超越肉類 (BYND) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the Beyond Meat, Inc. 2023 Second Quarter Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Also, please note that this event is being recorded today.

美好的一天，歡迎參加 Beyond Meat, Inc. 2023 年第二季度電話會議。 （操作員說明）另外，請注意，今天正在記錄此事件。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Paul Shepherd, Vice President of FP&A and Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

現在我想將會議交給 FP&A 和投資者關係副總裁 Paul Shepherd。請繼續，先生。

Thank you. Good afternoon, and welcome. Joining me on today's call are Ethan Brown, Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Lubi Kutua, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer.

謝謝。下午好，歡迎光臨。與我一起參加今天電話會議的還有創始人、總裁兼首席執行官伊森·布朗 (Ethan Brown)；首席財務官兼財務主管 Lubi Kutua。

By now, everyone should have access to the company's second quarter 2023 earnings press release filed today after market close. This document is available in the Investor Relations section of Beyond Meat's website at www.beyondmeat.com.

到目前為止，每個人都應該可以訪問該公司今天收盤後發布的 2023 年第二季度收益新聞稿。本文件可在 Beyond Meat 網站 www.beyondmeat.com 的投資者關係部分獲取。

Before we begin, please note that all the information presented on today's call is unaudited and that during the course of this call, management may make forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements.

在我們開始之前，請注意，今天電話會議中提供的所有信息均未經審計，並且在本次電話會議過程中，管理層可能會做出聯邦證券法含義內的前瞻性陳述。這些陳述基於管理層當前的預期和信念，涉及可能導致實際結果與這些前瞻性陳述中描述的結果存在重大差異的風險和不確定性。

Forward-looking statements in today's earnings release, along with the comments on this call, are made only as of today and will not be updated as actual events unfold. We refer you to today's press release, the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, the company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended July 1, 2023, to be filed with the SEC and other filings with the SEC for a detailed discussion of the risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made today.

今天的收益發布中的前瞻性陳述以及對本次電話會議的評論僅在今天做出，不會隨著實際事件的展開而更新。我們請您參閱今天的新聞稿，該公司截至2022 年12 月31 日的財政年度的10-K 表格年度報告，以及該公司截至2023 年7 月1 日的季度10-Q 表格的季度報告，將提交給美國證券交易委員會和向美國證券交易委員會提交的其他文件，詳細討論了可能導致實際結果與今天做出的任何前瞻性聲明中明示或暗示的結果存在重大差異的風險。

Please also note that on today's call, management may reference adjusted EBITDA, which is a non-GAAP financial measure. While we believe this non-GAAP financial measure provides useful information for investors, any reference to this information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information presented in accordance with GAAP. Please refer to today's press release for a reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA to its most comparable GAAP measure.

另請注意，在今天的電話會議上，管理層可能會參考調整後的 EBITDA，這是一項非 GAAP 財務指標。雖然我們相信這一非公認會計準則財務指標為投資者提供了有用的信息，但任何對此信息的引用都不應被孤立地考慮或作為根據公認會計準則提出的財務信息的替代品。請參閱今天的新聞稿，了解調整後 EBITDA 與其最具可比性的 GAAP 指標的對賬情況。

And with that, I would now like to turn the call over to Ethan Brown.

現在，我想將電話轉給伊森·布朗。

Thank you, Paul, and good afternoon, everyone. I will begin with a summary of our Q2 results. Net revenues in the second quarter came in at $102.1 million, which was down 31% year-over-year and slightly lower than we had forecast. This decline in net revenues reflected deeper headwinds than we previously anticipated, combined with the cycling of one of our largest quarters ever, among other factors. .

謝謝保羅，大家下午好。我將首先總結我們第二季度的業績。第二季度淨收入為 1.021 億美元，同比下降 31%，略低於我們的預期。淨收入的下降反映了比我們之前預期的更嚴重的阻力，再加上我們有史以來最大的季度之一的周期等因素。 。

The level and mix of our Q2 net revenues coupled with certain transitory items impacted our gross margin, which came in at 2.2%. These outcomes obscure the very strong progress we are making in positioning the business for sustainable operations and growth. We reduced COGS per pound by 14% or $0.73 year-over-year, reduced operating expenses by 33% or $27.5 million year-over-year and slash cash consumption down nearly 50% or $45.5 million year-over-year reflecting a business that is making early strides in implementation journey. Simply put, as we navigate what has proven to be a more prolonged crossover from early adoption to the mainstream than we anticipated, we are operating with increasing levels of efficiency.

我們第二季度淨收入的水平和組合以及某些臨時項目影響了我們的毛利率，毛利率為 2.2%。這些結果掩蓋了我們在定位業務以實現可持續運營和增長方面所取得的巨大進展。我們每磅的銷貨成本同比減少了 14% 或 0.73 美元，運營費用同比減少了 33% 或 2,750 萬美元，現金消耗同比減少了近 50% 或 4,550 萬美元，反映出我們的業務正在實施過程中取得早期進展。簡而言之，事實證明，從早期採用到主流的跨越時間比我們預期的要長，我們的運營效率也在不斷提高。

Before proceeding, I should note that as we continue to drive costs out of our organization and products alike, our updated and more cautious revenue outlook in the back half of the year will very likely delay our achievement of cash flow positive operations. Nevertheless, I want to stress that we will continue to aggressively internally manage the business toward the achievement of this objective. The net result should be sharply reduced cash consumption for the balance of 2023, as we move with pace to complete our cash flow positive milestone.

在繼續之前，我應該指出，隨著我們繼續降低組織和產品的成本，我們今年下半年更新且更加謹慎的收入前景很可能會推遲我們實現現金流量正運營的時間。儘管如此，我想強調，我們將繼續積極地進行內部業務管理，以實現這一目標。隨著我們加快完成現金流積極里程碑的步伐，最終結果應該是 2023 年剩餘時間的現金消耗大幅減少。

I will now turn briefly to the 3 central pillars upon which we are driving the business to future sustainable growth. With respect to the first pillar, that is the use of value streams across our beef, pork and policy platforms to support operating cost, ads reductions and margin expansion among other outcomes. We are still in the very early base of our lean utilization journey. However, the continued emphasis across the organization on the horizontal flow of value to customers is generating results. Some of the more visible outcomes include progress across COGS, operating expenses and cash consumption.

我現在將簡要談談我們推動業務實現未來可持續增長的三大核心支柱。關於第一個支柱，即利用我們的牛肉、豬肉和政策平台的價值流來支持運營成本、廣告減少和利潤率擴張等成果。我們仍處於精益利用之旅的早期階段。然而，整個組織對價值向客戶的橫向流動的持續重視正在產生成果。一些更明顯的成果包括銷貨成本、運營支出和現金消耗方面的進展。

With regard to the second pillar, the use of inventory reduction as a key lever towards achieving our cash flow positive objective, we continue to make solid progress, and in Q2, reduced inventory by $15.2 million or nearly 7% sequentially. Year-to-date, we have reduced total inventory by nearly $30 million or roughly 12%, bucking our historical trend, which typically sees a seasonal increase in inventory, first half of the year. As we look to the balance of the year, we will continue to aggressively manage inventory levels with the goal of releasing incremental cash.

關於第二個支柱，即利用減少庫存作為實現現金流積極目標的關鍵槓桿，我們繼續取得紮實進展，第二季度庫存減少了 1520 萬美元，即環比減少了近 7%。今年迄今為止，我們已將總庫存減少了近 3000 萬美元，即大約 12%，這與我們的歷史趨勢相反，歷史趨勢通常會在今年上半年出現庫存季節性增加。展望今年剩餘時間，我們將繼續積極管理庫存水平，以釋放增量現金。

Turning to our third pillar, which centers on near-term opportunities to restore top line growth, even as we nurture long-term partnerships, we are focused on 5 main levers: one, addressing the broader narrative around the category. Two, continuing to release new renovations, innovations that bring us closer to our north star of being indistinguishable from animal protein. Three, investing in resetting the retail fresh plant-based meat section. Four, implementing pricing learnings for the last 12 months. And five, supporting our largest strategic partners.

談到我們的第三個支柱，它的重點是恢復營收增長的近期機會，即使我們培育長期合作夥伴關係，我們也專注於5 個主要槓桿：第一，解決圍繞該類別的更廣泛的敘述。第二，繼續發布新的革新和創新，讓我們更接近與動物蛋白沒有區別的北極星。三是投資重置零售生鮮植物肉板塊。第四，實施過去 12 個月的定價學習。五是支持我們最大的戰略合作夥伴。

Though we recognize that there are broader economic headwinds at play, namely, inflation and higher interest rates that are squeezing spending power of the consumer, we are also acutely aware that there's ambiguity and confusion around the health benefits of plant-based meats that this is weighing on the category's growth. As a brand and category, we have significantly more work to do to reach the consumer on the health benefits of Beyond Meat and plant-based meats, respectively. There is a considerable gap between the strong health credentials of our products and a broader counter narrative that is now a foot, and this gap appears to have widened.

儘管我們認識到存在更廣泛的經濟逆風，即通貨膨脹和利率上升正在擠壓消費者的消費能力，但我們也敏銳地意識到，植物性肉類的健康益處存在模糊性和混亂性，這是對該類別的增長構成壓力。作為一個品牌和品類，我們還有很多工作要做，才能讓消費者分別了解 Beyond Meat 和植物性肉類的健康益處。我們產品的強大健康憑證與現在更廣泛的反面敘述之間存在相當大的差距，而且這種差距似乎已經擴大。

In the 2-year period 2020 to 2022, a percentage of U.S. consumers who believe plant-based meats are healthy, dropped from 50% to 38% according to the Food Marketing Institute. As was the case during the ascent of plant-based milk, this change in perception is not without encouragement from interest groups who have succeeded in seeding doubt and fear around the ingredients and process used to create our and other plant-based meats. Nor is it without contribution from well-meaning yet misguided comparisons of our products to kill salads versus the animal-based meats they are intended to replace.

根據食品營銷研究所的數據，在 2020 年至 2022 年的兩年期間，認為植物性肉類健康的美國消費者比例從 50% 下降至 38%。正如植物奶崛起期間的情況一樣，這種觀念的變化並非沒有利益集團的鼓勵，這些利益集團成功地對用於製造我們和其他植物性肉類的成分和工藝產生了懷疑和恐懼。我們將我們用於殺死沙拉的產品與它們打算取代的動物性肉類進行了善意但誤導性的比較，這也有所貢獻。

It is in this latter framing that we belong and excel, with clear nutritional advantages, including no cholesterol, lower levels of saturated fats, the absence of antibiotics, hormones and other veterinary drugs, the absence of carcinogenic compounds such as heterocyclic amines in the absence of precursors to TMAO, a compounded researchers have associated with heart disease and certain cancers.

