The acquisition of Dippin’ Dots has been a hit with executives at J&J Snack Foods, who say they are developing a product to launch into retail markets.
In J&J’s fourth-quarter financial conference call, the Dippin’ Dots name came up numerous times as contributing to growth in foodservice, frozen novelties and frozen beverage product lines, the company's three reporting segments. “We have hit the ground running and I'm so excited about our opportunities to grow this iconic brand,” said CEO Dan Fachner.
“We've already made significant progress introducing the Dippin' Dots sales team to new customers and channels, including under-penetrated markets and theaters and food service,” he continued. “And with Dippin' Dots, we're proud to announce the first cross-brand collaboration, the new ICEE cherry and Blue rasp flavors launching in fiscal Q1. We are also starting to explore new product concept, designed to extend Dippin' Dots into the retail channels.”
He gave no further details. Until now, Dippin’ Dots has been overwhelmingly a foodservice item.
The company reported “strong top-line growth across all three of our business segments, including a 24% increase in net sales for the fiscal fourth quarter and a 21% increase in net sales for the full year.” Sales for the full year, which ended Sept. 24, were nearly $1.4 billion, but net incomes was down 15% to $47 million.
Fachner noted the company has instituted three price increases over the preceding 14 months, which “certainly helped out with some of the sales portion, but we see volume growth in all categories through the end of the year. We're watching that very closely.”
