Targeting rare, or underserved conditions, where the potential exists for disruptive innovation has long been a successful inside track strategy for the biopharma sector. A person doesn’t have to look any further than the niche market for a drug like Sabril® (vigabatrin), approved for human use by the FDA in 2009, as well as during the late 1980’s in the EU for treating infantile spasms and refractory complex partial seizures. Sanofi’s (NYSE: SNY) Sabril, the North American rights to which have been out-licensed to Lundbeck (OTC: HLUYY), raked in $120 million last year, and saw a 35 percent appreciation in revenues when compared with 2013.

And yet Sabril’s NCE (New Chemical Entity) exclusivity has expired and its orphan drug exclusivity expires in August of next year, opening the door wide to innovators like Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: CPRX). Catalyst has a vast amount of experience with its own version of vigabatrin (gamma-vinyl-GABA), CPP-109, and is rapidly developing an improved antiepileptic indication known as CPP-115. CPP-115 acts to inhibit GABA-aminotransferase (GABA-AT), much like vigabatrin, but has also shown itself to be some 200 times more potent when tested via both in-vitro and animal model, where its use resulted in much higher levels of the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Given that some 30 percent of the 3 million Americans who either experience an unprovoked seizure each year, or who are diagnosed with epilepsy, find themselves wracked with seizures despite the best modern medicines and surgical techniques, a powerful antiepileptic like CPP-115 could be a real godsend.

Catalyst’s decision to strike while the iron is hot and develop a generic version of Sabril, given that that there are no listed patents and the company believes its processes do not infringe on any unexpired patents, is a shrewd move that sets up CPP-115 for more widespread adoption across its potential indication spectrum. Already granted orphan drug designation by the FDA for infantile spasms, as well as orphan medicinal product designation in the EU for a severe form of epilepsy involving infantile spasms known as West Syndrome, CPP-115 is also being developed for other neurological conditions associated with reduced levels of neuronal excitability regulator GABA, such as PTSD, and Tourette’s syndrome (TS). CDC estimates put the number of TS patients each year in the U.S. alone at somewhere north of 138,000 and PTSD, once understood as only a battlefield-induced ailment, is now thought to impair as much as 7.8 percent of all Americans at some point in their lives. What all of this really means is that the upside for an effective broad-spectrum antiepileptic treatment, without the side effects typical of the current standards of care, could be considerable.

In fact, CPRX reported top-line results just this June for an open-label, proof-of-concept trial of CPP-109 in treatment-refractory TS patients, where one quarter of those taking CPP-109 exhibited a clinically significant reduction in tics. The company’s massive, established body of clinical trial vision safety data from previous work with vigabatrin, including a 2007 bioequivalence study of its formulation against the European equivalent of Sabril, places CPRX out in a leadership position here to develop a generic, and should help the company nail the FDA and institutional review board bioequivalence study. CPP-115 may address one of the primary concerns with chronic use of vigabatrin, visual field defects, and the significantly enhanced potency also means CPP-115 could be administered using methods and dosages that could potentially make a world of difference for patients. Moreover, the development of CPP-115, for which the less-potent, riskier vigabatrin analog CPP-109 is currently acting as a kind of temporary research surrogate (to demonstrate the efficacy of GABA-AT blockade), aligns nicely with CPRX’s overall vision of developing novel treatments for a variety of rare neurological and neuromuscular conditions.

After all, Catalyst’s main focus is on its flagship candidate, a neuronal potassium channel blocker known as Firdapse®, for which the company recently initiated a rolling NDA submission to the FDA. Firdapse has already been granted orphan drug designation and breakthrough therapy designation for treating the rare muscle weakening autoimmune disorder commonly associated with SCLC (small-cell lung cancer), known as LEMS (Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome), as well as a group of muscle weakness conditions known as CMS (congenital myasthenic syndromes), and the most common form of central vestibular nystagmus (involuntary eye movement), downbeat nystagmus. Firdapse has been marketed in the EU since 2010 for LEMS and has been put forth by the European Academy of Neurology as well, as a frontline symptomatic treatment for this potentially severely disabling disease.

