Welcome, everyone, and thanks for joining us. I'm Michael Lavery, the food and beverage analyst here at Piper. And big pleasure today to have Celsius with us. We've got CEO John Fieldly and CFO Jarrod Langhans. It's been on a tear. If you haven't looked at the stock, you might not know what you've been missing, but they've been doing a real nice job. Let's jump in. Just first, maybe could you tell us a little bit about some of the top-line drivers? We see accelerating pretty significant growth.
Yeah, yeah.
We just saw the latest scanner data. We get the IRI that had you up 144%, I think, in the latest four weeks. Faster, each period has been accelerating faster still. Can you just help us unpack some of what's driving that and,
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
How to think about that US... the measured retail piece in the US?
Yeah, no, thanks for having us as well. It's exciting to be here, and, yeah, it must be the Celsius. I mean, the company's been on a tear. I think, when you look at what's happening in the category, you know, it's Celsius is really capitalizing on three of the fastest-growing trends in food and beverage. So everyone wants better for you, but they don't want to sacrifice flavor. So we deliver on that with seven essential vitamins and great flavor combinations, probably some of the most innovative flavors in the industry. And then, when you look at functionality, we deliver on that. The consumers want more out of the foods and beverages they consume. And then fitness is, you know, hip, cool, sexy, premium, and align with today's health-minded consumer, and that's in our DNA, and that's who we are.
So at Celsius, Live Fit and Essential Energy inside and outside the gym. And when you look at some of the key drivers, we're coming up on our 1-year anniversary with the Pepsi partnership. They sold their first case in October last year, so that's been a really big driver. Brought our ACV from about 60% to over 95% today. I talked about some of the latest scan data. I didn't see the latest data that came out in the last week or so. But if you look at, like, the August thirteenth data, and you look at the 24-week and 52-week, Celsius was one of the main drivers in not only dollars, but units. And units are really important, right? Because you're bringing new consumers into the category, really building the brand and the portfolio.
And then, when you look at the other drivers that we see, we're seeing, you know, that distribution has expanded. We're seeing new consumers come into the category, and the latest Mintel data shows that Celsius, our consumers are about 44% new to category. So that's, we're really incremental, and that's what we're seeing on the mix. And what we're doing is working. We're expanding into new markets, and it's exciting.
So I want to touch on... There's a few things there we can dig into a little bit more. I want to touch on some of the differentiation. You know, I think when we were looking at the name in our initiation, what really stood out is how the packaging, the flavor profiles, there's quite a bit that makes it distinct relative to other energy drinks. How do you think about that? And you mentioned that how many users are new to the category. Have you seen that evolve over time? Is that increasing at all? And where are those consumers coming from? Is it other, you know, is there like a coffee occasion they're replacing or, you know, has... Tell us more about how that consumer comes to the category.
Yeah, we had a lot of questions on that today from a lot of investors. And it's, you know, when you look at the Celsius portfolio and you look at it, you know, versus traditional energy, it's really inviting. We have, you know, it looks... We hear that a lot. We also hear from our consumers that they don't drink energy drinks. They're not energy drink consumers. You talk about usage occasions, you know, and you see, like, what's interesting with Celsius, a lot of our consumers consume it with lunch. So we think there's a huge opportunity with food service, expanding that energy occasion. And we just launched in over 2,000 Jersey Mike's, so that's going to be a really good indicator on how this performs in fast casual.
Then, when you look at the partnership with Pepsi, the amount of distribution you can gain in fast casual, which is outside of that traditional energy drink, you know, convenience, where 78% are sold, should be a great opportunity to really test that thesis out. We do extremely well on Amazon. We're about over 18% share. The club business has been, we're about a year and a half in, almost going on two years, and doing extremely well in the club business. You know, the flavor combinations with innovation. Jarrod's got a Cosmic Vibe, which is a sparkling fruit punch. We just launched at Circle K, which is, you know, out of this world with Cosmic Vibe.
