Amfil Technologies Inc. Provides Corporate Update on the Various
Initiatives Throughout its Subsidiaries
TORONTO, ON, Canada -- August 22, 2019 -- InvestorsHub NewsWire
-- Amfil Technologies Inc. (OTC: FUNN), is pleased to provide a
corporate update relating to the progress of various initiatives
being spearheaded through its subsidiaries including Snakes &
Lattes Inc., GRO3, and a progress update on the Company’s FYE
audits.
Snakes & Lattes Inc. continues to be
the leading contributor to the Company’s bottom line in terms of
scope, resources, revenues, and overall operational and market
awareness. Snakes & Lattes currently has four wholly owned and
fully operational tabletop gaming venues, 3 in Toronto, Canada, and
1 in Tempe, Arizona. Additionally, the business is in the process
of opening an additional venue located in Tucson, Arizona, and has
agreements in place for a number of additional venues across North
America. Snakes & Lattes has positioned itself as a leading
player in the industry and also operates in the sale, distribution,
and order fulfillment of a wide range of popular board game titles
in North America, many of which the Company holds exclusive rights
to regionally. This area of the overall business has been a key
contributor to the overall bottom-line for the Company.
Most recently, the Company entered into the potentially
lucrative board game publishing business, through the acquisition
of existing board game publisher, Morning, which was completed in
2018. The Company anticipates board-games publishing to be a
significant contributor of revenues and profitability moving
forward as its various in-house published titles including the
highly anticipated Kill the Unicorns and Red Panda game titles hit
the market.
Snakes & Lattes is pleased to provide a general update
regarding its ongoing business operations and growth initiatives
beginning with the café/bar venues.
Venues – Snakes & Lattes Canada
Snakes & Lattes ‘Annex’
The Snakes & Lattes Annex venue continues to generate
significant revenue and customer patronage as anticipated. The
Company has commenced planning for renovations/upgrades to coincide
with the new Westbank Corp Mirvish Village development project
which is located right across the street from Snakes & Lattes
Annex at 581 Bloor Street West, Toronto. The Mirvish Village
project is expected to be completed by 2022 and contain 855
residential units which will be added to the already densely
populated neighborhood. Anticipating an increased level of demand
from local patrons, the Annex venue renovation will include
improvements and upgrades to the kitchen, dining/gaming space, and
the overall décor will be enhanced to be more aligned with the
atmosphere and guest experience of the newer Snakes & Lattes
venues. The Company expects the investment into these upgrades to
add significant value to the Snakes & Lattes experience when
welcoming new and existing patrons alike.
Snakes & Lattes ‘College’
Snakes & Lattes College has continued to be a company leader
in revenue and profitability, leading the locations in both overall
and ‘per square foot’ revenues. The new leadership team at the
venue level is comprised of industry veterans and experienced
mixologists, who are leading the company wide beverage design and
direction for 2019-2020. Their focus will be on locally sourced,
artisanal products and a reimagining of classic cocktails which the
company expects to be well-received by our guests.
Snakes & Lattes ‘Midtown’
Snakes & Lattes Midtown is the newest Canadian location and
was designed to be the flagship location for all future Snakes
& Lattes bar/café locations. Located in the bustling
neighborhood of Yonge & Eglinton in Midtown Toronto, the
Company expects this location to become one of its most lucrative
venues as the neighborhood continues expansion.
The venue has been experiencing some temporary challenges and is
being affected to a greater than anticipated degree due to the
large-scale construction project for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT.
The Eglinton Crosstown LRT is a public transit development project
installing a light rail line which will run the length of Eglinton
Avenue from Mount Dennis to Kennedy Station. Despite the LRT
construction delays and infrastructure challenges which have
included water and electrical shutoffs due to the transit project,
Snakes & Lattes Midtown has forged ahead continuing an upward
trajectory of increased revenues while simultaneously reducing
operational costs significantly. As LRT reaches completion,
alongside the completion of the many new condominium projects in
the area, management expects to see a spike in patronage and for
revenue growth to accelerate significantly, matching the upward
trend in revenue growth already occurring at the Snakes &
Lattes ‘Midtown’ venue.
