Good day, and welcome to the Bubs Australia Full Year 2022 Results Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press Star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star one again. For operator assistance throughout the call, please press Star zero. Finally, I would like to advise all participants that this call is being recorded. Thank you. I'd now like to welcome Executive Chairman Dennis Lin to begin the call. Thanks, Dennis.
Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining the Bubs Australia Results Conference Call. I'm joined by Founder, MD, and CEO Kristy Carr, and CFO Iris Ren. The call will be for up to 90 minutes. We will firstly highlight key drivers for the FY 2022 results, our priorities for FY 2023 and beyond, and allocate majority of the time for questions. Please have the investor presentation handy as we will refer to it throughout this call. FY 2022 is a year worth celebrating in many respects. Against continual headwinds, Bubs approached the year with its trademark agility to finding profitable growth and in the process, unlocking a significant new market in USA and sustainable growth possibilities through multiple products and regions. Our growth profile continues to outstrip the overall category trend, including our shareholder return over the last 12 months.
We attribute much of the underlying success to the entrepreneurial spirit of the entire Bubs family, including our strategic partners that are accompanying us along this exciting journey. I will now hand over to Kristy Carr.
Thank you, Dennis. Good morning, everyone. After what can only be described as an extraordinary year, I am first of all delighted to be reporting a maiden underlying EBITDA profit of AUD 4.8 million. To top off the year, our many months of hard work in the United States ensured we were in pole position to help American families while entering a market that remains the home of mass consumption and is notoriously competitive for a new brand to establish itself. We will never forget our roots here in the Australian business and together with our many opportunities in China and Asia generally, our business has many exciting new chapters ahead. These many achievements naturally needed a little bit of right place, right people, and right time along the way, or what some people might refer to as luck.
However, more importantly for me, I strongly believe it came down to our overall strategic foundations in ensuring that we are prepared for weathering the risks as well as being prepared to capitalize on the opportunities when they come knocking. As you can see on the investor presentation if you turn to page six, that we have identified five key drivers of the Bubs winning formula. Firstly, Bubs is a brand families can trust to nourish their child with clean nutrition throughout the first 1,000 days of a life. The Clean Label Purity Award requires a product to go through an independent test for 400 chemical residues before receiving the award. This is, we believe, the next level of infant nutrition in establishing consumer trust in both China and the USA, as well as here in our home market, Australia.
You can also see that we now have a comprehensive high-margin infant formula portfolio that extends to all three of the fastest-growing segments with our most recent launch of the A2 Protein formula range that now sits alongside Bubs Organic Grass Fed Formula and our original easy digest Goat Milk Infant Formula portfolio. This diversification sets our key product assortments that we intend to utilize to tackle our key global markets through our vertically integrated operational knowledge with scale, now increasing operational efficiencies and of course, Bubs' innovative and agile team. The winning formula has led to, on page seven, three important key financial milestones being achieved in FY 2022. Record revenue, record EBITDA profit, and record gross margin.
Our major A2 Protein innovation project throughout the year has significantly contributed to the strong performance in Australian retail, with record sales and market share in all leading supermarket and pharmacy chains, as well as our China [CBEC] business, which now exceeds pre-pandemic levels, underpinned by our strategic partnership with AZ Global, Australia's largest corporate Daigou exporter of infant formula. You can also see that in the space of just two or three months, we are now ranged in over 6,000 retail stores across the United States. This is three times bigger than our current store footprint in Australia. We still believe we have a long way to go in the U.S. And many more milestones to be achieved in FY 2023. Naturally, we read the same news headlines, and we appreciate the market volatility as outlined on page eight.
It is important to remember that infant formula is a branded staple that is essential and often the sole source of nutrition for a baby. As a result, we have been able to work through the input costs to date through a mix of cost improvements and price increases. Through our various levers, we will continue to juggle and balance these variables and respond to market dynamics. Before handing over to Iris Ren to go through the financials in more detail, I wanted to share some of the key highlights with you outlined on page 10. You can see here the incredible year the company has had. Achieving critical scale with over AUD 100 million in gross revenue, an uplift of 123% on the prior year.