Originally in-licensed for North America via a strategic collaboration with BioMarin Pharmaceuticals, which has CPRX spearheading the clinical development, Firdapse’s main target is treating the roughly 3,000 patients each year who are stricken with LEMS, half of whom have cancer – most predominantly SCLC, of which there are around 33,180 cases each year according to the American Cancer Society’s 2015 estimates. Firdapse has shown statistically significant improvements for a whole host of independent neurological functions in LEMS patients across numerous randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies, as well as in one double-blind study with an active comparator. Recently having completed pivotal Phase 3 safety and efficacy clinical trialing via a multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized discontinuation trial that yielded positive top-line results (followed by an open-label extension period), Firdapse has also been made available by CPRX on a compassionate use basis under an Expanded Access Program in the interim preceding FDA approval, where it provides treatment to seriously ill patients for whom no other treatments are available.

Moving forward, CPRX remains squarely focused on the Firdapse NDA, while also pursuing CPP-115 as a candidate for future treatment refractory TS trials, and the company looks to be on track for approval of Firdapse sometime next year. Firdapse represents a distinct alternative to other attempts at managing the symptoms of LEMS, including monthly immunoglobulin IV infusions and medications like amifampridine capsules or corticosteroids, which are only marginally effective.

Substantial experience developing antiepileptic drugs and a rapidly advancing pipeline where its lead candidate is in Phase 3 are great signs of health for CPRX, which could be winding down the capital burn rate-intensive phase typical of development-stage biopharma companies within the very near future as Firdapse commercialization looms large on the horizon. Investors will want to keep a close eye on the company for news about its generic Sabril development and FDA approval of Firdapse.

Or, take a closer look right now by visiting www.catalystpharma.com

Sunken shipwrecks filled with lost treasures and tales of human history have captivated imaginations for generations. Few vessels illustrate this fascination more than the Titanic, the 46,000-ton ‘unsinkable’ ocean liner that drifted to the bottom of the North Atlantic during its maiden voyage, where it remained, undiscovered, for nearly three-quarters of a century. Despite its mystique, the Titanic is far from the only wrecked ship steeped in history and treasure that’s been stranded on an ocean floor awaiting discovery by bold and courageous adventurers.

Odyssey Marine Exploration (NASDAQ: OMEX) demonstrated the marketability of subsea exploration when, in 2003, it recovered more than 64,000 coins and artifacts from the SS Republic, which had been missing since the Civil War. Blue Water Ventures International, Inc. (OTC: BWVI) reaffirmed this fact when, from 2006 to 2011, it successfully utilized proprietary new technologies to recover more than $16 million in rare and extraordinary treasures and artifacts from the widely dispersed shipwreck trail.

Monetizing priceless treasures and artifacts can be a difficult endeavor, particularly when it comes to one-of-a-kind items. For this reason, BWVI has traditionally utilized third-party auction settings in order to sell its most valuable treasures. Most recently, the company announced the sale of three signature pieces recovered from the wreck of the Santa Margarita, realizing gross proceeds of nearly $400,000. While these sales demonstrated the vibrant market for these unique treasures, BWVI is preparing to make a significant change to its monetization strategy. In a recent news release, the company announced its intentions to take a more hand-on approach to the rare treasures market through newly-created subsidiary Blue Water Treasures, Inc. (BWT).

BWT’s efforts will be focused on the marketing, sale and monetization of treasure and artifacts recovered by both BWVI and outside firms, as well as the commercialization of high-quality replicas derived from such items. The company also intends to acquire marketable pieces through the auction process in order to capitalize on the steep discounts that are regularly available to educated buyers.

In support of its new subsidiary, BWVI plans to update its online presence by expanding its social media footprint and improving its website design. Similarly, BWT is currently developing its own website and social media presence, which it plans to launch in the coming months. When complete, BWT’s site is expected to include an online store stocked with treasures, nautical-themed jewelry, historical artifact replicas and related items that are available directly to the public. As of its latest update, BWVI estimated that both projects will be substantially completed in time for the busy holiday season.

