Arizona Tribune - Armanino Foods Releases First Annual Letter to Shareholders

PLEASANTON, CA / ACCESS Newswire / January 6, 2026 / Armanino Foods of Distinction, Inc. (OTCQX:AMNF) ("Armanino" or the "Company"), a leading producer and marketer of premium frozen Italian and specialty foods serving retail, foodservice, and industrial customers across North America and select international markets, today issued the following letter to shareholders from Deanna Jurgens, Chief Executive Officer.

Dear Shareholders,

Armanino enters 2026 from a position of strength. In 2025, the Company delivered record-setting performance while making targeted investments to expand capacity, enhance leadership depth, and position the business for its next phase of growth. Importantly, we did so while preserving the financial characteristics that have long differentiated Armanino - strong margins, consistent cash generation, and a debt-free balance sheet.

As the leading foodservice pesto supplier in the United States, Armanino benefits from a combination of scale, brand trust, and operational expertise that is difficult to replicate. These advantages allow us to grow responsibly - entering new markets, broadening our portfolio, and investing in the systems and talent required to support long-term value creation without compromising financial discipline.

I joined Armanino in May after holding senior leadership roles at global and high-growth food companies, and it was immediately clear that this Company possesses a rare foundation: a category-leading brand, durable customer relationships, and a business model that consistently converts growth into cash flow. Our strategy builds on these fundamentals with a clear objective: to create a larger, more diversified, and globally relevant sauce platform while maintaining attractive returns on invested capital. The results we delivered in 2025 demonstrate that this approach is working.

As a result, we expect to close the year with record full-year revenue and gross margin, reflecting strong demand, focused execution, and the operating leverage embedded in our model. We also completed our BRC audit with an AA rating, reinforcing the high standards for quality, food safety, and operational excellence that enable us to build with confidence.

With this foundation in place, we are now focused on the next phase of Armanino's growth - scaling the business thoughtfully and extending our reach.

Accelerating Growth & Building a Global Brand

Our strategy is anchored in three core pillars.

First, strengthening our U.S. foodservice business. Leveraging our national distribution network, we are focused on driving new customer acquisition while increasing penetration with existing accounts through our core basil pesto and a growing portfolio of complementary sauces. From chimichurri to southwest chipotle and other globally inspired flavors, these products deepen customer relationships, expand wallet share, and reinforce our position as a strategic partner to operators.

Second, unlocking Tier-1 Quick Service Restaurant ("QSRs") opportunities. We see significant white space with leading national QSR brands that do not yet feature pesto or premium sauces on their menus. Our chef-preferred, ready-to-use products are built for QSR operators where speed, consistency, and labor efficiency are critical. These partnerships offer the potential for menu innovation, premium positioning, and long-term volume growth.

Third, advancing our international growth strategy. We are accelerating momentum outside the U.S., with an initial focus on Asia, where we are already seeing meaningful traction. My recent trip to Japan reinforced the depth of our distributor relationships, customer engagement, and chef adoption. Demand for high-quality, flavor-rich sauces is growing, and Armanino's brand is resonating as we expand internationally.

Across each of these pillars, we remain disciplined in pursuing opportunities that broaden brand equity and core financials, while being deliberate in walking away from segments that do not meet our return and margin thresholds. Our focus is on growth that improves efficiency, deepens customer relationships, and enhances margin resilience. This allows expansion to translate into sustained cash flow generation over time, as evidenced by our record performance in 2025.

Leadership Expansion & Capital Deployment

To support our next phase of growth and build on the operating momentum we delivered in 2025, we strengthened our leadership team to sharpen execution, reinforce financial stewardship, and align accountability across the organization.

We appointed Andrew Leonard as Chief Financial Officer, bringing over 25 years of public-company finance experience across financial planning, internal controls, and capital markets. Andrew reinforces our financial foundation as we grow the business, enhance our infrastructure, and evaluate future strategic initiatives, including a potential future uplisting to a senior U.S. exchange.

