Zevia PBC Q4 2025 Earnings Report

Zevia PBC EPS Results

• Actual EPS: -$0.02
• Consensus EPS: -$0.03
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$0.01
• One Year Ago EPS: N/A

Zevia PBC Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $37.87 million
• Expected Revenue: $39.96 million
• Beat/Miss: Missed by -$2.09 million
• YoY Revenue Growth: N/A

Zevia PBC Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q4 2025
• Date: 2/25/2026
• Time: After Market Closes
• Conference Call Date: Wednesday, February 25, 2026
• Conference Call Time: 4:30PM ET

Zevia PBC (NYSE:ZVIA), headquartered in Los Angeles, is a Public Benefit Corporation that produces zero-calorie, naturally sweetened beverages. Founded in 2007, the company went public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company in March 2021. Zevia’s mission centers on offering healthier drink alternatives by using stevia leaf extract and other plant-based ingredients rather than sugar or artificial sweeteners.

The company’s product portfolio spans multiple categories, including carbonated sodas, sparkling water, energy drinks, mixers and flavored teas. All Zevia beverages are free of calories, sugars, artificial colors and synthetic preservatives, and they carry non-GMO Project verification. Zevia products are sold primarily through grocery, natural, convenience and on-premise channels across the United States and Canada, and the brand has begun expanding into select international markets via retail and e-commerce partnerships.

As a certified Public Benefit Corporation, Zevia balances its financial goals with commitments to social and environmental impact. The company emphasizes sustainable packaging initiatives and works to reduce its carbon footprint across production and distribution. Guided by a leadership team with extensive experience in the food and beverage industry, Zevia aims to capitalize on growing consumer demand for clean-label, wellness-focused products while maintaining transparency around its public benefit objectives.

Zevia PBC Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Positive Sentiment: 2025 financials improved: Net sales rose 4% to $161.3M, gross margin expanded to 48%, and adjusted EBITDA improved threefold to a -$4.7M full‑year loss with Q4 adjusted EBITDA roughly break‑even.
• Positive Sentiment: 2026 outlook targets near profitability: Management guides net sales of $169M–$173M (~6% growth at midpoint) and adjusted EBITDA of -$1M to +$0.5M (Q1 guide $40M–$42M and EBITDA loss $1.6M–$1.9M); guidance assumes the planned discontinuation of the tea line (a ~1–1.5 point drag).
• Negative Sentiment: Aluminum tariff headwind: The company expects an incremental ~$5M in tariff‑related aluminum costs beginning in Q2, a material margin headwind that management intends to offset with a mid‑single‑digit price increase and the final ~$5M of productivity savings hitting late Q2.
• Positive Sentiment: Operational momentum—distribution, innovation, and marketing: National Costco front‑of‑store rotation, expanded Walmart and Albertsons presence, successful fruity SKU launches (e.g., Orange Creamsicle) and a package/marketing rollout are positioned to drive trial and repeat.

Presentation

[Operator]

Greetings. Welcome to the Zevia PBC fourth quarter and full year 2025 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A brief question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Jean Fontana, Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.

[Jean Fontana, Senior Managing Director at Addo Investor Relations]

Thank you, and welcome to Zevia's fourth quarter and full year 2025 earnings conference call. On today's call are Amy Taylor, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Girish Satya, Chief Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer. By now, everyone should have access to the company's fourth quarter 2025 earnings press release and investor presentation made available this afternoon. This information is available on the investor relations section of Zevia's website at investors.zevia.com. Before we begin, please note that all financial information presented on today's call is unaudited. Certain comments made on this call include forward-looking statements, which are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

[Jean Fontana, Senior Managing Director at Addo Investor Relations]

These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs concerning future events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements. Please refer to today's press release and other filings with the SEC for a detailed discussion of the risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made today. During the call, we will use some Non-GAAP financial measures as we describe business performance. The SEC filings as well as the earnings press release, presentation slides that accompany today's comments, and reconciliation of the Non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are all available on our website at investors.zevia.com. Now I'd like to turn the call over to Amy Taylor.

