Sow Good Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
March 22, 2024

There are 3 speakers on the call.

Operator

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the SoGood Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. After the speakers' presentation, there will be a question and answer session. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

Operator

I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Jackie Keshner, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Speaker 1

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for participating in today's conference call to discuss SoGood's financial results for the Q4 and full year ended December 31, 2023. Joining us today is SoGood's Co Founder, CEO and Interim Chief Financial Officer, Claudia Goldfarb. Certain statements made during this call are forward looking statements, including those concerning our financial outlook, our market opportunities and the impact of the global economic environment on our business. These statements are based on currently available information and assumptions, and we undertake no duty to update this information except as required by law. These statements are also subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those highlighted in today's earnings release and our filings with the SEC.

Speaker 1

Additional information concerning these statements and the risks and uncertainties associated with them is highlighted in today's earnings release and in our filings with the SEC. Copies are available from the SEC or on our Investor Relations website. Furthermore, we will discuss adjusted EBITDA, a non GAAP financial measure on today's call. A reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA to net loss, the nearest comparable non GAAP financial measure discussed on today's call is available in our earnings press release at our Investor Relations website. With that, I will turn the call over to Claudia.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Jackie, and good morning, everyone. I'm thrilled to be here today and share exciting updates since our last call. In early 2023, we helped launch the free dried candy category, quickly becoming the market leaders. We have since experienced incredible growth, which continued into the Q4 of 2023. We achieved record quarterly revenue of $9,500,000 representing substantial year over year growth and an 89% sequential increase above our 3rd quarter results.

Speaker 2

When we first launched our novel treats, we had our sights set on repeating management history of identifying and growing niche trends into everyday categories. We entered the market with best in class freeze drying technology and the manufacturing and leadership expertise needed to sustain a high growth consumer brand. Our success to date reflects the strength of our growth strategies and the customer demand for our innovative snackable treats. In 2024, we are focused on increasing our market share as well as capturing the expansive growth opportunities accompanying the nascent but booming freeze dried candy space, which we helped pioneer. Excitingly, our treats have continued outperforming sales forecast across our retail base.

Speaker 2

Customers are increasing their order quantities, expanding their SKU portfolio and working closely with us to develop new and seasonal treats. To meet this increasing demand, we've implemented numerous strategies to grow our production capacity. As we previously shared, during the Q4, we leased a 51,000 square foot distribution and warehousing facility in Irving, Texas, optimizing our capacity for heightened order volumes. We completed construction of our 4th freeze dryer in February, with our 5th and 6th freeze dryers expected to be completed and operational by the Q3 of this year. Our co manufacturing arrangement with freeze drying facilities in China are aiding our efforts to meet growing demand.

Speaker 2

This helped meet our sales needs in December of 2023, as we received, packaged and sold initial product shipments from China. We also began working with the freeze drying facility in Colombia and the first shipment arrived in February of 2024. These facilities all passed our rigorous foreign supplier approval and quality control programs. Leveraging co manufacturers allows us the flexibility to fulfill high demand for our most popular products, while also freeing up our internal capacity to manufacture our more difficult products in larger quantities, allowing for a more diverse SKU portfolio at scale. We are also evaluating additional international possibilities with respect to manufacturing facilities.

Speaker 2

This would enable us to further increase production, while maintaining our exacting quality and food safety standards. In January, we opened a low cost shared service center in Montevideo, Mexico and will hire employees there to help support our accounting, marketing and sales departments. As we progress in this build out of our additional capacity, we will provide further updates. Expanding our production capacity allows us to support our existing traction and further diversify both our SKU assortment and our customer base. From Q3 of 2023 to mid Q1 of 2024, we paused onboarding of all new customers as we increase production capacity to meet our existing customers' demand.

