WFCF Where Food Comes From Inc

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

 

FORM 8-K

 

CURRENT REPORT

 

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): February 15, 2024

 

WHERE FOOD COMES FROM, INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

 

Colorado		001-40314		43-1802805
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation)		(Commission File Number)		(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

 

202 6th Street, Suite 400
Castle Rock, Colorado		80104
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)		(Zip Code)

 

(303) 895-3002

(Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code)

 

Not applicable

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report.)

 

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

 

☐	Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
☐	Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
☐	Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
☐	Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Title of each class		Trading Symbol(s)		Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, $0.001 par value		WFCF		The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC

 

 

 

Item 2.02

Results of Operations and Financial Condition

 

Reference is made to the Where Food Comes From, Inc. (the “Company”) press release on February 15, 2024 and conference call transcript, attached hereto as Exhibits 99.1 and 99.2, respectively, and incorporated by reference herein (including, without limitation, the information set forth in the cautionary statement contained in the press release and conference call transcript), relating to the Company’s financial results for the three month period and full year ended December 31, 2023.

 

Item 9.01

Financial Statements and Exhibits

 

(d)

Exhibits

 

	Exhibit No.		Description
	99.1		Press Release issued and dated February 15, 2024
	99.2		Transcript for February 15, 2024 conference call
	104		Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document)

 

 

SIGNATURE

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

 

	WHERE FOOD COMES FROM, INC.
	(Registrant)
	By:	/s/ Dannette Henning
Date: February 16, 2024		Dannette Henning
		Chief Financial Officer

 

 

 

Exhibit 99.1

 

Where Food Comes From, Inc. Reports 2023 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Financial Results

 

Fourth Quarter Highlights – 2023 vs. 2022

 

●	Verification and certification revenue up 17% to $5.5 million from $4.7 million

 

●	Product sales flat at $0.9 million

 

●	Total revenue up 10% to $6.7 million from $6.1 million

 

●	Net income increased 58% to $776,000 from $490,000

 

●	Diluted EPS increased to $0.14 from $0.08

 

●	Adjusted EBITDA up 31% to $1.3 million from $1.0 million

 

●	Company buys back more than $1.0 million of its stock in Q4

 

Full-Year Highlights – 2023 vs. 2022

 

●	Verification and certification revenue up 10% to $19.4 million from $17.6 million

 

●	Product sales decline 8% to $4.0 million from $4.4 million

 

●	Total revenue up slightly to $25.1 million from $24.8 million

 

●	Net income increases 8% to $2.2 million from $2.0 million

 

●	Diluted EPS of $0.39 vs. $0.33

 

●	Adjusted EBITDA flat at $3.8 million

 

●	Cash generated from operations increased to $2.8 million from $2.7 million

 

●	Cash & cash equivalents of $2.6 million vs. $4.4 million at 2022 year-end, reflecting impact of $3.9 million in stock buybacks for full year

 

CASTLE ROCK, Colorado – February 15, 2024 – Where Food Comes From, Inc. (WFCF) (Nasdaq: WFCF), the most trusted resource for independent, third-party verification of food production practices in North America, today announced financial results for its fourth quarter and full-year ended December 31, 2023.

 

“We closed the year with a very strong fourth quarter, highlighted by a 17% increase in core verification services revenue and a 58% increase in net income year over year,” said John Saunders, chairman and CEO. “This solid performance enabled us to overcome industry headwinds in the form of inflation and cyclical herd contraction and deliver another full year of revenue and profit growth. We are also pleased to report that SG&A expenses were flat for both the fourth quarter and full year, reflecting our continued focus on carefully managing overhead costs. We anticipate macro headwinds will persist in the near future but believe we can offset the impact through continued customer growth, expansion of service offerings and addition of new revenue streams.

 

“In 2023 we continued to diversify our business mix with a number of transactions and partnerships that give our customers additional options to differentiate and add value to their products,” Saunders added. “These moves include multiple seafood initiatives, another exclusive verifier designation and acquisition of the industry’s leading upcycled food program. As we continue to expand on what is already the industry’s largest solutions set, we widen our competitive moat while affording customers convenience and price advantages through services bundling.”

