Celsius Holdings Inc

NASDAQ:CELH

Earnings Call Transcript 2020-Q2

[Operator]

Good morning, and welcome to the Celsius Holdings Second Quarter 2020 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Cameron Donahue of Hayden IR. Thank you, Mr. Donahue. You may begin.

[Cameron Donahue]

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining us today for Celsius Holdings Second Quarter 2020 Earnings Conference Call. Joining me on the call today are John Fieldly, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Edwin Negron, Chief Financial Officer.

Following the prepared remarks, we will open the call to your questions and instructions will be given at that time.

The company filed Form 10-Q with the SEC and issued a press release today. All materials are available on the company's website at celsiusholdingsinc.com under the Investor Relations section. As a reminder, before I turn the call to John, the audio replay will be available later today.

Please also be aware that this call may contain forward-looking statements, which are based on forecasts, expectations and other information available to management as of today, August 6, 2020. These statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties, including many that are beyond the company's control. Except to the extent as required by applicable law, Celsius Holdings undertakes no obligation and disclaims any duty to update any of these forward-looking statements. We encourage you to review in full our safe harbor statements contained in today's press release and our quarterly filings with the SEC for additional information.

With that, I'd like to turn the call over to President and Chief Executive Officer, John Fieldly, for his prepared remarks. John?

[John Fieldly, executive]

Thank you, Cameron. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. The second quarter was the first full quarter impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and undoubtedly posed challenges to all of our stakeholders. While the path forward remains uncertain, we remain encouraged by our momentum and the dedication and perseverance of our employees, partners and customers. These extraordinary times present challenges to all of us. And our condolences go out to all those who have been affected by this pandemic.

The health and safety of our employees, customers, consumers and partners remain our top priority, and we continue to monitor the environment and implement contingency plans to mitigate risks through our business.

Despite these disruptions, our second quarter performance again demonstrates the momentum we are building in the marketplace and the efforts from our team to reach more consumers through wider distribution, improve margins through cost and operational improvements and increase our brand recognition globally. We set another record quarter with over $30 million in revenue, an increase of 86% over the second quarter of last year, and delivered another quarter of profitable growth of approximately $1.6 million in GAAP net income.

Consumer demand for our functional beverages remained strong. And the most recent reported United States SPINS data for the 52 weeks ending July 12, 2020, confirms that we have significantly outpaced the category across multiple channels, which includes a 46.5% growth in the convenience channel, outpacing the category growth rate by 11.6x. And in MULO, our growth is at over 99%.

In addition, in accordance, the Stackline, which tracks energy drink sales by Amazon in the United States for the 13 weeks ended April 11, 2020, sales in dollars in the energy drink category by Amazon, including energy shots, grew 80.8% versus the same period a year ago. And sales -- Celsius sales increased 118% and our share increased to 11.4% of the category, which puts Celsius as the third largest energy drink brand on Amazon just behind Monster Energy at 34.8% share at an 88.8% growth and Red Bull share at 14.9%, growing at 86.7% growth.

As we entered the second quarter, traffic and purchasing patterns were severely disrupted. And online ordering patterns, pantry purchasing and curbside pickup became more prevalent in response to the stay-at-home orders and consumer lifestyle shifts. During the second quarter, we began to see impacts in several of our distribution channels, mainly in our health club specialty vending and food service channels.

Our health club vitamin specialty channels, which historically represented approximately 20% to 25% of our United States revenue, were predominantly shut down during the quarter.

We have always believed that we have a different consumer base, not just an expanded age bracket and not just a 50% female demographic, but that our consumers are reoccurring regularly consuming Celsius as part of a daily lifestyle. With these 2 channels shut down, our consumers shifted their purchasing patterns of Celsius to other channels: to online and grocery, where we see the largest incremental increases, which not only replace the sales in these channels, but also showed record growth, further reinforcing the opportunity we have at Celsius. Celsius is more than just an impulse purchase. We are part of a daily lifestyle aligned for today's health-minded consumer.

During the quarter, we made significant progress on further building out our distribution network as our pursuit for a national network to service our key accounts. We secured additional distribution partners with Anheuser-Busch InBev, PepsiCo, Keurig Dr. Pepper and Molson/MillerCoors independent network partners, which further expanded our availability of products to new regions.

Our national distribution network now includes more than 135 regional direct store delivery partners, up from just over 100 direct store delivery partners when we last spoke to you in May. And we have plans for several additional partners in the second half of 2020, where we will have the majority of major metropolitan markets covered by the DSD model in the United States.

