Mission Produce Inc (AVO) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, and welcome to the Mission Produce Fiscal Fourth Quarter 2022 Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please also note, today's event is being recorded. At this time, I'd like to turn the conference call over to Jeff Sonnek, Investor Relations at ICR. Sir, please go ahead.

下午好，歡迎參加 Mission Produce 2022 年第四季財年電話會議。 （操作員說明）也請注意，今天的活動正在錄製中。現在，我想將電話會議轉給 ICR 投資者關係部門的 Jeff Sonnek。先生，請繼續。

Thank you, and good afternoon. Today's presentation will be hosted by Steve Barnard, Chief Executive Officer; and Bryan Giles, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝你，下午好。今天的演講將由首席執行官 Steve Barnard 主持；和財務長 Bryan Giles。

The comments during today's call and the accompanying presentation contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical facts are considered forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs as well as a number of assumptions concerning future events. Such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Some of these risks and uncertainties are identified and discussed in the company's filings with the SEC.

今天電話會議中的評論和隨附的演示文稿包含 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》安全港條款含義內的前瞻性陳述。除歷史事實陳述外的所有陳述均被視為前瞻性陳述。這些陳述是基於管理層目前的預期和信念以及有關未來事件的一些假設。此類前瞻性陳述受到已知和未知的風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述中討論的結果有重大差異。其中一些風險和不確定性在該公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中進行了識別和討論。

We will also refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures today. Please refer to the table included in the earnings release, which can be found on our Investor Relations website, investors.missionproduce.com, for reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP measures.

今天我們也將提及某些非公認會計準則財務指標。請參閱收益報告中包含的表格，表格可在我們的投資者關係網站 Investors.mission Produce.com 上找到，以了解非 GAAP 財務指標與其最直接可比較的 GAAP 指標的對帳情況。

With that, I'd now like to turn the call over to Steve Barnard, CEO.

現在，我想將電話轉給執行長史蒂夫·巴納德 (Steve Barnard)。

Thank you for joining us for our fourth quarter and full year fiscal 2022 earnings call. We achieved an important corporate milestone in fiscal 2022, generating $1 billion of revenue for the first time in our company's nearly 40-year history. We grew our full year revenue by 17%, driven by an extremely robust pricing environment, where our average selling price was up 28%, which was supported by low industry volume out of key sourcing regions such as Mexico.

感謝您參加我們的 2022 財年第四季和全年財報電話會議。我們在 2022 財年實現了一個重要的企業里程碑，在公司近 40 年的歷史上首次創造了 10 億美元的收入。在極其強勁的定價環境的推動下，我們的全年收入增長了 17%，平均售價上漲了 28%，這得益於墨西哥等主要採購地區的行業銷量較低。

While the strong pricing was in place for nearly the entire fiscal year, trends reversed sharply during the fiscal fourth quarter with the onset of the new Mexican season and drove prices down approximately 35% as compared to the fiscal third quarter. While this sequential softening was anticipated, the speed of the decrease was greater than expected and drove our average price down 10% for the quarter versus the prior year period. As we've noted previously, our business is driven by volume. And in an otherwise normal environment, lower prices tend to drive incremental consumption, particularly in the newer emerging markets. However, this environment is anything but normal. While our fourth quarter volume increased 6%, our financial performance was impacted by a confluence of variables that undermined our ability to drive the per unit margins that we have generated historically. Persistent cost inflation, combined with the impact of a La Nina weather pattern that drove a bigger crop with a greater mix of larger fruit that we'd planned for within our own production resulted in a delay to our seasonal transition to the Mexican production. Further, we did not have the normal benefit of the California crop in the fourth quarter, which was pulled forward this season as growers took advantage of the high pricing environment. This resulted in an unfavorable mix, lower relative pricing and temporary margin compression. Taken together, this presented a significant headwind for our per unit margins, which were well below our expectations and drove a 35% decrease in our fourth quarter consolidated adjusted EBITDA.

雖然幾乎整個財年都保持強勁的定價，但隨著墨西哥新產季的開始，第四財季的趨勢急劇逆轉，導致價格較第三財季下降約 35%。雖然這種連續的疲軟是預料之中的，但下降的速度超出了預期，導致我們本季的平均價格比去年同期下降了 10%。正如我們之前指出的，我們的業務是由數量驅動的。在正常的環境中，較低的價格往往會推動消費增量，特別是在新興市場。然而，這個環境卻很不正常。雖然我們第四季的銷售量成長了 6%，但我們的財務表現受到一系列變數的影響，這些變數削弱了我們推動歷史上產生的單位利潤率的能力。持續的成本上漲，加上拉尼娜天氣模式的影響，拉尼娜天氣模式推動了我們在自己生產中計劃的更大產量和更大水果的混合，導致我們向墨西哥生產的季節性過渡被推遲。此外，我們在第四季度沒有獲得加州作物的正常效益，由於種植者利用了高價格環境，本季的產量被提前。這導致了不利的組合、較低的相對定價和暫時的利潤壓縮。總而言之，這對我們的單位利潤率構成了重大阻力，遠低於我們的預期，並導致我們在第四季度綜合調整後 EBITDA 下降 35%。

That said, the numbers don't necessarily demonstrate the significant inroads we've made with our Peruvian programs and the strategic advantages that it affords us. During the 2022 harvest season, we converted several retailers to the Peruvian product for the first time. While the market environment was disruptive to our ability to capture the margin we traditionally expect, it was an ideal set of circumstances to demonstrate the value of our global sourcing network. Retailers were keenly aware of how the short industry supply led to high pricing and sought out alternatives. Through our vertically integrated production, we were able to establish programs with our retail customers where we can commit to substantial volumes of product at attractive price points. These programs are a huge win for Mission in a broader sense. We are deepening our relationship with major retail accounts through sound strategy and execution, demonstrating new pathways to drive profitable sales across their enterprises. We also reinforced the quality and consistency of our production with their consumers, which builds trust and opens future opportunities. And finally, we improved awareness and established a trusted alternative during Mexico's off-season. Mission's ability to deliver consistent, high-quality fruit during the Mexican off-season is a clear advantage of our vertical integration and is an example of how year-round sourcing capabilities are helping expand the avocado market.

