康尼格拉食品 (CAG) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the Conagra Brands Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2024 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note, this event is being recorded.

美好的一天，歡迎參加康尼格拉品牌 2024 財年第三季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，正在記錄此事件。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Melissa Napier, SVP, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在我想將會議交給投資者關係高級副總裁梅麗莎·納皮爾 (Melissa Napier)。請繼續。

Good morning. Thank you for joining us today for our live question-and-answer session on today's results. Once again, I'm joined this morning by Sean Connolly, our CEO; and Dave Marberger, our CFO.

早安.感謝您今天加入我們關於今天結果的現場問答環節。今天早上，我們的執行長 Sean Connolly 再次與我會面。以及我們的財務長戴夫·馬伯格 (Dave Marberger)。

We may be making some forward-looking statements and discussing non-GAAP financial measures during this session. Please see our earnings release, prepared remarks, presentation materials and filings with the SEC, which can all be found in the Investor Relations section of our website for more information, including descriptions of our risk factors, GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliations and information on our comparability items.

我們可能會在本屆會議期間做出一些前瞻性陳述並討論非公認會計原則財務措施。請參閱我們的收益發布、準備好的評論、演示材料和向SEC 提交的文件，這些都可以在我們網站的投資者關係部分找到，以了解更多信息，包括我們的風險因素的描述、GAAP 與非GAAP 調節以及有關資訊我們的可比較項目。

Operator, please introduce the first question.

接線員，請介紹第一個問題。

The first question today comes from Andrew Lazar with Barclays.

今天的第一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的安德魯·拉扎爾。

I guess, Sean, based on scanner data, most expected, I think, some upside in Grocery & Snacks and maybe a bit more weakness in Refrigerated & Frozen. This dynamic was certainly more extreme, I think, in the quarter than, I think, many had modeled.

我猜，肖恩，根據掃描儀數據，我認為最預期的是雜貨和零食有一些上漲空間，而冷藏和冷凍食品可能會有點疲軟。我認為，本季的這種動態肯定比許多人預測的更為極端。

So I guess, in Grocery & Snacks, Conagra had about a 4% benefit from price mix, and that was well ahead of what we thought. So curious kind of what drove that. And then in Refrigerated & Frozen, you talk about success in single-serve meals, but trying to corroborate how we sort of marry that with the 8% organic sales decline in that segment, and maybe that's more of a function of Refrigerated versus Frozen in some way. So those 2 aspects would be really helpful.

所以我猜想，在雜貨和零食領域，康尼格拉從價格組合中獲得了大約 4% 的收益，這遠遠超出了我們的預期。非常好奇是什麼推動了這一點。然後在《冷藏與冷凍》中，您談論了單份餐點的成功，但試圖證實我們如何將其與該細分市場8% 的有機銷售額下降結合起來，也許這更多是冷藏與冷凍的功能某種方式。所以這兩方面真的很有幫助。

Yes. Let me unpack all of that for you, Andrew. As I said in the prepared remarks, things unfolded very much in line with what we expected. And as you heard us say, our investments in Frozen had driven a nearly 7-point swing in our scanner volume from Q1 to the most recent 4 weeks where volume came in down a fairly modest 1.2%. So very strong progress in Frozen overall, which is important because that's been the focus of our investment.

是的。讓我為你解開所有這些，安德魯。正如我在準備好的發言中所說，事情的發展非常符合我們的預期。正如您所聽到的，我們對 Frozen 的投資導致我們的掃描器數量從第一季到最近 4 週發生了近 7 個百分點的波動，其中數量下降了 1.2%，相當小幅。 《冰雪奇緣》整體上取得了非常強勁的進展，這很重要，因為這是我們投資的重點。

What you're seeing and the reason for the optics being a bit confusing is the reason the R&F segment in total numbers don't show the same magnitude of inflection is noise in the Refrigerated part of the business, which was, by the way, also consistent with what we anticipated.

你所看到的以及光學有點令人困惑的原因是 R&F 部門的總數沒有顯示出相同程度的變化的原因是冷藏業務部分的噪音，順便說一下，也符合我們的預期。

Recall, our Refrigerated businesses are predominantly pass-through categories and one of the rare areas in our portfolio where we've actually experienced deflation and rolled back prices accordingly as pass-through categories do. And while that creates some short-term volatility in dollars until it's in the base as deflation passes through, importantly, margins are preserved due to the lower COGS.

回想一下，我們的冷藏業務主要是直通類別，也是我們投資組合中罕見的領域之一，我們實際上經歷了通貨緊縮，並像直通類別那樣相應地降低了價格。雖然這會造成美元的一些短期波動，直到通貨緊縮結束後美元達到底部，但重要的是，由於銷貨成本較低，利潤率得以保留。

The other dynamic that I'll point out there in R&F is, in addition to that piece, our table spreads business benefited in Q3 a year ago due to a large competitor having a particularly weak quarter due to supply chain challenges. So that's kind of some color on R&F and why the divergence between Frozen and Refrigerated.

我要在 R&F 指出的另一個動態是，除此之外，我們的點差業務在一年前的第三季度受益，因為一家大型競爭對手由於供應鏈挑戰而季度表現特別疲軟。這就是 R&F 的一些特色，也是冷凍和冷藏之間存在差異的原因。

With respect to Grocery & Snacks segment, we also expected a solid quarter in the G&S segment, and we got it. And there were several factors there from pricing in tomatoes to bounce back in canned meat like chili, Vienna sausage, where you remember we had a recall in the year ago period, but also strong innovation like our new Wendy's Chili, where we've grown significant market share. So overall, our grocery brands are great consumer options for people who are seeking to make convenient meals at a great value. It's also a good mix for us.