正是在後一種框架中，我們屬於並出類拔萃，具有明顯的營養優勢，包括不含膽固醇、飽和脂肪含量較低、不含抗生素、激素和其他獸藥、不含致癌化合物（如雜環胺） 。研究人員發現，TMAO 前體與心髒病和某些癌症有關。

We are attacking this misinformation by continuing to build a body of research, such as our work with Stanford School of Medicine, which, as you will recall, showed important declines in LDL or bad cholesterol, and the aforementioned TMAO after only 8 weeks of replacing animal meats with Beyond Meat and through collaborations such as that with the American Cancer Society, where we are supporting broader studies on plant-based meats and related health outcomes.

我們正在通過繼續建立一系列研究來打擊這種錯誤信息，例如我們與斯坦福大學醫學院的合作，您可能還記得，該研究顯示LDL 或壞膽固醇的顯著下降，以及上述TMAO 在僅替換8 週後通過與 Beyond Meat 合作以及與美國癌症協會等合作，我們支持對植物性肉類和相關健康結果進行更廣泛的研究。

Our efforts also include third-party engagement, such as the American Heart Association's first-ever certification of a plant-based meat Beyond Steak as a heart-healthy food as well as work with registered dieticians and nutritionists for purposes of educating consumers about the strong health benefits of plant-based meats.

我們的努力還包括第三方參與，例如美國心臟協會首次將植物肉 Beyond Steak 認證為心臟健康食品，並與註冊營養師和營養師合作，向消費者宣傳強效植物肉的知識。植物性肉類的健康益處。

Last week, we launched a campaign long in the making called There's Goodness Here, that shares and celebrates the farming origins of our ingredients and describes our process for turning plants into plant-based meat. The first installment of the campaign features one of our (inaudible) farmers and connects the consumers to the fields where our protein has grown while explaining the clean and simple steps we use to build our plant-based meats. As you can likely tell, we are proud of our process and ingredients and are confident that the more consumers know, the more they will see the goodness in what we do.

上週，我們發起了一項醞釀已久的活動，名為“There’s Goodness Here”，該活動分享和慶祝我們原料的農業起源，並描述我們將植物轉化為植物性肉類的過程。該活動的第一部分以我們的一位（聽不清）農民為主角，將消費者與我們生產蛋白質的田地聯繫起來，同時解釋我們用來生產植物性肉類的干淨而簡單的步驟。正如您可能知道的那樣，我們對我們的工藝和成分感到自豪，並相信消費者知道的越多，他們就越會看到我們所做的事情的優點。

Goodness for the soil due to the natural fixing nature of lagoons that helps keep fields healthy and productive. Goodness for the farmer who can use less fertilizer as a result. Goodness for the earth, given the much lower greenhouse gas, water, land and energy footprint and goodness for the consumer who can enjoy the dishes they love or reaping the health benefits of our plant-based meat.

由於潟湖的自然固定特性，對土壤有益，有助於保持田地健康和生產力。這對農民來說是件好事，因為他們可以減少肥料的使用。這對地球有好處，因為溫室氣體、水、土地和能源足跡要低得多，也有利於消費者，讓他們可以享受他們喜歡的菜餚或從我們的植物肉中獲得健康益處。

In the area of innovation and renovation, the key parts of the Beyond Meat's rapid and relentless innovation program is to improve each of our pillars of beef, pork and poultry over time so that one day, they are indistinguishable from their animal protein counterparts. This is a goal that we share with consumers, with 53% of all consumers agreeing that plant-based protein products should taste indistinguishable from meat according to recent data from [Intel]. The good news is we continue to make strong strides in this direction, all against a static target.

在創新和革新領域，Beyond Meat 快速而不懈的創新計劃的關鍵部分是隨著時間的推移改進我們的牛肉、豬肉和家禽的每一個支柱，以便有一天，它們與動物蛋白同類產品沒有區別。這是我們與消費者共同的目標，根據[英特爾]的最新數據，53% 的消費者同意植物蛋白產品的味道應該與肉類沒有區別。好消息是，我們繼續朝著這個方向邁出強勁的步伐，所有這些都是針對靜態目標的。

In Q2 alone, we released a series of important iterations within our core platforms of pork and beef. One, we launched what we internally call Sausage 3, refrigerated plant-based meat section, where Beyond Meat remains the number 1 selling brand according to SPINS for the latest 12 weeks ending 7/16/'23.

僅在第二季度，我們就在豬肉和牛肉核心平台中發布了一系列重要的迭代。第一，我們推出了內部稱為 Sausage 3 的冷藏植物性肉類產品，根據 SPINS 的數據，截至 2023 年 7 月 16 日的最近 12 週，Beyond Meat 仍然是銷量第一的品牌。

We are pleased with and point to early feedback on a renovated dinner sausage product as evidenced that despite current headwinds, we steadfastly march forward against our promise of enabling consumers to eat what you love, while simultaneously having a positive impact on your health, on the climate, environment and animal welfare.

我們對翻新晚餐香腸產品的早期反饋感到滿意，並指出，儘管目前存在阻力，但我們堅定不移地踐行我們的承諾，即讓消費者吃到您喜歡的東西，同時對您的健康、對您的健康產生積極影響。氣候、環境和動物福利。

Earlier this summer, the tasting table posted review that captures the results of our latest sausage renovation efforts, which apparently went beyond the indistinguishable goalpost, the title of which reads the revamped Beyond (inaudible) and hot Italian sausage are shockingly better than pork links.

今年夏天早些時候，品酒桌發布了評論，其中記錄了我們最新的香腸改造工作的結果，這顯然超出了難以區分的球門柱，其標題寫著改造後的超越（聽不清）和熱意大利香腸比豬肉鏈接要好得多。

We are pleased it is the #1 selling plant-based dinner sausage in retail according to SPINS data for the latest 12-week period ending 7/16/'23 and have rolled this renovation out to food service as well. Two, we are providing consumers with a sneak peek of our latest beef formula in the form of a soft launch of Beyond Stack Burger at Kroger and select Albertsons as well as new seasons in Northern California. Like our renovated dinner sausage, this newest iteration of our burger represents the latest in our flavor and texture advances and is winning early praise.

根據截至 2023 年 7 月 16 日的最新 12 週 SPINS 數據，我們很高興它成為零售業銷量排名第一的植物性晚餐香腸，並將這一革新推廣到食品服務領域。第二，我們通過在克羅格試行推出 Beyond Stack Burger 和精選艾伯森漢堡以及北加州的新季節產品，讓消費者搶先體驗我們最新的牛肉配方。與我們翻新的晚餐香腸一樣，這款漢堡的最新版本代表了我們在口味和質地方面的最新進步，並贏得了早期的讚譽。

We further took this taste and texture innovation to food service as the Beyond Smashable Burger. Lastly, even as the Beyond Burger is the #1 selling plant-based burger across retail, according to SPINS for the latest 12-week period ending 7/16/'23, we are actively working on our next iteration, the Beyond Burger 4. We're incorporating certain elements of the Beyond Stack and Beyond Smashable Burger. Accordingly, we are watching consumer and customer reactions closely and are excited by early results.

我們進一步將這種口味和質地創新應用到餐飲服務中，稱為“Beyond Smashable Burger”。最後，根據 SPINS 截至 2023 年 7 月 16 日的最新 12 週期間的數據顯示，儘管 Beyond Burger 是零售業銷量排名第一的植物性漢堡，但我們仍在積極開發下一代產品 Beyond Burger 4 .我們正在整合Beyond Stack 和Beyond Smashable Burger 的某些元素。因此，我們正在密切關註消費者和客戶的反應，並對早期結果感到興奮。

In the frozen section, we continue to expand distribution on one of our new renovations beyond steak, which is the #1 selling new plant-based meat item at retail, according to SPINS data for the 12-week period ended 7/16/'23. Interestingly, recent data from a regional chain showed that more than 50% of households that bought Beyond Steak were new to the plant-based meat category and the 2 out of 3 households repurchased Beyond Steak, reinforcing that this is a product that is resonating with consumers.

在冷凍區，我們繼續擴大牛排以外新裝修產品的分銷範圍，根據截至 7 月 16 日的 12 週期間的 SPINS 數據，牛排是零售中銷量排名第一的新植物肉產品23.有趣的是，最近來自某區域連鎖店的數據顯示，超過50% 購買Beyond Steak 的家庭是植物肉品類的新手，三分之二的家庭會重新購買Beyond Steak，這表明這是一款與消費者產生共鳴的產品。消費者。

For our newest renovations and distribution expansions and the balance of our product portfolio across retail, we are increasing our investment in in-store execution, particularly in the U.S. In the turbulence of the last 4 years with the pandemic changing consumer behaviors, high inflation and the entrance and exit of competitive players in the plant-based meat section, a reset and regrounding, particularly in the refrigerated meat case is overdue.

為了實現我們最新的翻新和分銷擴張以及整個零售領域產品組合的平衡，我們正在增加對店內執行的投資，特別是在美國。在過去4 年的動盪中，大流行改變了消費者行為，高通脹和植物性肉類領域競爭者的進入和退出、重置和重新定位，特別是在冷藏肉類領域，早就該進行了。

We recognize that the once clearly demarcated plant-based sections of the fresh meat case can be in certain retailers, far less defined today. In addition to working with retailers on this issue, we are doubling down on field resources to focus on shelf availability and presentation as we bring new renovations to market. As you may recall, a little over 4 years ago, we set a goal that within 5 years, we will be able to produce and sell at a cost and price, respectively, that is at parity with animal protein for at least 1 product in 1 of 3 platforms of beef, pork and poultry. I'm pleased to share that we are indeed doing that now with a meaningful product in food service and expect to be able to report more of the same over the next year.

