That's great.
I mean, at least I can do it. Literally.
Thank you. We good to go? Okay, great. All right, thanks. Welcome, everybody, to the USANA Health Sciences fireside chat. Reed Anderson with ICR, and with me today is Doug Hekking, the CFO, and then Walter Noot, the COO. I think, you know, rather than me kind of give the intro on the company, I think it'd be better coming from you. But I mean, before I do that, you guys had a nice announcement this morning, kind of good recent results, a little bit better, but also talking about some nice growth for next year as well. So I think we'll spend the bulk of our time talking about that.
But in the meantime, maybe just give everybody kind of a little bit of an overview, kind of what the business looks like, kind of how you go to market, kind of areas of focus, and then we can dig in.
Yeah, so USANA is a company that's probably coming up on its 34th year here. We sell premium vitamins and supplements and health and awareness products to go back and really kind of build foundationally the health of individuals. That's been really our focus, and it's our founders' expertise with his PhDs and stuff. And so we've done that for a number of years. And recently, we've pivoted to go back and add to there some M&A offerings that allow us to go back and broaden out the customer base and the different channels that we're going to business in. And we think that means some great opportunity for the company going forward.
Okay. So let's then shift to kind of what you talked about for 2026. You're going to grow mid-single digits, you're talking, and so you get to close to $1 billion. The difference, though, or kind of the inflection, I think, for people in the story is that a lot of the growth is coming from outside of the core business, right? It's kind of in some of these areas you talked about, Rise Wellness specifically. So I think maybe let's talk a little bit more, what is Rise Wellness? And then you're going to just kind of drill into the business, the way you think about it strategically, but then also kind of from a product standpoint.
Yeah, so let me kind of just kind of bridge over to Walter a little bit here, and I'm going to let him respond to that. But Walter, as our Chief Operating Officer, has run operations and IT, and one of the other tasks that he took on is to run our business development group. And so part of his kind of one of his primary duties is to go back and look for these opportunities, which we've executed a few on these. And just that's kind of how he comes into play. But maybe just talk about Rise and kind of what you've seen with Rise and some of the excitement there.
Yeah, Rise was, I think it was our first acquisition, or I mean, at least recent acquisition, small acquisition. It's a company that makes protein bars that are super simple. It's three or four ingredients in a bar. It's like a whey protein, for instance, is a whey protein with a honey and maybe a nut or something or chocolate. Very, very simple, nothing else with it. That company was selling DTC and some niche retail locations with their bars. We acquired that company, and we knew that we wanted to go retail with that. So we have been working very hard on that. The last few years, we've seen some very interesting growth. So in 2024, we did, again, very small, about $5 million in revenue. This year, this last year, in 2025, we did over $16 million.
And our projection for next year for 2026 is between what are we?
$65-$80 million.
Yeah, so pretty good growth. It's actually pretty exciting. The newest product that we just launched there with that company is called Protein Pop. We just went live with that product in March and very quickly got retail to acquire that product. We went into Target. We're in all the Target stores in the U.S. now. Very quickly, they put us on end caps because it was selling really well, so we're on all the Target stores and all the end caps, but we just got orders from Costco, so we'll be beginning early February, we'll be in all Costco stores. We got a national buy on that. We're very excited about that. We're actually filling it here in Orlando right now, and it's just a very cool business. The whole concept of Rise is clean, simple protein products, and I think it has a big upside.
So it's very exciting.
That's great. A lot to unpack there. And so the growth, though, a lot of the growth is coming from the Protein Pop side, the addition of that. I mean, the bar is still growing nicely.
Yeah.
Curious, though, from a channel standpoint. Again, when you bought it, it was largely a DTC kind of brand. A lot of the growth, though, is as you bring on these larger accounts. Is that really what you're seeing?
Yeah. And we've looked at a lot of companies over the years. And one of the things to acquire, as an example, and one of the things we've realized is that a lot of companies talk about doors, how many doors they sell into. And that's good. That's a good thing. And that's a great strategy. We just have seen with Rise Bar, we've seen that going big box has been really, really good for us. It's really allowed us to go very fast. And as long as pricing is right, as long as it's the right product, customers are going to buy it.
