Farmer Brothers Q1 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

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November 7, 2024

Key Takeaways

  • Farmer Brothers delivered a solid Q1 with net sales up 4% year-over-year to $85.1 million and achieved positive adjusted EBITDA of $1.4 million versus a $0.5 million loss last year, driven by pricing actions and commodity management.
  • Gross margin expanded by 630 basis points to 43.9% year-over-year, reflecting successful price optimization and efforts to mitigate rising coffee commodity costs.
  • The company advanced its brand pyramid strategy by refreshing its premium Boyd’s coffee for nationwide rollout and preparing to launch a new specialty tier brand to unlock incremental specialty-coffee revenue.
  • Operational enhancements—including SKU rationalization, inventory management improvements, and increased density on DSD routes—helped stabilize customer retention and drive five consecutive quarters of improved free cash flow.
  • Management emphasized ongoing focus on reducing churn, adding product penetration in existing accounts, and building scale in specialty coffee to support long-term sustainable growth.
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Earnings Conference Call
Farmer Brothers Q1 2025
00:00 / 00:00

There are 4 speakers on the call.

Operator

Good afternoon, and welcome to the Farmer Brothers Fiscal First Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. As a reminder, this call is being recorded. Earlier today, the company filed its Form 10 Q and issued its Q1 results press release, which is available on the Investor Relations section of Farmer Brothers' website at farmerbros.com. The release is also included as an exhibit on the company's Form 10 Q and is available on its website and the Securities and Exchange Commission's website atsec.gov.

Operator

A replay of this audio only webcast will also be available on the company's website approximately 2 hours after the conclusion of this call. Before we begin the call, please note all of the financial information presented is unaudited and various remarks made by management during this call about the company's future expectations, plans and prospects may constitute forward looking statements for the purposes of the Safe Harbor provisions under the federal securities laws and regulations. These forward looking statements represent the company's views as of today and should not be relied upon as representing the company's views as of any subsequent date. Results could differ materially from those forward looking statements. Information on factors which could cause actual results and other events to differ materially from those forward looking statements is available in the company's release and public filings.

Operator

On today's call, management will also reference certain non GAAP financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin in assessing the company's operating performance. Reconciliation of these non GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP measures is also included in the company's release and SEC filings. I will now turn the call over to Farmer Brothers' President and Chief Executive Officer, John Moore. Mr. Moore, please go ahead.

Speaker 1

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. The Q1 showed steady improvement for Farmer Brothers. We saw solid sales growth and meaningful gains in both gross margin and adjusted EBITDA on a year over year and quarter over quarter basis. These results underscore the positive progress we have made recently. They are also the result of efforts related to our brand pyramid and SKU rationalization initiatives, enhancements with our inventory management processes, proactive and favorable pricing updates and realignments within our sales team.

Speaker 1

During the quarter, we achieved another milestone related to our brand pyramid initiative with a refresh of our premium Boyd's coffee brand. Boyd's includes a diverse range of classic, light, medium and dark roasts in addition to single origin and flavored offerings. Boyd's is specifically geared toward our C store, casual dining restaurants, hospitality, healthcare, entertainment and gaming customers. Historically, Boyce has been predominantly a West Coast brand. However, as part of our brand pyramid initiative, it will now be our premier premium nationwide coffee offering.

Speaker 1

We will be announcing our new specialty tier brand in the next few months and we'll have more details on our next call. We are incredibly excited about the addition of this brand as it marks the final phase of our brand pyramid initiative and a reintroduction of Farmer Brothers into the specialty coffee space. By simplifying our brands and product offerings, we have been able to remove redundancies, optimize our roasting, streamline operational facilities and enhance the overall customer experience. We have achieved all of this while aggressively managing our working capital and costs. Once complete, our customers will have options across multiple flavor profiles and up and down the value chain, allowing them to participate at the level and price structure which works best for them.

Speaker 1

This is something we believe will help us drive customer growth and retention. Additionally, we have been working to optimize and add density to our existing DSD routes as part of our commitment to having the right products in the right place at the right time and at the right value proposition for our customers. This mantra is one of the most important aspects of our business and plays a crucial role in customer service growth and retention. We believe customer retention has continued to stabilize, thanks to these efforts and improved execution by our restructured sales force. We are also proactively working to navigate the volatility the industry is seeing in coffee markets and changes in consumer behaviors.

Speaker 1

To mitigate these impacts, we are being nimble in commodity purchasing and inventory management. We are also utilizing our customer data as a way to gain a deeper understanding and further insight into the impact macroeconomic trends have on our customer base and their ordering habits. To that end, we piloted a short term customer focused sales incentive with positive results during the recent quarter. We will continue these efforts and explore additional opportunities to offset potential headwinds, while also continuing to focus on selling and addition products to existing customers. Overall, we are confident the initiatives we put in place and the operational improvements we made throughout fiscal 2024 are helping us to navigate the challenges posed by macroeconomic headwinds and a volatile commodity pricing environment.