我們認識到，曾經明確劃分的鮮肉櫃中的植物性部分可能在某些零售商中存在，但如今的定義要少得多。除了在這個問題上與零售商合作外，當我們將新的翻新產品推向市場時，我們還加倍投入現場資源，重點關注貨架的可用性和展示。您可能還記得，四年多前，我們設定了一個目標，即在 5 年內，我們將能夠分別以與動物蛋白同等的成本和價格生產和銷售至少 1 種產品。牛肉、豬肉和家禽的3個平台之一。我很高興地告訴大家，我們現在確實正在通過食品服務領域的有意義的產品來做到這一點，並期望能夠在明年報告更多相同的產品。

In the last 12 months of pricing exercises, we've learned more about different elasticities across our product lines. These elasticities may support a more varied approach to pricing, that will enable us to more aggressively restore margins even as we move toward price parity where it matters most. We are pleased to see the continuation of the McPlant Nugget alongside the McPlant Burger in the German market as well as the McPlant burger across the U.K., Ireland, Austria, Netherlands, Portugal and the most recent introduction, Malta. As the McPlant platform takes hold, it is fun to see countries such as Austria build and promote unique McPlant Burger offerings such as Steakhouse Burger and McPlant Fresh. We believe the success of the McPlant platform in the EU speaks to consumer and government recognition that plant-based meats are a powerful tool in addressing climate and broader environmental concerns. We're investing in team, innovation and partnerships in the EU to be able to serve this growing trend.

在過去 12 個月的定價練習中，我們更多地了解了我們產品線的不同彈性。這些彈性可能支持更多樣化的定價方法，這將使我們能夠更積極地恢復利潤，即使我們在最重要的地方走向價格平價。我們很高興看到 McPlant Nugget 與 McPlant Burger 一起繼續在德國市場上銷售，並在英國、愛爾蘭、奧地利、荷蘭、葡萄牙以及最近推出的馬耳他市場上銷售。隨著 McPlant 平台的站穩腳跟，我們很高興看到奧地利等國家建立並推廣獨特的 McPlant Burger 產品，例如 Steakhouse Burger 和 McPlant Fresh。我們相信 McPlant 平台在歐盟的成功表明消費者和政府認識到植物性肉類是解決氣候和更廣泛的環境問題的有力工具。我們正在歐盟投資於團隊、創新和合作夥伴關係，以便能夠服務於這一不斷增長的趨勢。

Before closing out, I want to emphasize how at Beyond Meat, we view the current category trough and how this perspective informs the strategy and tenor behind our response. Like many innovative disruptions throughout history, what we initially thought was going to be a quicker pace of mainstream adoption has proven to be slower.

在結束之前，我想強調一下，在 Beyond Meat，我們如何看待當前的品類低谷，以及這種觀點如何影響我們應對策略和主旨。就像歷史上的許多創新顛覆一樣，我們最初認為主流採用的速度會更快，但事實證明速度較慢。

In my comments today, I emphasize familiar points of focus for us as we navigate the CASM between early adopters and mainstream consumers, continuing to improve products toward our true north, amplifying our health message to counter incumbent industry positioning and noise while educating the consumer. And lastly, collapsing the cost structure of our product lines to improve margins and where it matters most, offer product at parity to animal protein. Continue to pursue each of these levers while focusing on increasing operational efficiency, driving COGS reductions and sharply limiting cash consumption along our path to cash flow positive operations.

在今天的評論中，我強調了我們在早期採用者和主流消費者之間導航CASM 時所熟悉的焦點，繼續改進產品以實現真正的目標，放大我們的健康信息以對抗現有的行業定位和噪音，同時教育消費者。最後，壓縮我們產品線的成本結構以提高利潤，最重要的是提供與動物蛋白同等的產品。繼續利用這些槓桿，同時專注於提高運營效率、推動銷售成本降低並大幅限制現金消耗，以實現現金流積極運營。

Though we believe equally in the 4 social goods behind our brand, human health, climate, natural resource conservation and animal welfare, one cannot help but notice the urgent intensification of climate dialogue across global leadership and societies, with what may be the hottest period on record in the last 120,000 years and the many well-covered heat wave storms, fires and other extreme weather events across the planet this summer. The abstract notion of climate change is increasingly tangible to the everyday consumer.

儘管我們同樣相信我們品牌背後的四大社會公益：人類健康、氣候、自然資源保護和動物福利，但我們不禁注意到，全球領導層和社會之間的氣候對話正在緊急加強，這可能是最熱門的時期。過去 12 萬年的記錄以及今年夏天全球範圍內多次發生的熱浪風暴、火災和其他極端天氣事件。氣候變化的抽象概念對於日常消費者來說越來越具體。

The greater use of plant-based meat is a powerful tool in our global response, particularly because it targets greenhouse gases, namely, nitrous oxide and methane that are not only highly potent but also the removal of which can have a more immediate impact on slowing climate change due to their shorter residency in the atmosphere. We believe the transition to a more plant-based food system is not only inevitable, but gaining urgency that despite current challenges of a nascent category and brand, we are highly confident that Beyond Meat is well positioned to play a leading role.

更多地使用植物性肉類是我們全球應對措施的有力工具，特別是因為它針對的是溫室氣體，即一氧化二氮和甲烷，它們不僅非常有效，而且消除它們可以對放緩產生更直接的影響由於它們在大氣中的停留時間較短而導致氣候變化。我們相信，向植物性食品體系的過渡不僅是不可避免的，而且變得越來越緊迫，儘管新興品類和品牌目前面臨挑戰，但我們非常有信心 Beyond Meat 能夠發揮主導作用。

With that, I'll turn it over to Lubi, our Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, to walk us through second quarter financial results in greater detail as well as update our outlook for 2023.

接下來，我將把它交給我們的首席財務官兼財務主管 Lubi，讓我們更詳細地了解第二季度的財務業績，並更新我們對 2023 年的展望。

Thanks, Ethan. On the surface, Q2 was a disappointing quarter for us as net revenues and gross profit fell short of our expectations. However, as I will discuss shortly, several factors are indicative of the continued progress we are making in improving the intrinsic operating performance of our business, giving us reason to be optimistic for the long term. These factors include our underlying gross margin performance when adjusted for certain transitory impacts, our ongoing progress on cost containment and operating expense management, our fifth consecutive quarter of inventory reduction and the steep reduction of our overall cash consumption year-over-year. Although the operating environment within our sector is proving more challenging than previously anticipated, we believe the foundational work against which we are making good progress will better position our company to capitalize on the opportunity ahead of us.

謝謝，伊森。從表面上看，第二季度對我們來說是一個令人失望的季度，因為淨收入和毛利潤均低於我們的預期。然而，正如我將很快討論的那樣，有幾個因素表明我們在改善業務的內在運營績效方面正在不斷取得進展，這使我們有理由對長期保持樂觀。這些因素包括我們根據某些暫時性影響進行調整後的基本毛利率表現、我們在成本控制和運營費用管理方面的持續進展、我們連續第五個季度的庫存減少以及我們整體現金消耗的同比大幅減少。儘管我們行業內的運營環境比之前預期的更具挑戰性，但我們相信，我們正在取得良好進展的基礎工作將使我們的公司更好地利用我們面前的機會。

Let me now dive into our Q2 financial results in a bit more detail. Beginning with net revenues. Volume of products sold declined by 23.9% year-over-year, while net revenue per pound decreased 8.6% year-over-year resulting in an overall net revenue decline of 30.5% compared to the prior year period. On an absolute basis, the decrease in volume of products sold was primarily driven by the decline in our U.S. retail channel and, to a lesser extent, a decline in U.S. food service.

現在讓我更詳細地介紹我們第二季度的財務業績。從淨收入開始。產品銷量同比下降 23.9%，每磅淨收入同比下降 8.6%，導致整體淨收入較上年同期下降 30.5%。從絕對數量來看，產品銷量的下降主要是由於我們美國零售渠道的下降以及美國食品服務的下降造成的。

In U.S. retail, the decline in volume primarily reflected weaker-than-expected demand in the category, cycling of significant Jerky sell-in in the year ago period and, to a lesser extent, the impact from competition. U.S. Foodservice was similarly impacted by weak overall demand and a difficult year-over-year comparison as Q2 2022 was a particularly strong quarter for U.S. Foodservice driven by restocking of that channel following its reopening post COVID.

在美國零售業，銷量下降主要反映了該類別的需求弱於預期、去年同期大量的肉乾銷售週期以及較小程度上的競爭影響。美國食品服務業同樣受到整體需求疲軟和同比困難的影響，因為 2022 年第二季度對美國食品服務業來說是一個特別強勁的季度，原因是該渠道在新冠疫情后重新開放後重新進貨。

With respect to pricing, the roughly 9% year-over-year decrease in net revenue per pound was primarily attributable to changes in product sales mix and increased trade discounts, partially offset by reduced sales to discount channels, which suppressed price realization of certain items in the year ago period. As it relates to product sales mix, relative underperformance of our core products, namely burgers, ground beef and dinner sausage generally has a negative impact on net price realization for our business.

在定價方面，每磅淨收入同比下降約 9%，主要是由於產品銷售結構的變化和貿易折扣增加，部分被折扣渠道銷售減少所抵消，從而抑制了某些商品的價格實現在一年前的時期。由於與產品銷售組合有關，我們的核心產品（即漢堡、碎牛肉和餐用香腸）的相對錶現不佳通常會對我們業務的淨價格實現產生負面影響。

As for trade discounts, special promotional programs intended to attract new users to our category drove a meaningful increase year-over-year. Although these programs showed initial promise, they did not scale well at retail and ultimately did not bring about the desired increase in new category users. We will be refocusing our promotional spending in view of these learnings from these programs.

至於商業折扣，旨在吸引新用戶加入我們類別的特殊促銷計劃推動了同比的顯著增長。儘管這些計劃最初顯示出希望，但它們在零售領域的擴展效果不佳，最終沒有帶來新類別用戶的預期增長。鑑於從這些計劃中學到的經驗教訓，我們將重新調整我們的促銷支出。

Moving on to gross margin. Our Q2 gross profit was $2.3 million or gross margin of 2.2% of net revenues. Although this represents over 6 points of margin improvement versus the year ago period, including the impact on depreciation expense from the change in our accounting estimate associated with the estimated useful lives of our large manufacturing equipment fell short of our previously stated expectation to drive sequential margin improvement throughout the year.

轉向毛利率。我們第二季度的毛利潤為 230 萬美元，毛利率為淨收入的 2.2%。儘管與去年同期相比，利潤率提高了 6 個百分點以上，但包括與大型製造設備的預計使用壽命相關的會計估計變化對折舊費用的影響，仍低於我們之前提出的推動連續利潤率的預期全年都有所改善。

Gross profit and gross margin were positively impacted by lower materials costs, lower inventory reserves and lower logistics cost per pound, partially offset by higher manufacturing costs, excluding depreciation, and as I just discussed, lower net revenues per pound.

