This quarter has been full of exciting developments for Amfil Technologies Inc. (OTC: FUNN), and we are pleased to share the progress we’ve made:
Snakes & Lattes - We started the quarter with three locations open (Tempe, Chicago, and Tucson), and three months later, with today’s opening of Guelph that number stands at seven! While we’ve seen a bit of softening demand with the Delta wave, we are turning a corner and seeing bookings pick back up in each of our markets. There is still a long way to go before we are at pre-covid levels, but the trend is in the right direction and the consensus is that we should see case numbers and positivity levels falling through at least the end of the year. Tempe continues to be our busiest location, but College St. in Toronto and Chicago have the potential to do similar numbers as business continues to pick up. Trivia nights, weekly specials, and local direct marketing efforts have all had a measurable positive impact, and our teams continue to find ways to increase guests counts and ticket averages across the board. With some inflationary pressures on both cost of goods sold as well as labor, we’ve taken the opportunity to analyze our margins and made adjustments where necessary. Typically when we see inflation hitting food and beverage cost, at least some of the rise remains, even if the short-term pressure eases. With better analytical tools in place, we are able to make adjustments in real time so that we can keep our margins intact. Our partnership with Toast has made it possible to use QR codes for our menus and allows guests to place orders directly if they choose, which has been received positively and can ease some of the pressure caused by the tight labor market.
Now that all of our Canadian locations are open, we are tightening up our operations, putting more systems in place, and cross-training between locations. Growing our team and recognizing the individual talents and interests of our employees has made us a better company and allowed us to benefit from a diverse set of skills and experiences to tackle the challenges we face in this new environment.
Audits - Engaging with Wipfli for our audits over the summer, we were able to get a clearer picture of where we stand, and the best path going forward. The estimates we were given to go back two years and audit those financials, which is not required for our current listing status, but would make it possible to uplist immediately, were prohibitively expensive. We came to a decision as a team to implement better controls and processes going forward, with the goal of making future audits faster and exponentially less costly. With our cash flow severely limited by Covid, we believe it is in the best interest of the company to focus on the current year and next, so that we are able to uplist, albeit not as quickly as we’d hoped. Another concern that came to light was that Wipfli was uncomfortable with our intent to open a dispensary. In addition, both our former CEO and our contact at Wipfli are no longer with their respective companies, so we have decided to get bids from several auditors to find a partner who is enthusiastic and willing to work with us. While this is in some ways a setback, we truly believe that this is the best path forward, in addition to providing a great deal more clarity. As much as I’d like to be able to follow through on commitments made by previous management, we have to make the best decisions for the company with an eye toward the future, not the past. On that note…
Dispensary - In addition to the issue with our previous auditor, there are consequences for banking, liquor licenses, and more which may not have been fully considered when the decision was made to open a dispensary. Knowing that Snakes & Lattes is our main driver of revenue and positive press for the company (more on that later…), we must protect that business, so we have made the decision to divest from the dispensary, and we will not be pursuing direct ownership of marijuana related businesses going forward. That said, there is certainly potential for partnerships, expanding our CBD offerings, and as the laws in the US and Canada continue to evolve, we will periodically reevaluate our positioning on cannabis.
Financials - In order to make sure we had all our financials in order, considering the changes to OTC requirements, some new GAAP rules, and all the one-time events of the last year, we filed for an extension. We’ll be releasing our annual financials with some additional commentary this week.
Company Name - “What is Amfil?” and “Are we a technology company?” are two questions that seem to create barriers for new investors to quickly understand who we are and what we do. Money and resources to promote our company are not well spent if we aren’t able to clearly and concisely relate who we are and what we do.
The name Amfil is a portmanteau of the first and last names of our former partner, Ambrose Fillis. As we are no longer actively working with Mr. Fillis, the name no longer serves us well. In addition, we are not as focused on technologies, such as the Gro3 system, which have not performed as expected or created meaningful revenues for us as a company. In the past, we have explored partnerships and investments in a wide variety of fields, and one of the first things I found in my analysis of our operations was that we are not focused on our key competitive advantages when we venture into these disparate lines of business. Going forward, we will be putting the majority of our time and resources into Snakes & Lattes and adjacent opportunities. In an effort to more clearly and succinctly connect with new investors, as well as signal our newfound focus, we have started the process of renaming the company to Snakes & Lattes, Inc. We will retain the FUNN ticker symbol.
As always, I remain available to communicate with our shareholders, with most inquiries sent to aaron@snakesandlattes.com answered within 48 hours. I would ask that communication remain constructive and respectful, which will be reciprocated. I’m glad to be able to take a more active role in shareholder communications and will continue to provide periodic updates between our quarterlies.
Take care and have FUNN,
Aaron and Ben
About Snakes & Lattes Inc.
For further updates from Snakes & Lattes and its parent company Amfil Technologies Inc., please follow us on Twitter @AmfilTech
For more information regarding the company and its related subsidiaries please visit the following websites:
Amfil Technologies Inc. www.amfiltech.com
Snakes & Lattes Inc. www.snakesandlattes.com
Interloc-Kings Inc. http://www.interloc-kings.com
Amfil Technologies Inc. is the parent company to two wholly owned subsidiaries:
1). Snakes & Lagers Inc. holds the trade name and is the owner of Snakes & Lattes Inc. which currently operates 7 tabletop gaming bars and cafes located in North America. The company is in the process of expanding throughout North America. Snakes & Lattes Inc. was the first board game bar and cafe in North America, and is believed to be the largest in the world. Our board game cafes have the largest circulating public library of board games in North America for customers to choose from. For more information on Snakes & Lattes Inc., please visit the website at www.snakesandlattes.com.
2). Interloc-Kings Inc. is a hardscape construction company servicing the Greater Toronto Area. This subsidiary is an authorized Unilock installer. Unilock is North America's premier manufacturer of concrete interlocking paving stones and segmental wall products. Interloc-Kings Inc. has an A+ Rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and a 10/10 rating on homestars.com. Specializing in stone and wood installations between $5,000 and $150,000 per project, Interloc-Kings Inc. has become a top, high quality installation company of outdoor living areas in the Greater Toronto Area. More information on this subsidiary can be found at the website www.interloc-kings.com
Safe Harbor Statement
This news release contains statements that involve expectations, plans or intentions (such as those relating to future business or financial results, new features or services, or management strategies) and other factors discussed from time to time in the Company's OTC Market or Securities and Exchange Commission filings. These statements are forward-looking and are subject to risks and uncertainties, so actual results may vary materially. You can identify these forward-looking statements by words such as "may," "should,", "will", "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "confident," "intend," "plan" and other similar expressions. Our actual results, such as the Company's ability to finance, complete and consolidate acquisition of IP, assets and operating companies, could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors not within the control of the company such as a result of various factors, including future economic, competitive, regulatory, and market conditions. The company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The company disclaims any obligation subsequently to revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.
Contact:
Aaron McKay
Snakes & Lattes Inc.
Telephone: (312)-384-9163
Email: aaron@snakesandlattes.com