For more information, visit www.bwvint.com

Giggles N’ Hugs, owner and operator of a trio of family-friendly restaurants in Century City, Glendale and Woodland Hills in Southern California, is preparing to grow to dozens of locations in key markets around the United States.

As it enters this next phase of growth, Giggles N’ Hugs is seeking to duplicate the winning formula that has brought its first three locations success. At each of these locations, adult-friendly organic food are offered hand-in-hand with kid-friendly play and entertainment in order to create a trendy, family-friendly atmosphere.

The restaurants’ location in Southern California, which is known for its sunny climes and fair weather, has certainly been a factor in their success but management is anticipating even better results in markets where the weather is less than sunny. During the rare instances of inclement weather that the restaurants have experienced in Los Angeles, management has observed that it gets an influx of customers who seem to prefer to spend the time indoors at a Giggles N’ Hugs location rather than outdoors.

Plus, with birthday parties making up a significant portion of the company’s business, it often gets a sales spike on rainy days because of families who wish to rebook their backyard or park birthday parties and to move them indoors. By expanding to markets like rainy Seattle and foggy San Francisco, management expects that this unique aspect of its business will result in an increase in revenue, profits and shareholder value.

Giggles N’ Hugs has been actively negotiating for its expansion with several giant mall owners in the nation. General Growth Properties, Simon Property Group and Westfield Group are among those names and, collectively, own more than 500 properties around the globe. At this time, these negotiation talks are focused on expanding the Giggles N’ Hugs imprint on the West Coast. The goal is to initially target five properties that are similar in size to the company’s current locations in Los Angeles in markets that include Seattle in the west, San Francisco in the north and San Diego and Orange County in the south.

For more information, visit www.gigglesnhugs.com

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Canadian-based Legacy Ventures International was founded on the idea of seeking out creative companies with game-changing potential, allowing Legacy Ventures to provide the capital, oversight, and connections necessary to bring all the innovation and passion to fruition. To this end, Legacy Ventures has announced the acquisition of all outstanding common stock of RM Fresh Brands, Inc., based in Toronto. Through the Share Exchange Agreement, Legacy Ventures issued two million shares of common stock to the shareholders of RM Fresh in exchange for all the issued and outstanding shares of RM Fresh. As a condition of the agreement, 35,800,000 shares of Legacy Ventures were cancelled, leaving Legacy with 28,180,000 shares of common stock issued and outstanding. Legacy Ventures will file a Current Report with the SEC on Form 8-K within the required period.

RM Fresh Brands services food and beverage retailers and distributors who are looking for innovative, trend-setting products across North America and in international markets. With a focus on sustainable, category changing consumables, RM Fresh Brands represents an extensive portfolio of highly desirable brands, including Boxed Water. The principals of RM Fresh, Ron Patel and Mirwan Ferris, will remain as officers and directors of RM Fresh.

Upon closing of the transaction, Rehan Saeed resigned as the President and CEO of Legacy Ventures, and Evan Clifford was appointed by the Board of Directors as the new President and CEO. Mr. Clifford has extensive experience in entrepreneurial start-ups in both the private and public sector. Over the last fifteen years, Mr. Clifford has built and maintained extensive relationships throughout many different industries, and has earned a platinum record managing some of Canada’s top music artists, while playing a leading role in building one of the world’s foremost electric car companies. He has been a speaker at the world renowned Idea City Conference, and has coached companies and individuals to achieve personal and professional success throughout the last decade.

For further information on Legacy Ventures or RM Fresh Brands, visit www.LegacyVenturesInc.com or www.RMFreshBrands.com

You could assume plenty of reasons someone may not be a fan of going to the hospital. Fears of doctors, needles and tests aside, many people simply cringe at the aftermath of a hospital: recovery and bill management.

