超越肉類 (BYND) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, and welcome to the Beyond Meat first quarter 2025 conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note, this event is being recorded.

下午好，歡迎參加 Beyond Meat 2025 年第一季電話會議。（操作員指示）請注意，此事件正在被記錄。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Paul Sheppard, Vice President, 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 Sheppard。先生，請繼續。

Thank you. Hello, everyone, and thank you for your participation on today's call. Joining me are Ethan Brown, Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Lubi Kutua, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. By now, everyone should have access to our first quarter 2025 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.

謝謝。大家好，感謝您參加今天的電話會議。與我一起參加的是創辦人、總裁兼執行長 Ethan Brown；以及財務長兼財務主管 Lubi Kutua。現在，每個人都應該可以閱讀我們今天收盤後發布的 2025 年第一季財報新聞稿。文件可在 Beyond Meat 網站 www.beyondmeat.com 的投資者關係部分找到。

Before we begin, please note that all the information presented today 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. Forward-looking statements in our earnings release, along with the comments on this call, are made only as of today and will not be updated as actual events unfold.

在我們開始之前，請注意，今天提供的所有資訊均未經審計，並且在本次電話會議期間，管理層可能會根據聯邦證券法做出前瞻性陳述。這些聲明是基於管理階層目前的預期和信念，涉及風險和不確定性，可能導致實際結果與這些前瞻性聲明中所述的結果有重大差異。我們收益報告中的前瞻性陳述以及對本次電話會議的評論僅截至今天做出，不會隨著實際事件的展開而更新。

We refer you to today's press release, our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 29, 2025, to be filed with the SEC and our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, along with 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.

我們請您參閱今天的新聞稿、我們將向美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 提交的截至 2025 年 3 月 29 日的季度 10-Q 表季度報告和截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日的財政年度的 10-K 表年度報告以及向美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 提交的其他結果，以明確描述今天的風險與實際陳述可能導致任何重大的結果與實際陳述結果存在重大的結果。

Please also note that on today's call, management may reference adjusted EBITDA and adjusted loss from operations and adjusted net loss, which are non-GAAP financial measures. While we believe these non-GAAP financial measures provide 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 these non-GAAP financial measures to their most comparable GAAP measures.

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、調整後的營業虧損和調整後的淨虧損，這些都是非 GAAP 財務指標。雖然我們相信這些非公認會計準則財務指標為投資者提供了有用的信息，但任何對這些信息的引用都不應被孤立地考慮或替代根據公認會計準則提供的財務信息。請參閱今天的新聞稿，以了解這些非 GAAP 財務指標與最具可比性的 GAAP 指標的對照情況。

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 (Ethan Brown)。

Thank you, Paul, and good afternoon, everyone. The first quarter of 2025 was clearly a disappointing one for us in a deviation from the previous two quarters in which we drove year-over-year revenue and gross margin growth. Significantly reduced operating expenses and achieved large improvements in net income and adjusted EBITDA.

謝謝你，保羅，大家下午好。2025 年第一季對我們來說顯然是令人失望的，與前兩個季度相比，我們實現了收入和毛利率的同比增長。大幅削減營運費用，實現淨收入和調整後EBITDA大幅提升。

In Q1 2025, we experienced worsening category and macroeconomic conditions that impacted our top line recovery and reverberated throughout our P&L. Before going through what I believe is a very strong response to this interruption in a recovery, I'll provide some color around our results, including calling out at a high level, some extraordinary and more transient drags on our performance.

2025 年第一季度，我們經歷了類別和宏觀經濟狀況的惡化，這影響了我們的營收復甦，並對我們的損益表產生了影響。在闡述我認為是對復甦中斷的非常強烈的反應之前，我將對我們的結果進行一些說明，包括在高層指出一些對我們業績的非同尋常且較為短暫的拖累。

First, as we discussed in our previous earnings call, certain large retail customers in the United States elected to transition plant-based meat from the refrigerated to the frozen aisle within their stores. In more than one retailer, this transition led to an interruption in availability of some of our core products throughout Q1 2025. As category and macroeconomic headwinds more generally slowed velocities toward the latter half of the quarter, it became harder to overcome the volume implications of these distribution gaps.

首先，正如我們在先前的財報電話會議上所討論的那樣，美國的某些大型零售客戶選擇將植物肉從其商店內的冷藏區轉移到冷凍區。在多家零售商中，這種​​轉變導致我們的部分核心產品在 2025 年第一季中斷供應。隨著類別和宏觀經濟逆風在本季後半段普遍減緩，克服這些分銷差距對數量的影響變得更加困難。

Looking forward across the balance of the year, however, we expect to build back much, though not all, of this and other loss distribution. These gains provide the opportunity, all things being equal, for better retail performance in subsequent quarters.

然而，展望今年餘下的時間，我們預計可以彌補大部分（儘管不是全部）此類損失和其他損失。在其他條件相同的情況下，這些收益為後續季度更好的零售業績提供了機會。

Moving from net revenues to gross margin. As I've shared previously, we've been consolidating our production network for a variety of reasons, including the rightsizing of our manufacturing footprint to current revenues. Through these measures and the commencement of increased internal production at our Devault, Pennsylvania facility, we expect to see strong year-over-year improvements in our production efficiency and costs.

從淨收入轉向毛利率。正如我之前所分享的，我們一直在整合我們的生產網絡，原因有很多，包括根據當前收入調整我們的製造規模。透過這些措施以及我們位於賓州德沃特的工廠開始增加內部產量，我們預計生產效率和成本將比去年同期大幅改善。

Our Q1 results do not yet reflect these improvements for four primary reasons: One, lower-than-anticipated sales volumes led to lower loss of overhead absorption.

我們的第一季業績尚未反映這些改善，主要有以下四個原因：第一，低於預期的銷售量導致間接費用吸收損失降低。

Two, the change in product mix, in part reflecting the interruption in retail distribution of certain core items and a larger percent of sales coming from product with higher direct labor and utilities increased the baseline cost of goods produced.

二是產品結構的變化，部分反映了某些核心產品零售分銷的中斷，以及來自直接勞動力和公用事業費用較高的產品的銷售額的較大比例增加了生產商品的基準成本。

Three, we saw some delays and lower-than-planned line throughput as we scaled new capacity in our Devault, Pennsylvania facility. These startup factors led to extended production over time and more changeovers than would be typical.

第三，當我們擴大賓州德沃特工廠的新產能時，我們發現了一些延誤，並且生產線吞吐量低於計劃。這些啟動因素導致生產時間延長，轉換次數比通常情況更多。

Fourth, we recorded a particularly large inventory provision this quarter as we sought to dispose of certain inventories for strategic reasons. This inclusion in our COGS, which is a noncash impact, created a strong negative drag on margin for the quarter, but should benefit our real inventory carrying costs going forward.

第四，由於我們出於戰略原因尋求處置某些庫存，因此本季我們記錄了特別大的庫存撥備。這部分費用被納入我們的銷貨成本中，屬於非現金影響，對本季的利潤率產生了很大的負面影響，但應該有利於我們未來的實際庫存持有成本。

Moving now to margin. In the absence of further worsening category and macroeconomic trends, we expect overall volume as well as the volume of our core products to improve as we gain back retail distribution and benefit from seasonality putting us in a better position to actually realize the planned benefits of a more efficient and appropriately sized production footprint.

現在轉到保證金。在類別和宏觀經濟趨勢沒有進一步惡化的情況下，我們預計總體銷售以及核心產品的銷售將會提高，因為我們重新獲得零售分銷並受益於季節性，這將使我們處於更好的位置，真正實現更有效率、更適當規模的生產足跡所帶來的計劃效益。

Turning to our operating expenses. I want to commend the team on managing tighter budgets even as we need to be more aggressive, a subject I will touch upon in a moment. Though our total operating expenses came in at $55.1 million, which still represents a $2 million year-over-year reduction. It's important to distinguish between ongoing OpEx and extraordinary or transient expenses which for the quarter totaled $7 million. These nonroutine charges include legal arbitration expenses relating to a previously disclosed contractual dispute with a former co-manufacturer, additional incremental noncash charges arising from decisions to increase inventory provisions for certain items and expenses related to the suspension of our operational activities in China.