In addition, during the quarter, we further transitioned over targeting 7-Eleven locations from the wholesaler direct route-to-market to our DSD partner, Big Geyser in the New York metropolitan market, where we saw volumes more than double in these key accounts. We plan to transition over additional regions to our DSD network throughout the remainder of the back half of this year and into 2021, which will even take Celsius to more points distribution and more than double our organic growth rate in these top accounts.

We also launched our newest flavor, Peach Vibe, a refreshing exotic summer flavor, which was very well received. Upon launch, Peach Vibe was ranked as the #1 new release in the energy drink category on Amazon. And we anticipate that this new flavor will be a meaningful addition to our portfolio as customers and consumers and retailer planogram resets take place in the back half of this year and into 2021.

In the retail space, our U.S. door count now exceeds 75,000 locations nationally, which is up by more than 10,000 since the end of 2018. We expect this number to grow even further in the second half of 2020 as retailers execute planogram resets, which were delayed in the first half of this year.

From an operational perspective, we continue to refine our contingency plans around production and remain nimble with our sales and marketing initiatives as COVID situation continues to unfold. Our teams are prepared to pivot and adapt quickly to capitalize on opportunities as consumer shopping patterns and behaviors flex with the changes in the environment. Most importantly, we have a culture that embraces flexibility in the midst of uncertainty.

In Europe, we continue to capture incremental benefits and synergies from the full integration of Funk Food Group, a Nordic wellness company, into our operations. This business was immediately accretive to earnings and is an important step in our strategy to build a global dynamic brand.

As in the United States, our Europe operations were impacted by COVID and saw -- mainly saw decreases in the FAST protein snack portfolio as consumer shopping patterns and habits changed to comfort foods. This trend started to take place in the beginning of the second quarter. And towards the end of the second quarter, we started to see changes going back and seeing growth in the category. We expect the category to fully rebound in the back half of this year and into 2021. These decreases were partially offset by increases in sales of Celsius in the region, where we continue to see great opportunities and momentum.

As with Europe and the United States, China and APAC were impacted as well where the COVID-19 recovery continues, where we are seeing and regaining momentum over the summer. In China, we maintain a licensing royalty model in the market where our distributor covers over 76 cities and now has over 60,000 points of distribution as of the end of the second quarter. And in Malaysia, where we maintain a direct relationship with a local distributor, we maintain approximately about 2,000 7-Elevens with plans to reenter the gym, vitamin specialty channels and other retailers as the recovery continues throughout the summer.

As with Europe and the United States, we see great opportunity to capitalize on the changes in consumer preferences for better-for-you offerings and we see tremendous opportunities and enormous -- in the enormous market of Asia.

On the marketing front, we continue to prioritize with meaningful and emotional connections through robust marketing programs that drive wide, integrated programs and competitive activities, even while consumers are at home. On social media, we now have more than 100,000 Instagram followers who actively engage by sharing home workouts and videos that feature our products.

In addition, with gyms closed, we created a SWEAT WITH CELSIUS live workout program, which takes place every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and I encourage all of you to attend. We are partnering with local certified trainers to provide a variety of workouts for every fitness level, which allows us to further connect with our community in a meaningful way.

In addition, we pivoted our planned sampling programs during the quarter to target first responder locations during the quarter, where we handed out and dropped off thousands of cases of Celsius to over 550 hospitals and first responder locations, supporting the front lines through this pandemic.

We remain focused on driving profitable growth by expanding and increasing our distribution networks, nurturing relationships with new and existing accounts and engaging consumers through a variety of creative mediums. In an industry that is rapidly changing, we are growing exponentially and adapting quickly to grab market share. The momentum we are creating reinforces our confidence in the long-term growth and profitability prospects of our business.

Heading into the third quarter of 2020, we remain optimistic and are seeing sales orders through July in the United States exceeding over a 50% growth rate versus prior year.

I will now turn the call over to Edwin Negron-Carballo, our Chief Financial Officer, for his prepared remarks. Edwin?

[Edwin Negron Carballo, executive]

Thank you, John. For the 3 months ended June 30, 2020, revenue was a record high $30 million, an increase of $13.9 million or 86% compared to $16.1 million for the same period last year. The overall increase in revenues was due to increases in sales volumes as opposed to increases in product pricing.

By geography, the 86% revenue increase was attributable to continued strong growth of 44% in North America related to double-digit growth from both existing accounts and new distribution, including expansion at world-class retailers. Consequently, North American revenue delivered a record $20.8 million for the quarter, a $6.4 million increase when compared to the prior year quarter.

Revenue from the European markets was $8.8 million or an increase of $7.5 million compared to the second quarter of 2019, reflecting the full impact of consolidating the results of our European operations. Asian revenue totaled $326,000 compared to $381,000 in the year-ago period. The modest decline in Asia was primarily a result of currency fluctuations and the impact of the current health crisis. Revenue from all other areas amounted to $107,000, which doubled compared to the quarter a year ago.