MIT Holding provides professional outpatient medical care with ambulatory infusion therapies, home infusion services and medical equipment delivery. At the core of its operations, MIT Holding is addressing the mayhem associated with hospital discharge and subsequent at-home recovery, working through its growing network of accredited agents, facilitators and contractual obligations to operate as a single-source provider of the aforementioned services.

From the time of patient discharge from the medical facility, MITD handles everything pertaining to the at-home recovery phase, including in-home medical equipment, infusion services, medications, follow-up appointments, organize therapy sessions, wound dressings, transportation. This saves the patient and their caretakers with significant convenience and assistance through what might otherwise become a burdensome task that delays full recovery.

MITD’s goal here is to make sure there is no lapse in patient care or communication. Furthermore, the digital paperwork MIT maintains in order to monitor the patient’s recovery contains all the information the hospital and doctors need to comply with the industry rules.

Another advantage is that MITD meets and/or exceeds major U.S. health insurance requirements and is therefore able to direct bill and receive payments from carriers on behalf of the patient its agents and its facilitators. This ability marks an important step in the company’s goal of developing the first-of-its-kind seamless transition for patient needs from hospital discharge to complete home recovery. Because the company handles insurance inquires and professional insurance claim billing, mounting claims, bills and calls to insurance companies are no longer an insurmountable task.

The company also provides expert legal, accounting, advisory and educational services to physicians, medical centers, hospitals, small and large businesses regarding the Affordable Care Act; offers travel and transportation services of medically challenged patients for medical needs and personal travel; and through its contracts is approved to, conduct and administer FDA clinical trials.

Revolutionary to the broader healthcare industry, MITD’s sails are starting to catch wind as it sees the fruition of its reorganization strategy implemented in 2014. The company last month reported that sales for the first six months were $851,724, an increase over sales of $473,153 for the same period of 2014. Adjusted net income for the period was $265,967, or $0.0027 per diluted share. In a GAAP basis, MITD’s first six months of 2015 earned a gross profit of $631,725 compared to $312,240 for the comparable period of 2014.

For the six-month period ended June 30, 2015, MITD produced a per share profit on 202% increase in revenues, as compared to the same period of 2014, reflecting a 37% increase in receivables.

“We are pleased with the strong financial and operational performance of our reorganization strategy. The first six months of profit and growth validate our strategy and approach to our business model,” MITD Chief Executive Officer Walter Drakeford stated in a previous news release. “The unabated growth in the medical industry is creating headwinds, contributing to our continued growth and profitability. The MITD concept of bringing together all necessary services and products under one umbrella for a patient’s post-medical event recovery is, to our knowledge, the first in the industry.”

For more information, visit http://mitholdinginc.com/

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Hemp, Inc. this morning expressed its favor of proposed Senate Bill 313, which earlier this week passed the House and the Senate with a vote of 42 to 2. Upon final approval by Governor Pat McCory, the bill will authorize an industrial hemp pilot program within the state of North Carolina and establish the Industrial Hemp Commission (IHC) to implement and oversee the university research program for the cultivation of industrial hemp.

IHC will collaborate with the North Carolina Industrial Hemp Association (NCIHA), of which David Schmitt, COO of Hemp, Inc.’s North Carolina-based Industrial Hemp Manufacturing, LLC subsidiary, is on the board of directors.

Bruce Perlowin, CEO of Hemp, Inc., in the news release stated, “We couldn’t be more excited. Just one day after the House approved the bill, it was approved by the Senate. This is a major accomplishment for the state. Years ago, the Senator Stan Bingham attempted to pass an Industrial Hemp bill but North Carolina’s law enforcement opposed it and that buried the bill. Now, there are no objections to it. People are being educated on the myriad benefits of industrial hemp, including how it can help the economy. I believe we’ll see less objections across the country as more people begin to understand what hemp is and how it can benefit them as an individual and how it benefits their community. Our multipurpose hemp processing plant is the only one in the state, so we are thrilled.”

Despite snags in legislation, the U.S. market for hemp products was valued to be at least $620 million, according to the non-profit trade association Hemp Industries Association (HIA). This includes hemp food, body care products, non-diary milk, shelled seeds, soaps, lotions, clothing, auto parts, building materials and various other products.

