Earnings Call Transcript - CELH Q1 2020

Operator, Operator

Greetings and welcome to the Celsius Holdings, Inc. First Quarter 2020 Earnings Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Cameron Donahue with Hayden IR. Thank you, Mr. Donahue, you may begin.

Cameron Donahue, Host

Thank you, and good morning everyone. We appreciate you joining us today for Celsius Holdings first quarter 2020 earnings conference call. Joining me on the call today are John Fieldly, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Edwin Negron, Chief Financial Officer. Following the prepared remarks, we will open the call to your questions and instructions will be given at that time. The company filed its Form 10-Q with the SEC and issued a press release today. All materials are available on the company's website at celsiusholdingsinc.com under the Investor Relations section. As a reminder, before I turn the call over to John, the audio replay will be available later today. Please also be aware that this call may contain forward-looking statements, which are based on forecasts, expectations and other information available to management as of today, May 12, 2020. These statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties, including many that are beyond the company's control. Except to the extent required by applicable law, Celsius Holdings undertakes no obligation and disclaims any duty to update any of these forward-looking statements. We encourage you to review in full our safe harbor disclosures contained in today's press release and our quarterly filings with the SEC for additional information. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to President and Chief Executive Officer, John Fieldly for his prepared remarks. John?

John Fieldly, President & CEO

Thank you, Cameron. Good morning everyone and thank you for joining us today. First, our thoughts and prayers are with all of those who have been impacted by COVID-19. And I want to thank all of our Celsius team members and partners for their dedication, efforts, and support. We are incredibly proud of our team who have maintained the integrity of our operations and performance. The macro environment during the first quarter of 2020 was unlike any other we have seen in recent history, challenging organizations to respond in new and creative ways to manage and grow their business. At Celsius, we rose above the challenges and set another new sales record, with quarterly revenue of $28.2 million, an increase of 95% over last year. North America revenue was up 70% and Europe was up exponentially, due in part to our accretive acquisition of Func Food Group late in 2019 and Asia was up as well. Consumer demand in the beverage industry continues to trend toward the pursuit of healthier alternatives versus conventional beverages. Although consumer traffic and purchasing patterns have been severely disrupted, traditional shopping habits gave way to tremendous increases in online ordering, curbside pickup, and pantry purchasing while consumers complied with the stay-at-home orders. To meet consumer demand, we secured additional distribution agreements with partners in our primary U.S. networks including Anheuser-Busch InBev, PepsiCo, Keurig Dr. Pepper and Monster, MillerCoors distributors, which further expanded availability to new regions. We are continuing our quest to build a national distribution network, which now includes more than 100 regional DSD or direct store delivery partners. Our DSD partners also provide us with additional routes to market for incremental points of growth. In addition, we transitioned Target and 7-Eleven from the wholesale network to our DSD partner Big Geyser in the New York metropolitan area and saw volumes more than doubled. Across the board, in the U.S. market, stores that we have transitioned to the DSD network saw an average 40% increase in sales volume on top of our 30% same-store sales growth rate. We are planning on more accounts transitioning to DSD partners and the DSD network throughout 2020 as we continue our pursuit of reaching more consumers at more points of distribution. With the recent news of Bang Energy transitioning to the PepsiCo distribution network, this event has further opened up additional opportunities for Celsius to gain additional distribution partners as we continue to expand our national network. During the quarter, we launched nationwide availability of our product at more than 1500 store locations through Walmart, the country's largest retailer. Early data from the retail channel indicate strong reception by consumers and we expect additional flavors to be added in the next reset. In addition, we implemented and launched within Walmart, about a 50% split between DSD and going direct through their warehouse and further expect to transition over these existing Walmarts to the DSD network through the back half of 2020 as we gain additional coverage. In addition at Target, one of our key retail partners, we expanded our product assortment to five flavors nationwide with the addition of great tasting Grapefruit Melon Green Tea. We introduced our newest flavor, refreshing and exotic Jackfruit, a tropical taste with a burst of sweetness and a tangy twist available in our new CELSIUS HEAT packaging. The standout packaging and label redesign positions the brand as highly credible and sets the stage for the next phase of growth. Its digital effects reinforce our brand structure and function claims, which are clinically proven and a clear differentiator among brands in the performance energy category while appealing to a broader audience. Clearly, our momentum continues in the first quarter despite an extremely volatile and uncertain business environment brought to us by the COVID-19 virus. Our success in the first quarter was driven by several key factors that are unique to Celsius and give us a strong competitive advantage. We have an extremely strong brands, a diverse and growing network of retailers, distributors, and partners and a strong balance sheet that enables us to rise above challenges that many companies are facing amid the COVID pandemic. As early as late December we