Becle SAB de CV
BMV:CUERVO
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Becle SAB de CV
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Good morning, and thank you for joining Becle's second quarter unaudited financial results call.
During this call, you may hear certain forward-looking statements. These statements may relate to our future prospects, developments and business strategies, and may be identified by our use of terms and phrases, such as anticipate, believe, could, estimate, expect, intend, may, plan, predict, project, will, goals, target, strategy and similar terms and phrases, and may include references to assumptions.
Forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding our business, the economy and the future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, by their nature, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Our actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. For all the foregoing reasons, you are cautioned against relying on such forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Now I will welcome Fernando Suarez, Chief Financial Officer. Fernando, you are now on the line.
Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us to discuss the unaudited financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021, of Becle, commercially known as Jose Cuervo. I am joined today by Juan Domingo Beckmann, Chief Executive Officer; Michael Keyes, President & CEO of Proximo Spirits; Victor Chavez, VP of Commercial Strategy for Proximo; Luis Felix, Managing Director of Mexico and Latam; and Gordon Dron, Managing Director of EMEA & APAC.
Before we begin, I would like to remind you that the figures discussed on this call were prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS, and published on the Mexican Stock Exchange. This information for the second quarter of 2021 is preliminary and is provided with the understanding that once financial statements are available, updated information will be shared in the appropriate electronic formats. [Operator Instructions]
Now, I will pass the call onto Becle's CEO, Mr. Juan Domingo Beckmann.
Good morning. Thank you for joining us today to discuss Becle's second quarter 2021 results. I hope you and your families are all keeping safe and well and starting to enjoy some more freedom in many regions. As you know, we had a very strong 2020, adapting well to the pandemic conditions and benefiting from our long-term investments in our diversified set of brands.
The second quarter of 2021, our tequila and other spirits portfolios continue to perform well across our different regions. However, as we move on from the pandemic, we are seeing growth normalizing to levels closer to the ones seen in 2019, as comparisons become tougher due to the unprecedented growth seen in the second quarter of 2020. This resulted in net sales increasing by 9.7% in the quarter and 20.2% in the first half of 2021 compared to the same periods in 2020, driven by volume growth and higher premium brand mix. Volumes for the second quarter of the year were up 2.7% and by 17% for the first half compared to the same periods in 2020, reflecting the resilience of our brands. This more moderate growth compared to the second quarter of 2020 is due to a normalization in the off-premise channel sales and consumption, as the on-premise channel reopened. Considering everything I've just mentioned, Becle was still able to deliver a gross profit year-on-year increase of 9.8% and 10 basis points increase in gross margin.
As you have also seen in our earnings release, our A&P spend was soft during the quarter as we made strong strategic investments in our brands, taking advantage of opportunities that presented themselves during the quarter, as some of our rivals pulled back. This included forming long-term strategic partnerships. We believe these investments will bring long-term benefits to the company, even if they impacted the margin in the quarter. Some of these A&P costs in the second quarter of 2021 are nonrecurring, as Fernando will explain further.
With the reopening of the on-premise, we expect to see our on-trade sales continue to increase to offset the reduction in the off-trade consumption. We believe that the strength of our portfolio and the growth of our premium brands across the globe will enable us to keep generating value for our shareholders. On the management front, I would like to mention that Mike Keyes has decided to retire from Proximo. He will be with us until the end of the year, after which he looks forward to spending more time with his family back in Kentucky. We wish Mike all the best in his new endeavors. And on behalf of the Board of Directors as well as Becle's and Proximo employees, thank him for his service at Proximo, clearly contributing to build a stronger organization.
Luis Felix will be taking over as Proximo CEO, in an orderly and seamless transition. We wish Luis success in his new role at Proximo and are confident he will also contribute to build the organization further. Mrs. Olga Limon will be returning to the company and will be taking over Luis Felix's responsibilities in the Mexico and Latam region.
Now, let me turn the call over to Mike Keyes to discuss our U.S. and Canada results.
Thank you, and good morning, everyone. We're pleased with our commercial performance in the United States and Canada during the second quarter and for the first half of 2021. Given the significant impact of COVID-19 on our 2020 results, we've been looking at our business results on both a prior year and versus a 2-year stack. For example, Nielsen consumer takeaway for our brands in the off-premise for the 3-month period ended June 19, 2021, over a 2- year stack, grew by 38%, outpacing the total distilled spirits industry, which grew by 28% for the same period.
