It's really exciting, not only what's going on with CELSIUS, but the energy category as a whole. We've seen great fundamentals within the category. When you look back where we were at this conference last year, the category was in a negative growth rate. It's really, it's stabilized in Q4. We started to see the category come back in Q1 and Q2. It's going double-digit growth rates and even today. Really good to see. CELSIUS portfolio, we've seen great growth within the CELSIUS portfolio, roughly around a 10, 11 share as we sit today. We're investing behind a LIVE. FIT. GO. campaign we kicked off this year, which we're really excited about, especially heading into the back half of this year.
We have a lot of programming and some advertising that'll be taking place around the NFL for the first time with some media buys we're doing to enhance and really own the LIVE. FIT., CELSIUS LIVE. FIT., inspires you inside and outside the gym. We have the exciting acquisition that happened this year. It's been a busy year for us so far. We announced the acquisition of Alani Nu. If you're not familiar with it, we do have samples outside. It is a female-focused brand. It's inviting, it's approachable, with fun flavors, very inspiring, and they have some unique flavor profiles. One is Witches Brew, which is a Halloween-themed flavor that's out there. We have some samples to try. It's been doing extremely well and growing. First kickoff of the integration was April 1st. Fully started that integration process in the second quarter.
We did put up record revenues and profits, gross profits, and EBITDA in the second quarter. Now we just announced a transaction with our North America and Canada distribution partner, Pepsi. That was on Friday. The company will be a category captain of the energy drink category for Pepsi. We're bringing on Alani Nu into the PepsiCo distribution system. We are acquiring Rockstar Energy within that transaction, and Pepsi has further increased their ownership stake within the company and added a board seat, which further ties in our strategic position with them, not only from a commercial standpoint, but also at the highest level from an investor stakeholder standpoint. Really exciting times where we sit, and we're going to talk more about that in different areas, but yeah, we're glad to be here.
That's great. Just focusing on the agreement with Pepsi, what does that really mean though for CELSIUS ' long-term strategy?
Yeah, I think when you look at the long-term strategy, you know, really tying into strategic partners is really critical, especially distribution. The name of this game in consumer products, I mean, the consumer conference, it's one thing, you know, getting a retailer and getting it to a consumer. It's a whole other thing on getting it to shelf. Getting it to, being able to get it to shelf is so important, especially in the energy category, which is extremely highly competitive. Impulse purchases drive over 50%. It's all about product placement, cold placement, and maintaining stock availability. When you look at, you know, some of the largest brands that are out there, they're really successful, like Red Bull and Monster. Red Bull has a dedicated network. You look at Monster with a dedicated network through Coca-Cola.
Now with CELSIUS Holdings, with this partnership, we're tied in at a strategic level with three great brands that allow us to compete within the energy category, targeting different unique consumer segments within that. We're seeing more females come to the category than ever before. [Kaltame] is driving the category, and sugar-free is driving, which is over 50% of the share of the category and growing. It really is the growth driver. The route to market is so critical. This really allows us to really dial in with our strategic partner at the highest level for commercial planning, priority periods, planograms. I don't know, Toby, you want to talk about some of the planograms that this has? This really opens us up, which is something unique we didn't have access to before, which allows us to really control some of our destiny.
Quite a bit more space within the planograms is going to be allocated towards our entire portfolio. That means more space for CELSIUS , a lot of space for Alani , and then space for Rockstar as well. We're going to be able to pick the SKUs that we want in every location in the country. As John likes to say, we want to put the fast cars on the tracks. We want to make sure to put the most efficient flavors on every shelf around the country. Being the category captain is going to put us in charge of what flavors are going where within the Pepsi- Energy portfolio. We really think that's going to help drive efficiencies and revenue for the brand.
What is changing in terms of your visibility? Being captain, it's a good title, but what changed in terms of your visibility? You told me about the decision-making on the execution, but is it an element of your visibility into the full data, the full picture, and how does your role of retailer change?