也就是說，這些數字並不一定表明我們在秘魯計畫上取得的重大進展以及它為我們帶來的戰略優勢。在 2022 年收穫季節，我們首次將多家零售商轉售秘魯產品。雖然市場環境破壞了我們獲取傳統預期利潤的能力，但這是展現我們全球採購網路價值的理想環境。零售商敏銳地意識到行業供應短缺如何導致高定價，並尋找替代品。透過我們的垂直整​​合生產，我們能夠與零售客戶建立計劃，承諾以有吸引力的價格提供大量產品。從更廣泛的意義上來說，這些計劃是 Mission 的巨大勝利。我們正在透過健全的策略和執行深化與主要零售客戶的關係，展示推動其企業獲利銷售的新途徑。我們也加強了產品的品質和與消費者的一致性，這建立了信任並開啟了未來的機會。最後，我們提高了意識，並在墨西哥淡季建立了值得信賴的替代方案。 Mission 能夠在墨西哥淡季期間提供穩定、優質的水果，這是我們垂直整合的明顯優勢，也是全年採購能力如何幫助擴大酪梨市場的一個例子。

Supporting our global footprint remains critical for our growth strategy. We are leveraging our vertically integrated global supply chain and distribution capabilities to continue developing international markets. We are bringing our network of complementary assets that cover North America and Latin America to bear and are building on our presence in Europe as well with the addition of our hub in England. We have our team in place, and they are on track to open this new facility later in our fiscal second quarter, right in time to service the Peruvian harvest season. The facility's strategic location provides Mission with a unique access to the growing market in the United Kingdom for avocados while simplifying imports, logistics and expediting transit times. We've been working with retailers in the U.K. to grow the category direct access to high-quality right product through our source and distribution capabilities. Our vertical integration from our scaled production in South America positions us well to provide the European market with a year-round supply of high-quality avocados, and we aim to propel the avocado category forward in Europe just as we have in the U.S. market.

支持我們的全球足跡對於我們的成長策略仍然至關重要。我們正在利用垂直整合的全球供應鏈和分銷能力來繼續開發國際市場。我們正在利用覆蓋北美和拉丁美洲的互補資產網絡，並透過在英格蘭設立樞紐來鞏固我們在歐洲的業務。我們的團隊已經就位，他們預計在第二財季晚些時候開設這個新設施，正好為秘魯的收穫季節提供服務。該設施的戰略位置為 Mission 提供了進入英國不斷增長的酪梨市場的獨特途徑，同時簡化了進口、物流並加快了運輸時間。我們一直在與英國零售商合作，透過我們的採購和分銷能力，擴大直接獲得高品質合適產品的類別。我們在南美洲規模化生產的垂直整合使我們能夠為歐洲市場提供全年的高品質酪梨供應，我們的目標是像在美國市場一樣推動酪梨類別在歐洲的發展。

In Asia, we are leveraging our more than 35-year presence in Japan and existing Chinese distribution facilities to serve as a platform to build our Asian distribution network. Both of these regions present immense long-term growth opportunities for us with consumption rates that are a fraction of what the U.S. has grown into today. Ultimately, our ability to execute this consistently comes back to our year-round sourcing capabilities, which are extremely unique and a substantial competitive advantage for Mission. Our goal is to grow our access globally with consistent year-round supply. This is the key to supporting long-term consumption growth and is the catalyst to drive new market development. Mission has played a critical role in the industry's growth. It has required foresight and a constant focus and continuously assessing opportunities to optimize our sourcing capabilities with third-party growers as well as investing in our own farms to provide greater control over the quality and supply that our customers have come to expect.

在亞洲，我們利用我們在日本超過 35 年的業務以及現有的中國分銷設施作為構建亞洲分銷網絡的平台。這兩個地區都為我們提供了巨大的長期成長機會，其消費率只是美國今天的一小部分。最終，我們始終如一地執行這項任務的能力取決於我們的全年採購能力，這對 Mission 來說是極其獨特的，也是一個巨大的競爭優勢。我們的目標是透過全年穩定的供應來擴大我們的全球覆蓋範圍。這是支撐長期消費成長的關鍵，也是推動新市場開發的催化劑。使命在產業的發展中發揮了至關重要的作用。它需要遠見和持續關注，不斷評估機會，以優化我們與第三方種植者的採購能力，並投資我們自己的農場，以更好地控制我們的客戶所期望的品質和供應。

With respect to fiscal 2023, we see a more normal marketplace emerging, highlighted by better and more consistent supply conditions, which provides a constructive foundation for the industry to drive consumption and expand growth in new geographies. We are prepared to meet demand during the upcoming peak Super Bowl season and expect to produce improved operating performance for the full year in 2023.

就 2023 財年而言，我們看到一個更正常的市場正在出現，突出表現是更好、更穩定的供應條件，這為該行業在新地區推動消費和擴大成長提供了建設性基礎。我們已準備好滿足即將到來的超級盃賽季的需求，並預計 2023 年全年的營運業績將得到改善。

With that, I'll pass the call over to our CFO, Bryan Giles, for his financial commentary.

接下來，我會將電話轉給我們的財務長 Bryan Giles，聽取他的財務評論。

Thank you, Steve, and good afternoon to everyone on the call.

謝謝你，史蒂夫，祝所有參加電話會議的人下午好。

I'll start with a brief review of our fiscal fourth quarter performance and touch on some of the drivers within our 3 reportable segments. Then I'll provide a snapshot of our financial position and conclude with some thoughts on the current industry conditions that we are seeing.

我將首先簡要回顧我們第四季度的業績，並討論我們 3 個可報告部門中的一些驅動因素。然後，我將簡要介紹我們的財務狀況，並最後對我們所看到的當前行業狀況提出一些想法。

Total revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022 were essentially flat to the prior year at $238 million. However, note that current revenue was advantaged by approximately $10.5 million due to the blueberry consolidation that took place this year, but isn't reflected in the prior year period. When looking at the drivers of our avocado business for the quarter, revenue was driven by a 10% decrease in average per unit avocado sales prices due to a combination of higher industry supply and were exacerbated by an unfavorable mix of larger fruit from the company's own production in Peru. Avocado volumes sold increased 6%, primarily due to the company's larger Peruvian harvest as well as greater Mexican volume, partially offset by lower volumes from California.

2022 財年第四季的總營收為 2.38 億美元，與去年基本持平。然而，請注意，由於今年發生的藍莓整合，當前收入增加了約 1,050 萬美元，但並未反映在上一年期間。在審視本季酪梨業務的驅動因素時，我們發現，由於行業供應增加，每單位酪梨平均銷售價格下降 10%，而公司自產的較大水果的不利組合加劇了收入的增長。秘魯生產。酪梨銷量成長了 6%，主要是由於該公司秘魯產量增加以及墨西哥產量增加，但部分被加州銷售下降所抵消。

Fourth quarter gross profit decreased $6.9 million or 20% compared to the same period last year to $26.9 million, and gross profit percentage decreased 296 basis points to 11.3% of revenue. The decrease in gross profit was primarily driven by lower per unit margins in both the International Farming and Marketing and Distribution segments. International Farming segment margin was impacted primarily by significant cost inflation, including logistics, farming and packing expenses. These increased expenses accounted for nearly $0.15 per pound or approximately $3.50 per box. I would note, however, that we are seeing some signs of easing pressure on refrigerated ocean freight, which tend to lag that of dry containers. We aren't contracted yet, and we are watching this closely, but do expect some year-on-year savings in the coming year, which is encouraging.