We also appointed Bryan Jones as Chief Growth Officer, responsible for coordinating our growth strategy across customer acquisition, portfolio expansion, and go-to-market execution in the U.S. and internationally. His focus is on aligning commercial priorities, directing resources toward the highest-return opportunities, and developing the capabilities required to grow efficiently.

To execute against these priorities, Ihab Leheta will join on January 17^th as Vice President of International Sales, bringing more than 30 years of global foodservice experience, and Jaimi St. John joined in September as Vice President of National Accounts, with deep national account leadership from Panera Bread and Chipotle. Together, this team is focused on expanding our customer base and accelerating adoption of our core and secondary sauce portfolio.

Operational excellence remained a priority throughout 2025. We continued to invest in automation, equipment upgrades, and technology to improve efficiency, scalability, and manufacturing capacity in support of ongoing demand.

In parallel, we are taking a forward-looking approach to capacity planning to ensure our manufacturing footprint continues to support the size and complexity of the business over time, consistent with our disciplined, return-driven capital allocation framework.

Together, our investments in leadership, operations, and capacity planning reflect a deliberate approach to scaling the business, one that balances growth, efficiency, and financial rigor. With a debt-free balance sheet and consistent cash generation, we remain well positioned to reinvest in high-return initiatives while continuing to deploy capital to shareholders.

2026 Outlook & Final Thoughts

As we enter 2026, Armanino is transitioning from foundation-building to accelerated execution. We are focused on expanding global distribution of our core basil pesto, increasing adoption of our growing portfolio of secondary sauces, and deepening penetration across our U.S. foodservice network, including active engagement with Tier-1 QSR brands.

With leadership depth, increased manufacturing capabilities, and a focused capital allocation approach, we believe Armanino is well positioned to scale profitably while preserving the financial characteristics that have defined the Company over time. Our objective is clear: to grow the business in a way that compounds shareholder value through consistent execution, durable margins, and strong cash generation.

I am confident in the path ahead and proud of the progress our team has made. I want to thank our Board of Directors for their guidance and support, as well as our shareholders for their continued trust. Most importantly, thank you to our employees and partners for their commitment to building Armanino's future.

Sincerely,
Deanna Jurgens
Chief Executive Officer

About Armanino Foods of Distinction, Inc.

Armanino Foods of Distinction, Inc. (OTCQX:AMNF) is a leading producer and marketer of premium frozen Italian and specialty foods serving retail, foodservice and industrial customers across North America and select international markets. Best known for its top selling Basil Pesto, the Company's product line spans a wide variety of sauces and stuffed pasta dishes, all produced in a British Retail Consortium Global Standards Grade AA facility with rigorous quality systems and scalable packaging formats to meet customer needs. To learn more, please visit the Company's website at armaninofoods.com.

Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Statements in this news release regarding our expectations and beliefs about our future financial performance and trends in our markets are "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigations Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements often include the words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "estimate," "project," or words of similar meaning, or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "would," "should," "could," or "may."

The forward-looking statements in this news release regarding our future financial performance are based on current information and because our business is subject to several risks and uncertainties, actual operating results in the future may differ significantly from the future financial performance expected at the current time. Those risks and uncertainties may include, among others: economic factors affecting consumer confidence and discretionary spending and reducing the consumption of food prepared away from home; cost inflation/deflation and commodity volatility; competition; reliance on third party suppliers and interruption of product supply or increases in product costs; changes in the Company's relationships with customers and group purchasing organizations; the Company's ability to increase or maintain the highest margin portions of the Company's business; achievement of expected benefits from cost savings initiatives; increases in fuel costs; changes in consumer eating habits; cost and pricing structures and other governmental regulation. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release and are based on information and estimates available to the Company at this time. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, except as may be required by law.

Investor Relations Contact

Lucas A. Zimmerman
Managing Director
MZ Group - MZ North America
(262) 357-2918
[email protected]
www.mzgroup.us

SOURCE: Armanino Foods of Distinction, Inc.

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M.White--AT