Vita Coco Company Inc (COCO) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Hello, and welcome to the Vita Coco Company's Second Quarter 2024 earnings conference call. My name is Karen. I'll be coordinating your call today. Following prepared remarks, we will open the call to your questions with instructions to be given at that time. I'd now like to hand the call over to John Mills with ICR.

您好，歡迎參加 Vita Coco 公司 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。我叫凱倫。今天我將協調您的電話。在準備好發言後，我們將開始電話詢問您的問題，屆時將給予說明。我現在想將電話轉給 ICR 的約翰米爾斯 (John Mills)。

Thank you, and welcome to the Vita Coco Company's second quarter 2024 earnings results conference call. Today's call is being recorded. With us are Mr. Mike Kirban, Executive Chairman, Martin Roper, Chief Executive Officer; and Corey Baker, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝，歡迎參加 Vita Coco 公司 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。今天的通話正在錄音。與我們在一起的有執行主席 Mike Kirban 先生、執行長 Martin Roper 先生；科里貝克（Corey Baker），財務長。

By now, everyone should have access to the company's second quarter earnings release issued earlier today. This information is available on the Investor Relations section of the Vita Coco Company's website at investors.thevitacococompany.com. Also on the website, there is an accompanying presentation of our commercial and financial performance results.

到目前為止，每個人都應該可以看到該公司今天早些時候發布的第二季財報。此資訊可在 Vita Coco 公司網站的投資者關係部分找到：investors.thevitacococompany.com。網站上還附帶介紹了我們的商業和財務業績結果。

Certain comments made on this call include forward-looking statements, which are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs concerning future events and are subject to several risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements. Please refer to today's press release and other filings with the SEC for a more detailed discussion of the risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made today.

本次電話會議中的某些評論包括前瞻性陳述，這些陳述受到 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》安全港條款的約束。這些前瞻性陳述是基於管理層目前對未來事件的預期和信念，並受到多種風險和不確定性的影響，這些風險和不確定性可能導致實際結果與這些前瞻性陳述中描述的結果有重大差異。請參閱今天的新聞稿和向美國證券交易委員會提交的其他文件，以更詳細地討論可能導致實際結果與今天所做的任何前瞻性聲明中明示或暗示的結果存在重大差異的風險因素。

Also during the call, we will use some non-GAAP financial measures as we describe the business performance. The SEC filings as well as the earnings press release and supplementary earnings presentation provide reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures and are available on our website as well. And with that, it is my pleasure to now turn the call over to Mike Kirban, our Co-Founder and Executive Chairman. Mike?

此外，在電話會議期間，我們將使用一些非公認會計準則財務指標來描述業務績效。SEC 文件以及收益新聞稿和補充收益演示提供了非 GAAP 財務指標與最直接可比較的 GAAP 指標的調整表，也可在我們的網站上查看。現在，我很高興將電話轉給我們的共同創辦人兼執行主席 Mike Kirban。麥克風？

Thanks, John, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today to discuss our second quarter 2024 financial results and our performance expectations for the balance of 2024. I want to start by thanking all of our colleagues across the globe for our continued incredible performance and their commitment to the Vita Coco Company and to our mission of creating ethical, sustainable, better-for-you beverages that uplift our communities and do right by our planet. Our second quarter results reflect that our strategies are working, and we believe that our customer relationships are as strong as ever. Our priorities of driving growth in the Coconut Water category and initiatives to grow our share of the category are visible in the healthy retail scans in our major markets where Coconut Water remains one of the fastest-growing categories in the beverage aisle, delivering double-digit volume growth.

謝謝約翰，大家早安。感謝您今天加入我們討論我們 2024 年第二季度的財務業績以及我們對 2024 年剩餘時間的業績預期。首先，我要感謝我們全球各地的所有同事，感謝我們持續取得令人難以置信的業績，感謝他們對Vita Coco 公司的承諾，以及我們對創造道德、可持續、更有益於您的飲料的使命的承諾，這些飲料可以提升我們的社區並以正確的方式行事我們的星球。我們第二季的業績反映出我們的策略正在發揮作用，我們相信我們的客戶關係一如既往地牢固。我們在主要市場的健康零售掃描中可以看到我們推動椰子水類別增長的優先事項以及增加該類別份額的舉措，在這些市場中，椰子水仍然是飲料通道中增長最快的類別之一，實現了兩位數的成長銷量成長。

Year to date through end of June according to Circana, the Vita Coco brand grew 11% in the US and grew 19% in the UK. Importantly, the growth in US scans accelerated in the second quarter with Vita Coco brand growing at 14%. In addition to strong branded retail growth, we experienced strong growth in private label Coconut Water volume shipments.

根據 Circana 的數據，截至 6 月底，Vita Coco 品牌在美國成長了 11%，在英國成長了 19%。重要的是，第二季美國掃描量成長加速，Vita Coco 品牌成長了 14%。除了強勁的品牌零售成長之外，我們的自有品牌椰子水出貨量也出現了強勁成長。

Our private label strategy allows us to benefit more fully from our category growth initiatives. Our second quarter branded net sales lagged the expectations we had at the beginning of the quarter with shipments impacted by short-term delays in product supply due to challenges in the global ocean freight market, which Martin will comment on more fully. We believe our execution at retail was supported by inventory drawdowns at distributor and retail explaining why scans are ahead of shipments. Our priorities for 2024 remain unchanged, adding households, expanding occasions, acceleration of our international businesses and innovation. Our commercial initiatives around Vita Coco multipacks, Vita Coco Farmer's Organic and Vita Coco Juice continued to perform very well as seen in US.

我們的自有品牌策略使我們能夠更充分地從品類成長計畫中受益。我們第二季的品牌淨銷售額落後於本季初的預期，因為全球海運市場的挑戰導致產品供應短期延遲，導致出貨量受到影響，馬丁將對此進行更全面的評論。我們相信我們在零售方面的執行得到了分銷商和零售店庫存減少的支持，這解釋了為什麼掃描在發貨之前。我們 2024 年的優先事項保持不變，即增加家庭、擴大活動範圍、加速國際業務和創新。我們圍繞 Vita Coco 合裝裝、Vita Coco Farmer's Organic 和 Vita Coco Juice 的商業計劃繼續在美國表現出色。

Circana scans that we highlight in our investor deck, which was posted to our Investor Relations website today. Vita Coco Juice continued to perform well in convenience stores growing 27% year-to-date, and initial signs and major mass retailers are encouraging. Our new innovation, Vita Coco Treats, a delicious and refreshing coconut milk-based beverage provided promising results in our initial retail tests. The launch has been limited to-date, but the retailer and consumer acceptance has greatly exceeded our expectations. We're currently evaluating our plans for next year as it relates to Treats and we'll provide an update when we talk about our 2025 plans.

我們在投資者平台上重點介紹了 Circana 掃描內容，該平台今天已發佈到我們的投資者關係網站上。維他可可果汁在便利商店繼續表現良好，今年迄今成長了 27%，初步跡象和主要大眾零售商都令人鼓舞。我們的新創新產品 Vita Coco Treats 是一種美味、清爽的椰奶飲料，在我們最初的零售測試中取得了可喜的成果。迄今為止推出的數量有限，但零售商和消費者的接受程度大大超出了我們的預期。我們目前正在評估明年與 Treats 相關的計劃，我們將在談論 2025 年計劃時提供最新資訊。

Our international business remains healthy with strong performance in Europe, led by the UK and Germany, offset by weaker shipments in Asia. Coconut Water remains one of the fastest-growing beverage categories, both in the US and the UK, and Vita Coco is the number one brand. During the first half of 2024, we became the number one branded Coconut Water in German retail scan data. We believe we are well-positioned to lead and grow the category in these markets and to grow our share further through a combination of branded and private label growth.

我們的國際業務保持健康，以英國和德國為首的歐洲表現強勁，但被亞洲出貨量疲弱所抵銷。椰子水仍然是美國和英國成長最快的飲料類別之一，而 Vita Coco 是第一品牌。2024 年上半年，我們成為德國零售掃描數據中排名第一的椰子水品牌。我們相信，我們有能力在這些市場中領導和發展該類別，並透過品牌和自有品牌成長的結合進一步擴大我們的份額。

Additionally, I see very exciting opportunities in other large international markets, and we're working to establish better routes to market and brand strategies to capture these opportunities. I believe that we are in a stronger position than we've ever been to accelerate our growth and with inventory improving in the back half of this year, we are setting ourselves up for what I believe will be a very strong 2025. And now I'll turn the call over to our Chief Executive Officer, Martin Roper.