至於雜貨和零食領域，我們也預計 G&S 領域將有一個穩定的季度，我們做到了。其中有幾個因素，從西紅柿的價格到辣椒、維也納香腸等罐頭肉的價格反彈，你記得我們去年曾召回過這些產品，但也有強大的創新，比如我們種植的新溫迪辣椒。顯著的市場占有率.因此，總的來說，我們的雜貨品牌對於那些尋求以超值方式製作方便膳食的人來說是很好的消費者選擇。這對我們來說也是一個很好的組合。

But I think the big picture is one of the benefits of a scale, diversified portfolio is that, as they say, there are horses for courses. So you're inherently hedged when the macro environment is less stable than normal. Big picture for us, I like the volume momentum we saw in Q3. I like what I've seen so far in Q4, and I expect further progress from here.

但我認為，總體而言，規模化、多元化的投資組合的好處之一是，正如他們所說，有馬有路。因此，當宏觀環境不穩定時，你本質上就會進行對沖。對我們來說，總體而言，我喜歡我們在第三季度看到的銷售勢頭。我喜歡第四季度迄今為止所看到的情況，並期望從這裡取得進一步進展。

Got it, got it. And then I guess, just lastly, obviously, volumes in the quarter were still down, but a sequential improvement, and that's obviously what the expected step-up in investment spend.

明白了，明白了。然後我想，最後，很明顯，本季的交易量仍然下降，但連續改善，這顯然是投資支出的預期增加。

So I guess, you kind of talked to this a little bit, but how would you characterize the current volume momentum? And would you expect volume trends to inflect positively by the time we get to the start of FY '25? Or are dynamics still such in the broader industry that's a little bit hard to peg right now?

所以我想，您對此進行了一些討論，但是您如何描述當前的成交量動能？您是否預期到 25 財年伊始，銷售趨勢會出現正面變化？或者更廣泛的行業中的動態是否仍然如此，目前有點難以確定？

Well, it's one of the reasons why we're looking at this so closely. It's one of the reasons why I referenced the most recent 4-week scanner data, and Frozen being down a mere of 1.2.

嗯，這就是我們如此密切關注這個問題的原因之一。這也是我引用最近 4 週掃描器資料且《冰雪奇緣》僅下降 1.2 的原因之一。

We obviously are seeing and expect to continue to see further progress. We're not going to draw the line in the sand and say, "This is the month. This is the day where it's going to -- it's going to cross over." Next quarter, obviously, when we give '25 guidance and have our annual operating plans fully rolled up, we'll give you that color.

我們顯然正在看到並期望繼續看到進一步的進展。我們不會在沙子上劃定界限，然後說：“這個月就是這樣。這就是它要跨越的那一天。”顯然，下個季度，當我們給出 '25 指導並全面推出我們的年度營運計劃時，我們將為您提供這種顏色。

But it's moving in the right direction. That's the bottom line. I mean, this is a food thing. Everybody wants to see volumes go in the right direction. I think companies and investors are willing to see investment in order to do that. But what I think people want to see overall is, can you hold your gross margins while you're making those investments and getting the volume results that you want to see.

但它正在朝著正確的方向發展。這是底線。我的意思是，這是一個食物的事情。每個人都希望看到銷售量朝著正確的方向發展。我認為公司和投資者願意看到投資來做到這一點。但我認為人們總體上希望看到的是，在進行這些投資並獲得您希望看到的銷售結果時，您能否保持毛利率。

And that's what was particularly encouraging to me in the quarter is we pretty much got -- we made the investments we intended to make. We got the volume improvements that we wanted to see. We've got continued volume progress into Q4. And we've done all this while maintaining even expanding gross margins that we work very hard to kind of claw back after the initial compression from all the huge inflation we experienced a couple of years ago. So that, I think, is a positive. And I think it foreshadows just the continued momentum from here.

本季對我來說特別令人鼓舞的是，我們幾乎得到了——我們進行了我們打算進行的投資。我們得到了我們希望看到的音量改進。進入第四季度，我們的銷售持續取得進展。我們在完成這一切的同時，也維持了不斷擴大的毛利率，在幾年前經歷的巨大通膨帶來的最初壓縮之後，我們非常努力地彌補毛利率。所以我認為這是積極的。我認為這預示著這裡的持續勢頭。

The next question comes from Ken Goldman with JPMorgan.

下一個問題來自摩根大通的肯‧戈德曼。

Just wanted to ask a quick question about 4Q. Your implied guidance might suggest around minus 2% in organic sales growth. It's pretty similar to what you posted in 3Q. Some might say it's a little prudent though just given -- you do have an easier comparison, both on 1-, 2-, 3- and 4-year basis, just looking that through. You have the lapping of the Americold issue.

只是想問一個關於 4Q 的簡單問題。您的隱含指導可能表示有機銷售額成長約為負 2%。這與您在第三季發布的內容非常相似。有些人可能會說，雖然只是給出了這一點，但還是有點謹慎——你確實可以在1 年、2 年、3 年和4 年的基礎上進行更簡單的比較，只需仔細查看即可。你有 Americold 問題的包袱。

So I'm just curious if it's right to think that's a little bit prudent. Or are there may be some offsets to that, maybe a little bit of less of a help from mix perhaps, just throwing that out there? Just trying to get a bit of color on those building blocks as you think about that.

