On-premise 92% open, but draft volumes are running 38% lower (BUD)
According to BeerBoard, which tracks $1billion in draft sales nationwide, a reported 92% of on-premise establishments were open and pouring beer for the weekend of Mar. 11-14. That is even with the prior Feb. 25-28 period. The open rate is back to the highest level since the pandemic began a year ago. Nationally the volume of beer poured is down 38% YOY, but up 6.0% from the Feb. 25-28 period. Volumes in Florida and Texas, where there are few restrictions, are down 30% and 29%, respectively. On the other end of the spectrum, volumes are down 52% in Illinois and -65% in Minnesota. Nationally 66% of the taps are pouring, up 2% from the Feb. 25-28 period. Import beers represent 15.7% of the volume share for the weekend of Mar. 11-14, up 0.3% from the prior period.
The Fresh Market returning to the public markets
The Fresh Market filed a confidential S-1 filing on Friday. Five years ago, Apollo Global Management announced it would acquire the grocer for $1.36B. The company currently has 159 stores in 22 states compared to 186 stores in 27 states when it went private. Former Sobey's executive Jason Potter joined The Fresh Market in March 2020 as CEO. Jason Potter is the company’s third CEO since going private. Moody’s issued a credit upgrade to Caa1 for The Fresh Market last month and stated that leverage is expected to remain below 5.5x in the next 12 months. SSS improved by about 20% in 2020. Sales in the year ended Oct. 25, 2020, reached $1.7B.
The Fresh Market is a specialty grocer known for its large variety of local produce, curated private label products (~1,500 items), ready-made meals, a large selection of imported foods, butcher counter, and bakery. After the buyout prices of many products were lowered, 1,300 items including a number of basics like toilet paper were added, low bins were replaced by traditional vertical aisles, and the lights were turned brighter, among other changes.
Southeastern Grocers pulled its IPO plans due to a lack of demand at the proposed valuation. Unless The Fresh Market has a store opening strategy after shrinking its store base, it may find the IPO process underwhelming like Southeastern Grocers. The company’s prepared meals section benefited from consumers shifting from eating away from home, which will be challenged as the pandemic is anniversary and vaccines are distributed.
Canadian greenhouse expansion (APPH)
DelFrescoPure announced it had begun phase 1 in its 25-acre greenhouse expansion. The company cited growing demand for its fresh strawberries and tomatoes as the reason it is expanding its Ontario greenhouse. In 2017 the company expanded its strawberry production to ten acres. The expansion is expected to be in full production by September 2021. DelFrescoPure sells its strawberries under several brands, but the most prominent is YES!Berries and their tomato varieties include beefsteak, heirloom, Roma, and grape. Since Canada imports tomatoes and strawberries from the southern U.S., local production has an even greater shipping advantage. There is no competitive moat to greenhouse construction, just access to capital.
