Koios Beverage Corp (FITSF)

[greenwillow]

Koios Begins Distribution Initiatives in the Convenience Channel with 200+ Store Placements to Date in Colorado Including 7-Eleven and Shell Locations

2021-02-12 07:00 ET - News Release


https://www.stockwatch.com/News/Item?bid=Z-C:KBEV-3031167&symbol=KBEV®ion=C

DENVER and VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Koios Beverage Corp. (CSE: KBEV; OTC: KBEVF) (the "Company" or "Koios") recently began initiatives to place its canned beverage products in convenience stores to align its distribution channels with current purchasing patterns of the Company’s target customers, particularly in light of changes related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Retailer accounts in the convenience channel have ordered Koios’ canned beverages (predominantly Fit Soda™, with quantities of KOIOS™) from the Company’s distributors, resulting in placements in more than 200 convenience stores throughout the state of Colorado, including locations of national chains such as 7-Eleven and Shell. With over 100 convenience stores added in Q4 2020 as well as over 100 convenience stores to date in Q1 2021, Koios anticipates its beverage products will be placed in approximately 1,000 convenience stores in the United States by the end of the calendar year. As of this writing, the Company’s beverage products are sold in over 4,000 retail points of sale in the United States, as well as online through Walmart and Amazon, in addition to the Company’s online store. By enriching its multichannel retail strategy with a new focus on convenience stores, the Company intends to further expand its footprint in the functional beverage category, which was classified as one of the Highest Growth Potential consumer and retail (“C&R”) investment categories by KPMG in 2020, with an estimated market value of USD $208.13 billion by 2024 and a compound annual growth rate (“CAGR”) of 8.66% from 2019 to 20241.

Over the course of 2020, convenience stores have played an increasingly significant role in the U.S. retail sector. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, many convenience stores enjoyed greater traffic due to macro-level factors such as busier lifestyles and smaller households, which appear to cause consumers to gravitate towards making smaller purchases more frequently at local shops2. Approximately 93% of Americans live within a few minutes of a convenience store, with about 80% of convenience stores in the United States also being gas stations3, allowing for sustained patronage from local residents and motorists alike. The prevalence of convenience stores in American neighbourhoods may also have enabled growth in delivery app orders from convenience stores for everyday purchases, which increased by 346% in 20204. Retail technology giant NCR Corporation (“National Cash Register”) published a report in 2020 detailing the importance of convenience and fuel retailers in the COVID-19 pandemic, with one key attribute being how consumers are often turning to convenience stores as an alternative to grocery stores, which tend to sell out of essential items (e.g., non-perishable food, cleaning supplies) more rapidly5.

Despite continued restrictions related to COVID-19 in several regions of the United States, lower incidence rates in the state of Colorado have allowed for reopenings of many businesses at limited capacities to include restaurants for indoor dining, as well as fitness centres6. The Company believes that these reopenings could have contributed to a steady sell-through and reorder rate of its canned beverage products at new convenience points of sale in Colorado.

Koios Chief Executive Officer Chris Miller commented, “Our Fit Soda™ functional beverage product has become very popular ever since it launched in July of 2019, and it now makes more sense than ever for it to be carried in convenience stores alongside leading national brand names of sports drinks. As we announced in our May 21, 2020 press release, more than 50% of purchases from our online store are from repeat customers, and returns amount to less than 1% of our gross sales. With these levels of loyalty and retention, our objective is to maximize availability of our beverages to our customers in the places they prefer to shop, and convenience stores are becoming a prominent channel for this category. We hope to keep up our momentum with landing convenience store placements, and our goal is to reach 1,000 convenience stores by the end of 2021 as we seek to grow our overall footprint in this dynamic and rapidly evolving category.”