Cizzle Brands Corporation (Cboe Canada: CZZL) ( the "Company" or "Cizzle Brands") is pleased to announce that its Common Shares began trading on the Cboe Canada stock exchange (" Cboe Canada ") on December 30, 2024 , providing opportunities for retail and institutional audiences to invest in the company behind CWENCH Hydration (" CWENCH "), a sports hydration beverage brand that has already built up considerable recognition and market presence since its launch in May of 2024.
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Located in the Etobicoke region of Toronto, the CWENCH Centre is operated by Canlan Sports and is the official home of the Greater Toronto Hockey League, as well as the Toronto Marlboros. (Photo: Business Wire)
Within just six months of launching, Cizzle Brands' products have already been ordered by half of all National Hockey League (" NHL ") teams, with 18 franchises currently ordering products for its players and staff, as well as 14 Major League Baseball (" MLB ") teams, 2 National Football League (" NFL ") teams, 2 National Basketball Association (" NBA ") teams, and 16 National Collegiate Athletic Association (" NCAA ") teams.
Overview of CWENCH Hydration
Made from all-natural ingredients with no sugar and 6+ electrolytes, CWENCH Hydration is the flagship brand of Cizzle Brands. The Company is currently scaling its footprint in the sports nutrition and functional beverages markets, the latter of which was valued at USD $97 billion globally in 2022 1 .
More information about CWENCH can be found at https://cwenchhydration.com/ .
Snapshot of CWENCH's Market Position as of January 2025
- CWENCH is currently available at over 1,200 points of sale in Canada, the United States, and Europe, including major retail chains as well as hundreds of independent sporting goods retailers.
- Major retail chains that presently carry CWENCH include:
- Canada
- Sport Chek : Largest sporting goods retailer in Canada, with full distribution of CWENCH in 190 stores nationwide.
- Canadian Tire : Major Canadian department store with 503 locations across Canada. CWENCH is currently sold in select Canadian Tire locations, with additional stores being added each month.
- Source for Sports : Sporting goods retailer with over 200 individually owned and operated stores, operating under the "La Source du Sport" banner in Quebec, with some locations in the United States. CWENCH has full distribution across all Source for Sports locations.
- United States
- Giant Eagle : Regional supermarket chain with 496 retail locations, including 211 supermarkets, throughout Western Pennsylvania, North-Central Ohio, Northern West Virginia, Maryland, and Indiana. CWENCH is currently available in over 50% of the supermarket locations.
- Life Time Fitness : Chain of upscale athletic resorts with 170+ locations, primarily in the United States, with locations in Canada as well. CWENCH is available in 168 Life Time locations.
- CWENCH is also available at 62 sports arenas in Canada and the United States at points of sale such as concession stands, pro shops, and vending machines.
- CWENCH is officially endorsed by athletes including NHL MVP and Colorado Avalanche Forward Nathan MacKinnon , Montreal Canadiens Right Winger Cole Caufield , NBA All Star and Golden State Warrior Andrew Wiggins , Canadian Olympic Soccer player Adriana Leon , as well as up-and-coming hockey stars Gavin McKenna, Chloe Primerano, and Jade Iginla.
CWENCH Centre - A Canlan Sports Community
In a press release dated September 17, 2024 , Canlan Ice Sports Corp. (" Canlan ") announced a strategic agreement with Cizzle Brands with the objective of elevating grassroots hockey in Canada, which has proven to be a key early-stage growth driver for CWENCH. Under this five-year agreement, Canlan will provide the following marketing and sales catalysts for CWENCH:
- Making CWENCH Hydration the exclusive sports hydration products at the CWENCH Centre, as well as making CWENCH Hydration generally available at all other Canlan Sports complexes (16 total in Canada and the United States);
- Providing CWENCH a dedicated rink at the CWENCH Centre which includes a branded players bench, rink boards, dressing room wayfinding, and ice resurfacer wraps; and
- Making CWENCH the title sponsor of all Ontario Canlan Classic Tournaments, which will be named The CWENCH Hydration CCT Tournament Series .
Additional CWENCH Sponsorships
CWENCH Hydration has also been adopted as the Official Hydration Partner of the British Columbia Hockey League ("BCHL"), Hockey Super League , HPL Hockey , and the Klevr Network , resulting in the CWENCH brand being represented on the team uniforms and other gear ( e.g. , water bottles, towels, etc.) of over 500 youth hockey teams representing 12,000+ youth hockey players across North America.
