Fiji Kava will rebrand as The Calmer Co and complete its acquisition of ready-to-drink kava brand Leilo after spending the September quarter preparing for the strategic milestones, reports The Market Herald.
The renamed company will adopt a “refreshed strategic vision” underpinned by four key pillars which includes building its distribution in the U.S. and targeting international functional beverage markets.
Subject to shareholder approval, the name change will be effective from 01 December and will represent a house of brands including Danodan, Fiji Kava, Leilo, and Taki Mai.
“We are extremely excited to have entered into a binding agreement to acquire Leilo and are working hard to develop The Calmer Co business strategy and to make immediate impact once the businesses are formally merged in December,” CEO Dr Anthony Noble said.
“As well as the opportunities to take Leilo to the world, we see synergies in bringing the Fiji Kava product range to the Leilo customer base.”
In its quarterly report, Fiji Kava recorded $273,000 (US$174,000) in revenue and cash receipts of $245,000(US$156,000), down 70 percent from the June quarter.
Fiji attributed the reduction to weaker sales of the functional capsules line in Coles and Chemist Warehouse and reduced sales of drinking kava online, which were both reportedly due to less investments in marketing.
Also in the quarter, the company made significant cost reductions in operating expenditure with a 37 per cent saving compared to Q1 FY22.
This includes cutting advertising and marketing costs by 52% as compared to in Q4 FY22 and cutting corporate and administration costs by 40% from Q4 FY22.
Currently, the company’s supply chain modernisation programme is underway in Fiji to future-proof kava supply and mitigate adverse weather risk.
