8-K

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 24, 2022

WHERE

FOOD COMES FROM, INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

Colorado	001-40314	43-1802805
(State<br> or Other Jurisdiction<br><br> <br>of<br> Incorporation)	(Commission<br><br> <br>File<br> Number)	(I.R.S.<br> Employer<br><br> <br>Identification<br> No.)
202 6^th^Street, Suite 400
---	---
Castle Rock, Colorado	80104
(Address of Principal Executive<br> Offices)	(Zip Code)

(303)895-3002

(Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code)

Notapplicable

(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<br> pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
☐	Soliciting material pursuant<br> to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
☐	Pre-commencement communications<br> pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
☐	Pre-commencement communications<br> 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<br> of each class	Trading<br> Symbol(s)	Name<br> of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, $0.001 par<br> value	WFCF	OTC Markets Group
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 24, 2022 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 fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2021.

Item 9.01	Financial Statements and Exhibits
(d)	Exhibits
---	---
Exhibit<br><br> <br>No.	Description
---	---
99.1	Press Release issued and dated February 24, 2022
99.2	Transcript for February 24, 2022 conference call
104	Cover<br> 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 28, 2022		Dannette Henning
		Chief Financial Officer

Exhibit99.1

WhereFood Comes From, Inc. Reports 2021 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Financial Results

CASTLE ROCK, Colo., Feb. 24, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — 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 its 2021 fourth quarter and full year financial results.

“We are extremely pleased with our fourth quarter and full year revenue and earnings growth, particularly in light of the challenges and uncertainties we and our customers faced due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” said John Saunders, Chairman and CEO. “Once again, beef verifications were the primary growth driver, although by year-end we were nearly back to normal in terms of access to customer sites for pork, poultry, dairy and egg audits and our revenue from those channels had also strengthened. Fourth quarter tag sales were negatively impacted by supply chain issues with our primary tag provider. We responded by adding new suppliers and building tag inventory, and early in 2022 are experiencing renewed tag sales momentum. While supply chain issues may persist in 2022, our core verification businesses are well positioned for growth, and we are excited about prospects for further expanding our leadership position in 2022 and beyond.”

---

FourthQuarter Results – 2021 vs. 2020

Revenue in the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2021, increased 5% year over year to $5.8 million from $5.6 million. The increase primarily reflected growth of the Company’s verification and certification business, partially offset by lower product sales associated with supply chain disruptions.

Revenue mix included:

●	Verification<br> and certification services, up 9% to $4.4 million from $4.0 million.
●	Product<br> revenue, down 22% year over year to $0.8 million from $1.0 million.
●	Software<br> and related consulting revenue, up 20% to $0.6 million from $0.5 million.

Gross profit in the fourth quarter increased to $2.9 million from $2.5 million in the same period last year. Gross margin increased to 50.6% versus 44.2% year over year.

Selling, general and administrative expense increased 17% year over year to $2.1 million from $1.8 million due to new IT and HR hires as well as the addition of sales, operational and customer service personnel in the Company’s beef and organic verticals.

Operating income increased 29% to $0.8 million from $0.6 million in the same quarter last year.

Net income was $0.7 million, or $0.12 per diluted share, up from net income of $0.5 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, in the same quarter last year.

Adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter increased 28% year over year to $1.3 million from $1.0 million.

---

FullYear Results – 2021 vs. 2020

Total revenue for 2021 increased 9% to $21.9 million from $20.1 million in the prior year. The increase was primarily due to a 13% increase in verification and certification revenue, which more than offset flat product sales and software revenue.

Revenue mix included:

●	Verification<br> and certification services, up 13% to $16.1 million from $14.3 million.
●	Product<br> revenue, essentially flat at approximately $3.8 million.
●	Software<br> and related consulting revenue (excluding intercompany sales), flat at $2.0 million.

Gross profit for the full year increased to $9.7 million from $8.9 million. Gross margin was essentially flat at 44.4% year over year due to higher compensation costs and a change in revenue mix due to the resumption of audit activity in certain lower-margin verification categories.

