OptiCept installs OliveCept system in France

OptiCept has announced a rental agreement with a renowned French olive oil producer for its OliveCept technology. The growing recognition of OptiCept's PEF technology is of course encouraging and also provides some support to our estimates, but doesn’t trigger immediate estimate changes.

The French producer, Château d'Estoublon, is highly ranked with its olive oils recently named the world's best at the New York International Olive Oil Competition. The agreement allows the customer to rent OptiCept’s PEF technology for the 2024-2025 olive oil season, after which they will decide on a permanent installation. The producer is located in Provence, France, with an 18-hectare vineyard and 120 hectares of olive groves.

OptiCept’s PEF technology shows strong momentum

OptiCept’s PEF technology is already established with several olive oil producers in Spain, the central hub of global olive oil production. The new agreement in France, known for its focus on quality over quantity, aligns well with OptiCept’s PEF systems, in our view. If the evaluation is successful, we see good opportunities for more producers in France to follow suit, similar to what we have observed to some extent in the Spanish market. Although OptiCept has not disclosed the rental fee, the agreement aligns with its recent strategy of only pursuing paid evaluations, which we view as positive.

It is important to note that the rental fee is likely modest, and higher revenue will only be realized if the customer decides to purchase the technology, which we expect to be decided around Q1/Q2 2025 after the olive oil season. Taking this into consideration and given that our estimates already account for additional sales of OptiCept’s PEF system beyond what has been communicated, we make no changes to our estimates or recommendations at this time.