Cash in on the Green Movement
Tags: DCFF, Diet Coffe Inc., OTCBB: DCFF, OTCBB: PLBI, OTCPK: PLBI, Proton Laboratories, Proton Labs, Zevotek
With saving energy and protecting the environment first in the minds of consumers from Boston to Bangkok these days, demand for products capable of facilitating both efforts have reached paramount heights.
As the green movement continues to snowball, human innovation is gracing us all with solutions to a number of our biggest problems. In this edition I’ll give you the 411 on two emerging growth companies with products that are already making the world a better place.
Before I get into fan favorite DCFF, let’s first take a gander at Proton Laboratories (OTC Other: PLBI.PK)
| PLBI: The Architects of Functional Water
The company is currently focused on the food processing, medical, and agricultural industries and has already developed an off-the-shelf consumer product as well as commercial/industrial grade systems. With its technology tested and proven by such highly regarded research departments such as HillTop Research and Washington State University, PLBI now looks to begin selling and installing systems around the world. As occurrences of bacterial outbreaks including Salmonella and Staph dominate the airwaves in increasing fashion and the Green movement continues to gain steam, Proton’s solutions offer a unique and timely value-proposition to just about any market in which water and sanitization are a concern. |
| Zevotek Impresses With Q as Core Product Thrives
–The bulb comes equipped with a patented air purifying microchip ion emitter that is powered by its’s own energy and silently emits negative ions that help clear the air of smoke, dust, pet dander, and odors; – The bulb is 4X more energy efficient and lasts up to 10X longer and uses 50% to 80% less energy than regular incandescent light bulbs; and – The product is already selling in Walgreens and generated about $350K sales during its 3 month introductory period ended 3/31/08. The company has also shot and is ready to air a promotional infomercial for it that should drive sales levels higher. |
| What You Need To Know About the Filing
Contrary to the belief of many investors, the most recent Q reflects operations from the ENTIRE quarter, not just six weeks of sales. I’m not sure where that information came from. |
| The DCFF Filing: It’s Up and It’s Good!!
Revenues for the quarter approached $350,000, just about the same as the corresponding reporting period of ‘07. DCFF was selling a completely different product then, not yet the Ionic Bulb. This figure was higher than I expected. Highlights from the filing include: Operating expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2008 decreased $126,756 or 32% from the prior year period; Gross profit for the quarter decreased $98,122 or 39.6% to $150,137 from a gross profit of $248,259 for the three months ended March 31, 2007; Gross profit percentage for the three months ended March 31, 2008 was 43% as compared to 71% for the prior year period; Net loss for the period was ($146,207), a nominal improvement over the net loss of ($146,969) recorded for the three months ended March 31, 2007; and Net loss per share for the first quarter of 2008 was ($0.00) compared to ($0.00) for the corresponding prior year period. |
| B2C Sales Are Key To Future Expansion
One thing that becomes quite evident rather quickly while examining the recent Q is the need for the company to begin selling direct to consumer as it did in the past with previous products. The Walgreens and Amazon contracts are indeed invaluable for a company attempting to nationally launch a household consumer product. However, if the company can in fact begin airing its recently completed infomercial on t.v. and initiate some type of direct response marketing campaign, the higher margin direct sales could begin offsetting often lower retail margins. All in all, I’m pleasantly surprised by the filing. The $350K in sales, although not monumental, is quite promising since the company’s marketing strategy has not yet come to fruition. The advertisement has been shot, it just needs to be aired on t.v. and Zevotek needs to begin taking orders both online and through, I would guess, a toll-free sales hot line. This type of effort would also in theory create more of a “push” effect on consumers into affiliated stores such as Walgreens and perhaps create more allure for the Ionic Bulb in other retail organizations. |
DCFF gave investors what they wanted with the filing this week: a benchmark for judging future progress. I’ll be watching closely to see how things progress from here. Check back soon for updated coverage on the company.