此外，我在其他大型國際市場中看到了非常令人興奮的機會，我們正在努力建立更好的市場路線和品牌策略來抓住這些機會。我相信，我們在加速成長方面比以往任何時候都處於更有利的地位，而且隨著今年下半年庫存的改善，我們正在為我認為非常強勁的 2025 年做好準備。現在我將把電話轉給我們的執行長馬丁·羅珀 (Martin Roper)。

Thanks, Mike, and good morning, everyone. We're pleased with our second quarter performance. We achieved net sales growth of 3% in the second quarter of 2024, driven by both Vita Coco Coconut Water and private label Coconut Water growth, offset by the decrease in private label oil business that we expected and had communicated in prior quarters. The Vita Coco Coconut Water growth was achieved on top of the very strong 2023 second quarter growth of 23%. Our second quarter gross margins were strong, benefiting from lower finished goods and transportation costs, branded promotional cadence reduced relative to prior years due to inventory constraints and from price mix effects in private label, primarily the decline in the importance of the private label oil business, which has traditionally operated on significantly lower margins.

謝謝麥克，大家早安。我們對第二季的業績感到滿意。在Vita Coco 椰子水和自有品牌椰子水增長的推動下，我們在2024 年第二季度實現了3% 的淨銷售額增長，但被我們預期並在前幾個季度傳達的自有品牌油業務的下降所抵消。Vita Coco 椰子水的成長是在 2023 年第二季 23% 的強勁成長基礎上實現的。我們第二季的毛利率強勁，得益於成品和運輸成本的降低，由於庫存限制以及自有品牌的價格組合效應（主要是自有品牌油業務的重要性下降），品牌促銷節奏相對前幾年有所減少。

From a cost side, our finished goods costs, excluding transportation costs year-to-date are in line with expectations. Domestic transportation costs are stable, but the ocean freight market has been volatile, particularly for containers shipped in the back half of the second quarter. We have also seen ocean carriers seeking significant surcharges over previously negotiated rates prior to their providing capacity and cutting frequency and reliability of port costs. We believe rates being quoted by the carriers are temporarily high. Currently, we are negotiating rates monthly on most routes with limited commitments to longer-term contracts where we need to guarantee capacity on certain lanes.

從成本方面來看，年初至今我們的成品成本（不包括運輸成本）符合預期。國內運輸成本穩定，但海運市場波動較大，尤其是第二季後半段運送的貨櫃。我們還看到海運承運人在提供運力並削減港口成本和降低港口成本之前，要求在先前協商的費率基礎上收取大量附加費。我們認為運營商的報價暫時偏高。目前，我們正在就大多數航線的月度費率進行談判，但對長期合約的承諾有限，我們需要保證某些航線的運力。

If we see competitive offers for long-term contracts that make sense to us, we would reconsider our approach. The minor increases in ocean freight costs seen in the first quarter did not materially impact our P&L during the second quarter. The more recent increases in ocean freight rates starting during the second quarter did not materially impact the P&L as many of these containers were not received during the quarter due to delays as transit times have increased. We expect a more significant impact to our gross margins in the third and fourth quarters as containers secured in May, June and July are received. Our net sales performance in the quarter was hampered by the supply chain challenges, which are creating short-term constraints in our ability to meet demand.

如果我們看到對我們有意義的有競爭力的長期合約報價，我們會重新考慮我們的方法。第一季海運成本的小幅成長並未對我們第二季的損益產生重大影響。從第二季度開始的最近海運費率的上漲並未對損益產生重大影響，因為由於運輸時間增加而造成延誤，許多貨櫃在本季度未收到。我們預計，隨著五月、六月和七月收到的貨櫃的收到，第三季和第四季的毛利率將受到更重大的影響。我們本季的淨銷售業績受到供應鏈挑戰的阻礙，這對我們滿足需求的能力造成了短期限制。

Since last -- since our last earnings results, we saw a significant reduction in container availability and service reliability and saw extended transit times create delays in container arrival. For instance, in the period in May, June, July, we were only able to obtain containers representing approximately 85% of what we secured in the same period the prior year, even though we had planned for growth and had inventory of supply ready to ship. Transit tons on most lanes have extended two to four weeks also delaying inventory arrival. Due to these inventory delays, while it is difficult to triangulate, we estimate to be lost between 3% and 5% of net sales growth through the first two quarters. Through June, we have not seen any material impact at retail as evidenced in our continued strong brand scans.

自上次發布以來，我們看到貨櫃可用性和服務可靠性顯著下降，並且運輸時間延長導致貨櫃到達延誤。例如，在 5 月、6 月、7 月期間，儘管我們已經計劃了增長並準備好供應庫存，但我們只能獲得相當於去年同期的 85% 左右的貨櫃。大多數航線的運輸時間延長了兩到四個星期，也導致庫存到達延遲。由於這些庫存延遲，雖然很難進行三角測量，但我們估計前兩個季度的淨銷售額成長將損失 3% 至 5%。截至 6 月，我們尚未看到零售業受到任何實質影響，這一點在我們持續的品牌掃描中得到了證明。

But in recent weeks, we have seen some slowing of growth in retail scans, which suggests the inventory tightness is starting to appear on shelf. Our inventory levels as well as those of our distributors are very tight and well below normal levels. The lack of inventory in-country is expected to constrain shipments in at least July and August. While product is moving, it is not currently at volumes that will allow us to rebuild inventories nor provide our expected level of service. Based on conversations with retailers, we believe some competitors may be experiencing similar challenges. We have maintained our production levels and have significant inventory and supply are ready to ship when container availability improves. And as supply chain flow recovers, our shipments should benefit from retail and distributor inventory build in the back half of the year. Our full year guidance range on both revenue and adjusted EBITDA is based on July container availability, transit times and ocean freight rates continuing for the balance of the year. We believe the accelerated strong category growth is a positive indicator and supportive of our long-term growth algorithm for branded growth. We have secured production capacity for 2025 to more than cover this expected growth. With that, I will turn the call over to Corey Baker, our Chief Financial Officer.

但最近幾週，我們看到零售掃描量的成長放緩，這表明庫存緊張的情況開始顯現出來。我們以及經銷商的庫存水準非常緊張，遠低於正常水準。預計國內庫存不足將至少限制 7 月和 8 月的出貨量。雖然產品正在轉移，但目前的數量不足以讓我們重建庫存或提供預期的服務水準。根據與零售商的對話，我們認為一些競爭對手可能正在經歷類似的挑戰。我們保持了生產水平，並擁有大量庫存，當貨櫃可用性改善時，我們可以隨時發貨。隨著供應鏈流量的恢復，我們的出貨量應該會受益於今年下半年零售和經銷商庫存的增加。我們對收入和調整後 EBITDA 的全年指導範圍是基於 7 月份的貨櫃供應情況、運輸時間和全年剩餘時間的海運費率。我們相信，加速強勁的品類成長是一個正面的指標，支持我們品牌成長的長期成長演算法。我們已確保 2025 年的產能將超過此預期成長。接下來，我會將電話轉給我們的財務長 Corey Baker。

Thanks, Martin, and good morning, everyone. I will now provide you with some additional details on the second quarter 2024 financial results. I will then provide an update on our outlook for the full year. For the second quarter of 2024, net sales increased $4 million or 3% year-over-year to $144 million, driven by Vita Coco Coconut Water net sales growth of 4% and private label declines of 4%. On a segment basis, within the Americas, Vita Coco Coconut Water increased net sales by 4% to $98 million, while private label decreased 4% to $23 million as we saw the impacts of the transition out of the private label coconut oil relationship that we had previously indicated would happen.

謝謝馬丁，大家早安。我現在將向您提供有關 2024 年第二季財務業績的一些其他詳細資訊。然後我將提供全年展望的最新情況。2024 年第二季度，受 Vita Coco 椰子水淨銷售額成長 4% 和自有品牌下降 4% 的推動，淨銷售額年增 400 萬美元，即 3%，達到 1.44 億美元。從美洲細分市場來看，Vita Coco 椰子水的淨銷售額成長了4%，達到9,800 萬美元，而自有品牌則下降了4%，達到2,300 萬美元，因為我們看到了自有品牌椰子油關係轉型的影響。

Vita Coco Coconut Water saw a 1% volume increase and a 3% net price/mix benefit. While private label increased 11% in volume, this was offset by price mix changes due to the coconut oil transition, leading to a net sales decline of 4%. Our Americas Vita Coco Coconut Water scan trends remain very healthy. Our shipment results in the quarter are lagging the scan trends primarily reflecting the challenges in obtaining ocean freight containers that Martin outlined earlier. For the second quarter 2024, our International segment net sales were up 7% with Vita Coco Coconut Water growth of 10%, where strong growth in Europe was partially offset by volume softness in Asia.

Vita Coco 椰子水的銷售量增加了 1%，淨價格/組合效益增加了 3%。雖然自有品牌銷售成長了 11%，但這被椰子油轉型導致的價格結構變化所抵消，導致淨銷售額下降 4%。我們的美洲維塔可可椰子水掃描趨勢仍然非常健康。我們本季的出貨結果落後於掃描趨勢，主要反映了馬丁先前概述的獲得海運貨櫃的挑戰。2024 年第二季度，我們的國際部門淨銷售額增長了 7%，其中 Vita Coco 椰子水增長了 10%，其中歐洲的強勁增長被亞洲銷量疲軟部分抵消。

Private label revenue declined 5%, where strong private label Coconut Water net sales was more than offset by the transition out of the private label coconut oil relationship we referenced earlier. On a quarterly basis, consolidated gross profit was $59 million, up $8 million versus the prior year period. On a percentage basis, gross margins were very strong at 41% in the quarter, an improvement of approximately 400 basis points over the 37% reported in Q2 2023. These increases resulted from decreased finished goods and domestic transportation cost, branded pricing and mix effects within private label products. Moving on to operating expenses; second quarter 2024 SG&A costs decreased 5% to $29 million.

