Vital Farms, an Austin-based "ethical" egg producer, made its Wall Street debut Friday, with shares soaring 68 percent after trading began.
Husband and wife team Matt O'Hayer and Catherine Stewart founded the company in 2007 as a small urban farm in south Austin with 20 hens. It has since expanded distribution into 13,000 stores, including Target, Whole Foods Market, and Walmart, and become the number one producer of pasture-raised eggs and butter.
"They saw an opportunity to bring food to Americans in a more ethical way with better outcomes for all stakeholders, most notably the animals that produce the food," CEO and president Russell Diez-Canseco told Cheddar shortly before the closing bell.
The pasture-raised label is not officially recognized by the USDA, but it generally refers to the amount of space afforded to livestock. Vital Farms' hens are provided 108 square feet of space and "plenty of fresh air and sunshine year-round," according to the company.
Diez-Canseco noted that Vital Farms is currently in just 2 percent of U.S. households and that the company plans to expand beyond its main product categories of eggs and butter.
"Beyond that, you could certainly imagine us continuing to expand within value-added dairy, which is a really big and growing market," he said. "Consumers we've talked to would love to have lots of different kinds of food produced by Vital Farms."
Vital Farms' high price point compared to competitors does present a challenge amid the ongoing economic downturn brought on by coronavirus.
"We certainly put a lot of thought into that every day," Diez-Canseco said. "The truth is, producing food in a way that's sustainable for all stakeholders, meaning that delivers on better outcomes for small family farms (who often lose at the end of the movie in this country), for consumers, for our employees, for communities, and for shareholders, isn't a cheap endeavor."
Orangetheory Fitness is redefining the future of workouts with smarter tech, strength-based programming, and community-driven studios built for what’s next.
Spain's government has fined Airbnb 64 million euros or $75 million for advertising unlicensed tourist rentals. The consumer rights ministry announced the fine on Monday. The ministry stated that many listings lacked proper license numbers or included incorrect information. The move is part of Spain's ongoing efforts to regulate short-term rental companies amid a housing affordability crisis especially in popular urban areas. The ministry ordered Airbnb in May to remove around 65,000 listings for similar violations. The government's consumer rights minister emphasized the impact on families struggling with housing. Airbnb said it plans to challenge the fine in court.
Roomba maker iRobot has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but says that it doesn’t expect any disruptions to devices as the more than 30-year-old company is taken private under a restructuring process. iRobot said that it is being acquired by Picea through a court-supervised process. Picea is the company's primary contract manufacturer. The Bedford, Massachusetts-based anticipates completing the prepackaged chapter 11 process by February.
Serbia’s prosecutor for organized crime has charged a government minister and three others with abuse of position and falsifying of documents related to a luxury real estate project linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The charges came on Monday. The investigation centers on a controversy over a a bombed-out military complex in central Belgrade that was a protected cultural heritage zone but that is facing redevelopment as a luxury compound by a company linked to Kushner. The $500 million proposal to build a high-rise hotel, offices and shops at the site has met fierce opposition from experts at home and abroad. Selakovic and others allegedly illegally lifted the protection status for the site by falsifying documentation.
