超越肉類 (BYND) 2022 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the Beyond Meat, Inc. 2022 First Quarter Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. (Operator Instructions) Please note, this event is being recorded.

美好的一天，歡迎來到 Beyond Meat, Inc. 2022 年第一季度電話會議。 （操作員說明）今天的演示結束後，將有機會提問。 （操作員說明）請注意，此事件正在記錄中。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Lubi Kutua. Please go ahead.

我現在想把會議交給 Lubi Kutua。請繼續。

Thank you. Good afternoon, and welcome. Joining me on today's call are Ethan Brown, Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Phil Hardin, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. By now, everyone should have access to the company's first quarter earnings press release filed today after the market closed. This document is available in the Investor Relations section of Beyond Meat's website at www.beyondmeat.com.

謝謝你。下午好，歡迎。和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 Ethan Brown；以及首席財務官兼財務主管菲爾·哈丁（Phil Hardin）。到目前為止，每個人都應該可以訪問該公司今天在市場收盤後提交的第一季度收益新聞稿。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 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都未經審計。在本次電話會議期間，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大不相同的風險和不確定性。

Forward-looking statements in the earnings release that we issued today, along with the comments on this call, are made only as of today and will not be updated as events unfold. Please refer to today's press release, the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, the company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended April 2, 2022, 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.

我們今天發布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發布，不會隨著事件的發展而更新。請參閱今天的新聞稿，該公司截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日止年度的 10-K 表格年度報告，該公司截至 2022 年 4 月 2 日止季度的 10-Q 表格季度報告，將提交給美國證券交易委員會，以及向 SEC 提交的其他文件，詳細討論可能導致實際結果與今天做出的任何前瞻性陳述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 make reference to 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。雖然我們認為這種非公認會計原則財務措施為投資者提供了有用的信息，但對這些信息的任何引用都不應被孤立地考慮或作為根據公認會計原則提供的財務信息的替代品。請參閱今天的新聞稿，了解調整後的 EBITDA 與其最具可比性的 GAAP 指標的對賬。

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

有了這個，我現在想把電話轉給 Ethan Brown。

Thank you, Lubi, and good afternoon, everyone. Though we navigated significant cost challenges in the first quarter of 2022, the majority of which relate to scaling for strategic product launches and are temporary in nature. We made strong progress against our long-term growth strategy and saw encouraging signs of resumed growth.

謝謝你，Lubi，大家下午好。儘管我們在 2022 年第一季度克服了重大的成本挑戰，但其中大部分與戰略產品發布的規模有關，並且本質上是暫時的。我們在長期增長戰略方面取得了長足的進步，並看到了令人鼓舞的恢復增長跡象。

First, we engaged in significant activity across our global QSR partnerships. McDonald's conducted market tests of McPlant in the U.S., added the offering to all restaurants across the U.K. and Ireland and continued trials in Austria. And currently, Yum! Brands' Pizza Hut added Beyond Meat as a permanent menu item across Canada, while KFC conducted a nationwide limited time offering in the U.S., noting recently that its launch of Beyond Fried Chicken resulted in more media impressions than any other product launch in KFC's history.

首先，我們在全球 QSR 合作夥伴關係中開展了重要活動。麥當勞在美國對 McPlant 進行了市場測試，將該產品添加到英國和愛爾蘭的所有餐廳，並繼續在奧地利進行試驗。目前，百勝！ Brands的必勝客將Beyond Meat作為加拿大的永久菜單項添加，而肯德基在美國進行了全國限時供應，最近指出其推出的Beyond Fried Chicken比肯德基歷史上任何其他產品發布的媒體印像都多。

Two, we launched 3 SKUs of Beyond Meat Jerky with the PLANeT Partnership, our joint venture with PepsiCo. Sales of Beyond Meat Jerky since launch have been a resounding success, exceeding our initial expectations. Three, adjusted for Jerky, we made continued progress on our cost-down program with regard to material cost per unit. And despite short-term fluctuations, we do not see any fundamental change in our long-term margin targets of 30% plus. Our cost-down program is a fundamental driver of this confidence.

第二，我們與百事可樂的合資企業 PLANeT Partnership 推出了 Beyond Meat Jerky 的 3 個 SKU。自推出以來，Beyond Meat Jerky 的銷售取得了巨大成功，超出了我們最初的預期。第三，針對 Jerky 進行調整後，我們在降低單位材料成本方面的成本降低計劃繼續取得進展。儘管存在短期波動，但我們認為我們 30% 以上的長期利潤率目標沒有任何根本性變化。我們的成本降低計劃是這種信心的根本驅動力。

Fourth, we advanced the centric profiles of our product platforms as part of the Beyond Meat Rapid and Relentless Innovation Program. This defining focus year after year on reaching our North Star of that perfect indistinguishable build of meat from plants continues to be awarded with product recognition.

第四，作為 Beyond Meat Rapid and Relentless Innovation Program 的一部分，我們提升了產品平台的中心配置文件。這一決定性的重點年復一年地達到我們的北極星，即完美的、難以區分的植物肉構造繼續獲得產品認可。

During the quarter, our products snatched several accolades, including among others, BuzzFeed's #1 spot for plant-based chicken tenders, Allrecipes Community Choice Awards for Best Plant-Based Meat Brand. EDGE News Best New Product Award for Beyond Chicken Tenders, along with Best Plant-Based Burger and Sausage for the Beyond Burger and Beyond Sausage. And finally, Consumer Reports' highest score for taste for the Beyond Burger Beyond Breakfast Sausage Patties and Beyond Dinner Sausage. We believe that through innovation, we are on a path to deliver against our North Star and unlock a meaningful percentage of the estimated $1.4 trillion worldwide meat market for our brand and appreciate these and other awards as encouragement along the way.

在本季度，我們的產品獲得了多項榮譽，其中包括 BuzzFeed 的植物性雞肉招標排名第一、Allrecipes 社區選擇獎最佳植物性肉類品牌。 EDGE News 的 Beyond Chicken Tenders 最佳新產品獎，以及 Beyond Burger 和 Beyond Sausage 的最佳植物性漢堡和香腸。最後，《消費者報告》在超越早餐香腸肉餅和超越晚餐香腸的超越漢堡的口味方面得分最高。我們相信，通過創新，我們正走在與我們的北極星相抗衡的道路上，並為我們的品牌在全球估計價值 1.4 萬億美元的肉類市場中佔據相當大的份額，並感謝這些獎項和其他獎項作為一路上的鼓勵。

Fifth, we saw some important signs of post-pandemic resumption of growth, as foodservice entered Q1 with sluggish results but exited with solid momentum, contributing to March 2022 being among the largest revenue months in our company's history. Today, we are clearly in a period in which certain decisions that we believe best position the company to capture our long-term opportunity can generate adverse short-term results. In each instance, as we take a decision, we align around the path that we believe will build over the long run a profitable business of global scale. More specifically, we took the following actions, each of which negatively and temporarily impacted margin.

第五，我們看到大流行後恢復增長的一些重要跡象，因為餐飲服務進入第一季度業績低迷，但以強勁勢頭退出，這使得 2022 年 3 月成為我們公司歷史上收入最大的月份之一。今天，我們顯然處於一個我們認為最能幫助公司抓住我們長期機會的決策可能會產生不利的短期結果的時期。在每一種情況下，當我們做出決定時，我們都會沿著我們認為將在長期內建立全球規模盈利業務的道路保持一致。更具體地說，我們採取了以下措施，每一項都對利潤率產生了負面和暫時的影響。

First, we interrupted steady-state internal production of base products to support the commercialization of innovative new items with key strategic customers, a decision we discussed in our Q4 call. In the balance of the year, we expect to reallocate internal production infrastructure to higher efficiency operations.

首先，我們中斷了基礎產品的穩態內部生產，以支持關鍵戰略客戶的創新新產品的商業化，這是我們在第四季度電話會議中討論的決定。在今年餘下時間，我們預計將內部生產基礎設施重新分配給更高效率的運營。

Second, we successfully executed the nationwide launch of Beyond Meat Jerky, the biggest product launch in our company's history in terms of breadth, using an initially higher cost manufacturing network with this new product and market. As I mentioned, we are very pleased with the initial sales results, and we're now transitioning production into higher efficiency operations and have a clear line of sight to greatly improve unit economics in the second half of this year. While we do not take lightly the short-term margin impact of these longer-term investments, we are confident that through these actions, we are positioning the company well to capture robust future growth.

其次，我們成功地在全國范圍內推出了 Beyond Meat Jerky，這是我們公司歷史上在廣度上最大的產品推出，使用最初成本較高的製造網絡與這一新產品和市場。正如我所提到的，我們對最初的銷售結果非常滿意，我們現在正在將生產轉變為更高效率的運營，並且有明確的目標在今年下半年大幅提高單位經濟性。雖然我們不會輕視這些長期投資的短期利潤率影響，但我們相信，通過這些行動，我們可以很好地定位公司，以實現強勁的未來增長。

We will now turn to Q1 2022 net revenue results. Overall, we posted net revenue growth of 1.2% in Q1 of 2022. We saw a solid increase in pounds of products sold, rising 12% year-over-year, which was partially offset by a 10% decrease in net revenue per pound, driven by increased trade discounts, strategic list price reductions in EU and changes in sales mix and decreases in the value of the euro relative to the dollar.

我們現在將轉向 2022 年第一季度的淨收入結果。總體而言，我們在 2022 年第一季度公佈了 1.2% 的淨收入增長。我們看到銷售的產品磅數穩步增長，同比增長 12%，這被每磅淨收入下降 10% 部分抵消，受貿易折扣增加、歐盟戰略性降價、銷售組合變化以及歐元兌美元貶值等因素的推動。

In U.S. retail, we saw an increase of 7% in net revenue. However, looking at SPINS takeaway data for the 12-week period ended March 20, our brand saw a decline of 3.3%, excluding Jerky versus a category increase of 2.8%. We believe this result is driven by 4 main factors: first, broader softness in the natural and specialty channel continues, and we over-indexed in this channel relative to the category. For context, total category sales in Natural & Specialty declined 7.5% year-over-year during the 12-week period compared to a 4% increase in MULO.

在美國零售業，我們看到淨收入增長了 7%。然而，查看截至 3 月 20 日的 12 週期間的 SPINS 外賣數據，我們的品牌下降了 3.3%，不包括 Jerky，而類別增長了 2.8%。我們認為這一結果是由 4 個主要因素推動的：首先，天然和特殊渠道的疲軟程度繼續擴大，我們在該渠道中相對於該類別的指數過高。就背景而言，在 12 週期間，天然和特種產品的總類別銷售額同比下降 7.5%，而 MULO 則增長 4%。

Second, across SPINS channels, in MULO plus Natural & Specialty, we saw a shift in consumer purchase from refrigerated to frozen. Refrigerated plant-based meats, where we are heavily represented, were down 3.6% but frozen plant-based meats were up 7.2%. This change from refrigerated frozen in part reflects increased consumption of plant-based chicken in the frozen section versus plant-based beef in the refrigerated section.