Yeah, and you named Target. Is there any other customers, large customers you can name or probably can't name?
We're in Walmart. We're in some Walmart locations now. We just started with that. But the primary ones are Target and Costco.
Okay. That's great. And then just for, I can't believe none of us brought an example up here. That's just terrible. I'll take the fault for that one. But can you just, it's a very simple product, but maybe just give them a little bit of an overview of kind of flavors that kind of.
Protein Pop? Yeah, Protein Pop's awesome. I mean, you should get some. It's free. We're not trying to sell it. It's actually free. It's 22 ounces of protein. It's a slim 12-ounce can, clean protein. It's a clear protein whey isolate. That's the Costco or the Walmart or the Target brand. The Costco one that's coming out is going to be 15 grams of whey protein isolate, 15 grams of collagen, and it'll be carbonated, so unlike the Target one, it's going to be carbonated, so that's what they wanted. The thing we've been doing is with these big box stores. We've just been. We're a larger company. We go in with them and we say, you know, we've got this small company called Rise, but we've got a big company supporting us with supply chain, cash, manufacturing. And we'll give you what you want. And so they've approached us.
In many of these cases, they've told us what kind of flavors they like. We've formulated those flavors for them. They've told us what composite of proteins they want. And we've done that for them. And we'll continue to do that. I think that's a great strategy for us. It might not be a first mover.
Sure.
But in this case, a lot of times we're a second mover.
Yeah, and four flavors at Target right now?
Four flavors at Target. And at Costco, it's going to be a four-flavor, three-flavor pack. It's 15 cans. And I think it's going to sell for like $28, which is a killer deal.
I'm sure nobody here shops at Costco.
No, no. Yeah.
I'm joking. Everybody shops at Costco. I've got a lot of questions, but just to close the loop kind of on the Protein Pop, just curious from a customer standpoint, who is the customer that's buying that? Is it a very broad demographic? I mean, it's early days. So you probably are learning, but I'm curious who you're seeing buying that product.
Rise brand, right? The initial Rise brand is kind of the original product, which is the bar, is kind of the granola, kind of. I guess you could call it that.
Yeah.
I don't know if they exist anymore because granola is maybe a different brand now, but it's that brand of customer. It's the hiker. It's kind of the person that's casually wants a protein product and somebody that's really looking for something that's super duper clean.
Yeah.
And they're looking at the ingredient panel. Most people don't look at it. They'll look at like a label, like front label, and they'll say it says very few ingredients or really clean or whatever it is. And in the back, it's full of a bunch of things that you don't want. Rise isn't built that way. For the Protein Pop, Protein Pop is really primarily for women. There are a lot of people on GLP-1 right now, and they need protein as a source, as a backup. They're looking for that, and they're trying to find products that are differentiated, that are unique. They're kind of sick of making. They don't want to make protein shakes. They want an RTD.
Yep.
And a lot of times, you know, there are a lot of milk products that are out there. Some people are not real happy with that. They're not comfortable with it. Or they want something that's more like a soda. And so that's the customer.
That's good. Thanks for all that. That's great. Okay, let's move on to Hiya. So again, another kind of growth vector, growth engine that you didn't have a few years ago. I think you closed that like right before this conference.
December 23rd.
We talked about, yeah, and you had a great year. I mean, it was, what, mid-teens? You're looking mid-teens again in 2026. On the Q3 call, you talked about expanding distribution channels and new markets internationally. I guess, are you starting to see some of this come to fruition? Is that part of what you're seeing that gives you confidence to say mid-teens again in 2026? Or kind of what are you seeing out there?
Yeah, so we expect to do about $132 million with Hiya in 2025 and in the range of $140-$155 million in 2026. So that forecast includes both entering the retail channel, and it also includes opening both in Canada and the United Kingdom, and sometime in Q1 for both those markets.
Okay. Out of curiosity, is Hiya run independently of Rise completely? Or are you thinking of a little bit over?
We're on the board of managers. The original founders are still there. We're still running the business. We want them to run the business. They did it right in the first place. So why screw it up? And I think the thing that we add is we add the ability to manufacture their products, which we're doing. And we know supply chain. We definitely know how to go international with them. They really didn't know where to go and what to do. So we've helped them with that as they've expanded. And I mean, they know DTC. These people are great at digital marketing, and they're great at running their business, but we help them a lot wherever we can.