所以我只是好奇這種謹慎的想法是否正確。或者是否可能會有一些抵消，也許混合的幫助會少一些，只是把它扔在那裡？當你思考這個問題時，只是想在這些構建塊上添加一些顏色。

Ken, I'll make just a quick overall comment and flip it to Dave. But after the last 9 months of kind of elongated volume recovery, our posture has been one of, let's lean toward prudent because the macro environment has been more volatile than I think anybody expected.

肯，我將做一個簡短的總體評論並將其轉給戴夫。但在過去 9 個月的成交量長期恢復之後，我們的態度之一是，讓我們傾向於謹慎，因為宏觀環境的波動性比我認為任何人預期的都要大。

And so that's been our posture. That's why we didn't bake in anything heroic in our back half plans, and I think that will continue to be our posture until we see a macro that is just inherently bouncier than it's been. But it's going in the right direction, and that's good. And I think we're in the -- I like the way we're set up for Q4.

這就是我們的立場。這就是為什麼我們沒有在我們的後半計劃中加入任何英雄的內容，我認為這將繼續是我們的態度，直到我們看到一個本質上比以前更有彈性的宏。但它正在朝著正確的方向發展，這很好。我認為我們正處於——我喜歡我們為第四季度所做的準備。

Dave, do you want to make any additional comments on Ken's point?

戴夫，你想對肯的觀點發表任何補充評論嗎？

No. I think you pretty much hit it. I mean, Ken, we're expecting sequential volume improvement, and we've been talking about that, and we've seen it through Q3. But we also expect to continue investing. So obviously, both of those things impact the top line.

不，我認為你已經成功了。我的意思是，肯，我們預計銷量會連續改善，我們一直在討論這一點，並且我們在第三季度已經看到了這一點。但我們也期望繼續投資。顯然，這兩件事都會影響營收。

And you referenced mix. We do have mix impacts in this portfolio, and they can be slightly positive or slightly negative any quarter. So as Sean mentioned, we want to be prudent, but they are the 3 key drivers that get us to the -- towards the low end of the sales guidance range for the year.

你提到了混合。我們確實對該投資組合產生了混合影響，並且在任何季度它們都可能略有積極或略有消極。正如肖恩所提到的，我們希望保持謹慎，但它們是讓我們達到今年銷售指引範圍低端的 3 個關鍵驅動因素。

Yes. And just to -- also to think about it this way, too, Ken, is our fiscal ends in May, which is kind of an odd month. But what's happening for us in May is our new innovation is rolling into the marketplace. We are focused at that point of the year always on the next fiscal year and how do we build momentum in the next fiscal and big events like Fourth of July, back to school.

是的。肯，同樣以這種方式考慮一下，我們的財政結束於五月，這是一個奇怪的月份。但五月發生的事情是我們的新創新正在推向市場。每年的這個時候，我們始終關注下一個財政年度，以及如何在下一個財政年度和大型活動（例如 7 月 4 日返校）中建立動力。

And so we're really getting so late in the year now that a lot of our attention is focused on getting these annual operating plans finalized and trying to set up next year to be as strong as possible, including around key dates and holidays and things like that.

因此，今年我們真的已經很晚了，我們的許多注意力都集中在最終確定這些年度運營計劃上，並努力讓明年的計劃盡可能強大，包括關鍵日期和假期等。像那樣。

And then while we're talking about next year, I realize it's too soon to provide any kind of quantitative numbers, I wouldn't ask for them -- or quantitative information rather. But at CAGNY, you said you're doing what you can to be as close as possible to be on [algo].

然後，當我們談論明年時，我意識到現在提供任何類型的定量數字還為時過早，我不會要求它們 - 或者更確切地說定量資訊。但在 CAGNY，你說你正在盡你所能，盡可能接近 [algo]。

And I was just curious where your level of confidence on that topic stood today, how you're thinking about maybe balancing what might continue to be a challenging consumer environment, I guess, with maybe what also could be some friendly top line comparisons, progress on cost savings, cash flow and so forth. Just trying to think directionally how you guys are thinking about that now.

我只是好奇你今天對這個主題的信心程度如何，你如何考慮平衡可能繼續充滿挑戰的消費者環境，我猜，也許還有一些友好的頂線比較、進展節省成本、現金流等。只是試著思考一下你們現在是如何思考這個問題的。

Well, you're 100% right. We will give you our complete and total view of fiscal '25 on our next call. I think for this call, I think, the key messages to our investors are, we are getting momentum on the volume line. We are moving kind of toward that Mendoza Line here where everybody wants to see us cross over at some point.

嗯，你是 100% 正確的。我們將在下次電話會議上向您提供對 25 財年的完整全面的看法。我認為，對於這次電話會議，向我們的投資者傳達的關鍵訊息是，我們在成交量上獲得了動力。我們正朝著門多薩線移動，每個人都希望看到我們在某個時刻穿越。

Exactly, when that happens, as you've heard from other companies, I think you'll get more perspective on that in the coming months as people finalize their plans. That will be true of us. But make no mistake about it. We've been watching the consumer for their readiness to kind of reestablish well their typical behaviors. And we've said we're willing to kind of nudge them along if we see that readiness.

確切地說，當這種情況發生時，正如您從其他公司那裡聽到的那樣，我認為隨著人們最終確定他們的計劃，您將在未來幾個月內對此有更多的看法。我們也是如此。但請不要誤會。我們一直在觀察消費者是否願意重新建立他們的典型行為。我們已經說過，如果我們看到他們已經做好準備，我們願意推動他們前進。

And so we've been methodical in not only monitoring their readiness, but putting the investment out there to nudge them and measuring the response very carefully. And we're getting a good response. We're getting close. It's not as if the momentum is slowing. If anything, it accelerated in the last quarter.