 

 

Fourth Quarter Results – 2023 vs. 2022

 

Total revenue in the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2023, increased 10% to $6.7 million from $6.1 million.

 

Revenue mix included:

 

	●	Verification and certification services, up 17% to $5.5 million from $4.7 million.
	●	Product revenue, flat at $0.9 million
	●	Professional services revenue of $0.4 million vs. $0.5 million.

 

Gross profit in the third quarter increased to $3.0 million from $2.8 million.

 

Selling, general and administrative expense was flat at $2.1 million.

 

Operating income was 44% higher at $0.9 million vs. $0.6 million.

 

Net income increased 58% to $776,000, or $0.14 per diluted share, from $490,000, or $0.08 per diluted share.

 

Adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter increased 31% to $1.3 million from $1.0 million.

 

The Company bought back more than $1.0 million of its common stock in the fourth quarter, or 76,109 shares.

 

Full Year Results – 2023 vs. 2022

 

Total revenue for 2023 increased slightly to $25.1 million from $24.8 million in the prior year when the Company booked a $0.9 million non-recurring order.

 

Revenue mix included:

 

	●	Verification and certification services, up 10% to $19.4 million from $17.6 million.
	●	Product revenue, down 8% to $4.0 million from $4.4 million.
	●	Professional services revenue of $1.7 million compared to $2.9 million in the prior year due to the aforementioned $0.9 million, non-recurring order from a Japanese government entity.

 

Gross profit for the full year was flat at $10.5 million.

 

Selling, general and administrative expense was also flat at $7.8 million, reflecting management’s commitment to controlling overhead costs.

 

Operating income was flat at $2.7 million.

 

Net income for the year increased 8% to $2.2 million, or $0.39 per diluted share, compared to net income of $2.0 million, or $0.33 per diluted share, in the prior year.

 

Adjusted EBITDA for the year was flat at $3.8 million.

 

The Company generated $2.8 million in cash from operations in 2023 compared to $2.7 million in 2022.

 

The cash and cash equivalents balance at December 31, 2023, declined to $2.6 million from $4.4 million at 2022 year-end due primarily to the Company’s investment in its share repurchase program. In 2023, the Company bought back more than $3.9 million of its shares.

 

In 2023, the Company realized $320,000 in dividend income from the Progressive Beef (PB) ownership interest – a 28% increase over $250,000 in PB dividend income in the prior year. Since buying a 10% membership interest in PB in 2018 for $900,000 in cash and 12,585 shares of stock, the Company has earned $1,140,000 in dividends.

 

The Company will conduct a conference call today at 10:00 a.m. Mountain Time.

 

 

Call-in numbers for the conference call:

 

Domestic Toll Free: 1-877-407-8289

International: 1-201-689-8341

Conference Code: 13744489

 

Phone replay:

 

A telephone replay of the conference call will be available through February 29, 2024, as follows:

Domestic Toll Free: 1-877-660-6853

International: 1-201-612-7415

Conference Code: 13744489

 

About Where Food Comes From, Inc.

 

Where Food Comes From, Inc. is America’s trusted resource for third party verification of food production practices. Through proprietary technology and patented business processes, the Company estimates that it supports more than 17,500 farmers, ranchers, vineyards, wineries, processors, retailers, distributors, trade associations, consumer brands and restaurants with a wide variety of value-added services. Through its IMI Global, Validus Verification Services, SureHarvest, WFCF Organic, and Postelsia units, Where Food Comes From solutions are used to verify food claims, optimize production practices and enable food supply chains with analytics and data driven insights. In addition, the Company’s Where Food Comes From® retail and restaurant labeling program uses web-based customer education tools to connect consumers to the sources of the food they purchase, increasing meaningful consumer engagement for our clients.

