🔔 Earnings Week: WK Kellogg, BellRing and More

Amidst the “volatile” operating environment, there’s no denying that some CPG brands are faring better than others. This week, BellRing Brands, WK Kellogg and J&J Snack Foods opened up their books. Here’s what you need to know: 

WK Kellogg is planning to modernize its legacy cereal brand supply chains as sales slump. The North American cereal company posted a 3.9% net sales drop to $672 million during Q2, according to an earnings report this morning. Chairman and CEO Gary Pilnick said the team has a plan to improve its bottom line, but first let’s take a look at the numbers:

• Price/mix increased 2.1% and volume was down 4.8% due to the “difficult business environment.”
• Net income was $31 million in Q2, a 14.8% increase year-over-year; year-to-date net income increased 20.8% to $64 million
• Q2 adjusted EBITDA declined 11.4% to $78 million year-over-year compared to standalone adjusted EBITDA; year-to-date adjusted Q2 EBITDA dropped 1.3% to $153 million, due to productivity improvements 
• The company reaffirmed its full-year guidance. 

Kelp food brand Akua is dropping anchor, indefinitely. Founder and CEO Courtney Boyd Myers shared in a LinkedIn post that the company’s closure was driven by  “catastrophes” across its packaging, manufacturing, warehouse and shipping processes.

🍔 Akua was founded in 2017 and sold a variety of kelp-based products including jerky, pasta, protein balls, spices, chocolate, five different Kelp Burgers as well as alt-ground meat. 

⏪ The closure follows a busy 2023, which saw the brand launch four new SKUs (including a licensed product collaboration with SpongeBob SquarePants), add 900 new retailers, and land 70 new foodservice accounts in partnership with Baldor Specialty Foods; during that time it also brought in over 500 new investors. 

💭“We faced many challenges over the years – healthy food is expensive to make, and our margins were slim. We had luck, but not enough. We had some wins, but they weren’t big enough,” the LinkedIn post reads. 

Nosh Insiders can get a deeper understanding of what happened in the full story.

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.

• Details on the growing crouton co. that locked in a unique foodservice deal
• How Walmart captured the eGrocery market
• Everything you need to know about pretzel perfume

Become a BevNET & Nosh Insider to gain access to exclusive Insider-only newsletter content, as well as all digital content on BevNET.com and NOSH.com. Tap into our video archives, including Community Call and educational series, unlock event and job listing discounts, and engage with our community of  food and beverage professionals.