因此，我們不僅有條不紊地監控他們的準備情況，而且還投入資金來推動他們並非常仔細地衡量他們的反應。我們得到了良好的回應。我們已經很接近了。勢頭並沒有放緩。如果有什麼不同的話，那就是上個季度加速了。

So I think all I can say at this point is I like the setup. We just have to continue to do more of what we've been doing, continue to drive it which is that mindset of volume is important, but so is protecting margin. And that's one of the things in our materials today that you saw is why our supply chain team is so important.

所以我想我現在能說的就是我喜歡這個設定。我們只需要繼續做更多我們一直在做的事情，繼續推動它，即數量的心態很重要，但保護利潤也很重要。這就是您今天在我們的材料中看到的內容之一，這就是為什麼我們的供應鏈團隊如此重要。

That work we've got going on in supply chain to really maximize cost savings provides critical fuel for growth, and we expect that to continue. And that's how -- ultimately, over the long haul, that's how we're going to drive volumes back positive again. We got a really tremendous stuff going on in supply chain with cost savings right now.

我們在供應鏈中正在進行的工作，以真正最大限度地節省成本，為成長提供了關鍵的動力，我們預計這種情況將繼續下去。這就是最終，從長遠來看，我們將如何將銷售再次推向正值。我們現在在供應鏈中取得了巨大的進步，並且節省了成本。

And as you saw in our Chief Supply Chain Officer, Ale Eboli's presentation at CAGNY, we are on track to implement our connected shop floor program in half our facilities in the next couple of years, and that is outstanding performance overall. If you look across the industry, that's a leading position in the industry, and that will be key to margin expansion going forward. And so we're very excited about that work and the legs that it still has in front of us.

正如您在我們的首席供應鏈官 Ale Eboli 在 CAGNY 的演講中看到的那樣，我們有望在未來幾年內在我們一半的工廠中實施互聯車間計劃，整體表現非常出色。如果你放眼整個產業，你會發現這在產業中處於領先地位，這將是未來利潤率擴張的關鍵。因此，我們對這項工作及其擺在我們面前的優勢感到非常興奮。

The next question comes from David Palmer with Evercore.

下一個問題來自 Evercore 的 David Palmer。

A question on frozen. I'm curious, particularly on the frozen entrees, what's your thought there about a return to growth in sales in that business and if there's any sort of juxtaposition that you would make between frozen entrees and frozen vegetables and how you view the challenges and opportunities for each and returning to growth?

關於冷凍的問題。我很好奇，特別是冷凍主菜，您對該業務的銷售恢復增長有何看法？您是否會在冷凍主菜和冷凍蔬菜之間進行任何並置，以及您如何看待挑戰和機遇對於每個人並恢復成長？

Sure. David, you saw in the presentation today that in Q3 of '24, our Frozen Single-Serve Meal business achieved over a 51% market share, which is up 1.7 points versus a year ago. And if you remember Tom McGough's comments from CAGNY, we have just -- we've become the leading frozen food producer in the United States, largely because of the success we've had in Frozen Single-Serve Meals over the last 5 years.

當然。 David，您在今天的演示中看到，24 年第三季度，我們的冷凍單份餐業務取得了超過 51% 的市場份額，比去年同期增長了 1.7 個百分點。如果你還記得 CAGNY 的 Tom McGough 的評論，我們剛剛成為美國領先的冷凍食品生產商，這很大程度上是因為過去 5 年我們在冷凍單份餐點方面取得的成功。

So our performance there continues to be stellar, and we continue to gain share. And by the way, I've made the comment many times that we under-index as a company in terms of competing with private label. Nowhere is that truer than in frozen single-serve meals.

因此，我們在那裡的表現仍然出色，我們的市場份額繼續增加。順便說一句，我已經多次發表評論說，作為一家公司，我們在與自有品牌的競爭方面表現不佳。沒有什麼比冷凍單份餐更能體現這一點了。

So for example, the entire size of private label in frozen single-serve meals is 1.8 points. Our business is 51.2 points of market share. And in fact, our growth in market -- unit market share in the last quarter was 1.7 points, which is almost the total equivalent private label.

例如，冷凍單份餐點中自有品牌的整體尺寸為 1.8 分。我們的業務市佔率為 51.2 個百分點。事實上，上個季度我們的市場單位市佔率成長了 1.7 個百分點，這幾乎相當於自有品牌的總份額。

So we like our position, our market -- and the market structure there. We like our brands, and we feel great about it. And it's been a growth juggernaut for us for the last 5 years, and I see no reason why that won't continue.

所以我們喜歡我們的地位、我們的市場、那裡的市場結構。我們喜歡我們的品牌，感覺很棒。過去五年來，這對我們來說是一個巨大的成長動力，我認為這種情況沒有理由不會持續下去。

In terms of Birds Eye and vegetables, vegetables is one of the categories where, earlier in the year, we saw consumers exhibit value-seeking behaviors. So for example, we saw some trade down from fresh to -- and frozen vegetables to canned vegetables, despite the obvious quality trade-offs.

就鳥瞰和蔬菜而言，蔬菜是今年早些時候我們看到消費者表現出價值追求行為的類別之一。例如，我們看到一些從新鮮蔬菜到冷凍蔬菜到罐裝蔬菜的交易，儘管有明顯的品質權衡。

But Birds Eye is also one of the businesses that we are investing against with a clear focus on the superior relative value of frozen vegetables versus other choices. In fact, the advertising we're running now is directly comparative, as I mentioned to you previously, and features the clear benefit of our stay fresh flash freezing process, which basically freezes time for the consumer and keeps our vegetables at the peak of freshness until the consumer is ready.

