• 🌡️ Celsius Posts Record Revenue
• 🧊 Olipop Steps Out Of The Cold Case
• 😜 BIGFACE Brands Launches RTD Coffees
• 💪 Ya YA Foods Adds Manufacturing Muscle
• 👑 Recess (R)evolution. How This Pivot Helped Build A Relaxation Empire.

BellRing Brands – the producer of leading brands Premier Protein and Dymatize brands – reported 15.6% net sales growth to $515.4 million in its Q3 2024 earnings report this morning, bolstered by convenient nutrition category and ready-to-drink (RTD) growth. Here’s the top-level view:

• Premier Protein net sales grew 19.8% in the quarter, driven by a 19.2% increase in volume and a 0.6% increase in price/mix. Within that umbrella, RTD shake consumption was up 29% and powders were up 52%. 
• Dymatize net sales fell 2.6%, fueled by a 4.4% increase in volume that was offset by a 7% decrease in price/mix. 
• Gross profit was $189.9 million, or 36.8% of net sales, an increase of 39.6%, or $53.9 million, compared to $136 million, or 30.5% of net sales, in Q3 2023. 
• SG&A expenses jumped to $64 million, or 14.4% of net sales, an increase of $18.9 million. 

💭 “We are pleased with our third quarter performance, with results ahead of our expectations and shake production delivering to plan. We saw greater-than-expected margin primarily lifted by favorability in powder input costs,” said Darcy H. Davenport, president and CEO, in a statement. 

⏩ What’s next? BellRing’s strong Q3 results have pushed it to upgrade its guidance range for net sales to $1.96 billion-$2 billion (up from $1.93-$1.99 billion) and adjusted EBITDA to $430 million-$440 million (previously $400-$420 million). 

The company believes it has “a lot of untapped potential” and plans to ramp up marketing efforts in the coming quarters, specifically for Premier Protein – starting with a national campaign with running back Christian McCaffrey launching this month. During this morning’s call Davenport said the brand reached 1.8% household penetration in Q3 and she is confident the brand will help mainstream the powder category the same way it did RTDs. 

Looking to learn how other big beverage companies are performing? Insiders can catch up on recent earnings coverage on BevNET.

America’s #1 premium imported bottled water brand is only getting better. With a multimillion-dollar marketing campaign and the best-selling 500mL and 330mL bottles now made of 100% recycled plastic, FIJI Water’s customer base continues to grow. Order direct to you now! Learn more

Celsius reported a 23.4% rise in revenue in Q2 2024, as the energy drink maker’s growth continued to slow after a prolonged period of significant gains, according to the quarterly earnings report released this morning.

• Revenue clocked in at $402 million (compared to $325.9 million in the same period last year), driven largely by 36.5% growth in U.S. retail channel sales. However, that’s still down from 37% growth in Q1 2024 and +95% in Q4 2023.
• Gross profit increased 32% ($209.1 million) compared to $159 million for the prior-year period.
• The brand reported solid gains outside the U.S., with international sales rising  30% y/y (from $15.1 million to $19.6 million). On Amazon, sales jumped 41%, and in the club channel, sales increased 30% to $88 million.

Even with revenue decelerating, Celsius keeps picking up dollar share: having been the third brand to crack a 10% share (after Red Bull and Monster), it’s now up to 11%.  Assuming category growth of 3% in 2024 and 5% thereafter, Jefferies analysts estimate that Celsius can reach 15% category share by 2028.

Read the full earnings recap on BevNET.

It's a big leap for a refrigerated product to move onto an ambient shelf: It opens up new touchpoints in store, pack size opportunities and distribution options. Don’t believe us? Just ask your favorite kombucha brand. Thus, it's a big deal that Olipop announced that it has formulated six of its flavors so they can be sold at room temperature.

😛 Olipop’s new shelf-stable multipacks could give the brand a boost as it competes with both traditional soda brands as well as the growing number of gut-health, next-gen soft drinks on the market.

🏪 The shelf-stable varieties — Cherry Cola, Classic Root Beer, Cream Soda, Lemon Lime, Strawberry Vanilla and Classic Grape — will launch in select retailers such as Walmart, Meijer and H-E-B and will be available in 4-can multipacks.

Jimmy Butler’s coffee brand BIGFACE announced it had developed a line of READYBEV canned coffee drinks that includes three oat milk latte SKUs: Original, Coconut Cinnamon and Ube Vanilla. All three varieties are available online for $22 per 4-pack.

🏀 Founded during the 2020 NBA “bubble” playoffs, Butler began selling coffee drinks from his room to other players and staff members. The company has developed a portfolio of five whole bean varieties, a pour-over kit and apparel line.

☕ The brand is also expected to open its first brick-and-mortar storefront in Miami in September, according to GQ magazine. 

☝️ BIGFACE is one of the latest celebrity coffee brand to embrace consumer demand for ready-to-drink formats, including brands like Chamberlain Coffee and happy, which have quickly broadened their portfolios into canned offerings.

Aseptic co-manufacturer Ya YA Foods has closed an acquisition of Canadian beverage maker Truss Beverage Co. as of last week. The deal brings Truss’ Ontario production facility under Ya YA Foods’ management and will expand Ya YA’s capabilities beyond PET, carton and gable top chilled formats into canned and glass formats.

🏭 The deal marks the second acquisition for the Toronto-based co-packer since it joined Entrepreneurial Equity Partners portfolio. In January 2023, Ya YA acquired many of Oatly’s manufacturing assets and took over management of the alt-milk brand’s facilities in Fort Worth, Texas and Ogden, Utah.

🪴 Truss Beverage Co. was initially formed as a joint venture between Molson Coors and Canadian hemp company HEXO Corp. in 2018. In March 2022, Tilray Brands agreed to take on $211 million of HEXO’s debt.

Ben Witte, the founder and CEO of Recess, talks about how he navigated a shift toward a product mix that realizes his vision of a relaxation beverage platform, how the company built a thriving online business and why consumer feedback is the key to its sales and marketing efforts.

Listen to the episode now.