第四季毛利為2,690萬美元，較去年同期下降690萬美元，即20%，毛利佔營收的比例下降296個基點，為11.3%。毛利下降主要是由於國際農業以及行銷和分銷部門的單位利潤率下降所致。國際農業部門的利潤率主要受到成本大幅上漲的影響，包括物流、農業和包裝費用。這些增加的費用佔每磅近 0.15 美元或每盒約 3.50 美元。然而，我要指出的是，我們看到冷藏海運壓力緩解的一些跡象，冷藏海運往往落後於乾貨貨櫃。我們尚未簽訂合同，我們正在密切關注這一情況，但預計來年會實現一些同比節省，這是令人鼓舞的。

Marketing and Distribution segment margin was pressured by the sharp deceleration of industry prices during the quarter and was lower than our targeted range. Further, we also experienced an impact on our per unit margin due to our lack of California fruit during the quarter. SG&A for the fourth quarter increased $4 million to $19.5 million due primarily to higher employee-related costs, driven by higher stock-based compensation expense and labor inflation as well as noncapitalizable ERP implementation costs and nonrecurring process reengineering costs related to the ERP system in our Marketing and Distribution segment. The consolidation of Moruga increased SG&A by $1.2 million, which included amortization of an intangible asset recognized at acquisition.

行銷和分銷部門的利潤率受到本季行業價格急劇減速的壓力，低於我們的目標範圍。此外，由於本季缺乏加州水果，我們的單位利潤率也受到了影響。第四季的銷售及管理費用(SG&A) 增加400 萬美元，達到1,950 萬美元，主要是由於股票薪酬費用和勞動力通膨增加以及與我們的ERP 系統相關的非資本化ERP 實施成本和非經常性流程重組成本導致員工相關成本增加。行銷和分銷部門。 Moruga 的合併使 SG&A 增加了 120 萬美元，其中包括收購時確認的無形資產的攤銷。

Net loss for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022 was $42 million or $0.59 per diluted share compared to net income of $16.9 million or $0.24 per diluted share for the same period last year and includes a noncash charge of $49.5 million related to goodwill impairment within the International Farming segment, which I will comment on in my discussion of the segment performance. Similarly, adjusted net income for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022 was $9.2 million or $0.13 per diluted share compared to $17 million or $0.24 per diluted share for the same period last year. And adjusted EBITDA was $17.2 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022 compared to $26.4 million for the same period last year, due primarily to lower per unit gross margins and higher SG&A costs noted above, partially offset by the impact of higher avocado volumes sold.

2022 財年第四季的淨虧損為4,200 萬美元，或稀釋後每股0.59 美元，而去年同期淨利為1,690 萬美元，或稀釋後每股0.24 美元，其中包括與國際公司商譽減損相關的4950 萬美元非現金費用農業部分，我將在討論該部分錶現時對此進行評論。同樣，2022 財年第四季調整後淨利為 920 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 0.13 美元，而去年同期為 1,700 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 0.24 美元。 2022 財年第四季調整後 EBITDA 為 1,720 萬美元，而去年同期為 2,640 萬美元，這主要是由於單位毛利率較低和上述 SG&A 成本較高，但部分被酪梨銷售增加的影響所抵銷。

Turning to our segments. Our Marketing and Distribution segment net sales decreased 4% to $221.2 million for the quarter, and segment adjusted EBITDA was $4 million. The drivers for the Marketing and Distribution segment are similar to those that I described for the consolidated results in relation to pricing, volume, per unit margins and SG&A. Our International Farming segment primarily represents our owned farms that we manage in Peru. Substantially all sales of fruit from the International Farming segment are to the Marketing and Distribution segment, with the remainder of revenue largely derived from services provided to third parties and the blueberry segment. Affiliated sales are concentrated in the second half of the fiscal year in alignment with the Peruvian avocado harvest season, which typically runs from April through August of each year. As a result, you see the International Farming segment emerge in third and fourth quarters and contribute to adjusted EBITDA in a significant fashion.

轉向我們的細分市場。我們的行銷和分銷部門本季淨銷售額下降 4%，至 2.212 億美元，部門調整後 EBITDA 為 400 萬美元。行銷和分銷部門的驅動因素與我在定價、銷售、單位利潤率和銷售管理費用等方面的綜合業績中描述的驅動因素類似。我們的國際農業部門主要代表我們在秘魯管理的自有農場。國際農業部門的幾乎所有水果銷售均銷往行銷和分銷部門，其餘收入主要來自向第三方和藍莓部門提供的服務。附屬銷售集中在本財年下半年，與秘魯酪梨收穫季節一致，通常從每年四月到八月。因此，您會看到國際農業部門在第三和第四季度出現，並對調整後的 EBITDA 做出了重大貢獻。

So with this in mind, total segment sales in the International Farming segment increased $9.4 million or 31% for the quarter compared to the same period last year, due primarily to higher affiliated sales due to an increase in avocado volume harvested and sold. Segment affiliated sales reflects the consideration return to the International Farming segment net of logistics costs, the most significant of which is ocean freight. When considering higher logistics costs along with ramping inflationary pressure across our growing operations, our margin suffered as a result. Segment adjusted EBITDA was $12.2 million, a 32% decrease from prior year, primarily due to lower per box margins driven by significant inflation, including logistics, farming and packing costs. While sales pricing was comparable to prior year, an unfavorable mix of larger fruit inhibited our ability to drive pricing higher.

因此，考慮到這一點，國際農業部門本季的總銷售額與去年同期相比增加了 940 萬美元，即 31%，這主要是由於酪梨收穫和銷售量增加導致附屬銷售額增加。分部附屬銷售反映了國際農業分部扣除物流成本後的對價回報，其中最重要的是海運成本。當考慮到物流成本上升以及我們不斷增長的業務中不斷加劇的通膨壓力時，我們的利潤率因此受到影響。部門調整後的 EBITDA 為 1,220 萬美元，比上年下降 32%，主要是由於通貨膨脹（包括物流、農業和包裝成本）導致每箱利潤下降。雖然銷售價格與去年相當，但較大水果的不利組合抑制了我們推高價格的能力。

During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022, we recorded a $49.5 million noncash impairment loss to reduce the carrying amount of goodwill associated with our Peruvian reporting unit within the International Farming segment. combination of variables, including inflationary impacts on our cost structure, increasing interest rates and higher enacted corporate tax rates in Peru and favorably impacted the discounted cash flow forecast for our Peruvian farming operation. As Steve said in his remarks, despite this turbulence we have recently experienced, we firmly believe that the investments we are making in our Peruvian farming operations are integral to supporting our customers and our long-term strategy.