Selling, general and administrative expense increased slightly year over year to $7.4 million from $7.2 million.

Operating income increased 37% year over year to $2.3 million from $1.7 million.

Net income in 2021, inclusive of $1.0 million in PPP loan forgiveness that occurred in the first quarter of the year, increased 114% to $3.0 million, or $0.48 per diluted share, compared to net income of $1.4 million, or $0.22 per diluted share, in the prior year.

Adjusted EBITDA increased 23% to $3.7 million from $3.0 million last year.

The Company generated $3.0 million in net cash from operations in 2021, up from $2.5 million a year ago.

The cash and cash equivalents balance on December 31, 2021, increased 24% to $5.4 million from $4.4 million. The Company had $5.7 million in working capital at December 31, 2021, up from $4.4 million.

---

FourthQuarter Earnings Call

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

---

Call-innumbers for the conference call:

Domestic Toll Free: 1-877-407-8289

International: 1-201-689-8341

Conference Code: 13726788

---

Phonereplay:

A telephone replay of the conference call will be available through March 24, 2022, as follows:

Domestic Toll Free: 1-877-660-6853

International: 1-201-612-7415

Conference Code: 13726788

---

AboutWhere 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 (previously known as International Certification Services and A Bee Organic), Postelsia and Sterling Solutions 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.

---

---

*Noteon 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.

---

CAUTIONARYSTATEMENT

---

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 and demand for, and impact and efficacy of, the Company’s products and services on the marketplace; and the Company’s ability to manage supply chain issues, expand on its leadership position and continue delivering growth 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 2021 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

WhereFood Comes From, Inc.

Statementsof Income (Unaudited)

	Three months ended December 31,						Year ended December 31,
(Amounts in thousands, except per share amounts)		2021			2020			2021			2020
Revenues:
Verification and certification service revenue	$	4,399		$	4,036		$	16,058		$	14,254
Product sales		759			976			3,830			3,859
Software and related consulting revenue		648			539			2,044			1,963
Total revenues		5,806			5,551			21,932			20,076
Costs of revenues:
Costs of verification and certification services		2,039			2,124			8,402			7,407
Costs of products		472			639			2,441			2,508
Costs of software and related consulting		357			332			1,352			1,233
Total costs of revenues		2,868			3,095			12,195			11,148
Gross profit		2,938			2,456			9,737			8,928
Selling, general and administrative expenses		2,144			1,840			7,434			7,241
Income from operations		794			616			2,303			1,687
Other income/(expense):
Dividend income from Progressive Beef		110			60			200			150
Gain/(loss) on disposal of assets		86			(1	)		95			18
Loan forgiveness from Paycheck Protection Program		-			-			1,037			-
Loss on foreign currency exchange		(2	)		(1	)		(11	)		(2	)
Other income, net		1			1			2			7
Interest expense		(1	)		(4	)		(6	)		(13	)
Income before income taxes		988			671			3,620			1,847
Income tax expense		246			126			659			462
Net income	$	742		$	545		$	2,961		$	1,385
Per share - net income:
Basic	$	0.13		$	0.09		$	0.49		$	0.23
Diluted	$	0.12		$	0.09		$	0.48		$	0.22
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding:
Basic		6,083			6,118			6,098			6,162
Diluted		6,167			6,232			6,185			6,221

WhereFood Comes From, Inc.

BalanceSheets (Audited)

