A report out by TechSci Research in April indicates that the U.S. organic food market is on track to break the $45 billion mark this year, on the strength of rising per capita spending, increased health awareness among consumers, and a rapidly spreading culture that is acutely aware of the tremendous benefits that eating a chemical-free, organic diet can produce. At the same time, growing retail availability of organic products, once limited to traditional sources, has been greatly improved, with over 20,000 natural food stores across the country, and three out of four grocery stores now carrying at least a limited selection of organic options. And the same is true across the pond, where, according to the Soil Association’s 2015 report on the UK organic market, sales of organic products saw four percent growth last year, even as food prices declined by 1.9 percent, and food spending also declined by 1.1 percent.

Little surprise that western markets are rapidly gravitating away from chemical farming products either, with CDC estimates from two years back alone showing some 1.1 billion pounds of pesticides and active ingredients are being used annually. Globally the organic market in 2013 was already at $72 billion and if the official FiBL-IFOAM data and TechSci are right, the U.S. organic market has seen a 41.5 percent jump in just the last two years. Such growth seems well within reason at any rate, especially given a recent survey report by leading consumer products and services review publication, Consumer Reports, showing that 84 percent of Americans now routinely purchase organic food.

The explosive growth of the organic space however has produced two glaringly obvious issues. On the one hand, despite some 106 million plus acres being dedicated to organic as of the end of 2013 worldwide, supply shortages continue to be one of the greatest challenges facing the industry. On the other hand, given that it is still a largely nascent market, the product mix has not evolved sufficiently, and along the lines envisioned by die-hard, early adopting organic consumers. Hence the growing significance of up-and-comer sector innovators such as health and wellness solutions developer, Fresh Promise Foods, Inc. (OTC: FPFI), whose wholly-owned Harvest Soul subsidiary continues to deliver cutting-edge USDA Certified Organic, Non-GMO Project Verified beverage and food products which speak directly to soul of this market’s most ardent consumers.

The Harvest Soul brand has quickly risen to prominence among diehard health-conscious consumers, thanks to its having addressed the core problem in the juicing world head-on, brilliantly resolving the lack of fiber and proteins taken out during juice pressing via a product line that is the sector’s first real USDA Certified Organic chewable juice. Harvest Soul Chewable Juices are 12 ounce juices with a mega concentrated blend of veggies and fruits that are then mixed with berries, nuts and seeds at just the right size needed to encourage chewing. Chewing actively triggers the digestion process and releases enzymes that enhance nutrient absorption, and these beverages are perfect as a snack or as an entire meal. The product line speaks to consumer demand for much-needed fiber to be put back into juice, as well as demand that such product contain only 100 percent organic, non-GMO blends of nutritious leafy greens and fruits or vegetables that are delicious, but which are also rich in anti-oxidants.

Already successful in the South Region through Whole Foods Markets with the company’s Green Fusion superfood blend using 21 vegetables and fruits, as well as its Tropical Fusion energizing blend of 15 fruits and veggies, FPFI expanded to the naturally receptive West Coast and Pacific Northwest markets back in June, simultaneously introducing two new products in the lineup, Berry Banana Fusion and Veggie Beet Fusion. A major driver of consumer receptivity to the brand, beyond having so perfectly addressed unmet demands in the organic juice space, has been how the company’s proprietary High Pressure Processing (HPP) solution captures the farm-fresh flavor, brilliant colors and natural enzymes, minerals, and vitamins contained in the product’s ingredients. The company has trademarked HPP Fressurized™ to indicate to consumers that this ingenious, environmentally-friendly alternative to conventional heat pasteurization has been used in the manufacture of the product they are consuming. This extremely high pressure technique destroys unhealthy bacteria and other microorganisms, while drastically improving the overall healthiness and content of the final product, allowing the high nutrient content of the product’s organic sources to reach the consumer as never before.

Georgia-based FPFI proudly goes out of its way to source from locally-grown produce and other ingredients, helping to grow the local organic production industry, and the company even supports the Georgia Grown economic development program, designed to stimulate and encourage the development of the state’s agribusiness sector. This is the portrait of a company striking at the heart of the organic food industry’s two biggest hurdles, economies of scale on the agribusiness side, and product innovation on the retail end. Harvest Soul has even come out with a new organic, non-GMO blended juice line, Harvest Soul Organic Blended Juices, which, while still rich in fiber, will appeal more directly to the less die-hard organic consumers.