Per Senate Bill 313 (which can be viewed here), the general assembly declared that promoting and encouraging the development of the industrial hemp industry will benefit North Carolina residents by promoting economic activity, expanding employment, and providing opportunities “to small farmers for an environmentally sustainable and profitable use of crop lands that might otherwise be lost to agricultural production.”

“This is exciting news for North Carolina farmers who will be able to cultivate industrial hemp again for the first time in 71 years,” said Thomas Shumaker, executive director for NCIHA.

Passage of the bill through North Carolina’s House and Senate is also exciting news for Hemp, Inc., whose multipurpose industrial hemp processing plant in Spring Hope, North Carolina, is 80% complete. As previously announced, German engineer Jens Kleinert of Temafa Machines, the manufacturer of Hemp, Inc.’s decortication machine, is visiting the plant to monitor the re-installation and has since derived a list of final tasks that need to be done in preparation for maximum operational efficiency.

Once the facility is operational, Hemp, Inc. will process kenaf until Senate Bill 313 goes into effect. Kenaf, known as “cotton’s cousin,” is a fibrous hibiscus cannabinus plant with a growing number of uses, including paper, carpet backing and padding, roofing felt, fire logs, cardboard and more.

“Even with the kenaf, we expect it to produce millions of dollars in revenue a year, which is already legal and very lucrative,” he stated.

For more information on Hemp, Inc. visit www.hempinc.com

For more information on current hemp laws, visit www.VoteHemp.com

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On the Move Systems today announced that it is discussing a potential joint venture project with an innovative freight-booking technology company. The company believes this initiative could revolutionize the way truckers and shippers do business.

OMVS has been focusing its efforts on introducing a new era with its game-changing “Uber-for-Trucking” shared economy platform that will allow haulers to connect via an online, on-demand app to improve operations, scheduling, routing and optimization. The potential joint venture partner is established on the brokerage side of the business, providing innovative online booking solutions that help shippers consistently obtain the best rates for their freight.

“Both parties bring solid, complementary synergies to the table that will enable each to become even stronger by banding together,” stated OMVS CEO Robert Wilson. “While we’re still early in the process, we’ve already identified many areas of commonality where we can help one another and, more importantly, several opportunities for growth and expansion that we might not be able to realize working apart. The joint venture we are currently discussing has some exciting possibilities for not only the companies, but for investors as well. We’re excited to see what the future holds.”

A recent Frost & Sullivan report predicted trucking will soon see an Uber-style transformation, where online, on-demand apps like the ones used by the prospective joint venture parties will play a major role in logistics operations and revenue-generation.

For more information on OMVS, please visit www.onthemovesystems.com

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In July, Texas Rare Earth Resources Corp. made headlines when it entered into a joint venture agreement with K-Technologies, Inc. to develop, refine and market K-Tech’s continuous ion exchange (CIX) and continuous ion chromatography (CIC) technologies for the extraction of rare earth elements from native ores. With these techniques, TRER set a goal of vastly improving upon the simplicity and efficiency of rare earth processing in order to become more competitive with Chinese operations, which currently dominate the global rare earth market. In just over two months, TRER was able to successfully leverage this immense potential to secure a research contract with the Department of Defense’s largest logistics combat support division, the United States Defense Logistics Agency (DLA).

“Texas Rare Earth Resources is committed to developing a reliable source of critical rare earths here in the United States, as well as an effective means to separate them,” Dan Gorski, chief executive officer of TRER, stated in a news release. “We welcome the opportunity of demonstrating to the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency our ability to produce specific high-purity rare earth oxides they have selected using our CIX/CIC process.”

As part of this project, TRER, in conjunction with its joint venture partner, will conduct research to demonstrate its ability to separate and refine a collection of high-purity rare earth oxides – including yttrium, ytterbium and a third oxide which is not being publicly disclosed. The feedstock for the contract will come from TRER’s Round Top deposit near El Paso, Texas. For the DLA, which focuses primarily on resource management and security, a reliable domestic supply of these valuable rare earth resources – which are currently being produced almost exclusively in China – likely represents a top-priority objective.