談到我們的營運費用。我要讚揚團隊在管理緊縮預算方面所做的努力，儘管我們需要採取更積極的措施，我稍後會談到這個主題。儘管我們的總營運費用為 5,510 萬美元，但仍比去年同期減少了 200 萬美元。區分持續營運支出和非常規或暫時性支出非常重要，本季這些支出總計 700 萬美元。這些非常規費用包括與先前披露的與前合作製造商的合約糾紛有關的法律仲裁費用、因決定增加某些項目的庫存準備金而產生的額外增量非現金費用以及與暫停我們在中國運營活動有關的費用。

In addition to these aforementioned charges, I would also note that our OpEx in Q1 includes severance payments related to our February reduction in force. By setting aside these more transient costs, one can more clearly see evidence of progress with respect to our baseline operating expenses. Though this additional color provides greater visibility beyond the aggregate results. What is more important is what we're going to do to get back on track. We take this deviation from a recovery extremely seriously, and we're using it as an opportunity to strengthen our organization.

除了上述費用外，我還要指出的是，我們第一季的營運支出包括與二月裁員相關的遣散費。透過拋開這些更短暫的成本，人們可以更清楚地看到我們基線營運費用取得進展的證據。儘管這種額外的顏色提供了超出整體結果的更大的可見性。更重要的是我們要做什麼才能回到正軌。我們非常重視這種偏離復甦的趨勢，並將其視為加強我們組織的機會。

Whatever our top line turns out to be in this current environment of uncertainty, our overarching goal remains the same, EBITDA positive on a run rate basis by year-end 2026.

無論在當前不確定的環境下我們的營收結果如何，我們的總體目標保持不變，即在 2026 年底實現 EBITDA 的正成長。

To ensure that we achieve it, we are focusing additional internal and external resources on further driving our operational expenses down while optimizing our portfolio and manufacturing toward margin objectives. We will also continue and deepen our efforts to recast our value proposition with consumers through the development, sale and marketing of clean and simple plant-based proteins that taste great and support health and wellness goals.

為了確保實現這一目標，我們將集中額外的內部和外部資源，進一步降低營運費用，同時優化我們的產品組合和製造，以實現利潤目標。我們也將持續並加深努力，透過開發、銷售和行銷美味、支持健康和保健目標的清潔、簡單的植物蛋白，重塑我們與消費者的價值主張。

I'll now turn to the second part of our recovery. To be exceedingly clear while Beyond Meat can always and will always seek to improve our products, we believe the central issue impeding our return to sustained growth is perception, but more accurately misperception.

現在我將轉向我們復甦的第二部分。需要明確的是，雖然 Beyond Meat 可以並且將始終尋求改進我們的產品，但我們認為阻礙我們恢復持續成長的核心問題是認知，更準確地說是誤解。

According to a recent trend report, the consumers' interest in protein is only growing with 61% of surveyed consumers reporting increasing their protein intake in 2024, up from 48% in 2019. Beyond Meat is of course, a protein product, which depending on specific offerings, enjoy certifications from the American Heart Association, the American Diabetes Association and the Clean Label Project, among other organizations.

根據最近的趨勢報告，消費者對蛋白質的興趣日益增長，61% 的受訪消費者表示，到 2024 年，他們的蛋白質攝取量將會增加，高於 2019 年的 48%。Beyond Meat 當然是一種蛋白質產品，根據具體產品，它獲得了美國心臟協會、美國糖尿病協會和清潔標籤項目等組織的認證。

Convenient products such as Beyond Steak deliver high levels of protein using simple and recognizable ingredients made through a process that is clean and efficient and absent cholesterol drugs such as antibiotics and hormones and of course, lacking the threat of Zoonotic diseases. We should be a central part of satisfying consumer interest for protein, yet for reasons I will touch on momentarily, we need to reestablish ourselves within their decision set.

Beyond Steak 等便利產品採用簡單易懂的原料，透過清潔高效的生產流程提供高水平的蛋白質，不含抗生素和激素等膽固醇藥物，當然也沒有人畜共患疾病的威脅。我們應該成為滿足消費者對蛋白質興趣的核心部分，但出於我稍後會談到的原因，我們需要重新確立自己在消費者決策群體中的地位。

Regarding taste, we see our products earn positive media and consumer reviews, including our flagship product, the Beyond Burger, which recently won its seventh first place position in seven years in the largest survey of its kind, one answered by millions of consumers. [I find this] to be important given that Beyond IV, the fourth and current iteration of the Beyond Burger, we drove significant nutritional games, yet clearly still satisfy consumers' taste buds. We will continue to hit on these themes of taste and health and simple and clean ingredients as we expand our portfolio.

在口味方面，我們的產品贏得了媒體和消費者的積極評價，其中包括我們的旗艦產品 Beyond Burger，該產品最近在同類規模最大的調查中獲得了七年來第七個第一名，該調查有數百萬消費者參與。 [我發現]這一點很重要，因為 Beyond IV（Beyond Burger 的第四個也是當前版本）推動了重要的營養遊戲，但顯然仍然滿足了消費者的味蕾。隨著我們擴大產品組合，我們將繼續關注口味、健康以及簡單、乾淨的原料這些主題。

For example, after years of research and development, last week, we announced the arrival of Beyond Chicken pieces nationwide at Kroger.

例如，經過多年的研發，上週我們宣布 Beyond Chicken 雞肉塊在全國登陸 Kroger。

Though this product has its roots dating back to Beyond Meat's beginning 16 years ago, over the last several years, we put considerable effort into Beyond Chicken pieces taste, texture, ingredients and nutrition before reintroducing it.

雖然這款產品的起源可以追溯到 16 年前 Beyond Meat 的創立之初，但在過去幾年中，我們在重新推出 Beyond Chicken 肉塊之前，對它的口味、質地、成分和營養進行了大量的努力。

With a simple and clean ingredient deck, including avocado oil, and 21 grams of protein, the product is versatile, convenient and one of my personal favorites. This reality of accolades, press and clean and simple plant-protein products notwithstanding in the main, Beyond's value proposition remains obscured in doubt and misinformation.

這款產品的成分錶簡潔明了，包括酪梨油和 21 克蛋白質，用途廣泛、方便，是我個人最喜歡的產品之一。儘管 Beyond 獲得了眾多讚譽、媒體報導以及清潔簡單的植物蛋白產品，但其價值主張仍然被懷疑和錯誤訊息所掩蓋。

If we look inward, our highest priority is driving operating and margin improvements. Externally, our highest priority is on dispelling this information and powering the consumer to make informed decisions around our products.

如果我們審視內部，我們的首要任務是推動營運和利潤率的提高。從外部來看，我們的首要任務是消除這些資訊並讓消費者對我們的產品做出明智的決定。

To this end, I would encourage you to watch a short film we put together that is gaining traction on YouTube, called Planting Change. Planting Change, which is just shy of 10 minutes and which has over 2 million views in its short time online, explores the origin of misinformation regarding our products, is a glimpse of the relentless research on health and nutrition.

為此，我鼓勵您觀看我們製作的一部在 YouTube 上越來越受歡迎的短片，名為《種植變化》。《種植改變》時長不到 10 分鐘，上線後不久就獲得了超過 200 萬次的觀看量，它探究了有關我們產品的錯誤信息的來源，讓我們得以一窺人們對健康和營養的不懈研究。

Discusses the process we use to deliver protein from the field to the center of the plate and feature some of our farmers talking about what growing for Beyond means for their livelihood, for their families and for their communities.

討論了我們將蛋白質從田地運送到餐桌中心的過程，並介紹了一些農民談論為 Beyond 種植對他們的生計、家庭和社區意味著什麼。

Looking forward, we are fast following Planting Change with the launch of our latest marketing campaign, Real People, Real Results. Real People, Real Results is a social first 30-day challenge that follows sick people of various ages and backgrounds as they shift to a healthy plant-based diet that includes Beyond Meat.