The underlying EBITDA profit of AUD 4.8 million is ahead of guidance, driven by a mix of optimization and significant improvement to the group growth margin, now sitting at 32%. We are particularly pleased with our most profitable portfolio segment, infant formula revenue increasing 177% year-on-year. China, as our lead export market, has also returned to high growth with a 166% increase in revenue on the prior corresponding period. Domestic revenue is not just a throwaway metric for Daigou sales recognized in Australia. Our retail scan data across all three major retailers shows Bubs is clearly the fastest-growing manufacturer of infant formula, with circa 39% value growth across the moving annual total. Importantly, following the successful capital raising of AUD 63 million in July, Bubs has sufficient capital strength to fund our future high growth trajectory.
Thanks, Iris.
Thanks, Kristy. In slide 11, that's our key overview of our financial year 2022 results. Gross revenue increased 123% to AUD 104 million, which is driven by strong growth in China and the U.S. market. Revenue increased 127% to AUD 89 million, which is a reflection of more trade spend management. Group gross margin increased to 32%. Excluding the corporate Daigou Actilink transaction, group gross margin is at 35%. This is due to the optimized product and channel mix, efficient trade spend management, improved supply chain efficiency and inventory management. Moving on to OpEx. Overall, OpEx over revenue ratio has improved from 57% to 32%, which demonstrates the efficiency in operating expenses and cost control. All the above factors have contributed to our first underlying EBITDA profit of AUD 4.8 million.
Slide 12 sets out the growth journey of our top line, demonstrates how Bubs was impacted by COVID and how we bounced back post-COVID. Now we have delivered more than AUD 100 million gross revenue. We have established the scale. Our next phase will focus on improving underlying EBITDA while maintaining a high growth rate. In financial year 2022, we delivered significant improvement in growth margin. Slide 13 provides further insights at assortment level. We have removed inventory provision and Actilink transaction in the calculation of product margin to demonstrate a normalized trend. Group branded product margin improved from 24%-36% over the three-year. Infant formula margin has improved from 35%-38%. Infant formula, the margin has improved from 35%-42%. Next slide outlines the key reasons behind this growth margin increase.
We have always focused on the growth of our key product, infant formula. Our infant formula portfolio has increased circa 200% compared to 12 months ago and is now contributing 60% of the group revenue. Channel mix is also heading in the correct direction. China being the most profitable channel, has contributed 55% of group revenue, with revenue up 166% compared to financial year 2021. Margin accretive USA markets contributed 9% of group revenue in financial year 2022. Supply chain efficiency, efficient trade spend management and inventory management also contributed to the growth margin improvement. Based on these factors, we have delivered a growth margin improvement of AUD 40 million, which is the key driver of turning underlying EBITDA to the profitable position.
Although OpEx expenses increased in dollar value, we have delivered the efficiency of operating model, which is supported by the reduced cost of doing business ratio from 57% to 32%. Looking at the strength of our balance sheet on slide 16, cash position down from AUD 28 million to AUD 16 million, with cash outflow in operating activities improved from AUD 23 million to AUD 9 million. Inventory position has returned to the target position at June 30th, 2022 to support the continued growth in China and USA markets. Increase in trade and other receivables reflect the stronger May and June sales compared to the prior year period. Increase in trade and other payables driven by timing of operating expenses and inventory procurement activities in quarter four financial year 2022. Subsequently year-end, the group successfully completed capital raise of AUD 63 million.
The group has a strong balance sheet with sufficient headroom to fund future high growth trajectory. I'm now handing over to Dennis Lin to talk about strategic roadmap.