			December 31,
(Amounts in thousands, except per share amounts)			2020
Assets
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	5,414		$	4,374
Accounts receivable, net of allowance	2,178			2,508
Inventory	767			-
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	325			592
Total current assets	8,684			7,474
Property and equipment, net	1,295			1,616
Right-of-use assets, net	2,823			3,030
Investment in Progressive Beef	991			991
Intangible and other assets, net	2,581			2,948
Goodwill, net	2,946			2,946
Deferred tax assets, net	464			443
Total assets	19,784		$	19,448
Liabilities and Equity
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	447		$	649
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities	710			599
Deferred revenue	1,513			1,132
Current portion of long term debt	-			463
Current portion of finance lease obligations	13			13
Current portion of operating lease obligations	313			268
Total current liabilities	2,996			3,124
Long term debt, net of current portion	-			572
Finance lease obligations, net of current portion	19			31
Operating lease obligation, net of current portion	3,020			3,257
Total liabilities	6,035			6,984
Commitments and contingencies
Equity:
Preferred stock, 0.001 par value; 5,000 shares authorized; none issued or<br> outstanding	-			-
Common stock, 0.001 par value; 95,000 shares authorized; 6,489 (2021) and 6,456 (2020) shares issued, and 6,071 (2021) and<br> 6,118 (2020) shares outstanding	6			6
Additional paid-in-capital	11,955			11,612
Treasury stock of 419 (2021) and 338 (2020) shares	(3,807	)		(2,702	)
Retained earnings	5,595			3,548
Total equity	13,749			12,464
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	19,784		$	19,448

All values are in US Dollars.

WhereFood Comes From, Inc.

Calculationof Adjusted EBITDA*

(Unaudited)

	Three months ended December 31,				Year ended December 31,
(Amounts in thousands)	2021		2020		2021			2020
Net income	$	742	$	545	$	2,961		$	1,385
Adjustments to EBITDA:
Interest expense		1		4		6			13
Income tax expense		246		126		659			462
Depreciation and amortization		198		263		799			997
EBITDA*		1,187		938		4,425			2,857
Adjustments:
Loan forgiveness		-		-		(1,037	)		-
Stock-based compensation		69		41		291			121
Cost of acquisitions		-		-		-			15
ADJUSTED EBITDA*	$	1,256	$	979	$	3,679		$	2,993

*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.

Exhibit99.2

WhereFood Comes From, Inc.

2022Fourth Quarter and Full Year Conference Call

Call date: Thursday February 24, 2022

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

JayPfeiffer – Investor Relations

Good morning and welcome to the Where Food Comes From 2022 fourth quarter and full year earnings call.

Joining me on the call today are CEO John Saunders and CFO 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.

JohnSaunders – Chief Executive Officer

Good morning and thanks for joining the call today.

This morning we released our fourth quarter and full year financial results before the market opened. Our results for both periods were consistent with our expectations for steady but increasingly profitable growth as we continue to recover from the effects of the Covid pandemic.

Today, I’m going to recap our financial results and then highlight a few other accomplishments for the year that position us to continue building value for our shareholders and customers.

Beginning with our fourth quarter:

●	Revenue<br> grew 5% year over year to $5.8 million. We achieved 9% growth in our core verification and certification services category in the<br> period based on solid demand for beef verifications and continuing recovery of our pork, poultry, dairy and egg businesses, where<br> producers were nearly back to normal in terms of allowing third party access to their facilities.
●	Partially<br> offsetting that growth was a decline in tag sales in the quarter due to ongoing supply chain issues associated with chip shortages<br> as well as worker shortages related to vaccine mandates. We believe these issues to be transitory and expect them to dissipate as<br> chip makers rebound and pandemic pressures continue to subside. Nevertheless, we took precautionary steps early in the process to<br> soften the impact these supply chain challenges. Specifically, in mid-year we bought a large number of tags into inventory and began<br> identifying additional tag suppliers to help fill the gaps. We now have multiple sources for tags, so we think we’re in pretty<br> good shape moving forward – and in fact are experiencing good growth in tag activity thus far in 2022.
●	Net<br> income in the fourth quarter grew 36% year over year to $742,000, or 12 cents per diluted share. In addition to 29% growth in operating<br> income, our bottom line benefitted from a higher Progressive Beef dividend and an $86,000 gain on the sale of the building that houses<br> our organic team in North Dakota – a building we’re now leasing.