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

Thank you, Jean. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining our fourth quarter and full year 2025 earnings conference call. We are proud of the transformation progress we delivered in 2025. Through a series of high-impact initiatives spanning product innovation, marketing, distribution, and supply chain, we not only significantly improved our financial performance, but also strengthened Zevia's competitive positioning within the better-for-you soda category. Before I speak to strategy, I'll briefly highlight our performance. For 2025, we delivered net sales growth of 4% and improved adjusted EBITDA threefold to -$4.7 million. For the fourth quarter, net sales decreased 4% to $37.9 million as we lapsed the pipeline fill to Walmart from last November and December. Net sales for the quarter were impacted by a shift of our Costco rotation into January.

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

Importantly, this program was a national one, with premium in-store positioning reaching beyond our regional footprint and driving trial and awareness in underdeveloped and fast-growing markets. Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter reached break even and was ahead of our expectations. Turning to the three strategic pillars that enabled this progress, I'll start with amplified marketing. Our improved performance for the year was supported by powerful marketing that clearly differentiated Zevia as the antidote to the artificial, and as a product with no fake ingredients and no fake claims. Key campaigns showcased Zevia's use of creative, culturally relevant content and high-profile brand fans to boost brand awareness, reinforce our positioning, and appeal to consumers that are just trying to do a little bit better with healthier choices. For our second growth pillar, product innovation, 2025 was a breakthrough year.

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

We introduced on-trend fruity flavors such as Strawberry Lemon Burst and retailer-exclusive Orange Creamsicle, both of which strongly resonated with consumers. We also began to elevate taste for select classic flavors, the impact of which will carry into 2026, in parallel with our package design evolution. Our marketing and product initiatives helped to propel distribution, our third growth pillar, to historical peak levels in 2025, including a nationwide presence in Walmart, as we are an anchor brand within that retailer's modern soda set, and at Albertsons, where we increased our shelf space and gained eye-level placement with a vertical brand block within their next-gen beverage set. Through these initiatives, we've strengthened our foundation for growth, with brand, product innovation, and distribution working together to capitalize on favorable category and consumer trends that create strong tailwinds.

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

In 2026, we are building on this momentum with a focus on expanding reach and driving trial to expand the user base and ultimately to accelerate growth. First, let's walk through our marketing initiatives. Zevia is resonating with the consumer more than ever as we continue to show up as the antidote to the artificial. We kicked off this year with a playful campaign inviting consumers to join a Ztox, so a detox from artificial soda with one simple swap. Choose a zero artificial better-for-you soda instead. This month-long campaign featured influencer partnerships, an immersive activation at world-renowned DJ Diplo's Run Club, sampling at Life Time's Miami Marathon, and a bold out-of-home takeover across Atlanta. Early reads of editorial and social outcomes revealed that the campaign punched above its weight.

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

The next brand campaign in March will continue to reinforce Zevia's unique position and personality in a digital campaign, also activated at retail. During our next call, I'm excited to update you on summer brand campaigns, bolstered by new and familiar high-reach brand ambassadors. Our most significant investment in reach and cultural relevance to date. More to come on this as this and other initiatives will run in parallel with our spring and summer rollout of our dynamic new package design and will be supported by retail-driven trial driving programs focused on expanding the user base. Next, let's talk about the portfolio and 2026 product innovation. While trust and affordability remain core differentiators for Zevia, we are winning where it matters most in the category, which is taste, unlocking a broader consumer base and strengthening long-term brand relevance.

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

We know that new products are outperforming legacy items in velocity, creating a halo effect that boosts legacy items as well. With that distinction, combined with brand and accessible price points, we are in a strong position to expand our consumer base and continue to drive strong repeat rates. Orange Creamsicle was a huge hit as the number one 6-pack at Sprouts immediately following its initial launch, and is now being rolled out as a hero flavor of 2026. Fruit Punch and Peaches & Cream, which also saw successes in variety packs and as a limited time offer respectively, are now rolling out nationally. Finally, after proving to be a hit and the top Zevia SKU at Walmart, the new fruity variety pack can be found across retail starting in spring resets.