展望未來，我們將緊跟種植變革，推出最新的行銷活動「真實的人，真實的結果」。「真實的人，真實的結果」是社會首次發起的為期 30 天的挑戰，追蹤不同年齡和背景的病人轉向包括 Beyond Meat 在內的健康植物性飲食的過程。

The program was designed by Dr. Matthew Lederman, co-author of Forks Over Knives plan at the Whole Foods diet, along with Dr. Alona Pulde and in just 30 days, participants saw real positive changes to their health while enjoying a plant-based diet that include delicious meals with the Beyond Burger, Beyond Beef and Beyond Steak, among other Beyond Products.

該計劃由 Whole Foods 飲食“Forks Over Knives”計劃的共同作者 Matthew Lederman 博士和 Alona Pulde 博士共同設計，在短短 30 天內，參與者在享受植物性飲食的同時，看到了健康狀況的真正積極變化，其中包括 Beyond 漢堡、Beyond 牛肉和 Beyond 牛排等 Beyond 產品中的美味佳餚。

From lower total cholesterol, lower LDL cholesterol, to weight loss, better sleep, higher energy levels and lower information. Real People, Real Result participants reported exciting benefits of a plant-based diet that includes our products. The social campaign was on Instagram and Facebook, TikTok and YouTube and we are amplifying it digitally across connected TV, Google performance mix and digital out-of-home in the coming weeks.

從降低總膽固醇、降低低密度脂蛋白膽固醇，到減輕體重、改善睡眠、提高能量水平和減少資訊。真實的人，真實的結果參與者報告了包含我們產品的植物性飲食帶來的令人興奮的好處。社交活動在 Instagram、Facebook、TikTok 和 YouTube 上進行，我們將在未來幾週內透過連網電視、Google 效果組合和戶外數位廣告以數位方式擴大其影響力。

For the next six weeks of new participant video drops each week, documenting their personal journey. More generally stay tuned as we'll be announcing more under the Real People, Real Results campaign and is accompanying a 30-day challenge program across the balance of the year.

在接下來的六週內，每週都會發布新的參與者視頻，記錄他們的個人旅程。請關注，我們將在「真實的人，真實的結果」活動下宣布更多消息，並在今年餘下時間推出為期 30 天的挑戰計劃。

Finally, with respect to strengthening our balance sheet, as we announced today, we have successfully closed on a financing facility providing up to $100 million in new senior secured debt from unprocessed foods LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ahimsa Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on advocating for plant-based diets. This facility provides us with an option for additional liquidity as we advance our strategic priorities and invest opportunistically in driving growth. We are pleased to welcome a new investor who deeply understands our industry and his mission aligned with our plant-based ethos.

最後，關於加強我們的資產負債表，正如我們今天宣布的那樣，我們已成功完成了一筆融資，該筆融資將向未加工食品有限責任公司提供高達 1 億美元的新優先擔保債務，該公司是 Ahimsa Foundation 的全資子公司，Ahimsa Foundation 是一家致力於倡導植物性飲食的非營利組織。當我們推進策略重點並抓住機會投資推動成長時，該工具為我們提供了額外流動性的選擇。我們很高興歡迎一位對我們的行業有著深刻理解並且其使命與我們以植物為基礎的精神相一致的新投資者。

I'll now turn the call over to Lubi.

現在我將把電話轉給 Lubi。

Thank you, Ethan, and good afternoon, everyone. I'll begin by reviewing our financial results in a bit more detail before providing some brief comments on our outlook. In the first quarter of 2025, net revenues decreased 9.1% to $68.7 million, compared to $75.6 million in the year ago period. The decrease in net revenues was primarily driven by an 11.2% decrease in volume of products sold partially offset by a 2.4% increase in net revenue per pound. The decrease in volume of products sold was primarily driven by weak category demand in our US retail and foodservice channels.

謝謝你，伊桑，大家下午好。我將首先更詳細地回顧我們的財務結果，然後對我們的前景發表一些簡短的評論。2025 年第一季度，淨收入下降 9.1% 至 6,870 萬美元，去年同期為 7,560 萬美元。淨收入的下降主要是由於銷售產品數量下降 11.2%，但每磅淨收入增加 2.4% 部分抵消了這一下降。銷售產品數量的下降主要是因為美國零售和餐飲服務管道對產品類別的需求疲軟。

Price elasticity effects resulting from 2024 pricing actions and some loss of distribution in our US channels. The increase in net revenue per pound was primarily driven by lower trade discounts and list price changes, partially offset by changes in product sales mix and unfavorable changes in foreign currency exchange rates.

2024 年定價行動導致的價格彈性效應以及我們美國通路分銷的一些損失。每磅淨收入的成長主要得益於較低的貿易折扣和標價變化，但部分被產品銷售組合的變化和外匯匯率的不利變化所抵消。

Breaking this down by channel, US retail channel net revenues decreased 15.4% to $31.4 million compared to $37.1 million in the year ago period. The decrease in net revenues was primarily driven by a 23.2% decrease in volume of products sold, partially offset by a 10% increase in net revenue per pound. This year-over-year decrease in volume represents a reversal from the more positive momentum we observed in the third and fourth quarters of last year.

按通路細分，美國零售通路淨收入為 3,140 萬美元，較去年同期的 3,710 萬美元下降 15.4%。淨收入的下降主要是由於銷售產品數量下降 23.2%，但每磅淨收入增加 10% 部分抵消了這一下降。與去年同期相比，銷量有所下降，這與去年第三季和第四季觀察到的更積極的勢頭形成了逆轉。

Consumption data suggests that consumer takeaway in US retail progressively weakened in the first quarter of 2025, which we believe contributed to meaningfully weaker shipments than we had expected. Although it is too early to tell and difficult to quantify, we believe broader macroeconomic concerns and reduced consumer confidence are negatively impacting our and other categories in general.

消費數據顯示，2025 年第一季美國零售業的消費者外送逐漸減弱，我們認為這導致出貨量明顯低於我們的預期。雖然現在下結論還為時過早，而且難以量化，但我們認為，更廣泛的宏觀經濟問題和消費者信心下降正在對我們和其他類別產生負面影響。

In addition to this more general softness in our category, we were also impacted by the lapping of certain items in the year ago period that did not repeat this quarter. These included approximately $1.6 million in ingredient sales some level of forward buying by customers in anticipation of price increases, which we began implementing in the second quarter of last year and to a lesser extent, sales of Beyond Meat Turkey which we were in the process of discontinuing a year ago.

除了我們產品類別中普遍存在的疲軟現象之外，我們還受到了去年同期某些商品的重疊現象的影響，而本季並未出現這種情況。其中包括約 160 萬美元的原料銷售額、客戶預期價格上漲而進行的一定程度的預購（我們從去年第二季度開始實施），以及在較小程度上，Beyond Meat Turkey 的銷售（我們一年前就已停止銷售）。

Furthermore, as I noted earlier, we experienced some loss of distribution as certain retailers transitioned our products from refrigerated to frozen aisles although we expect to regain some portion of these losses beginning in the second quarter of 2025.

此外，正如我之前提到的，由於某些零售商將我們的產品從冷藏區轉移到冷凍區，我們的分銷業務遭受了一些損失，但我們預計從 2025 年第二季開始將彌補部分損失。

And finally, we did experience some temporary disruptions in supply of a few of our products as we ramped up production on a new manufacturing line at our Devault, Pennsylvania facility as part of our in-sourcing initiative. The 10% increase in net revenue per pound in US retail was primarily driven by reduced trade discounts and the effects of our 2024 pricing actions, partially offset by changes in product sales mix.

最後，作為我們內部採購計劃的一部分，當我們在賓夕法尼亞州德沃特工廠的新生產線上加大產量時，我們確實遇到了一些產品供應暫時中斷的情況。美國零售每磅淨收入成長 10% 主要是由於貿易折扣減少以及我們 2024 年定價行動的影響，但產品銷售組合的變化部分抵消了這一增長。

The impacts of volume and mix are worth calling out as they impacted not just our top line results, but also our gross margin performance, which I'll elaborate on momentarily.