但 Birds Eye 也是我們投資的企業之一，我們明確地關注冷凍蔬菜相對於其他選擇的優越相對價值。事實上，正如我之前向您提到的，我們現在投放的廣告是直接比較的，並且具有我們保持新鮮的快速冷凍過程的明顯優勢，該過程基本上為消費者凍結了時間，並使我們的蔬菜保持在新鮮度的最高水平直到消費者準備好。

So it's a clear advantage. And in the most recent 4 weeks of scanner data, Birds Eye grew overall share, even though our focus is really on the value-added tier. So we've got investments there. We've got momentum there, and it's an important brand. And you're not going to see us slow down on the marketing support and the innovation front.

所以這是一個明顯的優勢。在最近 4 週的掃描儀數據中，鳥眼的整體份額有所增長，儘管我們的重點實際上是增值層。所以我們在那裡有投資。我們在那裡有動力，這是一個重要的品牌。您不會看到我們在行銷支援和創新方面放慢腳步。

I just wanted to follow up on Ken's question. Maybe one way to ask how -- is what ways are you going to be really reviewing your business in the coming months as you contemplate how you're going to be guiding fiscal '25?

我只是想跟進肯的問題。也許可以問的一種方式是，當您考慮如何指導 25 財年時，您將在未來幾個月內以什麼方式真正審查您的業務？

Is it simply just volumes getting closer to flat overall in the business? Or are there any areas of the business you would be particularly focused on that you will be -- that will really help you think about how you guide for '25?

只是業務整體銷售接近持平嗎？或者是否有任何您會特別關注的業務領域——這將真正幫助您思考如何指導「25」？

Well, I think, the way I think about it, principally, David, is we are an ROI-minded management team. We are not bashful about putting investments out there to support our brands if they drive the impact that we want to see in the marketplace, which in turn drives the return on investment.

好吧，我認為，大衛，我的主要想法是我們是一個注重投資回報率的管理團隊。如果我們的品牌能夠產生我們希望在市場上看到的影響，進而推動投資回報，我們會毫不猶豫地進行投資來支持我們的品牌。

So where we are in our typical annual operating planning process is brand by brand, looking at the market fundamentals on what's happening within the brand dynamics, the competitive dynamics of the category, what do we know about the need for those consumers in those categories to have some kind of stimulus, to kind of nudge them back to their normal behaviors, and what kind of lift can we expect.

因此，我們在典型的年度營運規劃流程中所處的位置是逐個品牌，研究市場基本面，了解品牌動態、類別的競爭動態，以及我們對這些類別中的消費者的需求了解多少。有某種刺激，以某種方式推動他們回到正常行為，以及我們可以期待什麼樣的提升。

So we do that on a brand-by-brand basis, and that ultimately leads to our investment profile. So we're in the midst of that right now. We are -- we've obviously run a lot of what you might consider to be test markets starting in Q2 in terms of those investments and understanding what those ROIs are. And we're racking it up right now. But I think what's encouraging is we are seeing responsiveness, and we are seeing good ROI. And I think that bodes well going forward.

因此，我們是在逐個品牌的基礎上進行的，這最終導致了我們的投資概況。所以我們現在正處於其中。從第二季開始，我們顯然已經運行了很多您可能認為是測試市場的投資並了解這些投資回報。我們現在正在全力以赴。但我認為令人鼓舞的是我們看到了響應能力，並且看到了良好的投資回報。我認為這預示著未來的良好發展。

The next question comes from Chris Carey with Wells Fargo.

下一個問題來自富國銀行的克里斯凱裡。

One thing that did stand out was that the inflation impact to margins did get a little bit worse quarter-over-quarter. Can you just expand on that, if that's driven by commodities, noncommodities? I think you mentioned tomatoes with respect to some incremental pricing. Just any context on what is driving that and if there are any nuances?

值得注意的一件事是，通膨對利潤率的影響確實比上一季惡化。如果這是由大宗商品或非大宗商品驅動的，您能否對此進行擴展？我想你提到了西紅柿的一些增量定價。是否有任何背景說明是什麼推動了這一點，以及是否存在任何細微差別？

Yes. I'll make a quick comment, Chris, and flip it to Dave. Obviously, inflation has slowed, but we're still in an overall inflationary environment. And some things more recently have inflated, and that has led to taking some price. So you get the benefit of that.

是的。克里斯，我會快速發表評論，然後轉給戴夫。顯然，通膨已經放緩，但我們仍然處於整體通膨環境中。最近有些東西價格上漲，導致價格上漲。所以你會從中受益。

But it also -- there's a lag effect. So we've kind of taken you all through that, the mechanics of how that works, and that's part of it, right? As you get -- when you get new inflation, you take new pricing, you got a bit of a lag effect, so you get a little bit of margin pressure in the early days, while you're waiting for that to get reflected. And then you see a pretty rapid inflection from that point on. So that may be a piece of it.

但它也存在滯後效應。所以我們已經向您介紹了整個過程，以及其工作原理，這就是其中的一部分，對嗎？當你得到新的通貨膨脹時，你採取新的定價，你會得到一點滯後效應，所以你在早期會受到一點利潤壓力，而你正在等待它反映出來。然後你會看到從那時起一個非常快速的變化。所以這可能是其中的一部分。

Dave, do you want to add more color to that?