Makes sense. All right, let's turn back to the core direct selling business. To address some recent challenges in this business, you made some notable changes. And for those in the audience or on the webcast, maybe it would be helpful if you could just kind of give an overview of some of the key changes that were announced in your direct selling business last year.
Yeah. So last week, we announced a transition in the CEO position to Kevin Guest, who has been chairman of our board and executive chair. He had previously served a very successful stint as CEO of the company. And so he's going to step back in. We've been very well served by Jim Brown and just saw some opportunity for some change that the company wanted to lean into. And so we're excited about it. Kevin's a fantastic leader, very good connections with our sales force and with employees. And so he's going to lean on us a little bit to go back and reinvigorate the business.
Good. So if you fast forward to today, where are you seeing the most opportunity in this business right now, whether it's markets or products, whatever, but I guess it's market-based?
Yeah, I think the biggest thing is the brand messaging and getting the word out there. In the direct sales channel, you're relying on really talented independent business owners. We call them brand partners. Sometimes we go, and I'll tell you, I think we have the best nutritional supplement you can find out there, but there's a lot of people who don't know about it. Right? And so how do we broaden that out? How do we get that funnel broader as far as awareness and get people buying? Because when people are aware of who we are, they seem to be very satisfied with it.
Yeah. Okay. And so what areas are most challenging for this business? And I think, again, as you think about what's baked into your 2026 expectations with maybe being down whatever mid-single digits, how are you thinking about managing costs, investments, that kind of thing against that?
Yeah. So in the third quarter, we had announced that we're going to be looking at some alignment and some kind of right-sizing relative to what we've seen in the business. And so that'll be rolled out. We haven't talked much about it, but that'll be rolled out February 17th as we provide fourth quarter update as far as what we expect going forward. But we've leaned into it pretty meaningfully and very intentionally to go back and make sure that we're investing in areas that are most critical to the business.
Okay. And again, you're not really talking about it now, but do you feel like is there a point out there you feel like there is a return to growth? I mean, it's been a bit of a challenge. I mean, you're not alone, though. But is it too early to kind of pinpoint? Is that 2026, 2027? It's hard to say.
Yeah, I think it's hard to say. I think we're definitely leaning into it. And I mean, we have so much confidence in the product we're offering, and we really believe it's differentiated. So we think it's there. And so yeah, I think there is a path to return to growth and see something be a catalyst to that business. And I think with some change in leadership, and that's kind of in the process of being mapped out now, some of the things he wants to get done.
Okay. Kind of sticking with the outlook theme, I think your guidance calls for kind of mid-single-digit sales. Let's see, what is it? Consolidated mid-single-digit sales growth, but you've got Adjusted EBITDA. What is your Adjusted EBITDA outlook? What are the notable factors that are kind of impacting that relative to what you're thinking about top line?
Yeah. So in our pre-release this morning, we didn't adjust anything for EBITDA. The primary catalyst that you're seeing in sales is exactly what Walter talked about here. It's the lift and the excitement and the opportunity with Protein Pop. It's the channel expansion and broadening out kind of their geographic footprint with Rise. And it's some initiatives on the kind of the core nutritional supplement business as well.
Okay. How about this? Again, kind of back to Rise, but I mean, you've really, really got a fast-growing business there, and you've got a great balance sheet. How do you think about capital allocation now relative to that business? Which, again, you're kind of standing that up. So that's going to be something that it's going to take a while to scale it, but to get to levels of profitability like you've seen in your other business. But how are you thinking about allocating capital relative to that as well as other opportunities either externally or returning capital to shareholders? How does that calculus change now that you've had some success with the M&A side?
Yeah. I mean, our capital allocation priority has really been fairly consistent. We want to invest in our brands, and we want to see those brands grow first and foremost. Right? And I would say part of the message this morning would indicate that we're making some meaningful capital investments in these venture companies and Rise and HYA. A lot of that's in the form of inventory and getting ready for this growth. There's some small PP&E and some other working capital items where a lot of that investment's coming from.