在 2022 財年第四季度，我們記錄了 4,950 萬美元的非現金減損損失，以減少與國際農業部門秘魯報告單位相關的商譽帳面金額。各種變數的組合，包括通貨膨脹對我們成本結構的影響、秘魯利率上升和更高的企業稅率，並對我們秘魯農業業務的現金流量折現預測產生了有利影響。正如史蒂夫在演講中所說，儘管我們最近經歷了這種動盪，但我們堅信，我們對秘魯農業業務的投資對於支持我們的客戶和我們的長期策略是不可或缺的。

Our Blueberry segment reflects the results of Moruga's farming activities, which includes cultivating early-stage blueberry plantings and harvesting mature bushes. This product is marketed globally by our partner in the Moruga joint venture. For the fourth quarter, our Blueberry segment net sales were $10.5 million and segment adjusted EBITDA was $1 million. As a reminder, sales in our Blueberry segment are concentrated in the first and fourth quarters of our fiscal year in alignment with the Peruvian blueberry harvest season, which typically runs from July through January. Although relatively small in size, the blueberry harvesting season is asynchronous with the avocado harvesting season, allowing us to leverage our resources improve during the off-season for avocados.

我們的藍莓部門反映了莫魯加農業活動的成果，其中包括培育早期藍莓種植和收穫成熟的灌木叢。該產品由我們在 Moruga 合資企業的合作夥伴在全球銷售。第四季度，我們的 Blueberry 部門淨銷售額為 1,050 萬美元，部門調整後 EBITDA 為 100 萬美元。提醒一下，我們藍莓部門的銷售集中在本財年的第一季和第四季度，與秘魯藍莓收穫季節（通常從七月到一月）一致。儘管規模相對較小，但藍莓收穫季節與酪梨收穫季節不同步，使我們能夠在酪梨淡季期間利用我們的資源進行改善。

Shifting to our financial position. Cash and cash equivalents were $52.8 million as of October 31, 2022, compared to $84.5 million at our prior year-end. Net cash provided by operating activities was $35.2 million for fiscal year 2022 compared to cash provided of $47 million in the same period last year. Despite our weaker income performance, we were able to limit the effect of our operating cash flows to less than $12 million due to reductions in working capital, which were favorably impacted by lower per-unit fruit pricing toward the end of our fiscal year. Capital expenditures were $61.2 million for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022, compared to $73.4 million last year. Current year expenditures were concentrated in the purchase of farmland in Peru as well as land improvements and orchard development in Peru and Guatemala. Capital expenditures within our Marketing and Distribution segment were much lower following the completion of our Laredo facility in the prior year.

轉向我們的財務狀況。截至 2022 年 10 月 31 日，現金及現金等價物為 5,280 萬美元，而上年末為 8,450 萬美元。 2022 財年經營活動提供的現金淨額為 3,520 萬美元，而去年同期提供的現金為 4,700 萬美元。儘管我們的收入表現較弱，但由於營運資金減少，我們能夠將營運現金流的影響限制在 1200 萬美元以下，這受到本財年末單位水果定價下降的有利影響。截至 2022 年 10 月 31 日的財年資本支出為 6,120 萬美元，而去年為 7,340 萬美元。本年度的支出主要集中在秘魯購買農地以及秘魯和瓜地馬拉的土地改良和果園開發。繼去年拉雷多工廠完工後，我們行銷和分銷部門的資本支出大幅降低。

Looking ahead to fiscal 2023, we expect CapEx related to our core avocado business to be lower than fiscal 2022 with reduced investments in our farming operations in Peru being partially offset by spend associated with the construction of our new U.K. distribution center. That being said, we will incur additional costs as we ramp up development of the Moruga Blueberries project in the (inaudible) region of Peru. In terms of our near-term outlook, we are providing some context around our expectations for industry conditions to help inform your modeling assumptions as the business shifts back to the Marketing and Distribution segment. The industry is expecting first quarter volumes to be higher than prior year, primarily due to expectations for a larger Mexican harvest. We expect the overall Mexican crop will be approximately 20% higher than the prior year harvest season, but early season volumes are currently lagging that figure due primarily to low pricing in the market. We expect prices to be lower on a sequential basis, but consistent with pricing experienced in the latter part of the prior quarter. On a year-over-year basis, we expect to see pricing down approximately 20% to 25% as compared to the $1.56 per pound average we experienced in the prior year first quarter. As for our cost structure, we continue to battle the same inflationary pressures that have been well documented. These include freight, labor and packaging costs, among others, which create headwinds to our ability to drive per-unit margins and adjusted EBITDA.

展望 2023 財年，我們預計與核心酪梨業務相關的資本支出將低於 2022 財年，秘魯農業業務投資的減少將被我們新的英國配送中心建設相關的支出部分抵消。話雖如此，隨著我們加大秘魯（聽不清楚）地區莫魯加藍莓專案的開發力度，我們將產生額外成本。就我們的近期前景而言，我們將圍繞我們對行業狀況的預期提供一些背景信息，以幫助您在業務轉向營銷和分銷領域時做出建模假設。該行業預計第一季產量將高於去年同期，主要是由於預期墨西哥收成增加。我們預計墨西哥總產量將比去年收穫季節高出約 20%，但早季產量目前落後於這一數字，主要是由於市場價格較低。我們預計價格將環比下降，但與上一季後半段的定價一致。與去年同期相比，我們預計價格將比去年第一季每磅 1.56 美元的平均價格下降約 20% 至 25%。至於我們的成本結構，我們將繼續與有據可查的通膨壓力作鬥爭。其中包括運費、勞動力和包裝成本等，這對我們提高單位利潤率和調整後 EBITDA 的能力造成了阻力。

That concludes our prepared remarks. Operator, now over to you. Please open the call to Q&A.

我們準備好的演講到此結束。接線員，現在交給你了。請打開問答電話。

Thank you. We will now be conducting a question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions) Our first question is from Ben Bienvenu with Stephens.

謝謝。我們現在將進行問答環節。 （操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Ben Bienvenu 和 Stephens。

So you noted that there's still some lingering pressures from cost into the fiscal first quarter. What is your line of sight to that margin pressure alleviating and you getting back to your targeted margin per box range? Or maybe asked a different way, what do you need to see from an external environment to get back to that normal range of margin?

因此，您指出，第一財季的成本壓力仍然揮之不去。您對緩解利潤壓力以及回到每箱目標利潤範圍的看法是什麼？或者換個方式問，您需要從外部環境中看到什麼才能回到正常的利潤範圍？

Stability comes to mind. Yes. You know, Ben, I think one of the things we're seeing, I mean when we talked about inflation in the fourth quarter, the most significant impact was really in the farming side of the business, probably more so than our marketing piece. But there's no doubt that there are cost pressures that we're seeing there in terms of some of the overheads that we're working with. I think in terms of the buy sell on the fruit, which is typically the primary driver as to what our ultimate per box margins are on that marketing side of the business, I think right now, what we would like to see to Steve's point is a stable environment, stable pricing. I think we're starting to settle into that, but we're at very low price points right now. I think we would like to see some uptick in pricing, particularly as we move towards the Super Bowl. And again, as we've mentioned in the past, our volume does tend to be backloaded in the first quarter during that ramp up. So I do think that it's tough for us to make too many judgments on what we've seen so far in the early part of the quarter. I think we're still hopeful that as we kind of move through it that the margin environment does begin to improve.

