Celsius Holdings reported record high Q2 revenue of around $326 million, up 112% from $154 million in 2022, during its latest earnings report this week.
The performance energy drink maker’s North American business grew 114% to $311 million in the quarter, which the company attributed to increases in distribution points, average SKUs per location, sales and marketing investments and expansion in the club channel. Meanwhile, international sales accounted for $15.1 million (up 76%).
In an earnings call, Celsius CEO John Fieldly highlighted the quarter’s distinction as the company’s first to exceed $300 million in sales. Citing data from market research firm Circana, Fieldly said the company accounted for over $665 million in incremental retail sales for the energy drink category – or about 23% of the category’s overall growth – in the 52-week period ending June 18.
“As the company continues to gain new consumers, we believe they are unique to the energy category, which further increases the value of each of our customers,” said CEO John Fieldly in an earnings call. “We are expanding the energy category with an expanding consumer base and usage occasions. The Celsius consumer is making it a daily part of their active lifestyle with consumption patterns that are similar to coffee, [rather] than traditional impulse purchases with legacy energy drink brands.”
Celsius saw some of its fastest growth in Q2 in the club channel, where sales were up 120% year-over-year to around $68 million – also exceeding Q1 2023 by around $20 million, Fieldly added. He cited the full rollout of a new pack size for the brand’s Vibe line in retailers like Sam’s Club, as well as being the brand’s first full quarter following its national rollout to BJ’s stores.
Online, Amazon accounted for $28 million in sales (up 108% year-over-year), Fieldly said, and in the convenience channel Celsius has achieved a 94.9% ACV, up 31.9 points since last year.
Meanwhile, bolstered by its distribution partnership with PepsiCo, the company is looking at additional expansion opportunities in the foodservice channel, where it is opening up new accounts in “colleges, universities, hospitals, hotels, eateries, casinos, and more,” Fieldly said.
“Overall, foodservice represented and exceeds approximately 11% of our PepsiCo revenues and we see this as an area of growth and scale in the future,” Fieldly said. “We have been extremely happy with our PepsiCo partnership and see a long runway of growth ahead across a variety of channels, including expanded retail, convenience, and foodservice.”
As the company continues to focus on transitioning its U.S. business into the PepsiCo distribution network, Fieldly added that Celsius hopes to expand its partnership with the conglomerate to its international territories incrementally “over the next three to five years.” He noted that though it is “earlier in the process,” the company is “mapping out rollout plans” for an increased international footprint likely to begin next year.
“The goal will be to create a blueprint in a handful of countries in 2024 for further expansion within 2025 and 2026,” he said.
During the call’s Q&A portion, Fieldly noted that as it expands overseas, Celsius will target countries with an existing market for energy drinks, rather than attempt to create the category in regions where energy drink consumption is not widespread.
In terms of U.S. growth, Fieldly said the company is preparing now and talking with retail buyers to gain more cold space and secondary placements in next year’s resets. The company also intends to hire additional full time staff to support its national growth.
“We’re looking at applying additional resources as we continue to grow and scale,” Fieldly said. “We’re not going to, just from a strategic standpoint, identify where we’re adding additional resources within our operations, marketing, and sales, but we do have additional headcounts planned for the back half of the year.”