其次，在 SPINS 渠道中，在 MULO plus Natural & Specialty 中，我們看到消費者購買方式從冷藏轉向冷凍。我們佔很大比例的冷凍植物肉下降了 3.6%，但冷凍植物肉上漲了 7.2%。這種與冷藏冷凍相比的變化部分反映了冷凍區植物性雞肉的消費量與冷藏區植物性牛肉相比的增加。

Third, we faced increased competition in the category. Nonetheless, we are encouraged that Beyond Meat remains the #1 brand in refrigerated plant-based meats, and our brand velocity, which was 2.4x greater than the category average, ranked highest among any of the top 25 plant-based meat brands.

第三，我們面臨著品類競爭的加劇。儘管如此，我們感到鼓舞的是，Beyond Meat 仍然是冷藏植物性肉類中的第一品牌，我們的品牌傳播速度比同類平均水平高出 2.4 倍，在前 25 個植物性肉類品牌中排名最高。

And lastly, fourth, we increased our promotional spending, resulting in lower net revenue per unit sold. This increase in discounting in part reflects competitive dynamics in the category. However, the main strategic driver for us with regard to price continues to be our own price parity goals, informed by the aforementioned cost-down program.

最後，第四，我們增加了促銷支出，導致每單位銷售的淨收入下降。折扣的增加部分反映了該類別的競爭動態。然而，我們在價格方面的主要戰略驅動因素仍然是我們自己的價格平價目標，這是由上述成本降低計劃提供的。

Turning to our consumer panel metrics of household penetration, buyer rate, purchase frequency and repeat rates, I'd like to first call out that beginning in Q1 2022, we have switched data providers from SPINS to Numerator. And as such, the numbers I reference will not be directly comparable to figures I've mentioned in the past. To be clear, though, the year-over-year comparisons that follow are based on the same Numerator data set.

談到我們關於家庭滲透率、購買率、購買頻率和重複率的消費者面板指標，我想首先指出，從 2022 年第一季度開始，我們已將數據提供者從 SPINS 切換到 Numerator。因此，我引用的數字將無法與我過去提到的數字直接比較。不過，需要明確的是，接下來的逐年比較基於相同的分子數據集。

We are pleased to see that based on these measures, our overall brand health remains strong, even as our user base continues to expand. According to Numerator data, through the first quarter of 2022, household penetration for the Beyond Meat brand stood at 10.3%, an increase of 180 basis points year-over-year, while our repeat rate increased 80 basis points year-over-year to 46.3%. Purchase frequency and buy rate declined by 3% and 13%, respectively, likely reflecting new users, given the healthy increase in household penetration as well as reduced year-over-year pricing in the latter case.

我們很高興看到，基於這些措施，我們的整體品牌健康狀況依然強勁，即使我們的用戶群繼續擴大。根據 Numerator 數據，截至 2022 年第一季度，Beyond Meat 品牌的家庭滲透率為 10.3%，同比增長 180 個基點，而我們的重複率同比增長 80 個基點至46.3%。購買頻率和購買率分別下降了 3% 和 13%，這可能反映了新用戶，因為家庭滲透率的健康增長以及後一種情況下的同比價格下降。

Within the U.S. retail sector, we are pleased to secure recent distribution wins. These gains include the launch of Beyond Burger and Beyond Meatballs at approximately 2,000 Rite Aid stores nationwide and the expansion of Beyond Chicken Tenders in over 8,000 new outlets nationwide at retailers, including Albertsons, CVS, select Costco regions, Jewel-Osco, Kroger, ShopRite, Sprouts, Target, Walmart and Whole Foods Markets, among others, bringing our total retail distribution of Beyond Chicken Tenders to approximately 15,000 locations.

在美國零售業，我們很高興獲得最近的分銷勝利。這些收益包括在全國約 2,000 家 Rite Aid 商店推出 Beyond Burger 和 Beyond Meatballs，以及在全國 8,000 多家零售商的新門店中擴展 Beyond Chicken Tenders，包括 Albertsons、CVS、精選 Costco 地區、Jewel-Osco、Kroger、ShopRite 、Sprouts、Target、Walmart 和 Whole Foods Markets 等，使我們 Beyond Chicken Tenders 的總零售分銷量達到約 15,000 個地點。

Also in U.S. Retail, as noted, key milestone for us in Q1 was the nationwide launch of Beyond Meat Jerky. This innovative offering, a product of the Beyond Meat Rapid and Relentless Innovation Program, took a tremendous amount of work, countless iterations and a close collaboration with the PLANeT Partnership. The intensity and duration of this research development and scaling reflects the guiding principles of Beyond Meat. When we bring a new product to market, we aim to either create the category or win the #1 position they're in. I'm proud of what our team has been able to accomplish together with PepsiCo and the market results thus far.

同樣在美國零售業，如前所述，我們在第一季度的關鍵里程碑是 Beyond Meat Jerky 在全國范圍內的推出。這一創新產品是 Beyond Meat Rapid and Relentless Innovation Program 的產品，需要大量工作、無數次迭代以及與 PLANeT Partnership 的密切合作。這項研究開發和規模化的強度和持續時間反映了 Beyond Meat 的指導原則。當我們將新產品推向市場時，我們的目標是要么創建該類別，要么贏得他們所在的第一名。我為我們的團隊與百事可樂一起取得的成就以及迄今為止的市場成果感到自豪。

This fantastic on-the-go snack represents Beyond Meat's first shelf-stable offering, thereby opening a new distribution opportunity for our brand. It comes in 3 delicious flavors: Original, Hot & Spicy and Teriyaki. Nutritionally, Beyond Meat Jerky packs' 10 grams of protein per serving, contains no cholesterol, GMOs, soy or gluten, and as always, is made with simple plant-based ingredients, including peas and mung beans, among others.

這種奇妙的隨身零食代表了 Beyond Meat 的第一個貨架穩定產品，從而為我們的品牌開闢了新的分銷機會。它有 3 種美味口味：原味、麻辣味和照燒。在營養方面，Beyond Meat Jerky 每份含有 10 克蛋白質，不含膽固醇、轉基因生物、大豆或麩質，並且一如既往地由簡單的植物成分製成，包括豌豆和綠豆等。

Since its national launch in late March, Beyond Meat quickly established itself as the #1 selling plant-based jerky brand, has substantially accelerated the growth of the category, in fact, more than tripling the category's sales and early velocity results are trending ahead of initial expectations.

自 3 月下旬在全國推出以來，Beyond Meat 迅速成為銷量第一的植物肉乾品牌，大幅加速了該品類的增長，事實上，該品類的銷售額翻了三倍多，早期的銷售速度結果正在領先於最初的期望。

Time to launch, the Beyond Meat Jerky also rose to become #1 on Amazon's hot new releases page. Further, we expect to significantly increase our distribution of these products from approximately 56,000 stores today to about 80,000 by the end of May. If you've not already tried it, I highly recommend this delicious, lean and convenient protein snack.

是時候推出了，Beyond Meat Jerky 也上升到亞馬遜熱門新品發布頁面上的第一名。此外，我們預計到 5 月底，我們的這些產品的分銷量將從今天的約 56,000 家商店增加到約 80,000 家。如果您還沒有嘗試過，我強烈推薦這款美味、精益且方便的蛋白質零食。

Turning now to U.S. Foodservice, we saw signs of accelerating momentum late in the quarter, with March posting an 83% sequential increase relative to February and a 42% increase versus the prior year. We believe that the slow start to the quarter was likely related to Omicron, labor shortages and a late return to school, among other factors.

現在轉向美國食品服務，我們看到本季度末勢頭加速的跡象，與 2 月相比，3 月環比增長 83%，與去年同期相比增長 42%。我們認為，本季度開局緩慢可能與 Omicron、勞動力短缺和返校晚等因素有關。

In our international business, our volume of products sold increased 22% year-over-year in Q1 2022. Although net revenues were down 7% year-over-year, primarily reflecting strategic price reductions and incentive actions in the EU. We expect to benefit from incremental distribution and velocity of our extended shelf life burgers in the EU retail channel we made in late Q2 and are working to bring additional extended shelf life products to EU grocery stores as soon as possible. More broadly, key developments in our international business continue to bolster our optimism for sustained long-term growth.

在我們的國際業務中，我們的產品銷量在 2022 年第一季度同比增長 22%。儘管淨收入同比下降 7%，主要反映了歐盟的戰略降價和激勵措施。我們預計將受益於我們在第二季度末生產的歐盟零售渠道中延長保質期漢堡的增量分銷和速度，並正在努力盡快將更多延長保質期產品帶到歐盟雜貨店。更廣泛地說，我們國際業務的主要發展繼續支持我們對持續長期增長的樂觀態度。

Beginning in Europe with McDonald's, we are pleased with the continued strong performance of the McPlant in the U.K. and Austria. In the case of the latter, the announcement of a nationwide test of a second McPlant build, the McPlant Steakhouse. The McPlant Steakhouse features the Beyond Meat co-developed patty, served on a sesame seed bun, with lettuce, onions, tangy steakhouse sauce and 2 slices of cheddar cheese. We're excited to see this product extension, the first of the McPlant, which demonstrates a simple way to offer more varied menu options to consumers seeking to diversify their protein options.

從歐洲的麥當勞開始，我們對 McPlant 在英國和奧地利的持續強勁表現感到高興。在後者的情況下，宣佈在全國范圍內測試第二個 McPlant 版本，即 McPlant Steakhouse。 McPlant Steakhouse 採用 Beyond Meat 共同開發的肉餅，搭配芝麻麵包、生菜、洋蔥、濃郁的牛排醬和 2 片切達干酪。我們很高興看到這個產品擴展，這是 McPlant 的第一個產品，它展示了一種簡單的方法，可以為尋求多樣化蛋白質選擇的消費者提供更多樣化的菜單選項。

In Europe, as in the U.S., I am pleased to share that the Beyond Meat products continue to earn distinguished recognition. Specifically, the Beyond Burger was named Good Housekeeping U.K.'s Best Vegan Burger in their Annual Barbecue Taste Test as well as the Best Vegan Burger by Which?, the U.K.'s leading consumer association. In The Netherlands, we were a 2-time winner in the Wheel of Retail Awards from Distrifood, Best Overall Innovation for Beyond Mints and Best Meatball Substitute Brand. The Wheel of Retail Awards have been the most important prize for product introductions in the Dutch supermarket sector for 44 years.

在歐洲，就像在美國一樣，我很高興地分享 Beyond Meat 產品繼續獲得卓越的認可。具體來說，Beyond Burger 在其年度燒烤口味測試中被評為英國最佳素食漢堡，以及英國領先的消費者協會“Which? 最佳素食漢堡”。在荷蘭，我們曾兩次獲得 Distrifood 頒發的 Wheel of Retail Awards、Beyond Mints 最佳整體創新獎和最佳肉丸替代品牌獎。 44 年來，Wheel of Retail Awards 一直是荷蘭超市行業最重要的產品介紹獎。

In China, in late March, we announced the launch of our flagship store on Pinduoduo, one of the country's largest e-commerce platforms, which post hundreds of millions of users nationwide. With our announcement, Beyond Meat became the first global plant-based meat brand to launch a store on Pinduoduo, where we'll feature locally-produced Beyond Burger, Beyond Beef and Beyond Pork products. Our launch on Pinduoduo represents our third such launch on a major Chinese e-commerce platform, following our previous additions on JD.com and Tmall.