Get a closer look at the company by visiting www.freshpromisefoods.com

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OurPet’s Company designs, produces and markets a broad line of innovative pet products and accessories under the OurPets and Pet Zone brands, sold in leading pet specialty retailers, food, drug and mass merchandisers, direct-mail catalog and Internet retailers. The company’s extensive product line is built on its intellectual property portfolio of more than 160 patents in either issued or pending status.

Coinciding with corporate growth among its target markets, OurPet’s yesterday announced a new strategy to more efficiently utilize corporate resources. Moving forward, OurPet’s says it will no longer conduct quarterly earnings teleconferences, and instead is ramping up its online communications and social media strategies to ensure that shareholders have ongoing access to the company’s most recent news, financial reports and progress.

“We have hosted consistent quarterly earnings calls for the 18 months, and have not seen participation meet our targets. In light of this, we feel that we can allocate our funds toward more worthy causes, and have identified more far-reaching and cost-effect routes to disseminate company news and financial reports,” OurPet’s CFO Scott Mendes stated in the news release. “This decision further emphasizes our commitment to increasing shareholder value, transparency and communication. We look forward to providing our shareholders and potential investors with more readily available, up-to-date corporate information.”

As part of its new communications strategy, OurPet’s recently engaged DreamTeamNetwork to boost its social media, presence, disseminate news releases, achieve targeted marketing and establish a mobile version of the OurPet’s website.

For more information visit www.ourpets.com and www.petzonebrand.com

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In 2004, the Latin American nation of Colombia took a significant step forward in its efforts to promote improved English proficiency through the creation of the Foreign Languages Competencies Development Program. The goal of this initiative is to leverage the country’s human capital in order to achieve targeted levels of language learning, effectively promoting a transformation into a bilingual country by 2019. Today, roughly 11.5 million people in Colombia – just over a quarter of the population – are studying English via public and private formal education or English language training courses, according to the British Council.

Lingo Media Corp., through subsidiary ELL Technologies Ltd., recently increased its footprint in this pivotal market by partnering with eDistribution SAS to secure a multi-million dollar language learning software development contract. Through this agreement, the company will provide a full suite of digital education resources to the National Training Service (SENA), a Colombian national public institution under the Ministry of Labor. These resources are expected to play a considerable role in increasing learning and professional opportunities for as million as seven million citizens across the country.

“SENA has taken a most progressive and innovative approach to learning English and other languages by structuring their program to fit the many different learning environments and requirements to further establish Colombia as a truly bilingual nation,” Gali Bar-Ziv, president and chief executive officer of ELL Technologies, stated in a news release. “We are very excited to deliver the digital learning content and user experience to Latin America’s leading educational institute, positively impacting language education and employment opportunities in Colombia and throughout Latin America.”

Learning English isn’t just a hobby for Colombians, it is a necessity. The British Council reports that 69 percent of all managers deemed English a ‘must-have’ skill in order to adequately perform their duties, and an overwhelming 81 percent of employers rated English as a seven or above on a one-to-ten scale ranking its importance. Despite these statistics, barriers remain that can severely limit Colombians’ access to English-learning solutions. In a poll of 500 non-English speakers, more than 35 percent stated that limited access to government-funded programs was hampering their efforts to learn English. Lingo Media is now in a strong position to help SENA better address this figure.

Through its subsidiary, Lingo Media is currently developing lessons, learning objects and digital resources which SENA will implement into its learning management system. By affording educators an opportunity to pick, choose and adapt its learning programs and their components, Lingo Media is empowering educators with an opportunity to supplement, complement and enhance their coursework while simultaneously developing a sustainable foothold in one of the world’s most rapidly-expanding EdTech markets.

For more information, visit www.lingomedia.com

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In August, Oakridge Global Energy Solutions took a significant step toward expanding its market share in the competitive stored energy industry by securing coverage in ‘New to the Street’, a leading provider of business profiles and corporate special programming with a nationwide reach of more than 95 million homes. The program’s content is aired as paid-programming on popular television stations – including The History Channel and A&E – and its social media platform provides the means to market to specific demographics on social networking giant Twitter (NYSE: TWTR). Using these tools, ‘New to the Street’ is able to distribute its video interviews and profile pieces to an expansive audience through multiple channels.

“We plan to continue to work with Twitter for all of our clients… as well as our upcoming series featuring Oakridge Global Energy Solutions, Inc.,” Vince Caruso, president of ‘New to the Street’, stated in a news release. “I feel our videos are stand-alone unique video interviews which engage the public.”

Expanding awareness of its recent corporate restructuring efforts is expected to play an instrumental role in fueling Oakridge’s future growth on both domestic and international fronts. The company’s integrated, ‘made in the USA’ energy storage solutions address a variety of key markets – including stationary and grid storage; motive applications, such as electric and hybrid electric fleet vehicles; government applications, including military, aerospace, marine, civil and municipal; and special applications, such as medical and telecom.