數量和組合的影響值得一提，因為它們不僅影響我們的營業收入，也影響我們的毛利率表現，我稍後會詳細說明。

Turning to foodservice. US foodservice net revenues decreased 23.5% to $9.4 million in the first quarter of 2025 compared to $12.3 million in the year ago period. The decrease in net revenues was primarily driven by a 22% decrease in volume of products sold and a 2% decrease in net revenue per pound, primarily reflecting higher trade discounts and changes in product sales mix versus a year ago.

轉向餐飲服務。2025 年第一季度，美國餐飲服務淨收入為 940 萬美元，較去年同期的 1,230 萬美元下降 23.5%。淨收入的下降主要是由於銷售產品數量下降 22% 以及每磅淨收入下降 2%，這主要反映了與去年同期相比更高的貿易折扣和產品銷售組合的變化。

The decrease in volume of products sold was primarily driven by weak category demand, reduced further sales to a QSR customer and some impact from distribution losses. Although we anticipate broader headwinds in this channel will persist in the near term, we're optimistic that efforts to build out our US foodservice team over the last several months, which are largely complete now, will begin to pay dividends soon.

產品銷售下降主要是由於類別需求疲軟、對 QSR 客戶的進一步銷售減少以及分銷損失的一些影響。儘管我們預計該通路短期內仍將持續面臨更廣泛的阻力，但我們樂觀地認為，過去幾個月來我們為組建美國餐飲服務團隊所做的努力（目前已基本完成）將很快開始帶來回報。

In international, our international retail channel net revenues increased 0.8% to $12.7 million in the first quarter of 2025 compared to $12.6 million in the year ago period. The increase in net revenues was primarily driven by a 10.3% increase in net revenue per pound, partially offset by an 8.6% decrease in volume of products sold.

在國際方面，我們的國際零售通路淨收入在 2025 年第一季成長 0.8%，達到 1,270 萬美元，而去年同期為 1,260 萬美元。淨收入的成長主要得益於每磅淨收入成長 10.3%，但部分被銷售產品數量下降 8.6% 所抵銷。

The increase in net revenue per pound was primarily driven by changes in product sales mix and lower trade discounts, partially offset by unfavorable changes in foreign currency exchange rates and price decreases of certain of our products. The decrease in volume of products sold was primarily due to reduced sales of the company's ground beef products in the EU as a packaging transition led to some disruption and limited loss of distribution for those items.

每磅淨收入的成長主要得益於產品銷售組合的變化和貿易折扣的降低，但外匯匯率的不利變化和某些產品價格的下降部分抵消了這一增長。銷售產品數量下降主要是由於包裝轉型導致該公司碎牛肉產品在歐盟的銷售量下降以及分銷損失有限。

International foodservice channel net revenues increased 12.1% to $15.3 million in the first quarter of 2025 compared to $13.6 million in the year ago period. The increase in net revenues was primarily driven by a 13.5% increase in volume of products sold, partially offset by a 1.2% decrease in net revenue per pound. The increase in volume of products sold was primarily due to increased sales of chicken products to a large QSR customer, while the decrease in net revenue per pound was largely driven by changes in product sales mix and the impact of FX partially offset by lower trade discounts.

2025 年第一季度，國際餐飲通路淨收入達到 1,530 萬美元，較去年同期的 1,360 萬美元成長 12.1%。淨收入的成長主要得益於產品銷售成長 13.5%，但每磅淨收入下降 1.2% 部分抵消了這一成長。銷售產品數量的增加主要是由於對大型 QSR 客戶的雞肉產品銷售額增加，而每磅淨收入的減少主要是由於產品銷售組合的變化和外匯的影響，但貿易折扣的降低部分抵消了這一影響。

Moving down the P&L. Gross profit in the first quarter of 2025 was a loss of $1.1 million or gross margin of negative 1.5% compared to gross profit of $3.7 million or gross margin of 4.9% in the year ago period. Gross profit and gross margin included approximately $5.2 million of extraordinary charges related to specific strategic inventory reduction initiatives and expenses related to the suspension of our operational activities in China. Excluding these items, COGS per pound was only marginally higher than year-ago levels, reflecting higher inventory provision on a year-over-year basis, partially offset by lower materials and logistics costs.

降低損益。2025 年第一季的毛利為虧損 110 萬美元，毛利率為負 1.5%，而去年同期的毛利為 370 萬美元，毛利率為 4.9%。毛利和毛利率包括與特定策略庫存減少措施相關的約 520 萬美元的非常費用以及與暫停我們在中國營運活動相關的費用。不計入這些項目，每磅的銷貨成本僅略高於去年同期水平，反映出同比庫存準備金增加，但材料和物流成本降低部分抵消了這一影響。

As I mentioned earlier, our underlying gross margin performance this quarter, which fell short of our expectations, also reflected the impact of lower sales volume as certain fixed costs were spread over a few pounds sold. We also saw higher labor costs related to the installation and ramp-up of a new production line and a tilt in our production mix towards certain products that are more labor-intensive and incur higher variable overhead expenses, including utilities.

正如我之前提到的，本季我們的基本毛利率表現低於預期，這也反映了銷售量下降的影響，因為某些固定成本分攤到了幾英鎊的銷售額上。我們還發現，與新生產線的安裝和投入使用相關的勞動力成本有所上升，而且我們的生產組合傾向於某些勞動密集型產品，這些產品會產生更高的變動間接費用，包括公用事業費用。

This reflects changes in our sales mix more broadly as our lower-cost core products have borne the front of softer shipments in recent periods. This underscores the importance we are placing on our efforts to stabilize and ultimately restore growth within our core set of products given the significance of gross margin expansion as a lever that supports our longer-term objective of achieving sustainable operations.

這更廣泛地反映了我們銷售組合的變化，因為我們的低成本核心產品在最近一段時間內承受了出貨量疲軟的壓力。這強調了我們對穩定並最終恢復核心產品成長的努力的重視，因為毛利率擴張是支持我們實現永續營運的長期目標的槓桿。

Operating expenses were $55.1 million in the first quarter of 2025 compared to $57.1 million in the year ago period. Operating expenses included a total of $7.2 million in transient expenses, including $4.6 million of incremental legal fees associated with arbitration proceedings related to a contractual dispute with a former co-manufacturer, $1.3 million in noncash charges arising from specific strategic decisions to increase inventory provision for certain inventory items and $1.2 million in expenses related to the suspension of our operational activities in China.

2025 年第一季的營運費用為 5,510 萬美元，而去年同期為 5,710 萬美元。營運費用包括總計 720 萬美元的臨時費用，包括與前合作製造商的合約糾紛相關的仲裁程序相關的 460 萬美元的增量法律費用、因增加某些庫存項目的庫存準備金的特定戰略決策而產生的 130 萬美元的非現金費用，以及與暫停我們在中國運營活動相關的 120 萬美元的費用。

Below the line, total other income net was $3.3 million in the first quarter of 2025 compared to total expense net of $0.9 million in the year ago period, driven by an increase in net realized and unrealized foreign currency transaction gains.

低於此水準的是，2025 年第一季的其他淨收入總額為 330 萬美元，而去年同期的淨支出總額為 90 萬美元，這主要是由於已實現和未實現的外匯交易淨收益增加所致。

Overall, net loss was $52.9 million in the first quarter of 2025 compared to $54.4 million in the year ago period. Net loss per common share was $0.69 in the first quarter of 2025 compared to $0.84 in the year ago period. Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $42.3 million or a negative 61.6% of net revenues in the first quarter of 2025 compared to an adjusted EBITDA loss of $32.9 million, a negative 43.5% of net revenues in the year ago period.