我想到了穩定。是的。你知道，本，我認為我們看到的一件事，我的意思是，當我們談論第四季度的通貨膨脹時，最重大的影響實際上是在農業方面，可能比我們的行銷部分影響更大。但毫無疑問，我們正在處理的一些管理費用方面存在成本壓力。我認為就水果的買賣而言，這通常是我們在業務行銷方面的最終每箱利潤的主要驅動因素，我認為現在我們希望看到史蒂夫的觀點是環境穩定，價格穩定。我認為我們已經開始適應這一點，但我們現在的價格非常低。我認為我們希望看到價格有所上漲，特別是當我們走向超級盃時。再次，正如我們過去提到的，我們的銷量確實往往會在第一季的成長過程中回升。因此，我確實認為我們很難對本季初期迄今為止所看到的情況做出太多判斷。我認為我們仍然希望隨著我們的發展，利潤環境確實開始改善。

Okay. I want to ask about the impairment charge. Could you talk in a little bit more detail about what drove that impairment and kind of what the moving pieces are there?

好的。我想問一下減損費用。您能更詳細地談談造成這種損害的原因以及其中的動因嗎？

Sure thing, Ben. I think that the things that happened in particular, as we moved into kind of through the third quarter and into the fourth quarter, the market conditions that we're dealing with much higher cost of borrowing, much higher weighted average cost of capital associated with the rising interest rates. And again, when looking at goodwill, we have to look at discounted cash flows, not just absolute. We combine that with kind of what we saw in the sales market as we transition to the fourth quarter, I think we were experiencing cost inflation throughout Q3 and Q4. But in Q3, our average selling prices of fruit were significantly higher. And I think probably we had much more comfortable at that point that the higher sales prices were absorbing that cost growth. I think the decline that we saw in Q4 caused us to kind of be maybe scrutinize things a little more closely. And I think we wanted to be maybe a little more conservative in how we modeled going forward. So that certainly impacted the cash flows or our cash flow modeling. I will say the one other thing that's out there that actually happened in 2021 was the rising tax rates in Peru. Now that was something that didn't necessarily drive an impairment in the prior year, but it certainly consumed a significant amount of the headroom that we had when we looked at the valuation of that business. So I think those were kind of the primary drivers. I will say kind of on the back end that a lot of this goodwill came on the books in 2018 when we bought out our partner's interest and we didn't have an active liquid stock of Mission at that point in time, and that was really the currency that was used for making the acquisition. So in hindsight, there was probably some debate over the value that was assigned to Mission shares versus the farming operation right from the get-go that we probably carried forward.

當然可以，本。我認為，當我們進入第三季和第四季時，特別是發生了一些事情，我們正在應對更高的借貸成本、更高的加權平均資本成本的市場狀況。不斷上升的利率。再說一次，在考慮商譽時，我們必須考慮折現現金流，而不僅僅是絕對現金流。我們將其與我們在過渡到第四季時在銷售市場中看到的情況結合起來，我認為我們在整個第三季和第四季都經歷了成本通膨。但在第三季度，我們的水果平均售價明顯較高。我認為，那時我們可能會更放心，因為更高的銷售價格正在吸收成本成長。我認為我們在第四季度看到的下降使我們可能需要更仔細地審視事情。我認為我們希望在未來的建模方式上能更加保守一些。因此，這肯定會影響現金流或我們的現金流模型。我要說的是 2021 年實際發生的另一件事是秘魯稅率的上升。現在，這並不一定會導致上一年的減值，但它肯定消耗了我們在考慮該業務估值時擁有的大量淨空。所以我認為這些是主要驅動因素。我要說的是，在 2018 年，當我們買斷了合作夥伴的權益時，很多商譽都出現在賬面上，而我們當時沒有活躍的 Mission 流動庫存，這真的很糟糕。用於進行收購的貨幣。因此，事後看來，從我們可能會繼續進行的一開始，關於分配給使命股份與農業經營的價值可能存在一些爭論。

Okay. Just one more for me. I know you're not guiding specifically to EBITDA for 2023, but I think you mentioned you expect improved year-over-year performance in earnings. Just so you can give us rough goalposts. Are we thinking getting back to 2021 levels, getting back to 2020 levels? I know 2019 was exceptionally elevated. But just to help us set very rough parameters on kind of the slope of recovery in the business that you're currently expecting?

好的。只給我一個。我知道您並沒有專門指導 2023 年的 EBITDA，但我認為您提到您預計收益同比表現會有所改善。這樣您就可以提供我們粗略的球門柱。我們是否正在考慮回到 2021 年的水準、回到 2020 年的水準？我知道 2019 年的發展異常出色。但只是為了幫助我們設定您目前期望的業務復甦斜率的非常粗略的參數？

At this point, Ben, I don't think we're really prepared to provide anything too specific for the year as a whole. When we look kind of at a high level, we do expect volumes, as we said, at the industry level, to be much stronger out of Mexico this year, and Mexico is still the primary country of origin for the fruit that we work in, both in the U.S. and abroad. So we do expect there to be kind of favorable tailwinds from the volume growth. I think we certainly, in the first quarter last year had some onetime costs related to ERP that we think we put behind us when we moved into Q2. We don't expect that or would not expect that to recur this year. But on the flip side, I think as we move through the middle of this last year, we also saw very strong margins, particularly out of California with the very high price points. And I'm not sure if we have a more moderate pricing environment coming forward into this next year if that may have some offsetting impact. So it's tough for us at this point to really define exact parameters. I think that with volume growing, it will improve our capacity utilization, but we still will have capacity to grow far beyond, I believe, where we're going to get to this year. So I think that will continue to be a little bit of a drag and may cause some pressure that would prevent us from getting back to maybe where we were in prior periods. But I think the most important thing for us is to see stability, so we can start to kind of model on the marketing side of the business, what things might look like kind of as we move towards the back end of this first quarter. I think on the farming side, it's really kind of early for us. I think we don't have a complete estimate yet of what our farming production for the upcoming season is going to be. I think we'll know more as we kind of get to the end of the first quarter. And then certainly kind of looking at the dynamics at play with the other countries of origin to get a better sense as to what we think average selling prices might look like next summer.