毛利潤和毛利率受到較低的材料成本、較低的庫存儲備和較低的每磅物流成本的積極影響，部分被較高的製造成本（不包括折舊）以及正如我剛才討論的每磅淨收入的降低所抵消。

Total COGS improved by $0.73 per pound year-over-year, and we are pleased to see our cost down initiatives yielding savings on materials costs and the reduction in logistics costs that tests to some of the early results from our network consolidation strategy.

總銷貨成本每磅同比提高了 0.73 美元，我們很高興看到我們的成本降低計劃節省了材料成本並降低了物流成本，這測試了我們網絡整合策略的一些早期結果。

Within manufacturing costs, overall success in reducing tolling fees on a year-over-year basis was partially offset by underutilization fees, which we view as transitory of approximately $800,000, driven by softer demand and some start-up delays as we ramped up production lines within a new co-manufacturing site. And COGS this quarter was negatively impacted by the flow-through of higher cost inventory produced in the fourth quarter of last year when we curtailed production volume in response to weak demand resulting in the capitalization of inventory bearing high labor and overhead costs.

在製造成本方面，通行費逐年降低的整體成功被未充分利用費用部分抵消，我們認為，由於需求疲軟以及我們擴大生產線而導致的一些啟動延遲，我們認為這一費用是暫時的，約為 800,000 美元在一個新的聯合製造基地內。本季度的銷貨成本受到去年第四季度生產的成本較高的庫存流通的負面影響，當時我們因需求疲軟而減少了產量，導致庫存資本化，導致高勞動力和管理費用。

Turning to operating expenses. We saw a year-over-year reduction of 33% from $83.5 million in the second quarter of 2022 to $56 million in this quarter. The main drivers of this were reduced nonproduction headcount expenses, primarily as a result of the reduction in force implemented in October 2022, lower legal and consulting fees, decreased production trial expenses and lower outbound freight costs. This also represented a sequential quarterly reduction of 12%. We are pleased with our team's continued diligence in keeping costs contained, reflecting early success in our ongoing adoption of lean management principles.

轉向運營費用。我們發現，從 2022 年第二季度的 8350 萬美元降至本季度的 5600 萬美元，同比減少了 33%。其主要驅動因素是非生產人員費用的減少（主要是由於 2022 年 10 月實施的人員減少）、法律和諮詢費用的降低、生產試驗費用的減少以及出境貨運成本的降低。這也意味著季度環比下降 12%。我們對我們的團隊在控製成本方面的持續努力感到高興，這反映出我們在持續採用精益管理原則方面取得了早期成功。

Moving further down the P&L. In other expense income, we benefited from meaningfully lower realized and unrealized foreign currency losses as well as higher net interest income year-over-year. In addition, loss from our unconsolidated joint venture, TPP was lower year-on-year, reflecting very limited economic activity in the JV this quarter as we continue to transition our Jerky business to Beyond Meat. Overall net loss was, therefore, $53.5 million in the second quarter of 2023 or net loss per common share of $0.83 compared to net loss of $97.1 million or $1.53 per common share in the year ago period.

進一步降低損益表。在其他費用收入方面，我們受益於已實現和未實現的外匯損失大幅降低以及淨利息收入同比增加。此外，我們未合併的合資企業 TPP 的虧損同比有所下降，反映出隨著我們繼續將肉乾業務轉向 Beyond Meat，該合資企業本季度的經濟活動非常有限。因此，2023 年第二季度的總體淨虧損為 5350 萬美元，或每股普通股淨虧損 0.83 美元，而去年同期淨虧損為 9710 萬美元，或每股普通股淨虧損 1.53 美元。

Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $40.8 million or negative 40% of net revenues in the second quarter of 2023 compared to an adjusted EBITDA loss of $68.8 million or a negative 46.8% of net revenues in the year ago period.

2023 年第二季度調整後 EBITDA 虧損 4080 萬美元，即淨收入負 40%，而上年同期調整後 EBITDA 虧損 6880 萬美元，即淨收入負 46.8%。

Now turning to our balance sheet. Our cash and cash equivalents balance, including current and noncurrent restricted cash was $225.9 million and total debt outstanding was approximately $1.1 billion as of July 1, 2023. Inventory fell to $207.1 million, a reduction of $15.3 million compared to the previous quarter demonstrating continued progress against our inventory drawdown initiatives. As I mentioned, this represents our fifth consecutive quarter of inventory reduction, and we remain highly focused on driving further reductions in the balance of the year.

現在轉向我們的資產負債表。截至2023 年7 月1 日，我們的現金和現金等價物餘額（包括流動和非流動限制性現金）為2.259 億美元，未償債務總額約為11 億美元。庫存降至2.071 億美元，比上一季度減少1530 萬美元，表明持續取得進展反對我們的庫存削減計劃。正如我所提到的，這是我們連續第五個季度減少庫存，我們仍然高度關注推動今年剩餘時間的進一步減少。

Turning to cash flows. Net cash used in operating activities in the second quarter of 2023 was $46.2 million or a $24.3 million decrease compared to the year ago period. Capital expenditures totaled $1.8 million in Q2 of 2023 compared to $20.4 million in the year ago period. And our total cash consumed in Q2 amounted to $47.7 million or 49% less than the year ago figure of $93.2 million. Taken together, these improvements in COGS, operating expenses, inventory drawdown and cash consumption demonstrate that we continue to make real strides in managing our business more efficiently. However, where we are experiencing greater-than-expected pressure is on net revenue growth and its attendant implications for gross margin. We attribute this at least in part to persistent weakness in the category that transcends Beyond Meat. But as Ethan discussed earlier, we continue to pursue several growth strategies to drive better outcomes on our top line.

轉向現金流。 2023 年第二季度經營活動使用的現金淨額為 4620 萬美元，比去年同期減少 2430 萬美元。 2023 年第二季度的資本支出總額為 180 萬美元，而去年同期為 2040 萬美元。第二季度我們消耗的現金總額為 4770 萬美元，比去年同期的 9320 萬美元減少了 49%。總而言之，銷貨成本、運營費用、庫存減少和現金消耗方面的這些改善表明，我們在更有效地管理業務方面繼續取得了真正的進步。然而，我們面臨的壓力超出預期的是淨收入增長及其對毛利率的影響。我們至少部分地將其歸因於超越肉類領域的持續疲軟。但正如伊森之前討論的那樣，我們將繼續追求多種增長戰略，以推動我們的營收取得更好的成果。

Let me now provide some commentary about our 2023 outlook. As Ethan mentioned, we do anticipate a return to modest year-on-year revenue growth in the second half of 2023, as we cycle notably weak comparisons from a year ago and as we expect to see continued expansion of newer products in the U.S., distribution growth in international markets and continued progress with key strategic accounts internationally. However, greater-than-expected category headwinds, particularly in the U.S., is resulting in a more cautious outlook for the balance of the year. And as such, we now expect net revenues for the full year to be in the range of $360 million to $380 million representing a decrease of approximately 14% to 9% compared to 2022.

現在讓我對 2023 年的展望發表一些評論。正如 Ethan 提到的，我們確實預計 2023 年下半年收入將恢復溫和的同比增長，因為我們與一年前的比較明顯疲弱，並且我們預計新產品將在美國持續擴張，國際市場的分銷增長以及國際關鍵戰略客戶的持續進展。然而，超出預期的類別阻力（尤其是在美國）導致人們對今年剩餘時間的前景更加謹慎。因此，我們現在預計全年淨收入將在 3.6 億至 3.8 億美元之間，較 2022 年下降約 14% 至 9%。

Gross margin is now expected to be in the mid- to high single-digit range reflecting both the Q2 outcome as well as the expected impact from reduced revenues. Operating expenses are expected to be approximately $245 million or less and capital expenditures are now expected to be in the range of $20 million to $25 million. Finally, with respect to the company's previously stated target of achieving cash flow positive operations within the second half of 2023, we now believe this objective is unlikely to be met in light of the current operating environment, which points to greater category headwinds than previously expected. Nonetheless, we remain committed to significantly reducing our rate of cash consumption in the second half of the year as compared to the first half, and we will be prudently managing our cost base in the coming quarters to move towards our ultimate north star of cash flow positive operations.

目前預計毛利率將在中高個位數範圍內，反映第二季度的業績以及收入減少的預期影響。運營費用預計約為 2.45 億美元或更少，資本支出目前預計在 2000 萬美元至 2500 萬美元之間。最後，關於公司之前提出的在 2023 年下半年實現現金流正運營的目標，我們現在認為，鑑於當前的經營環境，這一目標不太可能實現，這表明該類別的阻力比之前預期的更大。儘管如此，我們仍然致力於與上半年相比大幅降低下半年的現金消耗率，並且我們將在未來幾個季度審慎管理我們的成本基礎，以實現現金流的最終北極星積極的操作。

With that, I'll conclude my remarks and turn the call back over to the operator to open it up for your questions. Thank you.

至此，我將結束我的發言，並將電話轉回給接線員，以供您提問。謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) And our first question here will come from Adam Samuelson with Goldman Sachs.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題將來自高盛的亞當·薩繆爾森。

So maybe just talking about the updated sales outlook and maybe specifically in U.S. retail, you alluded to some challenges in scaling some of the trial and promotion activity in the U.S. How should we think about that moving forward? And as we think about the need to accelerate kind of volume consumption kind of as a pathway to future growth, kind of what -- where is the pivot from a marketing and product and distribution perspective that's going to enable that?

因此，也許只是在談論更新的銷售前景，也許特別是在美國零售業，您提到了在美國擴大一些試用和促銷活動的一些挑戰。我們應該如何看待這一點？當我們考慮需要加速銷量消費作為未來增長的途徑時，從營銷、產品和分銷的角度來看，實現這一目標的支點在哪裡？

Sure. Thank you for the question. And I'll maybe start and then hand it over to Lubi for some additional detail. But first and foremost, I want to stress some of the things that we covered in our prepared remarks. Despite bringing down the forecast somewhat for the balance of the year, we are very excited to be coming out of what we view as a trough in the category and resuming growth in the third and fourth quarter. So I don't want to lose sight of that. You'll also see an improvement in gross margin, we believe, in the third and fourth quarter, particularly as we move further away from higher cost products that we produced during earlier quarters, and can take advantage of some of the lean work we've been doing around cost down on COGS. You also see us continue to make really strong progress on reducing operating expense, I think down 33%, as I mentioned year-over-year, and then cash down about 50 -- near $50 million. On top of that, you can see improvement in products. And this is a core, I think, part of the answer that I'm going to give you on sort of how we are thinking about continued growth.