For prospective shareholders, the DLA contract could represent a turning point in TRER’s efforts to promote sustainable growth. Potential benefits stemming from this arrangement include an immediate influx of capital with which to fund ongoing research and the distinct possibility of a long-term partnership between TRER and the DLA following the successful completion of the initial deal. MiningWealth highlighted this potential in a thorough analysis of TRER’s recent announcement. In particular, the article stressed the substantial financial benefits resulting from the DLA contract for TRER shareholders – including funding of research that would have otherwise been funded through stock issuance. To read the full analysis, visit http://miningwealth.com/trers-dla-contract-is-a-big-deal/.

Assuming certain milestones are met, conventional wisdom suggests that this initial DLA contract could foreshadow a lucrative long-term partnership. Since the contract falls directly within TRER’s unique wheelhouse, milestones should be achievable within short intervals, potentially carving out a clear path toward full-scale production. Anthony Marchese, chairman of the TRER board of directors, summed up the significance of this opportunity in a recent news release.

“This is a first step toward restoring a U.S. rare earths supply chain,” Marchese noted.

For more information, visit www.trer.com

Publicly available data compiled by FARE (Food Allergy Research and Education) indicates that upwards of 15 million Americans suffer from some form of food allergy, many of whom are at risk from potentially going into life-threatening anaphylactic shock as a result of consuming the wrong thing. In an interview this May, director of the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy Research at Stanford University, Dr. Kari Nadeau, stated that the number of Americans suffering from food allergies was likely much higher, suggesting that the U.S. now has close to around 18 million people who suffer from food allergies of some kind.

The same is true across the pond in Europe, where a similar incident rate figure compounds an alarming rise in hospitalizations among children due to severe food reactions, the number of which has jumped seven-fold in the past decade according to the EAACI (European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology). The same kind of rise in incident rates among kids is occurring in the U.S., where during 2013 alone CDC data indicated that from the period between 1997 and 2011 food allergies in children increased as much as 50 percent. Also in 2013, JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) put the total annual food allergy-related healthcare cost per child at around $4,184, giving us a $24.8 billion figure nationwide, on an incident rate of one in every thirteen kids.

Needless to say, for millions of Americans, grocery shopping can be like walking through an allergen-containing product minefield. That is why mobile app developer, ContentChecked Holdings, Inc., has created its family of powerful shopping aides, including its eponymous flagship app, ContentChecked. The ContentChecked app is driven by a robust, constantly growing database of high-fidelity product data, covering 70 percent or more of all conventional U.S. products. A database full of rigorously analyzed food manufacturer data, vetted by a dedicated team of nutritional experts, and backed up by algorithmically-driven, on-the-fly dietary needs solutions that are tailored to the individual user. However, the most compelling aspect of this app might be the tight feedback loop with the user base itself, in that it allows for direct user-submitted product reviews to be performed and those entries added to the database. This feedback loop enables the database to grow organically, yet retain the rigorous standards of administration by top experts in nutrition.

Along the same lines as ContentChecked, CNCK has developed similar apps, customized to meet niche and not-so-niche market demographics. With apps like MigraineChecked and VeganChecked (slated for late 2015), as well as SugarChecked, an app to help what was roughly half the population in just 2012 that is either diabetic or prediabetic (National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2014), CNCK is at the forefront of a user-driven revolution in retail, powered by the rise of m-commerce. Given that diabetes alone is one of the top 10 leading causes of death in the U.S., the idea of a simple to use, intuitive and intelligent app, which was designed to help users quickly avoid products that contain high levels of refined sugars, is a real life saver in today’s increasingly hectic, mobile-centric world. The global smartphone market saw 11.6 year-over-year growth for second quarter 2015 in terms of units shipped, with 337.2 million smartphones hitting the streets, the second highest quarterly total on record according to IDC’s (International Data Corporation) July report. Putting the power in the hands of busy shoppers to quickly and easily check products against a database they can trust, is the kind of thing whose advent can potentially make huge waves in the retail space.