在這一點上，Ben，我認為我們還沒有真正準備好為全年提供任何過於具體的內容。當我們從高水平來看時，正如我們所說，在行業層面，我們預計今年墨西哥的銷量將會強勁得多，而且墨西哥仍然是我們工作的水果的主要原產國，無論是在美國還是在國外。因此，我們確實預期銷售成長將會帶來某種有利的推動力。我認為去年第一季我們確實有一些與 ERP 相關的一次性成本，我們認為進入第二季後我們已經將這些成本拋在腦後了。我們預計今年不會出現這種情況，也不會出現這種情況。但另一方面，我認為去年年中我們也看到了非常強勁的利潤率，特別是在價格非常高的加州。我不確定明年是否會出現更溫和的定價環境，這是否會產生一些抵消影響。因此，目前我們很難真正定義準確的參數。我認為，隨著產量的成長，我們的產能利用率將會提高，但我相信，我們的產能成長仍將遠遠超出我們今年將達到的水平。因此，我認為這將繼續成為一個拖累，並可能造成一些壓力，阻止我們回到之前的狀態。但我認為對我們來說最重要的是看到穩定性，這樣我們就可以開始在業務行銷方面建立某種模型，當我們走向第一季末時，事情可能會是什麼樣子。我認為在農業方面，對我們來說確實還為時過早。我認為我們還沒有對即將到來的季節的農業產量有一個完整的估計。我想當第一季末時我們會知道更多。當然，我們也要關注與其他原產國的動態，以便更好地了解我們認為明年夏天的平均售價可能會是什麼樣子。

Our next question is from Tom Palmer with JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的湯姆·帕爾默。

Thanks for the question. I wanted to maybe first just follow up on the Peru impairment. Bryan, you highlighted kind of the factors that contributed to it being the higher cost of capital, the tax rate change, the lower earnings and the inflationary environment the second half of this year. I didn't hear mention, I guess, and I'm wondering to what extent this is a factor. Did you lower your earnings expectations above and beyond that tax rate change for future years. Was that a big factor? Or was it more of those other items? And therefore, kind of the underlying profitability of this business is still largely maintained.

謝謝你的提問。我想也許先跟進秘魯的減損情況。布萊恩，您強調了造成這種情況的因素包括今年下半年資本成本上升、稅率變化、收入下降和通膨環境。我想我沒有聽到提及，我想知道這在多大程度上是一個因素。您是否將您的收入預期降低到高於未來幾年稅率變化的水平？這是一個很大的因素嗎？或更多的是其他物品？因此，該業務的基本獲利能力仍在很大程度上得以維持。

I don't have all the calculations in front of me, Tom. I do know that the higher tax rates had a significant impact. I know that the higher weighted average cost of capital, which was 2.5 percentage points higher than what we were using back when we originally put the goodwill on the books had a meaningful impact kind of applying that over a very long period of time. I do think that when we're looking, there's certainly a recency bias and kind of looking at what happened this year, where overall, for the season, our average price on Peru is very comparable to what it was last year on a sell-through, but we looked at a much higher cost structure. And I think what we're debating internally is certainly is how that cost structure is going to come back down. I think there are some things where we're already starting to see that, but we don't know at what pace that reduction is going to happen with, for example, with something like ocean freight. I think with other items in our cost structure, things like fertilizer, we've also seen significant ramp-ups. And I think the key on some of those areas is to continue to drive up yields per hectare to try to absorb those costs as we continue to kind of wait for more favorable market conditions to, I think, as we move into future years. But I think it was difficult for us to predict exactly when those things were going to happen. And I think we felt a little uncomfortable taking very aggressive positions on that within our modeling.

湯姆，我面前沒有所有的計算。我確實知道較高的稅率產生了重大影響。我知道，較高的加權平均資本成本（比我們最初將商譽記入帳簿時使用的資本成本高出 2.5 個百分點）在很長一段時間內產生了有意義的影響。我確實認為，當我們尋找時，肯定存在新近偏差，並且會關註今年發生的情況，總體而言，本季，我們在秘魯的平均價格與去年的銷售價格非常相似-通過，但我們著眼於更高的成本結構。我認為我們內部論點的肯定是成本結構將如何下降。我認為在某些事情上我們已經開始看到這一點，但我們不知道減少的速度會是多少，例如海運等。我認為，對於我們成本結構中的其他項目，例如化肥，我們也看到了顯著的成長。我認為其中一些領域的關鍵是繼續提高每公頃的產量，以試圖吸收這些成本，因為我認為，隨著我們進入未來幾年，我們將繼續等待更有利的市場條件。但我認為我們很難準確預測這些事情何時會發生。我認為我們在模型中對此採取非常激進的立場感到有點不舒服。

Okay. Understood. You had some info in the 10-K on the planned Blueberry build-out, just the overall cost. How does the cost to plant blueberry compare to the cost to build out acres for avocados? Is it comparable?

好的。明白了。您在 10-K 中獲得了有關藍莓計劃擴建的一些信息，即總體成本。種植藍莓的成本與種植酪梨的成本相比如何？有可比性嗎？

I don't know the exact numbers, but it's a lot more expensive on the development side of it because you've got proprietary plants that another nursery grows compared to the avocado trees, which we grow ourselves and use the seed stock and the top stock from our own branches. But these are all proprietary varieties, which cost a lot of money upfront, but your production from what we've seen so far on these new varieties are over double of what the old varieties were and you can get a much higher sales price for them, especially in places like Asia. So I don't have the exact numbers on them. It's relevant, though.

我不知道確切的數字，但在開發方面要貴得多，因為與酪梨樹相比，你擁有另一個苗圃種植的專有植物，而我們自己種植酪梨樹，並使用種子和頂部庫存來自我們自己的分支機構。但這些都是專有品種，前期要花很多錢，但從我們目前看到的這些新品種的產量來看，你的產量是舊品種的兩倍以上，你可以獲得更高的銷售價格，尤其是在亞洲等地。所以我沒有他們的確切數字。不過，這是相關的。

50,000, 60,000...

五萬、六萬…

Yes. I mean probably... $50,000 an acre maybe or hectare.

是的。我的意思是可能...每英畝或公頃可能是 50,000 美元。

We're using the same people. It's kind of the same logic that we did earlier, except it's on a different ranch up north, which the timing comes off differently. So we're kind of spreading it out a little bit.

我們用的是同樣的人。這與我們之前所做的邏輯相同，只是它位於北部的另一個牧場，時間安排有所不同。所以我們有點分散它。

Understood. And then I just wanted to follow up on a comment you made about margin pressure due to a lack of California avocados. Could you maybe just elaborate on what you meant by that?

明白了。然後我只是想跟進您對由於缺乏加州酪梨而造成的利潤壓力的評論。能否詳細說明一下您的意思？

Sure. We generally make, from a contribution margin perspective, the country of origin in our marketing business where we tend to make the highest margin is with California when we're sourcing fruit here and running it through our Oxnard packing house. In a typical year for California, we're harvesting well into September, maybe even into October and selling California fruit through the entire quarter. So we're getting a benefit in that fourth quarter of having that California fruit as part of our sales mix. I think what we saw this year is because of the high prices, most California growers completed their harvest much earlier than normal. We finished packing here at our facility the first week of August. So we had very little selling volume that flowed through in our fourth quarter. And I would say that that was when we're talking about unfavorable impact, it was more of a mix-based comment that not having that California sales in there that's a higher margin to kind of bump things up relative to last year.