Turning now to full year results:

●	Revenue<br> grew 9% to $21.9 million from $20.1 million a year ago. 13% growth in our core verification and certification business more than<br> offset a slight decline in tag sales for the year.
●	Operating<br> income grew 37% to $2.3 million as we experienced only a modest 3% increase in SG&A expenses for the full year.
●	And<br> net income for 2021 more than doubled to $3.0 million, or 48 cents per diluted share, from $1.4 million, or 22 cents per diluted<br> share, in the prior year. Our net income included $1.0 million in PPP loan forgiveness, higher Progressive Beef dividends and a nearly<br> $100,000 gain on disposal of assets. Even without the PPP benefit, we still delivered solid, double-digit growth on the bottom line,<br> which is a testament to our resiliency as a company during what was obviously a challenging year.

On the subject of Progressive Beef, I thought it would make sense to update you on that program, because it has quietly become an important contributor to our positive financial performance. Our long-time shareholders may recall that late in 2018 we bought a membership interest in Progressive Beef, LLC, which administers one of the beef industry’s most important verification programs – a feedlot quality management system that provides transparency in the areas of animal welfare, food safety and sustainability. In January, Wendy’s announced that 40% of its fresh beef supply was sourced from Progressive Beef. Our initial investment of just under $1.0 million dollars, since that time, the investment has generated cash dividends in 13 consecutive quarters, aggregating $570,000 dollars. In addition, as a primary verifier for Progressive Beef, our IMI Global unit generates up to $200,000 annually from various customers enrolled in the program. This has turned out to be a great investment for the Company.

While the Progressive Beef program is focused on the feedlot segment of the supply chain, our own CARE Certified program is geared toward cow calf producers and retailers who seek to differentiate and add value to their products. CARE Certified is a suite of sustainability programs that certify entire supply chains to three pillars - Animal Care, Environmental Stewardship and People and Community. The CARE program is designed to support farmers, ranchers and processors in creating and continuously improving sustainable practices as they relate to region, climate, natural resources, production style, workforce and community interaction.

We introduced beef CARE in 2020 and have achieved good growth with the program, verifying 600,000 head of cattle to the standard in 2021 — more than double our 2020 level. For most of our producer customers, the CARE certification is bundled with another verification standard so that it is both cost and time effective for the producer. For Where Food Comes From, the bundling capability increases revenue, enhances margins and strengthens our relationships with our customers. So, we really view CARE as the definition of a win-win situation for Where Food Comes From and our producer customers.

Also in 2021, the Heinen’s grocery chain became the first retail customer to put the beef CARE Certified logo on its packaging, implementing the program across its beef and pork lines. We think Heinen’s adoption of CARE will serve as a model for other retailers who are looking for ways to differentiate their products and address growing consumer interest in animal welfare and sustainability.

So, in summary, we’re very pleased with the progress we made in strengthening our core business lines during the year, particularly in light of the challenges and uncertainties presented by the pandemic.

We also took other steps to return value to shareholders in 2021. One of them was the one-time, $900,000 special dividend paid out to shareholders in the third quarter. The other was continuance of our stock buyback program, which in 2021 saw us take 81,000 shares out of the float.

2021 was also notable for our up-listing to Nasdaq, which has raised our exposure in the investment community and made our shares eligible for purchase by institutional investors that previously were unable to buy unlisted shares. Although our stock – like the broader market – has been under pressure in recent days and months, we feel confident that our equity will ultimately be valued based on the Company’s solid fundamentals and attractive prospects for sustainable growth and profitability.

In conclusion, we are extremely proud of the critical role Where Food Comes From and its operating units are playing throughout the food supply chain – creating value for producers and retailers and inspiring confidence in consumers who are more focused than ever on the issues of sustainability, animal welfare and how all of their food is produced.

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

---

Questionand Answer Session:

Question1: Edward Reilly

Hey, guys. Congrats on the strong results, given the difficult backdrop. A couple questions here. What do you think is driving the sustained strong demand in the verification services? Is anything changed at all?

JohnSaunders

Not specifically, I think, there’s a continuing demand by most consumers to understand more information about the sustainability aspects of the food that they’re purchasing. So I think it’s just a continued trend, Edward, that’s going to both domestically here in the United States and abroad, that most of our customers just continue to want to know how our producers are addressing the issues of sustainability, particularly on their ranch. So I think it’s just a trend that continues to grow.