Venues - Snakes & Lattes USA
Snakes & Lattes ‘Tempe’
The first ever corporate owned US-based Snakes & Lattes
venue opened in Tempe, Arizona in October 2018. Despite being
operational for less than a year, Snakes & Lattes Tempe has
already proven to be a great success. The Company had originally
anticipated that sales during the summer months of 2019 would slow
down due to the student population being away. However, thanks to
the hard work of the manager and staff at Tempe, we were pleasantly
surprised to see that sales remained steady throughout the
summer. Snakes & Lattes Tempe has been very well received by
the local population and management has received overwhelmingly
positive reviews directly from happy guests, local media, and
through social media and other online sources. ASU started the fall
semester on Monday August 19th and the majority of students came
back to town over the weekend prior. Now, with the students back
and the loyal patrons we developed over the summer continuing to
attend, we had our best Friday to date last Friday, followed by our
best Saturday ever on Saturday, followed by our best Sunday ever on
Sunday.
Snakes & Lattes ‘Tucson’
Snakes & Lattes signed a lease and commenced preparation for
construction on its second US-based venue in May 2019. The venue is
a two-story unit located less than 100 yards from the main gate to
the University of Arizona. The area is frequented by a large
population of students and young professionals, which has proven to
be a key demographic for the venues, as demonstrated by the most
recently launched Tempe location. Management originally expected to
have the venue up and running sometime around back-to-school season
this fall. Due to structural challenges related to shared plumbing
and electrical infrastructure within the building, it created some
delays and slightly extended the estimated completion date. The
Company is working to map and resolve these issues. Since the
construction timeline has been slightly extended, management has
decided to use this time productively and develop a second-floor
outdoor patio for the venue to add additional value and capacity to
the space. The venue is now expected to open in Q4 2019.
Future Venue & Acquisition Strategy
Updates
Charlotte
The lease for a Snakes & Lattes venue in Charlotte, NC has
been negotiated and is pending execution. The company is committed
to opening a Charlotte location and is currently exploring capital
investment strategies to ensure the project is fully funded through
favorable terms to ensure the success of the venture. Further
details relating to the Charlotte venue will be announced as it
progresses.
Cincinnati
The company recently investigated the viability of a potential
venue location in Cincinnati but determined that the building’s
infrastructure was not up to the company standards required for a
Snakes & Lattes location. The company is committed to opening a
Cincinnati venue, and will continue to search for a viable property
in the area.
Acquisition Strategy
The company has begun developing an acquisition strategy to
merge existing competitors, starting primarily in the Canadian
market. Many companies have reached out to have their individual
locations being added to the Snakes & Lattes network at minimal
cost. The company anticipates that this strategy will reduce risk
within new markets, while concurrently increasing brand awareness.
Multiple competitors are under review for acquisition in 2019-2020
and management is hopeful a number of venues will be acquired
before the end of calendar year. Finally, as a note in the Future
Venue Update, the company continues to work towards developing
future corporate venues in markets where acquisition would prove
impracticable or in markets where such acquisitions are
unavailable.
Retail
Retail operations have been scaled back across all venues in
order to facilitate greater resources for more lucrative
service-related operations. Concurrently retail offerings are being
reimagined to be in-line with the guest experience in order to
improve consumer engagement. The company is working to reimagine
retail offerings within a “Gift Shop” format - this includes
impulse purchasing and retail offerings inspired by top performing
titles from the game library. This model is currently under testing
at Snakes & Lattes Tempe.
Lean Management
Snakes & Lattes has completed some restructuring of its
internal management staff. The Company has reduced the size of the
management team and compressed hierarchies to provide efficiency
and reduced staffing costs relating to the management of Snakes
& Lattes. The corporate team has been streamlined into four
operational departments - finance, leadership, growth, and
operations. This has reduced overhead while maintaining workload
upkeep and efficiency across the leadership team. As the business
continues to grow, the Company anticipates that the allocation of
business specific management to continue evolving in accordance
with business requirements which includes bolstering of the finance
and accounting department to support the staggering growth achieved
over recent years.
Guest Engagement and Loyalty
To further improve guest engagement, attract new guests, and
encourage return visits, Snakes & Lattes is piloting a loyalty
program at Snakes & Lattes Tempe. Built around a ‘white label’
Snakes & Lattes iOS and Android app, guests accrue points
during their visit which can be redeemed for ‘perks’ across all
venue offerings. The program, which was launched in early summer
2019, has received an overwhelmingly positive response from the
public. The company expects to launch the program across all Snakes
& Lattes Canada and Snakes & Lattes USA locations by the
end of the calendar year.
Publishing
Snakes & Lattes Publishing has been working through the
release of its highly anticipated title, ‘Kill the Unicorns’. The
first print-run was completed, shipping recently commenced, and the
second print run ordered. The Company has had to navigate some
logistical hurdles which include clearing customs in certain
countries and is working to adjust the process ensuring a
streamlined delivery on all future print-runs. This game title is
expected to be on the shelves of retailers in time for the 2019
holiday season. Management expects this to be a strong performer in
the retail market and anticipates this title, and the Publishing
business as a whole, to be a key contributor to both the Company’s
top and bottom-lines.