Speaker 1

From strategic pricing initiatives to enhanced operational efficiency to a focus on the value proposition we can provide our customers as a true specialty goods provider, we feel Farmer Brothers is fundamentally better positioned to meet ongoing market demands than it has been in many years. With that, I'll turn it over to Vance to discuss our financials in more detail. Vance?

Speaker 2

Thanks, John, and good afternoon, everyone. Our first quarter results represent a solid start to our fiscal year and reflect meaningful progress in positioning Farmer Brothers on a more solid foundation for future growth. Our adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was positive at $1,400,000 an improvement of $1,900,000 on a year over year basis when compared to a $500,000 loss in the Q1 of last year. This was also a quarter over quarter improvement of almost $3,000,000 when compared to a 1 point $6,000,000 loss in the Q4 of fiscal 'twenty four. Our improved adjusted EBITDA was largely driven by gross margin expansion.

Speaker 2

For the Q1, our gross margin increased 630 basis points year over year to 43.9% compared to 37.6 percent in the Q1 of last year and increased 510 basis points sequentially compared to 38.8% last quarter. Our gross margin results primarily reflect our continued price optimization efforts as well as actions taken to address elevating coffee commodity markets. For the Q1, net sales increased to $85,100,000 a $3,200,000 or nearly 4 percent increase compared to the Q1 of last year. This sales growth, along with margin expansion, resulted in a gross profit increase of $6,500,000 to $37,300,000 for the quarter compared to $30,800,000 in the same period last year. Operating expenses were $40,100,000 or 47.2 percent of net sales in the Q1 compared to $32,900,000 or 40.1 percent of net sales in the Q1 of last year.

Speaker 2

This year over year increase was driven by an $8,500,000 difference in net gains on asset sales as there were no branch sales during the Q1 of this fiscal year. When adjusted for asset sales, operating expenses declined by $1,200,000 or 3.2 percent of net sales year over year, reflecting the operational efficiencies which have been accomplished and our continued progress in optimizing our cost structure. Our net loss for the quarter was $5,000,000 compared to a net loss of $1,600,000 in the Q1 of last year. You should note that last year included $6,800,000 of net gains related to asset disposals, while this quarter included a $1,700,000 net loss related to asset disposals. Looking at the balance sheet, as of September 30, 2024, we had $3,300,000 of unrestricted cash and cash equivalents, $1,900,000 in restricted cash and $23,300,000 in outstanding borrowings under our credit facility, with $27,100,000 of additional borrowing capacity.

Speaker 2

We're making solid progress towards our goal of positive free cash flow, as demonstrated in our improved cash flow from operating activities, which improved to positive $2,500,000 in the Q1 of this year. This represents a $9,600,000 improvement compared to negative $7,100,000 in the Q1 of last year and a $3,500,000 improvement compared to negative $1,000,000 last quarter. This marks 5 consecutive quarters of improved cash from operating activities. We are encouraged by the solid quarter and the significant improvements we have achieved in gross margin, adjusted EBITDA and cash flow. We are, however, mindful of the current volatility in coffee commodity markets and the macroeconomic environment.

Speaker 2

While we are proactively working to address these conditions, we do not expect our financial results to be linear quarter to quarter. We remain confident we are on the right path in building the right foundation to generate sustainable value creation. With that, I'll turn it back to John. John?

Speaker 1

Thanks, Vance. Overall, we believe this quarter provides a glimpse of the long term potential of Farmer Brothers and what we can achieve. With gross margins reaching a level not seen since March of 2022 and positive adjusted EBITDA performance, we believe we're on the right track. It appears our internal initiatives are starting to gain traction, which should allow us to realize additional efficiency, working capital and operational gains throughout this fiscal year and beyond. We do, however, recognize we are not seeing the top line results we know we need to drive significant scale and long term growth.

Speaker 1

This will be a continued point of emphasis for us in fiscal 2025 as we focus on customer growth, adding density across our existing DSD routes and selling additional products into our existing customer base as a means to generate additional revenue and protect our margins. We are confident we will continue to build on this positive momentum as we remain focused on providing outstanding customer service, strong operational execution, fundamental performance and proactively mitigating market factors to drive sustainable growth and long term value for our shareholders. Before we open it up for questions, I would like to take a moment to thank our team for their tremendous work. Their entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to continuous improvement is evident in our recent results. Our success both in the near and long term would not be possible without them.