戴夫，你想為此添加更多色彩嗎？

Yes. Just a little color. So Chris, yes, we -- our inflation rate as a percentage of cost of goods sold for the quarter was 2.9%, which drove the 1.9% margin impact that you see in the materials. So we're still on track for -- we said full year approximately 3%. We're still on track for that, maybe a tick above that.

是的。只是一點點顏色。所以克里斯，是的，我們的通貨膨脹率佔本季銷售商品成本的百分比為 2.9%，這推動了您在材料中看到的 1.9% 的利潤率影響。因此，我們仍有望實現全年約 3% 的成長。我們仍在朝著這個目標邁進，也許比這個目標還要好一點。

But the inflationary areas, you've mentioned tomatoes. We've talked about that. We've taken pricing. That was a big driver of the price mix in Grocery & Snacks for the quarter. We've also seen inflation more broadly in vegetables, in different ingredients, in sweeteners, starches. We have some inflationary areas.

但是在通貨膨脹領域，你提到了西紅柿。我們已經討論過了。我們已經定價了。這是本季雜貨和零食價格組合的一個重要推動因素。我們也看到了蔬菜、不同成分、甜味劑、澱粉等更廣泛的通貨膨脹。我們有一些通貨膨脹地區。

These things ebb and flow. We still -- and we've talked about this in the past, we still have inflation in our manufacturing operations, both with our labor and overhead. And transportation is relatively flat, a little bit inflationary. So we're pretty much in line. It is slightly higher. But generally, we're managing it to the full year expectation.

這些事物潮起潮落。我們過去已經討論過這一點，我們的製造業務仍然存在通貨膨脹，無論是勞動力還是管理費用。而且交通比較平淡，有點通貨膨脹。所以我們基本上都在排隊。稍微高一些。但總的來說，我們正在按照全年預期進行管理。

Okay. Perfect. Just -- and then a follow-up regarding the comment on pricing. Just you mentioned tomatoes, among other things, in the Grocery & Snacks business. How would you characterize the positive pricing there in the quarter?

好的。完美的。只是——然後是關於定價評論的後續行動。剛才您提到了雜貨和零食業務中的西紅柿等。您如何評價本季的積極定價？

Was that due to your anomalies in the base period, anomalies in the quarter itself? Or are we looking at what appears to be a more durable positive price mix for that division from here on new pricing or lingering pricing, which is now being fully reflected in the P&L?

這是因為基期、季度本身的異常嗎？或者我們是否正在考慮該部門在新定價或揮之不去的定價方面似乎更持久的積極價格組合，這現在已完全反映在損益表中？

Yes. I mean, we obviously got -- the biggest benefit was from the tomato pricing, and we saw the expected benefits there. The elasticities were good and in line with what we expected. We also did have a benefit of mix in the quarter. So our price/mix, which was a little over 4% for the quarter, we did get a benefit of mix, which contributed as well.

是的。我的意思是，我們顯然得到了——最大的好處來自番茄定價，我們在那裡看到了預期的好處。彈性很好，符合我們的預期。我們在本季度也確實受益於混合。因此，我們的價格/組合，本季度略高於 4%，我們確實獲得了組合的好處，這也做出了貢獻。

And so a lot of our businesses in Grocery & Snacks are progressing as we expected. And so that's driving a good mix for us. So that was part of the equation as well in the quarter.

因此，我們在雜貨和零食領域的許多業務都按照我們的預期取得了進展。這為我們帶來了良好的組合。所以這也是本季等式的一部分。

The next question comes from Alexia Howard with Bernstein.

下一個問題來自亞歷克西婭·霍華德和伯恩斯坦。

Okay. So can I ask to begin with just about the productivity improvements in the foodservice channels? It seemed as though they were particularly strong this quarter. Is that likely to continue going forward?

好的。那我可以先談談餐飲服務通路生產力的提升嗎？他們本季的表現似乎特別強勁。這種情況有可能持續下去嗎？

It was definitely a strong margin performance for foodservice. There's been a little bit of weakness in traffic in foodservice. But I'd say, overall, it was a very good quarter. And I think that is just an example of the productivity and total cost savings performance we expect across the portfolio, Alexia.

對於餐飲服務來說，這絕對是強勁的利潤表現。餐飲服務業的客流量略為疲軟。但我想說，總的來說，這是一個非常好的季度。我認為這只是我們對整個產品組合所期望的生產力和總成本節約績效的一個例子，Alexia。

So foodservice has opportunities, but we've also got opportunities across the international business and the retail business in the U.S. as well. So we expect strong continued cost savings performance across the total portfolio.

因此，餐飲服務有機會，但我們在國際業務和美國的零售業務中也有機會。因此，我們預期整個投資組合將持續強勁的成本節約表現。

Great. And then can I just hone in on private label in the frozen vegetable area? There seems to be some confusion out here about whether private label is becoming more of a problem just broadly or whether it's actually still fairly contained.

偉大的。那麼我可以在冷凍蔬菜區專注於自有品牌嗎？對於自有品牌是否正在成為一個更廣泛的問題，或者它實際上是否仍然受到相當程度的控制，似乎存在一些困惑。

Is there anything that you're seeing in terms of private label, either in frozen vegetables or more broadly that would suggest it's becoming more of an issue? Or is it really that the supply chain challenges have been overcome on the private label side, but there doesn't seem to be any major red flags or anything on the horizon?