當然。感謝你的提問。我可能會開始，然後將其交給 Lubi 以獲取一些額外的細節。但首先，我想強調我們在準備好的發言中涵蓋的一些內容。儘管稍微下調了今年剩餘時間的預測，但我們非常高興能夠走出我們認為的該類別的低谷並在第三和第四季度恢復增長。所以我不想忽視這一點。我們相信，在第三季度和第四季度，您還會看到毛利率有所改善，特別是當我們進一步遠離前幾個季度生產的成本較高的產品時，並且可以利用我們的一些精益工作。我們一直在努力降低銷貨成本。您還可以看到我們在減少運營費用方面繼續取得巨大進展，我認為同比下降了 33%，然後現金減少了約 50 美元——接近 5000 萬美元。最重要的是，您可以看到產品的改進。我認為，這是我將向您提供的關於我們如何思考持續增長的答案的一部分。

First and foremost, if you look at whether it's a steak product and all the reviews it's getting and the fact it's the #1 new plant-based meat product in the category, look at the recently renovated dinner sausage where that also is the #1 plant-based sausage in the category. And then you look at our burgers, continues to be the top-selling plant-based burger. And we're shifting into both the new formula and texture that we're releasing in foodservice as the Smash Burger we have released and just demoed and trialing in retail, something called the Stack Burger, which captures some of those improvements. So continue to improve the products, continue to operate the business much more efficiently.

首先也是最重要的，如果你看看它是否是牛排產品以及它得到的所有評論，事實上它是該類別中排名第一的新型植物性肉類產品，看看最近翻新的晚餐香腸，它也是排名第一的該類別中的植物性香腸。然後你看看我們的漢堡，它仍然是最暢銷的植物漢堡。我們正在轉向我們在餐飲服務領域發布的新配方和質地，我們剛剛發布了 Smash Burger，並剛剛在零售業進行了演示和試用，稱為 Stack Burger，它體現了其中的一些改進。因此，繼續改進產品，繼續更有效地運營業務。

I think the last piece is attacking head on this ambiguity that exists around the health benefits of plant-based meat, and particularly Beyond Meat. They are extremely strong, and this is something that we've attacked through research and through partnerships, whether it's the American Can society work we're doing or the certification from the American Art Association around our steak, the work with Stanford School Medicine, all the things I mentioned in my prepared remarks. But we're now taking a step further and going to be much more aggressive in our marketing around the goodness within our products.

我認為最後一篇文章正針對植物性肉類（尤其是超越肉類）的健康益處存在的模糊性進行攻擊。他們非常強大，這是我們通過研究和合作夥伴關係來解決的問題，無論是我們正在做的美國罐頭協會的工作，還是美國藝術協會對我們牛排的認證，以及與斯坦福大學醫學院的合作，我在準備好的發言中提到的所有事情。但我們現在更進一步，將更加積極地圍繞我們產品的優點進行營銷。

And I think if you were looking at some of our marketing recently last week, we released There's Goodness Here, which is a campaign focused on celebrating the ingredients we use, the farmers who grow them and the process that we use to turn the plant material into meat, all these things are part of our health message and our health story.

我想如果你上週最近看過我們的一些營銷活動，我們發布了“這裡有美好”，這是一項重點慶祝我們使用的原料、種植這些原料的農民以及我們用來轉化植物材料的過程的活動到肉類，所有這些都是我們健康信息和健康故事的一部分。

So as we look at the second half of the year, that efficiency that keeps continuing throughout the organization, the reduction in cost of our goods and then the restoration of the message around the entire category, we view those as key to the resumption of growth. We're also looking at some more tangible things as we offer this forecast, but increases both in the U.S. and in Europe and things of that nature. Lubi?

因此，當我們展望今年下半年時，整個組織持續保持的效率、產品成本的降低以及整個類別信息的恢復，我們認為這些是恢復增長的關鍵。在提供此預測時，我們還在考慮一些更具體的事情，但美國和歐洲以及類似性質的事情都會增加。魯比？

Yes, Adam, I would just add that I think just given the -- some of the pressures that we've seen in the broader environment, we are, I think, navigating some challenges that are reducing the overall effectiveness of promotional spending. And it's an impact that transcends the plant-based meat category. I think others more broadly in the industry have reported sort of similar phenomenons going on in the areas that they play in.

是的，亞當，我想補充一點，我認為鑑於我們在更廣泛的環境中看到的一些壓力，我認為我們正在應對一些降低促銷支出整體有效性的挑戰。它的影響超越了植物性肉類類別。我認為業內更廣泛的其他人也報告了在他們所從事的領域中發生的類似現象。

And so in relation to your question and sort of how we're thinking about this is we're definitely taking learnings from -- we had some targeted promotional programs early in this year, which were really intended to bring more consumers into the category. But I think what we're seeing is, for various reasons, some of which Ethan mentioned in his prepared remarks. There are things that are putting a lot of pressure on our category, in particular, some of which is related to messaging, which we're starting to, I think, be a little bit more vocal about if you look at our recent campaign that just came out. But certainly, we are -- our goal is to be sharper in terms of how we deploy our promotional spending. And so we expect to see some benefits from that in the latter part of this year and as we move forward.

因此，關於你的問題以及我們如何思考這個問題，我們肯定會從中吸取教訓——我們在今年年初制定了一些有針對性的促銷計劃，這些計劃的真正目的是讓更多的消費者進入該類別。但我認為，出於各種原因，我們所看到的是伊森在他準備好的講話中提到的一些原因。有些事情給我們的類別帶來了很大的壓力，特別是其中一些與消息傳遞有關的事情，我認為，如果你看看我們最近的活動，我們開始更加直言不諱地表達這一點剛出來。但當然，我們的目標是在如何部署促銷支出方面更加敏銳。因此，我們預計在今年下半年以及我們前進的過程中會看到一些好處。

Yes. Lubi, I'll just add a little bit to that. I mean I think one of the key issues is if the category itself is facing some headwinds. And so if you look at -- if I kind of start on more broadly and you look at the overall consumer and some of the diminished outlook the consumer has around their own financial situation and then you look at what consumers are doing in the protein space, including animal protein, where they're trading down among proteins and also buying less protein. But then you get to our category where we are high priced, and so not going to do particularly well in that environment, but also now have this kind of the ambiguity around health you can see how potentially pricing is going to be less impactful given that you're not bringing new people into the category because of those macro conditions and then some of the category headwinds. So for us, it's really around restoring the category message and making sure the consumer understands that and has a reason to come into the category. At that point, we think some of the promotional activities will probably be more effective.

是的。 Lubi，我補充一點。我的意思是，我認為關鍵問題之一是該類別本身是否面臨一些阻力。因此，如果你看一下——如果我從更廣泛的角度開始，你看一下整體消費者以及消費者對自己財務狀況的一些看法的減弱，然後你看一下消費者在蛋白質領域所做的事情，包括動物蛋白，他們在蛋白質之間進行交易，並且購買的蛋白質也減少了。但是，然後你就進入了我們的價格很高的類別，因此在這種環境下不會做得特別好，而且現在也存在這種圍繞健康的模糊性，你可以看到考慮到定價的潛在影響將如何減小由於這些宏觀條件以及該類別的一些逆風，您不會將新人帶入該類別。因此，對我們來說，這實際上是為了恢復類別信息並確保消費者理解這一點並有理由進入該類別。到那時，我們認為一些促銷活動可能會更有效。

And our next question will come from Peter Galbo with Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題將來自美國銀行的彼得·加爾博。

Just maybe a 1A and 1B on super quick modeling questions. Just Lubi, is there any differential we should think about in terms of the revenues between 3Q and 4Q cadence would be helpful. And then secondly, on the cash burn, it seems like you're saying it should improve in the third and fourth quarters. It's been running about $50 million a quarter over the past 12 months. Just anything you could help us to mention about how much improvement you'd expect there.

也許只是關於超快速建模問題的 1A 和 1B。 Lubi，我們應該考慮第三季度和第四季度之間的收入節奏是否有任何差異，這會有所幫助。其次，關於現金消耗，您似乎說第三季度和第四季度應該有所改善。過去 12 個月，該公司每季度的營業額約為 5000 萬美元。只要您能幫助我們提及您期望的改進程度即可。

Yes, just quickly on the cash flow. I mean, it's not that we're walking away from that in any way, shape or form. It's just with the top line coming down somewhat, we wanted to caution that it was going to be unlikely within the time frame we specified. That said, you should see a sharp reduction in cash consumption across the balance of the year. And certainly, internally, we continue to drive the business towards achieving that goal. But we'd rather keep that as an internal goal and give a little more room externally on when we cross over to cash flow positive Lubi?

是的，只是快速現金流。我的意思是，我們並沒有以任何方式、形式或形式放棄這一點。只是隨著營收有所下降，我們想提醒大家，在我們指定的時間範圍內，這種情況不太可能發生。也就是說，您應該會看到今年餘下的現金消耗急劇減少。當然，在內部，我們將繼續推動業務實現這一目標。但我們寧願將其保留為內部目標，並在我們轉向現金流為正的盧比時在外部給予更多空間？

Yes. So Peter, to your first question around the sort of cadence of revenues in the back half of the year. We're not providing specific guidance by quarter at this time. However, if you look at historically the third quarter being typically a little bit stronger than the fourth quarter just from a seasonal demand perspective, I don't think there would be anything that would deviate significantly from that this year. .

是的。彼得，關於你的第一個問題，關於今年下半年的收入節奏。我們目前不按季度提供具體指導。然而，如果你從歷史上看，僅從季節性需求的角度來看，第三季度通常比第四季度稍強一些，我認為今年不會有任何重大偏離。 。

And then just to your question around cash consumption and how that evolves in the second half relative to the first half. I think there are several things, right, that we're looking at. And first and foremost is we have to deliver on our revenue projections for the balance of the year. And then in conjunction with that, we also have to deliver on our gross margin targets, right, to ultimately generate gross profit dollars, right? And then once we do that, we -- it's about continuing to contain costs from an OpEx perspective. There's some opportunities that we're looking at from a CapEx perspective where we can potentially defer some CapEx projects that we were anticipating would happen in the back half of this year. There's things related to our inventory reduction efforts, which we're still very focused on. You put all of those things together, and we do expect that the overall level of cash consumption in the back half of this year will still be -- should be significantly lower than what we saw in the first half. And so those are the primary things, I think that bridge that gap.