自有品牌收入下降了 5%，強勁的自有品牌椰子水淨銷售額被我們先前提到的自有品牌椰子油關係的轉變所抵消。以季度計算，綜合毛利為 5,900 萬美元，比去年同期增加 800 萬美元。以百分比計算，本季的毛利率非常強勁，達到 41%，比 2023 年第二季報告的 37% 提高了約 400 個基點。這些成長是由於製成品和國內運輸成本的下降、品牌定價以及自有品牌產品的混合效應所致。接下來是營運費用； 2024 年第二季 SG&A 成本下降 5%，至 2,900 萬美元。

The reduction was driven by the timing of marketing investments, partially offset by higher year-on-year personnel expenses. Net income attributable to shareholders for the second quarter 2024 was $19 million or $0.32 per diluted share compared to $18 million or $0.31 per diluted share for the prior year. Net income for the quarter benefited primarily from increased gross profit and decreased SG&A costs, partially offset by a higher year-on-year impact from unrealized FX derivatives and higher year-on-year tax expense. Our effective tax rate for the second quarter 2024 was 25% versus 19% in the prior year quarter. This represents a year-to-date ETR of 23% versus 20% last year.

這一減少是由行銷投資時機推動的，但部分被同比人事費用增加所抵消。2024 年第二季股東應佔淨利為 1,900 萬美元，或稀釋後每股收益 0.32 美元，而前一年為 1,800 萬美元，或稀釋後每股收益 0.31 美元。該季度的淨利主要受惠於毛利潤的增加和銷售管理及行政費用的減少，部分被未實現的外匯衍生性商品和年比稅收費用增加的年比影響所抵銷。我們 2024 年第二季的有效稅率為 25%，而去年同期為 19%。這意味著今年迄今的 ETR 為 23%，而去年為 20%。

The increase was driven by jurisdictional mix of the pretax profits and impact of higher nondeductible expense this year related to covered employees compensation compared to last year. Second quarter 2024 adjusted EBITDA, our non-GAAP measure, which is defined and reconciled in our press release, was $32 million or 22.4% of net sales, up from $24 million or 17.2% of net sales in 2023. The increase was primarily due to the gross profit improvements previously discussed. Turning to our balance sheet and cash flow; as of June 30, 2024, we had total cash on hand of $150 million and no debt under our revolving credit facility compared to $133 million of cash and no debt as of December 31, 2023. The increase in the cash position was due to strong net income, partially offset by an increase of working capital of $22 million and the year-to-date repurchase of shares valued at $10 million.

這一增長是由於稅前利潤的司法組合以及今年與去年相比與受保員工薪酬相關的不可扣除費用較高的影響所致。2024 年第二季調整後的EBITDA（我們在新聞稿中定義和調整的非GAAP 衡量標準）為3,200 萬美元，佔淨銷售額的22.4%，高於2023 年的2,400 萬美元，佔淨銷售額的17.2%。這一增長主要是由於先前討論的毛利改善。轉向我們的資產負債表和現金流；截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日，我們的循環信貸安排下手頭現金總額為 1.5 億美元，無債務，而截至 2023 年 12 月 31 日，我們的現金為 1.33 億美元，無債務。現金狀況的增加是由於強勁的淨利潤，但部分被營運資本增加 2,200 萬美元和年初至今價值 1,000 萬美元的股票回購所抵銷。

Working capital was driven by a $29 million increase in accounts receivable, which is due to the timing of customer payments. Inventory decreased $5 million due to the inventory delays Martin discussed earlier. Based on our year-to-date performance, our confidence in the health of the category and our Vita Coco brand, we are reaffirming our full year guidance. We expect net sales between $500 million and $510 million, with expected gross margin for the full year of 37% to 39%, delivering adjusted EBITDA of $76 million to $82 million. The guidance reflects our current best assumptions on marketplace trends and our global supply chain costs and assumes a flow of product to our markets to the same rate as we are experiencing in July.

由於客戶付款的時間安排，應收帳款增加了 2,900 萬美元，推動了營運資金的成長。由於馬丁之前討論過的庫存延誤，庫存減少了 500 萬美元。基於我們今年迄今為止的表現、我們對該類別健康狀況和 Vita Coco 品牌的信心，我們重申我們的全年指導。我們預計淨銷售額將在 5 億至 5.1 億美元之間，預計全年毛利率為 37% 至 39%，調整後 EBITDA 為 7,600 萬至 8,200 萬美元。該指導反映了我們目前對市場趨勢和全球供應鏈成本的最佳假設，並假設流入我們市場的產品流量與我們 7 月的情況相同。

While we are confident in the underlying strength of our business, we are maintaining the range on net sales and EBITDA guidance to reflect continued uncertainty on the transportation cost side. For the balance of the year, we plan to adjust promotional activity to reflect expected product availability, which will allow us to deliver our gross margin adjusted EBITDA guidance while absorbing the higher global transportation costs that we are currently seeing, which we estimate in the second half of the year to be approximately $15 million of increased transportation costs on a rate per case equivalent basis over the equivalent first half rate per case equivalent.

雖然我們對業務的潛在實力充滿信心，但我們仍維持淨銷售額和 EBITDA 指引的範圍，以反映運輸成本持續的不確定性。在今年餘下的時間裡，我們計劃調整促銷活動以反映預期的產品供應情況，這將使我們能夠實現毛利率調整後的EBITDA 指導，同時吸收我們目前看到的更高的全球運輸成本，我們在第二季度中對此進行了估計按每箱當量費率計算，上半年運輸成本將比上半年每箱當量費率增加約 1500 萬美元。

As Martin mentioned, these higher costs were delayed in reaching our P&L due to the container shipping delays and are now expected to impact our P&L in Q3 with a more significant impact in Q4 due to current rate. We expect disciplined SG&A spending with full year 2024 SG&A flat to slightly increasing year-on-year. We may adjust our SG&A spending if we see improvements in ocean freight quicker than expected or if we see productive investment opportunities to strengthen the business for the long term.

正如馬丁所提到的，由於貨櫃運輸延誤，這些較高的成本延遲達到我們的損益，現在預計將影響我們第三季的損益，由於目前的費率，第四季的影響更為重大。我們預計 SG&A 支出將嚴格執行，2024 年全年 SG&A 支出將持平或較去年同期略有成長。如果我們看到海運的改善速度快於預期，或者如果我們看到有成效的投資機會來加強長期業務，我們可能會調整我們的銷售管理費用。

We anticipate our cash balance to remain healthy through the year, allowing us to fund any potential M&A opportunities that emerge, support further share buyback activity and continue to invest in our business for long-term growth. And with that, I'd like to turn the call back to Martin for his closing remarks.

我們預計我們的現金餘額將全年保持健康，使我們能夠為出現的任何潛在併購機會提供資金，支持進一步的股票回購活動，並繼續投資於我們的業務以實現長期成長。說到這裡，我想把電話轉回給馬丁，讓他作結束語。

Thank you, Corey. To close, I'd like to reiterate our confidence in the long-term potential of the Vita Coco Company, our ability to build a better beverage platform and the strength of our Vita Coco brand and the Coconut Water category. We are confident in our ability to navigate the current environment and are excited about our key initiatives to drive growth. We have strong brands and a solid balance sheet, and we are well-positioned to compete domestically and internationally. Thank you for joining us today, and thank you for your interest in the Vita Coco Company. That concludes our second quarter prepared remarks, and we will now take your questions.

謝謝你，科里。最後，我想重申我們對維他可可公司的長期潛力、我們建立更好的飲料平台的能力以及我們的維他可可品牌和椰子水類別的實力的信心。我們對應對當前環境的能力充滿信心，並對我們推動成長的關鍵舉措感到興奮。我們擁有強大的品牌和穩健的資產負債表，並且在國內和國際競爭中處於有利地位。感謝您今天加入我們，也感謝您對維他可可公司的興趣。我們第二季準備的發言就到此結束，現在我們將回答你們的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Bonnie Herzog, Goldman Sachs.

（操作員指示）Bonnie Herzog，高盛。

I had a question on your guidance. You did maintain the ranges. And I guess on the top line, this implies a slight deceleration in the back half versus the first half. So I guess I'm just trying to understand the drivers or expectations of that, especially in the context of what I would describe as still pretty strong scanner data. And then the comments you made about retailers rebuilding inventory levels, other than, I guess, the impact from the lost coconut oil volume, what's sort of driving this? And maybe any color on how fast your business is growing in non-tracked versus tracked channels, I guess?