began increasing product and raw material inventories in anticipation of resets with major retailers that were planned for the March and April timeframe. The strength of our balance sheet enabled us to continue to build inventories during the quarter despite the demand as the buyer situation unfolded, while other brands were impacted. We were very well positioned in the first quarter when the grocery, mass channel, and drug channel partners increased orders outside of their normal ordering patterns as shelves were emptied as a result of consumer pantry purchasing. Our supply chains returned to more normal levels with shelves adequately stocked, our throughput remained steady. And due to our decision around inventory management and a higher level of support, we were able to provide our retailers, distributors and partners. In addition, also being located in Hurricane Alley in South Florida, we were well positioned, we continued to see operation plans in place, making our transition to many of our workers who are now working from home very seamless. Critical to our growth plans is our marketing strategy that creates meaningful and emotional connections with consumers. Up until the COVID virus pandemic, a significant component of our marketing strategy primarily consisted of live integrated programs that reached a critical mass of consumers at large gatherings. Our Live Fit Tour, for example, integrated fitness and competitive activities where we reached tens of thousands of new consumers in high energy settings. With the stay-at-home orders, large gatherings of people at events came to a hard stop. And we were challenged to quickly pivot our marketing strategies and find innovative ways to get in front of consumers. As a small nimble organization, we quickly shifted our marketing resources from experiential offline activation to online programs that enabled consumer connections and created a unique experience. One example was in April, where we launched SWEAT WITH CELSIUS, a virtual workout platform that is live streamed on our Instagram account. With the gyms and fitness centers closed across the country, we used Instagram platform to facilitate consumer connections through at home workouts. The program consisted of three weekly workouts hosted by well-known local fitness trainers located throughout the country. The different workouts offered followers a chance to try new workouts, release stress, and maintain a sense of normalcy, the workouts required minimal to no equipment and could be modified for all fitness levels. In addition to SWEAT WITH CELSIUS, we also partnered nationally with Barry's, a leader in the fitness space and its AT HOME LIVE Instagram Series where Celsius is profiled as the official energy drink powering Barry's AT HOME streaming workouts. The partnership is helping communities come together and continue to LIVE FIT even outside of the gym. We are also deploying more online campaigns to deliver tens of millions of additional impressions to highly targeted audiences such as through our sponsorship of the energy aisle within Instacart, a leading home grocery delivery service. In addition, we are leveraging walmart.com, target.com, bodybuilding.com, and Amazon as we continue to gain momentum. Most recently, we were able to get data from Stake Line, which tracks energy drink sales on Amazon in the United States. And for the 13 weeks ending April 11, 2020, sales in dollars in the energy drink category within Amazon versus the same period a year ago indicated Celsius sales growth of 118.2% and its share increased 2% within the category to 11.4%, which further demonstrates the momentum we are building in the category with Celsius. Celsius was ranked the third largest brand in the category behind Monster and Red Bull. While our highly talented marketing team quickly shifts our approach from offline to online, we fully expect to pivot back to offline as gyms begin to reopen and consumer gatherings and events are given the green light. This may look slightly different than it did before the virus, perhaps with more outdoor workouts and smaller gatherings. We were already planning and positioning for activation in the second half of 2020 when we are given the signal. In Europe, we further integrated the Func Food Group into our operations and are seeing great benefits and see additional future synergistic opportunities. In addition, the team further improved their operational performance through improved focus and execution, which we are very pleased with. Celsius was reported to be among the fastest growing energy drinks in the Sweden market during the first quarter, according to Nielsen scan data. During the quarter, the team successfully launched a great tasting tropical flamingo flavor with great success, leveraging superior in-store execution and targeted experiential marketing programs, which drove strong performance for Celsius in the market, despite the impact of COVID. Our first quarter was a strong start to the year. We remain focused on driving profitable growth by expanding and increasing our distribution networks, nurturing relationships with new and existing accounts and engaging consumers through a variety of creative mediums. We are very successfully growing in an industry that is rapidly changing and quickly adapting to shifts in the broader market. While it's difficult to predict what, if any, impact macroeconomic shocks will have on our business over the next few quarters, we remain confident in our ability to maintain our momentum over the long term and capitalize on the growing consumer demand for healthy functional beverages. As we enter the second quarter, we are seeing growth in April orders and in North America, we have seen growth of approximately 38% over the prior year, which provides us further confidence on our ability to maintain our momentum in the category. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the uncertainties resulted from the COVID outbreak may have unforeseen and unexpected impacts on the results of operations. I will now turn the call over to Edwin Negron Carballo, our Chief Financial Officer for his prepared remarks, Edwin?