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

We are bullish on this robust innovation pipeline overall and specifically as a complement to the legacy soda portfolio, enabling Zevia to super serve old school soda fans and engage new modern soda consumers with a light and fruity palette. This strong portfolio, with improved packaging and taste across the board, should be a key driver of both new users and increased consumption this year. Now, building on the successes in our product innovation and in marketing, let's move on to our third growth pillar, distribution. We continue to make meaningful progress through our key distribution channels and step by step in new channels. In club, we are focused on building consumer acquisition through trial and thus volume. Earlier successes this year include a new Costco front-of-store national rotation that represents a meaningful opportunity to drive trial with new consumers in underdeveloped and fast-growing markets.

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

In the mass channel, we're growing our Walmart Canada business to just over half of those stores, and our largest single retail opportunity in the U.S. is to win distribution at Walmart's top competitor. In grocery, we're leveraging the success story of Albertsons, where expanded space and eye-level placement through a vertical brand block have yielded growth and, in recent months, share gains. We believe this performance, plus the new packaging, new items, and improved taste, will yield more retailers to follow Walmart and Albertsons' lead, though several spring sets are still forthcoming. In e-commerce, we continue to see accelerated growth in our business overall and through subscriptions. Plus, the introduction of our smaller eight-count option across flavors in this channel will continue to drive sales. In the medium term, we see meaningful opportunity to drive new distribution across all club operators, value and dollar channels, and in mass.

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

Long-term, as is true for the whole category, convenience and foodservice remain a big opportunity both for trial and for continued growth. As the only zero sugar, clean label offering at an accessible price point, we are uniquely positioned to stand apart from a crowded, competitive set and better-for-you soda in each of these key channels. One quick note before handing it over to Girish. We are pleased to announce the appointment of Andy Ruben as Chair of the Zevia Board. Andy's made valuable contributions over the past five years, most recently as our Lead Independent Director. I look forward to further leveraging his strong background, including being the founder of Trove Recommerce, a practiced BCG consultant, and a 10-year Walmart veteran, where he served as VP of Corporate Strategy and as Chief Sustainability Officer.

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

Paddy Spence will remain on the board, we are grateful for his ongoing support. Finally, we're pleased to welcome Suzanne Ginestro as a Director. As previously announced, she's a seasoned marketing executive with over 25 years of experience in brand building and consumer growth. Her background and track record of success will further strengthen our board capabilities. In closing, I'm energized by what our team has accomplished, and even more so for the future, as our strategic initiatives bear fruit and accelerate momentum. While we still have a lot of work to do, we are focused on the long term, and we believe we are well-positioned to capitalize on the strong, better for you beverage tailwinds well into the future. With that, I'll turn it over to Girish.

[Girish Satya, CFO and Principal Accounting Officer at Zevia PBC]

Thank you, Amy. Good afternoon, everyone, thanks for joining our call today. 2025 marked a year of transformation for Zevia. The strategic initiatives we deployed across the business enabled us to return to growth and vastly improve our financial profile. Beyond the strengthening of our financial position, we've also elevated our competitive positioning, which sets the foundation to drive future growth and profitability. Turning to our results, net sales in the fourth quarter decreased 4% to $37.9 million. The decrease versus the prior year was primarily due to lapping of the expanded distribution at Walmart in Q4 2024, as well as a reduction in promotional activity versus the prior year. As Amy noted, our fourth quarter was impacted by the trade-up of our existing regional Costco rotation to a new national rotation program launched in January.

[Girish Satya, CFO and Principal Accounting Officer at Zevia PBC]

This new program entails front-of-store placement, raising visibility for the brand as our new 30-can variety pack becomes available nationwide. Gross margin was 47.7%, 150 basis points decline from 49.2% in the fourth quarter of last year, reflecting channel mix associated with the return to club channel and higher tariff costs, which was offset by lower promotional activity. Selling and marketing expenses were $11 million, or 29.1% of net sales in the fourth quarter of 2025, compared to $16.5 million or 41.7% of net sales in the fourth quarter of 2024.

