Good afternoon. Welcome to Lifeway Foods' Third Quarter 2019 Earnings Conference Call. On the call with me today is Julie Smolyansky, Chief Executive Officer. By now, everyone should have access to the earnings release for the period ended September 30, 2019 that went out this afternoon at approximately 4:05 p.m. Eastern Time.

If you had not received the release, it is available on the Investor Relations portion of Lifeway's website at www.lifewaykefir.com. A recording of this call will be available on the company's website..

Before we begin, we would like to remind everyone that the prepared remarks contain forward-looking statements, and management may make additional forward-looking statements in response to your questions. The words believe, expect, anticipate and other similar expressions generally identify forward-looking statements.

These statements do not guarantee future performance and, therefore, undue reliance should not be placed on them. .

Actual results could differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements. Lifeway assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking projections that may be made in today's release or call. All the forward-looking statements contained herein speak only as of the date of this call..

And with that, I would like to turn the call over to Lifeway's Chief Executive Officer, Julie Smolyansky. .

Thank you, Madeline, and good afternoon to everyone joining us. Thank you as always for your interest in Lifeway Foods. As you may know, at the end of 2018, we announced the launch of Lifeway 2.0., our strategic long-term plan to meaningfully reinvigorate growth. Lifeway 2.0 is made up of 3 core strategies.

These include a focus on rebuilding our core kefir product distribution in new and existing sales channels, introducing product innovation for today's on-the-go consumers focused on health and wellness, and enhancing Lifeway's brand awareness and consumer loyalty..

In the past year, we have deployed additional resources to the natural and independent retailers. We also released an item especially developed for this chain, Lifeway Whole Milk with Real Fruit Kefir. This line extension caters to consumers who are looking for healthy fat and fresh fruit puree.

By creating products designed to find favor in the natural channel and positioning our sales team to be better able to fill distribution gaps in the segment where Lifeway has had a strong legacy as a core leader, we are seeing positive momentum in our efforts to rebuild in places where some of our core items have moved into mass retail..

Earlier this year, we announced our new product innovation Plantiful. Plantiful is a plant-based, dairy-free beverage with 10 cultures and 10 probiotics, 10 grams of protein per serving. It is made with organic ingredients and contains no dairy, gluten or soy.

The foundation of Plantiful is a cultured organic pea protein, an ingredient lauded as one of the most sustainable protein sources. Unlike many nut-based meat and dairy alternatives, pea protein require comparatively low water and energy usage and can be an option for those with nut allergies.

Lifeway Plantiful won EatingWell's Best of West 2019 award earlier this year, proving the consumer demand is on the rise for healthy and sustainable dairy alternatives..

Today, we're excited to announce that we've expanded the distribution of Plantiful into major retailers throughout the U.S., including natural, grocery, mass and convenience stores. We're thrilled that major retailers nationwide have chosen Plantiful to enhance their healthy consumer product offering.

These retailers include Harris Teeter, Fairview, Fresh Thyme and many others across the United States. .

Consumer demand is on the rise for plant-based protein including healthy and sustainable alternatives, and we believe this increased distribution will lead to long-term sales growth. We look forward to adding new distribution in the future..

And brand awareness and consumer loyalty is a key of focus for Lifeway. We have worked very hard over the past year to build brand awareness in nontraditional channels such as quick service restaurants, convenience and even airlines. Earlier this year, we expanded our soft serve Frozen Kefir to all U.S.

Freshii locations, giving us new avenues to reach consumers who may be unfamiliar with the Lifeway brand. .

Just this past month, we secured additional distribution with Air France to serve our 3.5-ounce Strawberry Kefir on all international flights from the U.S. to France.

These are examples of initiatives that massively increase our reach to new potential customers, while also showcasing the versatility of our kefir products to those who already know the brand. As a result of these strategic initiatives, we are stabilizing our top line and believe we are well positioned for future growth..

For the third quarter, net sales decreased 2.2% to $22.7 million from $23.2 million in the second quarter of 2019. Additional financial information can be found in the third quarter release earnings and Form 10-Q we filled with the Securities and Exchange Commission -- we filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. .

Looking ahead to 2020 and beyond, we're committed to our strategic plan and are confident about delivering improved financial results. Thank you for listening to this call today and for your interest in Lifeway. This concludes our overview for the third quarter of 2019..