然後是關於現金消費的問題以及下半年相對於上半年的變化情況。我認為我們正在考慮幾件事。首先也是最重要的是，我們必須實現今年剩餘時間的收入預測。與此同時，我們還必須實現毛利率目標，對吧，最終產生毛利潤，對吧？一旦我們做到了這一點，我們就會從運營支出的角度繼續控製成本。我們從資本支出的角度來看一些機會，我們可能會推遲一些我們預計將在今年下半年發生的資本支出項目。有些事情與我們的庫存減少工作有關，我們仍然非常關注。將所有這些因素放在一起，我們確實預計今年下半年的現金消費總體水平仍將大大低於我們上半年看到的水平。所以這些是主要的事情，我認為可以彌合這一差距。

Our next question will come from Ken Goldman with JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題將來自摩根大通的肯·戈德曼。

I wanted to ask about your strategy for R&D spending. It's down but it's still 9% of your sales this quarter, which is meaningfully more than what we see from a typical packaged food company. And I agree you're not a typical packaged food company, but you talk about the biggest issue facing the category being maybe a misperception of the health benefits. You've had some recent launches. I hope it's not unfair to say the results are some good, some may be slightly disappointing. Why not divert some of this R&D spend toward brand building toward category building. If you're -- if that's the biggest issue that you're facing, why not really maybe lean into that a little more?

我想問一下你們的研發支出策略。雖然有所下降，但仍佔本季度銷售額的 9%，這比我們從典型的包裝食品公司看到的要高得多。我同意您不是一家典型的包裝食品公司，但您談到該類別面臨的最大問題可能是對健康益處的誤解。您最近發布了一些產品。我希望說結果有些好，有些可能有點令人失望，這並不公平。為什麼不將部分研發支出用於品牌建設和品類建設。如果你——如果這是你面臨的最大問題，為什麼不進一步關注這個問題呢？

Thanks, Ken. Appreciate the question. And so I think the main response I'd have is that we are certainly emphasizing spend on the category narrative and also reaching out across companies to help us do this. There's a bunch of companies, obviously, in our category, all rising and falling with this narrative. And so bringing together industry coalitions to address this is an important way to handle it. But we are looking at how do we reallocate funding toward marketing to clean up this messaging because it is just an education issue. I mean the facts are there. The health benefits of our products are very strong. We see that in the work we do, not only with universities, but in general, just seeing consumers and how their lives can change. So it's a very good question. I won't comment specifically on how much we're going to allocate toward R&D versus this. But I think the emphasis in your question is the right one.

謝謝，肯。感謝這個問題。因此，我認為我的主要回應是，我們當然強調在品類敘述上的支出，並與各公司聯繫以幫助我們做到這一點。顯然，在我們這個類別中，有很多公司都是隨著這種敘述而起起落落的。因此，聯合行業聯盟來解決這個問題是解決這個問題的重要方法。但我們正在研究如何重新分配營銷資金以清理這些信息，因為這只是一個教育問題。我的意思是事實就在那裡。我們的產品對健康的益處非常明顯。我們看到，在我們所做的工作中，不僅是與大學合作，而且在一般情況下，我們都看到了消費者以及他們的生活如何改變。所以這是一個非常好的問題。我不會具體評論我們將在研發方面分配多少資金。但我認為你問題中的強調是正確的。

And then just quickly, how are you doing with meat eaters or flexitarians versus pure vegans lately. What are your data telling you about how the vegans are looking at your product or at your category compared to how they used to? Are they being affected by the marketing as well?

然後很快，你最近對肉食者或彈性素食者與純素食者的態度如何。您的哪些數據告訴您，與過去相比，素食主義者如何看待您的產品或您的類別？他們也受到營銷的影響嗎？

I think to a lesser extent, I mean there are the folks that I mentioned that would be susceptible to some of the kind of more, let's say, I don't know, the foodies that would compare us to a salad or something of that nature. And we always resist that, right? I mean our -- really, our point of relevance is the health benefits relative to animal protein, where those are extremely strong. So we continue to see the consuming family be a mix of basic flexitarians essentially. And that's where we want to be. I think the main issue with the categories is not bringing in enough new consumers. That's the #1 issue. It's not necessarily the characteristics of the consumer, it's that overall pie is not growing, and that's what we need to fix together, and we're working on with other companies.

我認為在較小程度上，我的意思是，我提到的有些人可能會受到某種更多的影響，比如說，我不知道，那些美食家會把我們比作沙拉之類的東西自然。我們總是抵制這一點，對嗎？我的意思是，我們的——實際上，我們的相關點是相對於動物蛋白的健康益處，這些益處非常強大。因此，我們繼續看到消費家庭本質上是基本彈性素食者的混合體。這就是我們想要達到的目標。我認為這些品類的主要問題是沒有吸引足夠的新消費者。這是第一個問題。這不一定是消費者的特徵，而是整體蛋糕沒有變大，這就是我們需要共同解決的問題，我們正在與其他公司合作。

Our next question will come from Robert Moskow with TD Cowen.

我們的下一個問題將由 Robert Moskow 和 TD Cowen 提出。

I was wondering as you start to look ahead to 2024 and beyond, in your like long-term scenario planning, do you ever consider the possibility of that this business may be a $300 million business instead of $350 million plus or a $250 million business? Shrinking into wind is always a tough strategy. But given what you're up against here in terms of consumer perception and what I'm sure are some very good core consumers who care about the environmental impact of what you're doing. Is that a possible strategy? And would you consider rightsizing the company in that direction ever?

我想知道，當您開始展望 2024 年及以後時，在您的長期情景規劃中，您是否考慮過該業務可能是 3 億美元的業務，而不是 3.5 億美元以上或 2.5 億美元的業務？退縮到風中始終是一個艱難的策略。但考慮到您在消費者認知方面面臨的挑戰，以及我確信一些非常優秀的核心消費者關心您所做的事情對環境的影響。這是一個可能的策略嗎？您是否會考慮朝這個方向調整公司規模？

Yes. I mean I think disagree pretty rigorously with that future. If you look at where we're operating, if you look at some of the positive trends that we're seeing, including the fact that we're assuming growth quarter-over-quarter and been through, I think, what is the most difficult period for the business, but take, for example, and look at our strategics over there. And the progress we're making now in Germany, we're selling both burgers and nuggets and doing so with high acceptance among consumers. Just I think we've had another launch with McDonald's in Malta. You look at -- and I think I don't think I mentioned this in my prepared remarks, but interestingly enough, and I'll let McDonald's comment on their own outcomes, but a competitor shared that a very large global burger chain that 1 in 5 of their signature burgers in Germany is now plant-based. And so if you look at whether it's those trends or universities or just overall consumption of the animal protein in certain European countries, you can see a very, very strong trend in the right direction. .

是的。我的意思是，我認為非常不同意這個未來。如果你看看我們的運營情況，如果你看看我們看到的一些積極趨勢，包括我們假設季度環比增長並經歷過的事實，我認為，最重要的是業務的困難時期，但以我們為例，看看我們在那裡的戰略。我們現在在德國取得的進展是，我們同時銷售漢堡和雞塊，並且得到了消費者的高度認可。我想我們又在馬耳他與麥當勞合作推出了新產品。你看——我認為我在準備好的發言中沒有提到這一點，但有趣的是，我會讓麥當勞評論他們自己的結果，但一位競爭對手分享說，一家非常大的全球漢堡連鎖店 1他們在德國的5 個招牌漢堡現在都是以植物為基礎的。因此，如果你看看這些趨勢、大學或某些歐洲國家動物蛋白的總體消費情況，你可以看到一個非常非常強勁的趨勢，朝著正確的方向發展。 。

Then you come to the U.S. and while older people aren't necessarily wrapping their minds around these, younger people are. And so if you look at how institutions are responding to that, for example, take some of the biggest food providers in the country, Aramark, Sodexo. I think it was Aramark committed to increasing their plant-based menus to 50% by 2025. I think Sodexo was something like 44% across more than 250 universities in the country.

當你來到美國時，雖然老年人不一定會關注這些，但年輕人卻會關注這些。因此，如果你看看各機構對此的反應，例如，以該國一些最大的食品供應商為例，愛瑪客（Aramark）、索迪斯（Sodexo）。我認為愛瑪客承諾到 2025 年將其植物性菜單增加到 50%。我認為索迪斯在全國 250 多所大學中的比例約為 44%。

So the trend is really -- is here. There's some distortion in it like many early disruptions. But sort of as I mentioned many times at kind of the history is very much on the side of what we're trying to accomplish. And so even if all of these other things don't get cleared up, which they will, around health, et cetera, you have a common crisis, which is now becoming more and more real for the consumer. And there is really no way to get at that without fixing food.

所以趨勢確實是——就在這裡。就像許多早期的干擾一樣，其中存在一些扭曲。但正如我多次提到的，歷史在很大程度上支持我們想要實現的目標。因此，即使所有這些其他問題都沒有得到解決（它們會在健康等方面得到解決），你也會面臨一個共同的危機，這對消費者來說現在變得越來越真實。如果不解決食物的話，確實沒有辦法做到這一點。

And so our job as a company is to continue to get much more efficient, continue to drive cost out of our products and be here. So when folks are ready to make this transition on their terms, we can sort of been doing that. But I do not see it going backwards in any shape or form in the direction you just noted.

因此，作為一家公司，我們的工作就是繼續提高效率，繼續降低產品成本，並立足於此。因此，當人們準備好按照自己的方式進行這種轉變時，我們就可以這樣做了。但我不認為它會按照你剛才指出的方向以任何形式倒退。

And our next question will come from Peter Saleh with BTIG.

我們的下一個問題將來自 BTIG 的 Peter Saleh。

Great. I wanted to ask about the overall category and really what you're seeing. It seems like you're finding some success in some of these international markets, yet your sales in the U.S. continue to be under a significant amount of pressure. So maybe you can help us understand, are there any learnings that you can take from what you're seeing in international markets and apply them to the U.S.? What's happening internationally that's not occurring in the U.S. to drive maybe the trend better? Are the prices lower in international markets like Germany? Or what exactly is the difference that you're seeing better adoption there?

偉大的。我想詢問總體類別以及您所看到的內容。您似乎在其中一些國際市場取得了一些成功，但您在美國的銷售仍然面臨著巨大的壓力。那麼也許您可以幫助我們了解，您是否可以從國際市場上看到的情況中吸取一些教訓並將其應用到美國？國際上發生了什麼而美國沒有發生的事情可能會更好地推動這一趨勢？德國等國際市場的價格是否較低？或者說您在那裡看到更好的採用率到底有什麼區別？

That's a great question. So the answer is this, and it's somewhat nuance, but it's the message and the reason the why is clear, right? So in Europe, the why is different than it is here in the United States, pretty clear, right? So consumers are very concerned about climate and the environment in Europe. Government is concerned that institutions are concerned about. And they see for the reasons I mentioned in my prepared remarks, changing food as a key way to adopt and adapt in the time frame that we need to.