在中國，3 月下旬，我們宣佈在中國最大的電子商務平台之一拼多多上開設旗艦店，該平台在全國擁有數億用戶。隨著我們的宣布，Beyond Meat 成為第一個在拼多多開設門店的全球植物性肉類品牌，我們將在此推出本地生產的 Beyond Burger、Beyond Beef 和 Beyond Pork 產品。我們在拼多多上的發布是我們在中國主要電子商務平台上的第三次此類發布，此前我們在京東和天貓上的添加。

And in China, as we are preparing to do in the U.S., we are excited to bring new innovation to market. Reflecting our investment in local management, production and innovation, we're excited to share the products coming later this year in China were developed with significant direction and execution by our Shanghai and Yanjin teams.

在中國，正如我們準備在美國做的那樣，我們很高興能將新的創新推向市場。反映我們在本地管理、生產和創新方面的投資，我們很高興地分享今年晚些時候在中國推出的產品是由我們的上海和鹽津團隊在重大方向和執行下開發的。

Before concluding, let me touch briefly on some global macro issues. As widely reported, the recent and ongoing conflict in Ukraine is disrupting key commodity markets. Some of these disruptions have a direct or indirect impact on portions of our supply chain. Though we don't sell in Russia and have indirectly sold only small quantities through a distributor into the Ukraine, we have seen increased transportation costs due to higher fuel prices and increased pricing and scarcity plus supply for a few commodities that we use in relatively small amounts. At this point, we are working through these issues, and the team has managed to avoid any significant disruption to operations.

在結束之前，讓我簡單談談一些全球宏觀問題。正如廣泛報導的那樣，烏克蘭最近和持續的衝突正在擾亂主要商品市場。其中一些中斷對我們供應鏈的某些部分有直接或間接的影響。雖然我們不在俄羅斯銷售，並且僅通過分銷商間接向烏克蘭銷售少量產品，但由於燃料價格上漲以及價格上漲和稀缺性以及我們相對較小使用的一些商品的供應增加，我們看到運輸成本增加金額。目前，我們正在解決這些問題，並且團隊已設法避免對運營造成任何重大干擾。

With that, I will turn it over to Phil to walk us through our first quarter financial results in greater detail and our outlook for the balance of the year.

有了這個，我將把它交給菲爾，讓我們更詳細地了解我們的第一季度財務業績以及我們對今年餘額的展望。

Thanks, Ethan. We achieved net revenues of $109.5 million in the first quarter of 2022, representing an increase of 1.2% compared to the first quarter of 2021. The increase in net revenues was driven by growth in the U.S. retail channel, partially offset by declines in our other sales channels. For Q1 2022, average net revenue per pound was $5.13, down from $5.70 per pound in Q1 2021, primarily driven by increased trade discounts, strategic list price reductions ahead of expected cost reductions, changes in mix and a negative impact from foreign exchange.

謝謝，伊桑。我們在 2022 年第一季度實現了 1.095 億美元的淨收入，與 2021 年第一季度相比增長了 1.2%。淨收入的增長是由美國零售渠道的增長推動的，部分被我們其他渠道的下降所抵消銷售渠道。 2022 年第一季度，每磅的平均淨收入為 5.13 美元，低於 2021 年第一季度的每磅 5.70 美元，這主要是由於貿易折扣增加、在預期成本降低之前戰略性降價、組合變化以及外彙的負面影響。

Moving down the P&L to gross profit. Gross profit during Q1 2022 was $190,000 or 0.2% of net revenues as compared to $32.7 million or 30.2% of net revenues in Q1 of 2021. While we are thrilled with its early sales performance and strong customer response, Beyond Meat Jerky manufacturing, still in its infancy, was a significant headwind to our gross profitability this quarter. We estimate the headwind this quarter at approximately 940 basis points of gross margin. The scale of the Beyond Meat Jerky launch is unprecedented for us, with the current distribution of approximately 56,000 locations already eclipsing our current U.S. retail distribution for all other products combined and expected to expand further to 80,000 locations by the end of May. To launch a first-time product at such a large scale and prior to the establishment of our own dedicated and streamlined process, we had to do so in an expensive and inefficient manner.

將損益表向下移動到毛利潤。 2022 年第一季度的毛利潤為 190,000 美元，占淨收入的 0.2%，而 2021 年第一季度的毛利潤為 3270 萬美元，占淨收入的 30.2%。雖然我們對其早期的銷售業績和強勁的客戶反應感到興奮，但 Beyond Meat Jerky 製造仍處於它的起步階段對我們本季度的毛利潤構成了重大不利影響。我們估計本季度的不利因素約為毛利率 940 個基點。 Beyond Meat Jerky 的推出規模對我們來說是前所未有的，目前大約 56,000 個地點的分銷已經超過了我們目前所有其他產品在美國的零售分銷的總和，預計到 5 月底將進一步擴大到 80,000 個地點。為了首次推出如此大規模的產品，並且在我們建立自己的專用和簡化流程之前，我們必須以昂貴且低效的方式這樣做。

In some cases, the initial path to finished good production requires a single batch to be processed across different facilities, incurring processing costs and transportation fees at each step of the journey. As we mentioned on the last call, as we look toward the remainder of the year, we expect this will get better. We have multiple initiatives underway with one of the largest improvements already secured, as we recently signed a contract to consolidate operations with a third-party manufacturer that can produce Jerky with more automated equipment, lowering fees and reducing the need for multiple processing locations, thereby reducing costly shuttle transportation. We expect this capacity to come online in mid-Q3 of 2022. We also recently secured reduced pricing on mung bean protein, one of the key ingredients in Jerky, and we look forward to locking in other efforts already underway.

在某些情況下，成品生產的初始路徑需要在不同的設施中處理一個批次，從而在旅程的每個步驟中產生處理成本和運輸費用。正如我們在上次電話會議中提到的那樣，隨著我們展望今年剩餘時間，我們預計情況會好轉。我們正在進行多項舉措，其中一項最大的改進已經獲得保障，因為我們最近與一家第三方製造商簽署了一份合同，以整合業務，該製造商可以使用更自動化的設備生產肉乾，降低費用並減少對多個加工地點的需求，從而減少昂貴的班車運輸。我們預計該產能將在 2022 年第三季度中期上線。我們最近還獲得了綠豆蛋白（肉乾的關鍵成分之一）的降價，我們期待鎖定已經在進行的其他努力。

In addition to the decrease in net revenue per pound, COGS increased $1.15 per pound year-over-year. We estimate Jerky accounted for approximately $0.68, with the remainder being driven primarily by increased manufacturing costs, including depreciation and higher transportation and warehousing costs, partially offset by improved material cost and reduced inventory reserves and write-offs relative to the year ago period. Manufacturing costs, including depreciation, were up $0.90 per pound versus the prior year, with Jerky accounting for approximately $0.36 per pound, and the remainder primarily reflecting expensive inventory created in Q4 and sold through in Q1 as well as higher depreciation and other fixed overhead per unit.

除了每磅淨收入減少外，COGS 同比每磅增加 1.15 美元。我們估計 Jerky 約佔 0.68 美元，其餘部分主要是由於製造成本增加，包括折舊和更高的運輸和倉儲成本，部分被材料成本的提高以及與去年同期相比減少的庫存儲備和沖銷所抵消。包括折舊在內的製造成本與去年相比每磅增加 0.90 美元，其中 Jerky 的成本約為每磅 0.36 美元，其餘主要反映了第四季度創建並在第一季度售出的昂貴庫存以及更高的折舊和其他固定開銷單元。

For the non-Jerky inventory we manufactured in Q1, although still impacted by new product launches, lower foodservice volumes than initially anticipated, and variability of demand across products, our costs improved later in the quarter as we stabilized the network, matched labor to production needs and optimized where we produce each SKU based on the overall best economics. The result is an inventory that still reflects elevated production costs but on a trajectory that is improving. For example, Q1 2022 finished goods conversion cost in our East Coast facility were 23% lower than in Q4 of 2021. We are also currently running an RFP process with our third-party manufacturers that we expect will result in tolling fee savings.

對於我們在第一季度製造的非肉乾庫存，儘管仍受到新產品發布、餐飲服務量低於最初預期以及產品需求變化的影響，但隨著我們穩定網絡、使勞動力與生產相匹配，我們的成本在本季度後期有所改善需要並根據整體最佳經濟性優化我們生產每個 SKU 的位置。結果是庫存仍然反映了生產成本的上升，但軌跡正在改善。例如，我們東海岸工廠的 2022 年第一季度成品轉換成本比 2021 年第四季度低 23%。我們目前還與我們的第三方製造商運行 RFP 流程，我們預計這將節省通行費。

Finally, as you may recall, in 2021, we saw a sequential increase in revenue between Q1 and Q2 and from $108 million to $149 million. And as grilling season in the Northern Hemisphere approaches, we expect a similar uptick in Q2 of this year, further driving leverage in our costs. Logistics costs, including those associated with internal transportation and warehousing increased $0.32 per pound in Q1 2022 versus Q1 2021. Note, this excludes the outbound freight associated with shipping finished goods to our customers, which is included in our SG&A as a selling expense. The increase in logistics cost per pound was primarily attributable to increased transportation costs and from increased warehousing costs.

最後，您可能還記得，在 2021 年，我們看到第一季度和第二季度之間的收入連續增長，從 1.08 億美元增加到 1.49 億美元。隨著北半球燒烤季節的臨近，我們預計今年第二季度也會出現類似的上漲，進一步推動我們的成本槓桿。物流成本（包括與內部運輸和倉儲相關的成本）在 2022 年第一季度與 2021 年第一季度相比每磅增加了 0.32 美元。請注意，這不包括與將成品運送給我們的客戶相關的出境運費，該運費作為銷售費用包含在我們的 SG&A 中。每磅物流成本的增加主要是由於運輸成本增加和倉儲成本增加所致。

In transportation, we experienced headwinds from both an increase in cost per mile and miles driven per pound. In this area, we also have an RFP underway to secure improved rates for established lanes, and we're implementing changes to further reduce the use of expedited trucks. Warehouse costs increased primarily due to increased inventory year-over-year.

在運輸方面，我們遇到了每英里成本增加和每磅行駛里程增加的不利因素。在這方面，我們還正在進行一項 RFP，以確保提高已建立車道的費率，並且我們正在實施更改以進一步減少加急卡車的使用。倉庫成本增加主要是由於庫存同比增加。

Similar to Q4 2021, before taking into account Jerky, we saw continued improvement in our materials cost per pound on a year-over-year basis. The material cost per pound increased $0.02 year-over-year in aggregate. We estimate Jerky represented a $0.26 drag, implying a $0.24 per pound year-over-year benefit from all other products. As part of our cost-down program, further decreasing material cost is a key focus area for us, and we have multiple efforts underway to negotiate more favorable pricing, utilize less costly ingredients and streamline our packaging.