您在冷凍蔬菜或更廣泛的範圍內看到的自有品牌方面是否有任何跡象表明它正變得越來越成為一個問題？還是自有品牌方面確實已經克服了供應鏈挑戰，但似乎沒有任何重大危險信號或即將出現的任何問題？

Yes. Let me kind of frame that up for you. So you've got the big picture of how that works. Overall, as a company, we under-index, as I mentioned a few minutes ago, versus private label. That is obviously category specific.

是的。讓我為你整理一下。現在您已經大致了解了它的工作原理。總的來說，正如我幾分鐘前提到的，作為一家公司，我們的指數低於自有品牌。這顯然是特定於類別的。

So there are some categories that have more private label. A good example is canned tomatoes, where you basically got Hunts, you've got private label and then you've got some kind of regional brands that are smaller in the area.

所以有些類別有較多的自有品牌。一個很好的例子是罐裝西紅柿，基本上有 Hunts，有自有品牌，還有一些在該地區規模較小的區域品牌。

One of the other categories where there is a larger piece of private label is frozen vegetables. But as you think about vegetables more broadly, vegetables are sold frozen. They're sold in the produce section. And they're sold in the canned food section in the center of the store. And there's been a lot of movement between that as value-seeking behaviors have been out there.

擁有較大自有品牌的其他類別之一是冷凍蔬菜。但當你更廣泛地考慮蔬菜時，蔬菜是冷凍出售的。它們在農產品區出售。它們在商店中心的罐頭食品區出售。隨著價值追求行為的出現，兩者之間發生了許多變化。

And one of that has been actually about 6 months ago, some trade out of frozen into can, and we're seeing that come back. Within frozen vegetables, Alexia, there are -- there's kind of the commodity vegetable tier, and then there's the more premium steamer and then value-added tier, which is soft, seasoned, things like that.

其中之一實際上是大約 6 個月前，一些貿易從冷凍轉為罐頭，我們看到這種情況又回來了。在冷凍蔬菜中，Alexia，有一種商品蔬菜層，然後有更優質的蒸鍋，然後是增值層，這是柔軟的、調味的，諸如此類的東西。

For the last 2 years, we have been focused on building our business and our innovation pipeline in the premium value-added space and actually pulling back on the commodity veg space, doing more value over volume, as you've heard us talk before. And the reason for that is because that's a lower-margin business. Not surprisingly, it's more commodity oriented.

在過去的兩年裡，我們一直專注於在優質增值領域建立我們的業務和創新管道，並實際上撤回商品蔬菜領域，在數量上創造更多價值，正如您之前聽到我們談論的那樣。原因是這是一項利潤率較低的業務。毫不奇怪，它更加以商品為導向。

So there's a role for us to play or there's -- that business plays a role for us as a company in terms of overhead absorption in our vegetable plants, but our aspiration is not to be the world leaders and fastest growers in commodity veg tier within frozen because that's just arguably a bit of a misuse of our resources that we could people and otherwise put elsewhere because there's not much of a profit pool there.

因此，我們可以發揮作用，或者說，業務對我們作為一家公司在蔬菜工廠的間接費用吸收方面發揮作用，但我們的願望不是成為全球商品蔬菜領域的領導者和最快的種植者凍結是因為這可以說是對我們資源的濫用，我們可以把這些資源放在其他地方，因為那裡沒有太多的利潤池。

So it's important for us to maintain a certain scale of business there for overhead absorption purposes, but that is not strategically where we play. When we look at frozen vegetables, we are looking -- and you can see in our innovation pipeline and more premium products and more value-added tier.

因此，為了吸收管理費用，我們在那裡保持一定的業務規模很重要，但這不是我們的策略目標。當我們審視冷凍蔬菜時，我們正在尋找——您可以在我們的創新管道中看到更多優質產品和更多增值層。

The next question comes from Rob Dickerson with Jefferies.

下一個問題來自傑弗里斯的羅布·迪克森。

Great. Sean, just, I guess, a question specific to Frozen. I mean, it sounds like the ROI on the investments have been attractive. You seem very kind of upbeat and encouraged to the momentum on the business.

偉大的。肖恩，我想，這是一個針對《冰雪奇緣》的特定問題。我的意思是，聽起來投資的投資報酬率很有吸引力。您似乎對業務的發展勢頭感到非常樂觀和鼓舞。

But at the same time, when we think about kind of what's happened in the quarter, doesn't really seem like a lot of that was driven necessarily by kind of upside, so to speak, within that volume component within Refrigerated and Frozen. So I'm just curious, as you speak to those investments, are we talking kind of more promotional activity, you're doing better and better pack -- and bigger pack sizes?

但同時，當我們考慮本季發生的事情時，可以說，其中很大一部分似乎不是由冷藏和冷凍的銷售組成部分必然推動的。所以我很好奇，當你談到這些投資時，我們是否在談論更多的促銷活動，你做得越來越好，包裝尺寸也越來越大？

Just trying to gauge kind of what's your perspective as to why the ROIs are good and kind of what you're doing right because, optically, as we look at the number in the segment, which does include Refrigerated, it's not really better and there was, I think, a little bit of an easier compare. So just trying to gauge, get a little bit more color on that one piece.

只是想了解您對投資回報率為何良好的看法以及您所做的事情是否正確，因為從視覺上看，當我們查看該細分市場中的數字（其中確實包括冷藏）時，它並沒有真正更好，而且存在我認為，比較起來更容易一些。所以只是試著衡量一下，在那一件作品上多一點顏色。

Yes. I think to not get too twisted up in the optics of the combined R&F segment, if you look at, I think it was, Page 10 of our presentation today, which was consumption in our consumer domains, that's really the key kind of evidence point of what we're seeing from our investments.