Speaker 2

Our increased in house and co manufacturing production has enabled exciting expansions, including increasing Circle K store counts to approximately 2,000 stores, increasing SKU portfolios at Cracker Barrel and Five Below, launching into 300 SESCO convenience stores in February, launching 4 SKUs in Target in March and expanding into an anticipated 18 59 Target stores in June. We also have pending launches in Party City, Kroger, 711, Dollar General and Hobby Lobby. Expanding production capacity has allowed us to launch new SKUs. Recent SKU expansions included Sour and Sweet Spheres, which are jumbo versions of our bites, Sweeter Geeks, Crunchy Crocs and jumbo vanilla and Neapolitan crunch cream freeze dried ice cream sandwiches. Growing our SKU portfolio not only appeals to a broader customer demographic, but also serves as a key point of differentiation from competitors and answers the significant demand from our retail buyers.

Speaker 2

Our success is made possible by our team, which has remained lean and efficient even as our revenue has grown exponentially. Over the past 6 months, our production team has more than doubled and we expect it will continue growing throughout 2024. Our corporate team has also received powerful new additions, including a Director of Co Manufacturing in Latin America, a Director of Accounting for Latin America and a Director of Food Safety and Quality. Throughout Q1, the expansion of our operational infrastructure, internal team and external co manufacturing partnerships has built a robust foundation that positions us for aggressive yet sustainable growth in 2024. Strategically pausing the onboarding of new customers in Q3 through Q1 provided the necessary room to enhance our resources and establish this foundation.

Speaker 2

While this approach resulted in smaller sequential expansion relative to the Q4 of 2023, it was deliberately executed with the foresight that laying the groundwork now would enable us to effectively manage and support much greater growth in Q2 and the second half of this year. With the culmination of our efforts in Q1 of this year to maximize production capacity both in house and through co manufacturers, we have equipped ourselves to meet the demands of our aggressive sales growth trajectory. We are currently aiming to be able to produce 4,250,000 units in Q1, growing to 7 point 2,000,000 units in Q2, 9,000,000 units in Q3, and 9,550,000 units in Q4, for a total of approximately 30,000,000 units in 2024. We built swift and significant momentum in 2023 and are excited for the opportunities that lie ahead. But before I describe those in greater detail, I'd like to review our 4th quarter and full year 2023 financial results.

Speaker 2

Moving into our financial performance. Revenue in the Q4 of 2023 increased significantly to $9,500,000 compared to 47,100 for the same period in 2022 $5,000,000 for the Q3 of 2023. For the full year, revenue increased significantly to $16,100,000 compared to 428,100 in 2022. Our strong quarter over quarter top line growth continues to be driven by our expansion from the addition of 2 new freeze dryers in the Q2 of 2023 and the first of our co manufacturing arrangements coming online. Gross profit in the Q4 of 2023 increased significantly to $3,400,000 compared to $2,100 for the same period in 2022.

Speaker 2

4th quarter gross margin was 35% compared to 4% in the prior year period. As we move into 2024, we aim to have our quarterly gross margin improve as we continue to increase our capacity and carefully manage our pricing. Full year gross profit increased significantly to $4,900,000 compared to $119,800 in 2022. Gross margin for the year was 30% compared to 28% in 2022. Our year over year gross margin expansion was driven by higher margin profile of our candy products relative to the original food product lines we sold in the comparable prior year periods, which have been discontinued.

Speaker 2

Operating expenses in the Q4 of 2023 were 1 point $6,000,000 compared to $6,400,000 for the same period in 2022. As previewed on our last call, our Q4 operating expenses included our lease of additional warehouse and distribution space in Irving, Texas. For the full year, operating expenses were $6,100,000 compared to $11,000,000 in 2022. Operating expenses in the Q4 of 2022 included a $4,900,000 goodwill impairment charge related to our 2020 acquisition of SFDF LLC, which impacts the year over year comparisons for both the quarter and full year. GAAP net income for the quarter was $1,300,000 compared to a net loss of $6,800,000 for the same period in 2022.

