Molson Coors’ energy entrant (TAP)
According to IRI, Zoa Energy has been the number one new energy drink in the latest four-week period. Zoa is an energy drink created by Dwayne Johnson, aka “The Rock,” and partners. The brand is marketed as a healthier, more natural energy drink. Molson Coors owns a minority stake and is the distribution partner. Molson Coors has been able to place Zoa in more than 26,000 retailers and 100,000 points of distribution. According to Nielsen, energy drinks have been a secular grower with double-digit sales growth in each of the last three years. The C-store channel dominates energy drinks with $10.57B in energy drink sales in the year ended July 31, representing almost double the grocery, drug, and club store channels combined. The energy drink category reached $10.6B in the year ended July 31. Red Bull and Monster Energy each have about 37% of the U.S. market, while the new entrant, Bang Energy, had an 8.4% share in 2020. Molson Coors has leaned on partners to drive growth in recent years – the economics are smaller for the company, but the throughput helps offset fixed costs.
Food inflation in Canada (L.CA)
In Canada, the average household is projected to pay 5% more for their groceries by December. The 5% increase represents C$700 over a year, the largest increase in history. Canada imports nearly a third of its food which makes the country more vulnerable to transportation cost inflation. 80% of its fruit and vegetables are imported. Freight rates are up over 200% over the past year. Indoor grow facilities would seemingly make a lot of sense in Canada. Due to the energy required for heating indoor grow facilities, any emissions saved from less transportation are offset in Canada.
Further TX plant details (STKL)
Yesterday, SunOpta released further details on its new plant-based beverage constructed in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The new plant will be 285,000 square feet with the ability to expand to 400,000 square feet. The new facility will be the largest plant in SunOpta’s plant-based production. The initial phase of the construction does not include dedicated oat processing. Oatly also recently announced a new program to build a new plant in the Dallas-Fort Worth area 5,000 square feet smaller than SunOpta’s.
