Bubs Australia’s FY22 Q4 gross revenue was up 278 per cent to $48.1 million following the launch of Operation Fly Formula, committing the company to deliver 1.25 million tins of its entire formula range to the US.
The company recorded 174 per cent gross revenue growth QoQ and the fourth consecutive quarter of growth on the prior year.
Snapshot
- H2 gross revenue $65.7m, up 168% pcp, up 71% HoH;
- FY22 gross revenue $104.2m, up 123% pcp (more than double FY21: $46.8m)
- in the US, Bubs sold in more than 5400 stores in 34 states
- major US retailers include Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons/Safeway, and Target.
Performance overview by channel
- Australia: up 15% pcp, contributing 11% of quarterly sales
- Domestic retail sales revenue of Infant Formula was up 31% pcp
- China: up 523% pcp, contributing 64% of quarterly sales
- Corporate Daigou sales were up 1,201% pcp and CBEC sales were up 20% pcp
- International: up 265% pcp, contributing 25% of quarterly sales
- US Q4 gross revenue includes two of the six Operation Fly Formula flights realised in June
Performance Overview by Product Category
- Bubs portfolio: up 420% pcp, contributing 75% of quarterly sales
- Total infant formula sales were up 455% pcp - Adult goat dairy portfolio: up 194% pcp, contributing 18% of quarterly sales
- B2B: up 23% pcp, contributing 7% of quarterly sales
Bubs is one of only eight manufacturers, including four multinationals, to be permitted to import infant formula into the USA. Australian companies Bellamy’s and Care A2+ are also on that list.
Bubs founder and CEO Kristy Carr said the last quarter has seen the company reach critical mass due to growth across Australia, China, and the US.
“This business diversification and increased scale of our most profitable products and channels has flowed through to our operating margins, delivering profitability for the full year (excluding non-cash equity compensation expenses),” Carr said.
She added the company was confident of long-term growth in the US following the Food and Drug Administration committing to a framework for suppliers like Bubs, who have already been approved to import infant formula products, to remain on shelf beyond November 2022.
“We envisage the US will become a lead export market opportunity on par with China in the future,” said Carr.
On the domestic front, Bubs said it is the number one goat infant formula brand in Australia.
“Bubs Australia continues to be the fastest growing infant formula manufacturer across Woolworths, Coles, and Chemist Warehouse, with scan sales and market share gains outperforming its peers.
Bubs is the clear lead challenger brand in the domestic market recording 41.4 per cent scan sales growth and a record 4.5 per cent market share over the year, outstripping the category,” the company said.
After Covid largely decimated the daigou market, Bubs said corporate daigou sales are at an “all-time high”.
“The Alpha Group equity-linked strategic partnership and the China launch of Bubs Supreme A2 beta-casein has proven to be highly successful whilst remaining our most profitable channel.
“The strategic rethink about our daigou business triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent signing of an equity alliance with Alpha Group, our largest corporate daigou partner, has been rewarded with rapid growth in corporate daigou sales which now stand at a record high, growing thirteen-fold in Q4 FY22 compared to the same period prior year,” Carr said.