Speaker 2

The improvement reflects the higher gross profit, which we generated during the quarter. We are aiming to drive further profitability improvements over the coming quarters of 2024. For the full year, GAAP net loss improved significantly to $3,100,000 compared to a net loss of $12,100,000 in 2022. The improvement was primarily due to increased gross profit generated during the quarter, which was partially offset by higher interest expenses. Net loss in both the Q4 and full year 2022 reflects the impact of the $4,900,000 goodwill impairment charge I just mentioned.

Speaker 2

Adjusted EBITDA in the Q4 of 2023 improved to $2,300,000 compared to a negative $1,000,000 for the same period in 2022. For the full year, adjusted EBITDA improved to $1,500,000 compared to negative $4,600,000 in 2022. At December 31, 2023, cash and cash equivalents were $2,400,000 compared to 0.0 $3,000,000 at December 31, 2022. In November 2023, we completed $2,800,000 private placement raised from 426,288 newly issued shares at a per share price of $6.50 This price represented a 30% premium to our last 2023 equity raise and the additional capital is targeted towards our supporting the strong customer demand for our candy products. Operational goals.

Speaker 2

Before we conclude today's call, I would like to review some of our key areas of operational focus for 2020 4. These include expanding production capacity in support of demand, which is our first and foremost priority. Number 1, completing construction on our 5th and 6th additional freeze dryers and bringing these online by Q3 2024. 2, continuing to ramp our international co manufacturing agreements 3, continuing to diversify our customer base and SKU portfolio as the breadth we're achieving in both is a key competitive advantage. It is vital that innovation remains a core pillar of our strategy as we pioneer the freeze dried candy industry.

Speaker 2

4, expanding and optimizing our production infrastructure will allow us to meet the demand of our current most popular SKUs, while enabling us to produce larger quantities of our other more laborious treats, which we aim to do without compromising our margins or overall efficiency. To conclude, we now stand on a strong operational bedrock, one we're fiercely committed to scaling and strengthening as we bolster our growth trajectory. We believe we've already made progress on this foundation thus far in 2024, preparing us for additional growth in Q2 and beyond. In the year ahead, we remain committed to preserving and enhancing our leadership in the freeze dried candy category. Our team is proud of how far we have already come in a short period of time and excited for the bright future ahead of So Good.

Speaker 2

We are focused on continuing our avenues of production expansion in 2024 and growing freeze dried candy from a niche market to an everyday category, providing consumers with innovative, exciting and flavorful treats.

Operator

At this time, we'll conduct a question and answer session. I'm showing no questions at this time. I would like to turn the call back to Claudia for closing remarks.

Speaker 2

Good morning, everybody, and thank you very much for being here today. I appreciate your time and I appreciate you following the So Good story. We're incredibly excited for what 2024 holds and look forward to continuing to update you throughout the year and our next earnings call for recapping the Q1. So again, thank you very much. I appreciate it and we will keep you updated as we go.

Speaker 2

Have a great day everyone.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's teleconference. You may now disconnect your lines. Thank you for your participation.

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Key Takeaways

  • In Q4 2023, SoGood achieved record quarterly revenue of $9.5 million, marking substantial year-over-year growth and an 89% sequential increase from Q3.
  • To meet rising demand, the company expanded its production capacity by leasing a 51,000 sq ft facility in Texas, adding multiple freeze dryers, and leveraging co-manufacturing in China and Colombia.
  • SoGood broadened its SKU portfolio and retail presence with new freeze-dried treats and launches in major chains like Circle K, Target, Five Below, and 7-Eleven, with pending entries in Kroger and Dollar General.
  • Financially, the quarter delivered a GAAP net income of $1.3 million versus a loss in the prior year, and Q4 adjusted EBITDA swung to a positive $2.3 million from negative $1 million.
  • Looking ahead, the company’s 2024 operational priorities include completing two additional freeze dryers by Q3, scaling international co-manufacturing, and continuing innovation to diversify its customer base and product offerings.
A.I. generated. May contain errors.
Earnings Conference Call
Sow Good Q4 2023
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