Speaker 1

With that, I want to thank you all for joining us on the call today. Operator, we will now open it up for questions.

Operator

And our first question comes from Gerry Sweeney of ROTH Capital.

Speaker 1

Good afternoon, John and Ben. Thanks for taking my call.

Speaker 3

Hi, Gerry. How are you?

Speaker 2

Hi, Gerry.

Speaker 1

Doing well. Wondering if we could start with the growth and density in the routes and it was something that I paid particular attention to, but wanted to understand churn, how that's coming along and some of the growth initiatives and how they've taken place? And then maybe we can talk about the route density? Sure. So, even since our last call, we're seeing continued positive trends when it comes to churn.

Speaker 1

There's no question, within the industry, it's there are some headwinds that are there. You're seeing some single digit to low double digit declines comparable year on year unit sales and degradation in frequency of visits, average consumer spend. And consumer spend in general is relatively soft. Having said that, we're seeing that our levels of retention are even better than we had anticipated, given some of the necessary price actions that we've taken over the last quarters, given the coffee markets. So, at this point, we're reaching pretty much an inflection point there.

Speaker 1

And you can imagine, we look at this weekly and some weeks are positive somewhat, some weeks are negative a little bit somewhat, but we're talking about the values that in some cases are under that are single digits and in a state of 30,000 approximately 30,000 customers. So, we're feeling like we're in a very good space there and getting better. When it comes to then flipping into a growth trajectory, I think that's where we're really doubling down on our need to commit to outstanding customer service, keeping in mind that commitment to right place, right time, right product, right value. We feel as though we've taken significant strides over the last year in resolving what were some of those out of stock issues, not having the stock where we needed it, when we needed it. We've pretty much resolved all of those issues.

Speaker 1

The other major theme was equipment, again, where we needed it and when. Again, there we had a rapid deployment system. We've now got equipment where we need it. We've leveraged our refurb capability. So we've managed to do all of this in having a finished goods portfolio in the right place, right time with no increase, in fact, a decrease in days on hand inventory with our finished goods and a decrease in our CapEx related to brewing equipment.

Speaker 1

So very, very pleased with where all of that is going and looking to improve that going forward. Got you. And then the out of stock issues, that's addressed by SKU rationalization and brand pyramid collapses everything, so you can have the part of the right product

Speaker 3

at the right place, right

Speaker 1

time, etcetera. Is that correct? I think it's a congruence of a number of things. It is most definitely those things in addition to taking a real careful look at how are we converting customer by customer from one SKU set into another and really being deliberate about that process and making sure that the communication to all of the team members in the field was done in a very deliberate and thoughtful fashion and then the customers were treated again with that white glove service and coached through the transition to mitigate any potential attrition related to that. Got it.

Speaker 1

And then obviously growth, part of it is limiting churn and it's not growing customers, but how much of growth comes from maybe adding new routes or adjusting routes and then obviously like I said more stops, more product sales per stop? Sure. I think that's a great question. I think we are, if anything, looking to optimize our routes and get even more value out of the routes that we have. I don't know that we need to add significantly to our route network.

Speaker 1

We have another a number of routes where we can improve utilization simply by focusing our business development efforts specific to those areas. And that's one of the things that we're looking about getting a bit better with over the quarters ahead, making sure that our business development efforts are focused in a very deliberate way so that that density is achieved to really optimize that route structure and get as much value out of it as possible. But the other piece of that is really unlocking the potential value that's there already within again that estate of approximately 30,000 customers through better product penetration. I mean, the best dollars to be had are in the existing accounts where there's no additional deployment of CapEx or brewers. You're just basically selling in products that you already have on your truck and realizing the value of them.

Speaker 1

So I think we have a tremendous opportunity there. How do we unlock that? That's just the follow-up. Sure. I think with deliberate and thoughtful planning and execution, I think we're getting better and better about approaching our customers with the totality of product mix, enabling our route sales representatives to be better equipped to get into those conversations with our customers.

Speaker 1

And then also enabling our account executives with the tools that they need to go out and make more profitable, more comprehensive customers. So, what I mean by that, they can go in now with the tools that they have. And if they're again selling pancake mix, they should be selling the syrup that goes right along with that pancake mix. Clearly, they should be selling orange juice. They should be selling coffee.

Speaker 1

They should be selling tea. Got it. Okay. That is it for me. I will jump back in line.

Speaker 1

I appreciate it. Thank you, Jerry.

Operator

And our next question comes from Eric Dillard of Craig Hallum Capital Group.

Speaker 3

Great. Thank you for taking my questions and congrats on the strong quarter here.

Speaker 1

Thank you. Thank you.