Yeah, so I think one thing within the distribution, I think really two steps. Let's talk about the captaincy and what that means within Pepsi. One piece is the planograms. The other piece is within the retail segment. We're maintaining the call points. We're building out our key accounts team. Historically, we've called Tier 1 and Tier 2 accounts. Now, being able to control the planograms, there's a lot of independence at Pepsi services, food service, colleges, universities, restaurants, fast casual. That really opens that up for us now to be part of the decision-making process on what products will perform best and where. It's one thing to have the Tier 1 and Tier 2 call points, but really being able to control that on a national basis, like Rockstar does really well in the Pac Northwest.
That planogram would look different versus, say, South Florida or Boston or other markets. When Toby's talking about really making sure we have the best SKUs, it's really about that optimization on a local level. We can maximize value, maximize the opportunity there to drive additional sales. As an example, we were talking about earlier in some of the investor meetings, as an example, could be Marriott. When you go to the Marriott, I know I've been in some Marriotts in L.A., and you see maybe nine or eight SKUs of Rockstar and only two of CELSIUS. Is that the right location and the right planogram? We'll have control over that, and we'll be able to really work with our partners to make sure we're maximizing that shelf space. Shelf space is so limited.
We need to make sure every SKU is being maximized to the fullest based on the demographics.
Okay, great. Sticking with demographics, I was just curious now that you've got CELSIUS , Alani Nu, and Rockstar all under one roof. How does this change your ability to service the full spectrum of energy consumers?
Yeah, I think this gives us really a total energy, modern energy approach. I'm really excited about it. It's, when you look at, you know, CELSIUS, it's that fitness lifestyle brand for you inside and outside the gym to help you accomplish your goals. You have that Alani I mentioned, that female-focused brand. It's approachable and inviting. It comes with great flavors and flavor profiles, inspiring you to be your best, very female-focused. Then you have Rockstar going after that traditional energy segment, which still represents, you know, right around 50% of the sales. It's 25- 35, mainly dominated by male. We don't have a unique, we don't have a more of an aggressive tone if you look at the CELSIUS and the Alani Nu.
Each one of these brands are really living, breathing things, and they have their own personalities, they have their own look, their own feel. It's very important you don't stray too far from the brand lines and what these brands stand for. Rockstar is not only incremental in revenue, but based on the consumer segment. We're really excited. Also, a lot of the team members, I have over probably about 30 team members that actually are from the founding team members within Rockstar. They're really excited, bringing out their old Rockstar hats and the opportunities. We have about 17 employees coming over from Rockstar, and they're really excited about, you know, what they're able to do. They got some great stories, a lot of great heritage. We're going to go back to its core. It's going to, you know, and we're going to optimize the SKUs.
We do anticipate, you know, we will optimize to have, there's quite a lot of SKUs, there's a lot of SKUs within the portfolio for its size. We're going to optimize that. We're going to, you know, stabilize it and build a base and grow on it. It definitely has a home and allows us to compete now in a total energy approach.
Okay, great. While we're just on the topic of consumers, it's a logical lead-in, which is, just want to get your read on the consumer backdrop in the U.S., kind of lately what you're seeing in the consumer. I want to ask everybody this week.
Yeah, take that, Toby.
Yeah, sure. You look at the energy category, and the energy category remains pretty robust. We're fortunate to be there. I think the category in the last four weeks is up 17%-18% year- over- year. I think a lot of the other categories seem to be a little bit more challenged right now. It's tough for us to really kind of judge some of those other categories because I wouldn't say we're experts within those. We look at the energy category. Red Bull, Monster continue to be on fire. Alani is absolutely on fire, and CELSIUS is back to growth, and we've continued to grow. Really, the entire category has been growing for the most part on a brand-by-brand basis. We think our category continues to be healthy.
You're seeing people, maybe if there's some folks challenged right now economically, maybe they're pivoting out of cold coffee and some of these other coffee beverages and into energy. We're seeing a lot of that right now. As far as the health of our category, I feel really good about it.
Yeah, I think when you also, you know, we've heard a lot of stories about, you know, the restaurant industry having some trouble. I think to Toby's point, I think consumers, if they're looking to cut back, they're going to cut back in other areas before you cut back on, you know, maybe an energy product and certain other segments within the consumer segment space. The category has been strong. The value is there. I think the value, when you look at other categories, a lot of pricing has been taken, especially in the beverage category overall. One thing we're seeing, which is maybe some shopping habits, you know, looking from consumers, and you look at the over-consumer indexes, we're seeing large format playing a larger role than it historically has. Historically, energy drinks have mainly, you know, it was over 60% of sales are impulse purchases, right?