整體而言，2025 年第一季淨虧損為 5,290 萬美元，而去年同期淨虧損為 5,440 萬美元。2025 年第一季每股普通股淨虧損為 0.69 美元，去年同期為 0.84 美元。2025 年第一季調整後 EBITDA 虧損 4,230 萬美元，佔淨收入的負 61.6%，而去年同期調整後 EBITDA 虧損 3,290 萬美元，佔淨收入的負 43.5%。

Turning to balance sheet and cash flow highlights. Our cash and cash equivalents balance, including restricted cash was $115.8 million and total outstanding debt was $1.1 billion as of March 29, 2025. Net cash used in operating activities was $26.1 million in the three months ended March 29, 2025, compared to $31.8 million in the year ago period, and capital expenditures were $4.5 million in the three months ended March 29, 2025, compared to $1.2 million in the year-ago period.

轉向資產負債表和現金流量亮點。截至 2025 年 3 月 29 日，我們的現金及現金等價物餘額（包括受限現金）為 1.158 億美元，未償債務總額為 11 億美元。截至 2025 年 3 月 29 日的三個月，經營活動所用淨現金為 2,610 萬美元，而去年同期為 3,180 萬美元；截至 2025 年 3 月 29 日的三個月，資本支出為 450 萬美元，而去年同期為 120 萬美元。

As it relates to our balance sheet, and as Ethan mentioned, we are pleased to announce that we have closed on a financing facility, providing up to $100 million in new senior secured debt. Under the terms of the agreement, unprocessed foods has provided us with a senior secured delayed draw term loan facility of $100 million. Any drawdowns would accrue interest of 12% prior to the initial maturity date of February 7, 2030, and 17.5% following the date in each case, payable in kind. The initial maturity date may be extended with the consent of both parties.

就我們的資產負債表而言，正如 Ethan 提到的，我們很高興地宣布，我們已經完成了一項融資安排，提供高達 1 億美元的新優先擔保債務。根據協議條款，未加工食品向我們提供了 1 億美元的優先擔保延期提取定期貸款。任何提款都會在初始到期日 2030 年 2 月 7 日之前產生 12% 的利息，並在到期日之後產生 17.5% 的利息，以實物支付。經雙方同意，初始到期日可延長。

Furthermore, as part of the transaction, unprocessed foods will receive warrants in proportion to the amount drawn down on the facility giving them the right to purchase up to 12.5% of the company's currently outstanding shares at an exercise price of 115% of the 30-day VWAP period beginning May 8, 2025 with a minimum and maximum exercise price of $2 and $3.75, respectively. Complete terms are disclosed in a report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC.

此外，作為交易的一部分，未加工食品將根據該設施提取的金額比例獲得認股權證，使其有權以行使價 2025 年 5 月 8 日開始的 30 天 VWAP 期間的 115% 購買該公司目前流通股的 12.5%，最低和最高行使價分別為 2 美元和 3.75 美元。完整條款在向美國證券交易委員會提交的 8-K 表格報告中揭露。

Although we have no near-term debt maturities, in line with our strategic priorities for 2025, we continue to focus on strengthening our balance sheet for the long term including evaluating potential transactions to address our existing convertible notes prior to maturity in 2027. In this regard, we will provide further updates as and when appropriate.

雖然我們沒有短期債務到期，但根據我們 2025 年的策略重點，我們將繼續專注於長期加強資產負債表，包括評估在 2027 年到期之前處理現有可轉換票據的潛在交易。在這方面，我們將在適當的時候提供進一步的更新。

Finally, a brief word on our outlook. As with many other companies, we are experiencing an elevated level of uncertainty in our operating environment as a result of the uncertain and volatile macroeconomic conditions, which could have unforeseen impacts on our actual realized results. In light of this uncertainty, we believe it is prudent to withdraw our previous full year guidance, and we are limiting our revised outlook to our second quarter net revenue expectations only.

最後，簡單談談我們的展望。與許多其他公司一樣，由於不確定和不穩定的宏觀經濟條件，我們的經營環境面臨高度不確定性，這可能會對我們的實際實現結果產生不可預見的影響。鑑於這種不確定性，我們認為撤回先前的全年指導是明智之舉，並且我們將修訂後的展望僅限於第二季淨收入預期。

Specifically, in the second quarter of 2025 we expect net revenues to be in the range of $80 million to $85 million, reflecting, among other things, the anticipated impact of ongoing softness in demand in our category and the consumer sector more generally.

具體來說，我們預計 2025 年第二季的淨收入將在 8,000 萬美元至 8,500 萬美元之間，這反映了我們所在類別以及整個消費領域需求持續疲軟的預期影響。

With that, I'll turn the call back over to the operator to open it up for your questions.

說完這些，我將把電話轉回給接線員，以便回答您的​​問題。

We will now begin the question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions)

我們現在開始問答環節。（操作員指示）

Ben Theurer, Barclays.

巴克萊銀行的 Ben Theurer。

Well, good afternoon, and thank you very much for taking my question. So Ethan, Lubi, two-ones. One, I guess, for Ethan and another one for Lubi. Ethan if you look at the performance in the first quarter and definitely the challenges to overcome, with all the struggle, particularly in the US market, what potential initiatives could you take to boost somehow or to at least stop the decline in volumes. What are you thinking about in terms of like just getting a stabilization on the top line in the US?

好的，下午好，非常感謝您回答我的問題。所以 Ethan，Lubi，兩個一。我想，一個是給 Ethan 的，另一個是給 Lubi 的。伊森，如果你看一下第一季的業績，以及需要克服的挑戰，面對所有的困難，特別是在美國市場，你可以採取哪些潛在的舉措來以某種方式提振或至少阻止銷量下降。您對穩定美國收入有何想法？

And then my second question, it would be probably more for Lubi. Can you share any more details as to the financing agreement of that $100 million in terms of like expected interest expense. How should we think about this maturities? Any more details you can share that might not be just readily available?

我的第二個問題可能更多是針對 Lubi。您能否分享有關該 1 億美元融資協議的更多細節，例如預期利息支出。我們該如何看待這個成熟度？能分享更多不易取得的詳細資訊嗎？

Great question. Good to hear from you. I'll take the first and then hand it to Lubi. So I think it's in a couple of different buckets that I think about this. And one is easier than the other, and the first really is around distribution.

好問題。很高興收到你的來信。我先拿一個，然後把它交給盧比。所以我認為我會從幾個不同角度來考慮這個問題。其中一個比另一個更容易，第一個實際上與分佈有關。

And so as I explained in my prepared remarks, two large retailers, one very large migrated our products from the fresh or refrigerated section to the frozen section, but it didn't do so in a continuous manner, so it took them out of distribution as they were doing their resets for a pretty sustained period, which encompassed all of Q1, right? And then they're going to be putting into the frozen in the coming months.

正如我在準備好的發言中所解釋的那樣，兩家大型零售商，其中一家非常大的零售商將我們的產品從新鮮或冷藏區轉移到了冷凍區，但並沒有以連續的方式進行，因此在他們進行重置的相當長的一段時間內，他們將這些產品從分銷中移除，這涵蓋了整個第一季度，對嗎？然後他們將在接下來的幾個月將其放入冷凍室。

And so talking to our sales team, our sales leader, they feel good about the distribution they're gaining back across the balance of the year in US retail. And I think about 70% of our declines or so could be explained in the first quarter by that distribution gap. So seeing it come back it, -- then the challenge becomes velocity. And that's the harder challenge.

在與我們的銷售團隊和銷售主管交談時，他們對今年在美國零售業中重新獲得的分銷感到滿意。我認為，第一季約 70% 的下滑可以用分銷差距來解釋。所以看到它回來——那麼挑戰就變成了速度。這是更艱鉅的挑戰。

But we did see towards the end of last year in stores where we had not lost distribution, so where there was comps that were same stores, we were starting to see, particularly with the Beyond IV lineup, a slightly positive trend on velocity. That has not occurred in the first quarter as I think we see some consumer slowdown in general.