Gross profit increased by $6.1 million or 88% to $13 million in the second quarter of 2020, up from $6.9 million in the year-ago quarter. Gross profit margin for the first 3 months ended June 30, 2020, was 43.3%, which compares favorably to 42.6% for the 2019 quarter. The increase in gross profit margin and dollars reflects the impact of the consolidation of the European operations and the result of the increase in sales volumes as opposed to increases in product pricing. The increase in gross profit margin translated to an incremental profitability of $210,000 in this quarter.

Selling and marketing expenses for the 3 months ended June 30, 2020, were $7.8 million, an increase of $2.2 million or 39% from $5.6 million for the same quarter in 2019. The increase is mainly due to the impact of the consolidation of the operations of our Nordics partner, which was not reflected in the 2019 results. Consequently, marketing expenses increased by $930,000 or 40% compared to the second quarter of 2019. Similarly, all other sales and marketing expenses reflected the increases related to the consolidation of the European operations and currency fluctuations.

Specifically, employee costs increased $1.2 million or 80% from the 2019 quarter to the 2020 quarter and also reflect investments in human resources to properly service our markets. In addition, our support to distributors, investment in trade activity and storage and distribution costs increased by $185,000 mainly related to the increase in business volume year-over-year.

General and administrative expenses for the 3 months ended June 30, 2020, were $3.6 million, an increase of $1.2 million or 50% compared to $2.4 million for the 3 months ended June 30, 2019. This increase similarly reflects the impact of the consolidation of the operations of our Nordics partner and currency fluctuations.

As such, administrative expenses were $1 million, an increase of $404,000 compared to the prior year quarter. Employee costs for the 3 months ended June 30, 2020, increased by $442,000 or 66% not only related to the consolidation of our European business, but also reflecting investment in resources to support our higher business volume. All other increases for general and administrative expenses amounted to $280,000 when compared to the prior year quarter.

Below the operating profit line, total other income was $67,000 for the 3 months ended June 30, 2020, compared to total other expenses of $345,000 for the same period in 2019. The delta between the 2 periods of $412,000 was a result of a favorable impact from realized foreign currency transactions of $187,000, a gain on lease cancellations of $152,000, lower net interest expense of $31,000 and a favorable impact of currency fluctuations regarding the investment repayment from China of $342,000.

These favorable impacts were partially offset mainly by higher amortization of intangibles and financial instruments of $310,000. As a result of this activity, the company had net income of $1.6 million or $0.02 per diluted share for the second quarter of 2020 compared to a net loss of $1.5 million or a loss of $0.03 per diluted share in the year-ago quarter.

Adjusted EBITDA was $2.6 million compared to a loss of $15,000 for the second quarter of 2019. We believe this information and comparisons of adjusted EBITDA and other non-GAAP financial measures enhance the overall understanding and visibility of our true business performance. To that effect, a reconciliation of our GAAP results to non-GAAP figures has been included in our earnings release.

Now turning to our year-to-date results. For the first 6 months of 2020, revenues increased by a solid 90% to $58.2 million, up from $30.6 million for the 6 months of 2019. The increase was the result of a strong year-over-year growth in North American sales of 56%, which similar to the quarter was driven by double-digit growth in existing accounts and distribution expansion. In Europe, the revenue increase of over 300%, largely reflects the full financial impact of the consolidation of the results of operations of our European distribution partner.

Revenues in the Asian markets for the first 6 months of 2020 increased 37% to $594,000. This increase was driven by higher sales volume in the first 3 months, which was partially eroded by foreign currency fluctuations and weaker market conditions as a result of the current global health crisis.

Gross profit increased by $13.4 million or 106% to $26 million for the first 6 months of 2020 compared to $12.6 million for the first 6 months of 2019. Gross profit margin increased by 360 basis points to 44.7% for the 6 months of 2020 compared to 41.1% in the year-ago period. This increase delivered incremental profitability of $2.1 million.

Sales and marketing expenses increased by 67% to $15.4 million for the first 6 months of 2020 compared to $9.2 million for the first 6 months of 2019. The increase is mainly due to the consolidation of the operating results of Funk Food. The increase also reflects higher marketing expenses, employee costs and other commercial expenses to support our distributors in light of the higher sales volumes compared to the year-ago period.

General and administrative expenses for the first 6 months of 2020 were $7.9 million, an increase of 55% compared to $5.1 million for the year-ago period. The increase reflects the consolidation of Funk Food operations, which were not present in the 2019 results as well as additional resources in order to have the proper infrastructure for business growth.