Thank you, Iris. Earlier, we went through the strategic pillars and our winning formula. Before we look at each key market in a little bit more detail, I think it is telling to look at slide 19. On this page, you can see three of our core markets in their respective market life cycles. As small and mature as the Australian market may be, we believe the home market provides us with the best genuine authenticity to projecting ourselves as true-blue Australian as well as getting feedback from consumers so that our marketing and product developments are based on what consumers need and want. China is a significant market, as you can see. It is also, at the same time, very competitive.
As we have shown over the last several years, we plan to continue with reimagining pathways to market so that we can grow without needing to commit the same level of marketing as our peers. As we often say in Bubs, we find different ways to jump the queue to get to front of the line and top of mind for consumers. In contrast, USA is a very concentrated market. I cannot overstate the importance of having been the first mover and the brand awareness we were able to create through earned media during the infant formula shortage crisis. As well as our ability to be arranged in as many stores as we have without the traditional entry costs such as slotting fees. These are not sugar hits.
Instead, these catalysts break down fundamental barriers to entry for a foreign infant nutrition brand for the first time in many decades in the USA, and the opportunity is very unlikely to be repeated. At the same time, having been through the rigors of the initial FDA process, we believe the enforcement discretion places Bubs in an enviable position of attaining permanent status in the USA. On slide 20, you can see the diversification we have been able to achieve this year on top of record metrics. Kristy will now explain the market in more detail.
Thanks, Dennis. Turning to slide 23, you can see Bubs has grown significantly in both scan sales value and market share over the year. We are incredibly proud of becoming the number one goat infant formula brand in Australia across all three major retailers. This has been achieved in a mature market where a significant multinational corporation had been the long-standing market leader, and we did so without compromising on price or value chain. Our record market share of 4.7% demonstrates Bubs is punching above its weight, ranked in the number six position behind the three multinationals and category leaders in A2 protein and organic category segments. This gives us the underlying confidence of consumer engagement on our home court as well as our team's ability to grow against macro or in a competitive environment.
You can see that we are gaining ground on our organic formula as we become the number two organic formula brand in Australia, and that we have now launched our most premium A2 protein formulation into Coles with symbiotic blend of prebiotics and probiotics, high levels of Omega-3 plant-based DHA and lutein. We have included some detail on China on slides 25 and 26. Given it represented 55% of group revenue in FY 2022, the market is a clear priority for us, and we are delighted with the progress to date, with revenue surpassing pre-pandemic levels in FY 2022. The ongoing theme for China and priorities will be based around visibility, sustainable value chain, and proximity to consumer, notwithstanding the route to market.
During the year, we experienced 29% growth in cross-border e-commerce platforms revenue, and five-fold growth in what is traditionally referred to as Corporate Daigou and is now perhaps best referred to as the recruitment channel. We have worked closely with our strategic partners throughout the year on developing new ways of ensuring a new level of visibility and new user recruitment from brand through to consumer. It reminds us of 2016 when the term Daigou first appeared, and we look forward to sharing that in more detail as the proprietary distribution partnership with AZ Global evolves over the next few months. Our team has also significantly over-delivered within our marketing budget allocation.
China marketing was circa 12% of the overall China revenue in FY 2022, and of particular note is the endorsement from Will Liu and our social media campaign, which generated 390 million views and close to 64,500 Bubs video uploads. Our China team will continue to optimize our resources and ensure that we are able to build brand awareness through the relevant channels in China. During the last quarter of FY 2022, the USA clearly played an important role in significantly accelerating our expectations for market access. Given the recent and overwhelming developments ahead of schedule, we have dedicated several slides to explain and provide more context.
As Dennis mentioned earlier, we have never set out to enter the USA on a temporary basis, and it is pleasing for the FDA Commissioner Robert Califf to confirm the regulator's intent for the eight brands worldwide that have received the Enforcement Discretion to apply for a permanent regulatory status. We do not expect any disruption of being able to continue to supply our products to American families in the long term. It is worth noting that prior to the infant formula crisis, there had already been a sizable gray channel market where American parents sourced infant formula from overseas that had not received FDA approval. This is particularly pertinent to European infant formula brands. By design, Bubs chose to respect the FDA processes and ensure that it did not supply to American parents in this manner.