Distribution, Fulfillment, and Warehousing
The Snakes & Lattes Distribution business has historically
provided healthy and reasonable revenues to the bottom line
throughout the formative years of the Company. The ‘Snakes &
Lattes Distribution’ business consists of shipping products
primarily to small ‘mom & pop’ sized stores. After careful
consideration, Management has opted to strategically transition
resources and focus from the Distribution business and allocate the
resources to the creation and promotion of new Snakes & Lattes
venues and to the ‘Fulfillment’ business, both of which being more
lucrative and have higher growth potential moving forward allowing
for the Company’s continued growth and expansion. The ‘Snakes &
Lattes Fulfillment’ business provides warehousing, logistics, and
order fulfillment services catering to larger order sizes for
medium to large sized customers, including ‘big box’ retailers.
Snakes & Lattes continues to be a leader in Canadian board game
fulfillment services especially in recent years following when the
releases of explosively sought-after game titles were hitting the
market, such as ‘Cards Against Humanity’ and ‘Exploding Kittens’.
These game titles caused a significant spike in fulfillment service
volumes and revenues but they are inconsistent and have since
returned to more standard levels until the next hot game title hits
the market, perhaps kicked off by our new game title Kill the
Unicorns. Management had anticipated this occurrence and pivoted to
focus on partnerships with US-based fulfillment centers ensuring
steady operating revenue despite the decline in the aforementioned
key game title demand. Management anticipates the focus shift to
the US market to be a key area of growth potential aligned with the
US expansion of the Snakes & Lattes venue locations, and also
expects this to also be a key asset as Snakes & Lattes
Publishing SAS continues to release in-house published game titles
such as Kill the Unicorns, Red Panda, and BUURN.
Corporate Rentals & Events
In calendar Q2 2019, Snakes & Lattes Canada hired an
experienced Event Manager to develop and oversee the framework,
sales, marketing, and execution of corporate client rentals and
team building activities across all venues. Since hiring the Events
Manager, rental revenues have increased by nearly 100% and are
expected to far exceed Holiday rental revenues across all Canadian
locations compared to calendar Q4 2018.
Amfil Technologies Inc. - Corporate
Accounting and Controls
As previously announced, the Company has retained the services
of LiveCA – an accounting firm that specializes in high
growth and start up companies in Toronto, Canada. LiveCA is
currently handling cross-border accounting and in France for all
Amfil entities. Concurrently, the company has hired a controller,
who, in concert with LiveCA is working to establish and maintain
key accounting principles. These efforts are expected to
significantly reduce the time and resources required for all future
audits and accounting matters. This team was hired during FYE 2018
so much of the accounting for the quarters was already completed.
These changes contributed to another lengthy FYE 2018 audit.
However, all parties have expressed confidence and comfort with the
new systems and processes, and it is anticipated that future audits
will be completed in a timely manner.
2018 FYE Audit
Taking the accounting changes mentioned above into
consideration, management would like to provide a brief update with
regards to the finalization of the FYE 2018 audit. Since the
beginning of last week, our auditors, RBSM, in concert with CFO
Squad and our internal accounting department has had daily calls
and will continue to do so until the remaining items are completed
and finalized. These efforts have been very productive thus far,
but due to the timelines previously announced but ultimately being
extended, the company is refraining from providing an estimated
completion date. However, based upon the comparison of the initial
list of audit items compared to the few remaining audit items, as
well as our knowledge from the prior years audit process, it is
expected that this will be finalized in the very near future.
Thanks to the newly implemented processes with LiveCA, the first
three 2019 quarterlies are for the most part completed. There is
also some overlap with the FYE 2018 audit which will reduce the
time required to complete the 2019 items. The Company aims to have
the FYE 2019 audit submitted on time.
The GRO3 Subsidiary
As a follow up to a previous press release announcing two
purchase orders received for the EcoPr03 10-SS and 20-SS Ozone
Treatment systems, the division is pleased to announce that the
units have been built, shipped, and received by the processing
plants they were requested for and will be installed and fully
operational next month. The division is currently working through
two additional purchase orders and anticipates these will be
finalized very shortly. Pictures of the units will be uploaded to
the @AmfilTech twitter account.