[Girish Satya, CFO and Principal Accounting Officer at Zevia PBC]

Breaking it down, selling expense was $7.4 million, or 19.5% of net sales in the fourth quarter of 2025, compared to $10 million or 25.3% of net sales in the fourth quarter of 2024. The improvement was largely a result of lower warehousing and freight transfer costs as we continue to benefit from our productivity initiatives. Marketing expense was $3.6 million, or 9.6% of net sales in the fourth quarter of 2025, compared to $6.5 million or 16.5% of net sales in the fourth quarter of 2024. The decrease was primarily due to the timing of marketing spend as we lapped a significant investment in our holiday campaign last year. We continue to balance brand and performance marketing with the objective of driving more awareness for Zevia.

[Girish Satya, CFO and Principal Accounting Officer at Zevia PBC]

General administrative expenses were $7.3 million or 19.3% of net sales in the fourth quarter of 2025, compared to $6.8 million or 17.3% of net sales in the fourth quarter of 2024. The increase was primarily driven by higher accrued variable compensation expense. As a result of the aforementioned factors, net loss significantly improved to $1.3 million from $6.8 million from the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA was approximately $50,000, compared to an Adjusted EBITDA loss of $3.9 million in the prior year period. Turning to our balance sheet, we ended the quarter with approximately $25.4 million in cash and cash equivalents and have an undrawn revolving credit line of $20 million. Moving to our full year results.

[Girish Satya, CFO and Principal Accounting Officer at Zevia PBC]

For the full year of 2025, Zevia achieved net sales of $161.3 million, an increase of 4%. The increase was primarily driven by higher volumes associated with the distribution expansion at Walmart. We expanded gross margins to 48% versus 46.4% in 2024, due to better product costing and more effective inventory management. Net loss more than halved to $11.1 million, as compared to a net loss of $23.8 million in 2024. Adjusted EBITDA loss vastly improved to $4.7 million for the year, compared to an adjusted EBITDA loss of $15.2 million for the full year of 2024. Turning to our outlook.

[Girish Satya, CFO and Principal Accounting Officer at Zevia PBC]

In 2026, we plan to build on our momentum, leveraging our growth initiatives to broaden our consumer base through amplified marketing, sharpened product innovation, and expanded distribution presence. We are supporting these initiatives with strategic investments enabled by our improved cost structure and healthy balance sheet. For the full year of 2026, we estimate net sales in the range of $169 million-$173 million, or 6% growth at the midpoint of the range versus 2025. Net sales expectations reflect the planned discontinuation of our tea line, which we expect to impact growth by 1-1.5 points. Looking at cadence, I would note that the quarterly net sales volumes are expected to shift from previous years, with higher volumes anticipated in the first and third quarters.

[Girish Satya, CFO and Principal Accounting Officer at Zevia PBC]

There are several factors impacting this cadence, which are as follows: The Costco National Program launched in the first quarter, which benefits net sales growth while having a dilutive impact on gross margin. The second quarter is expected to be impacted by the planned discontinuation of our tea offering, the lapping of sell-ins to Walgreens and Albertsons in the second quarter of last year, as well as a shift in marketing and promotional dollars spent from Q2-Q3. This shift is to better align with our new packaging rollout. We expect to realize the impact of planned price increases beginning in Q2. Turning to profitability, we are expecting a full year adjusted EBITDA range from a loss of $1 million to positive $0.5 million, which incorporates an incremental $5 million in tariff-related aluminum costs beginning in Q2, as well as continued reinvestment in our business.

[Girish Satya, CFO and Principal Accounting Officer at Zevia PBC]

Our guidance also assumes gross margins in the high 40 range starting in Q2, barring further increases in aluminum costs. We also expect to start realizing the last tranche of $5 million in savings from our productivity initiative towards the end of Q2. For the first quarter of 2026, we expect net sales of between $40 million-$42 million. This guidance reflects volume gains associated with our national Costco program that began in January. The Costco program yields lower gross margins, we believe an investment in the club channel will support growth and trial and drive awareness. We expect an adjusted EBITDA loss of between $1.6 million and $1.9 million, reflecting a mid-40s gross margin range. In closing, the progress we've made has positioned us to move confidently into the next phase of our strategic plan.