與 2021 年第四季度類似，在考慮 Jerky 之前，我們看到每磅材料成本同比持續改善。每磅材料成本總計同比增加 0.02 美元。我們估計 Jerky 拖累了 0.26 美元，這意味著所有其他產品的年收益為每磅 0.24 美元。作為我們降低成本計劃的一部分，進一步降低材料成本是我們關注的重點領域，我們正在進行多項努力以協商更優惠的價格、使用成本更低的成分並簡化我們的包裝。

We've seen recent success in one ingredient from eliminating a distributor and going straight to the manufacturer and are especially excited by the ongoing progress we are making in using less expensive pea protein isolates or PPI. While we have secured PPI supply through a previously disclosed multiyear contract, we are seeing success in qualifying and utilizing greater proportions of PPI from less expensive suppliers stemming from our strategic sourcing efforts.

我們最近在一種成分上取得了成功，消除了分銷商並直接向製造商供貨，並且對我們在使用更便宜的豌豆分離蛋白或 PPI 方面取得的持續進展感到特別興奮。雖然我們通過之前披露的多年期合同確保了 PPI 供應，但我們看到，由於我們的戰略採購工作，我們成功地從較便宜的供應商那裡獲得了資格和利用更大比例的 PPI。

Our current cost-down efforts in this area are focused on allowing us to migrate to exclusive use of these lower-cost ingredients and on our initial rounds of testing are looking promising. Lastly, with respect to COGS, changes in inventory reserves represented a $0.09 per pound benefit in Q1 2022 versus the year ago period, despite a $0.06 per pound drag from Jerky.

我們目前在該領域的成本降低工作的重點是讓我們能夠遷移到獨家使用這些成本較低的成分，並且在我們最初的幾輪測試中看起來很有希望。最後，就 COGS 而言，儘管 Jerky 拖累了每磅 0.06 美元，但與去年同期相比，2022 年第一季度庫存儲備的變化代表了每磅 0.09 美元的收益。

Moving down the P&L to OpEx, operating expenses for Q1 2022 were $97.8 million, up from $57.4 million in Q1 2021. The year-over-year increase was driven mainly by increases in marketing, nonproduction headcount expenses, G&A primarily driven by ongoing consulting agreements and increased selling expense driven by higher outbound freight costs.

將損益表降至運營支出，2022 年第一季度的運營費用為 9,780 萬美元，高於 2021 年第一季度的 5,740 萬美元。同比增長的主要原因是營銷、非生產人員費用、G&A 主要由持續的諮詢協議推動出境運費上漲導致銷售費用增加。

Turning to our balance sheet and cash flow highlights. Our cash and cash equivalents balance was $547.9 million, and total debt outstanding was approximately $1.1 billion as of April 2, 2022. Inventory increased to $283.8 million, up from $241.9 million at the end of Q4 2021. In terms of cash flow, for the 3 months ended April 2, 2022, net cash used in operating activities was $165.2 million compared to $30.7 million in the year ago period. Note, contained in our operating cash flows, we contributed approximately $37 million towards the build-out of our new innovation and headquarters facility here in the L.A. area, which was recorded in prepaid rent in the first quarter. Capital expenditures totaled $21.5 million in Q1 2022 compared to $23.4 million in the year ago period.

轉向我們的資產負債表和現金流亮點。截至 2022 年 4 月 2 日，我們的現金和現金等價物餘額為 5.479 億美元，未償債務總額約為 11 億美元。庫存從 2021 年第四季度末的 2.419 億美元增加到 2.838 億美元。就現金流而言，對於截至 2022 年 4 月 2 日的 3 個月，用於經營活動的淨現金為 1.652 億美元，而去年同期為 3070 萬美元。請注意，在我們的運營現金流中，我們貢獻了大約 3700 萬美元用於建設我們在洛杉磯地區的新創新和總部設施，這在第一季度記錄在預付租金中。 2022 年第一季度的資本支出總額為 2150 萬美元，而去年同期為 2340 萬美元。

Next, I will provide some commentary about our 2022 outlook. For the fiscal year 2022, we continue to expect net revenues to be in the range of $560 million to $620 million, corresponding to year-over-year growth between 21% to 33%. In Q2 2022, we expect a similar sequential uptick in net revenues to what we experienced last year, followed by accelerated year-over-year growth in the second half of the year, driven by recent distribution gains, acceleration in international markets as a result of price resets and broader availability of extended shelf life products in the EU, anticipated new product launches and expected QSR launches and trials both in the U.S. and abroad. In addition, we will be cycling easier year-on-year comparisons in the latter part of this year.

接下來，我將對我們的 2022 年展望發表一些評論。對於 2022 財年，我們繼續預計淨收入將在 5.6 億美元至 6.2 億美元之間，同比增長 21% 至 33%。在 2022 年第二季度，我們預計淨收入將出現與去年類似的連續增長，隨後在近期分銷收益的推動下，下半年將加速同比增長，從而加速國際市場歐盟的價格重置和延長保質期產品的更廣泛可用性，預期的新產品發布以及預期的 QSR 發布和在美國和國外的試驗。此外，我們將在今年下半年進行更容易的年度比較。

Although we are not providing specific margin guidance at this time, we did want to provide some additional context for our Q2 2022 margins. We expect Q1 2022 margins were the low point in '22, with continued progress in Q2, albeit still well below historical levels, accelerated back into higher margins later in the year. The high cost of Beyond Meat Jerky will continue to be a headwind in Q2, but we expect substantial improvement in Jerky unit economics in Q3 and Q4.

儘管我們目前沒有提供具體的利潤率指導，但我們確實想為 2022 年第二季度的利潤率提供一些額外的背景信息。我們預計 2022 年第一季度的利潤率是 22 年的低點，第二季度繼續取得進展，儘管仍遠低於歷史水平，但在今年晚些時候加速回到更高的利潤率。 Beyond Meat Jerky 的高成本將在第二季度繼續成為不利因素，但我們預計第三季度和第四季度的肉乾單位經濟性將大幅改善。

For 2022, our current expectation is to incur CapEx of roughly $100 million, down from $136.0 million in 2021, although we will continue to look for opportunities to reduce this further by increasing the efficiency of our existing assets. Also, as we disclosed in our 10-K, we anticipate our contributions to complete the build-out of our innovation center and headquarters facility will be approximately $71 million in 2022, of which we already contributed $37 million in Q1, as previously noted.

對於 2022 年，我們目前的預期是資本支出約為 1 億美元，低於 2021 年的 1.36 億美元，儘管我們將繼續尋找機會通過提高現有資產的效率來進一步降低資本支出。此外，正如我們在 10-K 中披露的那樣，我們預計到 2022 年，我們完成創新中心和總部設施建設的貢獻將約為 7100 萬美元，其中我們已經在第一季度貢獻了 3700 萬美元，如前所述。

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

有了這個，我會將電話轉回給接線員，以便為您解答問題。謝謝你。

(Operator Instructions) The first question today comes from Peter Galbo with Bank of America.

（操作員說明）今天的第一個問題來自美國銀行的 Peter Galbo。

Phil, I just wanted to ask some clarifying comments on the Q2 gross margin. I think it's helpful that the 940 basis points headwind from Jerky in Q1, it seems like some of that continues into Q2, but maybe not all. So can you just -- aside from all of the other kind of inflationary pressures, just what is the hit you're assuming to margins in Q2 just from Jerky because I think that will help us to kind of set a Q2 margin number that might be more in the range of -- given that 1Q was kind of a bit of a big surprise to the downside. So any help there.

菲爾，我只是想問一些關於第二季度毛利率的澄清評論。我認為第一季度來自 Jerky 的 940 個基點的逆風是有幫助的，其中一些似乎會持續到第二季度，但也許不是全部。那麼你能不能——除了所有其他類型的通脹壓力之外，你所假設的第二季度利潤率受到 Jerky 的影響是什麼，因為我認為這將有助於我們設定一個可能的第二季度利潤率數字考慮到 1Q 的下行趨勢有點出人意料。所以那裡有任何幫助。

Sure. Sure. So I'll take a high-level approach and then hand it over to Phil, who can give greater detail. I think first and foremost, the underlying theme here from my comments will be around we continue to manage the business to open up the longest and best long-term growth outcomes that we can. And so when we have opportunities like this, even though they're going to be somewhat challenging in the near term, we're going to pursue them, and we did that here because of a clear line of sight to much better margins in Jerky as the year progresses. And so Phil can give some detail on that.

當然。當然。因此，我將採用高級方法，然後將其交給 Phil，他可以提供更詳細的信息。我認為首先，我評論中的基本主題將是圍繞我們繼續管理業務以實現我們所能提供的最長和最好的長期增長成果。因此，當我們有這樣的機會時，即使它們在短期內會有些挑戰，我們也會去追求它們，我們在這裡這樣做是因為我們可以清楚地看到 Jerky 的利潤率更高隨著時間的推移。所以菲爾可以提供一些細節。

But the other area that was bringing some pressure on the cost front and in margin, was around the higher-priced inventory that we were selling through as the quarter progressed. And we'll see some continued pressure from that for a bit more this year, but not too much longer. And in that case, again, it was this decision framework that we have, whereby we looked at some long-term opportunities that we need to reorient production away from steady state for a bit to be able to fulfill those opportunities. And now we're in the process of relaunching back toward more steady-state production. And so if we didn't feel we had good line of sight to restoring over a longer period of time these 30% plus margins, we would feel differently. But we want to try to maximize our ability to grab as much of the total addressable market we can over a longer period.

但另一個給成本和利潤率帶來壓力的領域是我們在本季度進行銷售的高價庫存。今年我們會看到一些持續的壓力，但不會太久。在這種情況下，我們擁有的正是這個決策框架，我們在其中研究了一些長期機會，我們需要將生產從穩定狀態重新定位，以便能夠實現這些機會。現在，我們正處於重新啟動更穩定生產的過程中。因此，如果我們覺得我們沒有很好的視線在更長的時間內恢復這 30% 以上的利潤率，我們會有不同的感覺。但我們希望最大限度地發揮我們在更長時期內盡可能多地搶占整個潛在市場的能力。

So this is Phil. The additional color I'll add is on a per unit basis, we expect the bulk of the improvement will come later in the year. So Q2, for a given pound of Jerky, may look fairly similar to Q1. So the headwind should be somewhere not -- there are a lot of moving pieces and one of the things that makes giving more concrete guidance difficult. So obviously, the number of pounds of jerky we sell, we also incurred some very small lower of cost to market based on the jerky left on the balance sheet. We were pretty clean this quarter, so there wasn't a lot.