Our tequila portfolio was up 42%, RTDs were up 47% and our whiskeys were up 30%. Versus 2020, consumer takeaway in the off-premise for our brands in the United States, as measured by Nielsen, was down 16% for the 3-month period ended June 19, 2021. This compares to an industry contraction of 8% as we lapped our exceptional gains in 2020, which resulted from significant changes in consumer behavior due to the global pandemic, particularly during the second quarter of 2020 when our Nielsen takeaway was up 66%.
Proximo's wholesale depletions were down 11% for the quarter, lapping the second quarter of 2020, where depletions were up 40%. When compared to the second quarter of 2019, however, depletions were up 26%. On a year-to-date basis, depletions were flat compared to 2020 versus a growth rate of 31% for the same period a year ago. Versus 2019 year-to-date, depletions are up 29%.
Our tequila portfolio was down 3% for the second quarter. However, it's up 5% year-to-date, driven by continued strength in our super premium tequilas, offsetting in part industry-wide production constraints resulting from material and common carrier shortages. We are working closely with our supply chain team to ensure continuity of key products and to actively mitigate impacts to the broader portfolio, as the U.S. logistics and transportation industries normalize. Our ready-to-drink margarita category depletions are down 13% for the quarter, but are up 3% on a year-to-date basis. The quarter is lapping a second quarter in 2020, in which depletions for our RTD brands were up an unprecedented 71%. When compared to the second quarter of 2019, depletions were up 50%.
Our whiskey portfolio grew 1% during the quarter and were up 10% on a year-to-date basis. Our alcohol-free margarita mix depletions declined 31% for the quarter and are down 26% year-to-date, and this is mostly driven by our focus on allocating constrained resources to deliver premium categories ahead of other product lines. The quarter, while experiencing volume contraction of 5% versus the exceptionally strong 2020 off-premise business, resulted in net sales growth over the same period of 11.3% on a constant currency basis. This was offset by the 14.2% appreciation of the Mexico peso, resulting in a quarter-over-quarter reduction of 3.8%. On a year-to-date basis, however, volume increased 14% over 2020, resulting in 23% net sales growth in the region. This again shows the positive impact of focusing on our highly profitable premium brands as well as the effect of a consumer price increase on most SKUs within our tequila portfolio. This was partly offset by the 6.6% appreciation of the Mexican peso, resulting in a year-to-date net sales gain of 12.4%.
Regarding production constraints, we continue to monitor the ongoing issues affecting the U.S. supply chain. As you've heard from other companies, global supply chains are stressed, leading to shortages of raw materials such as glass and cans that are used to package our products. These shortages are affecting the industry as a whole and have led us to prioritize our most profitable products. There have also been shipping delays due to high demand and lower levels of inventories, leading to extended logistic issues derived from the pandemic. These constraints primarily affected our tequila portfolio and our nonalcoholic margarita mix. We are working hard to solve these issues and expect the branch to recover when the U.S. transportation and logistics industry return to pre-pandemic levels of service.
Moving on to marketing activities, this quarter we activated numerous strategic investments against our brands, as we identified high-value buying opportunities with the reopening of markets and entertainment venues. We've grown our sponsorship and marketing partnerships on a national and on a local level, and we remain committed to making investments that create enduring connections with our consumers. We continue to monitor the ongoing shifts in consumer behavior and consumption patterns as we adapt to this changing business environment. We are actively working to optimize our supply chain, and we are working with our distributors to meet consumer demand for our products as we continue to address the ongoing effects of COVID-19 on our industry.
I will now turn the call over to Luis Felix to discuss Mexico and Latin America results.
Thank you, Mike, and good morning, everyone. The Mexican market recovered in the second quarter compared to the first quarter of the year, as restrictions were eased and businesses were reopened as many states moved into the green COVID status. Volume increased 14.7% versus the second quarter of 2020. And if we exclude the Boost energy drink, our volume grew 31% versus previous year.
Our net sales for the second quarter increased 69.7% compared to the same period of 2020. Price increases, coupled with a better mix, helped to achieve these very positive results. Tequila performed well, growing 51% versus second quarter of 2020, again, led by our premium brands. On-premise sales in Mexico have recovered promisingly. However, the recent growth in COVID cases and the appearance of the Delta variant, [ I can ] see that risk to possible recovery in the high season sales. Tequila category is growing its share in the industry, representing now 43% of the total market in value. Depletions are positive in both channels since the month of March.