However, the pattern certainly indicated there is an appetite and desire for innovative infant formula brands from outside the United States. Since the first of six Operation Fly Formula planes funded by the U.S. government touched down, we have delivered over 800,000 tins of infant formula and secured range to the United States and secured ranging in over 6,000 stores, including the top four infant formula retailers being Walmart, Albertsons, Safeway, Kroger and Target. More recently, we entered into a supply agreement with Whole Foods Market to range Bubs infant formula in their 550 stores. Our market entry was significantly aided by the earned media from being one of the very first to be approved and appear on U.S. shelves.
Collective efforts with the U.S. government agencies in co-promoting Bubs Australia as a name to know for U.S. retailers, healthcare professionals, influencers and of course, parents. Without these kick-starts, the USA infant formula market would have been a much longer term prospect for Bubs. We will now ensure that we continue to stay ahead of the curve, and market dynamics give us confidence that the U.S. will be as significant as China is for Bubs in the short to medium term. Overall, this would place Bubs Australia as the only global challenger with a comprehensive clean infant formula portfolio, and we aim to being a meaningful industry participant in both China and the USA, two of the most important and largest markets for infant formula in the world, while continuing to grow our home market of Australia.
Thanks very much for that, Kristy. We have been through a substantial part of the presentation, including a summary of our FY 2023 priorities. As you can see on slide 36, we have clear priorities to execute, many of which will move Bubs into yet the next league again. Last but not least, is a collage of select memories from the last 12 months that I have had the pleasure of choosing. A business cannot function without the entire team, and we are grateful to our Bubs family from around the world. We are on a mission to growing the next generation of happy and healthy families and babies through clean nutrition, and we thank everyone for their commitment and dedication and the wonderful memories we have created together along the way. Thank you, Kristy and Iris. We will now take questions in order. Operator.
Thank you, all speakers. At this time, I would like to remind everyone, in order to ask a question, press star, then the number one on your telephone keypad. We kindly request in the interest of time and to give everyone an opportunity to participate, that you limit your questions to just two questions per person. We'll pause for just a moment to compile the Q&A roster. Your first question comes from the line of Sam Teeger from Citi. Your line is open.
Hi, Dennis, Kristy and Iris. Thanks for the presentation this morning. On Kristy's earlier reference to luck, I think you make your own luck, so congratulations on what the team has accomplished. A couple of questions from me. Based on the current manufacturing performance at Deloraine, are you feeling about 1.5 million tins by mid-November? How much upside could there be in this Enforcement Discretion period?
Sure. No, Sam, thanks very much for that. I think you heard just before that prior to, I guess, the financial year-end last year or FY 2022 we had sent through 540,000 tins under Operation Fly Formula. Over the last four-five weeks you can hear we're required to provide this update to the FDA and the U.S. regulators. We are in constant communication. We have sent through another 260,000 tins. We are currently working on a momentum of anywhere between 100,000-102,000 tins a week.
The top retailers that Kristy had mentioned are requesting, and I think we may have actually included in the slide that they're very excited that we're about to launch into Whole Foods. The initial customer feedback has been incredible. You know, I must say anecdotally, the entire team have been quite touched by the testimonials of some of the American parents. Certainly we're starting to obtain the scan data from, particularly. Given that we sort of started from very much a standing start, we've been quite happy, you know, with how we basically started.
You know, we're certainly looking forward to, I guess, turbocharging that with Kristy and I heading over to the U.S. in the next couple of weeks to work together with the retailers as well as the regulators.
Sure. Just in terms of the U.S., Operation Fly Formula. 260 of that 800 tins didn't go as part of the program. From here, how much will be part of the Operation Fly Formula program versus will you have to freight it yourself? What's the difference in EBITDA margins if you freight it yourself or if it goes as part of Operation Fly Formula?