所以這是菲爾。我將添加的額外顏色是基於單位的，我們預計大部分改進將在今年晚些時候出現。因此，對於給定磅的肉乾，第二季度可能看起來與第一季度非常相似。因此，逆風不應該出現在某個地方——有很多移動的部分，其中之一是難以提供更具體的指導。所以很明顯，我們出售的肉乾的磅數，根據資產負債表上剩下的肉乾，我們也產生了一些非常小的市場成本。這個季度我們很乾淨，所以沒有很多。

And so those things will factor into the total amount, but the cost per pound, we expect to begin improving more in Q3 with this new facility that's expected to come online. So as you model, I think Ethan touched on kind of the big themes there and -- but I think it's fair to assume a similar type of economics per pound.

因此，這些因素將計入總金額，但每磅成本，我們預計將在第三季度開始更多地改善這個預計將上線的新設施。因此，當您建模時，我認為 Ethan 觸及了那裡的一些重要主題，並且 - 但我認為假設每磅具有類似類型的經濟學是公平的。

Okay. Got it. And then just as a follow-up, guys, the cash burn rate of close to $190 million when accounting for CapEx in the quarter. I mean at current steady state with 2Q also probably being a challenged quarter, how are you starting to think about needs for future growth capital as you start kind of working down the cash number from the convert from last year?

好的。知道了。然後作為後續行動，伙計們，當考慮到本季度的資本支出時，現金消耗率接近 1.9 億美元。我的意思是在目前的穩定狀態下，第二季度也可能是一個充滿挑戰的季度，當你開始從去年的轉換中減少現金數量時，你如何開始考慮未來增長資本的需求？

Sure, sure. So I'll go ahead and follow the same sequence, hand it over to Phil, but wanted to give some quick comments. So I wouldn't take this quarter's cash consumption and then just kind of play it out and assume that we're out of cash based on that. We are taking several measures to reduce overall cash consumption and there's particularly high cash consumption in certain areas this quarter.

一定一定。因此，我將繼續按照相同的順序將其交給 Phil，但我想快速發表一些意見。因此，我不會考慮本季度的現金消費，然後只是假設我們沒有現金。我們正在採取多項措施來減少整體現金消費，本季度某些領域的現金消費尤其高。

But if you look at OpEx, we did slow substantially the rate of OpEx growth Q4 to Q1, and we continue to look at reducing OpEx as the year progresses. Second, on the CapEx side, we have a reduction from 2021 and are also looking at ways to continue to trim that. But the bigger one here is also inventory. We did build up a lot of inventory coming into the summer linked season. We expect to wind a lot of that down across the course of the year, and that will generate quite a bit of cash. And then we do see improving margin as the year progresses. So that will also obviously help and contribute.

但是，如果您查看運營支出，我們確實在第四季度至第一季度大幅放緩了運營支出的增長率，並且隨著時間的推移，我們將繼續考慮減少運營支出。其次，在資本支出方面，我們從 2021 年開始有所減少，並且還在尋找繼續削減的方法。但這裡更大的也是庫存。我們確實在夏季相關季節建立了很多庫存。我們預計在這一年中會減少很多，這將產生相當多的現金。然後，隨著時間的推移，我們確實看到利潤率有所提高。因此，這顯然也會有所幫助和貢獻。

And then lastly, we've been in this kind of holding pattern for a bit here coming out of the pandemic. And we are starting to see some resumption of growth, although, again, we continue to caution that will materialize in a bigger way in the latter half of the year. But as that happens, we should start seeing more favorable quarterly cash consumption. So we feel good about that. We do have a plan to manage cash through to a point where we feel comfortable. And at that point, we'll look it up. But right now, we feel good about where our runway is.

最後，從大流行病中走出來，我們一直處於這種狀態。我們開始看到一些增長的恢復，儘管我們再次警告說，這將在今年下半年以更大的方式實現。但當這種情況發生時，我們應該開始看到更有利的季度現金消費。所以我們對此感覺很好。我們確實有計劃將現金管理到我們感到舒服的程度。到那時，我們會查一下。但是現在，我們對我們的跑道在哪裡感覺很好。

Yes. Ethan, the only other thing that I'll add to that is if you look at our operating cash flows, they include a line for a prepaid leasing expense, which is associated with the build-out of our R&D and headquarters facility. We contributed $37 million to that count in Q1. The expectation for the remainder of the year should be only about $34 million in totality. And so we're very front-end loaded on some of the costs this quarter.

是的。伊桑，我要補充的唯一另一件事是，如果您查看我們的運營現金流，其中包括一條預付租賃費用的線路，這與我們的研發和總部設施的擴建有關。我們在第一季度為此貢獻了 3700 萬美元。今年剩餘時間的預期總額應該只有大約 3400 萬美元。因此，我們在本季度的一些成本上處於非常前端的狀態。

The next question comes from Robert Moskow with Credit Suisse.

下一個問題來自瑞士信貸的羅伯特莫斯科。

A little unclear where to begin. A question about the 80% growth that you talked about from March -- from February to March in foodservice sales, I mean, it's a big number. Is March your regular run rate? Or does it include any benefits from limited time offers? And then I wanted to know -- I don't think I've heard about extended shelf-life burgers in the EU or these price reductions. Can you talk about the reasons for doing that? And why extended shelf life in EU but not the U.S.?

有點不清楚從哪裡開始。一個關於你所說的 80% 增長的問題 - 從 2 月到 3 月的餐飲服務銷售增長，我的意思是，這是一個很大的數字。三月是你的正常跑步率嗎？或者它是否包括限時優惠的任何好處？然後我想知道——我想我沒有聽說過歐盟延長保質期的漢堡或這些降價。你能談談這樣做的原因嗎？為什麼在歐盟而不是美國延長保質期？

Sure. So Robert, I'll take the first whack at this. So I think on the -- the question about March, I think we're just seeing a fundamental hopefully shift in consumer behavior and people are coming back in and coming back into the brand. So we were happy that I don't think there's any kind of onetime hit that is driving that, and we'll keep monitoring that as the year progresses. But that was a very encouraging sign for us.

當然。所以羅伯特，我會採取第一個打擊。所以我認為 - 關於三月份的問題，我認為我們只是看到消費者行為發生了根本性的希望轉變，人們正在回歸併重新回到品牌中。所以我們很高興我認為沒有任何一次性的打擊推動了這一點，隨著時間的推移，我們將繼續監測這一點。但這對我們來說是一個非常令人鼓舞的跡象。

On the extended shelf life, that has more to do with the requirements there in grocery and where we are relative to those. And so by extending it, it's to meet more of the norm there versus what we were doing previously. So it's not a strategy to extend beyond what's typical in the EU.

關於延長保質期，這更多地與雜貨店的要求以及我們相對於這些要求有關。因此，通過擴展它，與我們之前所做的相比，它可以滿足更多的規範。因此，這不是超出歐盟典型範圍的戰略。

Okay. And my follow-up is kind of a broader question about the price reductions in the U.S. and getting closer to traditional meat. I mean, we're in a time of unprecedented price inflation in conventional meat. And your strategy has been to reduce prices for plant-based burgers. And I guess what I'm surprised about is that, that hasn't yet brought in more consumers to the category. So I'm wondering if you've done any research to indicate that the price is going to be -- that confirms that the price will be the trigger that increases the trial and repeat? Or could there be other factors that drive this?

好的。我的後續行動是關於美國降價和更接近傳統肉類的更廣泛的問題。我的意思是，我們正處於傳統肉類價格空前上漲的時期。你的策略是降低植物漢堡的價格。而且我想我感到驚訝的是，這還沒有為該類別帶來更多的消費者。所以我想知道你是否做過任何研究來表明價格將是 - 確認價格將成為增加試驗和重複的觸發器？或者可能有其他因素推動這一點？

Well, I think it's really 3 things I've talked about a lot over the years. One is continue to drive the taste profile, which we really do need to do and have some terrific innovation coming later this year. Second is to continue to communicate the value proposition, which is around health to the consumer and then to a lesser extent, environment. And then the third is price. And particularly in these QSR environments, we feel very focused on price.

嗯，我認為這真的是這些年來我經常談論的三件事。一是繼續推動口味，我們確實需要這樣做，並在今年晚些時候推出一些了不起的創新。其次是繼續向消費者傳達價值主張，即圍繞健康，其次是環境。第三是價格。尤其是在這些 QSR 環境中，我們非常關注價格。

But what's happening in the sector overall in grocery is you see all these new entrants coming in, and many of them are using price as a way to try to capture early market share. And so the -- while the animal protein industry has been able to substantially increase pricing to essentially offset significant reductions in volume, in our sector, we have not had the opportunity to do that. So if you look at our sales year-over-year on a volume basis, we're up 12%, right? But because pricing has been so competitive, that's not showing up, it's being offset. And in retail, that's certainly the case.

但是，整個雜貨行業正在發生的事情是，您會看到所有這些新進入者的湧入，其中許多人正在利用價格作為搶占早期市場份額的一種方式。因此，雖然動物蛋白行業已經能夠大幅提高定價以從根本上抵消數量的大幅減少，但在我們的行業中，我們還沒有機會這樣做。因此，如果您按銷量計算我們的銷售額同比增長 12%，對嗎？但由於定價一直如此具有競爭力，這並沒有出現，而是被抵消了。在零售業，情況當然如此。

So it's an environment where there's a lot of, I think, unsustainable pricing behaviors going on, that we're weathering and we'll weather fine. We're still the #1 brand in the retail category. Our velocity turns at 2.5x roughly the category average. It's the highest of all 25 plant-based meat brands that are covered. And so we feel really good about the fact that we've been able to just withstand this. But it's not entirely up to us on these pricing things.

所以這是一個環境，我認為，不可持續的定價行為正在發生，我們正在風化，我們會風雨無阻。我們仍然是零售類別中的第一品牌。我們的速度大約是類別平均值的 2.5 倍。這是涵蓋的所有 25 個植物性肉類品牌中最高的。所以我們對我們能夠承受這一事實感到非常高興。但在這些定價方面並不完全取決於我們。

We have to remain competitive in that environment. But over time, our approach is not to get to our parity goal through discounting prices, to continue to drive cost reduction. And so we've done that through our cost program, if you look at the material costs quarter-to-quarter, we've been able to reduce those. There's a ton of noise in our cost, again, for long-term strategic reasons. We decided to launch the Jerky, which was our biggest launch ever to 56,000 stores currently and growing, that is larger than our existing footprint in retail among all other products.

我們必須在這種環境下保持競爭力。但隨著時間的推移，我們的方法不是通過打折來達到我們的平價目標，而是繼續推動成本降低。因此，我們已經通過我們的成本計劃做到了這一點，如果您按季度查看材料成本，我們已經能夠減少這些成本。同樣，出於長期戰略原因，我們的成本中存在大量噪音。我們決定推出 Jerky，這是我們迄今為止向 56,000 家商店推出的最大規模產品，目前還在不斷增長，這比我們在所有其他產品中現有的零售足跡還要大。

So it's a very expensive endeavor to scale up to that and get those out there. And we did it on a network of production facilities versus a single spot, which we're now reorienting our production toward one that's more efficient, which is the right thing to do. And so we also launched for strategic QSRs, which drove pricing up, our cost structure up as we went away from steady-state production.