[Girish Satya, CFO and Principal Accounting Officer at Zevia PBC]

With mid-single-digit household penetration and strong tailwinds in the broader better-for-you soda space, we believe we have ample runway for growth and improved profitability over the long term. I will now turn it over to the operator to begin Q&A. Operator?

[Operator]

Thank you. We will now be conducting a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate that your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. One moment please while we poll for questions. Our first question comes from Sarang Vora with Telsey Advisory Group. Please proceed with your question.

[Sarang Vora, Analyst at Telsey Advisory Group]

Great. Thank you for taking the question. You know, I wanted to start with the Costco rotation program. It's great to see that you guys are nationally up from regionally before. How does the program work? Can you help us understand, is it nationally, but it is still rotational, or you guys, Zevia will be at Costco all through the year? Any color on the Costco program would be helpful. Thank you.

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

Sure, no problem. Yeah, we're excited about the fact that we are able to kick off nationally at Costco through what is a rotation that took place at the beginning of the year. Stronger visibility for the brand, and almost most importantly, penetration into regions where we haven't had Costco distribution before. What we expect going forward is in a couple of regions, the state, Texas and some across the South to Southwest, there's a number of regions where they've never carried Zevia before. We saw very strong velocities, and we expect to continue in those regions, whether through additional regional rotations or hopefully as a new permanent item, which is the case in a few other regions. The other opportunity is to reengage with Costco based on the success of the program, to look at incremental national rotations in the future.

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

There's a couple different ways forward to run. We could gain new regions permanently, or we could gain incremental rotations, either regionally or nationally, based on what appears to be very strong performance out of the gates in the January program.

[Sarang Vora, Analyst at Telsey Advisory Group]

Okay, that's great. Then, second question I had was about the tariffs. you know, can you talk a little bit about, you know, exposure to tariff? I know you called it out about $5 million, but how are you mitigating that in some ways? it seems like there's a price increase coming up or trying to offset that. There's also some cost initiatives you have. walk us through how are you mitigating that tariff exposure and, you know, how long it should last, you know, in the.

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

Yes.

[Sarang Vora, Analyst at Telsey Advisory Group]

PNL. I know we started lapping it this year, so that would be helpful. Thank you.

[Girish Satya, CFO and Principal Accounting Officer at Zevia PBC]

Sure. What we'll see in the PNL, of course, is increased exposure to increased aluminum costs, which is reflected in our guide. There's two things that we are doing to mitigate it. One, of course, as you mentioned, is the price increase, which we have taken, and people will begin to see or have communicated rather, and we'll begin to see the impact of it in Q2. Secondly, we have the incremental $5 million, which is the last tranche of the savings from the productivity initiative, which again, will also start hitting the PNL in Q2 as well. Those two items, price and incremental cost, are the main factors that we're leveraging to mitigate the increased aluminum exposure.

[Sarang Vora, Analyst at Telsey Advisory Group]

Okay, thank you. Good luck.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Jim Salera with Stephens. Please proceed with your question.

[Jim Salera, Research Analyst at Stephens Inc.]

Hi, Amy. Hi, Girish. Good afternoon. Thanks for taking our question. To start off, maybe just a quick housekeeping on form. Is the, you know, $1 million or so that you guys came up short of the 4Q top line guide that you provided in 3Q, is that just by virtue of the Costco timing shifts, or is there anything else in there that we should be aware of?

[Girish Satya, CFO and Principal Accounting Officer at Zevia PBC]

It's primarily due to the Costco timing shift, where we had planned regional rotations in Q4. We moved those into a, you know, broader national rotation in Q1, so the volume shifted from Q4-Q1.

[Jim Salera, Research Analyst at Stephens Inc.]

Got it. Then on the As we think about, you know, better visibility, obviously, more locations in Costco and at some other retailers, when is all of the new packaging gonna be in market? And do you guys have any marketing programs kind of around having the kind of fully implemented new packaging to help drive some visibility and maybe call attention to that?