 

*Note on non-GAAP Financial Measures

 

This press release and the accompanying tables include a discussion of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA, which are non-GAAP financial measures provided as a complement to the results provided in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). The term “EBITDA” refers to a financial measure that we define as earnings (net income or loss) plus or minus net interest plus taxes, depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA excludes from EBITDA stock-based compensation and, when appropriate, other items that management does not utilize in assessing WFCF’s operating performance (as further described in the attached financial schedules). None of these non-GAAP financial measures are recognized terms under GAAP and do not purport to be an alternative to net income as an indicator of operating performance or any other GAAP measure. We have reconciled Adjusted EBITDA to GAAP net income in the Consolidated Statements of Income table at the end of this release. We intend to continue to provide these non-GAAP financial measures as part of our future earnings discussions and, therefore, the inclusion of these non-GAAP financial measures will provide consistency in our financial reporting.

 

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT

 

This news release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, based on current expectations, estimates and projections that are subject to risk. Forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain, and actual events could differ materially from the Company’s predictions. Important factors that could cause actual events to vary from predictions include those discussed in our SEC filings. Specifically, statements in this news release about industry leadership, expectations for offsetting industry headwinds, ability to continue expanding on the solutions set, widening the competitive moat and providing customers with convenience and price advantages, and demand for, and impact and efficacy of, the Company’s products and services on the marketplace are forward-looking statements that are subject to a variety of factors, including availability of capital, personnel and other resources; competition; governmental regulation of the agricultural industry; the market for beef and other commodities; and other factors. Financial results for 2023 and the Company’s pace of stock buybacks are not necessarily indicative of future results. Readers should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update its forward-looking statements to reflect new information or developments. For a more extensive discussion of the Company’s business, please refer to the Company’s SEC filings at www.sec.gov.

 

Company Contacts:

 

John Saunders

Chief Executive Officer

303-895-3002

 

Jay Pfeiffer

Director, Investor Relations

303-880-9000

jpfeiffer@wherefoodcomesfrom.com

 

 

Where Food Comes From, Inc.

Statements of Income (Unaudited)

 

		Three months ended December 31,								Year ended December 31,
(Amounts in thousands, except per share amounts)		2023				2022				2023				2022
Revenues:
Verification and certification service revenue		$	5,469			$	4,693			$	19,413			$	17,610
Product sales			871				891				4,001				4,364
Professional services			391				509				1,721				2,871
Total revenues			6,731				6,093				25,135				24,845
Costs of revenues:
Costs of verification and certification services			2,931				2,487				10,986				9,748
Costs of products			468				448				2,272				2,333
Costs of professional services			325				397				1,355				2,296
Total costs of revenues			3,724				3,332				14,613				14,377
Gross profit			3,007				2,761				10,522				10,468
Selling, general and administrative expenses			2,084				2,119				7,825				7,816
Income from operations			923				642				2,697				2,652
Other income/(expense):
Dividend income from Progressive Beef			170				100				320				250
Gain on sale of assets			2				12				7				12
Loss on foreign currency exchange			(1	)			(3	)			(7	)			(38	)
Impairment of digital assets			-				(20	)			-				(62	)
Other income, net			17				3				53				5
Interest expense			(2	)			(1	)			(5	)			(3	)
Income before income taxes			1,109				733				3,065				2,816
Income tax expense			333				243				913				822
Net income		$	776			$	490			$	2,152			$	1,994
Per share - net income:
Basic		$	0.14			$	0.08			$	0.39			$	0.34
Diluted		$	0.14			$	0.08			$	0.39			$	0.33
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding:
Basic			5,539				5,814				5,485				5,955
Diluted			5,597				5,889				5,548				6,035

 

 

Where Food Comes From, Inc.

Calculation of Adjusted EBITDA*

(Unaudited)

 

		Three months ended December 31,								Year ended December 31,
(Amounts in thousands)		2023				2022				2023				2022
Net income		$	776			$	490			$	2,152			$	1,994
Adjustments to EBITDA:
Interest expense			2				1				5				3
Income tax expense			333				243				913				822
Depreciation and amortization			146				182				634				765
EBITDA*			1,257				916				3,704				3,584
Adjustments:
Impairment			-				20				-				62
Stock-based compensation			39				52				78				154
ADJUSTED EBITDA*		$	1,296			$	988			$	3,782			$	3,800

 

*Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures: Non-GAAP results are presented only as a supplement to the financial statements and for use within management’s discussion and analysis based on U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). The non-GAAP financial information is provided to enhance the reader’s understanding of the Company’s financial performance, but non-GAAP measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. Reconciliations of the most directly comparable GAAP measures to non-GAAP measures are provided herein.