Moving into Latin America, we saw a significant increase of 292% in volumes quarter-over-quarter. This growth is mainly driven by Colombia and markets such as Peru and Bolivia, where we had virtually no shipments in quarter 2 of last year. Depletions are significantly higher than 2020 and growing double digits over 2019, which give us a good sign to continue this positive trend.
We remain optimistic for both regions. Marketing and promotional activities are ready to be implemented in the second half of the year, yet we remain cautious on the recovery of the on-premise channel towards the second half of the year due to the pandemic third wave.
And now I will turn the call over to Gordon Dron, Managing Director of our EMEA and APAC regions.
Thank you, Luis Felix, and good afternoon from Europe. The early signs of recovery from the pandemic in the EMEA and APAC regions during the first quarter have continued during the second quarter as the European markets in particular, have started to ease out of lockdowns through the gradual reopening of the on-trade between mid-April and June. This created significant demand, both because the on-trade required restocking and due to the pent-up consumer demand as customers went back to bars. In Asia, the situation remains challenging, with many of our key tequila markets remaining closed, such as Korea, Japan, India, Philippines and Vietnam, as vaccination penetration in the region remains very low.
Overall, there was a mid-40% volume increase versus quarter 2 2020 and value increased significantly more, driven by price increases, favorable product mix and a positive exchange rate. Growth was generated across the portfolio, but was particularly strong in premium tequila, Irish whiskey and rum. Overall, our first half 2021 performance has increased by almost 1/3 in volume versus first half of 2020, and there are even larger increases in value. Tequila shipments in the APAC region remained solid, but did slow a little after the very strong quarter 1, reflecting the higher inconsistencies of distributors as the markets are still being impacted by trade closures. This impacted Cuervo most notably. However, the H1 performance remained strong, with the region recording a double-digit increase over the first half of 2020.
Depletions, while very much in line with our phased expectations, improved versus the same period last year, despite the challenges that persist given the on-trade closures in key Asian tequila markets. In EMEA, after a slower quarter 1, tequila shipments accelerated in the second quarter, delivering a 2/3 increase versus 2020, ending the first half 13% ahead of the first half in 2020. Depletions in May and June were well ahead of expectations, reflecting the trade restocking and consumer demand.
Our Irish risky portfolio, led by Bushmills and Proper No. 12, continued to accelerate, reflecting strong off-trade demand with these brands benefiting from their off-trade bias. First half 2021 finished with these brands at almost double the first half of last year. Net sales continued to grow strongly, posting growth slightly higher than volume, again driven by volume, positive mix and favorable exchange rates. Our whiskey portfolio is growing across both EMEA and APAC regions. However, most of the sales remain within EMEA.
The rum category, which has traditionally been a more even split between off-trade and on-trade, surged back into high-growth during the second quarter and finished the first half almost 50% ahead of the same period in 2020. This reflects the reopening of the on-trade within EMEA. In APAC, the category recovered well during the second quarter, but still remained behind last year as at the end of the first half, reflecting the slowdown in the overall consumer sales in Australia.
As the pandemic continues to ease, we feel confident about the recovery of our business during 2021. I will now hand over to Fernando to talk you through our financial results at a consolidated level.
Thank you, again, and let me walk you through the second quarter financial results. During the second quarter, the company reported a 9.7% increase in consolidated net sales to MXN 9.531 billion. As Juan Domingo mentioned, the slowdown versus 2020 growth was due to the very difficult comps against last year and was more in line with the still robust growth we were seeing in 2019. During the second quarter, gross profit increased 9.8% to MXN 5.0 billion, and gross margin increased to 53.2% in Q2 '21 from 53.1% for the second quarter of 2020. This was particularly due to the price increases carried out so far in 2021 in various regions and a better category and product mix, while agave prices remained largely stable and was partly offset by the appreciation of the Mexican peso against the U.S. dollar.
A&P expenses normalized for the Eire Born Spirits expenses, which include a nonrecurring or one-off A&P accrual of MXN 373 million, resulting from the Eire Born Spirits acquisition in April, as the percentage of net sales increased to 20.8% from 15.8% in the second quarter of 2020. This was mainly due to the establishment of new strategic partnerships, particularly related to sporting events and the implementation of new advertising campaigns across our brands and regions.
Distribution expenses increased 60.6% to MXN 461 million, mainly driven by higher volume, volume and increased logistics costs to which Mike Keyes alluded to earlier. As a percentage of net sales, distribution expenses increased to 4.8% from 3.3% in 2020. However, SG&A expenses increased only 1.2% year-on-year during the second quarter, representing 8.4% of net sales compared to 9.1% in the second quarter of 2020. This was mainly driven by firm cost control and supported by an acceleration in sales.