Edwin Negron Carballo, Chief Financial Officer

Thank you, John. For the three months ended March 31, 2020 revenue was a record high, $28.2 million, an increase of $13.7 million or 95% compared to $14.5 million for the same period last year. The overall increase in revenues was due to increases in sales volumes as opposed to increases in product pricing. By geography, the 95% revenue increase was attributable to continued strong growth of 70% in North America, reflecting double-digit growth from both existing accounts and new distribution expansion including expansion at world-class retailers. Consequently, North American revenue delivered a record $19.4 million for the quarter or an $8 million increase when compared to the prior year quarter. Revenue from the European markets was $8.5 million or an increase of $5.5 million compared to the first quarter of 2019, reflecting the full impact of consolidating the results of our European operations. Asian revenue totaled $268,000 compared to $53,000 in the year ago period. Asian results for the first quarters of 2020 and 2019 are now comparable, both periods reflect the change in our China business model to a royalty and license fee arrangement effective January 1, 2019. Revenue from all other areas amounted to $57,000. Gross profit increased by $7.3 million or 127% to $13 million in the first quarter of 2020, up from $5.7 million in the year ago quarter. Gross profit margin for the first three months ended March 31, 2020 was 46.1% which compares favorably to 39.5% for the 2019 quarter. The increase in gross profit margin and dollars reflect the impact of the consolidation of the European operations and the result of the increase in sales volumes across all geographies, as opposed to increases in product pricing. The increase in gross profit margin translated to an incremental $1.9 million of profitability in this quarter. Selling and marketing expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2020 were $7.5 million, an increase of $3.9 million or 108% from $3.6 million for the same quarter in 2019. The increase is mainly due to the impact of the consolidation of the operations of our Nordics partner, which was not reflected in the 2019 results. Consequently, marketing expenses increased $1.6 million or 132% compared to the first quarter of 2019. Similarly, all other sales and marketing expenses reflect the increases related to the consolidation of the European operations. Specifically, employee costs increased $1.5 million or 114% from the 2019 quarter to the 2020 quarter, and also reflect investments in human resources to properly service our markets. Moreover, due to the increase in business volume, our support to distributors and investment in trade activities increased by $353,000 and our storage and distribution costs also increased by $486,000. General and administrative expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2020 were $4.2 million, an increase of $1.6 million or 62% compared to $2.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2019. This increase similarly reflects the impact of the consolidation of the operations of our Nordics partner. As such, administrative expenses reflected an increase of $1.1 million, which included an addition of $221,000 to our bad debt reserve in order to cover potential collectability risks associated with the COVID-19 situation. Employee costs for the three months ended March 31, 2020 reflected an increase of $302,000 or 47%, not only related to the consolidation of our European business, but also reflecting investment in resources in order to properly support our higher business volume. All other increases for general and administrative expenses amounted to $232,000 when compared to the prior year quarter. Below the operating profit line, total other expenses were $702,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2020, which reflects an increase of $12.9 million when compared to the prior year results, which included a gain of $12.2 million related to the recognition of note receivable in connection with the change in our China business model at the beginning of 2019. Furthermore, the results for the 2020 quarter include amortization expenses of $310,000, total net interest expense of $273,000, foreign exchange losses of $78,000 and all other items amount to a net expense of $41,500. As a result of all this activity, the company had net income of $546,000 or $0.01 per basic and diluted share for the first quarter of 2020 compared to net income in the year ago quarter of $11.7 million or $0.19 per diluted share, which included the $12.2 million gain on the recognition of the note receivable. Adjusted EBITDA was $2.8 million compared to $878,000 for the first quarter of 2019. We believe this information and comparisons of adjusted EBITDA and other non-GAAP financial measures enhance the overall understanding and visibility of our true business performance. To that effect, a reconciliation of our GAAP results to non-GAAP figures has been included in our earnings release. As of March 31, 2020, the company had cash of $19.1 million compared to $23.1 million as of December 31, 2019. The company also had working capital of $27.4 million as of March 31, 2020 compared to $24.8 million as of December 31, 2019. Cash used by operations during the three months ended March 31, 2020 totaled $3.8 million, reflecting an increase in working capital use mainly related to an increase in inventory of $5.5 million to support our business growth and as a precautionary measure to minimize any potential disruptions in the supply chain regarding the COVID-19 situation. That concludes our prepared remarks. Operator, you may now open the call for questions. Thank you.