因此，擴大規模並將其推廣出去是一項非常昂貴的努力。我們是在一個生產設施網絡上而不是在一個單一地點上做到這一點的，我們現在正在將我們的生產重新定位到一個更有效率的地方，這是正確的做法。因此，我們還推出了戰略 QSR，這推動了價格上漲，我們的成本結構隨著我們遠離穩態生產而上升。

So all this noise is in the system. But if you look at what we're doing, we are taking this cost-down program very seriously, and we will hit this price parity goal that I set now 3 years ago. We have about 2 more years to get it. But in fact, if you look at our jerky and you look at the average price of jerky in the marketplace, you'll see that we already are pricing at parity with the Jerky. And we wouldn't do that if we didn't have clear line of sight to get to the margins we want.

所以所有這些噪音都在系統中。但如果你看看我們在做什麼，我們會非常認真地對待這個降低成本的計劃，我們將實現我在 3 年前設定的價格平價目標。我們還有大約 2 年的時間來獲得它。但事實上，如果你看看我們的肉乾，看看市場上肉乾的平均價格，你會發現我們的價格已經與肉乾持平。如果我們沒有清晰的視線到達我們想要的邊緣，我們就不會這樣做。

So I know there's a lot of hand waving and a little bit of wringing of the hands regarding some of our quarterly results. But what we're doing is managing this business to create the longest-term growth opportunity. And these are growth opportunities that I don't think investors would want us to turn down, right, whether it's launching what will soon be 80,000 stores with the Jerky, whether it's continuing to do trials globally with McDonald's, whether it's continuing to do trials with Yum! and across their different brands, these are all things that make sense for a business that is looking to expand into a global protein company over a longer period of time. And it's just going to generate some noise in the near term. And I feel comfortable with that, and I think the market will catch up with that. But we feel good about where we are. And on pricing, we're not going to deviate from that.

所以我知道對於我們的一些季度業績，有很多人揮手致意，也有一些令人不安的地方。但我們正在做的是管理這項業務以創造最長期的增長機會。這些是我認為投資者不會希望我們拒絕的增長機會，對，無論是與 Jerky 一起推出即將擁有 80,000 家商店的商店，是否繼續與麥當勞在全球範圍內進行試驗，是否繼續進行試驗和百勝！在他們不同的品牌中，這些對於希望在更長時間內擴展到全球蛋白質公司的企業來說都是有意義的。它只會在短期內產生一些噪音。我對此感到滿意，我認為市場會趕上這一點。但我們對自己所處的位置感覺良好。在定價方面，我們不會偏離這一點。

The next question comes from Ben Theurer with Barclays.

下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Ben Theurer。

Just wanted to stay within that topic of the 3 things. Obviously, taste is important, that's for sure. That's what it all starts with. But amongst price and then maybe a little bit in understanding what's been going on in the international markets because if we take a look at the results, it felt like in the U.S., the discrepancy between volume growth and then ultimately, sales growth, it wasn't that big, but it was kind of stunning to see how significantly you were able to expand volume in the international business, be it in retail or foodservice, i.e., by 20% up to 30%. But then the international revenues were down 7%. So could you elaborate a little bit about the pricing strategies international? And what's been driving that? And maybe try to kind of give a little bit of clarity, how much was pricing in local currency? How much was FX? And how much was just a shift in strategy into promotioning activities, maybe within retail or foodservice?

只是想留在這三件事的主題內。顯然，味道很重要，這是肯定的。這就是一切的開始。但是在價格之間，然後可能有點了解國際市場的情況，因為如果我們看一下結果，感覺就像在美國，銷量增長與最終銷售增長之間的差異，沒那麼大，但看到您在國際業務中能夠顯著擴大銷量（無論是在零售業還是餐飲服務業），即從 20% 到 30%，真是令人震驚。但隨後國際收入下降了 7%。那麼您能否詳細介紹一下國際定價策略？是什麼推動了這一點？或許試著澄清一下，以當地貨幣計價的價格是多少？外匯是多少？有多少只是戰略轉變為促銷活動，可能是在零售或餐飲服務中？

Yes. So again, this is -- Phil can add to this, but this is again where I think we just have to kind of everyone take a step back and look at what we're doing, so we were able to increase volume in retail in the EU by about 19% for the quarter year-over-year, but that was offset by a 21% reduction in net revenue. But if you look at what's happening, right, is we're trying to get in line with competitive pricing in Europe, while we're also building out capacity there in terms of our own extrusion and downstream manufacturing becoming more and more efficient.

是的。所以再一次，這是 - 菲爾可以補充這一點，但這也是我認為我們只需要讓每個人退後一步，看看我們在做什麼，所以我們能夠增加零售量歐盟本季度同比增長約 19%，但這被淨收入減少 21% 所抵消。但是，如果您看看正在發生的事情，對，我們是否正試圖與歐洲的競爭定價保持一致，同時我們也在在那裡建立產能，以使我們自己的擠壓和下游製造變得越來越高效。

So it's not where it needs to be today, but it will get there. And so we wanted to continue to grow our market share versus wait until we have full capacity set up. And so that's an example of -- about how pricing -- we're pricing to get into the competitive space in that market, even as we go further and go towards animal protein. In the foodservice, it's even more dramatic, 29% growth in volume. So really nice uptick in volume, offset by a reduction in pricing. But over time, right, that pricing will make sense from a margin perspective because of the efficiency that we're getting in our production network in Europe. And so we do think that price continues to be a good lever and it gets back to this perspective of hearing many times, if we can create products that are indistinguishable from animal protein in terms of taste, we can make sure the consumer understands the health benefits of our products such as the work we're doing with Stanford and others.

所以它不是今天需要的地方，但它會到達那裡。因此，我們希望繼續擴大我們的市場份額，而不是等到我們設置完全部產能。因此，這是一個關於定價方式的例子，我們正在定價以進入該市場的競爭空間，即使我們更進一步並轉向動物蛋白。在餐飲服務方面，增長幅度更大，增長了 29%。銷量的增長非常好，但被定價的降低所抵消。但隨著時間的推移，從利潤率的角度來看，這種定價將是有意義的，因為我們在歐洲的生產網絡中獲得了效率。所以我們確實認為價格仍然是一個很好的槓桿，它回到了很多次聽到的這個角度，如果我們能創造出在味道上與動物蛋白沒有區別的產品，我們就能確保消費者了解健康我們產品的好處，例如我們與斯坦福大學和其他人所做的工作。

And then lastly, if we can get the price to be at parity or below, it becomes an unusual consumer that says, I'm still not going to consume that. And so again, these things take time. They're not linear per se. We're going to have fits and starts, and it's going to require patience. But these are the right steps to take for our business, and they'll generate some near-term results we don't like, and that's okay.

最後，如果我們可以讓價格保持在平價或更低，就會變成一個不尋常的消費者說，我仍然不會消費。同樣，這些事情需要時間。它們本身不是線性的。我們會時斷時續，這需要耐心。但這些是為我們的業務採取的正確步驟，它們會產生一些我們不喜歡的近期結果，這沒關係。

Just to add to that. We estimate that foreign exchange is approximately a 3 percentage point headwind, which is predominantly euro versus the dollar driven. The only other thing I would say is some of the trade discounts are somewhat lumpy, particularly as we're rolling out the lower prices. And so in some cases, you're discounting, so you get the product at the lower price from what's already out there, then as we're selling into the distributor, we're also at that lower price. So you may see some kind of lumpiness in that line. And we'll continue to review what we're doing with trade as we see how the new price points, which are a little different by country, play out. And so this will be something we learn as we go.

只是補充一點。我們估計外匯是大約 3 個百分點的逆風，主要是歐元兌美元。我唯一要說的另一件事是，一些貿易折扣有些不統一，尤其是在我們推出較低價格的時候。所以在某些情況下，你在打折，所以你以更低的價格從現有的產品中獲得產品，然後當我們向分銷商銷售時，我們也以更低的價格出售。因此，您可能會在該行中看到某種塊狀。我們將繼續審查我們在貿易方面所做的工作，因為我們會看到各國略有不同的新價格點如何發揮作用。所以這將是我們在學習過程中學到的東西。

Okay. And then my follow-up is really around what you said about the capacity investments in Europe. Can you give us an update where you stand right now? How much of the product that's particularly sold in Europe still needs to be shipped over and then basically packed and marketed over there versus when do you expect to have like the level of production, call it, domestically or at least within the broader region available to improve a little bit that cost headwind?

好的。然後我的後續行動實際上是圍繞你所說的歐洲產能投資。你能告訴我們你現在的最新情況嗎？有多少在歐洲特別銷售的產品仍然需要運到那裡，然後基本上包裝和銷售到那裡，而你預計什麼時候可以達到國內或至少在更廣泛的地區可用的生產水平？改善一點，成本逆風？

Yes. So I wouldn't want to give a timeline right now. But I think the way to think about it is on a finished goods perspective, we're quite good in terms of the EU production. And now it's shifting to integrating the back end of our production process, to the point where we're not shipping over WIP and things of that nature. And so I don't think it's too far off. And so we feel good about bringing our costs in line with that price reduction in the not-too-distant future, but I don't want to give an exact date.

是的。所以我現在不想給出時間表。但我認為考慮它的方式是從成品的角度來看，我們在歐盟生產方面相當不錯。現在它正在轉向整合我們生產流程的後端，以至於我們不通過 WIP 和類似性質的東西發貨。所以我認為它不會太遠。因此，我們對在不久的將來使我們的成本與降價保持一致感到滿意，但我不想給出確切的日期。

The next question comes from Ken Goldman with JPMorgan.

下一個問題來自摩根大通的 Ken Goldman。

Two for me. Ethan, you said on many occasions that your product is superior to competition on a number of levels. If this is the case, why do you need to follow your competitors down on price to this degree? I guess, wouldn't you have a bit more consumer loyalty that maybe should allow you to retain more price? I guess what's the point of kind of reaching price parity with animal-based meat if it kind of crushes your margins like this?

兩個給我。 Ethan，你在很多場合都說過，你的產品在很多層面上都優於競爭對手。如果是這樣的話，為什麼你需要在價格上跟隨你的競爭對手下降到這種程度？我想，你不會有更多的消費者忠誠度，也許應該讓你保留更多的價格嗎？我想如果它像這樣壓碎你的利潤，那麼與動物肉達到價格平價的意義何在？

Right. So I think -- Ken, first of all, so I think a couple of things. One is this impact on margin is not long term, right? Like we have very good line of sight to just calming down our network, not constantly doing all these launches. So taking the kind of operating cost out of that. And then looking at a material basis, we continue to drive down material costs and -- I think can accelerate that.

對。所以我想-- Ken，首先，我想了幾件事。一是這種對利潤率的影響不是長期的，對吧？就像我們有很好的視野來讓我們的網絡平靜下來，而不是不斷地進行所有這些發布。因此，將運營成本排除在外。然後從物質基礎來看，我們繼續降低材料成本，而且我認為可以加速這一進程。

So on the cost side, I think you'll see some advantages come to fruition. But on pricing, I think it's a fair question in our products, it's not my opinion, we get a ton of awards and rankings that are #1, et cetera, and so forth. And we're pleased with that, and we should be doing that. We spend a lot in R&D and we have this goal of making it undistinguishable, I mentioned, and are getting closer and closer. And in fact, I'm very excited about the opportunity to release some products this year that I think are exceptional.