Additionally, administrative expenses included an additional $221,000 related to an increase to our bad debt reserve to cover potential collectibility risk associated with the current health crisis.

Below the operating line, the total other expenses were $635,000 for the first 6 months of 2020 compared to total other income of $11.8 million in the prior year period. The prior year results included $12.1 million in other income for the recognition of the note receivable from our China distributor that was signed at the beginning of 2019.

Based on the aforementioned activity, net income for the first 6 months of 2020 was $2.1 million or $0.03 per diluted share compared to $10.2 million or $0.18 per share for the first 6 months of 2019. Net income for the 2019 6-month period included the nonrecurring gain of $12.1 million related to the note receivable from our China licensee.

Adjusted EBITDA for the first 6 months of 2020 was $5.4 million, which compares to $863,000 in the year-ago period. As of June 30, 2020, the company had cash of $20.1 million compared to $23.1 million as of December 31, 2019. The company also had working capital of $31.8 million as of June 30, 2020, compared to $24.8 million as of December 31, 2019. Cash used by operations during the 6 months ended June 30, 2020, totaled $4.3 million, reflecting an increase in working capital mainly related to higher inventory values, prepayments as well as deposits and an increase in accounts receivables due to higher sales.

That concludes our prepared remarks. Operator, you may now open the call for questions. Thank you.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] And currently, our first question will come from the line of Jeff Van Sinderen with B. Riley.

[Jeff Van Sinderen, analyst]

Let me just first say congratulations on the strong results. John, maybe you can give us a little more color on how the process of adding DSD partners is going, since you're now over 130 partners at this point and maybe speak more about the retailers that are expected to flip over to DSD in second half, impacts on your business from that. And then kind of given the strong sales growth, how do you feel about inventory levels, production plans and position to deliver to meet that demand, considering the boost you typically experience from flipping over to major DSDs?

[John Fieldly, executive]

Excellent. Thank you, Jeff. We appreciate it. The team has done a great job this quarter. It continues to execute extremely well. You are correct, we are about 135 DSD partners today. The transition of Bang from majority of Anheuser-Busch, independent distributors to Pepsi, has really opened up a lot of opportunity for us. So the team has been busy filling in the gaps in several key markets in the United States and the metropolitan areas, really cover the DMAs, so we're able to flip over those key accounts. So as it stands right now, with 135, we have about 70% of all the major metropolitan markets in the North America covered. We do have a few gaps that we're working to really close in the back half, really in Q3. But we really have come a long way since the beginning of the year. So really excited about that transition.

In the past, we talked about Target and flipping over to Big Geyser in New York, and that has gone really well as well as 7-Eleven in that market where we're currently working on CDS as well. We have been giving the green light in the third quarter, starting in the back half of this month into September, that we will be flipping over and changing the route to market with Target. So Target will be one of the first really key accounts that will be taking on more DSD distribution throughout the country. So a variety of key markets in the country will be serviced by DSD by -- through -- with Target. Also CDS, we're working with CDS extremely closely, doing the same thing. We anticipate a majority of CDSs will be converted over to DSD towards the back half of this year.

And Walmart is taking a little bit longer. So that will likely take place towards most likely around January 2021. So we have had a lot of -- everyone going through dealing with COVID in a lot of these key accounts. As we all know, a lot has been delayed. We were hoping that a lot of these key accounts would be migrated over in the second quarter. We disclosed that some of the delays we were seeing in the first quarter when we released earnings, but we're really optimistic. We're seeing great rotation in accounts that are serviced by DSD. And then the new partners that we brought on are extremely excited to get Celsius out into more points of distribution. So we're excited about that as well.

And we also saw the store count increase to 74,000 in United States, and that was really driven by a lot of small-format locations, regional accounts coming on through the help of our partners, our new partners in the DSD network.

As it relates to inventory, Jeff, we are -- we've increased inventories. We started to do that in Q1 due to the COVID pandemic. We wanted to make sure we have ample supply in case we have any difficulties with any of our co-packers who have been such great partners through this all and really supportive of the brand. We do have a new co-packer coming on board. Actually, we're running a test run next week in the Southeast. So we're really excited about that. That will give us additional ample supply and as we build out our distribution network.

So we feel confident that we'll be able to maintain demand -- meet demand with ample inventory and supply. We're working every day to get more efficient on that, get cost -- get cases to our customers and through our distributors at a lower cost. And the team has done a great job putting strategies in place to accomplish that.

[Jeff Van Sinderen, analyst]

Okay. Great. And then just a follow-up to that. I know that you mentioned Peach Vibe being a success. Maybe you can just touch on some of the resets that are happening in second half with some of the retailers where you might be adding SKUs, flavors, getting more shelf space. And then if you could just touch on or update us on marketing plans, how those have evolved through second half?