Operator, Operator

Thank you. We will now be conducting a question-and-answer session. Our first question comes from the line of David Bain with ROTH Capital Partners. Please proceed with your question.

David Bain, Analyst

Great, thank you. And congratulations on a great first quarter. I'm hoping you could opine further on the broader functional energy segment activity and potential repercussions for Celsius. You kind of touched on it in the prepared remarks, but when we look at the moves by Pepsi such as acquiring Rockstar and becoming a distributor for Bang, away from one of your partners Anheuser, all this seems to leave more and more holes for distributors in the segment. I guess the question is, is segment activity potentially shifting distribution conversations to larger, more acute deals in the wake of kind of the industry trend?

John Fieldly, President & CEO

Thank you for the question, Dave. There are many opportunities arising, particularly from recent developments during the quarter. I mentioned briefly in my prepared remarks that Bang is transitioning away from an independent network, which was primarily comprised of Anheuser-Busch distributors, and will now be fully supported by Pepsi. We are already witnessing these changes in markets where Bang was self-distributing, and we expect that in about 60 days, they will fully transition from the other distributors to Pepsi. This disruption creates opportunities, as switching networks can be very challenging for brands. We are keen to leverage the disruption occurring in the marketplace. There have been significant changes not only with Bang but also due to the impacts of COVID-19, which has affected many channels, including the energy drink category. The convenience channel, in particular, has seen considerable declines in traffic, as have fitness and food service sectors. We believe we are well-positioned, having engaged with 100 distributors already, and ongoing conversations are progressing well. Previously, Bang had exclusivity in many contracts with these distributors, but that is no longer the case, and we are excited about the discussions unfolding. Some distributors releasing Bang are eager to collaborate with Celsius. We believe we are strategically positioned to take advantage of the current health and wellness trends that are prevalent and enduring.

David Bain, Analyst

Great. Now it sounds like it's opened up some things and you mentioned disruption as a competitor switches major distribution. Alternatively, do you think that Pepsi may add a little bit to be more promotional here with Bang?

John Fieldly, President & CEO

I think so. I think you're going to see a lot of activities and promotional activities happening in the summer beverage season. We're already talking with many key retailers to be included in those programs and really the July and August timeframe retailers want to get consumers back into store, they're looking for new innovation, they're looking for special pricing, promotions to drive traffic back into retail. And we've been through this whole process with our repivoting our teams to work on online to partner with our retailers on online activation customer pickups, those types of things, we feel we built really good relationships, to be included in some of those programs. As an example, we're working with CVS and Target right now, as well as 7-Eleven on some really big off-shelf programs to drive additional awareness of Celsius and to take advantage of the opportunities on partnering with these retailers. So you're going to see a lot of pricing opportunities and promotional activity once we head into summer beverage season, which it seems to be aligned with many retailers, but I think the category overall on pricing remains strong and we have a premium position in the category that is not going to change. We are driving a premium position as this category continues to grow and evolve that is better for you, functional performance energy category that every retailer in the country is looking to expand on. And Celsius is a major component of that category.

Operator, Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Jeffrey Cohen with Ladenburg Thalmann. Please proceed with your question.

Jeffrey Cohen, Analyst

So great read out, I will keep my questions to four, five. So can you talk about the spike in European volume specifically outside of the Nordics, where are you seeing that tremendous growth from?

John Fieldly, President & CEO

Sure. When examining the European volume, you can see the full quarter of revenue recognition linked to the acquisition's accretive nature. We experienced strong revenue growth in the Nordics, particularly in Sweden, where Celsius was one of the fastest growing energy drink brands during the quarter, according to Nielsen. The other significant markets for sales were Norway and Finland, which faced challenges during the quarter due to lockdowns. Consequently, the growth was mainly fueled by the Swedish market, which has adopted a different approach compared to other markets and countries worldwide. This is why we've observed most of our growth there.