I need an energy drink right now for this specific need state or usage occasion. Now we're seeing large format play a larger role. Impulse purchases and convenience still drive the category, but you're seeing 12-packs and variety packs becoming more of the mix. I think that's really good because it's broadening the consumer base. Consumers are buying larger quantities of products, and they're bringing them home, and they're part of the pantry. You're part of the lifestyle. You're part of the daily routine. I think that's a really good sign for the category as it continues to broaden, bringing more consumers in, and being part of that daily lifestyle to help you achieve your goals and, you know, do all you can do throughout the day.
Okay. Toby, when you mentioned cold coffee, I'm guessing you meant like coffee shop expensive coffee. There's a relative value proposition when people are opting for energy.
Yeah. I mean, you're, you know, I don't want to name any specific retailers or anything like that, but just from the data points we've seen, you're seeing a transition from coffee drinkers into energy. We've seen that over the last few years. It just seems to be really an area that's driving that transition back into energy.
I think it makes it actually an easier transition because a lot of these coffee houses as well, it's not hot anymore. A lot of it is cold, which even, you know, potentially could also, you know, further help the canned energy drink business continue to grow as people look for value.
Yes, absolutely. Okay. Let's talk about Alani Nu for a second. Talk a little bit about the opportunities you see for the brand as you transition into Pepsi's U.S. and Canadian distribution, you know, and maybe any comparisons you want to make into how that transition looks for the CELSIUS brand as well.
Yeah, I mean, we're really excited. It's going to bring Alani to more places, greater distribution, broader distribution. The Pepsi distribution network is phenomenal. It's a phenomenal group. It's a phenomenal organization. You know, it's one customer. They have over 20,000, 30,000 sales reps, merchandisers, just all the way through the organization, the data and insights, the capabilities of the system. It's going to definitely broaden where we are. The biggest opportunities are convenience, small format, restaurants, food service, hospitals, universities, which you really can't, we couldn't get to that prior, even with CELSIUS , within the existing network. There are wholesalers. There's a variety of different other routes you can go to market, but you're not going to get that high touch. The beverage category and the importance of having cold placements and the high touch, you really need a sophisticated network like Pepsi.
They're world-class in their execution, oversight, and to really keep you in stock. Some of the biggest wins we want to add to.
Yeah, I would just add to what John said. You look at where CELSIUS was prior to our Pepsi distribution, very similar ACV and number of SKUs per location within convenience as where Alani is today. They're a little bit further along than where we were in [LULA], within the big box and traditional grocery. They're really right where we were in the convenience channel. That's really Pepsi's strength. I mean, they're strong across the board, but convenience, they're going to drive within the track channel, but also the independents. They service over 100,000 independent convenience stores around the country. I think a lot of people have been maybe not skeptical, but ask, okay, can Alani win within convenience? I would just challenge it, I suppose, go look at the data within either Circana or Nielsen.
Their velocity is really on par with just about anybody when it comes to convenience right now. I really think that's a huge opportunity. John referenced food service, college and university falls within that bucket. I certainly think that's a great opportunity for Alani as well.
I think the convenience opportunity, when you look at it as well, because the latest data we're seeing, it's showing that actually the female consumer is driving a lot of the energy drink category growth and new to category and increasing consumption rates as well. I think one big thing that when we acquired Alani was that we were going to cannibalize sales. That was a big concern because the CELSIUS portfolio is 50-50, male-female, very gender neutral, really focused. What we're seeing, it's not. The Alani portfolio is growing. The CELSIUS portfolio is growing. These are really truly fitting two different need states within the consumer segment. Convenience is really exciting. We're gearing up in just a few months. We'll be going to NACS. It's the largest convenience store show in the country, where a lot of retailers and buyers are setting their planograms for next year.