Now, there's aliens that are identified, so it really goes on, you know, consumer trends and what's in the news we can leverage. But, you know, it's. We've done great. Oasis Vibe, I've had a couple back there that I think I've gotten grabbed. It's a prickly pear lime. We launched it at Coachella. A lot of great, you know, strategies behind that on leveraging social media and influencers. And then we had a Green Apple Cherry we just launched at 7-Eleven, which is one of our top-selling flavors at 7-Eleven right now. And, that's what makes us unique with our consumers, too, is we got great flavors, and we see our consumers are very loyal to Celsius, but they will move in between flavors as well, so.
No, so that's great. So yeah, food service, club, Amazon, you're ripping right down my list. We'll come back to all those. But let's come back to distribution for a minute. I want to understand... I think, somebody maybe new to the story, there, could be tempting to think that you hit October first, and it's all over. You're lapping the Pepsi list, and, you know, then that's it. But we've looked at this, and even since just January, the sequential total distribution points have increased an average of 4% per month. It's still building.
Can you bring to life a little bit of some of how that looks in terms of secondary placements or facings and just how the distribution can grow within the stores you're in, as opposed to just white space that you referred to with the ACV list?
Yeah. Okay.
... Yeah, so I mean, just because we hit 95 doesn't mean the game's over and we go home, right? So we're at about 14.6 average SKUs per location. So if you look at the top two players, they're probably in that 25-30 range, but then they're also double faced, triple faced, 10 times faced. So we've got a huge opportunity to get better placement, more SKUs, double faced, triple faced. We talked about the Vibe line here. He's got. Which one do you got? Orange. So that's our core line. So the more fruit-forward line, and then we've got our Vibe line that we're bifurcating to create kind of two different brands within the brand, right?
So we're looking to really expand that and look for a shelf for each or two shelves for each, or three shelves for each. So there's a lot of opportunity within that. That 95 ACV just means we're in the door, but, you know, once you're in the door, you wanna get out of the crack, you wanna get out of the gutter, you wanna have really good placement, and that'll drive velocity, and that'll drive further market share.
Yeah, and I think when you... You know, we're getting ready for NACS as well, in the first week of October, where buyers and convenience really, you know, start their review season for next year. And when you go back and you think of where we were 12 months ago, we were sitting at about a 3.4% share in the category, and today, we're on a trajectory to be a 10% share. So, you know, which hasn't been done in the last decade, which is really an amazing feat for the team, the brand, and the partnership with Pepsi as well.
You know, when you see, you know, when you're going into buyer review meetings from a 3.4% share brand to, you know, a 10% share brand with increased unit sales and, and dollars, that puts you in a different prioritization list and different conversations that you're able to have with these buyers. And so we're really excited about heading into buyer season and review season to add what Jared's talking about, getting that, you know, better placement, getting out of the gutter, as they call it, and getting into the bull's eye. You know, consumers are, we're all creatures of habit. We go to the same store, the same convenience store, the same restaurant, the same gym. So it's really about, you know, gaining that point of interruption. So we can do top funnel marketing to try to build that awareness.
We need to gain trial, and then that's where we can convert into loyalty. And once we get a consumer, our consumers are really loyal. Look at the sales on Amazon, you know, that's all warm product that people are paying over $20 a case for. That has to, you know, be shipped to their house. They have to chill it and drink it as part of a daily routine, daily lifestyle. So it's really leveraging this Pepsi partnership is gaining that, the tapping into that impulse purchase, that cold purchase, those secondary purchases that are available out there that really drive the energy category.
And so if you get better awareness, better visibility, likely better trial from better placement, more facings, even better assortment, because to your point, it's not a single SKU that really does all the work, more like maybe in Red Bull's case. And so now that you're coming into these resets again, another cycle, have you had those conversations yet? Is that just getting started? Is it, you know, kind of a continuous thing that not even just this next year, but if your momentum continues, you'll be a year from now, looking at another wave again? Is it kind of a lather, rinse, repeat?
Yeah, it is. I mean, we've already had some of the top retailers. We had a pre-meeting with Walmart that went extremely well, so we're excited about that. And you know, we'll get into review meetings as we further refine, but just some exploratory meetings, and really have never been invited to exploratory meetings before. You know, as a 3-share brand, you don't get invited to those. So it's an honor to be there. We actually flew out to California, and it was great sitting with their leadership team there, and I think there's a lot of opportunities. I mean, if you look at Walmart, they drive... It's the biggest energy seller of all retailers, and so there's lots of opportunities there. They're really under-indexed versus where we are on a national level.