因此，在成本方面，我認為您會看到一些優勢得以實現。但是在定價方面，我認為這是我們產品中的一個公平問題，這不是我的意見，我們獲得了大量的獎項和排名，例如第一等。我們對此感到滿意，我們應該這樣做。我們在研發上投入了大量資金，我們的目標是讓它變得難以區分，我提到過，而且越來越近了。事實上，我很高興有機會在今年發布一些我認為非常出色的產品。

But we also have to do a better job educating the consumer about the differences among brands. I think there's still confusion within people's minds and particularly us and one other brand, where I'll get e-mails asking me about our products and so on and so forth, and it will actually be addressed to the other brand. And so we have to do a better job distinguishing ourselves. And I think at that point, that will help quite a bit. But one of the main competitive pressure points on pricing is coming from out of the brand, and I don't think there's enough differentiation in the consumer's mind.

但我們還必須更好地教育消費者了解品牌之間的差異。我認為人們的頭腦中仍然存在混亂，尤其是我們和另一個品牌，在那裡我會收到電子郵件詢問我們的產品等等，而實際上它會發送給另一個品牌。因此，我們必須更好地區分自己。我認為在這一點上，這將有很大幫助。但定價的主要競爭壓力點之一來自品牌之外，我認為消費者心中沒有足夠的差異化。

And then question two, you described the market's reaction as I think "hammering, ringing" in reaction to some of the investments you're making today. And I think the message is that maybe some people are sort of missing the point about what you're doing for the long term. But in reality, your sales were up 1% year-on-year in the quarter, and your SG&A was up 93%.

然後問題二，你描述了市場的反應，我認為是對你今天所做的一些投資的反應。而且我認為傳達的信息是，也許有些人有點忽略了您長期從事的工作。但實際上，您的銷售額在本季度同比增長 1%，您的 SG&A 增長了 93%。

And I think some investors I've talked to are saying, "Look, it's great to hear your vision for a better future, understand -- we understand that the SG&A increase, some of it is out of your control." But I guess the question is, how do you think about balancing long-term opportunities and some of the shorter-term considerations for your shareholders? Is there some point in which you need to adjust that spending to kind of match what's happening in the world today?

我認為一些與我交談過的投資者會說，“聽著，很高興聽到你對更美好未來的願景，理解——我們理解 SG&A 的增加，其中一些是你無法控制的。”但我想問題是，您如何看待平衡長期機會和股東的一些短期考慮？您是否需要調整支出以適應當今世界正在發生的事情？

Yes. I mean, absolutely. And I think I've raised those points around -- we are going to continue to reduce the growth in OpEx. We have a pretty reasonable CapEx plan for the year. Inventory, we're going to take a lot of cash out of that. Margin, we see it improving over the course of the year. But I think -- ask that question first quarter of next year, and I think it will be an interesting answer. I don't think that this current condition persists. And I think that the moves that we're making today are really the best for the long-term shareholder. It's not easy stuff, right?

是的。我的意思是，絕對的。我想我已經提出了這些觀點——我們將繼續降低運營支出的增長。我們今年有一個相當合理的資本支出計劃。庫存，我們將從中取出大量現金。利潤率，我們看到它在一年中有所改善。但我認為 - 在明年第一季度提出這個問題，我認為這將是一個有趣的答案。我認為目前的情況不會持續存在。而且我認為我們今天採取的舉措對長期股東來說確實是最好的。這不是一件容易的事，對吧？

But it's the -- for those that understand the long-term value that we're trying to unlock, this is exactly the right thing to be doing.

但對於那些了解我們試圖釋放的長期價值的人來說，這正是正確的做法。

The next question comes from Alexia Howard with Bernstein.

下一個問題來自 Alexia Howard 和 Bernstein。

Okay. So can we ask -- I mean, just coming back to the cash burn because obviously, that's top of mind for everybody I'm speaking to. You're halfway through Q2, almost, do you have any sort of read as to what the cash burn is likely to be this quarter? I know that you've said that the prepaid leases for the R&D center are obviously going to get smaller. Did I hear you say that the inventory cash burn might actually start to reverse? I mean, I'd be very curious about that. And is there anything else that we might actually see start to improve, whether it's in the net income line as we go through Q2?

好的。所以我們可以問 - 我的意思是，回到現金消耗，因為顯然，這是我與之交談的每個人的首要考慮。您幾乎已經過了第二季度的一半，您對本季度的現金消耗可能有什麼了解嗎？我知道你說過研發中心的預付租金顯然會變小。我有沒有聽到你說庫存現金消耗實際上可能開始逆轉？我的意思是，我會對此很好奇。還有什麼我們可能會真正看到開始改善的地方，無論是在我們第二季度的淨收入線中嗎？

Sure. Good question. So I think the most precise answer I can give is probably going to be a little bit lacking. But the general trend here gets back to my point. I would not take this quarter's cash burn and replicate it out and say that's when you guys are out. We're taking these steps that I mentioned, particularly on the inventory side, you'll see across the course of the year, some cash being freed up there. And then again, we've had some lower than like sales quarters, that doesn't seem to be persistent. And so we'll generate some better operating outcomes from that perspective as well.

當然。好問題。所以我認為我能給出的最準確的答案可能會有點缺乏。但是這裡的總趨勢又回到了我的觀點。我不會拿本季度的現金消耗並將其複制出來並說那是你們出去的時候。我們正在採取我提到的這些步驟，特別是在庫存方面，你會在一年中看到，一些現金在那裡被釋放。再說一次，我們的銷售季度低於預期，這似乎並不持久。因此，我們也會從這個角度產生一些更好的運營成果。

So we actually feel pretty okay about our cash position, and we're obviously aware of it and at the point that we feel like we'll do something, we will. But right now, we're managing it through just careful use of the funds.

所以我們實際上對我們的現金狀況感覺很好，我們顯然意識到了這一點，並且在我們覺得我們會做某事的時候，我們會做的。但現在，我們只是通過謹慎使用資金來管理它。

Great. And then my follow-up would be just curious about the switch from the SPINS data to Numerator. What prompted that? And why the transition now?

偉大的。然後我的後續工作只是對從 SPINS 數據到 Numerator 的轉換感到好奇。是什麼促成了這一點？為什麼現在過渡？

Alexia, this is Lubi, I'll take that one. So the Numerator data, we actually found -- probably have better coverage of our sort of total consumer base and demographics. It does capture more omnichannel sales, which we think is an increasingly important sort of channel for our brand. It does capture more millennial consumers as well in some of the younger generations, which again, we believe is an important demographic for our brand. And so we made the decision to switch panel data providers based on those types of decisions.

Alexia，我是 Lubi，我要那個。因此，我們實際上發現，分子數據可能更好地覆蓋了我們的總消費者群和人口統計數據。它確實獲得了更多的全渠道銷售，我們認為這對我們的品牌來說是一種越來越重要的渠道。它確實在一些年輕一代中也吸引了更多的千禧一代消費者，我們再次認為這對我們的品牌來說是一個重要的人群。因此，我們決定根據這些類型的決定切換面板數據提供者。

The next question comes from Peter Saleh with BTIG.

下一個問題來自 BTIG 的 Peter Saleh。

Great. I just wanted to come back to the conversation around gross margin. Just even if you exclude the beef jerky impact on the margins. Just trying to understand when we should really see the inflection on gross margins? Should we see a significant inflection in third quarter and then fourth quarter again? Just trying to understand what in the pressure that you felt this quarter do you think is going to be transitory and really kind of eases significantly in the back end of the year?

偉大的。我只是想回到關於毛利率的話題。即使你排除了牛肉乾對利潤的影響。只是想了解什麼時候我們應該真正看到毛利率的變化？我們是否應該在第三季度和第四季度再次看到顯著的拐點？只是想了解你在本季度感受到的壓力是什麼，你認為這將是暫時的，並且在今年年底真的會顯著緩解嗎？

This is Phil. I'll take that one. So if you look at this quarter from a cost per pound perspective, it's very, very similar to Q4. And as Ethan talked about, like our manufacturing cost is too high right now on a per pound basis, sort of ongoing. And so there's a lot of work underway there. We started making good progress late in Q1. We changed some shift schedules, made some other changes to align the optimal location for the production. But some of the inventory, especially given the inventory balance we have, already exists that we'll sell in Q2.

這是菲爾。我會拿那個。因此，如果您從每磅成本的角度來看本季度，它與第四季度非常非常相似。正如伊森所說，就像我們現在每磅的製造成本太高一樣，有點持續。所以那裡有很多工作正在進行中。我們在第一季度末開始取得良好進展。我們更改了一些班次安排，進行了一些其他更改，以調整生產的最佳位置。但是一些庫存，特別是考慮到我們擁有的庫存餘額，已經存在，我們將在第二季度出售。

So I would expect that, knowing what I know today, Q3 would be when you would start seeing some of those improvements really coming to the income statement. We'll see a little bit of it in Q2 and we'll have to see kind of what -- where we net out on a trade basis as well in some of the other kind of current period costs. Now certainly, volume helps us. And so if you look at things like depreciation costs, having a bigger quarter, which we typically expect seasonally in Q2, Q3 should also be a little bit of a tailwind.

因此，我預計，知道我今天所知道的，第三季度將是您開始看到其中一些真正改善損益表的時候。我們將在第二季度看到一點，我們將不得不看到什麼——我們在貿易基礎上以及其他一些當期成本中淨額。現在可以肯定的是，音量對我們有幫助。因此，如果你看一下折舊成本之類的東西，有一個更大的季度，我們通常在第二季度季節性地預期，第三季度也應該有點順風。

Great. And then just as a follow-up, Ethan, I think in your prepared remarks, you had mentioned more -- expect more QSR trials in the second quarter. I don't know if there's anything you can share on that front in terms of are these with your current partners or new partners? Are we talking chicken? Are we talking still on the burger side? Anything on that front would be helpful.

偉大的。然後作為後續行動，Ethan，我認為在你準備好的評論中，你提到了更多——預計第二季度會有更多的 QSR 試驗。我不知道您是否可以在這方面與您當前的合作夥伴或新合作夥伴分享這些信息？我們在說雞嗎？我們還在談論漢堡嗎？這方面的任何事情都會有所幫助。

Sure. So I think that's what I meant to -- I think what I said was sort of second half of the year. But yes, I mean, the partnerships we have, we continue to roll out tests, and I can't speak for them, but you'll see further activity from some of our major partners. Yes.

當然。所以我認為這就是我的意思——我認為我所說的是今年下半年。但是，是的，我的意思是，我們的合作夥伴關係，我們繼續推出測試，我不能代表他們，但你會看到我們的一些主要合作夥伴的進一步活動。是的。

The next question comes from Adam Samuelson with Goldman Sachs.

