"[This] gives us access to many more retailers that desire DSD (direct-store-delivery) than we could get putting together distributors on our own one by one," Steve Haley, CEO and chairman, told CSP Daily News. "And since we have already gone [through wholesalers] with some of the retailers, we now can offer them a DSD option, where in the past we couldn't."
Celsius [image-nocss] Holdings Inc. announced in late June the addition of Coast Brands Group, a beverage brand-management company, to expand and deepen Celsius' availability on the West Coast. Coast Brands is known for its expertise in servicing both major retail chains and independent retail accounts. Throughout this vast geography, Coast Brands services every major retail account in all channels of distributiongrocery, drug, convenience, gas and club.
"[Since we] started going direct, we've got almost 100% of the drug channel, moved into most of the regional grocers and now we're in Costco, Sam's, BJ's and Walmart, all direct," Haley said. Coast Brands and other similar distributor networks "bring to us 20 to 30 distributors all at once, which we can now flip some of the retailers from [wholesale delivery] to DSD, and bring in a lot more stores."
But that doesn't mean the company is abandoning c-stores.
"We've done a new package for this channel," Haley said. "It's single, 10.5-oz. [cans] in a 12-pack loose, as opposed to 24 [cans] in 4-packs in a case. So it's easier for them to get sell-in, and we've done a variety pack for them. It's more geared for that DSD cold door."
"Our team is excited to carry Celsius as we know it is a winner," said Coast Brands founder Bob Groux. "It's important to us that the company supports the brand with advertising that works, and we like the advertising that has been done in our area... We are selective about the brands we carry and everyone throughout our entire region immediately wanted to carry Celsius."
Coast Brands Group enables Celsius to gain additional distribution on the West Coast in major retailers due to the experienced distribution group, and as important, it provides the opportunity to serve thousands of independent accounts. Earlier this year, Celsius outlined plans to expand its availability of cold single servings. Coast Brands is a significant partner to meet this objective.
"Over the past year, our focus has been adding the larger national retailers. With most of them now on board, we are excited about extending our availability beyond the larger chains," said Dick McGee, president of field operations.
Celsius is a functional beverage that is powered by a proprietary blend of ingredients called MetaPlus, which includes Green Tea with EGCG, ginger, caffeine, calcium, chromium, B vitamins and vitamin C. Available at retail locations nationwide, Celsius contains no sugar, no high-fructose corn syrup, no aspartame, no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives and is very low in sodium.
Celsius Holdings, Delray Beach, Fla., markets Celsius and is dedicated to providing healthier, everyday refreshment through science and innovation.
Coast Brands Group is a brand-representation and consulting-services firm located in Newport Beach, Calif. Coast Brands represents approximately 30 distributors that together reach more than 30,000 retail accounts in California, Arizona and Nevada.
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