So we need to close the gap, and that's where distribution, placement, having the right assortment. I think, you know, what Jarrod touched on, when you look at our Vibe line and you look at our core line, we think there's really a big opportunity to bifurcate those two lines, and it really provides our sales team to sell two unique portfolios. The Vibe line is more, really, experiential. We have great experiential flavors and unique combinations, versus the core line is very fruit-forward, and we're going after really the most refreshing energy drink, you know, on the planet, and we win on that.
So there's a little bit different marketing and messaging around those, and we're also seeing potentially, somewhat different usage occasions or different consumers, that are attracted to those two portfolios, so.
No, that's great. And so you touched on Amazon. Can you give a sense of what your share is there, and has it been impacted at all by broader distribution? It seems like if you're selling cases, it may be more heavier users who just don't wanna lug a case home from the store, as opposed to people who, you know, now it's hard to think somebody's ordering on Amazon because they don't have the product available nearby.
Right. Right.
What's their Amazon consumer like, and how has that business been doing?
I mean, we're, you know, just under a 19% share on the last data pool, so we're a couple% below Monster. So we're well ahead of Red Bull on Amazon. But if you look at our last, our Q2 reporting, we're in excess of 100% growth in all channels, right? So MULO-C, Amazon, Club. So as we're continue to expand and get more availability and build more brand awareness, we're not cannibalizing anywhere. So we're seeing... And it's somewhat of a different consumer. Like he said, Amazon might be that more loyal consumer that has the repeat purchases. They don't mind having a, you know, a 18-pack that's warm, that they're gonna have to stick in the fridge. You know, we got the impulse buyer now with the C&G and the MULO-C.
And then we got the Costco consumer that, again, is similar to the Amazon, but again, it's not cannibalizing anything, so we're just seeing growth all throughout.
Yeah, I agree. I think you know, you would think you would get some cannibalization either on Amazon or in the club channel or in, you know, large format. And it's, like Jarrod said, the tides are rising. It's really exciting, and it's—I think it's different consumers, right? I think you got a different shopper at Costco versus you do on Amazon. And then when you look at convenience and gas and some of the opportunities we're in, we're also the number one energy drink sold through Instacart. So I think that's, you know, that's really unique as well.
I think that's a big opportunity, this omni-channel world, within Instacart and, you know, potentially Delivery Dudes as we get more into, you know, fast casual and those type of opportunities ahead of us. But, it's been... Amazon's been one of a key growth factor for us for, you know, I mean, I've been with the company 12 years, and it's been a key growth factor every single year.
So one of the questions we get a lot is: What is the market share ceiling? You know, you've touched on how it's, you know, other than Red Bull and Monster, obviously, there's not somebody who's really stayed above that 10% threshold. Can you maybe touch on, you know, you've got the basically 19% share on Amazon. Can you touch on how you're positioned in South Florida, where you're more established, you're based there? What have you seen in that market?
Yeah. So we, you know, we used to say, you know, where could we, where could we be and how big could we be? And we used to say, "Well, somewhere between Amazon, where every brand's kind of treated equal and has the same opportunity, to the 3% share where we are nationally today." And then we got a lot of people were second-guessing or questioning the Amazon, saying, "That's not the average consumer, that's not the average shopper," which I kind of flipped that story because I think that's an extremely loyal shopper that's on Amazon because of that warm package and the $20 purchase. Trying to get someone new to spend $20 on a product is practically near impossible or very difficult.
And then, when you look at, you know, so we throughout the South Florida market, and we have been there in South Florida for some time. But if you In April, we released the market share data. It was 21.7% share in South Florida, and then, most recently, on the August thirteenth data, it was 23.5. So we added about 2 share points in South Florida in 2 months, which is, you know, an amazing feat. And, you know, South Florida is really. It's very transient. You get a lot of people in for spring break, a lot of people in South Florida coming through their vacation. So we figured that that is a good market to throw out as another data point that people can talk about.
