Mama’s Creations, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAMA) Q3 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

We’re probably in like — maybe we have one out in the top of the first. That’s how early we are in the process. So I think there’s tremendous value. But again, we’re not going to rush. I’m here for the long haul. Anthony is here for the long haul, and we’re going to do things very organized. We’re going to do it very profitably. So with that, look at the growth that we’re having and the profits are just getting better — the business is getting healthier and healthier. I think if you’d look at our peers or in my old world of Mondelez, all the companies that I would look at to acquire, yes, it’s super easy to get growth. I mean we’re losing $100 billion, but don’t worry about it, someone else will pay for it. We are growing smartly.

We’re growing profitably, and we’re accelerating our profit. That’s the type of growth that you’re going to see from this business.

Eric Des Lauriers: Well, it’s certainly very impressive what you’ve all been able to do over the past year or so and certainly looking forward to as many opportunities to come. Thanks for taking my questions.

Adam L. Michaels: Thanks a lot Eric.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Howard Halpern with Taglich Brothers. Please proceed with your question.

Howard Halpern: Congratulations, guys, another great quarter.

Adam L. Michaels: Thanks, Howard.

Howard Halpern: Scanning the Q that’s out there I saw, could you describe what was the primary driver with the growth in the Midwest year-over-year and sequentially? Because it seems like it was a nice bump in the quarter.

Adam L. Michaels: Yes. I know it was great. And probably the only CEO that’s happy to see that we’re losing share on the East Coast because we’re doing so much better on the Midwest and the West Coast. That was primarily 2 or 3 things. One, Costco continues to get stronger and stronger for us. And I spoke about this earlier around this trifecta. So first, this year, we got the largest order ever. It’s actually shipping now in the Northeast over $1 million order. Two, we’ve had multiple rotations now in some regions. We’ve already been this year already Northeast, Midwest, Pacific Northwest, L.A. region, I’m sure I’m missing others. And then the third, and I’m super excited. We’re producing it now. You’ll see it next month if you’re out in the West Coast, where we got our sausage and peppers into the L.A. region of Costco, which is wonderful.

So this is the first time ever we’ve had a non-meat ball product in Costco. So, we hit the triple threat this year, which was awesome. Directly to your question, Costco, we had another rotation in the Midwest [Technical Difficulty] Midwest sales. Roundy’s, I believe, is also in the Midwest, and we continue to do well at Roundy’s, which is, if you guys know a Kroger Banner underneath the Kroger Banner is Roundy’s. So those are the answers, Howard.

Howard Halpern: Okay. And what are you seeing in terms of how you talk about the grocery stores building out this part of their store? Is there an opportunity for the ball in a cup to go in that section of grocery stores going forward?

Adam L. Michaels: Well, you must be speaking to Scott Schafer on our sales team. So, actually, it’s great that you mentioned that. So Jewel is an Albertsons banner. Jewel is crushing it with our Meatballs in a Cup. So just as a reminder, we’ve developed Meatballs in a Cup as a [Technical Difficulty] everybody out, so he gets all of the production. But we actually sold in to Jewel — I shared with the leadership team the other day, we actually got an end cap. So in a refrigerated end cap, which is really hard to get, and they had both our beef meatballs and our turkey meatballs on that end cap. So yes, Howard, directly to your point, while the intention was to have the cups in C-store only really, they’re actually starting to do well in the grocery space, with Jewel and with others. And then also, there’s a lot of interest from the club channel for a multipack, which we’re investigating as well. So it’s happening, Howard, it’s great.

Howard Halpern: And all that eventually too could lead to increased volumes on the e-commerce side?

Adam L. Michaels: Yes. We got to get — actually Lauren, see that. Now Lauren must have been happy now, too. So yes, if you go on to our website, shop.mamamancinis.com, you could actually get our Meatballs in a Cup on our website. So yes, it should help drive e-commerce sales as well.

Howard Halpern: Okay. And just SG&A question. Are we now at a new — the new level — is this sufficient to help fuel that double-digit growth that you hopefully will achieve over the next few years?

Adam L. Michaels: Yes. You know what, let’s see, I don’t want — and I say this respectfully, with sitting next to Anthony, my CFO, I don’t want necessarily Anthony to be driving what capabilities we need. Obviously, we’re going to manage the business well and we’re going to grow and we’re going to maintain our profitability. But I want to bring in great talent, and I’m never going to [Technical Difficulty] don’t make decisions — we, as a leadership team, make the decisions on who to bring in, but I want to bring capabilities in. That said, we had a great year this year. You see the talent we brought in from sales and marketing and logistics. I think we’re down to maybe one or two more people that could really accelerate our business.