Sam, the Operation Fly Formula has now come to an end for all manufacturers. Within that period, we obtained six fully chartered 747 flights funded by the U.S. government, which equates to the 540 thousand tins. The next 260 are what we have flown over to the U.S. via regular commercial air freight. We continue to now supply to a combination of commercial air freight and sea freight. We have now moved from, I guess, what was a supply-driven model into a space where we have healthy levels for much of our range in the U.S. that can continue to supply the ongoing demand.
Now, we don't wanna miss this window of opportunity, so we are gonna continue to commercially air freight product while the shelves are still understocked and there is you know a very strong demand for new business and new retail as well as end consumer demand, while the competitive players aren't supplying to meet that demand. We do envisage doing some commercial air freight all the way through to December, but we're simultaneously shifting to sea freight so that we can continue to supply exclusively by sea freight by the end of this calendar year.
Right. That freight-
Obviously, there are margin sort of advantages of having the U.S. government fund the first sort of over 500,000 tins. You know, we're sort of, I guess, offsetting some of that margin win between now and December as we use a combination of air and sea.
Got it. So just to confirm, that freight is in the gross margin. Then if so, how do we think about gross margins in 2023 compared to 2022, if you'll be freighting more by yourself?
Hi, Sam. I think the gross margin sort of percentage will come. We no longer have the sort of assistance from U.S. government freight. Gross margin in dollar value will definitely increase due to the increased contributions from U.S. market. The sort of all the other points.
All right. Thanks.
Sam, perhaps I can sort of just give you a little bit more guidance on that. If we were to include our freight on a commercial basis, we're still looking at USA as our most profitable market in FY 2023.
Okay. Thank you.
Thanks, Sam Teeger. Your next question comes from the line of Paul Jensz from PAC Partners. Your line is open.
Thank you. First question is on what we expect through September from the U.S. and the FDA. What sort of announcements and I suppose timeframe through to September? Maybe Dennis, if you could go through what we can expect.
Paul, for sure. Kristy will also be, you know, she's more the one with a basis with President Biden, so she can probably answer to that question a little bit more. From a regulatory perspective, we are expecting FDA to issue very specific framework and guidelines that only apply to the eight brands that have received enforcement discretion. Depending on how the brands have assisted the American family, specifically, what is referred to as post-marketing activities, that will then really start to drive how the permanent transition would actually occur. We are expecting regulatory framework to be released in late September.
You know, it is the FDA, so I think by late September I would budget for the last day of September for that particular guidance. But we are still in weekly communication in terms of sort of working through as much as we can on that. We'll have something more to discuss, I guess, closer to the date. The key point, however, is there is no interruption intended by the FDA or the U.S. government as we transition from temporary to permanent. Kristy, did you want to add to that?
Yeah. No, I think that last point is key and why management can certainly, you know, through our weekly conversations with the FDA, including regular discussions with Commissioner Robert Califf himself, why management can speak with such conviction on the long-term viability of market access. It's because they have made it very clear and publicly announced that pathway so that we can continue to supply infant formula beyond the November initial discretionary date while we move through that more permanent regulatory pathway.
[Audio distortion].
That was important, obviously, for us as a business, as we're making commercial decisions, that will impact, beyond that date. It was also very important and fed back to the FDA by many industry bodies, at a retail level and at a consumer level.
Paul, I think it's perhaps also relevant to sort of think through. Abbott has in total recalled about 70 million tins of infant formula during the infant formula shortage crisis. By being the first mover, Bubs has now, I guess, become the preferred infant formula for many thousands of American families. It is challenging for the FDA because it no longer makes sense for them to be disrupting the families again from needing to actually change from one brand to the next and then the next.
That's why, Commissioner Robert Califf, who has a background not just as a public servant, so he was a practicing cardiologist, so he has a real and genuine intimate knowledge of, I guess, family needs. That really came through when Kristy and I guess, met with him on a couple of occasions.
I think also, Paul, that really plays to why we went out so hard and fast with the bricks-and-mortar widespread retail distribution strategy, as opposed to perhaps what could have been a more narrow and deep strategy with e-commerce or one retailer. We really wanted to maximize our footprint in this window of opportunity across all of the major retailers nationwide.