但我們確實在去年年底看到，在那些我們沒有失去分銷的商店裡，所以在有可比性的同一家商店裡，我們開始看到，特別是 Beyond IV 系列，速度呈現略微積極的趨勢。我覺得第一季還沒有出現這種情況，因為整體來看，我們看到了消費成長放緩。

But that second bucket is really the one that we need to focus on, not from a blocking and tackling of distribution, but on how do we get back into the consumer decision set on our products. And I think we did the hard work over the last two years of trying to clear up some of this misinformation. If you think about where we were two years ago, it was kind of the height of this intense misinformation campaign where there's something wrong with the ingredients, the process and so on and so forth and we still have some of that.

但第二個問題才是我們真正需要關注的，不是阻止和解決分銷問題，而是如何讓消費者重新決定我們產品的決策。我認為我們在過去兩年裡做了大量工作來試圖澄清一些錯誤訊息。如果你回想一下兩年前的情況，那時正是假訊息氾濫的高峰期，成分、工藝等等都存在問題，現在我們仍然遇到一些這樣的問題。

But you can feel it waning a little bit, and it's sort of more of the truth starting to come out. And the way we dealt with that, right, was all these programs, where we got certifications from the American Association, the American Diabetes Association, Clean Label Project and other organizations to help counter that negative narrative that we -- there by the meat industry, but also by the pharmaceutical industry who didn't want to lose sales from selling antibiotics to the livestock.

但你可以感覺到它正在逐漸減弱，更多的真相開始浮現。我們處理這個問題的方式就是透過這些項目，我們從美國協會、美國糖尿病協會、清潔標籤項目和其他組織獲得了認證，以幫助反駁肉類行業和製藥行業的負面說法，他們不想因為向牲畜出售抗生素而損失銷售額。

So we kind of made it through that really intense pressure cooker, and now I think it's about -- we did the stand until the things I talk about a lot. But now it's really about making that digestible for the consumer, no pun intended. And what I mean by that is how do we put that -- social media, how do we get folks to understand that in a relatable way. And that's what this Real People, Real Results program is about and to see the first batch of these folks go through the program.

所以我們算是熬過了那個非常緊張的壓力鍋，現在我認為這是關於——我們堅持到了我經常談論的事情。但現在真正要做的就是讓消費者能夠理解這一點，這並不是雙關語。我的意思是，我們如何透過社群媒體讓人們以一種可理解的方式理解這一點。這就是「真實的人，真實的結果」計畫的意義所在，我們想看看第一批人是如何完成這個計畫的。

And it's again being administered by a terrific doctor, Dr. Lederman, he was one of the main doctors behind the Forks Over Knives plan, as well as the Whole Foods diet with Whole Foods in the store. And to see him use our products and plant-based eating in general to transform people's health outcomes whether it's the energy levels, the cholesterol levels, even there's good weight loss occurring, things of that nature is impactful and powerful.

這項計畫再次由一位出色的醫生萊德曼醫生負責實施，他是「餐叉勝於手術刀」計畫以及全食超市全食減肥法的主要醫生之一。看到他使用我們的產品和植物性飲食來改變人們的健康狀況，無論是能量水平、膽固醇水平，還是體重減輕，這些事情都是有影響力和強大的。

And so if we can continue to clear that message up, and get into the decision as I mentioned, that study I mentioned was from -- . And it shows that very significant increase among US consumers in protein. And part of that has to do with the use of weight loss drugs and the need to increase protein intake if you're on one of those drugs or perceived need anyway.

因此，如果我們能夠繼續澄清這一訊息，並做出我提到的決定，我提到的研究來自-- 。這顯示美國消費者的蛋白質攝取量顯著增加。部分原因與使用減肥藥有關，如果您正在服用其中一種藥物或認為有需要，則需要增加蛋白質的攝取量。

So we're seeing that intensification of interest in the US consumer around protein, we are a very clean source of protein. So how do we continue to chip away at the misconception and drive a more positive perception around our brand, and we're doing that.

因此，我們看到美國消費者對蛋白質的興趣日益濃厚，我們是一個非常乾淨的蛋白質來源。那麼，我們如何繼續消除誤解並推動我們品牌更積極的認知呢？我們正在這樣做。

So 2 parts: one, restore this distribution; two make sure we get the narrative in front of the consumer. And I think we're -- for those things. So I view this really as an aberration versus a trend. I think if you look at our Q2, Q3 and Q4 results, what I hope you'll see is the impact of some of that increased distribution.

所以分成兩部分：第一，恢復這個分佈；二是確保我們將故事呈現在消費者面前。我認為我們──是為了這些事。因此，我認為這實際上是一種異常現象，而不是一種趨勢。我想，如果你看一下我們的第二季、第三季和第四季的業績，我希望你會看到分銷增加所帶來的影響。

Ben, I'll address your second question, which was around the financing. And I think I provided some of the detail in my prepared remarks, but happy to sort of cover those again. So the initial term of the facility is 4.75 years, just under five years with some options to extend.

本，我來回答你的第二個問題，關於融資。我認為我在準備好的發言中提供了一些細節，但很高興再次談到這些細節。因此，該貸款的初始期限為 4.75 年，略低於 5 年，但有一些延長的選擇。

And as I mentioned in my prepared remarks, it is a delayed draw facility. And any drawdowns in the initial period would accrue interest at 12%. That's through the maturity date of February 7, 2030. And then they would accrue interest at 17.5% following that date. And as I mentioned on the call, it would be payable in type interest initially.

正如我在準備好的演講中提到的那樣，這是一種延遲抽獎的設施。初始期間的任何提款都將按 12% 的利率產生利息。到期日為 2030 年 2 月 7 日。然後他們將在該日期之後以 17.5% 的利率累積利息。正如我在電話中提到的那樣，最初將以利息形式支付。

So I think that pretty much covers the sort of key terms of that financing, but happy to address if there are further questions.

所以我認為這基本上涵蓋了融資的關鍵條款，但如果還有其他問題，我很樂意回答。

Just maybe a real quick follow-up on that. How do you think about what you stated about the press release that you continue to look into other alternatives. I know there's (technical difficulty), so what else is currently in consideration of the company to like support the cash needs that you might have?

也許只是對此進行一次真正的快速跟進。您如何看待新聞稿中所說的繼續尋找其他替代方案？我知道有（技術困難），那麼公司目前還在考慮什麼來滿足您的現金需求？

You were a little bit hard to hear on that question, Ben, but I think you were asking about what else can we do to support our cash spread?

本，你對這個問題的回答有點難以接受，但我認為你問的是，我們還能做些什麼來支持我們的現金利差？

Correct. Correct, yes.

正確的。正確，是的。

Yes. So obviously, having access to this capital is certainly beneficial for the business. But I would say that, that doesn't change any of the sort of key initiatives, right, that we are pursuing in support of this EBITDA positive goal of ours.

是的。因此，顯然，獲得這筆資金對企業來說肯定是有利的。但我想說的是，這不會改變我們為實現 EBITDA 正向目標所採取的任何關鍵措施。

So in order for us to get there, and I think we discussed this on the last earnings call, we have to stabilize the top line, sort of gets to the question that you had asked, Ethan. We have to expand gross margin, and we have to kind of maintain pretty tight operating expense expenditures and look for further opportunities to reduce that. We really have to do all three of those things. And if we can achieve that, then obviously, the rate of cash consumption of the business will be reduced. But obviously, having some flexibility with this capital is also very beneficial to us.

因此，為了實現這一目標，我想我們在上次財報電話會議上討論過這個問題，我們必須穩定營收，這有點像你問的問題，伊森。我們必須擴大毛利率，並且必須保持相當嚴格的營運費用支出，並尋找進一步降低營運費用支出的機會。我們確實必須把這三件事都做完。如果我們能夠實現這一點，那麼顯然企業的現金消耗率將會降低。但顯然，對這些資本擁有一定的彈性對我們也很有利。

Yes. I think just if I could just add to that, and I'll get to other questions as well. But I want to overemphasize this point that what's most important to the business, and this is obvious, but just so it's understood, is not necessarily driving some sort of spectacular growth at the time. Like what we're really focused on, right, is making sure that our expense base fits into whatever revenue is going to occur this year.