When you look at the overarching trends in the category of female consumers coming in, increasing consumption occasions, the importance of food pairing. Last year at the conference, all retailers were talking about how do we increase basket ring with warm foods and hot foods and pairing specials. That's something we've done with the CELSIUS portfolio. It's worked really well as some of these pairing offerings. I think that's going to continue to be some of the trends heading into NACS. When you look at all that, with the strength of health and wellness, the flavor profiles, and the differentiation, the CELSIUS and Alani portfolio is really well positioned for next year as we're heading into resets and with some of the results that we're driving as well, most recently in Q2. Where we stand right now in the quarter, the numbers are looking really well.
We expect a lot of opportunities ahead.
Okay. What pairs best with an Alani Nu? What's the food pairing?
I guess it depends what's your flavor. I don't know. I guess they've got some, I was actually, while he was speaking, trying to think about which of the Alani flavors pair well with food because, you know, they have some more, like a cotton candy type flavor that you wouldn't typically ascribe to that. They have a peach flavor that's really good.
Cherry Slush is really good.
Oh, the Cherry Slush.
That is really good.
Is that where you're at? Okay.
I think so.
Yeah, so John’s a Cherry Slush guy. I’ve been all over the Witche's Brew. I feel like CELSIUS is probably more apt to be paired with food just because we have that traditional soda, close to soda- type taste with the fruit flavors, whether it’s an orange or like I’m drinking the Cherry Cola right now, which is amazing. I recommend it to everybody. I think our flavors probably pair a little bit, maybe better across the board. There are still some SKUs that they’ve got over at Alani or that we’ve got at Alani . Still working on that. That will pair well with food.
Okay, great. You mentioned stabilize Rockstar, right? I just want to hear a little bit more about plans for stabilization and modernizing, perhaps, Rockstar. How should we think about the role in the portfolio going forward? You suggest it's almost like a one step back before we get presumably a step forward.
Yeah, I think, you know, we're looking to maximize the value of Rockstar. There's no question about it. We're going to, we need to optimize the portfolio. That's phase one. We're going to focus on the true core. We're bringing over a lot of great talented people, and we're going to be very clear in the approach. We're going to market with a laser. It's the same approach we've taken with CELSIUS , the same approach that Alani has taken. We're going to continue to work collectively together. We have built a great organization inside the organization. We recently restructured the company to really be able to effectively manage a portfolio of brands. That's something unique for us. We've restructured the business multiple times throughout the journey here at CELSIUS Holdings , and the last three months and six months are no different.
We're going to continue to evolve. There are going to be key learnings that we need to do. For Rockstar, we don't have a blueprint that says this is going to be X, Y, and Z brand over the time. What we need to do is we need to continue to innovate. We need to continue to execute, outmaneuver. We need to understand who the consumer is. How do you become that daily lifestyle? You need to get into a daily routine. Those are things that we're going to really be working on with the teams. Going back to its core, like focusing on, we're going to be focusing on music and extreme sports and really resonating with that consumer target that loves Rockstar. Rockstar has a great DNA within the brand, and we're going to continue to focus on it.
I don't have a blueprint that we're going to kind of map out, but it definitely has a place within the energy category. If you look at where consumers are and where it's positioned, it was almost back in its day, it was the number three energy drink. There are a lot of good retro vibes coming from it as well. That's just really exciting when you talk to a lot of the marketing team folks within the organization. There's definitely potential there.
Okay. It's really interesting to think about what you guys have done as a management team as you built a brand or you built a brand from scratch. With Alani , it's only been a few months, right? You're acquiring and adding a rocket ship, another rocket ship to the portfolio. This is a turnaround.
It is, yep.
That is very different. When you think about your capabilities as a management team and the people who are coming in, do you think you've got the, I mean, marketing talent is one thing, but that turnaround mentality is something very new for the company.
Yeah, I mean, when I was starting with CELSIUS , we were getting, you know, we were a turnaround company for three years.
Yeah, that's what I was saying. [crosstalk]
We were getting kicked out of every retailer in the country, and it was never to come back. Here we stand at a 20% share organization. Our portfolio right now is 20% share in the energy category. It positions us extremely well. I think we have greater capabilities today than we did 13 years ago, five years ago, and even three years ago. Really talented folks. We're very disciplined on our approach. It is very difficult revitalizing brands. Can we make Rockstar bring it back to where it was years ago? Let's be optimistic about it. It definitely has a home. With us taking a portfolio approach, that gives us additional holding power. There are pricing promotional levers now. We get to further enhance. Alani Nu opened that up as well, having multiple brands being able to compete.