 

All of the items included in the reconciliation from net income to EBITDA and from EBITDA to Adjusted EBITDA are either (i) non-cash items (e.g., depreciation, amortization of purchased intangibles, stock-based compensation, etc.) or (ii) items that management does not consider to be useful in assessing the Company’s ongoing operating performance (e.g., M&A costs, income taxes, gain on sale of investments, loss on disposal of assets, etc.). In the case of the non-cash items, management believes that investors can better assess the Company’s operating performance if the measures are presented without such items because, unlike cash expenses, these adjustments do not affect the Company’s ability to generate free cash flow or invest in its business.

 

We use, and we believe investors benefit from the presentation of, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA in evaluating our operating performance because it provides us and our investors with an additional tool to compare our operating performance on a consistent basis by removing the impact of certain items that management believes do not directly reflect our core operations. We believe that EBITDA is useful to investors and other external users of our financial statements in evaluating our operating performance because EBITDA is widely used by investors to measure a company’s operating performance without regard to items such as interest expense, taxes, and depreciation and amortization, which can vary substantially from company to company depending upon accounting methods and book value of assets, capital structure and the method by which assets were acquired.

 

Because not all companies use identical calculations, the Company’s presentation of non-GAAP financial measures may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies. However, these measures can still be useful in evaluating the Company’s performance against its peer companies because management believes the measures provide users with valuable insight into key components of GAAP financial disclosures.

 

 

Where Food Comes From, Inc.

Balance Sheets (Audited)

 

		December 31,				December 31,
(Amounts in thousands, except per share amounts)		2023				2022
Assets
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents		$	2,641			$	4,368
Accounts receivable, net of allowance			2,128				2,172
Inventory			1,109				888
Prepaid expenses and other current assets			335				463
Total current assets			6,213				7,891
Property and equipment, net			844				998
Right-of-use assets, net			2,296				2,607
Equity investments			1,191				991
Intangible and other assets, net			2,303				2,340
Goodwill, net			2,946				2,946
Deferred tax assets, net			493				523
Total assets		$	16,286			$	18,296
Liabilities and Equity
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable		$	567			$	640
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities			615				769
Deferred revenue			1,485				1,278
Current portion of finance lease obligations			14				9
Current portion of operating lease obligations			298				341
Total current liabilities			2,979				3,037
Finance lease obligations, net of current portion			41				37
Operating lease obligation, net of current portion			2,447				2,745
Total liabilities			5,467				5,819
Commitments and contingencies
Equity:
Common stock			7				6
Additional paid-in-capital			12,290				12,145
Treasury stock			(11,219	)			(7,263	)
Retained earnings			9,741				7,589
Total equity			10,819				12,477
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity		$	16,286			$	18,296

 

 

 

Exhibit 99.2

 

Where Food Comes From, Inc.

2023 Year End Conference Call

Call date: Thursday February 15, 2024

Call time: 10:00 a.m. Mountain Time

 

Jay Pfeiffer – Investor Relations

 

Good morning, and welcome to the Where Food Comes From 2023 Year-End Earnings Call. Joining me on the call today are CEO, John Saunders; President, Leann Saunders; and Chief Financial Officer, Dannette Henning.

 

During this call, we’ll make forward-looking statements based on current expectations, estimates and projections that are subject to risk. Statements about current and future financial performance, growth strategy, customers, business opportunities, market acceptance of our products and services and potential acquisitions are forward-looking statements. Listeners should not place undue reliance on these statements as there are many factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements. We encourage you to review our publicly filed documents as well as our news releases and website for more information. Today we’ll also discuss adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure provided as a complement to GAAP results. Please refer to today’s earnings release for important disclosures regarding non-GAAP measures.

 

I’ll now turn the call over to John Saunders. John, please go ahead.

 

John Saunders

 

Good morning and thanks for joining the call today.