是的。我想如果我能補充一點的話，我也會回答其他問題。但我想強調這一點，對企業來說最重要的是什麼，這是顯而易見的，但只是為了理解，並不一定會推動當時某種驚人的成長。就像我們真正關注的一樣，確保我們的支出基礎適合今年的任何收入。

And then second, that the margin gets to where it needs to be. And if you look at the factors that impacted the gross margin in the first quarter, which we went over in our prepared remarks, but happy to talk about as well. A lot of these should not persist and so we ended the consolidation of the network, got into the Pennsylvania facility, new line that we set up. It was slower than we expected. The volumes going through there were somewhat diminished because of the things we just talked about on the top line, that we had these larger inventory reserves that we pushed through in a particularly dark quarter.

其次，利潤要達到它所需要的水準。如果你看一下影響第一季毛利率的因素，我們在準備好的評論中已經討論過這些因素，但我們也很樂意談論這些因素。其中許多都不應該繼續存在，所以我們結束了網路整合，進入了賓州的工廠，建立了新的線路。它比我們預期的要慢。由於我們剛才談到的頂線問題，我們擁有更大的庫存儲備，並且在一個特別黑暗的季度中我們用完了這些儲備，因此那裡的庫存量有所減少。

So all of those things as you get into two and three, particularly Q2 and Q3, particularly with the seasonality benefit and how that benefits our core we expect to see much better progress on margin and hopefully, a return to some of the trends you were seeing in Q3 and Q4 of last year.

因此，當進入第二季度和第三季度時，特別是第二季度和第三季度，尤其是季節性效益以及它如何使我們的核心受益，我們預計利潤率將有更好的進展，並有望恢復到去年第三季度和第四季度所看到的一些趨勢。

Peter Saleh, BTIG.

彼得·薩利赫（Peter Saleh），BTIG。

Great. Lubi, I think you mentioned in your prepared remarks, you're working on building out the foodservice team. If I heard you correctly, can you just elaborate a little bit on that in the US? What is going to be the focus there? How is the strategy going to be different than prior years? And just give us a little bit more detail on that.

偉大的。Lubi，我想您在準備好的發言中提到過，您正在努力組建餐飲服務團隊。如果我沒聽錯的話，您能否詳細說明一下美國的情況？那裡的重點是什麼？該戰略與前幾年有何不同？請向我們提供更多有關此問題的細節。

I can cover that. So I was just on a call before getting on to this with the head of that department and I think the way to think about the US foodservices, we've had a particularly tough run at it recently and the kind of distribution gains that I was talking about in retail. While it's not as cut and dry, it's not like some are coming back and things of that nature, that team is now more fully built out, and we expect to see improvement in the US foodservice performance, it depends.

我可以解決這個問題。因此，在討論這個問題之前，我剛剛和該部門的負責人通了電話，我認為，我們應該考慮一下美國食品服務，我們最近遇到了特別困難的情況，以及我在零售業中談到的分銷收益。雖然情況沒有那麼簡單，但這並不意味著有些人會回來，而且事情並非如此，現在這個團隊已經更加完善，我們預計美國餐飲服務的表現會有所改善，這取決於具體情況。

That's one of the first places you start to see consumer concerns. So if that category continues to struggle -- , McDonald's, et cetera. I can't guarantee it, but we are starting to pick up more wins. And I think it has to do with -- we've done better historically in the noncomp space, universities, hospitals, things like that. But we've now really started to focus on that commercial space again. And I don't think you should expect us to pick up massive name QSR in the US right now, but we're focusing more on that smaller national account, and we are making some progress there. And you'll I think hear some fun stuff or encouraging news rather as we progress through the year, but not kind of massive names, but maybe a tear down from that places that you would recognize.

這是消費者首先關注的焦點之一。因此，如果該類別繼續陷入困境——，麥當勞等等。我無法保證，但我們開始贏得更多勝利。我認為這與我們在非競爭領域、大學、醫院等的歷史表現較好有關。但我們現在又開始真正關注商業領域了。我認為您不應該期望我們現在就收購美國知名的 QSR 餐廳，但我們更關注的是較小的全國性客戶，而且我們在那裡取得了一些進展。我認為，隨著我們一年年的進展，你會聽到一些有趣或令人鼓舞的消息，但不是那種大牌人物，而可能是你所熟悉的地方的拆解。

Robert Moskow, TD Cowen.

羅伯特·莫斯科（Robert Moskow），TD Cowen。

Lubi, your 2025 outlook, you're pulling guidance for the year. But the reasoning was a little vague. You talked about elevated uncertainty in the operating environment. So does that have anything to do with tariffs and things that we've heard from other CPG companies? Or is it really just kind of like, hey, the demand here in the US is hard to predict right now. Is there anything specific you're seeing with retailer changes that you don't want to opine on? Like I'm trying to dig a little deeper into what the verbiage means.

Lubi，你對 2025 年的展望是針對今年所做的指導。但其理由有點模糊。您談到了經營環境的不確定性增加。那麼這與關稅以及我們從其他 CPG 公司聽到的消息有什麼關係嗎？或者真的只是有點像，嘿，現在美國的需求很難預測。您是否看到了零售商方面有哪些具體的變化但不想發表意見？就像我試著更深入地探究這些字的意思。

Yes. Lubi can provide additional commentary. But the main point is you see the uncertainty that is unfolding right now in consumer spending. And those are ripple for some companies, like you look like -- you cover a lot of the sector and I actually look at the stuff I just mentioned with -- and McDonald's, et cetera. But for us, that can be significant, right?

是的。Lubi 可以提供額外的評論。但主要的一點是，你會看到消費者支出目前正在顯現出不確定性。這些對一些公司來說都是連鎖反應，例如你看起來——你涵蓋了很多行業，我實際上也關注我剛才提到的東西——還有麥當勞等等。但對我們來說，這很重要，對吧？

So we just don't know and there's no lurking concern other than that. And I really want this team focused entirely on reaching profitability versus chasing a number arbitrarily. So I've been behind that, but we'll have to just take it quarter-by-quarter right now.

所以我們只是不知道，除此之外沒有其他潛在的擔憂。我真的希望這個團隊能夠完全專注於實現獲利，而不是任意追求數字。所以我一直在支持這一點，但現在我們必須逐季度進行。

And the main point here is to get this EBITDA positive goal done and stabilize the business. I mean, over time, and you and I have talked about this a lot. I have zeroed out that this business is going to be the very large business we've expected it to be.

這裡的重點是實現 EBITDA 正值目標並穩定業務。我的意思是，隨著時間的推移，你和我已經談過很多次了。我已經確定這項業務將會成為我們預期的非常大的業務。

But trying to drive an upside right now in this environment at the expense of stabilizing and reaching EBITDA and profitability, obviously, not a good idea. And so it's really around let's take some of that pressure off. Let's make sure we get the internal stuff right, let's make sure we get the margins right and let's reach this EBITDA positive goal in a run rate basically by the end of 2016.

但在目前這種環境下，試圖以犧牲穩定和實現 EBITDA 和盈利為代價來推動上行，顯然不是一個好主意。所以這其實是為了讓我們減輕一些壓力。讓我們確保內部事務正確，確保利潤率正確，並在 2016 年底前實現 EBITDA 正向目標。

Go ahead, Lubi.

繼續吧，盧比。

I was just going to say to add to that. So it's -- obviously, there's a lot of discussions around tariffs and how that may impact the various sectors in the broader macroeconomic environment. It's obviously still pretty early days, but I would say we've obviously been focused on it as well. And we've done some analysis to try to understand what the implications might be.

我只是想補充這一點。因此，顯然，圍繞關稅以及關稅如何影響更廣泛的宏觀經濟環境中的各個部門有很多討論。顯然現在還處於早期階段，但我想說我們顯然也一直在關注這個問題。我們做了一些分析，試圖了解其可能產生的影響。

Look, there's no guarantees. But I think at this point, we think the direct impact on our business is relatively minimal. But nonetheless, I think that is causing right, some discomfort across the consumer more generally. And what we've seen in the past is a skittish consumer does not help our category.