我對你的指導有疑問。您確實維持了範圍。我想從最上面看，這意味著後半場與上半場相比略有減速。所以我想我只是想了解其驅動因素或期望，特別是在我所描述的仍然相當強大的掃描器數據的背景下。然後，您對零售商重建庫存水準的評論，除了我猜椰子油數量減少的影響之外，是什麼推動了這種情況？我想也許還有關於您的業務在非追蹤管道與追蹤管道中成長速度的任何顏色？

I think the category is working incredibly well. The brand is working well, fastest-growing category in the beverage aisle and we've been driving that. Right now, I think the big question is how fast we could get inventory. It's less of a demand issue and a demand growth issue and more of just speed of inventory getting into the US will help us really determine and achieve the back half of the year.

我認為這個類別運作得非常好。品牌運作良好，是飲料領域成長最快的類別，我們一直在推動這一趨勢。現在，我認為最大的問題是我們能多快獲得庫存。這不是需求問題和需求成長問題，而是庫存進入美國的速度將幫助我們真正確定並實現今年下半年的目標。

Yes. And I think it affects both the US and the UK -- on Europe, right? And there are two factors, both availability of securing containers and then transit times, and we've been hit by both factors the last three months of extended transit times and having problem securing containers. So I think our outlook reflects what we currently know, but there's obviously a lot that can happen between now and then.

是的。我認為這對美國和英國都有影響——對歐洲也有影響，對嗎？有兩個因素，一是貨櫃安全的可用性，二是運輸時間，在過去三個月裡，我們受到了這兩個因素的打擊，運輸時間延長，貨櫃安全也遇到了問題。因此，我認為我們的前景反映了我們目前所知道的情況，但從現在到那時顯然可能會發生很多事情。

Okay. Fair enough. And then maybe another question, I guess, just, I guess, hoping for a little bit more color on the puts and takes of your gross margin expansion in the quarter. I assume what we're talking about right now is just the lower inventory levels that you had and the delays possibly had an impact on your margins. And then could you quantify the impact that these rising rates had on margins in Q2 for us to just have some context for the impact we're seeing lately?

好的。很公平。然後也許是另一個問題，我想，只是，我想，希望本季的毛利率擴張的看跌期權和賣出期權能有更多的色彩。我認為我們現在討論的只是您的庫存水平較低，而延誤可能會對您的利潤產生影響。然後，您能否量化這些利率上升對第二季度利潤率的影響，以便我們對最近看到的影響有一些背景資訊？

And then I guess, finally, on that topic, to what extent did you layer on additional forward shipping contracts since your Q1 call? And where do your contract levels stand this year versus the prior few years?

最後，我想，關於這個主題，自第一季電話會議以來，您在多大程度上簽訂了額外的遠期運輸合約？與前幾年相比，今年你們的合約水準如何？

Yes, I'll take the first part, Bonnie, on the margins. In the quarter, the shipping costs had no material impact because of that delay in containers. So the spike you saw towards the end of the quarter, which we expected in Q2 had really not a material impact, which is what drove the higher margins in the quarter. And then that will start in Q3 as containers flow in.

是的，邦妮，我會在邊緣部分講第一部分。本季度，由於貨櫃延誤，運輸成本沒有產生重大影響。因此，您在本季末看到的高峰（我們預計在第二季）實際上並沒有產生實質影響，這正是推動本季利潤率上升的原因。隨著貨櫃的流入，這將在第三季開始。

Yes. And I would just comment, when we last spoke, we were looking at a freight spike -- ocean freight spike in the first quarter, which had diminished rate, and that really wasn't material in impact to our P&L in the second quarter. The rates that we started to experience sort of in May or started to see and sort of continue to deteriorate in June will impact Q3 and Q4, we believe, particularly if the current rates continue for a couple of months. We tried to provide some help for everybody by talking in the script on our guidance as to how much excess transportation costs on a rate basis, we expect in the second half of the year versus the first half of the year to hit our P&L. We sort of did the calculation based on transportation case equivalent in the first half and what we are sort of baking into our guidance for the second half based on what we currently see. So that I think will help you triangulate that a little bit. And as we talked about on the -- on the call, Q3 gross margins were deteriorated and then Q4 will probably represent the worst that it gets based on what we currently see based on what we currently know.

是的。我只想評論一下，當我們上次談話時，我們看到了貨運高峰——第一季的海運高峰，其速度有所下降，這對我們第二季度的損益影響並不重大。我們認為，我們在 5 月開始經歷的利率或在 6 月開始看到並繼續惡化的利率將影響第三季度和第四季度，特別是如果當前的利率持續幾個月。我們試圖透過在腳本中討論我們的指導來為每個人提供一些幫助，即按費率計算的超額運輸成本是多少，我們預計下半年與上半年將達到我們的損益。我們根據上半年的運輸情況進行了計算，並根據我們目前所看到的情況將其納入下半年的指導中。所以我認為這會幫助你進行一點三角測量。正如我們在電話會議上談到的那樣，第三季的毛利率惡化，然後第四季可能會代表我們目前所看到的最糟糕的情況，基於我們目前所知道的情況。

No. Yes, that was definitely helpful. But I just want to clarify something. So is there any change in any of the forward shipping contracts that you've put on versus, I don't know, what you kind of did in Q1? Just trying to understand that.

不。是的，這絕對有幫助。但我只是想澄清一些事情。那麼，與您在第一季所做的相比，您簽訂的遠期運輸合約是否有任何變化？只是想了解這一點。

Yes. No change in approach. I think we view what's going on in the current shipping world as an aberration and not driven by fundamental long-term supply and demand. Everything we read about sort of long-term capacity is the carriers are adding ships. These are the ships they purchased with all the money they made during COVID. So capacity is expanding. I think I read 1% a month, but I'm not a ocean freight specialist, so please don't quote but I'm sure -- somewhere in all of your organizations, you have guys who follow this, right? And it doesn't feel to us to be any fundamental economic growth issues going on that would be suggesting that supply should be growing beyond the capacity that exists in ocean freight. So we view it as this long-term excess capacity in the market and that these rates should be temporary. And that's how we viewed it when we spoke to you last, and that's how we still view it. We think there's a little bit of profit padding by the major ocean carriers going on. There certainly have been -- since we last spoke, some port delays that maybe are reducing capacity a little bit. But again, this doesn't seem to be a fundamental driver for them. So again, they should be temporarily. And I think indeed, Singapore was one of those ports, and that started to ease up.

是的。方法沒有改變。我認為我們認為當前航運界正在發生的事情是一種反常現象，而不是由基本的長期供需所驅動的。我們讀到的有關長期運力的所有內容都是承運商正在增加船舶。這些是他們用新冠疫情期間賺到的所有錢購買的船隻。所以產能正在擴大。我想我每個月都會讀 1%，但我不是海運專家，所以請不要引用，但我確信——在你們所有組織的某個地方，你們都有人遵循這個，對嗎？我們並不認為存在任何根本性的經濟成長問題，這表明供應的成長應該超出海運的現有能力。因此，我們將其視為市場的長期產能過剩，而這些利率應該是暫時的。這就是我們上次與您交談時的看法，現在仍然如此。我們認為主要海運承運人正在增加一些利潤。自從我們上次談話以來，確實存在一些港口延誤，這可能會稍微減少運力。但同樣，這似乎不是他們的根本驅動力。再說一遍，它們應該是暫時的。我認為新加坡確實是這些港口之一，而且這種情況開始緩解。

So we look at it as this is temporary aberration. If it goes on for a long period of time, we will think about pricing actions to cover it. But at this point in time, we have an expectation that sometime in the future, it should wane back to more normal historical levels. And because of that view, we have not entered into long-term contracts at these elevated rates and wouldn't, unless we thought they reflected fair value for the period of time that we were committing.

所以我們會看待它，因為這是暫時的異常。如果這種情況持續很長一段時間，我們會考慮採取定價行動來彌補它。但目前，我們預計在未來的某個時候，它應該會回落到更正常的歷史水平。由於這種觀點，我們沒有以如此高的費率簽訂長期合同，也不會這樣做，除非我們認為它們反映了我們承諾的時間段內的公允價值。

Chris Carey, Wells Fargo Securities.

克里斯凱裡，富國銀行證券。

So you mentioned the deceleration in consumption data in recent weeks relative to the trends that we saw in Q2. I think you're describing that deceleration to supply, could you maybe also comment on what you felt the Q2 delivery was helped by warmer weather, hydration categories being stronger in Q2 broadly and whether you're seeing some maybe timing bump in Q2 that's decelerating or is this really all to be seen as you're seeing supply challenges and this high confidence that it's really just that? So just trying to contextualize some of this weather dynamic relative to the supply dynamic.

因此，您提到最近幾週的消費數據相對於我們在第二季度看到的趨勢有所放緩。我認為您正在描述供應減速，您是否也可以評論一下您認為第二季度的交付受到天氣變暖的幫助，第二季度的水合類別總體上更強，以及您是否看到第二季度的一些可能的時間衝突正在減速或者，當您看到供應挑戰並且高度自信地認為這確實就是這樣時，這真的是全部嗎？因此，我只是試圖將一些天氣動態與供應動態聯繫起來。

It's supply challenges. The demand is strong. I mean I think what you were seeing in Q2 is -- and it's not just our brand, it's the category. Category is really mainstreaming. It's hitting a moment, and it's really working. And so we're working as hard as we can to get product in-country and fill the demand.