這是一個很好的問題。所以答案是這樣的，雖然有些細微差別，但它所傳達的信息和原因是明確的，對吧？那麼在歐洲，為什麼與美國不同，很清楚，對吧？所以消費者非常關心歐洲的氣候和環境。政府關心，機構關心。出於我在準備好的發言中提到的原因，他們認為改變食物是在我們需要的時間範圍內採用和適應的關鍵方式。

And again, this actually has to do with specific -- the nature of this sort of admissions coming from different sources of greenhouse gas. And so in the case of animal protein it's nitrous oxide and methane, those are very potent emissions but also have a shorter residency in the atmosphere. So to clear them out, right, you can basically buy time and deal with the climate issue one of the most effective ways. So Europe understands that. The consumer is getting that. Young people are getting that in Europe. And here in the U.S., it's more driven by health, and there's been a decline in the health perception of our category.

再說一遍，這實際上與來自不同溫室氣體來源的此類承認的具體性質有關。因此，就動物蛋白而言，一氧化二氮和甲烷是非常有效的排放物，但在大氣中的停留時間也較短。所以要清除它們，對吧，你基本上可以爭取時間，這是處理氣候問題最有效的方法之一。所以歐洲明白這一點。消費者正在明白這一點。歐洲的年輕人正在明白這一點。在美國，這更多是由健康驅動的，我們這一類別的健康認知度有所下降。

And so I think we noted there's the food research institute or something like that, food marketing institute noted I think, it was 50% of consumers in 2020 thought that plant-based meats were healthy and now that number is down at 38%. That's a clear outcome of some competitive marketing done against us, and they've done a really good job at it. They've done a very impressive job in changing the consumer perception. We now have to do the heavy work as an industry to pick that. But that's the main difference, right? There's a clear and compelling why in Europe. There was a clear in the [billing] why here that has got eroded, that's become eroded, and we need to basically reestablish that. That's what we're doing.

所以我認為我們注意到有食品研究所或類似的機構，食品營銷研究所指出，2020 年有 50% 的消費者認為植物性肉類是健康的，現在這個數字下降到了 38%。這是一些針對我們的競爭性營銷的明顯結果，他們在這方面做得非常好。他們在改變消費者觀念方面做了非常令人印象深刻的工作。作為一個行業，我們現在必須做繁重的工作來選擇這一點。但這是主要區別，對吧？在歐洲有一個明確且令人信服的原因。 [帳單]中有一個明確的內容，為什麼這裡已經被侵蝕了，已經被侵蝕了，我們需要基本上重新建立它。這就是我們正在做的事情。

Can I just follow up on that -- the number, that 50% going to 38% perception. Has that continued to decline in '23? I'm not sure if you know. And what do you think it was going to take to kind of bend the curve there on that figure?

我可以跟進這個數字嗎？50% 到 38% 的看法。 23 年這一數字是否繼續下降？我不確定你是否知道。您認為如何才能使該數字上的曲線彎曲？

Yes. I don't know this time, but my guess is that it's going to start reversing. And the reason that's going to start reversing is one, I think it sort of plays its course. At some point, there's -- that people, the medical community and others start to push back and say, wait a minute, guys, this is going too far. This is a very helpful tool to combat diabetes, heart disease, cancer. That's why you see the American Heart Association stand up and say, we're going to certify first time ever, right at the heart of the state because the stuff or the standard work we're doing or the work we're doing about cancer side. I mean at some point, right, you get -- you strip out the noise and you start to see some of the key proof points. I think there's some additional work is being done outside of our company and in the broader category that also helped that. So I -- it could continue to worsen, but I got it. I think you'll start to see a rebound.

是的。這次我不知道，但我猜它會開始逆轉。而這種情況將開始逆轉的原因之一是，我認為它正在按其規律發展。在某些時候，人們、醫學界和其他人開始反擊並說，等一下，伙計們，這太過分了。這是對抗糖尿病、心髒病和癌症的非常有用的工具。這就是為什麼你會看到美國心臟協會站起來說，我們將在該州的中心首次進行認證，因為我們正在做的事情或標準工作或我們正在做的關於癌症的工作邊。我的意思是，在某個時刻，你會得到——你剔除了噪音，你開始看到一些關鍵的證據點。我認為我們公司之外以及更廣泛的類別中正在進行一些額外的工作，這也對此有所幫助。所以我——情況可能會繼續惡化，但我明白了。我想你會開始看到反彈。

Our next question will come from Ben Theurer with Barclays.

我們的下一個問題將來自巴克萊銀行的 Ben Theurer。

I wanted to dig a little deeper into the food service in the U.S. And it kind of feels like it was like that area where we expect a lot of growth with some of these announcements back in the past. Yum!, McDonald's and so on. But it kind of feels like it's not taken off and sounds like a level of these mid-teens somewhere on a revenue basis. So it doesn't really feel like it's delivering. Well, on the other side, the international piece has done significantly better on foodservice. So maybe following on some of these questions around consumer trends. How do these foodservice channels, why is it so different that the performance of Foodservice International versus foodservice U.S., that would be much appreciated.

我想更深入地了解美國的食品服務，感覺就像是我們預計過去發布的一些公告會帶來大量增長的領域。百勝餐飲、麥當勞等等。但感覺它並沒有起飛，聽起來像是在收入基礎上的十幾歲左右的水平。所以感覺並沒有真正交付。嗯，另一方面，這家國際公司在餐飲服務方面做得更好。因此，也許可以關註一些有關消費者趨勢的問題。這些餐飲服務渠道如何，為什麼國際餐飲服務與美國餐飲服務的表現如此不同，我們將非常感激。

Sure. I think it gets to the consumer again in each market. So I think if we look at the EU, I think the consumer receptivity and readiness is there. And I think that our strategic partners recognize that, and so that's where they're emphasizing. But I don't think it's a binary issue, right? I think that it's a timing issue. And my strong view is if you're in the U.S., you'll see a resumption of activity among QSRs. In fact, I think that's something that we feel comfortable about.

當然。我認為它會再次影響到每個市場的消費者。因此，我認為如果我們看看歐盟，我認為消費者的接受度和準備度就在那裡。我認為我們的戰略合作夥伴認識到這一點，所以這就是他們所強調的地方。但我不認為這是一個二元問題，對嗎？我認為這是一個時間問題。我的強烈觀點是，如果你在美國，你會看到快餐店的活動恢復。事實上，我認為這是我們感到舒服的事情。

So it's very much part of the larger trends we just discussed. There's been a -- there was prolific growth and excitement around the category. You go through that and you go through the kind of trough of what they say trough dissolution and then you come back up on the slope of enlightenment. And I think we're kind of in that area where we're coming back out of it.

所以這在很大程度上是我們剛才討論的更大趨勢的一部分。該類別出現了豐富的增長和令人興奮的現象。你經歷了這些，經歷了他們所說的消解的低谷，然後你又回到了啟蒙的斜坡上。我認為我們正處於那個我們即將走出的領域。

I wanted to get through this quarter. I'm very glad it's over. I'm very glad to be in this quarter and looking forward to the balance of the year because I do think you'll see some of that resumption of growth, not in any way what we had a few years ago for the balance of the year, but modest growth, it shows we're coming out of this, and that's what I'm really looking forward to.

我想度過這個季度。我很高興一切都結束了。我很高興來到這個季度，並期待著今年的平衡，因為我確實認為您會看到一些增長的恢復，而不是我們幾年前的平衡。年，但增長不大，這表明我們正在走出困境，這就是我真正期待的。

And our next question will come from Michael Lavery with Piper Sandler.

我們的下一個問題將來自邁克爾·萊弗里和派珀·桑德勒。

I sort of want to ask almost the opposite of Ken Goldman's question. I think that the health discussion is interesting and the study numbers are certainly interesting, but at least in the U.S., consumers overwhelmingly say that their primary consideration is taste. And even price and health benefits or health considerations are far behind. And so how can you continue to develop a better product? I think that's in so many consumers' minds, kind of the centerpiece. The 9%, obviously, in fairness to his point is a lot, but is -- can you give a sense of what may be ahead and how much more quickly product development could advance that might be the difference maker for at least a large percentage of U.S. consumers?

我有點想問與肯·戈德曼的問題幾乎相反的問題。我認為健康討論很有趣，研究數據也很有趣，但至少在美國，絕大多數消費者表示他們的首要考慮因素是口味。甚至價格和健康效益或健康考慮也遠遠落後。那麼如何才能繼續開發更好的產品呢？我認為這是很多消費者心目中的核心。顯然，公平地說，9% 對他的觀點來說是一個很大的數字，但是——你能否說明未來可能會發生什麼，以及產品開發可以加快多少速度，這可能是至少對很大一部分人產生影響的因素美國消費者？

It's a great, great question. And then -- yes, Ken's question is fair, and this is also -- I think it's the right balance you guys are trying to strike here and the one that we think about all the time. So I would refer to that tasting table review of the dinner sausage, where we've always said our north star is -- should be indistinguishable. But I have heard this from others that the new sausage, what we call Sausage 3, people enjoy that actually more than the animal protein equivalent. And our efforts will just to get into the parity. So I think we are making strong progress there.

這是一個非常非常好的問題。然後——是的，肯的問題是公平的，這也是——我認為這是你們試圖在這里達到的正確平衡，也是我們一直在考慮的平衡。所以我會參考晚餐香腸的品酒桌評論，我們總是說我們的北極星應該是難以區分的。但我從其他人那裡聽說，人們對新香腸（我們稱之為 Sausage 3）的喜愛實際上超過了動物蛋白等量。我們的努力只是為了達到平價。所以我認為我們正在這方面取得巨大進展。

I think if you look at the steak product, and you hear that up, it's absolutely delicious. You have such high levels of protein and I think less than a gram or gram or so saturated fat so many benefits to it, but anyway. So all of those things matter when the consumer is willing to come in, right? But if there's a kind of cloud over the sector, right? Those things matter less. And so price matters less and the improvements making taste, nonetheless. So our #1 goal in this area is to lift that cloud and to educate the consumer about the health benefits of the products then I think things like taste really start to matter again.