I guess the downside on this one is that it's now in our backyard, so maybe it's not as equal as an opportunity. So I think on the next earnings call, we'll throw out a couple markets that, maybe Buffalo, New York, which we haven't really marketed, and it's all the way north, and maybe some other markets that we have out there. But South Florida is great, and I think that's just another data point that this brand can perform extremely well. And it's the energy category is growing, you know, and it's expanding, and you're seeing this category has evolved beyond just energy, and Celsius is a key driver on that. We're differentiated. It's almost Energy 2.0. It's...
I can't tell you the amount of people that I speak with, even at this conference, that come in and said they substitute their afternoon coffee with a Celsius. And then you ask them if they're an energy drink consumer, and they say, "No." You know, it's just fascinating where this brand has evolved, and it's the team's done a great job.
So let's touch on food service again just for a minute. You mentioned the launch into Jersey Mike's. With your partnership with Pepsi, how does it work for some of those expansion opportunities? Is it do you jointly talk to potential customers, or are they driving that? Is that more your sales side? How does that look, and what are some of the wins that might be on the horizon there as well?
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, so we actually, through a Ramon recommendation, brought a guy out of retirement that had worked in food service for Pepsi, so we brought him onto our side. So he obviously knows the Pepsi system and how to navigate through the system. So a lot of it's gonna be joint partnerships, and using all his connections within Pepsi, but then his connections within food service. And, you know, the population size is really who Pepsi is already delivering to. 'Cause from a distribution perspective, it's not gonna—for us to go find some 2,000 other restaurants, it's not gonna make sense from a profitability perspective. But that kind of gives us the universe, so you've got a lot of the, you know, former young brand type companies, that are opportunity sets.
You've got the Marriotts of the world, the Hyatts, the Sheratons, colleges and universities. Pepsi has about 60% of the college population that we can attack. We got into Lowe's through Pepsi, so it, it's a, it's really a part of expanding the partnership, and it's, it's incremental opportunities and, and incremental runway that we have to our access, with Pepsi.
And I think, you know, what we have is, we have a thesis that we're trying to, we're gonna get some more data on this, but, we were speaking with, like, Delivery Dudes and trying to get some really understandings. We, we need some more data points, but there is a, the kind of a thesis that these delivery, when people are ordering food through delivery apps, they're not really... The amount of sales that are leveraging the fountain is, is, is somewhat low. So a lot of people are either not getting a beverage, included in that delivered item, when it's delivered, and if we can be incremental to that basket ring and that dollar profit, that could be a really great story that we can unlock.
And then also, at fast casual, we see our Celsius consumers. We have a small data set that looks at the consumer really not purchasing the fountain drink, is actually getting water out of the filtered water. So, you know, that's a lost sale, potentially. If we can show we're incremental to that consumer, that basket ring, dollar ring, I think that could be really successful.
Yeah
... to the overall story for food service. And we have a ton of cafeterias around the office in South Florida, and I see it in a variety of other offices, like when you go through airports, now that we've gained access in airports with Pepsi, you see people consuming Pepsi or consuming Celsius with some type of meal item, a sandwich, and some other items. So, it makes it differentiated and open up to more opportunity with for consumption.
So we've been focused on the U.S. Let's switch to international. How do you think about that opportunity, and what's next for you there?
Yeah, I mean, listen, the same, the global trends that we have, the same trends we have in the U.S. are global trends. You know, and the world has gotten so small, it's one click away. You know, so leveraging, you know, marketing and, we get a lot of, lot of feedback from other markets, about opportunities to distribute Celsius. We are in Sweden. We have a little over a 10% share in the market. We're growing in Finland. We have some distribution in South Korea. We have distribution, initially, seeded right now in Taiwan. We're looking at other APAC markets. We're in Hong Kong. We have a licensing royalty agreement in China. We have some distribution in Malaysia and the Philippines, and I'm looking at some other markets that you wanna kind of talk about here?
Yeah, so we're you know, this year has been a lot of planning, and connecting with the, the European and the APAC teams from Pepsi, and really just get everything set up. We'll launch in some markets in 2024. Like John said, we've seeded a bunch of markets already, but I would look at that as more of a 2025 and 2026 opportunity. It's really about doing the planning this year, getting and building the blueprint next year and the launch plans, and then kind of refining those, and then get to 2025, get to 2026, and that's where you'll see more activity from a, an outside market perspective. So there's so much runway in the US right now that we don't wanna take the eye off the prize and, and the team's focus away from the US.
