I didn't here Laura talk about 25% growth of gin? Wasn't in any of the materials. Could be a reference to July-August sales or something? But clearly, the FY21 vs FY22 full year results did not show that. I have not bothered to look at 1H vs 2H breakdown. Still, I think that the Gin Bar and Forty Spotted brand is a nice addition. At $80 a 700ml bottle, it's on the high but not ridiculous side. A friend of mine runs a gin micro distillery and she pumps them out at higher prices than that, but her scale is a lot less. And thus the issue with pricing - may need to pull the prices back to get the volumes.
And 100% spot on, this is all about execution. They are very well placed. Their strategy is somewhat sound: build the brand awareness, create a halo effect at the premium level, then scale up and hope to maintain some of that margin even on lower quality / blended products. But if you scour the Lark Facebook page and reviews, there is one common theme: quality does not justify the price. But that's from the masses, not the people buying the rare casks and premiums. So it's really important that they are able to scale Symphony etc at an affordable yet decent price. Will people pay at Dan Murphys $85 for 500ml of Symphony (including DM's 40% mark up)? That's around $170/l and is more expensive than moderately priced single malts at around $100/700ml or $140/l. And that's the point people keep making in the forums.
The one point Laura made in the call that I am not 100% on board with is targeting high net worth individuals in Asia (particularly Australians as brand ambassadors to locals). Maybe that's an early entry point for their halo effect they are hoping for. I am not a marketing person, so what would I know. I just know from my experience in Asia you want to get the product into the distribution channels, and I am not sure high net worth individuals does that. Demand vs supply led growth?
LRK Price at posting:
$2.78 Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)