Speaker 3

My first question is in regards to getting back into specialty coffee with this new brand that's to be announced in the coming months here. How should we think about that impacting financials? And I guess we can start with just kind of the revenue side of things. Should we think of this essentially as reentering a new category and thus mostly incremental sales opportunities or is there any sort of I guess cannibalization of existing revenues, maybe your customers buying premium where like more premium and while they can't buy specialty, I'm just kind of wondering how we should think about the impact on revenues?

Speaker 1

That's a great question, Eric. I think in the short term, it would be optimization on sourcing and manufacturing and distribution side. In that, we already have built into our network a significant number of pounds in the specialty space. We haven't had a unified brand message around any of that forever really in our history. And that's always been somewhat regional.

Speaker 1

And so in launching this new brand expression, the first step will be transitioning the existing volume that's in the specialty space to this new brand experience. But from there, we can start to think about how do we roll that out nationally as a new portfolio of goods to customers that have never been exposed to Farmer Brothers as a specialty coffee roaster before. And I think that's where you'll start to see incremental revenue through the specialty brand. And specialty, as most people in the coffee business have seen, is the fastest growing side of the coffee space. So we're really excited to think about what that might mean for us.

Speaker 3

That makes sense. And I guess that sort of brings up another question for me on Boyd's. You mentioned that it's been a West Coast brand. You're now bringing it nationally. Are there any sort of areas where you were perhaps under indexed or didn't have much exposure to premium coffee and thus this Boyd's brand could also represent some incremental opportunity or is it sort of similar to just disparate brands and not a unified brand approach?

Speaker 1

No, I would say there are incremental opportunities with Boyd's. In relaunching it as a comprehensive program that comes with POS materials, that comes with marketing, that comes with some initiatives that will really build equity into that as a brand experience. That will be relatively new for Boyd's. It's been mostly a West Coast phenomena to date, but it's performing particularly well in the C store channel. It's also very strong, as we had mentioned in healthcare entertainment, casino, gaming.

Speaker 1

It really checks a lot of boxes for people that are looking for that somewhat better experience in coffee, better value proposition. And we have not explored that comprehensively in other parts of the country with any kind of uniform brand messaging. So we definitely see an opportunity there. All right. That's helpful.

Speaker 3

And then I guess just margin wise, so understood that specialty is not just like a new incremental opportunity, but that there is opportunity for incremental sales. So as we just kind of think about that on the gross margin side, can you help us understand if there's much of a difference at all between, I guess, all three of these categories? Just kind of help us understand how you see margins between them?

Speaker 1

I mean, I don't know that we see them as particularly different on a percentage point basis. Of course, given that the top line contribution on a dollars basis will be different. Just based on the value proposition from a top line dollars perspective, you'll see more contribution from the specialty than you might from the commercial or premium. Having said that, typically, there are there and in our system to date, there is more volume to be had in the commercial space and then a modicum of volume in the premier or premium space. And then specialty really is truly the tip of the iceberg for us.

Speaker 1

We're excited to see where that goes in the future.

Speaker 3

Yes, that's awesome. Could you elaborate a bit more on the gross margin drivers, I guess the drivers and the improvement that we've seen besides your price optimization efforts? Vance, you mentioned something else around commodity pricing, but I was just I was a little, I guess, just confused there.

Speaker 2

Yes, sure, Eric. Yes, so as you know, we throughout the course of the last several quarters, we've been working on that pricing optimization effort. Really in response to what we were seeing is in terms of elevating commodity markets in the coffee markets, we wanted to make sure that we weren't behind that curve. And so we were taking pricing actions in response to the rising market. And so and that was just obviously to make sure that we're not falling behind.

Speaker 2

And so we're seeing a little bit of that in Q1, where we're still not quite seeing the full effect of that higher cost inventory, but realizing the pricing action that's going to be necessary to offset that as it comes through over the next couple of quarters.

Speaker 1

Got it. Got it.

Speaker 3

And then just last question for me. Can you comment on the prospect for potential further asset disposals? Just kind of wondering if this is something that we should think of as largely behind us now or if there's still some opportunities going forward?

Speaker 1

I mean, I think what we as we've said in the past, we're not relying on those as a business strategy in any way, shape or form. For us, it's truly it's looked at opportunistically. And in some cases, we have a network of branches dating back decades. And as we all know, urban centers have changed over that span and we may not have branches in an area that matches the need any longer. So in some cases, we'll entertain offers for branches that are no longer perfectly suited for our needs, but it's not part of our ongoing business strategy.

Speaker 3

That's helpful. All right. Thank you for taking my question and congrats again on

Speaker 1

the strong start to the year. Thank you very much.

Speaker 2

Thanks, Harry.

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