Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:LWAY) Q3 2022 Earnings Conference Call November 14, 2022 10:00 AM ET

Company Participants

John Waldron - Chief Financial Officer

Julie Smolyansky - Chief Executive Officer

John Waldron

Good afternoon. Welcome to Lifeway Foods Third Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. On the call with me today is Julie Smolyansky, Chief Executive Officer.

By now, everyone should have access to the press release that went out this morning. If you've not received the release, it is available on the Investor Relations portion of Lifeway's website at www.lifewayfoods.com. The recording of this call will be available on the company's website.

Before we begin, we would like to remind everyone that the prepared remarks contain forward-looking statements and management may make additional forward-looking statements in response to your questions. The words, believe, expect anticipate, and other similar expressions, generally identify forward-looking statements. These statements do not guarantee future performance, and therefore undue reliance should not be placed on them. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements. Lifeway assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking projections that may be made in today's release or call. All of the forward-looking statements contained herein speak only as of the date of this call.

And with that, I would like to turn the call over to Lifeway's Chief Executive Officer, Julie Smolyansky.

Julie Smolyansky

Thank you, John, and good morning to everyone joining us today. First, as always, thank you for your interest in Lifeway Foods. I am very pleased to be speaking with you today about our third quarter, another strong period of growth for our business.

Before discussing the results, I'd like to thank the whole Lifeway team for their impressive efforts and commitment, which have enabled us to seamlessly navigate the challenging operating environment our industry has faced this year and deliver for our valued partners and customers.

Now I will review our third quarter 2022 results. This quarter's record-breaking top line numbers are a result of our focus on the core Lifeway Kefir business. The strategy we've put in place to build awareness for our flagship product has yielded our 12th consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth at Lifeway, and we are grateful to our customers who have made this milestone possible.

Net sales were $38.1 million for the period ended September 30, 2022, an increase of $8.6 million, or 29.1% compared to the third quarter in 2021. The net sales increase was primarily driven by higher volumes of our branded drinkable kefir and the impact of our price increases implemented during the first quarter of 2022 and to a lesser extent the favorable impact of our acquisition of GlenOaks Farms during the third quarter of 2021.