[John Fieldly, executive]

Yes. Excellent. Hopefully, everyone on the call has tried Peach Vibe. If you haven't, I encourage you to. It's been a great success. The team has done a great job really at a time of uncertainty and all the craziness. Our Peach Vibe launch was a great thing to bring to people, bringing positive vibes during the summer, much needed positive vibes. And the team did a great job through a variety of marketing activities to get that out there. We were the #1 newly launched or new release on Amazon for about 2 weeks, which was a great success. We saw a great rotation. We actually had to go back to production very quickly on that product. We overshot some of our forecasts initially. And a lot of our new distributors that are coming onboard, it was a perfect timing. All these new distributors coming onboard, bringing up something really exciting, new that added a possible vibe and it's cool. The team did a great job on the marketing with a variety of influencers and social engagement and activation.

And -- it's -- unfortunately, it was delayed with a lot of these resets. It was anticipated to be in more key accounts than it currently was in the summertime. We did feel it was time we moved forward with it due to our distributors, the number of distributors coming onboard and the plans for the summer launch. We did augment a lot of our marketing plans. The offline activation was augmented to online. But it was a great success. So hopefully, everyone gets to try it there. It will be listed. It is listed right now at CDS. So we did do a summer display program with CDS in about 2,800 stores. So right now, Peach Vibe is in a lot of locations at CDS. They took it in. In the back half of this year, you'll likely see it in a variety of Target locations and many other retailers as we head into the back half of these resets and into 2021. We think it's going to be a meaning contributor to revenues and another -- one of our great flavors that our innovation team has put together.

So staying on the forefront of labor innovation with an experiential offering has driven great success on behalf of the team. So they did a great job.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from the line of David Bain with ROTH Capital.

[David Bain, analyst]

Great. I was hoping, first, maybe if you could speak to the promotional environment. I think [indiscernible] Red Bull up 10% in the second quarter, they did a similar watermelon flavor and a lot of promotions during COVID. It sounds like Monster may now resume some activities as well and expand with a watermelon product also. I mean, as competitors begin to ramp promotions and special items, is there a need to react differently? Or is this kind of ramp out of COVID pretty much as expected and no real need to adjust?

[John Fieldly, executive]

Well, thank you, Dave. Appreciate the question. In regards to the category, the category has always been very competitive, with a lot of variety and different pricing architectures and promotional strategies. We indicated on our Q1 earnings call, we were going to run -- really heading post-COVID a lot of retailers wanted to see some integrated promotional programs really to entice consumers back into retail. We have participated in those. We were selected, as an example, in the month of July, we ran a BOGO program at 7-Eleven, which was great success, further increasing our penetration in the 7-Eleven chain, adding more additional SKUs on shelf. And we see a really great partnership further. However, the last 3 years has been great, but we see it further expanding with 7-Eleven.

So that was great. Also at Target, we have an [ NCAP ] program running. That was our first time really getting off that warm shelf in the energy aisle and with great placement, and we've run promotions there. Also at CDS, we've run some promotions on -- coming out of the COVID through this summer.

So I think the category has always been very promotional-driven, especially during the summer months, with beverage. What we have done is it's very important we continue this premiumization in the category. Celsius is the premium offering in the new performance energy category. So we won't be discounting down extensively. We're going to maintain our margins, but it's very important we continue to drive premiumization in the new category as it grows in scale. That's the opportunity we have. But you will see promotions -- targeted promotions to gain trial and gain awareness.

[David Bain, analyst]

Okay, great. And then just my second one, if I could. On the DSD, I know you gave a lot of good detail. I just want to make sure I understand. Maybe the easiest way for me, at least, would be on the last call, you gave us a penetration across your distribution. I think it was like 12%. And based on the color you provided, is there kind of a current maybe 3Q and 4Q contemplation of where that is and goes to? And as you deepen the certain DSD relationships, will the number of DSDs narrow to just the larger ones? And I mean, how do you strategically think about DSD partnership, that evolution generally?

[John Fieldly, executive]

Yes. The partners we have now are in some of the top-tier distributors in the regions that we're operating in. So we're looking to build a really long-term relationship and partnership with our key DSD partners. So we're at 135. We'll probably -- we're going to be adding several more in the back half of this year to round out some of these markets. But we won't see really a contraction. It's really activating and partnering and working together to build Celsius and gaining more penetration. You absolutely do gain more penetration with our DSD partners, because that allows us to further expand into regional chains, small-format locations and also get that better execution in the trade and the higher velocity numbers. So those are some key points that we're really looking to accomplish on building out a national DSD network. And what we're seeing is extremely positive where we stand today.