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

Absolutely. Thanks, Jim. First of all, the packaging is starting to show up on shelf now, and it looks amazing. It really pops, it looks delicious, it screams the specific reasons to believe in Zevia, and I think that is tremendous support for our positioning in the market, especially given the advantage that we offer versus our competition, especially against which we are shelved now on a regular basis, given the way that the category has developed. It looks great on shelf. Where you'll see it flow through, because we are doing what we call a rolling launch, is largely into Q2. I mentioned in prepared remarks that we have a heavily digital campaign, some of which will be showing up at retail in March, kind of at a brand level.

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

More specifically, in parallel to the packaging rollout, our improved taste will be rolling out at the same time across legacy, some of our classic flavors. We have a spring/summer marketing campaign, which I'm gonna speak about a little bit more on the next call, which will engage some pretty familiar faces and a high impact reach personalities that love Zevia. It's just a great opportunity to drive reach, awareness, trial, and then given the fantastic new taste and the rate of innovation that we've been driving lately, also repeat. We, we are bullish on the summer. That will start really hitting the shelves and hitting the market late Q2 and support the business through the back half of the year and going forward.

[Jim Salera, Research Analyst at Stephens Inc.]

Great. If I can just sneak one-on-one in real quick. I think you guys finished with marketing spend for 2025 at, like, $20 million, maybe a little shy of that. Can you just give us a sense for what overall marketing spending looks like in 2026 as we think about, you know, kind of the balance between flowing through some of the cost savings versus reinvesting in visibility for the brand?

[Girish Satya, CFO and Principal Accounting Officer at Zevia PBC]

Yeah, thanks, Jim. We will continue to increase investment in marketing, and as a percentage of revenue, it'll range between, let's call it, 12% and 13% of revenue in 2026. It's a slight increase over 2025 as a percentage of revenue.

[Jim Salera, Research Analyst at Stephens Inc.]

Great. Thanks, guys. I'll back with you.

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

Thanks, Jim.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Eric DesLauriers with Craig-Hallum. Please proceed with your question.

[Eric DesLauriers, Senior Research Analyst at Craig-Hallum Capital Group]

Great, thanks for taking my questions. First one from me, another follow-up on Costco. Wondering how many of these regions are new. Are any of these regions, are you also under-penetrated in other channels in these regions, or is it sort of just Club or just Costco, where you've been relatively under-penetrated here? Thanks.

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

Sure, Eric. About a little bit of each. The regions that have never carried Zevia before are about 35%, 40% of the regions that we showed up in this national program. That's net new, and that's exciting to us from a trial driving perspective, especially when you think about the fact that it's a variety pack and everybody can kind of find their favorite flavor. That trial driving mechanism often supports growth across channels and brings people into the franchise for the first time. A lot of incrementality in the club business. Then to answer your the second part of your question, yes, you know, a region like Texas, where we see accelerated velocities in the national program, is exciting to think about how our business could grow across channels.

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

You know, if you think about Texas and go east, we have lower market penetration on the East Coast than we do, let's say, in the Midwest and across the West Coast. These step changes really help us to expand reach and help to be a catalyst for other channels as well and other specific geographies. Excited about the Southeast, Texas, and the East Coast in general, as benefiting from this national program.

[Eric DesLauriers, Senior Research Analyst at Craig-Hallum Capital Group]

Great! That's great to hear. Do any of the flavors in that variety pack contain either any of your new flavors or the new improved formulation?

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

New flavors as of now, yes, new as of 2025, and new taste profile for the classic flavors, not yet. Think about the pack design, the increase in marketing spend sort of seasonally, and the improved taste profile all ramping up during peak beverage season, so late spring.

[Eric DesLauriers, Senior Research Analyst at Craig-Hallum Capital Group]

That's great to hear. Just last one from me, just wondering if you could expand a bit on the DSD market, Pacific Northwest, and I believe it was Arizona, just how that, how the trends there continue. Thank you.

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

Sure. you know, we are learning that time in market with a DSD operator yields some stronger results, meaning we are really starting to crack through distribution of display in grocery from our DSD partners. We see grocery in our DSD markets outperforming rest of market. Very new news, we're starting to see some of our singles programs perform better than they have in the past because of what we're able to execute, again, in grocery with our DSD partners' help. We're leveraging some of those insights when we think about how do we drive trial, and specifically, how do we drive singles success through the spring and summer with the marketing and packaging rollout that you and I were just discussing. Convenience is more of a long-term opportunity. I believe that that's true for the category in general.