If you look at the convenience channel and other channels, they are highly promoting, highly promotional. When you're off promo and another brand's on, there is a segment of the population within the consumers that move to promos from what's on sale. This allows us to have a multitude of portfolio and pricing strategies and be highly competitive, which this category is. We've enhanced our revenue management. We're building in a revenue management team. We've further enhanced our category management team to really be able to well position this organization for 2026 when we're going to be going to market with three brands, really four brands, when you think about it, because CELSIUS , our core CELSIUS offerings, but then we also have CELSIUS ESSENTIALS, which is a 16-ounce offering going within the performance energy category with Bang and C4 and GHOST. We really have a four-brand portfolio go-to-market strategy.
I think that allows us and unlocks a lot of additional levers and capabilities. Also, when you look at large format with this portfolio, you're upwards of 25% share in a lot of these retailers and some even higher. We're really coming at it in a much different position where we'll be able to give Rockstar additional opportunities because of the portfolio approach and owning a lot of these call points.
Okay, great. You mentioned the Pacific Northwest as being one area where Rockstar has been pretty strong and that you get to leverage off of that. Is that the key market to focus on where it's sort of like their share is bringing something more to your?
Yeah, the Pac Northwest is the biggest market for Rockstar. That's where, and we need to learn more about that. We're bringing on the team that knows a lot about that, but let's leverage the resources we have within CELSIUS as well. Let's learn, and then let's see how we can scale from there. You know, how broad can we bring it and what markets are more adept or maybe easier to activate and create daily consumption. The name of the game is daily consumption. We need daily users. You don't want to continue to be chasing that next sale that's highly expensive. You know, how do we create that daily loyalty, that daily consumption? That's all about the brand DNA and how you connect with consumers in a meaningful way.
Okay. PepsiCo, along with this additional $585 million equity investment, gets a second board seat. How should we think about that in terms of their confidence in CELSIUS and in the path forward?
I think their transaction overall and the investment shows that they're highly confident in the capabilities of CELSIUS . Just the partnership with Pepsi since we started back in 2022, we've really structured this organization to be an enhancement to their capabilities, which are already superior. We've built out the field marketing team, a merchandising team. The addition of Alani allowed us to further invest in our team. We're building specialized teams now. Historically, we've built the teams more on a regional basis. Now we're able to enhance it because of the additional resources. We'll have a team focused on convenience, food service, and mass to make us even that more capable within these retailers and really be able to improve the execution.
When you look at the overall collaboration where we are within CELSIUS and the Pepsi system, it just positions us extremely well to compete at the highest level.
Okay. Can you walk through the expected financial impact of the deal? How would you say earnings accretion, top-line growth, and margin implications?
Yeah. On our last call, we announced the transaction. Rockstar is about $250 million of incremental revenue. Our prior arrangement with Pepsi, we had an incentive program. That incentive program has been enhanced. The captaincy, we have additional levers and additional strategic initiatives, which further enhances that. We've said on our prior calls, we're not changing any future outlook. This doesn't drastically change any of our future outlook on where the organization has been on a margin profile or EBITDA or those lines. I think when you look at it, it's bringing on Alani Nu within their system, being able to really the captaincy in controlling those planograms, which allows for better opportunities and optimization. Taking a holistic approach with a portfolio approach of four brands now and driving additional efficiencies at retail and being able to leverage additional sales, promotion, and pricing strategies.
Okay. Why wouldn't it be an accelerator? It's like on one hand you say it's an enabler of what you wanted to do, but you were presumably.
Yeah, from a top-line perspective, we certainly would expect that this deal will help accelerate growth. We're not going to ascribe a number to that, but, you know, clearly bringing Alani into the Pepsi system is going to accelerate the ramp up their opportunity to grow faster. We think the captaincy provides an opportunity for CELSIUS to grow at a faster rate than we otherwise would have without it. That's why it's really a new incentive program to help drive those CELSIUS sales. If we had kept this in two different systems, then, you know, from an operational standpoint, there would have been quite a bit of expense to try to manage two separate systems. Bringing it into one is a very efficient way to do so.