當然。從邊際貢獻率的角度來看，我們行銷業務的原產國通常是加州，當我們在這裡採購水果並透過我們的奧克斯納德包裝廠進行營運時，我們往往會在加州獲得最高的利潤。在加州的典型年份中，我們的收穫期會持續到九月，甚至可能持續到十月，並在整個季度銷售加州水果。因此，我們在第四季度將加州水果作為我們銷售組合的一部分而受益。我認為我們今年看到的情況是由於價格高，大多數加州種植者比正常情況提前完成了收穫。八月的第一周，我們在工廠完成了包裝。因此，我們第四季的銷量非常少。我想說的是，當我們談論不利影響時，這更多是一種基於混合的評論，即沒有加州的銷售，相對於去年來說，那裡的銷售利潤率會更高。

Our next question is from Bryan Spillane with Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Bryan Spillane。

So I guess just a more higher level question with regards to costs. And maybe this is more relevant for the International Farming segment than Marketing and Distribution. But I guess my question is just to the extent that there are higher nonfruit related costs, like overheads, labor, freight, shipping, like to the extent that the these elevated costs are more structural. If you get to that point, if that's the conclusion you draw, does that change the way you need to approach pricing with retailers to get back to sort of a stability but also getting back to a profit for box. And I guess what's underneath my question is just for most of the companies we follow, who are especially experiencing this with their upstream suppliers, what's happening is that their upstream suppliers are coming back to the vendors and saying, our labor costs are permanently higher. We think transportation is going to be permanently higher. And so whatever a pass-through was, right, there's an overhead component that's being adjusted upwards. And I guess my concern or my question is just if a lot of these costs are going to be more permanent, do we need to have maybe a different sort of reset in terms of how you think about pricing with retailers because it's more than just the volatility of the fruit. I hope that's clear.

所以我想這只是一個關於成本的更高層次的問題。也許這與國際農業領域比行銷和分銷更相關。但我想我的問題只是與非水果相關的成本較高，例如管理費用、勞動力、貨運、運輸，就像這些增加的成本更具結構性一樣。如果你達到這一點，如果這就是你得出的結論，這是否會改變你需要與零售商進行定價的方式，以恢復穩定，同時也恢復盒子的利潤。我想我的問題背後只是對於我們關注的大多數公司來說，他們特別是與上游供應商經歷過這種情況，正在發生的事情是他們的上游供應商回去找供應商說，我們的勞動力成本永遠更高。我們認為交通運輸將會永遠更高。因此，無論直通是什麼，對吧，都有一個開銷部分正在向上調整。我想我擔心或我的問題是，如果其中許多成本將變得更加永久性，我們是否需要在如何看待零售商的定價方面進行不同類型的重置，因為這不僅僅是水果的波動性。我希望這是清楚的。

No, you're absolutely right. We have to continue to pass it along, or we're not going to be here very long. So a lot of these contracts were set up early last year on freight. Fertilizer kept going up as the year went along. Labor kept going up as the year went along. As Bryan mentioned, the tax change in Peru. So it just kind of all boiled up, we're in an adjustment period now, and we'll continue to adjust until we get it right. But it kind of creeped up on us.

不，你說得完全正確。我們必須繼續傳遞它，否則我們不會在這裡待太久。因此，許多此類合約是去年初就貨運簽訂的。隨著時間的推移，化肥的用量不斷增加。隨著時間的推移，勞動力不斷增加。正如布萊恩所提到的，秘魯的稅收變化。所以一切都沸騰了，我們現在正處於調整期，我們將繼續調整，直到一切順利為止。但這有點悄悄地發生在我們身上。

Yes. I would say, Bryan, on the Marketing and Distribution side of the business, it's probably easier place to start. Absolutely. I mean, and I think we're already pushing, we're building that into our costing models, we've been doing it and we're pushing for higher pricing with retail. I think in environments where those kinds of costs are increasing, the advantage on the marketing side of the business is we can either work with the customer for higher pricing or we can work back with the grower to drive our input cost down. So it does give us a little more flexibility there. We're aware of it. But I think, certainly, at times when these things are going up, margins do tend to get pinched a little bit. But we don't view that as a long-term phenomenon. We view it more as a short term. I think when we look at the farming side of the business, certainly, we can see the cost growing. We don't have an ability to really lever like a fruit input cost like we do with the marketers. So the price with the customer is really the primary lever we have to drive margins when we're dealing with costs that we don't have direct control over. I think that over the long term, I think the way you're saying explaining it is absolutely going to come true. I mean there will be a balance of supply and demand and price points will settle in at a level that affords a reasonable profit to the grower. But in a short-term market like what we saw in the fourth quarter, that doesn't necessarily hold true. if the supply at that point, you've got fixed cost invested in the supply of the avocados is there, and the market is going to determine what they're going to pay for those. But I do believe and I believe very strongly that we both believe that over a longer period of time, that will settle in at a higher price point if those costs don't come back down.

是的。布萊恩，我想說，在業務的營銷和分銷方面，這可能是更容易開始的地方。絕對地。我的意思是，我認為我們已經在推動，我們正在將其納入我們的成本計算模型中，我們一直在這樣做，並且我們正在推動零售定價更高。我認為，在此類成本不斷增加的環境中，企業行銷方面的優勢是我們可以與客戶合作以獲得更高的價格，或者我們可以與種植者合作以降低我們的投入成本。所以它確實給了我們更多的彈性。我們知道這一點。但我認為，當然，當這些事情上升時，利潤率確實會受到一點擠壓。但我們並不認為這是長期現象。我們更多地將其視為短期。我認為，當我們關注農業方面的業務時，我們當然可以看到成本正在增長。我們沒有能力像行銷人員那樣真正利用水果投入成本。因此，當我們處理無法直接控制的成本時，與客戶的價格實際上是我們提高利潤的主要槓桿。我認為從長遠來看，我認為你所說的解釋方式絕對會實現。我的意思是，供需將達到平衡，價格點將穩定在為種植者提供合理利潤的水平。但在我們第四季看到的短期市場中，這不一定成立。如果那時供應充足，那麼你就在酪梨的供應上投入了固定成本，市場將決定他們將為這些產品支付多少費用。但我確實相信，而且我非常堅信，我們都相信，在較長一段時間內，如果這些成本不回落，價格就會上漲。

Yes. They're not all going to come back down.

是的。他們不會全部都回來。

Yes. Okay. So just maybe to tie that up, right, again, from the seats we're sitting in because we can't see all these costs, right? We can see the movement in avocado pricing. And I think it gets back to maybe Ben's question earlier. As we're thinking about getting back to a kind of a more whatever normalized profit per carton or profit per box, it's going to take some time because I guess, it sounds to me like it's really determining how much of these other overhead costs are going to be more permanent and how much are not. And so that dialog you're going to have with your customers to sort of dial that in right correctly, it's just going to take time. I mean that's what I'm hearing. I just want to make sure that I'm hearing that correctly.