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Cizzle Brands' Chief Performance Officer, Andy O'Brien, commented, "Most experienced athletes know that hydration is not only very important for your performance and overall health, but also that optimal hydration involves far more than just drinking water. We created CWENCH by taking input from trainers and athletes at the amateur, collegiate, and professional levels to better understand what modern athletes truly require, and what the incumbent brands have been missing. We took these needs into account while also seeking to formulate a product that is approachable and appropriate for athletes of all ages. Since launching in May, CWENCH has resonated exceedingly well with youth, adult, and professional athletes alike. We look forward to continuing to build out this market presence in 2025 and beyond."
Mr. O'Brien was nicknamed "The Muscle Whisperer" by Sportsnet in 2015, highlighting his work as a trainer to NHL superstar Sidney Crosby, Olympic medallist figure skater Patrick Chan, women's hockey legend Hayley Wickenheiser, and Olympic swimmer Dara Torres. Mr. O'Brien has also held coaching and consultancy roles for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Florida Panthers.
A video about Mr. O'Brien's thought process in the formulation of CWENCH Hydration can be found here .
Financial Highlights
Cizzle Brands generated CAD $4.9 million in net revenue from CWENCH sales between its May 28, 2024 launch and October 31, 2024.
In its first quarter of operations (Q4 2024 with its fiscal year-end at July 31, 2024), Cizzle Brands generated CAD $2.1 million in net sales with CAD $1.2 million in gross profit, achieving a 57.1% gross margin. The most recent quarterly results for Cizzle Brands' fiscal Q1 2025 (August to October 2024) reflected sequential all-around growth with CAD $2.8 million in net sales, CAD $1.75 million gross profit, and an improved gross margin of 62.5%.
Management Commentary
Cizzle Brands Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, John Celenza, commented, "My three young daughters are the inspiration that led to the founding of Cizzle Brands, because they are being brought up in a generation in which awareness about what goes into our bodies matters more than ever. Current leading choices in sports nutrition are filled with sugar, artificial ingredients, and trans fats, and we believe the world is demanding better choices. In the Canadian CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) space, it is rare for any brand to achieve nearly seven figures in sales per month right from the beginning, as CWENCH has. Achieving gross margins of 62% is nearly unheard of at this stage in our category, where gross margin is typically closer to 30%. I am proud of our team who, in less than twelve months, took CWENCH from being a concept, to an in-demand tangible product sold in over 1,200 stores with a multi-million dollar sales pipeline and a listing on a Tier 1 stock exchange. We expect 2025 to be a tremendous year in which we continue to drive growth and momentum while providing a better hydration option for athletes and health-conscious consumers of all ages."
About Cizzle Brands Corporation
Cizzle Brands is elevating the game in health and wellness. Through extensive collaboration and testing with leading athletes and trainers across several elite sports, Cizzle Brands launched CWENCH Hydration in May of 2024, a better-for-you sports nutrition beverage that is now carried in over 1,200 stores in Canada, the United States, and Europe. CWENCH Hydration is tailored to help people achieve their best in both competitive sports and in living a healthy, vibrant, active lifestyle.
For more information about Cizzle, please visit: https://www.cizzlebrands.com/
For more information about CWENCH, please visit: https://cwenchhydration.com/
On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Company,
Cizzle Brands Corporation
"John Celenza"
John Celenza, Chief Executive Officer
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
This news release contains "forward-looking information" which may include, but is not limited to, information with respect to the activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, such as, but not limited to: the listing of the Company's common shares on the Cboe Canada; the timing of the commencement of trading of the common shares; and new products of the Company. Such forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words and phrases such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Various assumptions or factors are typically applied in drawing conclusions or making the forecasts or projections set out in forward-looking information. Those assumptions and factors are based on information currently available to the Company.
Forward looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other risk factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such risks include risks related to increased competition and current global financial conditions, access and supply risks, reliance on key personnel, operational risks, regulatory risks, financing, capitalization and liquidity risks. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company undertakes no obligation, except as otherwise required by law, to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors change.
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1 Source: Euromonitor, The Harman Group, FMI. Note: market size and growth estimates based on Euromonitor Total Value Retailer Selling (RSP) in USD.
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For further information, please contact:
Setti Coscarella
Head of Corporate Development
investors@cizzlebrands.com
1-844-588-2088
