SANTA MONICA, CA / ACCESSWIRE / July 25, 2017 / Benefits of drinking alkaline water are claimed to be expansive, from soothing acid reflux to increasing metabolism to lubricating joints and back again. While there are some scientific merits, most of the benefits are anecdotal, but that doesn't stop millions of people worldwide from remaining passionate about drinking it for its therapeutic effect. Hollywood star Mark Wahlberg believed in the benefits so deeply that he partnered with entertainment and clothing magnate Sean "Diddy" Combs and billionaire Ron Bukle to rebuild a struggling private alkaline water company.
In the public domain, the leader is the aptly named The Alkaline Water Company Inc. (WTER) with its Alkaline88® brand of products. The 88 in the name is not by mistake, the Scottsdale, Arizona-based company uses its state-of-the-art, proprietary electrolysis beverage process to produce water with a pH of 8.8.
Without getting too scientific, pH is a measure of acidity for a liquid, expressed across a range of 0-14. Liquids with a pH under 7 are acidic and over 7 are basic, or alkaline, with 8.8 an optimal level.
Alkaline88 is created without using any chemicals like some other specialized waters are. Instead, the company uses specialized electronic cells coated with several rare earth Himalayan minerals to engineer the water it trumpets as superior to all other alkaline waters on the market today.
Ongoing distribution efforts have Alkaline88 on shelves in more than 31,000 stores in all 50 states, including about half of the top 75 grocery retailers, such as Kroger (KR) and Whole Foods (WFM). Additional shelf space is a top priority for Alkaline. In the first half of 2017, the company inked agreements with strategic national brokers for the purpose of pursuing sales opportunities with key retailers like Walmart/Sam's (WMT), Target (TGT), Costco (COST), CVS (CVS) and more as part of their coast-to-coast expansion initiative, while also branching into select international markets. Given the sheer magnitude of store locations for these type of retailers, Alkaline could experience a spike in already growing sales.
Last month, the distribution network got a little wider through a deal with Associated Wholesale Grocers' (AWG) subsidiary Valu Merchandisers Company. AWG is the largest cooperative food wholesaler in the U.S., serving over 3,800 retail locations through it 11 distribution centers.
Alkaline's industry position is reflected in its increasing revenue stream. May was a record month, with sales tallying $1.84 million, which was up a solid 80% from May 2016. That was the third straight month of record sales and set the tone for a strong end to fiscal 2017 and start to fiscal 2018 for the company.
On Tuesday, Alkaline reported results for fiscal 2017, ended March 31, 2017. Revenue was up 80% from fiscal 2016, rising to $12.76 million from $7.09 million. Apropos, the company first year of revenue was four years earlier, at which time revenue totaled about $600,000. Gross profit as a percentage of revenue improved to 42.5% from 37.5%, underpinned by reduced raw material costs because of increased volume purchasing. While growing sales, operating expenses were cut to $7.95 million from $10.13 million, the aggregate resulting in net loss being shave to $3.45 million compared to $8.28 million in the last fiscal year.
In the words of Alkaline President and CEO Richard Wright, fiscal 2017 was a "monumental year for the company, both financially and operationally." With the expansion efforts paying off, the launch of single-serving-size labels, a new, seasoned executive sales team and opening additional co-packing facilities, the company seems to have a lot to look forward to again in fiscal 2018 against the backdrop of a growing health trend for consuming alkaline water.
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