這是供應上的挑戰。需求強勁。我的意思是，我認為你在第二季度看到的是——這不僅僅是我們的品牌，更是整個品類。品類確實正在成為主流。這真是太棒了，而且確實有效。因此，我們正在盡最大努力將產品引入國內並滿足需求。

Yes. I would think anything to weather. We tend not to use weather as an excuse for a bad trend or a good trend. We're sitting on a category that's healthy that's growing and obviously quite unique in the beverage space, as Mike mentioned. And the minor variations in trends -- Q2 to Q1, I think -- we think the category accelerated a little bit, but maybe the numbers last year were weaker.

是的。我會想任何事情來適應天氣。我們傾向於不使用天氣作為壞趨勢或好趨勢的藉口。正如麥克所提到的，我們所處的類別是健康的，正在成長，並且在飲料領域顯然非常獨特。趨勢的細微變化——我認為第二季到第一季——我們認為該類別有所加速，但去年的數字可能較弱。

We haven't gone back and looked. We just feel very good about what's going on -- and I think all we're really saying is we're starting to see some signs that our inventory on shelf does not look as good as we would like, and that might be starting to show up in scans in the last few weeks. But again, it's still showing growth.

我們沒有回去看過。我們對正在發生的事情感覺非常好 - 我認為我們真正想說的是，我們開始看到一些跡象，表明我們貨架上的庫存看起來並不像我們希望的那麼好，這可能會開始出現在過去幾週的掃描中。但同樣，它仍然顯示出增長。

Okay. Okay. That makes sense. And then just a second question. Can you maybe just give us an update on your multipack strategy broadly and perhaps just a little bit of color by channel, including club and just how you see the multipack strategy, in general, driving this acceleration or the strength in growth that you're seeing relative to, say, your base offerings?

好的。好的。這是有道理的。然後是第二個問題。您能否向我們提供有關您的多件包裝策略的最新信息，也許只是按渠道（包括俱樂部）提供一點顏色信息，以及您如何看待多件包裝策略，總體而言，推動這種加速或增長的力量相對於您的基礎產品？

Yes. I think we've continued to push distribution on multipacks. We're still not where we would like to be. I think we said last quarter that maybe now is sort of a 2-year program. This is a 3-year program.

是的。我認為我們繼續推動多件裝的分銷。我們仍然沒有到達我們想要的位置。我想我們上個季度說過，現在可能是為期兩年的計畫。這是一個為期 3 年的計劃。

We also indicated that some of the shelf sets were sort of delayed. So some of the gains that we would like to get haven't come through yet. I think as we think about this long-term, we think that some of our other SKUs can also have multipack. So we're thinking about that potentially for '25 but I'm not yet ready to announce plans and are still having preliminary talks with retailers about the suitability for that. But I think our starting point is with 50% share.

我們也指出，有些貨架套裝有點延遲。因此，我們希望獲得的一些成果尚未實現。我認為，從長遠來看，我們認為我們的其他一些 SKU 也可以有合裝裝。因此，我們正在考慮 25 年的可能性，但我還沒有準備好宣布計劃，並且仍在與零售商就其適用性進行初步談判。但我認為我們的起點是50%的份額。

We're one of the few brands that can have multipacks in food and mass retailers and that this is a pretty normal progression for a beverage to go through -- to build with a smaller pack size and then add multipacks as drinker velocity increases and drinker household penetration increases. And so that's how we think about it, and we think we're well-positioned to benefit from it. As it relates to the quarter, our multipack business provided some of the growth, but our rest of the SKUs also were still growing. I think they're not quite growing as fast as they were a year ago. So in the first year, the multipacks appeared to be very incremental.

我們是少數幾個可以在食品和大眾零售商中提供多件裝的品牌之一，這對飲料來說是一個非常正常的過程——先採用較小的包裝尺寸，然後隨著飲用者速度的增加和飲用者的增加而添加多件裝。這就是我們的想法，我們認為我們有能力從中受益。就本季而言，我們的合裝包業務帶來了部分成長，但我們的其餘 SKU 也仍在成長。我認為他們的成長速度沒有一年前那麼快。因此，在第一年，合裝包的數量似乎非常增量。

But when maybe now there maybe there's a little bit of cannibalization with the singles, but it's still very healthy across the board. And I just point you to our slide 9 and I'll (inaudible).

但現在也許單身人士可能會受到一些蠶食，但整體來說仍然非常健康。我只是向您指出我們的幻燈片 9，然後我會（聽不清楚）。

Michael Lavery, Piper Sandler.

麥可萊弗里、派珀桑德勒。

You mentioned that it sounds like how you're not contracting further out for the rest of this year. Obviously, we'll have to assume that applies to 2025 as well. So just -- coming back to where you said you could price -- take a pricing action, if needed. Can you just speak to some of how you sit with price gaps? And I think my sense is that you've priced less than some other beverage categories, generally speaking, so that you not only are fairly well positioned versus the industry that way, but would theoretically have some headroom still for pricing if you needed it. But can you put some of that in context and just give us a sense for how you sit there?

您提到，聽起來您在今年剩餘時間內不會進一步簽訂合約。顯然，我們必須假設這也適用於 2025 年。因此，如果需要的話，回到你所說的可以定價的地方，採取定價行動。能談談您對價格差距的看法嗎？我認為我的感覺是，一般來說，你們的定價低於其他一些飲料類別，因此你們不僅在行業中處於相當有利的位置，而且理論上如果你們需要的話，仍然有一些定價空間。但你能否將其中的一些內容放在上下文中，讓我們了解你是如何坐在那裡的？

Yes. I think -- so over the last three, four years, most of the other beverage categories that are manufactured domestically have taken significant pricing -- on the soda side, I think it's 40%, 50% or more -- cumulatively, it's quite aggressive. We did not see -- other than the ocean freight issues, we didn't really see the product inflation because of where we're being produced, how we're being produced, how we're growing the economies of scale we're generating for everybody. We haven't really had that need too. So certainly the price gap to other categories have closed over the last four years.

是的。我認為——所以在過去的三四年裡，國內生產的大多數其他飲料類別都採取了顯著的定價——在蘇打水方面，我認為是40%、50% 或更多——累積起來，這是相當大的。我們沒有看到——除了海運問題之外，我們沒有真正看到產品通膨，因為我們在哪裡生產，我們是如何生產的，我們如何發展規模經濟。我們也沒有真正的需要。因此，與其他類別的價格差距在過去四年裡肯定已經縮小。

We still remain a premium beverage at a premium price point, representing the functionality and sort of lifestyle that we bring to our drinkers. We did take some pricing -- what was it in late '22, early '23 -- it didn't really slow down the growth that much, maybe a little bit, but then the growth kept going. So we know we have some pricing power, and so we will monitor it. Obviously, we've indicated in the balance of the year that we're reducing price promotional activity. So we'll get a feel for how our brand behaves at -- with a different price cadence and we'll evaluate that.

我們仍然是高價位的優質飲料，代表了我們為飲酒者帶來的功能和生活方式。我們確實採取了一些定價——22 年末、23 年初的定價——它並沒有真正減緩增長那麼多，也許是一點點，但隨後增長仍在繼續。所以我們知道我們有一定的定價能力，所以我們會對其進行監控。顯然，我們已經在今年餘下的時間裡表示，我們正在減少價格促銷活動。因此，我們將了解我們的品牌在不同的價格節奏下的表現，然後我們將對此進行評估。

And -- but I think long-term, if ocean freight is stable and at historical levels, we're not thinking that we have a need to take consumer pricing up. But if ocean freight were to remain elevated for a period of time that we felt we needed to cover that then we would. And I think the other element in the price gaps is the price gap to private label and private label will eventually follow what the costs are doing. So if ocean freight remains elevated, then private label will eventually move and that will close that gap, which will give us also some flexibility. So I think we feel if these costs stay for a while, we have pricing power, but we don't believe they will stay for a while.

但我認為，從長遠來看，如果海運費穩定並處於歷史水平，我們認為沒有必要提高消費者定價。但如果海運費在一段時間內保持在較高水平，而我們認為需要彌補這一點，那麼我們就會這麼做。我認為價格差距的另一個因素是自有品牌的價格差距，而自有品牌最終將遵循成本的變化。因此，如果海運費保持在較高水平，那麼自有品牌最終將會移動，這將縮小這一差距，這也將為我們帶來一些靈活性。所以我認為，如果這些成本持續一段時間，我們就有定價權，但我們不相信它們會持續一段時間。

So we're currently sitting tight, and we'll monitor the effect of our change in price cadence to understand our elasticities.

因此，我們目前正按兵不動，我們將監控價格節奏變化的影響，以了解我們的彈性。

Okay, great. That's helpful. And you did some buybacks earlier in the year, but it looks like you called out that there weren't any in the quarter and you're building some cash. So any thoughts on either why little pause and/or what we might expect for the rest of the year?