[David Bain, analyst]

Great. And Perfect. Guys, could you -- is there a way to sort of capsulate the percentage penetration at this point?

[John Fieldly, executive]

Yes. I mean, at the last earnings call, we said roughly about 10% and 12% of our stores currently being serviced by DSD. Over the last quarter, a lot of our partners did expand us into additional regional small format, and we did make progress on a -- on flipping over, transitioning some more accounts over in key markets. But we're probably still in the teens at this point. We really need a lot of the bigger retailers to help us as we go through the transitional phase with CDS, Target, Walmart, Rite Aid, 7-Eleven and several of our new customers that we have plans to come onboard in the back half of this year. So that will continue to grow. We anticipate that number to continue to grow over the next -- every quarter.

[Operator]

Next, we have Jeffrey Cohen with Ladenburg Thalmann.

[Jeffrey Cohen, analyst]

Great quarter on the top line. So congrats and a few questions from me. So you talk about the channels a little bit. I was listening to Rodney the other day talk about your Nielsen, like, [ 11.3 ] on the Amazon Direct and thinking about that as well as what's been going on with what they call gas and convenience as well as gym. So I assume that gyms are probably less than 1/4 of your revenue and have taken a lag. But could you talk about the gas and convenience a little bit as well as the online and kind of the trajectory that you had through the second quarter?

[John Fieldly, executive]

Yes, absolutely. Thank you, Jeff. The channel mix has been quite interesting over the last quarter as we entered the second quarter and then throughout the second quarter. As we all know, gyms and vitamin specialty stores locations have been closed and reopened and closed back down. And in the gym channel, a lot of these gym chains have opened, but they're running at like 25% capacity, 50% capacity. So we had experienced a significant decrease in our fitness channel. We're very committed to fitness and working closely with our partners, also some of the news on 24 Hour and Gold's Gym as well. So that channel has impacted us, but it has been offset by the growth that we've seen in Amazon, mass grocery, where we're just seeing great rotation.

And it really goes back to what I said earlier about the opportunity we have here in the Celsius consumer. We're not just an impulse purchase. We're part of a daily active lifestyle. So you're drinking -- consumers that were drinking the product, which we hear a lot of times that were just a preworkout, we're more than just a preworkout. And it's -- obviously, that was shown in how the revenue has migrated over.

So when you look at gas and convenience, we have a limited exposure there. We are currently about 11% to 12% ACV. We're still growing at about a 50% growth rate, latest SPINS data coming out on that market with a -- right around 12%, 12.5% ACV. So a long runway ahead and just seeing great rotation in the accounts we're in. We closed additional Circle Ks in the quarter, several divisions there, which we're excited about. Seeing great rotation at QT, RaceTrac and of course, 7-Eleven has been great for us through the quarter.

So we feel it's going to come back. Obviously, we all know the traffic has been down through the quarter. You're starting to see more traffic come back. It's not where it was pre-COVID, but we feel that the trick that -- that the category is going to come back. It's going to come back in convenience [indiscernible]. And we want to make sure we're going to be a major player in that category as it continues to recover.

[Jeffrey Cohen, analyst]

That's great. And then secondly for me, could you just talk a little bit about your demographic and demographics as compared to your supposed competitors out there as far as picking up probably what I'd be more of the Gen X and Gen Y generation as opposed to Gen Z or boomers post-millennium? Can you talk about that a little bit for us?

[John Fieldly, executive]

Yes, absolutely, absolutely. That's what's really unique about Celsius and the great opportunity we have and which Edwin and I and our team members here are really excited about the opportunity. It's -- we have a much broader consumer base than, say, a traditional energy drink consumer. The energy drink category, when you look at traditional energy, historically, that's been 18 to 24. Male has been really the target. The category continues to evolve. The category is aging up. The consumers that were drinking those traditional energy drink products are looking for better-for-you options. And as we all know, health and wellness is even more important today than it ever has been before. And Celsius born in fitness, vitamin specialty, we're all about encouraging people to live an active, healthy lifestyle and live fit with Celsius. So it's really resonating well with today's health-minded consumers.

So when you look at our demographics, we've always been about 50-50, male-female, which is unique in the category. And also, our age demographic has indexed up. We've aged up in the 45, 50 range actually in a lot of categories. And I think it has to do with the ingredients. We have green tea, guarana, ginger, biotin, chromium, a variety of 7 essential vitamins. And it tastes great. It’s light, airy and makes you feel really good as well and no crash.