So, you know, we see the US as just a significant opportunity, and so, instead of jumping out to a bunch of other countries and other markets, we're gonna stay focused here. We will lay the groundwork for the international markets, but, you know, we're at $310 million in the US sales just last quarter alone, so... We're growing at 100%. So I think that's where we need to keep our focus. But again, we'll launch out into a number of markets. We'll build a blueprint. We'll build a plan, and then we'll get rolling after that.
Our blueprint, as you know, we've identified, we know how to activate, we know how to build awareness and build loyalty within the Celsius consumer portfolio. So we got the right strategy. We've demonstrated it in multiple markets, in the US, and Sweden has been a turnaround market for us. We've been in Sweden for some time, and that's turned around and, you know, with our strategies that we have, as well as in Finland, we've only been there about two years, and that's like a high single digit market share right now and growing. So we've got a winning strategy, and we need to make sure timing and sequencing is so important, you know, and distractions as well. You know, Jared said that just the opportunity in the US right now is just massive.
And then, you know, I think being very strategic on our approach within the leadership team and how we add resources is gonna be critical, versus going into a new market and maybe, you know, doing like, you know, getting 95% ACV with a big partnership opportunity and then, you know, then we're chasing to try to gain, you know, rotation at retail. And the reality of it is, you got six months to perform at retail, otherwise you're out. So you got to keep that in your mindset. So when we land, when we expand in the market, we need to make sure we're building that loyal consumer to continue to build upon that, 'cause you're only new once in a market, right? And it needs to be done right.
Yeah. Nope, that makes sense. You've touched on how you can differentiate, you know, kind of the two, you know, a sub-brand and, and, you know, shape your portfolio that way. Any other innovation in the works? You know, I think similarly to how you talk about the U.S. being such an opportunity and not wanting to get too distracted too quickly with international, it would make sense because this, you know, this core is really doing the work, and you, you don't wanna kind of take your eye off that. But anything maybe, you know, down the line, or how do you think about, you know, building out the portfolio with anything else?
Yeah, I mean, we have a cross-functional team that meets every month. You know, we're always looking at new innovation. There's a variety of opportunities with functional hydration, you could do. There's so many new ingredients on the market. I think, you know, the question is, you know, number one is focus, is very important right now with our core portfolio. But then when you look, like, where is Celsius, you know, 3, 5 years, 10 years down the road, can the Celsius portfolio be like a Gatorade brand that can—as very versatile? And so those are things that we look at. I think there's opportunities. I do think Celsius can play in functional waters, can play in hydration. Right now we have a big powder opportunity as well. We don't really market the powder product. It's an on-the-go stick.
It's in Walmart, it's in Target, it's in... We're getting it placed in other retailers. It's in Kroger and several other chains, but that's gonna be—that's over a $100 million business, and growing rapidly. So the on-the-go stick opportunity is something we're looking on further expanding. A lot of people mix it with smoothies, and it's great on the go. So I think that's an opportunity we could play in hydration within that set too. I mean, there's other brands that are doing extremely well in there.
And then just maybe one last one. Let's come back to margins. You know, your second quarter margins were well above, I think, what anybody expected. You know, you've called out some extra spending and promotional spending and marketing spending in the third quarter, so it's obviously at least gonna have a little bit of a sequential pullback. But how do you think about the margin outlook or profile, and what should investors have in their minds as far as, you know, kind of a sustainable range or, you know, place for your margin? Your-- I'm thinking EBITDA margins in particular for those to live.
I mean, Monster set the gold standard, right? So that's, that's what we strive to do, to get, to get to where their margins were historically. I know we've all had a little bit of supply chain hiccups over the last few years, so their, their margins are down a little bit, but they're working them back to, to where they have been. So that's, that's where we strive to be ultimately. You know, with 100% growth right now, we're, we're more focused on making sure that we're investing behind that growth, so we are giving up a little bit of margin. But it is profitable growth and, you know, the money we're making today, we're, we're reinvesting that in, into the, the future growth of the business.