Jeffrey Cohen, Analyst

Got it. And could you talk about the introduction of the Peach Vibe limited edition, and besides online where is that being sold?

John Fieldly, President & CEO

Just announced our Peach Vibe, our newest flavor brings excitement to many retailers. Just rolling out right now, we'll have it authorized in many retailers around the country over the next several months as planograms get reset. Right now, it's available on Amazon and other retailers and soon to be to a fine retailer near you.

Jeffrey Cohen, Analyst

Perfect, got it. And can you talk about the closing of Func? And any update as far as snacks and bars in North America?

John Fieldly, President & CEO

Yes, I believe the acquisition has been very successful. We have a great team in place, and we've been collaborating across different departments, especially in sales. There are many initiatives and opportunities for synergy as we continue to expand. We're in the process of renegotiating contracts with warehouses and suppliers, which is positive for our margins as we grow. We had planned to bring the fast protein bar line to North America, but we've had to delay that due to the COVID situation. We are still assessing the situation and will provide more updates in the upcoming quarters.

Jeffrey Cohen, Analyst

Okay, got it. And then lastly, I think for you, Edwin, can you talk about the inventory and the inventory build? It looks like your comments were about $5.5 million in increase. So where does that lie and how does that relate to the number of counters you're using at least domestically? And is it specific to region or territory or product line?

Edwin Negron Carballo, Chief Financial Officer

Yes, thank you. Very good question. Absolutely, yes. The increase of $5 million, $5.5 million and yes mainly here in the U.S. that translates, just to give you some perspective to about 130 days of inventory. And what we did is make sure that we increase our inventories, so that if there is any disruption in the supply chain that we were able to address it. So from that perspective, it was something that we planned for, a strategic move. We wanted to make sure coming into the summer selling season that we had good levels of inventory and obviously not have any disruptions. So, yes, absolutely it was something that we did knowingly. And then obviously when you look at inventory levels, we have to look not only at the historic demand but also plan for the future demand as well.

Operator, Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Jeff Van Sinderen with B. Riley FBR. Please proceed with your question.

Jeff Van Sinderen, Analyst

You mentioned Walmart as roughly 50% DSD at this point, I believe. Can you give us more color on what you're seeing at that retailer? Maybe touch on converting to more DSD there, how that is expected to go? Then maybe give us a sense, latest sense of how your business is trending with Target and where you are with DSDs there?

John Fieldly, President & CEO

Yes, we are collaborating with all our key retailers to transition them from a wholesaler direct model to a DSD partner model. The velocity we are experiencing indicates better in-stock levels, improved placements, and enhanced execution. Celsius is performing very well, necessitating more touchpoints at retail. At Walmart, the stores are now serviced by DSD, and we are seeing excellent results, including good rotation and velocity in coolers and dry shops. In contrast, the stores still going through the warehouse experience out-of-stocks and poor execution, so we are supplementing those areas with merchandisers while also working on switching them to DSD as we expand our territories. We have been in close contact with the buyers and are confident that by the latter half of this year, more Walmarts will transition to this preferred route to market. The same applies to Target, where the stores in the New York metropolitan area are being serviced by Big Geyser, showing great velocity as we move from warehouse to DSD. We are diligently working on transitioning key markets, with five already identified for coverage to be flipped in the coming months as we rotate warehouses. We are also focusing on additional key markets alongside the Bang news and our continued efforts to sign distributors for a national DSD network. Furthermore, we have an important promotional campaign launching with Target in July, which is expected to drive more volume, placements, and execution, helping us transition more quickly to the DSD model where we are seeing significant momentum. Target is a valuable account for us; we already have five flavors available and aim to become a major player in their energy drink category.

Jeff Van Sinderen, Analyst

Okay, great. And then I know it's early, but any color you can give us on what you're seeing in some of the regions in the U.S. that are starting to reopen and then what are you anticipating in your businesses more as the country reopens?

John Fieldly, President & CEO

With everything going on, it's very uncertain as we talked about, it's hard to say what the future holds. With the current environment and some countries open and closed and you're seeing the gym channel come back. Starting to see some businesses reopening, restaurants in key markets, it's really hard to say in the current environment. I will say, which we said publicly that orders in April were up 38%, but it's really a week by week situation many CPG companies and other companies are pulling estimates and forecasts. We don't provide guidance, but we do feel based on initial results in April, we are still maintaining good momentum. What the future holds is to be determined, but we do feel in the overall broader energy drink category, we're in a really good position with everything that's taking place in the macro environment for healthy, better for you functional beverages and what's taking place in the energy category.