是的。我認為不要對合併後的 R&F 部門的光學過於扭曲，如果你看看我們今天演示的第 10 頁，這是我們消費者領域的消費，這確實是關鍵的證據點我們從投資中看到的結果。

So our investments have been heavily skewed towards Frozen, as I mentioned, because that's a very strategic business for us. And that line -- that consumption line there in terms of volume change has moved from minus 7.8% in Q1 of fiscal '24 to minus 2.8% in Q3 '24. And in the most recent -- in the first month of the fourth quarter, that number is about a minus 1.2%.

因此，正如我所提到的，我們的投資嚴重偏向《冰雪奇緣》，因為這對我們來說是一項非常具有戰略意義的業務。就數量變化而言，該線的消費線已從 24 年財年第一季的負 7.8% 升至 24 年第三季的負 2.8%。而在最近的第四季第一個月，這個數字約為負 1.2%。

So that's when I referenced the nearly 7-point swing in consumption that we've seen over the last couple of quarters, that's precisely what I'm talking about. And that is a very, very meaningful move in terms of the category. I think you'll be hard-pressed to find a bigger move more broadly in food.

因此，當我提到過去幾季我們看到的消費近 7 個百分點的波動時，這正是我所說的。就該類別而言，這是一個非常非常有意義的舉措。我認為你很難在食品領域找到更廣泛的更大舉措。

What is creating the noise in the R&F segment data is the Refrigerated, which I don't have here for you broken out, volumes -- dollars in the absolute, which is a function of 2 things that I referenced. One is the rollback in prices because of the deflationary categories there and also the ramp that we had in one of our -- in our table spreads business.

在 R&F 部門數據中產生噪音的是冷藏量，我在這裡沒有為您提供細分的量——絕對美元，這是我提到的兩件事的函數。一是價格回落，因為那裡存在通貨緊縮類別，我們的桌面價差業務之一也出現了增長。

So that's really what's behind that. But the movement in the volume is the basis for the ROI comment that I made, and you can see how that movement has come out. It's been very material and continued in...

這就是背後的真正原因。但交易量的變化是我所做的投資報酬率評論的基礎，您可以看到該變化是如何產生的。這是非常重要的，並且繼續...

And then just a quick question on gross margin, very simplistically. Clearly, I hear all your comments and the prepared remarks around productivity efficiencies, kind of the more pricing in Grocery & Snacks all positive.

然後是一個關於毛利率的簡單問題，非常簡單。顯然，我聽到了您關於生產力效率的所有評論和準備好的評論，例如雜貨和零食的更多定價都是積極的。

But I'm just curious, what changed relative to coming out of Q2, right, in early January? Because I think the commentary previously for the year was gross margin would probably be similar back half maybe relative to Q2. But now, it seems like it will clearly be better in the back half relative to Q2, and that kind of took place over the course of 2 months. So it seems like something changed to the upside. I just like to know what. That's all.

但我只是很好奇，相對於一月初第二季的情況發生了什麼變化？因為我認為之前對今年毛利率的評論可能與第二季的毛利率類似。但現在看來，相對於第二季來說，後半段的情況顯然會更好，而且這種情況是在兩個月的時間內發生的。所以看起來事情發生了積極的變化。我只是想知道什麼。就這樣。

Rob. So I think you'd agree that if you look over the last 6 quarters, there's been a lot of volatility in our supply chain. And so when forecasting gross margin, we want to be -- we want to make sure that we're considering all scenarios around operations.

搶。因此，如果您回顧過去 6 個季度，我想您會同意，我們的供應鏈存在很大的波動。因此，在預測毛利率時，我們希望確保考慮到有關營運的所有情況。

The fact of the matter is, is that if you look a year ago, we had a lot of -- we still had a lot of things going on in supply chain with some recalls and some other challenges that we had that did impact the profitability.

事實是，如果你看看一年前，我們的供應鏈中仍然發生了很多事情，包括一些召回和其他一些挑戰，這些挑戰確實影響了獲利能力。

So as Sean talked about, our core productivity programs are on track. We're focused on the projects. We're executing. So we're really seeing that benefit. The inflation is still coming in. We're still investing, and you see those as part of margin. And we still have a headwind from absorption, so -- because the volumes are down. And importantly, we're driving inventory down.

正如肖恩所說，我們的核心生產力計劃正在步入正軌。我們專注於專案。我們正在執行。所以我們確實看到了這種好處。通貨膨脹仍在繼續。我們仍在投資，您將其視為保證金的一部分。我們仍然面臨吸收的阻力，因為銷售量下降了。重要的是，我們正在降低庫存。

So our production in our plants has been down, and we're managing that. That's been a headwind. But we haven't had any other disruptions like we've had the last couple of years in supply chain given the environment that now we're able to -- we're really encouraged that we're able to make -- fund the investments we want to fund and execute our productivity programs and drive the gross margins that we're looking for.

因此，我們工廠的產量已經下降，我們正在對此進行管理。這是一個逆風。但考慮到現在我們能夠——我們真的很鼓舞我們能夠——為供應鏈提供資金，我們沒有像過去幾年那樣在供應鏈中遇到任何其他中斷。我們希望透過投資來資助和執行我們的生產力計劃，並提高我們所尋求的毛利率。

So one quarter doesn't make a year, but we're really encouraged by what we saw this quarter, and we're going to build on it.

因此，一個季度並不能代表一年，但我們對本季所看到的情況感到非常鼓舞，我們將在此基礎上再接再厲。

This concludes our question-and-answer session and concludes the conference call. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

我們的問答環節和電話會議到此結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連線。