For further updates from the company please follow us on Twitter
@AmfilTech
For more information regarding the company, and its related
subsidiaries please visit the following websites:
Amfil Technologies Inc. www.amfiltech.com/
Snakes & Lattes Inc. www.snakesandlattes.com/
Morning (Snakes & Lattes Publishing
SAS) https://www.morning.us/
GRO3 Joint Venture http://gro3systems.com/
Interloc-Kings Inc. http://www.interloc-kings.com/
About Us:
Amfil Technologies Inc. is the parent company to three wholly
owned subsidiaries.
1). Snakes & Lagers Inc. holds the trade name and is the
owner of Snakes & Lattes Inc. which currently operates 3
tabletop gaming bars and cafes located in Toronto, Ontario and 1 in
Tempe, Arizona. The company is in the process of expanding
throughout North America. Snakes & Lattes Inc. was the first
board game bar and cafe in North America, is believed to be the
largest in the world and have the largest circulating public
library of board games in North America for customers to choose
from. Snakes & Lattes Inc. currently has a 100+ member staff
and recently acquired the exclusive distribution rights throughout
Canada for some of the most popular board games in the world. The
company also operates a lucrative fulfillment and distribution
division and has recently entered into the board game publishing
business through the acquisition of 'Morning' which is expected to
add significant revenues to the bottom line. For more information
on Snakes & Lattes Inc. feel free to visit the website
at www.snakesandlattes.com.
2). The EcoPr03 GRO3 Antimicrobial System was jointly developed
between Amfil Tech and A.C.T.S. Inc. which recently rebranded its
technology under Advanced Ozone Integration as an extension of the
existing ozone technology being utilized in the food and beverage
industry and integrated by A.C.T.S. into companies such as Pepsi,
Nestle, Sysco, Sun Pacific and many others. The system is a
triple-function sanitization unit capable of naturally eliminating
99.9% of water and airborne pathogens and the typically problematic
pests that wreak havoc for cultivators (like aphids, whiteflies and
spider mites), as well as bacteria, fungus, microbes and mold on
surfaces, all without chemicals. The unit can also constantly
regulate a given facility's water supply, oxygenating the water and
maintaining a consistent PPM infusion of ozone that prevents the
formation of algae, bacteria or mold (allowing for comprehensive
water recycling), simultaneously removing the need to use
pesticides and/or dangerous, often carcinogenic products to treat
production problems, as is common throughout the industry today.
This environmentally-friendly solution also eliminates odors, while
slightly reducing the air temperature, lowering energy consumption
by the HEPA filtration and HVAC systems and could potentially allow
for a facilities process to be labeled certified organic in the
U.S.A. when the crop is no longer considered illegal on the federal
level, otherwise "Clean Green" or "Certified Kind" in the meantime.
The EcoPr03 GRO3 Antimicrobial System recently passed product
review by a registered USDA certifying agent for use in California
as well as Pennsylvania and surrounding states. The subsidiary has
developed a strategic partnership with Roto Gro, the creator of
proprietary rotary hydroponic technology. More information on this
product line can be found on thewww.gro3systems.com website or
on twitter @GRO3Systems.
3). Interloc-Kings Inc. is a hardscape construction company
servicing the Greater Toronto Area. This subsidiary is an
authorized Unilock installer, Unilock being, North America's
premier manufacturer of concrete interlocking paving stones and
segmental wall products. Interloc-Kings Inc. has an A+ Rating with
the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and a 10/10 rating on
homestars.com. Specializing in stone and wood installations between
$5,000 and $150,000 per project, Interloc-Kings Inc. has quickly
become a top, high quality installation company of outdoor living
areas in the GTA. More information on this subsidiary can be found
at the website www.interloc-kings.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This news release contains statements that involve expectations,
plans or intentions (such as those relating to future business or
financial results, new features or services, or management
strategies) and other factors discussed from time to time in the
Company's OTC Market or Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
These statements are forward-looking and are subject to risks and
uncertainties, so actual results may vary materially. You can
identify these forward-looking statements by words such as "may,"
"should,", "will", "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate,"
"confident," "intend," "plan" and other similar expressions. Our
actual results, such as the Company's ability to finance, complete
and consolidate acquisition of IP, assets and operating companies,
could differ materially from those anticipated in these
forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors not
within the control of the company such as a result of various
factors, including future economic, competitive, regulatory, and
market conditions. The company cautions readers not to place undue
reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only
as of the date made. The company disclaims any obligation
subsequently to revise any forward-looking statements to reflect
events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to
reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.
Contact:
Roger Mortimer
Amfil Technologies Inc.
Telephone: (647) 880-5887
Email: rmortimer@amfiltech.com
Ben Castanie
Snakes & Lattes Inc.
Telephone: (416) 500 2911
Email: ben@snakesandlattes.com
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