Pro forma operating income decreased 17.1%, and the pro forma operating margin decreased to 18.9% compared to 25.0% in the same prior year period. Pro forma EBITDA for the second quarter decreased 14.9% quarter-over-quarter to MXN 2.004 billion with a pro forma EBITDA margin at 21.0%.
Net financial results for the quarter were a loss of MXN 224 million, mainly derived from the exchange rate loss, given the year-over-year appreciation of the Mexican peso and net interest expenses. Second quarter pro forma consolidated net income decreased 19.4% to MXN 1.2 billion, and the pro forma net margin was 12.3% compared to 16.7% in the second quarter of 2020. Earnings per share on a pro forma basis were MXN 0.33 per share for the quarter.
As of June 30, 2021, cash and cash equivalents were MXN 7.0 billion, and total debt was MXN 12.8 billion. We continue to maintain a strong balance sheet with conservative financial leverage and ample liquidity to execute our long-term growth strategy. As announced in the company's capital allocation program during the annual general ordinary shareholders' meeting held on April 27, 2021, a cash dividend payment will be made on August 5, 2021, in an amount of MXN 0.43039 for each outstanding share, representing the capital stock of Becle.
The company has also summoned for an extraordinary general shareholders meeting to be held on August 2 in order to amend article 2 of the bylaws, referring to the corporate purpose as a result of the implementation of the Mexican labor reform.
Now, I will turn the call back to the operator for questions and answers.
[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Andrea Teixeira with JPMorgan.
So you took pricing back in May in the U.S. in tequila. So did you see any pre-buy at all as happened in the past? And if so, are inventories worked through in a normalized level? So how has been the elasticity that you've seen so far against historical levels? And then if you can also kind of elaborate a little bit on the RTDs, obviously, hard seltzers have seen a material deceleration in the U.S. And as off-premise, kind of like as a beneficiary, has been obviously decelerating. So can you talk about your thoughts in spirits based RTDs? And are you seeing the same similar dynamic playing out, not only in the U.S., but also globally? So if you can help us kind of bridge that. And congrats, Mike.
Thank you so much. This is Mike. Thank you. The first question, there's always a limited buy-in before any price increase. And there was a 60-day or so buy-in pre-price increase. But most of that took place in the last quarter. And so I think we're fairly normalized now. And Victor, I don't know if you want to comment more specifically on that. And then I can maybe address some of the other questions.
Yes. I would echo that sentiment. I would say that the impact of that anticipated buying, which as we have before expected, mainly impacted our first quarter because of the timing and is mitigated within the impact of the second quarter at this point. So we haven't seen any particular effects of that.
You feel like, just as a follow-up, you feel like the inventories at the trade now you're shipping according to consumption?
Mike, I can address that real quick. I would say that right now, we're seeing shipments marginally lagging the depletion trends. And that's mainly a result of the supply chain limitations that we've had over the last quarter, which, as you have heard from not just our company, but others I'm sure, are industry-wide. So I think the strength of the depletions is obviously demonstrated by the performance even against the second quarter of 2020, which was tremendous in growth, and our shipments are lagging what we would target as a days on-hand inventory in the trade, but we're working with our supply chain team to basically make sure that we have our core SKUs available and obviously, mitigate the impact to the broader portfolio.
Yes. And Andrea, I think the second question had to do with RTDs and what do we see with RTDS. RTDs are probably one of the most dynamic areas in the alcohol beverage industry right now. And as you know, it started with seltzer. And now it's included wine based, malt based and spirit based RTDs. We are the largest spirit based RTD company. We are continuing to grow our business. The second quarter was rough, just because the comps were so high. So I think our performance is largely what we call comps and comp, right? So we're going up against a big comp and I read an article -- I don't know it to be factual, so you guys can check it -- but that there's been 220 new RTDs introduced in the last few years. And so I do believe as the leader that we'll continue to invest, and we've got some new brands like Playamar. We'll continue to support those brands. And I believe there's going to be a shakeout at some time, potentially in the not-too-distant future. And obviously, as the leader, we want to be very strong in that category when that happens.
That sounds great. And thank you again for all the patience and for teaching us all about Jose Cuervo here and Proximo in the U.S.
Our next question comes from the line of Fernando Olvera with Bank of America.