So, while we're on this, you know, significant increase from a growth perspective, we're gonna continue to invest behind that growth. But we do see opportunities from a gross margin perspective to, you know, to slowly leverage that business and, and over time, from a sales and marketing perspective. We are putting the, the sales and marketing dollars to better use, you know, as we continue to build the brand and become a bigger brand. It's not just us going out and trying to find influencers or trying to find partners. We actually have... you know, it's inbound as well. You know, a lot of people wanna be associated with us, just like we wanna be associated with them, so we are able to get better bang for our buck from a sales and marketing perspective, and we'll continue to do that.
But it's really getting to those EBITDA margins that you see Monster deliver, you know, time and time again.
Yeah, there's lots of leverage in the system as you scale between G&A and, like, Jarrod's mentioned, the sales and marketing piece. Like, with the 95% ACV with improved shelf placement, your dollar is gonna be more effective, more efficient as we go, and continue to scale this business.
Yeah. Nope, that makes sense. You've touched on how you can differentiate, you know, kind of the two, you know, a sub-brand and, and, you know, shape your portfolio that way. Any other innovation in the works? You know, I think similarly to how you talk about the US being such an opportunity and not wanting to get too distracted too quickly with international, it would make sense because this, you know, these, this core is really doing the work, and you, you don't wanna kind of take your eye off that. But anything maybe, you know, down the line, or how do you think about, you know, building out the portfolio with anything else?
Yeah, I mean, we have a cross-functional team that meets every month. You know, we're always looking at new innovation. There's a variety of opportunities with functional hydration you could do. There's so many new ingredients on the market. I think, you know, there's... The question is, you know, number one is focus, is very important right now with our core portfolio. But then when you look, like, where is Celsius, you know, 3, 5 years, 10 years down the road, can the Celsius portfolio be like a Gatorade brand that can- as very versatile? And so those are things that we look at. I think there's opportunities. I do think Celsius can play in functional waters, can play in hydration. Right now we have a big powder opportunity as well. We don't really market the powder product. It's an on-the-go stick.
It's in Walmart, it's in Target, it's in... We're getting it placed in other retailers. It's in Kroger and several other chains, but that's gonna be over $100 million business and growing rapidly. So the on-the-go stick opportunity is something we're looking on further expanding. A lot of people mix it with smoothies, and it's great on the go. So I think that's an opportunity we could play in hydration within that set, too. I mean, there's other brands that are doing extremely well in there.
Then just maybe one last one. Let's come back to margins. You know, your second quarter margins were well above, I think what anybody expected. You know, you've called out some extra spending and promotional spending and marketing spending in the third quarter, so it's obviously at least gonna have a little bit of a sequential pullback. But how do you think about the margin outlook or profile, and what should investors have in their minds as far as, you know, kind of a sustainable range or, you know, place for your margin? Your margin? I'm thinking EBITDA margins in particular for those to live.
I mean, Monster set the gold standard, right? So that's what we strive to do, to get to where their margins were historically. I know we've all had a little bit of supply chain hiccups over the last few years, so their margins are down a little bit, but they're working them back to where they have been. So that's where we strive to be ultimately. You know, with 100% growth right now, we're more focused on making sure that we're investing behind that growth, so we are giving up a little bit of margin. But it is profitable growth and, you know, the money we're making today, we're reinvesting that into the future growth of the business.
So, while we're on this, you know, significant increase from a growth perspective, we're gonna continue to invest behind that growth. But we do see opportunities from a gross margin perspective to, you know, to slowly leverage that business. And, and over time, from a sales and marketing perspective, we are putting the sales and marketing dollars to better use. You know, as we continue to build the brand and become a bigger brand, it's not just us going out and trying to find influencers or trying to find partners. We actually have... you know, it's inbound as well. You know, a lot of people wanna be associated with us, just like we wanna be associated with them, so we are able to get better bang for our buck from a sales and marketing perspective, and we'll continue to do that.
But it's really getting to those EBITDA margins that you see Monster deliver, you know, time and time again.
There's lots of leverage in the system as you scale between G&A and, like, Jarrod's mentioned, the sales and marketing piece. Like, with the 95% ACV with improved shelf placement, your dollar is gonna be more effective, more efficient as we go, and continue to scale this business.
Yeah. Just out of time, but perfect. Great update. Thanks for all your input, and thanks for being here with us today.
Uh-huh. Thank you.
Thank you, everyone.