Jeff Van Sinderen, Analyst

Okay, and just one more follow-up if I could add to that. Can you provide any additional details on how you are adjusting marketing plans for the near term and how you are considering changes as plans for the U.S. to reopen?

John Fieldly, President & CEO

Yes, I mean we've really through the first quarter we really reengineered, a lot of our all the sales and marketing teams to realign them to current opportunities. That's one thing that's great about being a nimble organization. We repositioned our fitness team, and repositioned our foodservice team to help out retail during the pantry loading and they were further working on integration on online integrated programs with our key regional grocery stores, mass market merchants and vitamin specialty stores, which are still open as well. So a lot of integration. It's going to be a lot of social media, e-commerce, I touched on the most recent data point we got, Celsius is the third largest brand on Amazon in the energy drink category that's an amazing achievement for our team. It just shows you the momentum we have, we need to further leverage that and move into other segments as well, continue to drive momentum, but we're going to continue to provide emotional engagements with our consumers and continue to build out our fan base and our communities, which is so critical and key to our long-term success. And then, we'll continue to move back into some online activation, as the markets permit being very cautious and safe through the process, but our goal is to help people live healthy, better lifestyles and we want to be there to support them.

Operator, Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Anthony Vendetti with Maxim Group. Please proceed with your question.

Anthony Vendetti, Analyst

Thanks, John, for your insights on Amazon. You mentioned the third ranking for energy drinks on the platform. Could you elaborate on whether this quarter was positively influenced by COVID-19 in terms of your overall online performance? Also, please share the growth figures for online sales, specifically on Amazon, for this quarter.

John Fieldly, President & CEO

Yes, thank you, Anthony. Our online business has been a strong growth area for Celsius over the past five to six years. While we did experience spikes in online sales aligned with changes in shopping patterns, it was encouraging to see that Celsius grew at the same rate as others in the market. We outpaced the growth of many brands, including Monster and Red Bull. The growth has been robust, and it's noteworthy that many brands are finding that some products have become impulse buys. With the fitness channel closing and a shift towards convenience and foodservice, we've observed a substantial volume transition to other channels, with Celsius becoming part of many people's daily routines. This is crucial for the opportunities we have ahead. We are not just an impulse buy; we are part of an everyday lifestyle, which we have been cultivating over the years and will continue to do so. This reflects the potential we possess.

Anthony Vendetti, Analyst

Okay. Then just one last follow-up on the COVID-19. I mean, obviously, there have been some positive benefits that you've seen from that. Can you talk a little bit about the, just the positives and negatives and if you're prepared, in terms of down the road, any supply chain interruption, what sort of contingency plans do you have, if your supply chain gets constrained at some point?

John Fieldly, President & CEO

I don't think there are many positives; this is a terrible situation that we all need to address. It's heartbreaking to see what's happening with small businesses in communities. We adapted quickly, shifting to support our efforts across the country, with Celsius distributing thousands of cases to over 450 hospitals. We focused on helping consumers and small businesses, as well as trainers and personal trainers, providing them with opportunities to grow their client base through our SWEAT WITH CELSIUS campaigns. As Edward mentioned regarding inventory, since January, we've established contingency plans in every department, from accounting to operations, sales, and marketing, continuously reviewing and adjusting these as needed. We have implemented these plans and increased our inventories throughout the quarter, also placing blanket purchase orders for longer periods than ever before to ensure adequate supply. We expanded our co-packer networks to have options available in case one of our co-packers becomes unavailable. The company has made significant efforts to adapt to the current environment, and I believe both the company and its employees have responded effectively and demonstrated agility. While it has been stressful for many, the transition to remote work went smoothly, though it isn't as cohesive as our usual collaboration. Given the circumstances and the results the team has achieved, they have done an outstanding job.

Operator, Operator

Our next question is a follow-up question from the line of David Bain with ROTH Capital Partners. Please proceed with your question.

David Bain, Analyst

Thank you. I'd like to return to the topic of distributor relationships and industry dynamics. It seems that distributors have fewer options when it comes to finding a growing energy category company like Celsius. Historically, many distributors have sought to take an ownership stake in companies. What are your thoughts on these partnership structures, and how do you view the strategy of aligning more closely with a major player compared to maintaining a more fragmented distribution model?