好的，太好了。這很有幫助。今年早些時候，您進行了一些回購，但看起來您聲稱本季沒有回購，並且您正在累積一些現金。那麼，對於為什麼很少暫停和/或我們對今年剩餘時間的預期有何想法？

So I would say that we sit down quarterly and we look at what's going on in the business and our potential uses of cash, both for organic growth, supporting innovation, building inventory, adding capacity and M&A. And so that's a regular cadence. And then based on that, we decide if we wish to attempt to buy back stock or not and how many dollars. And I don't want to talk about what that approach is for the balance of the year. I just want to tell you that it's a regular quarterly cycle. And the net result of that in the last quarter was we didn't buy anything.

因此，我想說，我們每季都會坐下來研究業務狀況以及現金的潛在用途，包括有機成長、支持創新、建立庫存、增加產能和併購。這是一個有規律的節奏。然後基於此，我們決定是否願意嘗試回購股票以及回購多少美元。我不想談論今年剩下的時間裡這種方法是什麼。我只是想告訴你，這是一個定期的季度週期。上個季度的最終結果是我們沒有購買任何東西。

Kaumil Gajrawala, Jefferies.

考米爾·加吉拉瓦拉，傑弗里斯。

Here we go chatting about ocean freight again. I guess the most critical question, but hardest to answer is, what are you doing or how do you know that the supply delays won't bend the curve of demand, particularly because it seems like things are inflecting. They've been growing fine, but they're growing faster now. And whenever you hit these sort of tipping points, supply is -- becomes even more critical than maybe it would be on a normal basis. And so how are you managing that balance?

下面我們又來聊聊海運。我想最關鍵但最難回答的問題是，你在做什麼，或者你怎麼知道供應延遲不會彎曲需求曲線，特別是因為事情似乎正在改變。他們一直長得很好，但現在長得更快了。每當達到這些臨界點時，供應就變得比正常情況下更重要。那麼你是如何管理這種平衡的呢？

And then just to follow up on that same point is how are you thinking about the core of your portfolio versus the contribution of innovation in exactly that sort of context?

然後，為了跟進同一點，您如何考慮您的投資組合的核心以及在這種背景下創新的貢獻？

Yes. So a couple of things. We are trying to secure every container we can. And even at these elevated prices, right, because we certainly believe we should be fueling the growth of the category and the brand. Because of the location of many of our facilities, we are in sub-ports that maybe are a stop for a feeder vessel.

是的。有幾件事。我們正在盡力保護每個貨櫃的安全。即使價格上漲，對吧，因為我們當然相信我們應該推動該類別和品牌的成長。由於我們許多設施的位置，我們位於可能是支線船隻停靠的子港口。

And what we've been seeing is the feeder vessels haven't been coming and then we haven't been getting the stocks, right? And so even if we were willing to pay -- and obviously, we don't advertise it, we're willing to pay more than the current market rates. But even if we are willing, the containers just weren't available to us. So we're aggressive in taking the containers we can. I think importantly, we're just going through peak season.

我們看到的是支線船還沒來，然後我們就沒有收到庫存，對嗎？因此，即使我們願意支付——顯然，我們不做廣告，我們也願意支付比當前市場價格更高的價格。但即使我們願意，也無法使用這些容器。所以我們會積極地拿走我們能拿走的容器。我認為重要的是，我們剛經歷旺季。

We do have a seasonal business. And so these are our peak months, and we've managed to, what I would say, stay afloat to use an ocean freight metaphor. And therefore, in the balance of the year, if we're able to maintain the flows, then our situation should recover. So we have some view on the recovery, and that gives us confidence in our guidance. But again, as I sort of said at the opening, obviously, was subject to like if transit times were to get longer, that hurts us; if containers were to become less available than they currently are, that would hurt us or equally the other way if transit time shortened and more containers became available then we would benefit.

我們確實有季節性業務。因此，這是我們的高峰月份，用海運比喻來說，我們已經成功地維持下去。因此，在今年剩下的時間裡，如果我們能夠維持流量，那麼我們的情況應該會恢復。因此，我們對復甦有一些看法，這讓我們對我們的指導充滿信心。但同樣，正如我在開幕式上所說的那樣，顯然，如果運輸時間變得更長，我們就會受到傷害；如果貨櫃變得比現在少，這將對我們造成傷害，或者反過來，如果運輸時間縮短並且有更多貨櫃可供使用，那麼我們就會受益。

So we're currently in the business of securing whatever containers we can to move the product. We have, as we indicated on the call, not shut down production because we believe those containers will become available. So production has continued. There is inventory at supplier waiting to ship. And as soon as that sort of constriction reduces, there will be a flow of product coming through, which will allow us to maybe accelerate the category, right?

因此，我們目前正在努力保護我們能夠移動產品的任何容器。正如我們在電話中表示的那樣，我們沒有關閉生產，因為我們相信這些容器將可用。所以生產仍在繼續。供應商有庫存等待出貨。一旦這種限制減少，就會有產品流通過，這將使我們能夠加速該類別的發展，對嗎？

Just to be clear, there is a flow? It's not a flow we would like it to be right now.

要先明確的是，有流量嗎？這不是我們現在希望的流程。

Oh, yes, no, no, there is flow. There is absolutely a flow. And then -- on your second question, obviously, our priority is growing the core and it's very healthy, and it's growing. And that will remain the priority in all of our activities. We have some innovation around the core, both in potential new multipacks that I mentioned earlier and in things like Treats that we talked about last quarter that potentially could help the core or allow Vita Coco brand to expand into adjacent categories.

哦，是的，不，不，有流量。絕對有流量。然後，關於你的第二個問題，顯然，我們的首要任務是發展核心，它非常健康，而且正在成長。這仍然是我們所有活動的首要任務。我們圍繞著核心進行了一些創新，無論是在我之前提到的潛在新合裝包中，還是在我們上季度討論過的零食等方面，這些創新可能有助於核心或讓Vita Coco 品牌擴展到相鄰類別。

So that would be the second priority was closely followed by things like PWR LIFT, which are outside of the Vita Coco family. So we're trying to grow them all. We're obviously very happy that the core is very healthy, and we're doing everything we can to support that and accelerate category growth. I think importantly, also on the core, we've got positive trends internationally in Europe where both our core market, which is the UK is growing healthily, but we're seeing nice green sheets that we talked about last time in Germany, for instance. And so again, that's a big -- an area to support growth over the next five years where I think we've envisaged that Europe could be as large as the Americas in some point in time in the future, but what a lead Coconut Water brand has to take the lead in driving that, and we're going to try and do it, right?

因此，這將是第二優先事項，緊隨其後的是 PWR LIFT 等不屬於 Vita Coco 家族的產品。所以我們正在努力種植它們。我們顯然非常高興核心業務非常健康，我們正在盡一切努力來支持這一點並加速品類成長。我認為重要的是，在核心方面，我們在歐洲的國際上也有積極的趨勢，我們的核心市場，即英國，都在健康增長，但我們看到了我們上次在德國談到的漂亮的綠板，實例。再說一次，這是一個支持未來五年成長的大領域，我認為我們已經設想歐洲在未來的某個時間點可能與美洲一樣大，但椰子水是一個多麼領先的領域品牌必須帶頭推動這一點，我們將努力做到這一點，對嗎？

So we're excited by all of that. And then the innovations are obviously secondary, but potentially could provide some value if one of them produces an unlock.

所以我們對這一切感到興奮。然後，創新顯然是次要的，但如果其中之一產生解鎖，則可能會提供一些價值。

Got it. And I was going to ask about international, but in the context of with what's going on with the Ocean Freight network, is it easier to supply those markets and find containers to get there or is it the same globally, and it's just you get what you get?

知道了。我本來想問有關國際的問題，但就海運網絡的情況而言，向這些市場供貨並找到到達那裡的集裝箱是否更容易，或者在全球範圍內都是一樣的，只是你得到了什麼你明白了嗎？

It does -- so the container situation varies by lane, a little bit. But I would say that Europe has experienced the same sort of issues as America has. The lane that behaves a little differently is Brazil to America, which is a dedicated America lane. So that can behave just on its own because it's a distinct circular pattern relative to Asia to Europe, Asia to London. So I think all of our markets are experiencing similar things and to greater or lesser degrees depending on exactly where that product comes from.

確實如此——所以貨櫃情況因車道而異，略有不同。但我想說，歐洲也經歷了與美國同樣的問題。表現稍有不同的通道是巴西至美國，這是一條美國專用通道。因此，這可以單獨發揮作用，因為相對於亞洲到歐洲、亞洲到倫敦，這是一個獨特的循環模式。因此，我認為我們所有的市場都在經歷類似的事情，而且程度不同，這取決於產品的來源。

This availability issue has not been going on for a long time, right? The availability issue regardless of cost started 30, 60 days ago or so. And we think it is quite temporary, and we're excited to see it start to loosen up and that flow that we talked about to accelerate.

