maximize output of Beyond Tobacco™ from our Las Vegas processing facility by operating two daily shifts instead of one, and upgrading our equipment to improve our production capacity. As I mentioned in the latest informational video, Taat is very unique in that it offers exactly what other alternatives to tobacco cigarettes cannot offer. Even before we’ve launched, smokers of legal age all across the United States have recognized this, which is why we are seeking to maximize our production capacity now. I look forward to seeing the performance of our upgraded equipment as we ramp up production of Beyond Tobacco™ to prepare for our launch in Ohio.”
On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Company,
TAAT LIFESTYLE & WELLNESS LTD.
“Setti Coscarella”
Setti Coscarella, CEO
For further information, please contact:
Taat Investor Relations
1-833-TAAT-USA (1-833-822-8872)
THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE (CSE) HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OR ADEQUACY OF THIS RELEASE.
About Taat Lifestyle & Wellness Ltd.
The Company has developed Taat, which is a tobacco-free and nicotine-free alternative to traditional cigarettes offered in "Original", "Smooth", and "Menthol" varieties. Taat's base material is Beyond Tobacco™, a proprietary blend which undergoes a patent-pending refinement technique causing its scent and taste to resemble tobacco. Under executive leadership with "Big Tobacco" pedigree, Taat is launching in the United States in Q4 2020 as the Company seeks to position itself in the $814 billion1 global tobacco industry.
For more information, please visit http://taatusa.com.
References
1 British American Tobacco - The Global Market
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