我想如果你看看牛排產品，你會聽到它的聲音，它絕對是美味的。你的蛋白質含量如此之高，我認為不到一克或克左右的飽和脂肪對它有很多好處，但無論如何。因此，當消費者願意參與進來時，所有這些事情都很重要，對嗎？但如果這個行業籠罩著某種陰雲，對嗎？這些事情都不那麼重要了。因此，價格不再那麼重要，但品味的改進卻更重要。因此，我們在這一領域的首要目標是消除這種陰雲，並教育消費者了解產品的健康益處，然後我認為像味道這樣的事情真的開始再次變得重要。

You need to give the consumer -- taste is the most important thing in food, right? But you need to give the consumer a motivation beyond that, right, because animal protein tastes good, too, right? So we have to deliver on taste and slightly more. We deliver on taste and other attributes, right? And for the U.S. consumer, it's taste and health.

你需要向消費者傳達——味道是食物中最重要的東西，對吧？但你需要給消費者提供除此之外的動力，對吧，因為動物蛋白味道也很好，對吧？因此，我們必須提供口味，甚至更多。我們提供口味和其他屬性，對嗎？對於美國消費者來說，重要的是口味和健康。

By the way, I'll just do a shameless plug for a new burger. You should go out and you should try in foodservice what is called the Beyond Meat Smash Burger or in retail try to find that Beyond Stack that has a new flavor formula and a new texture in it, which I think, again, got a review that said something like the yearly reminiscent or something of that nature of animal burger. So we keep making better, not there yet. But again, let the air clear on these other issues and that will be something that's really pleasing for consumers.

順便說一句，我只會為一個新漢堡做一個無恥的插頭。你應該出去，你應該在餐飲服務中嘗試所謂的Beyond Meat Smash Burger，或者在零售業嘗試找到Beyond Stack，它有新的口味配方和新的質地，我認為，再次，得到了評論說了一些類似年度回憶之類的東西或者動物漢堡的性質之類的東西。所以我們不斷做得更好，但還沒有達到。但再次強調，如果其他問題能夠得到澄清，這將是真正讓消費者高興的事情。

Our next question will come from Rob Dickerson with Jefferies.

我們的下一個問題將來自杰弗里斯的羅布·迪克森。

Just kind of a simple question. I mean it sounds like kind of back half U.S. retail revenues are expected to grow a little bit. I'm assuming that's clearly volume based I know like kind of easier compares off of last year's back half. But is there something unique that just kind of drives that volume because a lot of the conversation these days is what happens when you have student loan payments to kind of circle back a little bit and maybe the consumer is not so strong, and there's not a lot of companies have a lot of conviction in the strength of the consumer, and you're saying the consumer is still a little tight. We have a premium product at the same time, yes, revenues are going to get better. I don't know if that's just the kind of points of distribution or why you have that conviction?

只是一個簡單的問題。我的意思是，聽起來美國後半部分的零售收入預計會略有增長。我認為這顯然是基於數量的，我知道與去年後半段相比會更容易一些。但是，是否有一些獨特的東西可以推動這一數量，因為現在很多討論都是當你的學生貸款支付稍微回溯時發生的，也許消費者不是那麼強大，而且沒有一個很多公司對消費者的實力有很大的信心，而你說消費者仍然有點緊張。我們同時擁有優質產品，是的，收入將會變得更好。我不知道這是否只是一種分佈點，或者為什麼你有這樣的信念？

Yes. So it's a good question. So it's a couple of things. One, it's again, the lower comps we have year-over-year. Two, it's some increased distribution both in retail and in foodservice and globally. It's continued strength of our strategic partnerships, particularly in Europe, things of that nature. So that's really what's driving it versus any sense that the consumer is going to automatically have a better outcome -- outlook or something of that nature. It's more of those tactical things that we know to be present.

是的。所以這是一個好問題。所以有幾件事。第一，我們的薪酬同比下降。第二，零售業、餐飲服務業以及全球範圍內的分銷有所增加。這是我們戰略夥伴關係的持續優勢，特別是在歐洲，這種性質的事情。因此，這才是真正的推動因素，而不是任何消費者會自動獲得更好結果的感覺——前景或類似的東西。我們知道更多的是戰術方面的事情。

Okay. Okay. Fair enough. And then I guess kind of late in the queue here, but I'll circle back to Ken's question. There's another question on R&D. I think it was Lavery, kind of R&D versus advertising and you talked about new Smash Burger taste profile. I just feel like maybe not as much as an analyst, but just a consumer that when you kind of change the taste profile, like should we also be expecting kind of investment community to like see new ads about that, like you walk into the store and it's going to show why it tastes better. Just something for a hook because I do feel like you are kind of on a rolling basis renovating the product, but maybe consumers don't know. So that's all.

好的。好的。很公平。然後我猜這裡的隊列有點晚了，但我會回到肯的問題。還有一個關於研發的問題。我認為這是 Lavery，一種研發與廣告的關係，你談到了新的 Smash Burger 口味概況。我只是覺得也許不像分析師那樣，而只是一個消費者，當你改變品味時，我們是否也應該期待投資界喜歡看到相關的新廣告，就像你走進商店一樣它將展示為什麼它的味道更好。只是一些吸引人的東西，因為我確實覺得你正在滾動更新產品，但也許消費者不知道。就這樣。

Yes, it's also a very good question. You should expect that. I think we've been focused right now during a period when a lot of these flowed through on cleaning up this health narrative. So I think a lot of our marketing for the balance of the year is going to hit that theme. But overall, my vision for this is that it would be very much like the release of any new product, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 generate excitement on each of those. So -- but I think right now, we have a broader category issue that we have to hammer home. And once we can fix that, then we can spend those dollars in a more tactical one.

是的，這也是一個非常好的問題。你應該預料到這一點。我認為我們現在一直專注於清理這種健康敘事，期間發生了很多這樣的事情。所以我認為我們今年剩下的時間裡的很多營銷活動都會圍繞這個主題。但總的來說，我對此的願景是，它非常像任何新產品的發布，3、4、5、6、7 都會對每一個產品產生興奮。所以，但我認為現在我們有一個更廣泛的類別問題，我們必須強調這一點。一旦我們能解決這個問題，我們就可以把這些錢花在更具戰術性的問題上。

And our next question will come from Andrew Strelzik with BMO.

我們的下一個問題將來自 BMO 的 Andrew Strelzik。

I had 2 quick ones. The first, what are you seeing in terms of competitive dynamics across the category? You mentioned your use of trade discounts in the quarter and as you're seeing the pressures on the category, are you seeing more competitive activity, competitive intensity pick up alongside that? Or how are you expecting that to evolve going forward? That would be the first question.

我有兩個快的。首先，您對整個類別的競爭動態有何看法？您提到您在本季度使用了貿易折扣，當您看到該類別面臨的壓力時，您是否看到更多的競爭活動、競爭強度隨之增加？或者您預計未來會如何發展？這是第一個問題。

And the second question is just on the margin side. There are a bunch of headwinds that you listed impacting the quarter, which of those do you see sticking around versus moderating through the rest of the year? Or within the high-level buckets that you mentioned, where do you see the biggest opportunity for margin expansion?

第二個問題只是邊緣方面。您列出了一系列影響本季度的不利因素，您認為哪些因素會在今年剩餘時間裡持續存在，而不是有所緩解？或者在您提到的高級別領域中，您認為利潤率擴張的最大機會在哪裡？

I'll start with the second one on margin. I mean I think one of the transitory issues that we don't expect to see again with a flow-through of some highly capitalized inventory from last year. And that was -- I think we did the right thing there where we were slowing production to help us run through the inventory for the balance of 23%, but it cost us a little bit this quarter. We had some underutilization things and some other stuff that we don't expect to reoccur at the same level. So we feel pretty good about the balance of the year, but finally some of this really good COGS were showing up.

我將從保證金上的第二個開始。我的意思是，我認為我們預計不會再次看到去年一些高資本庫存的流通所帶來的暫時性問題。那就是——我認為我們做了正確的事情，我們放慢了生產速度，以幫助我們消耗剩餘的 23% 的庫存，但這讓我們在本季度付出了一些代價。我們有一些未充分利用的事情以及其他一些我們預計不會在同一水平上再次發生的事情。因此，我們對今年的剩餘時間感覺非常好，但最終一些非常好的銷貨成本出現了。

On the broader category and competitive dynamics. I think that's only -- I mean there's 2 ways to look at it. One is, again, like let's get the category message right first, so we can welcome new people into the category again. And I think doing a lot of continued discounting, whether it's us or a major competitor, we're just trading among consumers. So it's less productive.

關於更廣泛的類別和競爭動態。我認為這只是——我的意思是有兩種方式來看待它。一個是，我們首先要正確地傳達類別信息，這樣我們就可以再次歡迎新人進入該類別。而且我認為做很多持續的折扣，無論是我們還是主要競爭對手，我們只是在消費者之間進行交易。所以它的生產力較低。

So I think it's really about restoring the overall category message. But the thing that has happened is there's been a tremendous kind of shake out in the category, which is to our benefit. We're still standing. We feel very strong. We feel our product is getting better, our cost starts getting lower. Our operations are getting more efficient. Our strategic partnerships are moving forward. So we have a lot of confidence about our future even as we're seeing less competitors. They are a good competitor, I mean hospital is a very good competitor, and they're doing a lot of good things, but that's good for the category. That's very good for the category.

所以我認為這實際上是為了恢復整體類別信息。但已經發生的事情是，該類別發生了巨大的洗牌，這對我們有利。我們還站著。我們感覺非常堅強。我們感覺我們的產品越來越好，我們的成本開始越來越低。我們的運營變得更加高效。我們的戰略夥伴關係正在向前發展。因此，儘管我們看到的競爭對手越來越少，但我們對我們的未來充滿信心。他們是一個很好的競爭對手，我的意思是醫院是一個非常好的競爭對手，他們做了很多好事，但這對該類別有利。這對該類別來說非常好。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the conference back over to Ethan Brown for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉回給伊森·布朗（Ethan Brown）做總結髮言。

No, we appreciate it, everyone sticking with us through the quarter. We knew this was going to be a tough comp and it didn't materialize exactly what we wanted to. But I think the good news is we're through to a second half, which we hope will show return to growth and the first in what will be, I think, a good climb out of this and look forward to reporting that next quarter.

不，我們很感激，每個人在整個季度都堅持我們。我們知道這將是一場艱難的比賽，而且它並沒有完全實現我們想要的效果。但我認為好消息是我們已經進入下半年，我們希望下半年能夠恢復增長，並且我認為，這將是一個良好的爬升，並期待下個季度的報告。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you very much for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect your lines.

會議現已結束。非常感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開線路。