這個可用性問題已經持續很久了，對吧？無論成本如何，可用性問題從 30、60 天前左右開始。我們認為這是暫時的，我們很高興看到它開始放鬆以及我們談論的加速流動。

Eric Serotta, Morgan Stanley.

艾瑞克‧塞羅塔，摩根士丹利。

Great. Just first the housekeeping item. I know Corey mentioned that the guidance implies or the guidance is based upon July container availability and rates. But do you need an increase in the container availability in order to rebuild inventories to your targeted level or more towards your target level by year-end? And then just sort of a bigger picture question for Mike. Clearly, the category is having its moment. What do you think is driving that acceleration that we've seen at a time when just about every other beverage category and many CPG categories really have slowed this spring? What do you think sort of differentiator here? How much of a factor do you think that your different demographics are versus other [NARTD] or CPG categories?

偉大的。首先是家政用品。我知道科里提到該指南暗示或該指南基於 7 月份的貨櫃可用性和費率。但是，您是否需要增加貨櫃可用性，以便在年底前將庫存重建到目標水平或更多？然後對麥克來說是一個更大的問題。顯然，該類別正在迎來它的時代。今年春天，幾乎所有其他飲料類別和許多消費品類別確實放緩了，您認為是什麼推動了我們所看到的加速成長？您認為這裡的差異化因素是什麼？您認為與其他 [NARTD] 或 CPG 類別相比，您的不同人口統計數據有多大影響？

All right. Taking the sort of kind of forward-looking one first. Our guidance is based on sort of the July availability and pricing and transit times continuing. If that continues, obviously, the year-end inventory somewhat depends on what happens on the demand side. And so it's very hard to say, as has been alluded to, if we have a product, we may sell more and that one is really hard for us to fathom.

好的。首先採取前瞻性的方式。我們的指導是基於 7 月份的可用性、定價和運輸時間。如果這種情況繼續下去，顯然，年終庫存在某種程度上取決於需求的情況。因此，正如已經提到的那樣，很難說，如果我們有一種產品，我們可能會賣出更多產品，而這對我們來說確實很難理解。

So I think -- we think that inventories at the end of the year, because of the seasonality of our business, inventories at the end of the year should improve, whether they fully reach an ideal level for next year is obviously quite uncertain, but it certainly will be better than it currently is. And then I think as we said, we think this is temporary. So we're optimistic that we might see some improvement, but again, who knows. So that's sort of the inventory question.

所以我認為——我們認為年底的庫存，因為我們業務的季節性，年底的庫存應該會有所改善，是否完全達到明年的理想水平顯然是相當不確定的，但是它肯定會比現在更好。然後我認為正如我們所說，我們認為這是暫時的。因此，我們樂觀地認為我們可能會看到一些改善，但同樣，誰知道呢。這就是庫存問題。

I think we've been talking about this for a long time, right? Coconut Water is one of the largest beverage categories in a large part of the world, the tropical world, right? And we've always said for the past 20 years that we think we can build this category in North America and eventually other parts of the non-tropical world to one day be as big as it is in the tropical world just by creating the availability of the product by educating consumers on the diverse many usage occasions of Coconut Water and just growing awareness. And so we've said for a long time, why can't this category one day be as big as orange juice? And we believe it can, and we believe that we're starting to see that unfold as we've been able to really grow awareness of the category from a niche category, which it was just several years ago into a more mainstream category, which it's just starting to become now.

我想我們已經討論這個問題很久了，對吧？椰子水是世界大部分地區（熱帶世界）最大的飲料類別之一，對吧？在過去的 20 年裡，我們一直說，我們認為我們可以在北美建立這一類別，並最終在非熱帶世界的其他地區透過創造可用性來實現與熱帶世界一樣大透過教育消費者了解椰子水的多種使用場合以及不斷提高的認識來了解該產品。所以我們長期以來一直在說，為什麼這個類別有一天不能像柳橙汁一樣大呢？我們相信它可以，我們相信我們開始看到這種情況的發展，因為我們已經能夠真正提高對該類別的認識，從幾年前的小眾類別轉變為更主流的類別，這現在才剛剛開始。

Eric Des Lauriers, Craig-Hallum Capital Group.

艾瑞克‧德斯‧勞裡爾斯 (Eric Des Lauriers)，克雷格-哈勒姆資本集團。

First one for me is just a bit of a follow-up on the category growth here. So certainly it seems to have hit an inflection point or kind of critical mass here now really mainstreaming. At a high-level strategic standpoint, do you see this time as a time to sort of double down on investing in marketing or category growth or is this a time where you can kind of take the foot off the gas a bit and sort of let this momentum continue? And then just any comments on how that sort of ocean freight is causing any tactical deviation from that strategy or not would be helpful.

對我來說，第一個只是對這裡類別成長的一些後續行動。因此，它似乎已經達到了一個轉折點或某種臨界點，現在已經真正成為主流。從高層策略的角度來看，您是否認為這次是在行銷或品類成長上加倍投資的時候，還是您可以稍微放鬆一下，讓這種勢頭還能繼續嗎？然後，任何關於這種海運是否會導致戰術偏離該戰略的評論都會有所幫助。

Yes. I think ocean freight is clearly creating a slight deviation from it because we can only spend so much and therefore, sell so much. And as we build inventory, which we're confident we're going to do throughout the rest of this year, we think we're in a very good position for '25 to invest further against the category and really seize this moment and grow this category and further mainstream this category as our demographics continue to grow and come into buying power, both by age and demographic. And so we think we're spending appropriately now. We're always looking for opportunities to further invest where we see potential return on investment. So we're excited about where we're at. And as we build inventory, we're excited about, again, continuing to grow -- invest in growing this category.

是的。我認為海運顯然與它產生了輕微的偏差，因為我們只能花這麼多錢，因此只能賣這麼多。當我們建立庫存時，我們相信我們將在今年剩餘時間裡這樣做，我們認為我們處於非常有利的位置，可以在 25 年進一步投資該類別，並真正抓住這一時機並實現增長隨著我們的人口數量不斷增長並逐漸形成購買力（無論是年齡還是人口），這一類別將進一步主流化。所以我們認為我們現在的支出是適當的。我們一直在尋找潛在投資回報的機會來進一步投資。所以我們對我們所處的位置感到興奮。當我們建立庫存時，我們再次對持續成長感到興奮——投資於發展這個類別。

That's helpful. And then my other question here just on Germany and kind of using Germany as an example of sort of the international opportunity as a whole. I know that you guys have discussed private label sort of almost as getting the sort of foot in the door there, that sort of enables you to push the branded sales a bit more. So in Germany with Vita Coco brand now being the number one brand in the scanner data, how should we think about that the growth opportunity at this point now that you've achieved this number one position? I mean, is this kind of like an inflection point and now the opportunities are sort of continuing to open more and more or is this like a steady Eddie execution opportunity going forward?

這很有幫助。然後我的另一個問題是關於德國的，並以德國作為整個國際機會的例子。我知道你們已經討論過自有品牌幾乎就像踏入那裡一樣，這可以讓你們進一步推動品牌銷售。那麼，在德國，Vita Coco 品牌現在是掃描器數據中的第一品牌，既然您已經取得了第一的位置，我們應該如何考慮此時的成長機會呢？我的意思是，這是否像一個拐點，現在機會越來越多，或者這是否像艾迪未來穩定的執行機會？

Just wondering how to sort of think about that and maybe if that's broadly indicative of the international opportunity as a whole, if there's anything unique to Germany to call out?

只是想知道如何思考這一點，也許這是否廣泛代表了整個國際機會，德國是否有什麼獨特之處可以指出？

No, I think that's a good question. And speaking of Germany, I think it's a great example of where we believe we are the brand that leads and drives the category. And I think Germany is a good example where there were several brands, one specifically that has been quite successful in the market owned by a large beverage player. And we went in and we disrupted the market by creating a strong route to market, not using a large distribution partner, but in a way that we felt building a team and going direct to retailers and telling our story, starting the private label and building the brand. And we took that strategy and it's working quite well.

不，我認為這是一個好問題。說到德國，我認為這是一個很好的例子，說明我們相信我們是領導和推動該類別的品牌。我認為德國是一個很好的例子，那裡有多個品牌，其中一個在大型飲料公司擁有的市場上非常成功。我們進入並透過創建一條強大的市場路線來擾亂市場，沒有使用大型分銷合作夥伴，而是以我們感覺建立團隊並直接向零售商講述我們的故事，啟動自有品牌並建立品牌。我們採取了這一策略，並且效果很好。

And it shows us that this theory that we are the number one brand in the US. We are the number one brand in the UK and we can not only be the number one brand, but really consolidate and drive the category in many of these other international markets. Germany was just the first of what we think will be many. And each market will be different. Some markets we're in discussions with potential large distribution partners.

它向我們展示了我們是美國第一品牌的理論。我們是英國第一品牌，我們不僅可以成為第一品牌，而且可以真正鞏固和推動許多其他國際市場的類別。德國祇是我們認為將會出現的眾多國家中的第一個。每個市場都會有所不同。我們正在與潛在的大型分銷合作夥伴討論一些市場。

Other markets, we're going to take this kind of direct approach and build our own teams. And each market will play out differently, but we think there's this opportunity to really grow the category and grow the brand in many of these developed consumer goods markets around the world.