---

EdwardReilly

---

Got you. Got you. And given the inflationary backdrop, I was wondering how rising food prices are affecting demand for the verification services.

JohnSaunders

Good question. They’ve been positive thus far. I think one of the key factors that we’re seeing within the industry is that the supply continues to decline. We’ve had a massive drought across the United States, which has forced many of our cattle producers to liquidate.

And what we’re going to see here, we’ve already started to see it, but we’ve seen more decline in the number — in the amount of supply that’s available, which has continued to put pressure on price, it’s continued to put pressure on our retail customers that are trying to find these products.

So, fortunately, it hasn’t had an impact on us. I think one of the things that’s really beneficial is that, as we continue to see beef become more and more important to the protein part of our customer — our consumers eating regimen, that’s been very beneficial to all of our meat producers. So it really hasn’t had much of effect thus far.

EdwardReilly

---

Got it. And on the pork, poultry, dairy and egg side, do you expect to see stronger demand than usual due to the lack of audits that were performed in the past year?

JohnSaunders

I’m not sure that I understand exactly what the question is. I do think that with the increase in beef prices, we’ve seen some migration to other proteins, which has very much benefited pork, poultry and dairy products.

But again, I think, that across the Board and specifically with beef, the supply issues and the diminished number of cattle that are in the market and available for consumers and for processors, it’s been very good for almost all of our protein producers.

EdwardReilly

Got it. And then can you give us a little bit more color on the new IT system and maybe any efficiencies you expect from an implementation? I was also wondering if these are one-time costs or do you expect them to be recurring?

JohnSaunders

Yeah. Great question. We’ve continued to automate many of our services through a product we call Beef Passport. And as I mentioned, we were able to double the number of cattle that were certified under the Beef Care Program and that includes many of our other verification programs that we offer as well.

So as we’ve continued to increase the number of producers that we work with, much of that has been based on our automation through Beef Passport. So, yes, we would be — we’re very hopeful that the cost that we put into that system, most of which happen upfront.

We’ll have some continuous work that we’ll have to do, but much of it has been accomplished already. So it’s really helped us to increase the number of producers that we’re able to work with through technology.

EdwardReilly

All right. Great. That’s it for me, John. Thanks.

---

Question2: Unidentified Analyst

Hey, John. Congrats on the numbers. Two quick one’s for you. First of all, there’s a sustained move towards ESG investing, seems like you guys have the potential to be in the sweet spot of that. Are you seeing any potential for kind of a, just been chugging along doing your job for a number of years generating cash flow on a kind of small scale? No offense, but do you see the potential to kind of land that whale in this move to ESG?

JohnSaunders

Great question. Glad you asked it Josh. Specifically, we have one of our divisions, SureHarvest, that’s been heavily engaged with the ESG movement, if you will. And you’re exactly right, we see this as something that’s not only going to benefit Where Food Comes From, but probably more importantly, as you look at, I mentioned, Wendy’s, we have other customers like, Tyson, Walmart and Costco, that are all under the same pressure related to ESG. And we feel that beef cares specifically is a way that we’re going to be able to help them to answer some of those questions related to their supply chain.

So, yes, we’re heavily focused on ESG, both as a public company and make — making sure that we’re doing what’s necessary here internally. But, again, perhaps more importantly, is our ability to answer some of those questions for our larger customers.

In fact, it’s one of the real big areas that we’re promoting Beef Care to our suppliers, not just Beef Care, but Pork Care and Poultry Care as well. That it gives them some verifiable information and something that’s quantifiable to answer those same questions as they’re dealing with their shareholders, their stockholders and the public market.

---

---

UnidentifiedAnalyst

---

Got it. Great. The only other question I had was, you mentioned capital returns, buyback and dividend earlier in the year, obviously. I didn’t I didn’t see anything in the today’s earnings release about buyback, nothing in the quarter or plan for this coming quarter.

JohnSaunders

We’re continuing. We have an open buyback program. So, yes, we will continue to buyback.

---

DannetteHenning

Yes. We did purchase shares in the fourth quarter and all that information will be included in our 10-K.