So -- and we're also seeing the new consumers entering the energy drink category aren't grabbing for mom or dad's Red Bull or Monster. They're grabbing and they're looking for products that align with their active lifestyle. And one of your top picks has to be the premium offering and premium Celsius in the category. And we're seeing great rotation on that. We're seeing a lot more of Gen X and Z and millennials over-indexed in the category as well, drinking more of these products than the traditional energy drink consumers, say, 5, 6 years ago. So we're excited.

[Jeffrey Cohen, analyst]

And then lastly from me, can you talk a little bit about July versus June and kind of reopening of some of the economic sectors out there coupled with your traditional some restraints? Does it feel good where you're situated now into traditionally your strongest quarter versus how you came out of June in Q2?

[John Fieldly, executive]

Yes. I think we came out considering, like you mentioned, 25% of our revenues, approximately 20% -- actually 28% of our revenues -- almost 30% historically have come from vitamin specialty, gyms and health clubs. So having that channel down as well as the momentum we are building in the on-premise, vending and micro market channel, which has been impacted, we're seeing good momentum. We saw good momentum in June, and we're seeing good momentum as we head into July. At this stage, that orders -- purchase orders in-house in North America, we're over 50% versus the prior year. So just looking at the quarter there, we entered and exited July with some pretty good momentum. And that doesn't even really include a lot of the new accounts that are planned to come onboard in the back half of this year. It really set us up for a really strong 2021. So I think we feel pretty good as an organization. We're working hard, and we want to take share in this category.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] Next we have Anthony Vendetti with Maxim Group.

[Anthony Vendetti, analyst]

John, I just wanted to talk about just a little more on the Amazon channel. You said you're third after Monster, Red Bull. Can you talk about the growth in the channel just related to Celsius versus last year at this time. What's the growth year-over-year?

[John Fieldly, executive]

We've been growing very strong. Thank you, Anthony, number one, for -- appreciate your question. In regards to Amazon, and -- we've been seeing strong growth over the last several years on Amazon. We were in the high double-digit growth rates on the Amazon platform.

Most recently, I saw latest data from Rodney Sacks at Monster Energy on his earnings call. He had some of the latest Stackline data, which he disclosed, and the category is growing about an 88% growth rate. So that was over the last 4 weeks as of -- I think it was July 14 is cut-off. So strong growth in the category on Amazon. We are exceeding that growth rate. I think he reported us over a 200% growth rate, I believe. I'll have to double check that, but it was extremely high, 180% growth rate versus the 88%. So -- and we took -- we increased our share by 1 point. Red Bull did lose their 1 point share. So getting closer to #2 position, the potentially second largest energy drink on Amazon. But we've been doing very well, very well. That's where consumers are shopping now and at home deliveries. Their sales are up tremendously. So it's great that we're growing faster than the growth rate, which is key.

[Anthony Vendetti, analyst]

That's great, John. And just in terms of the new accounts that are coming on in the second half is Celsius up for '21. How has COVID-19 changed -- it doesn't look like it's obviously impacting you, but how does it change your day-to-day practices for your team? And has -- what are some additional -- I know there are some additional expenses? But what type of sanitation expenses, can you talk a little bit about that? And has the sales practices changed a little bit?

[John Fieldly, executive]

Yes. No, absolutely. I think everyone's world as an organization and everyone's world kind of turned upside down. The teams are working hard to continue to stay focused and execute and drive, maximize opportunities and stay nimble. It is a challenge for all of us. We live in -- we're operating in -- from South Florida. That's where our headquarters is based. So we do have contingency plans in place for -- most recently, we had a little bit of a scare with a hurricane coming at us. So it is something that we're always prepared to work remotely.

So we have our servers and [indiscernible] facilities. We do drills. So we have not really missed a beat, I feel. I think the product team has done a great job. It is difficult working with a lot of individuals remotely. So many of our team members are working remotely. We're taking extra precautions, cleaning, sanitizing, to your point. Also our teams on the sales side has not been able to really have those customer meetings. So right now, we're in the midst of 2021 or entering 2021 buyer season. This is the time to sell in additional expansion for 2021. And a lot of those meetings are happening now through different platforms, video conferencing. So you're missing those touch points.

Also many of our distributors, we're not really able to activate them as we originally planned with support and team blitzes. And we're doing the best we can and trying to be as precautious as I can as well. And then our marketing initiatives, obviously, had to pivot from offline, experiential marketing to online. So trying to get creative, think out of the box, and again, in front of consumers and continue to grow the brand and grow our consumer base and to stay flexible, which is key.

[Anthony Vendetti, analyst]

Okay. Excellent. Excellent. Just maybe Edwin has the number. In the quarter that you're in, and do you expect that increased expenses for the COVID-19, cleaning, sanitation, sanitizing, whatever, do you expect that to continue in this quarter? And is it a material expense? Or right now, it's something that's you're doing, but it's not impacting the expense line that much?

