Enough Product Innovation or Is M&A Needed? | BellRing Brands 2023 Q1 Update

Are the recent Premier Protein and Dymatize Nutrition product innovations enough or is it time for BellRing Brands to go M&A hunting in 2023? As I normally do with my performance update content of publicly-traded functional CPG brands, I will use the recently filled earnings report, earnings conference call, and any relevant publicly disclosed news, in this case it’s BellRing Brands (NYSE: BRBR) 2023 Q1 earnings release, to obviously update you on the performance of brands in that portfolio, but also use it as the backdrop to discuss market insights within the active nutrition formats of the liquids, powders, and bars. BellRing Brands is a portfolio that owns a collection of convenient nutrition brands like Premier Protein, Dymatize Nutrition, Powerbar, and Joint Juice, which was previously wholly-owned by Post Holdings. A fast-paced and busy lifestyle is pushing consumers to switch to quick and healthy meal options. This has resulted in the increased household penetration of RTD protein shakes that promote active lifestyles. Bellring Brands had a strong 2023 Q1 with net sales reaching $367.2 million, which was up 18.3% YoY. Premier Protein (~80% of BellRing Brands total revenue) grew 22.9% YoY because it was able to exercise pricing power because of its strong brand equity in the inflationary market. Dymatize Nutrition was up 2.5% YoY stemming from price increases. Moreover, I provide two deep dives into the functional CPG portfolio's "hero SKU families" of Premier Protein RTD protein shakes and Dymatize whey protein powders. Finally, I recall my previous comments and predictions from early to mid-2021 to explain the product innovation strategy at BellRing Brands that includes the breakfast occasion (e.g. Premier Protein cereal and Premier Protein frozen pancakes), nighttime occasion (e.g. Premier Protein Good Night), and plant-based protein (e.g. Dymatize Plant). FOLLOW ME ON MY SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS LINKEDIN - https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuaschallmba TWITTER - https://www.twitter.com/joshua_schall INSTAGRAM - https://www.instagram.com/joshua_schall FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/jschallconsulting MEDIUM - https://www.medium.com/@joshuaschall