UnidentifiedAnalyst

Okay. Thanks, guys.

---

Question3: Henrik Sandell

Yes. Hello. Hi, John. I just want to talk to you a little bit about barriers to entry to your industry and what you sort of think it’s the main hurdles that you have built to any potential competitor coming into your field? Yeah. Sorry. Yeah. Yeah. Sort of, it’s on the competitive perspective, do you see sort of, is the room for someone to come into the market or the — what are sort of the barriers to someone new to come again and try to address this market?

JohnSaunders

Okay. Yeah. Great question. Yeah. We’ve — as we’ve discussed together that there are many hurdles related to new competitors coming into this industry. Some of which are related to the long-term relationships that we’ve had with many of our producer and processor customers.

I think it’s also just a sign of the time right — times right now that it’s a fairly difficult business to get a foothold in. And when you achieve these customer and producer relationships, they’re very sticky and we have we have a lot of customers that have been working with us for 10 years plus.

So we’re fairly confident that we’ve got a pretty good moat around the business at this point. We continue to see some interest from primarily European-based certifications companies that are looking to address this market.

But as I’ve mentioned in the past, it’s very difficult in a voluntary market, which is what we have in here in the United States, which is different than everywhere else around the world, where most of the verifications that are done are mandatory.

There’s a certain aspect of our business that’s related to verification and certification, but it’s also the promotion of the value and the return on investment that our producers get from working in this.

It’s a very progressive group of producers that we work with that are looking for new opportunities, new markets. So, fortunately, this year, we haven’t had any new entrants into the competitive market. That doesn’t mean that won’t happen in the future.

But I’m still confident that, just because we continue to deliver value for our producers. The revenue that we’re able to generate is only a portion of what our producers and our retailers are able to gain as a result of working with us.

So, again, we’re fairly confident that as long as we continue to return value to our producers and make sure that they’re in a unique position to market their animals, their product at a higher price than their contemporaries. It’s going to be fairly difficult for anybody to come in, in a major way and compete with us.

---

---

Question4: Edward Reilly

Hey. Sorry. A couple more for me guys. Dannette, I had a question on the buyback program. How much is left in that curiosity?

DannetteHenning

Oh! Hi, Edward. It’s a good question and off the top of my head. I honestly don’t remember. But I think it’s close to, goodness, probably, another $8 — between $8 million and $9 million, shares not dollars, 8 million shares and 9 million shares left still under the buyback policy.

EdwardReilly

Okay. Okay. Great. And then regarding the drought conditions right now in the United States, are there any areas that aren’t under drought conditions where you guys can go and potentially acquire new customers? Are you sitting out at all?

JohnSaunders

Another good question. There really isn’t. There are specific patches of areas that, that’s probably a potential, but most of the producers that we work with, the cattle producers that we work with, they market their cattle in conjunction with other areas of the country.

So if you’re coming from the Northwest or you’re coming from the Southwest, as I’m sure most everybody on the call knows, the primary feeding areas of cattle in the United States are in the Midwest. So we really look at all of our producers equally.

And I guess, if I were to say anything, maybe the Southeast, but there aren’t a number of large producers there, Edward, that we that we can necessarily target. I think, across the Board, what’s happened is that many of our producers, because they’ve had to reduce their numbers internally, are looking for more revenue per animal. And that at the end of the day always is a good scenario for us, because we are adding value for our cow calf producers in a way that’s very unique.

We don’t require the purchase of new products outside of the identification tags, which is very minimal. So most of what we do is related to paperwork and documentation related to practices that they’re already engaged with.

So I think I’ve said this before, many of our producers that we work with today and are gaining as customers today, are already doing most of the practices related to our certifications. It’s the documentation that’s required to verify it and then working with our staff to make sure that all of — everything is in order is the time that’s necessary.

So really what our producers are doing is, they’re having to spend more time and they’re or verifying what they’re doing and documenting what they’re doing during their time. So it’s — it really is a win-win for our producers, because again, most of them are already engaged in these programs. They just have never been certified.

---

Operator

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