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

If we think about the fit of the shopper in the convenience environment to the category and its promise, it'll just take a little more time. Our DSD partners are able to help us to test and learn in some regional pilots, and we continue to do that with a few success stories that help us to learn what exactly sets the brand up for success at these early stages in the channel.

[Eric DesLauriers, Senior Research Analyst at Craig-Hallum Capital Group]

Great. Thanks for taking my questions.

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

Thanks, Eric.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Andrew Strelzik with BMO Capital Markets. Please proceed with your question.

[Andrew Strelzik, Senior Analyst at BMO Capital Markets]

Hey, good afternoon. Thanks for taking the questions. My first one, I think I caught this right. You made a comment about Albertsons and some of the successes there and kind of insinuated that other retailers may follow suit. Can you just maybe elaborate a little on what you were talking about there? Is the implication that there are some potential sales opportunities out there that aren't, at this point, included in your guidance because you don't have full visibility to them?

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

Let me start with your second question, then I'll go backwards into the grocery channel dynamics and specifically Albertsons. You know, our guide does consider, in some part, that we have yet to receive final spring set communication from several retailers, and this is not atypical, right? It's February, the resets are March, April or May, depending on the retailer. There could be, you know, some improvements in set, and of course, we guide just thoughtfully thinking about what we know, what we don't know, AKA, just visibility into the channel. The comment on Albertsons is a really a significant learning for us around assortment, planograms, and innovation. The reason I say that is in Albertsons, in spring of last year, we increased our space by 30% by way of expansion of the category and by way of exciting new flavors.

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

Albertsons took the majority of our flavors, most importantly built out a brand block for Zevia, which was vertical, taking our brand to eye level. With that, we saw accelerating growth over the last six months, close to over the last six months, we grew faster than the category, AKA, grew share in our performance over the last six months, that continues to accelerate in the last couple of four week reads, where we were close to doubling the growth of the rest of the category. I say that just to go back to when the product is properly placed on shelf, when it features all of our innovation, and when we have the right assortment, we have a very strong case study to then take to other retailers and continue to expand on it.

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

Now, these big national grocery chains move slowly, but our expectation is that over time, we're able to move more national and regional grocers in the direction that Walmart and Albertsons are going, which is now, you know, 6+ months after the reset, really bearing fruit.

[Andrew Strelzik, Senior Analyst at BMO Capital Markets]

Got it. Okay, that was very clear. Then you gave some good color on some of the puts and takes through the year on the sales side and sales growth side. So I was wondering about gross margins through the year, what you can share on that, or how we should think about gross margins. For the year, it sounds like maybe one Q is the low point, with Costco, and then the pricing coming through in Q2, you know, any color on that would be helpful. Thank you.

[Girish Satya, CFO and Principal Accounting Officer at Zevia PBC]

Sure, Andrew. As you noted, in Q1, we'll see a bit of a downtick from Q4 in terms of gross margin, particularly related to this national rotational program at Costco. Beginning in Q2, you'll begin to see the impact, not only of the price increase, but some of the incremental mitigation factors around mitigating aluminum tariffs. We expect to see both of those things again, starting in Q2. We expect in Q2 and thereafter, margins to return back to the upper forties range.

[Andrew Strelzik, Senior Analyst at BMO Capital Markets]

Great. Thank you very much.

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

Thanks, Andrew.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Dara Mohsenian with Morgan Stanley. Please proceed with your question.

[Dara Mohsenian, Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst at Morgan Stanley]

Great, thanks. A quick one for Suresh in terms of the price increase. Can you give us some idea of the magnitude we're talking here, low single digits, mid-single digits?

[Girish Satya, CFO and Principal Accounting Officer at Zevia PBC]

Mid-single digits.

[Dara Mohsenian, Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst at Morgan Stanley]

What you're assuming into. Okay, that's great. Then what are you assuming in terms of elasticity impact? You know, it seems a little different than in the past when everyone was taking pricing at the same time. Some of the CSD players have moved already, moved late last year. Just wondering your thoughts on elasticity, and then a question for Amy?