 

As reported in our news release this morning, we delivered a strong fourth quarter and as a result were able to offset the impact of year-long headwinds and report increased revenue and profitability for the full year as well. As we have discussed on previous calls, we and our customers have faced inflationary pressures over the past year or so and we’ve also been navigating challenging cyclical cattle trends that have resulted in smaller herd sizes. These issues have impacted both revenue and profitability throughout the year– so, again, we feel very good about our strong fourth quarter performance that enabled us to surpass prior year results on both the top and bottom lines.

 

Total revenue in fourth quarter increased 10% to $6.7 million from $6.1 million in the same quarter last year.

 

Our verification and certification revenue was up 17% in the quarter to $5.5 million from $4.7 million.

 

And product revenue worked its way back to flat at $0.9 million.

 

So, again, Q4 showed significant revenue and earnings growth year over year and was also a nice rebound from Q3 when total revenue dipped 4% year over year.

 

Gross profit in the fourth quarter was up 9% to $3.0 million from $2.8 million.

 

SG&A expense was flat at $2.1 million, reflecting our continued focus on managing overhead costs.

 

 

Net income in Q4 increased by 58% to $776,000, or $0.14 per diluted share, compared to net income of $490,000, or $0.08 per diluted share, in Q4 of last year. This solid increase in profitability was due to a combination of flat SG&A, higher operating income, and a 70% increase in the Progressive Beef dividend year over year.

 

Adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter increased 31% to $1.3 million from $1.0 million.

 

And finally, in Q4 the Company bought back more than $1.0 million of its common stock, removing another 76,109 shares from the float.

 

Turning to full-year results…

 

Total revenue for 2023 increased slightly to $25.1 million from $24.8 million in the prior year. While that was a nominal percentage increase, we’re still happy to be in positive territory given the headwinds I referenced earlier. In addition, you may recall that in 2022 we booked a non-recurring $0.9 million order that skewed our 2022 revenue higher. So, on an apples-to-apples basis, revenue would have increased in the range 5% despite some significant macro challenges.

 

Revenue mix for the full year included:

 

Verification and certification services, up 10% to $19.4 million from $17.6 million.

 

And product revenue, down 8% to $4.0 million from $4.4 million.

 

Gross profit for the full year was flat at $10.5 million.

 

Selling, general and administrative expense was also flat at $7.8 million.

 

Operating income was flat at $2.7 million.

 

Net income for the year increased 8% to $2.2 million, or $0.39 per diluted share, compared to net income of $2.0 million, or $0.33 per diluted share, in the prior year.

 

Adjusted EBITDA for the year was flat at $3.8 million.

 

The Company generated $2.8 million in cash from operations in 2023 compared to $2.7 million in 2022.

 

The cash and cash equivalents balance at December 31, 2023, declined to $2.6 million from $4.4 million at 2022 year-end due primarily to the Company’s investment in its share repurchase program. In 2023, the Company bought back more than $3.9 million of its shares.

 

For the full year, the Company earned $320,000 in dividend income from Progressive Beef – a 28% increase over $250,000 in dividend income in the prior year.

 

Building such relationships with industry partners is a key element of our growth strategy to expand our business mix with valuable programs and capabilities that give our customers more options to add value to their products. We were very active in this area throughout 2023, and I’d like to take a minute to recap some highlights.

 

In the first quarter, long-term customer Certified Piedmontese Beef became the first brand to be certified to PaleoFLEX, which is a relatively new standard of the Paleo Diet that is exclusively administered by Where Food Comes From.

 

In the second quarter we were named exclusive third-party verifier for the Bee Friendly Farming certification – a program that helps farmers and ranchers protect critical pollinators through implementation of regenerative policies within their operations.

 

 

Also in the second quarter, we invested in BlueTrace, a privately held seafood traceability company that helps North American shellfish operators optimize their businesses. BlueTrace is a nice complement to our FishCARE sustainability standard, which helps seafood producers adhere to higher standards of care for seafood products, employees and the environment.

 

In October, we announced another important milestone in our aquaculture initiative with the acquisition of Smart Catch™ from the James Beard Foundation, a program administered by our Postelsia division that promotes transparency and sustainability in seafood. Smart Catch has tremendous potential for expansion into other areas of the seafood supply chain, including food service institutions, retailers, seafood distributors, suppliers and producers around the world.

