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Corporate earnings season is upon us once again. Last week we got updates from Clorox (Kingsford), Vista Outdoor (Camp Chef), and Solo Brands (Solo Stove). Next week we’ll hear from Traeger and Middleby (Kamado Joe, Masterbuilt, and Char-Griller).
The Clorox earnings call was different this time. They normally barely mention Kingsford, because they have so many brands. This call was all about Kingsford, after they noted that they increased price in December, and they haven’t seen competitors follow suit.
They attribute that price difference to why they lost share to competitors in the quarter. They’ve said prior that they have an 80% share of the market, but the market is changing with so many premium charcoal offerings. They’ll do everything they can with price and merchandising to try and fix the issue, because 50% of their annual sales are in the three months ending in June.
Solo Brands continues to grow their wholesale market. In what was once an almost pure direct-to-consumer play, all their revenue gains are coming from wholesale. Their CEO says it’s healthy for their business though, because they’re attracting a different customer, which isn’t cannibalizing their DTC sales.
Vista Outdoor didn’t comment much on Camp Chef this quarter, but there were a couple takeaways. They reiterated that they don’t think their inventory position will normalize until the back half of the year. They also said that the late snow this year could potentially hurt sales for the brand.
Weber released a redesign of their grilling app this week. The new app will graph the temperature of your cook, and allows for data downloads. It can run multiple grills and multiple recipes all at the same time.
In Weber’s recovery plans that include major grill releases in 2024, we think they’ll have a redesigned Weber Q portable grill. While they had an updated Q logo that released in a previous trademark filing, this week a logo for a Q+ was released. We’ll be interested to see what features are included in the “+” model.
Kamado Joe’s founder, Bobby Brennan, is back with Dominus Capital. He founded the kamado style grill brand in 2008 and sold it to the investment company a decade later. He joins them this time as an operating partner.
Finally, Big Green Egg announced that they’re partnering with Smokey Bones Restaurant again. They’re running a joint marketing promotion for May that includes a sweepstakes and new menu offerings.