SunOpta Sees Gains, Private Label Growth in Q2

SunOpta, a producer of branded and private label plant-based, organic specialty food and beverage products, has shared its Q2 2022 financial results. Across the board, the company saw strong results, including a 15% growth in private label sales compared to Q2 2021.

“On a total company basis, our 20% revenue growth was very balanced with both volume growth and pricing growth,” said SunOpta CEO Joseph D. Ennen on the Aug. 10 earnings call. “60% of the consolidated gain came from pricing and 40% from volume. In our plant-based business unit, revenue grew 31%, fueled by strong gains in both volume and price. Growth in plant-based was exceptionally broad with nearly every major customer up double digits, every channel up double digits, every product type up double digits and every go-to-market business up double digits.”

In the plant-based milk category, oat, almond, rice, coconut and soy all generated double-digit growth. Growth was led by over 40% increases in both almond milk and oat milk, with each adding revenues of over $30 million, while growth in almond milk was fueled by both existing customers and a sizable new customer, and oat milk growth continued to be supported by category growth.

Another big driver for growth in Q2 for SunOpta was fruit-based snacks. Revenue from fruit snacks increased 48% versus last year. Impressively, the vast majority of this growth was volume-driven. Sales in fruit snacks were $24 million, generating a nearly $100 million run rate. These sales included the early success of SunOpta’s smoothie bowl offerings, which currently stands at 12 SKUs.

“In summary, we have substantial momentum across our business and our passionate team continues to execute extremely well against our strategic growth priorities,” added Ennen. “While the macro environment remains challenging, we've been able to offset a vast majority of inflation with pricing and our productivity initiatives continue to gain traction. Customer demand for our high-quality unique products remains very strong, reflecting our leadership position in the fastest growing plant-based and fruit-based category. Our model is competitively advantaged from the perspective of capacity and capability and we expect to continue leveraging the power of our platform to rapidly scale."