I would think that this is going to provide us the opportunity to reach the margin profile that we've talked about historically from a gross margin and from an EBITDA standpoint that we've always looked to achieve. This is the deal that is going to help us achieve that.
Yeah, and I think when you look at where we are within Alani , we're still integrating Alani , right? We're only, you know, one quarter is behind us. We're further integrating supply chain. We're going to bring Rockstar in and further optimize the Rockstar. It's going to, you know, having one system, to Toby's point, it allows us to be extremely strategic. We always talk about orbits. We built an orbit model. You procure, you produce, and you sell within an orbit to really optimize your supply chain. That'll further enhance us from shipping and logistics. It's talking about like EPS and how the accretiveness of the transaction. It provides all of that.
Okay. Okay. Transition of Alani Nu away from ABI distributors and into PepsiCo. Just what can you tell us about how you're managing that and kind of what steps are being taken to minimize disruption?
Yeah, so it's going to take place. It's anticipated to take place the 1st of December. We've done it before with CELSIUS . We have a team. We have a variety of different processes and checkpoints and strategies in place to mitigate that. It's very difficult switching any network. There are lots of challenges, not only from the distributor standpoint, but also at the retailer. We've done this before. We're big on processes. We're big on management and oversight. Just the same thing we have on Alani. We have continual communication, continual checkpoints. Everything's timed out from a weekly stakeholder basis all the way through. We have a project manager, and we continually keep everyone informed. Communication is the most important thing in the distribution shiftover. About 80% of the distribution will move over. Most of it is around the same timeline, which makes it easier.
The challenge you have is like vendor of record and those types of things working with retailers on. That's where a key accounts team comes in. If you look at where a key accounts team is today versus where it was with CELSIUS when we moved in in 2022, it's about three times larger than it is. We have more touchpoints with retailers. That should allow some enhancement within the communication and hopefully the efficiency. We had challenges with CELSIUS , but we were also told when we moved CELSIUS into the Pepsi distribution network, it was one of the seamless transitions that folks have seen. I will say internally, you're always going to have issues. You're going to work through them. We had product that wouldn't scan in the back door of certain retailers. You're just going to have to work through those.
Communication, the openness, and really project management and oversight is really critical. Same thing with Alani. Every week we meet, we have the team meet together where we are on task, where we are on approach, where we are on a timeline, what's open, what's being held up. We have a whole stoplight, kind of green, yellow, red process that we work towards, and it works.
Anything you'd highlight from prior to the path change or even, you know, 12-ish months ago when we had some a little bit of noise in the route to market, like learnings from those times that you're bringing into these transitions?
I think we did really well with CELSIUS . There wasn't a large impact going in in 2022. We had a lot of the ABI distributors, which are phenomenal. They're great. They're a great organization. They've done really, they've done extremely well. They built great brands. They were very supportive. We expect that to continue. We are very upfront, open. There's buyouts associated with these transactions and moving, and we've been very open and transparent with that. They've had some folks that have had challenges on the reconciliations and those types of things. I think at the end of the day, it's business. It's a transaction. We're trying to do what's right for everyone. They know that. We're very appreciative of what they've done. Hopefully, everyone will get a big buyout, and it should be good.
Okay. Okay. Just final question is, now with CELSIUS as PepsiCo's energy captain, what does success look like over the next two to three years?
I think when you look at where we are, this is really a step change for the organization tying into a strategic, if you look at the success, it's already a proven model. When you look at Monster and Coke, and CELSIUS is taking that same path. You know, when you look at two to three years out, we're going to have an amazing portfolio that has a meaningful position in the energy category. We're 20% share today. We're looking to continue to build CELSIUS and Alani and Rockstar and our CELSIUS ESSENTIALS. We have a total portfolio approach. We have a modern energy portfolio. We're aligned with today's health-minded consumer that's growing the category. This allows us to maximize the opportunity these brands have.
If you look at where we were prior, huge opportunity, but now we're really to maximize it to the fullest and leverage PepsiCo distribution network to all it can perform and all of its capabilities and being aligned strategically at the highest level.
Okay, great. Thank you very much for being here. Please join me in thanking CELSIUS for joining us.
Thank you, guys.