In an effort to meet this heightened market demand, Oakridge recently commenced full-scale operations at two manufacturing plants in Melbourne, Florida, which will focus primarily on production of its cutting-edge large format Pro Series golf car batteries, as well as its small format Patriot Series RC batteries. The company is also progressing toward a global launch of a range of new battery products in collaboration with recently-formed subsidiary Oakridge Global Energy Solutions Limited, Hong Kong.

For more information, visit www.oakg.net

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With the word out that early this week that famed cryptocurrency VCs the Winklevoss twins have successfully launched Gemini, their own Bitcoin (BTC) exchange, after BitLicense approval was finally secured from New York’s financial regulatory body (the NYDFS), disruptive payment technologies enabled by digital currencies like Bitcoin may finally be coming into their own. The move by New York to lead the charge and validate the alternative currency space with foundational legislation that allows BitLicensed players to operate with unimpeachable legitimacy, combined with the hardfork that is Bitcoin XT (an adaptation that will allow for a massive leap in the transaction processing bandwidth at the heart of the BTC network), have really taken Bitcoin and digital payments to a whole new level.

When it comes to disruptive new payment technology enablers like Bitcoin, the real money to be made is not so much in the currency itself, as it is in the payments processing end of the market. As Bitcoin continues to become a global digital currency, the rapid proliferation of smartphones, mobile wallet solutions and the rise of mcommerce, collectively mean that the sky is the limit for what is effectively a completely new commerce-empowering ecosystem of payment technologies. Borderless digital currencies like Bitcoin, as well as the requisite exchanges, payment processing technologies, and end-user software needed to transform commerce, have all cropped up extremely fast too. Springing seemingly Athena-like, fully armored from the forehead of Zeus (a legacy electronic payments infrastructure that is ripe for disruption), this new ecosystem of digital payment technologies and virtual currencies has evolved so quickly that only a handful of companies today are really ready to both participate, and genuinely thrive.

One such company is Alternet Systems. Structured as an enterprise accelerator, ALYI has been focused for some time now on the two core areas that are of the utmost significance to investors in this rapidly growing ecosystem: the digital currencies and exchanges, as well as the payment processing solutions needed to truly reshape the face of an antiquated payments infrastructure. Moreover, Alternet Systems is taking the long view of the market’s true potential, focusing in on the big data aspect of digital commerce, as well as the bounteous field of associated predictive data analytics made accessible thereby. Sure, moving to be one of the first players alongside the Winklevoss twins to wade into the exchange game via New York State BitLicense acquisition – as part of a global exchange roll-up strategy executed through the company’s wholly-owned OneMarket (www.onemarket.net) subsidiary – is going to be the backbone of the data acquisition architecture, but it is the payment processing end of things that will generate the really high-value data that players like advertisers and retailers salivate over.

Big data-driven retail analytics is a marketing crystal ball and in many respects, a solid, truly 21st century implementation thereof is seen as a sort of brass ring by the sector which has long been sought after by the biggest names in retail and advertising. Mcommerce, combined with digital currencies and the associated payment technologies, offers a symbiotic, software-driven mechanism for not only understanding user spending habits as never before, but doing so in a very lightweight fashion that is practically invisible to the consumer. This light touch, combined with extremely rigorous data accumulation and the penetrating analytics to go along with it, is something which is already beginning to transform the retail space. A crowning example of what is possible here might be Amazon.com’s (NASDAQ: AMZN) anticipatory shipping solution, with its patented algorithm-based predictive analytics that can basically see the future, getting packages ready to ship before the consumer even clicks the “Add to Cart” button.

Alternet Systems has taken major steps to ensure that the company is able to maximize shareholder return on investment when it comes to exploiting the company’s early adopter advantage in the cryptocurrency and ecommerce/mcommerce space. Items such as the appointment of Fabio Alvino to the CEO position at the company’s wholly-owned digital currency and payment ecosystems subsidiary, Alternet Payment Solutions, speaks volumes about how serious ALYI is in this regard. Alvino is the guy who founded one of the top mobile financial services operators on earth, UTIBA Americas, which was later acquired by mobile financial services pioneer Amdocs (NASDAQ: DOX), the company which famously launched the very first digital wallet solution in existence back in 2004, known as Globe GCash. Needless to say, Alvino punches well above his weight in the game and will be instrumental in bringing ALYI’s digital currency ecosystem and exchange roll-up strategies to fruition.