One of the best usability features of these apps is that anyone can use them, and thus shop for friends or loved ones that have food allergies with considerable ease. The time and effort saved by being able to simply have your smartphone signed in to the app with a user, or group of user’s allergies set, and then briefly point the camera at the barcode on a given product in order to trigger an automatic information page showing whether or not the product’s content is safe, changes everything when it comes to shopping for people with food allergies. That same information page which shows what allergens are present or not, allows users to also rate the product, or quickly browse a list of similar, alternative products that do not contain allergens.

This is also a superb way for manufacturers to showcase their products to what is an obviously growing demographic of people with food allergies, especially when you consider that 65 percent of children born to parents with food allergies will themselves inherit those same allergies. Seems like a pretty safe bet that demand for these apps won’t be going anywhere for the foreseeable future, and as more adults and kids develop food allergies, diabetes, migraines, or simply want to find organic vegan produce, the overall utility of and user base for such apps will only increase. These are just the first fruits from CNCK as well, and the company is dedicated to providing similarly unique, helpful mobile experiences that cater to other target markets, and which are amenable to the application of this same vetted product database technology.

The company has the vision to work at establishing itself long-term as the trusted go-to source for consumers or food buyers who are looking to maintain a clean and healthy product supply, leveraging a technology and approach that applies equally well to eating categories such as veganism, kosher or non-GMO, as it does to the task of seamlessly filtering allergen-containing foods, or those high in refined sugars. Providing user-customized search capability that extends to the brick and mortar product isle via mobile is an excellent business strategy for CNCK, and as it becomes clearer and clearer to manufacturers and advertisers that consumer-driven search fidelity is the supercharger of commerce, the search platform itself stands to become the billboard, with many of the associated benefits accruing to CNCK.

To take a closer look, visit www.contentchecked.com

Fresh Promise Foods widened its Harvest Soul Organic Chewable Juice line earlier this month when it unveiled two new flavors at the 2015 Natural Products Expo East, and the reception to this point has been reportedly positive. Despite the rapidly evolving landscape of the natural beverage industry, FPFI is firmly positioned to benefit from the marketability of its innovative product line.

“[Juice companies] are starting to evolve into having to have something else be a value add to their product or point of differentiation,” John Craven, chief executive officer of BevNET, stated in a video round up following the expo. “We have some that are adding probiotics and there are a couple of chewable ones… So far, I like what I see, and the response is definitely pretty positive.”

In recent years, innovative juice products have reinvigorated the market and spurred tremendous growth. According to a report by the LA Times, the cold-pressed juice segment, which features juices extracted without the use of heat, is currently valued at $100 million. The industry has also, traditionally, maintained a relatively low barrier of entry, with more than two-thirds of the juice market attributed to independent brands. However, all indications point to a shift away from this trend in the coming years, as larger beverage companies look to capitalize on the popularity of these healthy soft drink alternatives by establishing larger footholds in the market.

The first step toward this anticipated shift took place earlier this year, when cold-pressed juice producer Suja Life LLC announced a minority investment deal with The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO). Following this $90 million investment, the global beverage powerhouse will begin distributing Suja products through its expansive distribution network, effectively limiting the ability of startups and independent beverage companies in the cold-pressed juice segment to gain traction on a nationwide basis.

FPFI remains in a favorable position to promote growth in the coming months by leaning on the unique benefits of the Harvest Soul Organic Chewable Juice product line – including the use of blended, chewable juices and the addition of healthy probiotics. In fact, the Suja deal could have a positive impact on FPFI’s market potential moving forward.

“That valuation [of Suja] is something that will probably spur additional investment in beverage companies,” continued Craven.

To view BevNET’s full review of the 2015 Natural Products Expo East, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MWE5ez67LU

For more information, visit www.harvestsoul.com

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