瞧，沒有任何保證。但我認為目前看來，對我們業務的直接影響相對較小。但儘管如此，我認為這確實會為消費者帶來一些不適。而我們過去看到的情況是，膽怯的消費者對我們的產品類別沒有幫助。

Back in -- I believe it was 2022 and sort of inflation was peaking across various portions of the grocery store. We saw sort of a lot of trading or trading down or whatever you want to call it, from the plant-based meat category into animal protein. And remember that still a vast majority of our consumers are flexitarians.

回顧——我相信那是在 2022 年，雜貨店各個部分的通貨膨脹都達到了頂峰。我們看到了大量的交易，或者說降級交易，或者無論你怎麼稱呼它，從植物性肉類類別轉向動物性蛋白質類別。請記住，我們的絕大多數消費者仍然是彈性素食者。

So all of our consumer surveys indicate that people who are purchasing our products are also purchasing animal protein. And so I think there's definitely some correlation just between when you have concerns or consumer confidence is shaken that typically does not have a -- has a negative impact on our category, I think, relative to animal protein.

因此，我們所有的消費者調查都表明，購買我們產品的人也在購買動物蛋白。因此，我認為，當你有顧慮或消費者信心動搖時，肯定存在某種關聯，而這通常不會對我們的類別產生負面影響，我認為，相對於動物蛋白而言。

So when we're talking about the sort of uncertainty in the macroeconomic environment and the challenges that presents to our business, obviously, you've seen in the numbers that we reported, there's some fairly large declines in volumes in some portions of our business. And as you know, that can be a pretty meaningful swing factor, right, for our P&L down to gross profit. And so we're just kind of weighing all of those factors together. I think it would be difficult for us to provide any sort of long-term outlook, right, that's almost a year out with any high degree of certainty. And so we believe it's more prudent to look much closer in.

因此，當我們談論宏觀經濟環境中的不確定性以及給我們的業務帶來的挑戰時，顯然，您已經從我們報告的數據中看到，我們某些業務的銷量出現了相當大的下降。如您所知，這可能是一個非常有意義的波動因素，對我們的損益表和毛利而言。因此，我們只是將所有這些因素綜合起來進行權衡。我認為我們很難提供任何形式的長期展望，對吧，這幾乎需要一年的時間才能確定。因此我們認為更謹慎的做法是進行更深入的觀察。

Okay. And just in SG&A, you mentioned some onetime expenses in first quarter, some are legal expenses. So can you give us kind of like a real run rate SG&A for second, third and fourth quarter? I guess, is it $7 million less than what we have in first quarter? Is that the right way to look at it?

好的。就在銷售、一般及行政費用方面，您提到第一季有一些一次性費用，其中一些是法律費用。那麼您能否提供我們第二季、第三季及第四季的實際銷售、一般及行政費用運行率？我猜，這比我們第一季的金額少了 700 萬美元嗎？這是正確的看待方式嗎？

Yes. So what we reported in our Q1 results, you're correct, there was about slightly over $7 million of extraordinary items in there. I think the -- our legal expenses were elevated relative to what I would sort of characterize as normal course business, right? Part of that was related to this arbitration that we talked about. And then there was some strategic decisions around inventory provision, specifically as it relates to donations and as well as our China, so all of those combined.

是的。因此，您說得對，我們在第一季業績報告中報告的非常項目價值略高於 700 萬美元。我認為——我們的法律費用相對於我所說的正常業務而言有所增加，對嗎？其中部分內容與我們討論的仲裁有關。然後，圍繞庫存供應做出了一些戰略決策，特別是與捐贈以及中國相關的決策，所以所有這些都結合在一起。

Now the -- we will continue to see some impact of the split between COGS and OpEx from the shutdown of our operations in China. I would say we currently expect to see a little bit of normalization on the in terms of the legal expenses. And then obviously, the strategic decisions that sort of impacted the donations that we called out in the press release, we wouldn't expect that to repeat. But unless there was sort of similar type of strategic decisions.

現在，我們將繼續看到由於我們在中國的業務關閉而對 COGS 和 OpEx 之間的分割產生一些影響。我想說，我們目前預計法律費用方面會稍微正常化。顯然，我們在新聞稿中提到的那些影響捐款的策略決策，我們不希望再次發生。但除非有類似的戰略決策。

Kaumil Gajrawala, Jefferies.

傑富瑞的 Kaumil Gajrawala。

I guess a little bit of a follow-up to Rob's question in what we're hearing across a lot of the rest of CPG. But to maybe drill down on one of the things we're also hearing is on destocking, maybe a little bit more on hard goods than on food. But curious if that's also something that you are you're seeing and you're dealing with?

我想，我們可以從 CPG 的許多其他部門聽到的內容來對 Rob 的問題進行一些後續跟進。但深入探討我們聽到的其中一件事，那就是去庫存，也許對耐用品的去庫存比對食品的去庫存要多一些。但我很好奇這是否也是您所看到和正在處理的事情？

And then the second question on would be some of the -- it sounds like kind of onetime you had just mentioned. Are there any additional things that are similar to that we should be aware of for the coming couple of quarters?

然後第二個問題是一些——聽起來就像您剛才提到的那樣。在接下來的幾個季度中，我們還應該注意類似的事情嗎？

I think on the destocking, I heard some of that from our team, but we can't quantify it, but there was some discussion around that more so it was, I think, in that latter part of the quarter, just a general slowdown in consumer behavior, but we did hear that as well, but don't have a firm hold on the percent contribution.

我認為關於去庫存，我從我們的團隊那裡聽到了一些，但我們無法量化它，但圍繞這一點有一些討論，所以我認為，在本季度後半段，消費者行為普遍放緩，但我們也聽到了這一點，但對百分比貢獻沒有把握。

Yes. And just on that first point, I mean -- and I mentioned this in my prepared remarks, you guys have access to the [SCANA] data. And certainly, what we saw was a sort of progressive weakening in the category takeaway data in the first quarter. And so when you have those types of trends, obviously, the risk of inventories starting to build within the retail channel does increase a little bit. So but I would say, at this point, we're not hearing like that broadly as a potential risk.

是的。關於第一點，我的意思是──我在準備好的發言中提到過，你們可以存取 [SCANA] 資料。確實，我們看到第一季外送類別數據呈現逐漸減弱的趨勢。因此，當這些趨勢出現時，顯然零售通路內庫存開始增加的風險確實會增加。所以，但我想說，目前我們還沒有廣泛地聽到這種潛在風險。

But certainly, when you have an environment that's softening, that could potentially be a factor. Your second question in terms of the sort of onetime items. The only thing that -- at this point, I think that's really worth noting is that China, the costs related to the suspension of our activities in China that will -- the way we're treating those expenses from an accounting perspective -- perspective, excuse me, is we are taking accelerated depreciation on those expenses through the end of 2026. And so each quarter, we will call that out but each quarter, there will be some impact related to that decision.

但可以肯定的是，當環境變得軟化時，這可能會成為一個因素。您的第二個問題與一次性物品的種類有關。目前，我認為唯一真正值得注意的是，與暫停我們在中國的業務相關的成本——從會計角度來看，我們處理這些費用的方式是——對不起，我們將在 2026 年底前對這些費用進行加速折舊。因此，每個季度我們都會提出這一點，但每個季度都會產生與該決定相關的一些影響。

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

問答環節到此結束。現在，我想將會議交還給 Ethan Brown 並請他作結束語。

I appreciate the good questions. I think we're as I've said, just very focused this year on trying to make sure we're positioning the business for the EBITDA positive goal in the latter part of 2026 on a run rate basis. And whatever the top line is, that's what we got to go deliver. And I think we're making the right moves to do that. So look forward to reporting out in August. Thanks.

我很欣賞這些好的問題。我認為，正如我所說的，我們今年非常專注於努力確保我們的業務在 2026 年下半年以運行率為基礎實現 EBITDA 正值目標。無論頂線是什麼，這就是我們要實現的。我認為我們正在採取正確的行動。因此期待八月的報告。謝謝。

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

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連線。