[Girish Satya, CFO and Principal Accounting Officer at Zevia PBC]

Yeah. As a reminder, we did not take price last year. We are taking price this year, beginning in Q2. Elasticity, I think generally speaking, we've, you know, evaluated it around, you know, 1.1 or so, which is what we've seen historically, and that's kind of what's baked into our baked into our guidance.

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

I think one of the most important things on the price increase and on the elasticity question is that, we have been a fast follower on price, which I think is appropriate for our brand and its size. We do have room on price over the next few years as we continue to build brand, and we have been, I think, most importantly, successful in projecting the impact of price increases, AKA, our elasticity assumptions have been correct. We feel pretty confident in our ability to implement price increase as planned and largely predict its impact on the business. That, in this case, to be a very positive one.

[Dara Mohsenian, Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst at Morgan Stanley]

Great. Amy, we're probably, what, 15 months or so into Walmart implementing the modern soda set, I guess it was late 2024, if I remember correctly. How are you seeing that set evolve in the... You know, how have you seen it evolved in the interim? How are you expecting or seeing it evolve this year, you know, heading into and coming out of spring resets? You know, is the overall space for modern soda increasing, and how is your space within that set trending?

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

Sure. You know, just to start with, I think it was pretty cool to see the world's largest retailer be a first mover and calling the set modern soda, which I think is very strong positioning, and others followed suit or slowly are doing so, and they are pleased with the performance of the set, not only in its literal performance from a velocity and incrementality perspective, but also in the shopper that it attracts. It's a very attractive shopper, it's a younger shopper, it's generally a higher income shopper. Now, speaking to Zevia specifically, we remain an anchor brand in that set. I say that because we are the multi-pack player in the set.

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

We are the take-home, the stock-up brand, and we are at a more accessible price point, significantly to the rest of the set. We play a unique role. We brought some innovation to the table in July of last year, and we're seeing strong growth from those SKUs, and we're pleased with the mix. We've grown as much from optimizing assortment, so right packs, right flavors, as we have from space. Our space has, despite, you know, tremendous pressure from competition, we've held our space, and we've made that space more productive in the form of a variety pack and bringing innovation to Walmart a little bit early.

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

We're bullish on Walmart, even as we lap the pipeline fill, and we continue to grow there, and we've seen strong market share implications within the customer itself, given our expansion through last year and our accelerating velocities.

[Dara Mohsenian, Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst at Morgan Stanley]

Great. Thanks so much. I'll pass it on.

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

Thanks.

[Operator]

We have reached the end of our question and answer session. I would now like to turn the floor back over to Amy for closing comments.

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

Sure, thanks. Just briefly, I would just say that in 2025, we returned to growth, we cut adjusted EBITDA losses in half, we improved our gross margins, even in the midst of a challenging macro, and we gained distribution. We are proud of the foundation that we've set, but almost more importantly, we have in our pipeline, powerful packaging changes, an accelerating pace of strong innovation, and improved taste across much of our portfolio, and all of this is supported by a sharper brand, which is really resonating with the consumer. Our position as a clean label, clear liquid, zero sugar, affordable option that also tastes great and increasingly tastes the best among better-for-you sodas is more relevant than ever. The fundamental changes and increased investments that we're making in the business set us up for the long term.

[Amy Taylor, President and CEO at Zevia PBC]

Thanks for joining us today, and we look forward to speaking to you again next quarter.

[Operator]

This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

Participants

Executives

• Amy Taylor, President and CEO
• Girish Satya, CFO and Principal Accounting Officer

Analysts

• Andrew Strelzik, Senior Analyst at BMO Capital Markets
• Dara Mohsenian, Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst at Morgan Stanley
• Eric DesLauriers, Senior Research Analyst at Craig-Hallum Capital Group
• Jean Fontana, Senior Managing Director at Addo Investor Relations
• Jim Salera, Research Analyst at Stephens Inc.
• Sarang Vora, Analyst at Telsey Advisory Group