 

And finally, just before the end of 2023, we acquired the Upcycled Certified® Program from the Upcycled Food Association.

 

We are very excited about the potential for this program to become a meaningful component of our revenue mix over time. To recap, Upcycled Certified is the world’s first and largest provider of certification for upcycled food and is one of the fastest-growing certification seals in the food industry, providing consumers a tangible solution to shop sustainably and avoid food waste. There are currently 93 companies with more than 480 products certified to the standard, including leading Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) companies such as Del Monte and Kerry Ingredients. These products are responsible for diverting an average of 390,000 tons of food waste annually since the Program’s launch less than three years ago.

 

The acquisition comes at a time when upcycling is gaining in relevance and popularity, and it puts Where Food Comes From in a position to capitalize on growing consumer demand for products that contain upcycled food ingredients. As the exclusive certification body for the standard since early 2021 – and as the most diverse food verification body in the country with more than 17,000 customers – we are ideally suited to take Upcycled Certified to the next level of growth. Our long-term objective is to make Upcycled Certified a ubiquitous standard and a meaningful component of our overall revenue mix.

 

Before opening the call for questions, I’d like to recognize the significant efforts of all Where Food Comes From employees and our operational leaders Matt, Doug, Catherine, Vinodthan, Kelly, Mindy, Lora, Sarah, Jen, Darren, Christina, Susan, Simon, Eric, Corey and another Laura. And our board of directors Graeme, Adam, Tom, Pete and Mike through what has been one of our most challenging years. 2023 has been difficult year for many people involved with production, agriculture and our team’s complete commitment to helping farmers and ranchers through difficult times is one of the things that makes me most proud of all we have accomplished.

 

As you all know, we run a very tight ship here, so that means our team produced a lot more last year using less, which translates into a mountain of hard work. I’d also like to call out the members of our executive team, specifically, Jay Pfeiffer has been our Head of Investor Relations since the day before, no kidding, we went public 17 years ago.

 

He has been a mentor and a friend to me, as I’m sure he is to many of you on the call today. In that time, we have never had to retract any of our releases or announcements, which is almost unbelievable and a testament to the attention to detail that Jay embodies.

 

Our newest member of the team and Chief Technology Officer, Jason Franco. When Jason came to Where Food Comes From about five years ago through an acquisition, we were struggling to fully integrate technology into our various verification systems. Jason and his growing team are the sticky glue that helps us scale our business, which is literally as fragmented as the food we see in our grocery store aisles. He has some new and very exciting things that he will be introducing thru 2024, so be on the lookout.

 

Dannette Henning, our CFO, has been one of our most critical assets since the day Jay, Leann and I were able to finally convince her to come on board. She has closed on at least 15 full acquisitions involving cash, stock, debt, taxes, iPhone cases, cattle, Bitcoin, and even a small house in Medina, North Dakota, all while literally doing almost all the work herself. Most recently, she handled our closing on the Upcycled certification standard in which she did the lion’s share of negotiating the terms of the deal, all while closing out year-end activities with our SEC auditors. She is a CFO like no other and she also participates in multiple operational based activities related to many of our tech operations. Again, all while making sure we are fully reporting every quarter and this year, specifically closing our year end exactly 45 days from year-end. Truly amazing.

 

 

Finally, our COO and President, Leann Saunders. Leann, more than anyone, deserves credit for our success, specifically this last year, but also over the long-term. She leads the operations of all divisions and is constantly adapting to adverse market conditions and creating opportunities from challenges. Specifically, she recognized back in 2021 that the U.S. cattle industry was facing strong headwinds and began to adjust our resources into our other divisions like Validus and Where Food Comes From Organic, which were both experiencing changes to their industries, which create new opportunities for growth. This is the reason we had such a strong fourth quarter and positive year with an earnings per share of $0.39.

 

She’s been doing this for over 20 years and gets better at it every day. Heck, she came up with the name of the company. Imagine doing all this for that long and never being able to get away from your boss even on the weekends. As the CEO of this company and lifelong military historian, I can tell you that I am truly honored to lead such a dedicated and passionate team into this battle.

 

And with that, I’ll open the call to questions.