Alternet Systems has taken the landmark $75 million funding injection in January 2015 at top digital currency industry wallet service Coinbase, which included funding from the New York Stock Exchange, as a clear indicator that the high-growth digital currency and ecommerce/mcommerce markets are about to go supernova. Just so investors realize where we are: San Francisco-based Coinbase was the first licensed U.S. based Bitcoin exchange approved to operate in 24 states, and the $75 million VC raise at the start of 2015 was the biggest single VC fundraising by a BTC-related startup in history.

We are at a fork in the road when it comes to how payments are made and early adopters who can execute properly in this phase of the game will become some of tomorrow’s biggest sector companies. Alternet Systems has the vision, as well as the technical know-how, needed to deliver on its exchange roll-up ambitions and Alvino made it very clear in a recent interview with small-cap/micro-cap media maven QualityStocks (http://www.qualitystocks.net/interview-alyi.php) that the company is squarely focused on creating a true omnichannel pipeline solution for modernizing legacy point-of-sale infrastructure. Including the development of the kinds of robust tools needed at the payment processor level, as well as a full suite of data analytics aimed at markets in the U.S. and Latin America.

Take a closer look at Alternet Systems by visiting www.alternetsystems.com

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Avant Diagnostics, an innovative in vitro diagnostics company, today told investors that the previously purchased specimens have been approved and are available for use in the upcoming validation study to be used to support a pre-Submission package to the United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”).

Avant anticipates that the FDA validation study will start shortly after the ongoing calibration testing is completed. Upon completion, Avant intends to test the previously purchased set of ovarian cancer specimens, including serial sets obtained from women diagnosed previously with ovarian cancer, which will serve as the validation study and form the basis of the pre-Submission package that will be submitted to FDA for review and comment prior to the commencement of the OvaDx® 510(k) trial.

The OvaDx® microarray test is designed to be used as an aid in monitoring women diagnosed previously with ovarian cancer. The validation study and 510(k) trial will be conducted in a double-blinded environment supervised by DOCRO, Inc., an independent clinical research organization. The results from the validation study are expected to be published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal within six months of test completion and data analysis; however there can be no assurance that such publication will be completed within this time frame.

Gregg Linn, Avant’s Chief Executive Officer and President, stated, “Avant continues to make steady progress towards its goal of obtaining FDA 510(k) clearance for OvaDx®. We intend to periodically communicate with our shareholders and markets as we progress through the FDA negotiations and through FDA’s review of our 510(k) submission.”

For more information, visit www.avantdiagnostics.com

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“New To The Street” (NTTS), a television show that profiles public companies and reports on financial news, this morning highlighted its recent taping of Florida’s Governor Rick Scott’s press conference at the headquarters of Oakridge Global Energy Solution. The interview is the second interview in the series with Oakridge Global Energy CEO Steve Barber.

Governor Scott spoke about the importance of U.S. manufacturing, and how Oakridge Global fits into the applauded slogan, “Made in America.” As an integrated “made in the USA” energy storage solutions company that uses cutting-edge technology to focus on developing advanced, high-quality cells, batteries and power systems for consumer, government, industrial and military applications, Oakridge Global Energy is the recipient of aid initiatives totaling approximately $33 million from the State of Florida, County, City and other public sources.

The company’s strategy is to simultaneously deliver innovation and build an industrial scale platform that includes multiple lithium ion technologies and form factors that are optimized to address three target markets: stationary and grid storage; motive applications including fleet vehicles, EV and HEV; and specialty applications including military, aerospace, marine, industrial, scientific and telecom backup.

Oakridge recently initiated production of its ProSeries line of heavy duty battery systems for task-oriented vehicles such as golf cars, maintenance vehicles, forklifts, off road vehicles and other similar applications.

For more information visit www.oakg.net

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Dominovas Energy Corporation provides global energy solutions that leverage the latest science and engineering principles to produce a proprietary fuel cell system named the RUBICON™. The Company’s multi-megawatt deployment of clean, efficient electricity is considered by industry insiders as, ‘revolutionary.’

At its origin, the RUBICON™ SOFC is specific to the various number of fuels that can be placed into its operation. The integration of the proprietary reformer with the RUBICON™ SOFC stack is designed so that the RUBICON™ will reform practically any hydrocarbon fuel to a usable syngas composition for absolute best SOFC stack electricity generation. The RUBICON™ SOFC can operate continuously on these hydrocarbon fuels giving DRNG the ability to take advantage of a wider range of deployment opportunities, taking into account that fuel sources and availability vary considerably.