Yep.
After that, we continue to go back and be eyes and ears openers for opportunities out there that allows us to go back and reach more consumers on the health and awareness side of this health and activity. And then third, we've primarily chosen between management and the board that we've used share repurchase as if we start building too much excess capital. That's how we're returned if we don't have plans for it.
Okay. Again, given the success you've had with some of these acquisitions and that they're outside of the direct selling, they're more omnichannel, I guess that'd be probably the best way to describe them. How do you think about that more strategically? Is there a target in mind? Like we think it could be 25% of our business or 50%? And if there is, what does the pathway look like to get there?
Yeah. Do you want to take a crack at that and I'll chime in?
What's the path? I mean, the path we're on.
Right. Right. I meant more timeline for path.
Yeah. I think over time, as we continue to find companies that we think are the sweet spot companies, we'll continue to acquire. That's definitely the case. We're also going to continue to build brands. Right now, we have HYA, we have Rise, and we have Protein Pop outside of the typical USANA business. Those are three brands that we're building right now. And we're going to be able to build products under those brands. So I think that's part of it. If you talk about the mix, the revenue mix, I don't know what that's going to look like. I think this year, I think you can kind of do the math on the mix this year. And that could be a pretty decent low 20s% or something like that. But that percentage will continue to go up over time.
I'm not going to predict what that's going to be, but it's definitely a target, and that's something we're going to drive towards.
I would provide a little bit of context there. Two years ago, let's look at 2024. The non-direct selling part of the business was very small, essentially very negligible, for it just didn't register. This year, we'll probably do about 16% of our revenue base from omnichannel that's outside of direct selling. Next year, as Walter said, low 20s. So it's progress, and it's leaning on this. I think there's great opportunities with the management teams we have in place at those companies.
Again, as you look at deals, where have you been most positively surprised of what you bring to the table that's amplified what you bought? You bought a founder-led company, and they needed infrastructure. You had infrastructure. Yeah. But maybe that wasn't always, maybe there were other things you thought. What's been the biggest surprise from a positive standpoint?
I think one of the things, I mean, that's obvious, is that a small company builds up. They've never done it before. Usually, they haven't done it before. They really don't know what to do next. They're kind of at a certain point, and it's not like a lot of times you say, well, you just have to change out management, and I don't think that's typically always the case. You can help them, and in this case, we've spent a lot of time with them. We've mentored and spent a lot of time with these guys, and when you talk about the obvious, the obvious is in some ways, it's a lot bigger than I expected. When you talk about infrastructure, manufacturing, all those things, that's something that for them was very, very hard. It was hard to source raw materials and get the right pricing.
It goes back to contract negotiation, using the legal teams internally, having the finance team help them and support them to try to build up, make sure that things are done right, and make sure they use their capital properly. And then the whole supply chain side of the business. And then the international expansion. That's the other part that for us is kind of like old hat. It's something we do every day. But we're in 25 countries. So for us, it's like, okay, we just launched in the country, and this is how you do it. For them, it's like it's just completely foreign, and they don't know how to do it. And to them, it's intimidating. And to us, it's open, and we're excited about it, and we can help them with it.
Go ahead.
I would say that we've added, and I think specifically from the operational side, we've added some real synergies in working with them, and a lot of those savings are being repurposed towards growth initiatives, and it's a critical part, but some of these things, with the experience of the team, I think we've definitely played a value-added role to help boost that team up.
These small companies, they get sold on things. Software companies go in there and sell them stuff. And other companies go and sell them stuff. And they'll come to us and say, is this the right direction, or is this the right thing? And it's like, well, there's some other options here. Let's look at all the options. And we give them more options and more things that they can consider and make them more efficient.
That's good. We got a few minutes left, but I think anything else you'd want to add?
It's a great company. I think we make some of the best products out there. We need to go back and find better ways to communicate the differentiation and the opportunity there. But it's something that we're very proud of. And I think we have incredible infrastructure to be able to go back and add value to a variety of these companies. We have these brands that Walter talked about that have high growth outlook, stabilizing of our kind of core direct selling business, a good balance sheet, and solid cash flows.
Yep. Good. All right. We'll stop there. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.