Dave Colo
Analyst · Berenberg
Thanks, Brandon. Now, I would like to touch on some additional initiatives that support our long-term strategic plan. The headwinds we identified last quarter have persisted with varying impacts on our financial results. During the quarter, the first headwind related to the initial pantry loading that had occurred during the first several weeks of the pandemic, which caused off-premise sales to significantly spike. While these elevated growth comparisons began to taper in the back half of the second quarter, the demand for distilled spirits, including American Whiskey, remain strong. We are unsure how long these purchasing behaviors will continue and what potential impact they might have on future off-premise sales. We believe the spike in off-premise sales during the pandemic have partially offset declines in on-premise sales across the nation. As more bars, restaurants and tasting rooms reopen, we expect the off-premise sales to normalize overtime. As you would imagine, the closures of bars, restaurants and tasting rooms had an immediate impact on our craft customer sales the past few months, even though, some states implemented phased reopening plans. We would anticipate these trends to improve as these establishments reopen, but it is difficult to predict when that might occur in a meaningful way. Third, we began to see some of our multinational customers conserve cash this quarter, which had an impact on new distillate sales results. While most have strong balance sheets and access to capital, it is unclear how the conservation of cash may introduce additional quarterly sales volatility, which could impact our brown goods sales throughout the balance of the year. Lastly, international export sales did not meet pre-pandemic expectations as travel has been dramatically reduced and tariffs in key international markets persist. We continue to believe that our investments to expand international sales will provide long-term shareholder value. We continue to closely monitor each of these potential headwinds, and we'll provide additional updates on future calls. Despite the continued uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 virus and the diminished visibility of a possible macroeconomic recovery in the back half of the year, I am very pleased with the continued execution of our pandemic response plan, which focuses on protecting our employees and doing our part to help stop the spread of the virus. The investment spend related to our warehouse expansion plan was substantially completed during the quarter and totaled approximately $49.8 million. We anticipate additional investments in warehouse capacity to continue over time as needed to support the growth of our customers. Additionally, our investment in aged whiskey inventory grew slightly to $113.1 million at cost as we reduced our incremental investment in aged whiskey inventory during the quarter versus prior quarters. As we've previously stated, our growth in sales of brown goods over the past several years has outpaced the broader market, this was due in part to the subset of the market we serve, growing faster than the overall market. While the consumer trends for American Whiskey remain robust, we now believe that the underlying growth rate for our target market is gradually slowing to come more in line with the long-term trend for the overall category. As a result, we plan to reduce our overall aged whiskey inventory levels over the balance of the year, as we believe, we have adequate inventory to meet both our customers' and our own needs. We continuously evaluate our aged whiskey inventory levels, and we'll make adjustments to these levels to support demand as needed. In addition, we believe the continued strength of the American Whiskey category through this pandemic has confirmed the long-term value of our aged whiskey inventory. Furthermore, we are continuing to assess M&A opportunities to strengthen our position in growing markets in concert with our financial position in the coming quarters. Turning now to our brands. We were pleased to announce the release of Remus Repeal Reserve Series IV Straight Bourbon Whiskey in September 2020. Now in its fourth year, our Remus Repeal Reserve Program has exceeded expectations, and this early fall release allows us to showcase the brand during National Bourbon Month in September. Our George Remus Bourbon and Rossville Union Rye Single Barrel programs, which were launched in the first quarter of this year, were in high demand as pre-sales exceeded our expectations. Offered only once a year, MGP is in a unique position to provide a variety of mash bills to our trade partners, and we're proud to age some of the finest whiskey barrels in the country at our Lawrenceburg facility. The addition of Green Hat Gin to our award-winning brand portfolio continues to progress despite on-premise closures due to the pandemic. To mitigate the effects of on-premise closures, we have leveraged social media and virtual tastings to keep each of our brands front and center for consumers. Our premium beverage brands were not immune to the decreased on-premise activity this quarter, while sales activity has increased in states that have undergone partial reopenings, uncertainty persists as states determine how and when full reopenings of bars, restaurants and tasting rooms will occur. However, we will continue to invest in our brands portfolio as we consider this initiative an important driver of long-term growth. We were also proud to support the industry and our communities that have been hardest hit during these difficult times with donations to the United States Bartenders' Guild, the Restaurant Workers Community Foundation, Emergency Relief Fund and the World Central Kitchen. Before we open the call up for questions, I would like to reiterate our continued confidence that focusing on our key strategies will drive superior long-term shareholder value. Both of our business segments continue to be well positioned against strong macro consumer trends, and we continue to believe that our strategy will drive long-term sustainable growth. Operator, we are now ready to begin the question-and-answer portion of the call.