Not to be overlooked, a vital advantage of the RUBICON™ is its efficiency gain over the conventional power plants without combustion but with maximizing a thermal process. The RUBICON™ converts the chemical energy of a fuel into electricity using state-of-the-art SOFC stacks. The conventional approach to power production (steam/gas) is inefficient since it requires a multi-step process to convert the fuel to electricity.

Ultimately, the RUBICON™ will produce more units of power per unit of fuel consumed than any combustion-based electricity production process. With a “non-combustion” electricity producer, the RUBICON™ emits considerably less green-house-gas pollutants per unit of power produced. Producing mostly heat and water, the RUBICON™ is not only desirable, but sustainable as well.

Founded in 2005, Dominovas Energy Corp. is a public company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Dominovas Energy Corporation is a leading power solutions provider to emerging markets around the world. DEC employs its proprietary RUBICON™ Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) technology for deployment in multi-megawatt power generation units on a global scale. The worldwide pursuit of efficient and clean production of electricity using Solid Oxide Fuel Cell technology motivated its founders to create the “energy solutions” company it has become today.

For more information on the company, visit www.dominovasenergy.com

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Avant Diagnostics, Inc. has commenced calibration testing of OvaDx®, a sophisticated microarray-based test that measures the activation of the immune system in blood samples in response to ovarian tumor cell development. In a recent news release, the company indicated that it expects to complete this calibration testing later this month, allowing it to move forward with validation testing while forming the basis of the pre-submission package that will be delivered to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for review and comment prior to the commencement of the OvaDx® 510(k) trial.

“The entire Avant team has been working tirelessly over the past few months to reach this critical milestone,” Gregg Linn, president and chief executive officer of Avant, stated in a news release. “We look forward to communicating to our shareholders and the markets as we move through the FDA negotiations and review of our 510(k) submission.”

According to the American Cancer Society, ovarian cancer currently ranks fifth in cancer deaths among women, accounting for more fatalities than any other cancer of the female reproductive system. For this reason, biopharmaceutical firms are currently scrambling to address the underserved indication. Endocyte (NASDAQ: ECYT) is developing a novel form of chemotherapy that targets a key receptor found in virtually all ovarian cancers, but the best defense against this debilitating disease is early diagnosis. While patients diagnosed in Stage I demonstrate a 90 percent five-year survival rate, this survivability rapidly decreases with later diagnosis. If diagnosed in Phase III, patients’ relative five-year survival rate drops to just 39 percent.

Through the development of OvaDx, Avant will look to greatly improve upon the detectability of ovarian cancer in high-risk patients. In preclinical studies, the product has shown the capability to detect stage IA markers with approximately 80 percent sensitivity while providing definitive, real-time results.

As Avant continues to progress toward the market approval of its innovative large panel screening test for ovarian cancer, the company is in a favorable position to promote sustainable growth in the years to come. For prospective shareholders, Avant’s recent progress toward the initiation of its validation study of OvaDx makes it an intriguing investment opportunity moving forward.

For more information, visit www.avantdiagnostics.com

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Oakridge Global Energy Solutions, Inc. is an integrated energy storage solutions company focused on the design, development and manufacture of high-quality cells, batteries and power systems. The company’s innovative ‘Made in the U.S.A.’ product line includes multiple lithium-ion technologies and form factors that are optimized to address three high-demand target markets – including stationary and grid storage; motive applications, such as electric and hybrid electric fleet vehicles; and specialty applications, such as military, aerospace, marine, medical and telecom backup.

Through a recent restructuring of its operations, Oakridge strategically positioned itself to expand its market reach moving forward. The company currently owns and operates two manufacturing facilities in Melbourne, Florida, which play an instrumental role in its efforts to meet the growing demand for its cutting-edge large format Pro Series golf car batteries and its small format Patriot Series RC batteries. These operations also allow Oakridge to bring stable employment opportunities back to the U.S., effectively highlighting its tireless commitment to the revitalization of the country’s manufacturing industry.

The company also maintains a presence on the international stage through its recently formed subsidiary, Oakridge Global Energy Solutions Limited, Hong Kong. This subsidiary, which is expected to serve as the foundation for Oakridge’s sales efforts throughout the Asia-Pacific region, was created primarily to address the tremendous international demand for its revolutionary stored energy solutions. The company also maintains a substantial interest in Leclanche S.A., a Swiss developer and manufacturer of large-sized lithium-ion batteries that was originally founded in 1909.

Oakridge has indicated plans to expand its presence in a collection of markets throughout Europe and Asia as it continues to build upon its established product development and manufacturing infrastructure. The company will lean on the expertise of its proven management team – which includes well over a century of combined industry experience – as it looks to increase its share of the $12 billion domestic battery manufacturing industry.

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