I have 2, if I may. The first one is related to the U.S. Can you comment on how the on-premise channel behaved during the quarter given the reopening of bars and restaurants? And how far it's from returning to pre-COVID levels? Also, if you can comment, what is your outlook on this channel in coming quarters it would be great. And I have a second question.
Fernando, I'm sorry, it kind of broke up, was the question about on versus off?
Well, basically, on-premise. I mean what was the performance of on-premise, and how far it's from returning to pre-COVID levels? And what is your outlook in coming quarters?
Yes, thank you. I think it's different on -- the U.S., we tend to look as one homogenized market. And as you know, with our laws and the 3-tier system, I don't think you can look at it as one picture. But in general, I would say it is returning at least as of now to pre-pandemic levels. And I don't think we're quite to the level that we were pre-pandemic, but I think we're getting closer every day. I find myself talking sometimes about pre-pandemic, pandemic and post-pandemic. And lately, I've been catching myself because I don't know what post-pandemic is, right? I don't know that we're through the ups and downs of this crisis, and we're going to have to wait and see. But I think as of now, the bars and restaurants are returning. If they're having issues, sometimes the issues are the same issues that we were talking about with regard to supply chain, just getting enough people to work and to drive those businesses. We are seeing, obviously, more leader business. We're seeing a little bit in the mix, a little bit less of the 175, which tells us that, that is, in fact, taking place. And we're seeing some of our really strong on-premise brands growing very, very nicely.
Great. And my second question is related to Mexico. How do you expect consumption to behave also in coming quarters, the different trade channels, given the unfortunate increase of COVID cases, right? Although mobility restrictions seem not to be tightening as it happened at the beginning of the pandemic.
Fernando, this is Luis. I think what we're seeing in consumption, there are 2 things. We're seeing more consumption of premium products, and it's clearly in the tequila category, where the comparison against last year, the tequila volume is declining, but the growth in value is more than 6%. So it's clearly -- and we have seen in our brands that tequila, premium tequila is coming back. During the pandemic, there was more trend on low-priced products. And I think that is changing. And that is a consequence of the reopening of the on-premise clearly. The concern is that with the new third wave that we have seen now yesterday in Jalisco, there were some closures on bars and [Foreign Language]. So that will certainly affect. But I think overall, we're seeing a better -- much better trend right now than last year at this time.
Our next question comes from the line of Ben Theurer with Barclays.
Mike, congrats on the retirement. I hope you enjoy it down in Kentucky. Quick question, it's mainly related around the A&P and the extraordinary part and what you all got with it, that was close to MXN 400 million. And if you could elaborate a little bit on where you're targeting right now the investments. I mean we've clearly seen an increase, and I understand it's about positioning the brands, but it would be great to get a little bit of a breakdown from a regional perspective, where you're focusing on and what's your main focus right now on promoting A&P. And I assume we're going to be back in the low 20s as a percentage of sales for the year, if you could confirm that.
So this is Mike, Ben. I'll start with just the U.S. commentary. On a quarter versus quarter '21 versus '20, we are spending much more money in '21, but it's as much a story of what we didn't spend or what wasn't available to us last year as it is about what we're spending this year. If you look at the history of Proximo, we've always invested behind our brands, if not the highest -- one of the highest on a percentage of net sales value versus others in our industry. Proximo and Becle are known as brand building companies, and that's the case here. So the story is, to me, a little bit less about the increase in 2021 over 2020, and more about the opportunity. And we're investing those dollars -- many of those dollars behind our premium-premium-plus portfolios, and we saw great opportunity as others were getting out of some really enduring consumer partnerships, we saw the opportunity to get in. And I would say a lot of that money is against our premium-plus tequilas and against our premium-plus whiskey brands. And just in a broad stroke, I mean we're invested against major sporting leagues and local sporting teams, probably drive a great deal of that increased investment.
Okay. That makes sense. And I guess, in other regions, it's similar, right?
Ben, let me follow up on, Mike, on the specific onetime A&P accrual. This MXN 273 million A&P expense is a nonrecurring one-off or extraordinary accrual related to promotional activities already rendered in connection with the acquired intellectual property as part of the Eire Born Spirits acquisition back in April of this year. We do encourage you to consider this accrual as a nonrecurring or one-off item and have already observed that many of you have adjusted for this in your pro forma figures or numbers, which we fully agree with.