在其他市場，我們將採取這種直接的方法並建立我們自己的團隊。每個市場的表現都會有所不同，但我們認為，在全球許多已開發的消費品市場中，有機會真正發展該類別並發展品牌。

Jim Salera, Stephens.

吉姆·薩萊拉，史蒂芬斯。

Wanted to ask about some of the promotional cadence once inventory levels kind of get back to normal. It seems like in the near-term, obviously, gross margin headwinds from the ocean freight rate, but maybe a little bit of a benefit from lower promotion. I would assume that as inventory gets restocked up, it's at a lower gross margin, just given the transport costs. Would you anticipate turning promo on as soon as you get the inventory back in to kind of maintain the healthy consumption trends or do you expect maybe a gap between the inventory levels and then?

想詢問庫存水準恢復正常後的一些促銷節奏。顯然，在短期內，毛利率會受到海運費的影響，但促銷活動的降低可能會帶來一些好處。我認為，隨著庫存的補充，僅考慮到運輸成本，毛利率就會降低。您是否預計在庫存恢復後立即啟動促銷活動以維持健康的消費趨勢，或者您是否預期庫存水準可能會出現差距？

Mike said, yes, we will take a balanced approach to what makes sense in the marketplace -- but I think if you -- let's say, we're talking about next year, right? We believe that a sensible price promotional cadence is part of giving consumers a reason to revisit the category and/or try the product. So it's an important part of growing the category as well as also helping our retailer relationships and helping us secure more space and etcetera, etcetera. So we certainly think that price promotional cadence will return to more normal levels once inventory is in good shape. Obviously, the inventory has got to be there before you have those discussions. Otherwise, you get yourself into big trouble by promoting with no inventory. So maybe there's a lag. But certainly, next year, our expectation is we'll be in a more normal price promotional cadence.

麥克說，是的，我們將採取平衡的方法來對待市場上有意義的事情 - 但我認為如果你 - 比方說，我們正在談論明年，對嗎？我們相信，合理的價格促銷節奏是讓消費者有理由重新審視該類別和/或嘗試產品的一部分。因此，它是發展該類別的重要組成部分，也有助於我們與零售商的關係，並幫助我們獲得更多的空間等等。因此，我們當然認為，一旦庫存狀況良好，價格促銷節奏將恢復到更正常的水平。顯然，在進行這些討論之前，庫存必須已經準備好。否則，在沒有庫存的情況下進行促銷會給自己帶來大麻煩。所以也許存在滯後。但可以肯定的是，明年我們的預期是我們將採取更正常的價格促銷節奏。

Okay, great. And then if I take the assumptions that's baked in for the back half of the year, July availability and July rates if we see ocean freight rates go up from where they are at the end of July, would that primarily be a 2025 impact or could we see that creep into 4Q as well still?

好的，太好了。然後，如果我採用今年下半年的假設，如果我們看到海運費比 7 月底的水平有所上升，那麼這主要是 2025 年的影響還是可能我們仍然看到這種情況蔓延到第四季度嗎？

So a little bit dependent on transit times. Currently, they are extended. And so let's say, in August container, depending on which lane it was on probably wouldn't arrive much before end of October, November. And so if rates go -- what it -- to change up or down, that's the sort of timing of impact. There are some issues around whether it's recognized as PPV or whether it gets capitalized, etcetera, the end of the year type issues, but those are the sorts of things that we would worry about or try and model if we were trying to model this.

所以有點依賴運輸時間。目前，它們已被延長。這麼說吧，八月的貨櫃，根據它所在的航線，可能不會在十月底、十一月之前到達。因此，如果利率上升或下降，這就是影響的時機。存在一些關於它是否被認可為 PPV 或是否被資本化等問題，年終類型的問題，但如果我們試圖對此進行建模，這些都是我們會擔心或嘗試建模的事情。

Frankly, we're not trying to model it. We modeled a continuation of current because it made life a lot easier.

坦白說，我們並不想對其進行建模。我們對電流的延續進行了建模，因為它讓生活變得更輕鬆。

Okay. So really, unless the impact is like next week, it spikes, it probably isn't until 2025, just to tie that off?

好的。所以真的，除非影響像下週那樣激增，否則可能要到 2025 年才會出現，只是為了將其聯繫起來？

Yes. Jim, there's a little bit more time, right, to Martin's point, so you're at November, but not a ton -- the year-end quickly.

是的。吉姆，還有一點時間，對吧，馬丁的觀點是，現在是 11 月，但時間不多——很快就到年底了。

Yes. If transit times were to flow up, then maybe there could be an impact, right? And if transit times were to shorten, then you suddenly get more containers than you anticipate all coming in at once, and that has some issues in a quarter, right? So I suppose the quarters could be noisy depending on what happens is what I would say. And we've obviously tried to provide our guidance as best we can. But all of these effects, we believe are temporary based on our understanding of ocean freight, supply and demand dynamics in the long-term.

是的。如果運輸時間延長，那麼也許會產生影響，對嗎？如果運輸時間縮短，那麼您突然收到的貨櫃數量會比您預期的要多，這在一個季度就會出現一些問題，對嗎？所以我想宿舍可能會很吵，這取決於我想說的發生的情況。顯然，我們已盡力提供指導。但根據我們對海運、長期供需動態的了解，我們認為所有這些影響都是暫時的。

Robert Ottenstein, Evercore ISI.

羅伯特·奧滕斯坦，Evercore ISI。

Great. A few questions. One and you kind of touched on it a little bit. I mean, you don't see it in the numbers, which are terrific, but obviously, a lot of companies are talking about the second calendar quarter being weaker than the first in terms of the consumer. Do you see any signs of that in your consumer base? So that's number one. Number two.

偉大的。有幾個問題。一個和你有點接觸它。我的意思是，你在數字中看不到這一點，這些數字非常棒，但顯然，許多公司都在談論第二季的消費者需求弱於第一季。您在您的消費者群中看到任何跡象嗎？所以這是第一。第二。

Nothing in the data that we have visibility to. Consumers came to us.

我們無法看到數據中的任何內容。消費者來找我們。

Yes. Number two, C-stores, C-stores has been a weak channel. It's an area that you've targeted. Love to get kind of an update on how your -- how that's working out and maybe the C-store traffic weakness is a sales point for you in terms of getting more shelf space. So I like to see how that has played out? And then third, do you have any metrics or numbers that you can share with us in terms of increasing household penetration outside of your core demographics?

是的。第二，便利商店，便利商店一直是個薄弱通路。這是您所瞄準的區域。希望了解您的最新進展情況，也許便利商店的客流量弱點對您來說是獲得更多貨架空間的一個銷售點。所以我想看看結果如何？第三，在提高核心人口統計以外的家庭滲透率方面，您是否有任何指標或數字可以與我們分享？

So I can maybe touch on C-store. Our C-Store business has been very, very strong year-to-date and it's been one of the highlights. If you look at the measured channel, you'll see that growth. And then part of that is we've expanded our package portfolio into C-store. And we've launched a one leader in some customers, which is offering a slight value but a bigger consumer occasion, and we've really seen that too well. It makes us super excited about the demand for the products in the category. So we feel really good about C-store and haven't seen, again, connected to the consumer any real weakness in the consumer.

所以我或許可以談談便利商店。今年迄今為止，我們的便利商店業務非常非常強勁，這是亮點之一。如果您查看測量的管道，您會看到這種增長。其中一部分是我們將我們的套餐組合擴展到便利商店。我們已經在一些客戶中推出了一款領先產品，它提供了一點價值，但提供了更大的消費機會，我們真的已經清楚地看到了這一點。這讓我們對該類別產品的需求感到非常興奮。因此，我們對便利商店感覺非常好，並且沒有再次看到與消費者相關的任何真正的弱點。

And then from a household penetration especially on building households I don't think we've seen any change to what we've previously talked about, right? Obviously, our focus is on growing households and through trial and then also growing household velocity through occasions and multipacks. And I think we're just seeing a continuation of those same trends. So there's nothing there changing that I would call out.

然後，從家庭滲透率來看，特別是在建立家庭方面，我認為我們之前討論的內容沒有發生任何變化，對吧？顯然，我們的重點是透過試用來增加家庭數量，然後透過場合和多件裝來提高家庭使用率。我認為我們只是看到了這些相同趨勢的延續。因此，我認為沒有什麼改變。

I am showing no further questions at this time. I would now like to turn it back to Martin Roper for closing remarks.

我目前沒有提出任何進一步的問題。現在我想請馬丁·羅珀（Martin Roper）發表結束語。

Thanks, everybody. Thanks for joining us today, and thanks for participating, and we look forward to doing this again in about three months. Everyone, have a great August.

謝謝大家。感謝您今天加入我們，感謝您的參與，我們期待在大約三個月後再次這樣做。大家，度過一個美好的八月。

Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect.

感謝您參加今天的會議。這確實結束了該程式。您現在可以斷開連線。