Excellent. Switching across to China then, maybe this will go to Dennis. I'll tell it's a very comprehensive response, and it looks like it's a one-step with the U.S. as well. Maybe that's. Could I just clarify that? It's not as though we're gonna have, I suppose, a two-step approval. There's gonna be something in September, then they'll go to January or somewhere.
Paul, that's right. There is no intentional discussion. Obviously, everything is subject to, I guess, what the regulator may actually push out. It is very unlikely for there to be, you know, I sort of say similar to, you know, everyone will be familiar, I'm guessing, with our industry peer story. This is not a case of getting a transition to February and then needing to apply for a new set of standards. This will be very much a one-step.
Yep. Thank you. Then clicking across to China, where there are sort of multiple steps and processes as we're going to this new regime with formulations and that sort of thing over the next six months. Can you paint how your system will minimize the, I suppose, the disruption? Because it looks like there's gonna be a number of disruptions across the market with the changes in formulations and same here in the next three- six months in China.
Yeah. Paul, look, how long do we have?
Just 30 seconds.
Look, we obviously play in the China infant formula market. I appreciate that, you know, our business is very small and relative to our peers, and we only have English label. It's important to remember that ultimately, we are still feeding the same population and the same consumers and the same babies. Therefore, we still very much see ourselves as competing in, if you like, the same environment. The question is not just about, I guess, the pricing architecture, or whether we're selling through TVC or whether we're selling through O2O or Daigou.
The question really comes back to, from a consumer-centric point of view, how much is the consumer willing to pay and how does that work in a sustainable value chain? Is there enough margin for people to want to be promoting your brand? Is your brand authentic and has the most innovative formulations to allow for the Chinese mothers and, you know, caregivers to be comfortable enough to be purchasing your brand. Those are some of the very key factors.
When we actually look at the various channels to market, I think COVID was one of the key catalysts. If you look at 2016 when the industry was first introduced to the lovely Chinese name of Daigou, and then subsequently in 2018, we really spent the last three years doing, I would say, a lot of work in the background in ensuring that we are really interpreting how the world would work in the route to market. You know, for us, the Chinese brand, together with the foreign brands, you know, the margin is decreasing significantly in the channels.
We really see it as an opportunity for us in FY 2023 to genuinely break out, not just in taking advantage of a potential vacuum in Australia because some brands may have actually shifted their direction to another jurisdiction, as well as in China. If you look at the infant formula businesses of Chinese companies being Feihe, H&H, Ausnutria, there's a reason why their margins have all significantly decreased because they have not achieved, I guess the ideal supply-demand equilibrium.
Our challenge, which I sort of noted in the outlook is, for Bubs to aspire to be very much the first brand that can achieve and communicate that level of visibility, not just for us as a management platform, but also to have the ability to communicate and convey that confidence to, I guess, the consumer and also to the investors. That for us is absolutely critical. You know, as we saw, I guess not in our industry, but, in similar category in FMCG that, you know, I guess, we want the products to be ending up in the final consumer hands because that's how a business does well.
Dennis, Kristy, and Iris, I'll go back in the queue.
Thanks, Paul.
Thank you, Paul.
Thanks, Paul. If you would like to ask a question, as a reminder, please press star one on your telephone keypad. Your next question comes from the line of Jonathan Snape from Bell Potter. Your line is open.
Yeah, thanks. Just a couple questions if I can. First of all, just around the sales mix this year and heading into next year, and more importantly, just looking at the ingredient number this year, it was quite material from a revenue point of view, and I think if you unwind some of the reversals on the provisions, it looked like it was probably a negative contributor at the gross margin level. As you start selling more infant formula, do you anticipate a material step down in the ingredients contribution and therefore those losses as well, that business has been booking for the last couple of years?