And then just one follow-up, maybe you have a little more commentary around what you're seeing in the agave markets. You've now multiple quarters talked about stabilization on the prices. Has that been really the case also on a sequential basis at this elevated level? And are you in the future, seeing prices maybe come down a little bit, so we could potentially assume some cost pressure easing?
Ben, in connection with the agave pricing market, we continue to see on a quarter-over-quarter basis, stable agave average pricing. And going forward, again, it is too early for us to assess or represent any change to that agave pricing environment at this stage.
Our next question comes from the line of Felipe Ucros with Scotiabank.
Thanks for space for questions. Maybe my first one is on EBS. You exercised another option on EBS ownership, so a few questions on those. What percentage ownership are you on that right now? And then as a follow-up to that, I know you haven't shared a lot of information on the investment because, obviously, when -- in the past, you just didn't have enough ownership and you didn't want to affect the transactions. But just curious if you're in a position now where you can share a bit more color on how EBS is performing?
Yes, Felipe. Let me take the first part of the question, and then I'll ask Mike to comment very qualitatively on the rest. But what we can say on the increase in the equity stake in Eire Born Spirits, we cannot disclose the exact percentage that we increase. We can only say that we went above the 49%, hence, consolidating the results. And we can say as well that the celebrity, Conor McGregor, will continue to be engaged with actively promoting the brand. That's as far as we can disclose on the transaction, unfortunately.
And this is Mike, Felipe. With regard to performance, as you can see from Nielsen and NABCA data, it is the fastest growing, best-performing whiskey in the Irish category and continues to do quite well.
And if I could do a follow-up, just wanted to see if you guys had any commentaries about the amount of new ventures that are -- that have been coming up in tequila. It seems like every day that we wake up, there's a new tequila brand and then you start backing the brand. So just wondering what your thoughts are about that and whether you're starting to see a shakeup of those brands in Mexico or not?
Felipe, can you repeat what type of brands are you referring to?
Start-up brands in tequila and in general in agave products.
Just -- this is Mike, from a U.S. Canada perspective, it isn't just tequila. As we just chatted, the RTD business is also going through a tremendous amount of innovation and consolidation as well. I think anytime you have an incredibly successful category, people try to figure out how to become a part of it. And my feeling always with celebrity brands in any category, it's directly proportional to how good the product is and to how hard the celebrity is willing to work to help get that message out there. And so I think a lot of it remains to be seen.
So I would take it from that comment, Mike, that you're still not seeing a shakeout, and I'm talking particularly about tequila innovation?
Yes. I'm not seeing a shakeout. I mean just like you, I can see how the products are doing. Some of them seem to be gaining a little momentum, and some of them seem to not yet be gaining momentum, but I haven't seen a shakeout, I wouldn't say.
And this is Luis Felix. In Mexico, we haven't seen any significant growth of celebrity tequilas in our market.
Our next question comes from the line of Ricardo Alves with Morgan Stanley.
I wanted to take the opportunity also to thank you, Mike, for the insightful color and all the interaction over the past few years, and to congratulate Luis as well. Wish you all the best. So just a quick question on U.S. pricing. Quite impressive unit revenue this quarter. Can you just go into a little bit more details on the pricing effect, specifically, just so separate a little bit from the mix issue. When we go back to the pandemic, we appreciate all the brand equity story, and the market share gains and so forth. But when you look today, considering the price increase you implemented, do you actually see a more benign pricing backdrop in the marketplace when you look at your peers? I don't know, maybe reflecting an inflated cost in the industry or capacity constraints, so any thoughts on the competitive landscape/pricing in the U.S.?
Yes. Well, as I said, we took price across most of our tequila SKUs in May. And we do that when we see an opportunity, and we measure that against the consumer. We have the ability and is it in our best interest to do so. As the leader in tequila, we do it when we think that the consumer is ready to offset costs and to premiumize our business. And so we've done it, and some competitors also look like they have taken a little. And it seems like more in the $15 to $20 category, some people have taken some price. It doesn't look like in the $20-plus category that -- other than our brands, that many people have taken price. And then it's really confusing when you get to the super premium, ultra-premium. In any given month, it looks like maybe they did and then the next month, it looks like, well, maybe they went the other way. So I think you see it the most right now in that $15 to $20 segment.
We have no further questions at this time. Mr. Domingo, I'd now like to turn the floor back over to you for closing comments.
I would like to thank you again for your continued interest in Becle. We remain extremely confident in our family of brands and our prospects for long-term growth. Have a great day.
Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation and have a wonderful day.