Katrina Wittkamp
According to Nielsen data, packaged food sales rose 1.1% year-over-year during the four-week period ending June 29. Volume increased 1.1% during the period, while prices remained flat from a year earlier. The sector has been supported by higher prices over the past few years. Two years for sales growth.
Among the best performing stocks over the four weeks were Freshpet (FRPT) +27.6% YoY and BellRing Brands (New York Stock Exchange: BRBR) +14.2%, although both companies saw sales growth slow since the last Nielsen update. Conagra Brands (CAG) saw a solid sequential increase in its frozen dinner and entree sales, which could be an indication that some consumers are cutting back on grocery shopping. Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) also saw cookie sales improve sequentially, perhaps due to some price adjustments. Interestingly, sales of private label cereals outpaced those of well-known cereals from W.K. Kellogg (KLG), General Mills (GIS) and Post Holdings (POST) by an even larger margin than at the beginning of the year.
Among the laggards over the four weeks were Dole (DOLE), with sales down 5.5% year-over-year, and Hershey (HSY), down 4.6%. Hershey (HSY) saw sales slow in the chocolate, non-chocolate confectionery and salty snacks categories.
Utz Brands (New York Stock Exchange:UTZ) marketed 4.6% BellRing Brands (BRBR) shares fell in afternoon action after its sales figures raised concerns ahead of earnings season, while BellRing Brands (BRBR) edged lower. 4.3%Other food stocks that fell during the session included Mama's Creations (MAMA) -3.7%Heavenly Hain (HAIN) -3.5%Oatly Group (OTLY) -3.4%Weston Lamb (LW) -2.7%and Westrock Coffee Company (WEST) -2.0%.
