Private brands drive sales at Lassonde

Lassonde Industries said an increase in store brand sales drove a huge third quarter for the beverage company. For the quarter ended Sept. 26, Lassonde earned $495.2 million in sales, up 17.1% from a year ago.

These numbers match what the company saw in the first quarter.

The posting does exclude the $47.3 million in sales from the Sun-Rype acquisition by the Canadian company.

"Growth in industry volumes continued in the third quarter of 2020, but it is too early to determine whether this phenomenon is sustainable,” said Nathalie Lassonde, chief executive officer of Lassonde Industries Inc. 

“Strong demand for our products throughout the quarter had a favorable impact on our results with a 5.3% increase in adjusted sales driving more efficient asset utilization on both sides of the Canada/U.S. border. We are striving to meet product demand, but labor availability is affected by the need to maintain a safe environment for all our employees amid a second wave of COVID-19. On a separate note, I would like to thank our employees for their exceptional work during this difficult time," Lassonde added.

The Rougemont, Quebec-based company said the increase in sales “was largely due to an increase in sales of private label products,” and a significant portion of that increase came from changes in food habits around COVID-19. For the first nine months of 2020, Lassonde said sales were up 17.6%, compared to the first nine months of 2019.