[John Fieldly, executive]

I'll let Edwin take that.

[Edwin Negron Carballo, executive]

Yes. Thank you. Yes. So yes, we are doing, obviously, those type of efforts. But to your point, it's not -- hasn't been material at this point. But we are obviously taking all the precautions and taking all the measures in terms of sanitation and safeguarding, as John mentioned, employees, consumers and so forth. So -- but not something that at this point is material.

[John Fieldly, executive]

Yes. I'd just like to add, I think it's, Anthony, not really a cost -- a material cost to us. But it's a -- that cost is really an opportunity cost is really what's costing us as an organization because of the limited ability to execute and really activate our new distribution partners and the delays that we're seeing and a lot of these retailer resets. So it's more of an opportunity cost, which is the material component.

[Operator]

And our next question comes from the line of Aaron Grey with Alliance Global Partners.

[Aaron Grey, analyst]

Congrats on the additional distribution agreements in the quarter. So first question from me is just around the new distribution agreements and kind of having them more as of your brand ambassador, if you will, especially with the retailers. So just kind of curious as to how it's going to help with your shelf placement? And then also how we can think about potentially being placed more at the fridges, at checkout as well to create more additional opportunities and kind of where you see opportunities for that going forward?

[John Fieldly, executive]

Absolutely. That's the power of the DSD network. You nailed it on the head. We say kind of internally, faces sell cases, and when it's cold, it's sold. So that's -- we have a great product that fits both of those. That's where the DSD comes in. It's the power of the people, the power of the teams, activating them and getting more people out there selling Celsius. So we have a limited team and through these distributors, we're able to educate, excite, motivate and help us continue to build share and also help merchandise, which has been key. As you all know, there's a lot of going direct to retailers in this high turning category, causes a lot of challenges and complexities due to shelf presence, taking out some of the activity by other partners in the category at what happens on the street at retail. So the manpower is really the key, and that's where we see a great opportunity and benefit.

[Aaron Grey, analyst]

All right. Great. And then just one more from me. Obviously, the category remains very competitive with players looking to innovate. You've come out with your own innovation as well. And there's particularly a lot of competition on the healthy beverages side that we've seen. So just curious to how you think about the competitive landscape, how it's evolving. Obviously, Celsius has been doing very well. So do you feel like it's more of a rising tide lifts all boats as you see these other competitors come out with product and the entire energy drink category kind of gains traction? Just curious to your thoughts on that.

[John Fieldly, executive]

Yes. I mean, there's always been competition. Beverages fierce -- the barriers to entry are fairly low. The barriers to succeed are extremely high. And it's -- the competitive landscape continues to evolve. And that's important that the teams at Celsius stay on the forefront. We continue to build the brand, the brand equity, maintain our distribution. And this is something that we operate in an extremely competitive environment. That's beverages, especially energy. You're seeing that now in sparkling waters. You're also seeing it in spiked seltzers now. So -- but once you built a brand, a strong brand, you continue to attract more consumers, you can really take share in the category, and that's what we're focused on.

[Operator]

I'll now turn the presentation back to our main presenter for his concluding remarks. Please go ahead, Mr. Fieldly.

[John Fieldly, executive]

Thank you. Also like to thank Regan Ebert for her service as a Board of Director to the company. She has a great opportunity, and I wish her well on her new endeavors at Danone as a Senior Vice President role.

In addition, I would like to welcome Caroline Levy, who was recently appointed to our Board of Directors. She brings over 30 years of consumer industry experience and extensive network of industry and investor relationships. And we give her a warm welcome, and welcome to the team.

In addition, I would like to mention, on August 14, we will be participating in a virtual fireside chat hosted by Alliance Global Partners. If you would like to attend, please contact your Alliance Global Partners representative for additional details.

And then on behalf of the company, we'd like to thank everyone for their continued interest and support. Our results demonstrate our products are gaining considerable momentum, and we are capitalizing on today's global health and wellness trends. And the change is taking place in the transformation of the energy category. Our active healthy lifestyle position is a global position with mass appeal. And we're building upon our core and leveraging opportunities and deploying best practices. We have a winning portfolio, strategy and team and a large growing -- rapidly growing consumer base. Our mission is to get Celsius to more consumers profitably. And I'm very proud of our dedicated team, as without them, our tremendous achievements and significant opportunities we see ahead would not be possible.

In addition, I'd like to thank all of our investors for their continued support and confidence in our team. Thank you, everyone, for your interest in Celsius. Be safe, and have a great day.

[Operator]

Thank you, sir. And that does conclude the conference call for today. We thank you all for your participation and ask that you please disconnect your lines. Thank you once again. Have a great day.