 

Question and Answer Session:

 

Question 1: Raphi Savitz

 

Hey, John, congrats on certainly everything you’ve accomplished at the company. I definitely heard the emotion in your voice, and you’ve done a tremendous job over time. I’d love to maybe dive a little bit deeper on what led to kind of the inflection of growth this quarter, and then just kind of bigger picture like what are your aspirations? You’ve been at the company for a long time. You’ve grown this business to a $25 million business. How do you think about your future and your legacy of this company?

 

John Saunders

 

Raphi, thanks for the question. I feel just like we got started yesterday and it’s exciting to me to go through, obviously, and talk about all of the unbelievable people that we will get to work with. The inflection point this last fourth quarter was a couple of major new trends that were coming. One was Prop 12. We’ve seen a lot of growth in our dairy auditing, both of which are run through the Validus division. And then organic is going through some significant changes related to the way that producers and certification companies have to comply.

 

We think creating an opportunity for us as a certification company to attract new customers, because the complexity is going to get worse in the sense that it’s going to be more difficult for producers to comply based on some of the new regulations. So both of those had been building for quite a while. But we started to experience them significantly in the fourth quarter and we expect both those trends to continue over the year.

 

As I said, we’ve got so many new standards and new programs. We continue to be highly focused on the U.S. cattle industry because it is the largest species and commodity that we work within, so it’s very critical to our business. But it’s been a very difficult time. But it’s something that’s relatively well known, that there’s a cattle cycle that the U.S. goes through about every seven or eight years that if you wait it out, there’ll be good opportunities, and we see that moving forward as well.

 

My big aspiration, Raphi, is to get our products in front of consumers and to become a well-known consumer brand. And I think with some of the stuff that I talked about with Jason, some new individuals that we have coming into the company that we’re going to really take what we’ve built as a foundation with producers and expand that to consumers. And I’ve threatened many people over the years that I was going to do a Super Bowl ad, which is in gest.

 

 

We have much better ways, I believe, to get in front of consumers. But we have, I believe, the core of what we’ve been working to build for a long time, and that is a certification, which represents the major categories that retailers and food service organizations are looking for where they could potentially adopt a Where Food Comes From logo on their package or Where Food Comes From Care logo on their package. And that is where our entire focus is now to move the company into a much more mainstream consumer branded product.

 

Raphi Savitz

 

And on that point, is the opportunity set more with the retail? Or is there opportunity with restaurants as well? Because I know you’ve kind of doubled in that over the years.

 

John Saunders

 

Both, we think they definitely go together. We’ve had a great response to the Smart Catch program, which I mentioned is a continuation of the relationship with James Beard. So that’s a great way for us to get out in front of people. The problem with restaurants is they don’t typically take a high volume and they have a very sporadic customer base. So it’s difficult to – you have to work with their suppliers who are in the food service realm, which is a much different beast than dealing specifically with restaurants.

 

But on the retail level, the companies that we’ve talked about over the years are the same retailers that we’re working with today and just trying to expand. So I would say food service leads to retail, but the retail is really where you begin to make an impact relative to the value proposition that we can provide.

 

Raphi Savitz

 

Thanks, John. Congrats again.

 

Operator

 

This concludes today’s conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

 

 

v3.24.0.1

Cover	Feb. 15, 2024
Cover [Abstract]
Document Type	8-K
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Feb. 15, 2024
Entity File Number	001-40314
Entity Registrant Name	WHERE FOOD COMES FROM, INC.
Entity Central Index Key	0001360565
Entity Tax Identification Number	43-1802805
Entity Incorporation, State or Country Code	CO
Entity Address, Address Line One	202 6th Street
Entity Address, Address Line Two	Suite 400
Entity Address, City or Town	Castle Rock
Entity Address, State or Province	CO
Entity Address, Postal Zip Code	80104
City Area Code	(303)
Local Phone Number	895-3002
Written Communications	false
Soliciting Material	false
Pre-commencement Tender Offer	false
Pre-commencement Issuer Tender Offer	false
Title of 12(b) Security	Common Stock, $0.001 par value
Trading Symbol	WFCF
Security Exchange Name	NASDAQ
Entity Information, Former Legal or Registered Name	Not applicable

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