Else Nutrition Holdings (OTC:BABYF) is a plant-based food and nutrition company based in Israel that caters to infants, toddlers, children, and adults. The company develops all-natural food and nutrition products manufactured from almonds, buckwheat, and tapioca, free of hormones, antibiotics, gluten, and other toxic chemicals to aid children's growth and development.
Else Nutrition's Super Cereal for babies became the first-ever baby nutrition product to receive the Clean Label Project Purity Award Certification last April. The company is leading the way in the plant-based nutrition market with considerable online sales growth and educates consumers on plant-based infant products' nutritional benefits. Else Nutrition gained market share and was recognized as the "Best dairy alternative" at the World Plant-Based Expo in 2021, making it a powerful competitor in the infant formula and alternative dairy markets.
Else Nutrition's Plant-Based Complete Nutrition for Toddlers is Amazon's top-selling baby and toddler formula, demonstrating the brand's growing popularity and health benefits. Else Nutrition also addresses the presence of heavy metals in infant food products, which many big baby food producers have overlooked, putting babies' lives at risk. Else seeks to address this industry-wide issue by creating a reliable line of infant nourishment products. This focus helped the company win the Clean Label Project Purity Award for its Super Cereal for Babies.
Else Nutrition Reports Robust Growth in Q1
The company reported revenue of C$1.6 million for the first quarter of 2022, up 26% from $1.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2021, aided by growing sales on Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), Else's e-tail, and retail channels. The company also reported a decrease in operating loss, suggesting Else Nutrition is moving in the right direction to reach profitability as the company scales up. In early April, Amazon.com sales climbed 40% sequentially, with the number of Else Nutrition subscribers on the website passing the all-important 1,000 mark.
The introduction of the new Kids Complete Nutritional Shake product line and the expansion of toddler products across all channels are also driving the company's sales growth. Based on these promising developments, Else Nutrition raised the guidance for the second quarter, highlighting the confidence of the company management in expected growth despite challenges faced by many of its peers.
Else Nutrition has extended its retail presence in the United States to over 1,300 stores and continues to boost retail sales thanks to the strong performance of its products in both online and retail channels. Else Nutrition is working on expanding the company's distribution network to grow its global and U.S. market share in the coming quarters. Some of the company's recent e-commerce and retail distribution partnerships include KeHE, United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI), Walmart (NYSE:WMT), and Thrive Market. This year, the company plans to expand the product range to approximately 8-10 and over 20 SKUs in the United States alone.
Following its success on Amazon U.S., Else Nutrition was invited by Amazon EU to launch a European unified account. Such an account will allow Else to sell its products in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, and Sweden, representing over 300 million people. Moreover, the company recently received federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) approval, allowing its products to reach low-income families.
The company also announced that Amazon would accept Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) purchases of Else products, allowing SNAP users in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam to buy products with their SNAP benefits.
This is a significant achievement for Else. It will boost brand awareness and help the company address the baby food shortage in the country while also pushing the industry toward healthier and clean plant-based baby food choices. In 2021, Else launched an HCP in the United States, including a dedicated HCP website and a campaign to reach over 80,000 pediatricians to help educate them about plant-based nutritional products and their benefits.
Else Nutrition is quickly becoming a prominent alternative source of infant and child nutrition products, and the company is inching closer to FDA approval as well. Else announced on May 24 that it completed the initial commercial production of its Plant-Based Formula in April, which would be used in key Clinical Studies for the U.S. market. Else will conduct clinical trials after commercial production to validate product safety in preparation for regulatory approval of its infant formula, which is expected to become its flagship product.
Conclusion
Else Nutrition's infant products benefit from a proprietary ingredient manufacturing technology that ensures the highest degree of purity and nutrients. The growing demand for healthy, toxic-free infant formula and baby food, government acceptance, and the company's excellent achievements have positioned the company for long-term success. Else Nutrition is rapidly expanding, winning awards for its clean and safe plant-based infant products while addressing nationwide shortages of baby nutrition products.
Else Nutrition's first-quarter performance is a testament to the company's recession-proof business model. According to many experts, this makes Else Nutrition even more impressive today given that the U.S. is possibly heading into a recession by the end of the year.