John Fieldly, President & CEO

Thank you, Dave. There are a lot of relationships out there. We're working on a variety of them we're going to do what's best for our shareholders and best for the organization, investors, and the company, for Celsius to drive to Number 1. That's our goal. We're reviewing a variety of opportunities, we're looking at distributors making sure we are with and aligned with the best distributor possible for that market to drive the best velocity and opportunity. So not going to get into specifics on contract negotiations with given distributors, but we are very much aligned with shareholders' interests and going to do what's best to put Celsius in the best position possible as we continue to maximize the opportunity we have at hand.

Operator, Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Shawn Boyd with Next Mark Capital. Please proceed with your question.

Shawn Boyd, Analyst

Real quick, if you can just help us a little bit, and forgive me if this is a fairly naive question, but what percentage of your sales are from bricks and mortar retail versus online right now?

John Fieldly, President & CEO

We previously disclosed this information, but it's a bit fragmented now since many of our retail partners offer online services. We've expanded our online presence to include platforms like Walmart.com, Amazon.com, bodybuilding.com, and vitaminshoppe.com, among others. Our team focuses on leveraging our retail partners through various pickup services and platforms like Instacart. There are numerous channels for driving online purchases and home delivery. I don’t want to single out any one customer; if you're referring to online sales through Amazon or Walmart.com, we do not sell directly but collaborate with our retail partners. Their online business is essentially our online business. Therefore, I can't provide a specific answer to your question as it involves a broader context.

Shawn Boyd, Analyst

Okay. I hear you on that. Let me go to the heart of this, not as in thinking about the impact of you flipping over to the DSDs, maybe another way to come at it would be, what percentage of your retail doors are currently serviced by DSDs? You've talked about the number in the past. And then the number today I think you've over 100, but if you can help us just sort of how far are we on this shift right now and how quickly would that change, say over the next 12 to 24 months?

John Fieldly, President & CEO

Yes, I mean, right now we're at, at the end of the year, we announced roughly approximately 65,000 locations in North America. And today, less than 10% of those doors are serviced by DSD. So the opportunity is massive, the key is all about covering this particular DMAs of the warehouses that are serviced by these key accounts and that's what we've been integrating and working on. And many of these retailers will be flipping over in the back half of this year to this preferred method. But I would say approximately right now you're looking at about 10% with DSD coverage.

Shawn Boyd, Analyst

Okay, very helpful. And that 40% lift that you commented on with the stores in New York, has that been consistent across other geographic markets?

John Fieldly, President & CEO

It has. Actually in certain areas it's been even higher. So probably the 40% lift versus going direct to these key accounts seems like a good benchmark on top of the 30% growth rate we've been seeing in existing accounts. So there is a great opportunity by having the DSD coverage because you're getting that sales person in the store on a frequent rotation to make sure the product is in stock, is properly priced, and is available, and taking advantage of additional points of disruption and a given outlet and it's all about placements and trade activation.

Shawn Boyd, Analyst

It's great to hear. I have one last question. Your mention of April orders increasing by 38% year-over-year is encouraging. Since we are now in a phase where more states are announcing reopening plans, albeit gradually, can we consider this a low figure for the month? I understand it’s just the start, but can we expect to see those monthly sales trend upward from here?

John Fieldly, President & CEO

Yes, I'm not going to talk about the future on what I don't know, I mean there's a lot of questions there. How quickly this traffic returns to normal in some of these channels. So I can't really comment on that.

Operator, Operator

There are no further questions in the queue, I'd like to hand the call back to management for closing remarks.

John Fieldly, President & CEO

Thank you. On behalf of the company we like to thank everyone for their continued interest. Our results demonstrate our products are gaining considerable momentum as we are capitalizing on today's health and wellness trends. We are building upon our core and leveraging opportunities and deploying best practices. We have a winning portfolio and strategy in a rapidly growing market that consumers want. Our mission is to get Celsius to more consumers profitably. I'm very proud of our dedicated team, as without them our tremendous achievements and significant opportunities we see ahead would not be possible. In addition, I want to thank all of our investors for their continued support and confidence in our team. We wish everyone well. Please stay safe in this current environment. Thank you for your interest and have a great day.

Operator, Operator

Ladies and gentlemen this does conclude today’s teleconference. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect your lines at this time and have a wonderful day.