是的。好的。因此，也許可以將其與我們所坐的座位聯繫起來，因為我們看不到所有這些成本，對嗎？我們可以看到酪梨定價的變動。我認為這可能又回到了本早些時候的問題。當我們考慮回到一種更標準化的每箱利潤或每箱利潤時，這將需要一些時間，因為我想，在我看來，這確實決定了這些其他管理費用的多少將會更加永久，但有多少不是。因此，您將與客戶進行對話以正確地撥入正確的訊息，這只是需要時間。我的意思是，這就是我所聽到的。我只是想確保我沒有聽錯。

Yes. I would say fuel might be the biggest variable. Labor will not come down. My guess...

是的。我想說燃料可能是最大的變數。勞動力不會下降。我猜...

Yes, I think you're spot on on that, Bryan. The things that are driving our cost structure up are not directly correlated today with what's going to drive sales pricing of avocados in the short term. Again, over a longer period of time, they absolutely will. But it takes time to adjust that. And I think I don't want to downplay the impact. I know Steve mentioned the size curve. We ended up with, we had much larger fruit that we were marketing this year that has it limits the outlets for it to some extent. There's retail wants for primarily a certain size avocado, I think of it like a bell curve, and we would call like a size 48 or 0.5 pound piece would be right in the middle. Ideally, what we want is the tree to produce 40%, maybe more a fruit that's in that size range and then fall off to each side of it. And that's not what we saw this year on our harvest in. And I think it got worse as the season moved on. Certainly, the fruit was sizing up. But as we harvested from some of our farms that were closer to the coast, which come later in the season, that's where we saw this larger size curve. And it inhibited our ability to kind of move that fruit into some of the predetermined programs. that we had set up earlier in the year. So I think we had a lot more fruit at the end later in the season that we had to move through kind of the broader market as opposed to our contractual pricing.

是的，我認為你說得對，布萊恩。如今，推動我們成本結構上升的因素與短期內推動酪梨銷售定價的因素並不直接相關。再說一遍，在更長的時間內，他們絕對會這樣做。但這需要時間來調整。我想我不想淡化其影響。我知道史蒂夫有提到尺寸曲線。我們最終發現，今年我們銷售的水果大得多，這在一定程度上限制了它的銷售管道。零售需求主要是特定尺寸的酪梨，我認為它就像一個鐘形曲線，我們認為尺寸為 48 或 0.5 磅的酪梨就在中間。理想情況下，我們想要的是樹產出 40% 的果實，也許更多的是這個大小範圍內的果實，然後掉落到樹的兩側。這並不是我們今年收成的情況。我認為隨著季節的推移，情況會變得更糟。當然，水果正在估量。但當我們從一些靠近海岸的農場收割時，這些農場是在季節晚些時候收穫的，這就是我們看到更大尺寸曲線的地方。它抑制了我們將這些成果轉移到某些預定程序的能力。我們在今年早些時候建立的。因此，我認為我們在本季末有更多的水果，我們必須透過更廣泛的市場而不是我們的合約定價。

The thing that got magnified there too is with larger fruit, you ended up with more boxes and more loads, and we just kind of stretched the season now because we didn't want to put a bubble in the hose there and that kind of backfired on us with Mexico coming on hot with cheap fruit. So...

那裡也被放大的事情是更大的水果，你最終會得到更多的盒子和更多的負載，我們現在只是延長了季節，因為我們不想在那裡的軟管中放一個氣泡，這會適得其反墨西哥正以廉價水果熱銷。所以...

And the sizing thing is more weather related, right? That's La Nina, just the weather conditions were like optimal to grow giant fruit.

尺寸的問題與天氣有關，對吧？這就是拉尼娜現象，只是天氣條件最適合種植巨型水果。

Yes. I mean, historically, Peru can get pretty warm in their summertime, which is our winter time, and the trees go dormant. And last year, it was cool and they never went dormant they grew the whole time. And by the time we tried to slow the inputs down, i.e., fertilizer and water, it was too late.

是的。我的意思是，從歷史上看，秘魯的夏季（也就是我們的冬季）會變得相當溫暖，樹木會進入休眠狀態。去年，天氣很涼爽，它們從未休眠，一直在生長。當我們試圖減緩肥料和水的投入時，為時已晚。

Too late. Got it. Got it. Okay. One last question for me is just I think in the press release, you talked about volume in Mexico being lower or, I guess, supply. Is that just simply are growers holding avocados because the prices are too low? Is that the simple explanation for that?

為時已晚。知道了。知道了。好的。我想問的最後一個問題是，我認為在新聞稿中，您談到墨西哥的銷量較低，或者我猜是供應量較低。種植者持有酪梨只是因為價格太低嗎？這是簡單的解釋嗎？

Well, there's fighting for size. Their size curve presently is pretty small, so they're kind of dragging their feet a little bit, but at the same time, the demand is, this is the slowest time of year between around Thanksgiving to Christmas and usually by right after Christmas, it picks up for New Year's and then Super Bowls after that, and it just keeps rolling after that. So this isn't really a surprise. We're ready to go. We're going to jump in...

嗯，存在著尺寸之爭。目前他們的尺寸曲線相當小，所以他們有點拖沓，但與此同時，需求是，這是一年中感恩節到聖誕節期間最慢的時間，通常是聖誕節後，它會在新年開始，然後是超級碗，之後就會繼續滾動。所以這並不奇怪。我們準備出發了。我們要跳進去...

I think there is, we expect a bigger crop for the season as a whole. It may not be linear in terms of up 20% all for every month during the season. I think the growth rate is lagging a little bit behind that right now, but the crop is there.

我認為是的，我們預計整個季節的收成會更高。賽季期間每個月都上漲 20%，這可能不是線性的。我認為現在的成長率有點落後，但作物就在那裡。

In Mexico, I mean, in their defense, they're probably not in a hurry because the prices are relatively low, and they're waiting for better size. So... That could...

我的意思是，在墨西哥，他們可能並不著急，因為價格相對較低，而且他們正在等待更好的尺寸。那麼...那可以...

Yes. Yes, that's a rational decision on their part.

是的。是的，這是他們的理性決定。

Okay. All right. Appreciate all the color.

好的。好的。欣賞所有的顏色。

Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, there are no further questions. I'd like to end the question-and-answer session and turn the conference call back over to management for any closing remarks.

女士們、先生們，現在沒有其他問題了。我想結束問答環節，並將電話會議轉回管理階層進行總結演講。

Well, thank you for your interest in Mission Produce and we look forward to speaking to all of you again soon. Thank you.

好的，感謝您對 Mission Produce 的興趣，我們期待很快能再次與大家交談。謝謝。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. We do thank you for attending. You may now disconnect your lines.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。我們非常感謝您的出席。現在您可以斷開線路。