Planttech

Deliveries to Dagab from APH are proceeding very well and we receive many encouraging comments from satisfied rose consumers around Sweden. We thank you for all the positive feedback! Personally, I still enjoy the OptiBoosted rose bouquet I received at our AGM. At the time of writing, it has been fine for 17 days and looks like it will last a few more days. The evaluations from Flamingo International Group, MM Flowers, and Porta Nova are coming to an end and we look forward to the results with confidence.

Parts of the OptiBoost team have just flown home after a week in Miami at FloriExpo. North America's largest B2B event exclusively for flowers. At FloriExpo, we mainly met the supplier level and buyers of different flower categories. A total of 1,500 industry representatives and 225 global flower suppliers were present. The trip gave a very good response and we now have many new leads to work on.

OptiBoost for cuttings is something we have put extra work into lately. We have quickly developed and launched a machine that we call Saga (a smaller version of Freja used for cut flowers). It is incredibly exciting to follow the great interest in cuttings, mainly around Eucalyptus, but also for cuttings from other trees and shrubs such as coffee. Here we are moving faster in dialogue with many large companies than we expected. We strongly believe in this segment, which opens up a market with great potential.

Foodtech

The launch of Balder, which can handle production up to 10 tons per hour, has opened up new large markets such as juice and wine for us. The larger capacity also opens the door to the large producers in the Olive segment of the Iberian Peninsula (which accounts for 44% of world production). We are now opening our office in Barcelona to be physically present to respond to the interest that already exists and to establish a local support organization. As previously communicated, we have been active in talks with most of the world's largest producers, these are talks that continue.

We recently had a breakthrough with juiceCEPT + where we place a machine in Italy, at CREA. A respected research hub in Italy. The results from this project can give us a springboard into the market for juices because we need improved durability for juices that can not withstand the heat treatment.

The analysis of the possibilities for dryCEPT is progressing, and the results from Steinicke and the agreement have given a good start in a prosperous sector of the food industry. We have tested several different types of food here and have positive results to carry with us into the market, in more than carrots.

Summary

They are very much in progress at OptiCept. Commercially, we work to conclude ongoing negotiations and evaluations, at the same time we prepare for deliveries, installation, and successful operation of new models and new customer installations. In terms of research, we have continued many ongoing and also new exciting areas to develop.

Our technologies open up an incredible number of great opportunities, it is truly a privilege to have these opportunities, but this is also our biggest challenge and we are humbled by it. Much of my focus in the future will therefore be on us prioritizing the right things, closing deals, and having full focus on delivering to satisfied customers during the second half of the year.

Thomas Lundqvist, CEO OptiCept Technologies.