Yeah. Jonathan, maybe I'll just give you the high level response to that and then hand to Iris to provide the metrics. Yes, we absolutely will be deprioritizing the ingredient sales in FY 2023. Although they were not loss-making, they were a very low margin throughout the year. You know, often we would look at the ingredient sales as a sort of strategic procurement. Being able to buy particular ingredients in a greater volume than what we needed for our own products enabled us to reduce the cost of goods in our own products.
As we move into this macro environment as the milk price increases, for example, and you know and other, I guess, global metrics like currency exchange and so forth, this is not a priority for us moving forward and won't be a key part of the FY 2023 mix.
Great.
Yeah, Jonathan.
Yep.
Add just a bit more. As part of the ingredient sales, there's also a portion, it's the A2 box powder. We have to sort of sell it at a cost to help us to navigate the challenge that we face in COVID. The contribution, the revenue contribution percentage in financial year 2023 would definitely coming down. I just want to highlight the product margin at group level with 36%, which doesn't include the, you know, the ingredients and the Deloraine canning, so it's purely at product level, and then we expect to further improve that in financial year 2023.
Yeah. I think if you took the 36% on the products, unwound, I think there's like AUD 5 million in there, I think is impairments of inventory in the past, then it kind of looked like that ingredients business was, I'd say it made a margin. It kind of looked like it lost money, if you took out that AUD 5 million unwind. Am I reading that wrong? 'Cause it looked to me like that would be a pretty big tailwind for GM next year.
No, it's not at a loss. It's at a break-even.
Okay.
Single digit.
Okay, great. All right. Cool.
Yeah.
Look, just another financial question. The working capital number, in particular on the payables. I think there's a AUD 7.7 million prepayment in there. Can I just get what that's in relation to? Is that part of the Alpha arrangements or is it something else?
Yeah. You would have seen in our accounts under other assets, there is a prepayment of raw materials, roughly about AUD 8 million, which covers our procurement for infant formula and especially the Supreme, the new product. To help us to sort of overcome the cash flow challenge, we entered into arrangement with Corporate Daigou to receive a deposit from them to help us to underwrite the cash flow exposure. I mean, that represents cash receipts in advance for our Supreme products.
Jonathan.
Yeah.
I think it's probably, you know, you went through the annual report very quickly. I guess to answer that particular question, Iris sort of provided the answer in relation to the financials. I think it's worth sort of noting the underlying confidence in the potential success of the new Bubs A2 Supreme line, in our confidence of, I guess, being able to, you know, recruit new users and fulfill any vacuum that other people may be leaving behind, to the point that I guess the partnership is quite intertwined. That's what partners should do and as it should be.
Okay. Is that something that will go for like an A2 prepaid similarly, when they put in the orders for all their constituents? Is that something that would happen with the Alpha agreement ongoing, given you signed that exclusive arrangement, I think, back in early August, didn't you, over that same plan?
No, but it will revert back to more normal. It was more the fact that, you know, as you can probably understand, for a company the size of Bubs to be launching a product of that particular scale, of that size, we really needed to have a genuine level of confidence, even with one of our best partners. You know, there's no better confidence than money in the bank and having it in our wallet to have that level of confidence to be able to actually co-develop, I guess, the product together to ensuring that it's suitable for the consumer needs.
One of the items I should probably sort of mention with A2 Supreme, and Kristy sort of mentioned it, is the plant-based DHA. It's not a point that is usually sort of caught on by Australian mothers and consumers, but it's quite relevant in China, and it's very, very specifically designed to ensure that the Chinese consumers will pick that up as a very advanced formulation.
All right. Great. Thanks, Dennis. Thanks, Iris and Kristy.
Thank you, Jonathan.
There are no further questions at this time. I would like to turn the call back over to Executive Chairman, Dennis Lin, for closing statements.
Okay. Now, the operator. Look, thank you very much everyone for joining the call and for the questions that have been asked. As always, thank you for your time, thank you for your support and interest in Bubs, and we look forward to continuing to keep you informed throughout our journey. Thank you very much and have a good day.