下一個問題來自高盛的亞當薩繆爾森。

Yes. Can we maybe think about just -- look at the long-term profitability. You talked about reaching 30%, kind of those 30% gross margins. What revenue level do you think you need to be at to actually reach EBITDA and EBITDA profitability and be free cash flow positive? I guess the spirit of the question, if I look at the OpEx structure of the business, whether on an absolute dollar basis, on a percent of sales or on a per pound basis, and I'm just really struggling to see the pathway to get to EBITDA or cash flow profitability in the near to medium term, just given where the OpEx spend is today?

是的。我們可以考慮一下 - 看看長期盈利能力。你談到要達到 30%，即 30% 的毛利率。您認為您需要達到什麼收入水平才能實際達到 EBITDA 和 EBITDA 盈利能力並保持自由現金流為正？我猜這個問題的精神，如果我查看業務的運營支出結構，無論是絕對美元、銷售額百分比還是每磅，我真的很難找到通往考慮到今天的運營支出支出，在中短期內獲得 EBITDA 或現金流盈利能力？

So this is Phil. I think certainly, more volume helps us in that regard. We're not giving a multiyear guidance here. But the first thing is get our costs back in line with what we think it should be, and we've spent a bunch of time talking about the reasons why it's not right now. And then over time, yes, we've got to grow into this OpEx base. And we also have to take a look at all the OpEx and make sure we're happy with what we're getting for the spend, and that's an ongoing exercise that we continue to evaluate.

所以這是菲爾。我當然認為，在這方面，更多的交易量對我們有幫助。我們在這裡不提供多年指導。但第一件事是讓我們的成本恢復到我們認為應該的水平，而且我們花了很多時間討論為什麼現在不合適的原因。然後隨著時間的推移，是的，我們必須成長為這個 OpEx 基礎。我們還必須查看所有運營支出，並確保我們對支出所獲得的收益感到滿意，這是我們繼續評估的一項持續工作。

Okay. And then as I look at the guidance for revenues for this year, can you maybe just -- we have the first quarter, you talked about new products in the second half from incremental QSR kind of trials and activity in the back half of the year. How much of the revenue guidance contemplates new product introductions in 2022 and I guess, inclusive of that Jerky? And how much of that encompasses kind of incremental QSR activity than what's in the marketplace today?

好的。然後當我查看今年的收入指導時，您是否可以 - 我們有第一季度，您談到下半年的新產品，來自今年下半年的增量 QSR 類型的試驗和活動.收入指導中有多少考慮到 2022 年推出新產品，我猜，包括那個 Jerky？其中有多少包含比當今市場上的增量 QSR 活動？

I'm not sure we can give that level of color on it. But I do think the important thing to look at is coming out of the period, for a variety of reasons, it has been slower on the revenue side than we want. But for us to continue to reinforce the growth targets that we set for the year, we're going to have a pretty big quarter-over-quarter performance as we get into third and fourth quarter. And so we're not backing away from that. We feel good about that, and that has to do with where we see some of the core business going and the opportunities that we're pursuing today.

我不確定我們能不能給它那種顏色的顏色。但我確實認為重要的事情是結束這個時期，由於各種原因，它在收入方面比我們想要的要慢。但是，為了讓我們繼續加強我們為今年設定的增長目標，隨著我們進入第三和第四季度，我們將有一個相當大的季度環比表現。因此，我們不會放棄這一點。我們對此感覺良好，這與我們看到一些核心業務的發展方向以及我們今天所追求的機會有關。

And that's pretty impressive growth on a quarter-over-quarter basis for the second half of the year. So part of my sense of like I just think there's a need for people to take a step back here, when I talk about long term, there's also some immediate or intermediate performance coming up that I think is pretty promising. So I have a very different perspective and that's why I used the term wringing hands than I think some that may be -- are less close to the business.

在今年下半年的季度環比基礎上，這是相當可觀的增長。所以我的一部分感覺是，我只是認為人們需要退後一步，當我談到長期時，也會出現一些我認為很有希望的即時或中期表現。所以我有一個非常不同的觀點，這就是為什麼我使用“絞盡腦汁”這個詞，而不是我認為的一些可能 - 不太接近業務。

Okay. And then I just have to clarify an accounting question and this is for Phil. The equity loss to the joint venture was $670,000. And I'm just trying to square that with the losses or the costs you've described on Jerky. And I guess, why aren't -- wouldn't that be pointing to the JV line also?

好的。然後我只需要澄清一個會計問題，這是給菲爾的。合資企業的股權損失為 670,000 美元。我只是想把它與你在 Jerky 上描述的損失或成本相提並論。我想，為什麼不——那不是也指向合資公司嗎？

Sure. So Jerky, we treat the PLANeT Partnership as our subsidiary or joint venture. And so you see the revenue and the costs flowing through Beyond Meat and then the profit or loss from the JV close to that other line. Does that make sense?

當然。因此，Jerky，我們將 PLANeT Partnership 視為我們的子公司或合資企業。因此，您會看到流經 Beyond Meat 的收入和成本，然後是靠近另一條線的合資企業的損益。那有意義嗎？

Okay. Yes, we can -- I can circle back offline.

好的。是的，我們可以——我可以離線迴圈。

The next question comes from Ryan Bell with Consumer Edge Research.

下一個問題來自 Consumer Edge Research 的 Ryan Bell。

How do you think about the strength and importance of brands overall in the alternative meat segment in retail and the degree to which the category more broadly can resist the push towards commodification, kind of like traditional meat? Are there any things that you can do to have incremental value add to help mitigate some of the potential threats of that as we're seeing pricing being a key driver of share gains?

您如何看待品牌在零售替代肉類領域的整體實力和重要性，以及更廣泛的類別能夠在多大程度上抵制像傳統肉類一樣的商品化推動？當我們看到定價是股價上漲的關鍵驅動力時，您是否可以做任何事情來增加增值以幫助減輕一些潛在的威脅？

Yes. No, that's a good question. So I think it just gets back to continuing to innovate, continue to really clearly explain the value proposition around the ingredients that you are using. So in our case, we're using very clean ingredients. It's a pretty simple process. We don't use genetic modification. So there's all these characteristics that we need to keep explaining to the consumer around what differentiates our product and our brand.

是的。不，這是個好問題。所以我認為它只是回到繼續創新，繼續真正清楚地解釋你正在使用的成分的價值主張。所以在我們的案例中，我們使用的是非常乾淨的成分。這是一個非常簡單的過程。我們不使用基因改造。因此，我們需要繼續向消費者解釋我們的產品和品牌的區別所在。

But again, I don't think that this pricing you're seeing in terms of what other companies are doing is sustainable. So I think the only -- they're publicly reporting with -- they're 2, and 1 of them had a negative 14% margin, right? So this is something that I don't think will persist in the long run. There will be some private label success in the industry for sure. But as long as we continue to innovate at the rate we are and deliver better products year after year. So far, we haven't seen that be a major issue for us. Our brand continues to have enormous recognition. I think brand awareness increased recently, household penetration increased recently. So I think it's a long way before we face that question at a serious level.

但同樣，我不認為你看到的其他公司正在做的這種定價是可持續的。所以我認為唯一——他們公開報導的——他們是 2 人，其中 1 人的利潤率為負 14%，對吧？所以這是我認為不會長期存在的事情。該行業肯定會取得一些自有品牌的成功。但只要我們繼續以我們的速度創新並年復一年地提供更好的產品。到目前為止，我們還沒有看到這對我們來說是一個主要問題。我們的品牌繼續獲得巨大的認可。我認為最近品牌知名度有所提高，家庭滲透率最近有所提高。所以我認為我們要認真面對這個問題還有很長的路要走。

And just one more for me. In terms of your innovation, with the beef jerky, you said you're pushing it out on a national level, and there were costs of getting to that scale that quickly. When we're thinking about future innovations -- or is there something from a strategic standpoint that was unique about the beef jerky and that relationship, the JV with PepsiCo? Or is it more you just would want to push to get scale and that advantage getting share within a specific niche or category rather than sort of starting small and focusing on costs?

對我來說只有一個。就你們的創新而言，對於牛肉乾，你們說你們正在全國范圍內推廣它，而且如此迅速地達到這個規模是有成本的。當我們考慮未來的創新時——或者從戰略的角度來看，牛肉乾和與百事可樂的合資企業之間的關係有什麼獨特之處嗎？還是您只是想推動規模和優勢在特定利基或類別中獲得份額，而不是從小處著手並專注於成本？

Sure, sure. No, I think it was unique for us in the sense that we have never done a shelf-stable product like that. We wanted to do something that would be disruptive to that category and special because when we enter a market, we want to try to be #1 or create the category. And so we did it in a pretty unique way and we've been able to, over time, get that to be a really repeatable process that can be scaled and made efficient.

一定一定。不，我認為這對我們來說是獨一無二的，因為我們從未做過這樣的貨架穩定產品。我們想做一些對那個品類有顛覆性的特別的事情，因為當我們進入一個市場時，我們想嘗試成為第一或創造這個品類。所以我們以一種非常獨特的方式做到了，隨著時間的推移，我們已經能夠讓它成為一個真正可重複的過程，可以擴展並提高效率。

So it was just -- it was a major undertaking, right? We went from, again, we had 45,000 stores on the retail side with regular product over 12 years, right? We had to go into 56,000 stores in a very short period of time with a product we've never produced before and did it and have the #1 spot on it. So we feel good about that.

所以這只是 - 這是一項重大任務，對吧？ 12 年來，我們再次在零售方面擁有 45,000 家商店，提供常規產品，對吧？我們必須在很短的時間內使用我們以前從未生產過的產品進入 56,000 家商店，並且做到了，並且獲得了第一名。所以我們對此感覺很好。

Again, when I get back to this, do you want us -- to Ken's question, do investors want us to run the business at a smaller level and focus on maximizing margins, let's say, on our retail burger or do we continue to make decisions that are going to create the longest-term value for the investor and a decision like this is going to do that. Simultaneously, we're getting ready for launches for strategics in other parts of the world. There's just a lot going on. And maybe there are some people that -- that's not the right approach. But that's the approach we're taking that will create the longest-term value and it's very consistent with the goal that we set out to do when we went public, and we'll continue to do that.

再一次，當我回到這個問題時，你想要我們 - 對於 Ken 的問題，投資者是否希望我們在較小的水平上經營業務並專注於最大化利潤，比如說，我們的零售漢堡，還是我們繼續做將為投資者創造長期價值的決策，而像這樣的決策將做到這一點。同時，我們正準備在世界其他地區推出戰略性產品。發生了很多事情。也許有些人-- 這不是正確的方法。但這就是我們正在採取的能夠創造長期價值的方法，這與我們在上市時設定的目標非常一致，我們將繼續這樣做。

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

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想把會議交還給管理層，以便發表任何結束語。

No. Just appreciate the good questions, and look forward to chatting to folks -- with folks on the second quarter results. Thanks.

不。只是欣賞好問題，並期待與人們聊天——與人們討論第二季度的結果。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。您現在可以斷開連接。