Not too long ago, when someone said ‘veggie burger,’ they meant Gardenburger. Today the company’s is synonymous with that familiar story: the industry leader and innovator becomes the industry loser, a has been, as the company rapidly loses sales to those that followed in its wake.
So it is with no surprise that the long struggling Gardenburger is in talks with Piper Jaffray to help find someone to buy the ailing company. Trading on the OTC for six cents a share, Gardenburger continues to lose out sales to Kraft owned Boca and ConAgra’s Morningstar Farms.
With 2004 sales estimated to be at $48 million, NBN wonders if the reported asking price of $40 million is too high for a company whose sales chart looks like a lightening bolt plummeting downward gaining speed every quarter.
Back in 2003, TheDeal.com reports that stockholders were hoping to reap a sale price of $170 million. What a difference strong competition makes.
