CAVA Group Inc (CAVA) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the CAVA Q4 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) This call is being recorded on Tuesday, February 27, 2024. I would now like to turn the conference over to Matt Milanovich, SVP of Finance. Please go ahead.

女士們、先生們，早安，歡迎參加 CAVA 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。 （操作說明）本次電話會議於 2024 年 2 月 27 日星期二進行錄音。現在我將會議交給財務資深副總裁 Matt Milanovich。請開始。

Good morning, and welcome to CAVA's Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Financial Results Conference Call. Before we begin, I want to thank you for joining us today on late notice. Yesterday, a media outlet breached an embargo agreement and released a story about our financial results in error, prompting us to issue our earnings release and host this call ahead of schedule. If you do not already have a copy, the earnings release and related 8-K furnished with the SEC are available on our website at investor.cava.com, which we encourage you to review.

早安，歡迎參加CAVA 2023年第四季及全年財務業績電話會議。在會議開始前，我要感謝各位在接到通知後仍能參加今天的會議。昨天，一家媒體違反了保密協議，錯誤地發布了關於我們財務業績的報道，因此我們提前發布了盈利報告並召開了本次電話會議。如果您尚未收到獲利報告，可以在我們的網站investor.cava.com上找到，我們建議您查閱已提交給美國證券交易委員會（SEC）的8-K表格。

The purpose of this conference call is to give investors further details regarding the company's financial results as well as a general update on the company's progress. You will find reconciliations of any non-GAAP financial measure discussed on today's call to the most directly comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with GAAP to the extent available without unreasonable efforts in today's earnings release and supplemental deck, each of which is posted on the company's website.

本次電話會議旨在向投資者提供公司財務業績的更多詳情以及公司最新進展。您可以在今天發布的盈利報告和補充資料中找到今天電話會議中討論的任何非GAAP財務指標與根據GAAP計算的最直接可比財務指標的調節表（在無需付出不合理努力的情況下）。這兩份文件均已發佈在公司網站上。

Before we begin, let me remind everyone that this call will contain forward-looking statements. For this purpose, any statements made during this call that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Investors should be aware that any forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed here today. These risk factors are explained in detail in CAVA's filings with the SEC. Please refer to these filings for a more detailed discussion of forward-looking risk statements and the risks and uncertainties of such statements.

在會議開始之前，請允許我提醒各位，本次電話會議將包含前瞻性陳述。因此，本次會議中任何非歷史事實的陳述均可被視為前瞻性陳述。投資者應注意，任何前瞻性陳述均受各種風險和不確定因素的影響，這些風險和不確定因素可能導致實際結果與今天討論的結果有重大差異。 CAVA向美國證券交易委員會（SEC）提交的文件已對這些風險因素進行了詳細說明。請參閱這些文件，以更詳細地了解前瞻性風險陳述及其風險和不確定性。

All forward-looking statements are made as of today, and except as required by law, CAVA undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. And now I'll turn the call over to the company's Co-Founder and CEO, Brett Schulman.

所有前瞻性陳述均截至今日，除法律要求外，CAVA不承擔因新資訊、未來發展或其他原因而公開更新或修訂任何前瞻性陳述的義務。現在我將把電話交給公司聯合創始人兼執行長布雷特舒爾曼。

Thanks, Matt, and welcome to the call, everyone. In 2023, we demonstrated the power of our category-defining brand and the significant white space opportunity ahead of us. We opened 72 net new restaurants during the year, growing our footprint by more than 30%. Traffic in our existing restaurants continue to climb, and following a successful IPO, we generated 3 consecutive quarters of positive net income.

謝謝馬特，歡迎各位參加本次電話會議。 2023年，我們展現了引領產業潮流的品牌實力，以及眼前巨大的市場空白機會。這一年，我們淨增72家餐廳，業務版圖成長超過30%。現有餐廳的客流量持續攀升，並且在成功上市後，我們連續三個季度實現了淨利潤為正。

As we create the next large-scale cultural cuisine category, our extraordinary potential is clear. We fulfill consumers' growing desire for bold, unique flavors with no compromise between taste and health. Our Mediterranean concept has broad appeal across genders, generations and income levels, and proven portability from coast to coast in cities and suburbs. We now have a presence in 24 states and the District of Columbia, and continue to target annual unit growth of 15% or more with a long-term goal of 1,000 restaurants by 2032.

我們正在打造下一個大規模的文化美食品類，其非凡潛力顯而易見。我們滿足了消費者對大膽獨特口味日益增長的需求，同時兼顧美味與健康。我們的地中海美食理念擁有廣泛的受眾群體，跨越性別、年齡和收入水平，並已證明其在城市和郊區都能成功推廣。目前，我們的業務已覆蓋美國24個州和哥倫比亞特區，並將繼續保持每年15%或以上的門市成長率，長期目標是到2032年開設1,000家餐廳。

We've built a strong foundation to support that growth, and our powerful unit economic engine continues to drive us forward. Even with continued macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty, our value proposition is resonating with consumers. The investments we make in our team members and our guests support that value proposition.

我們已建立起堅實的基礎來支撐這一成長，而我們強大的單位經濟效益也持續推動著我們前進。即使宏觀經濟和地緣政治持續存在不確定性，我們的價值主張仍能引起消費者的共鳴。我們對團隊成員和顧客的投入也印證了這個價值主張。

We are working on behalf of our team members by investing in attractive wages and benefits, enhanced training and career development opportunities. We are working on behalf of our guests by mitigating price increases and by not taking outsized pricing to offset unplanned costs related to the impact of new legislation like AB 1228 in California, which includes aspects of its predecessor bill, known as the FAST Act. We see the impact of these investments come to life every day. I was on a plane the other day heading home from visiting our team in L.A. when one of the flight attendants saw my CAVA sweatshirt, stopped and let me know effusively how much she and her daughter love and appreciate our food and, most importantly, the value we offer.

我們致力於為團隊成員提供優良的薪資福利、完善的培訓和職涯發展機會。我們也致力於為顧客提供優質服務，控制價格上漲，避免因加州AB 1228法案（該法案包含其前身FAST法案的部分內容）等新法規的影響而導致意外成本增加。我們每天都能感受到這些投入帶來的正面影響。前幾天，我從洛杉磯探望團隊後搭飛機回家，一位空服員看到我穿著CAVA的運動衫，熱情地告訴我她和她的女兒多麼喜愛我們的食物，更重要的是，多麼欣賞我們提供的物超所值的服務。

When it comes to the team, there's no better example of the return on our investment than the recent promotion of a team member in our Virginia Beach restaurant, Ricky Martin, Jr. Ricky joined us as -- in an entry-level role 4 years ago, just before the pandemic. He has grown under the training of our Academy General Manager, Nick Blalock, and was just promoted to Guest Experience Manager. Investing in our teams and our guests enables us to deliver on the Mediterranean way that sets us apart, and we believe will continue to drive traffic and support sustainable expansion while increasing profitability and shareholder value over the long term.

說到團隊建設，我們投資回報的最佳例證莫過於弗吉尼亞海灘餐廳員工瑞奇馬丁二世 (Ricky Martin Jr.) 的晉升。瑞奇四年前加入我們，當時他還是個初級員工，就在疫情爆發前不久。在我們的學院總經理尼克·布萊洛克 (Nick Blalock) 的指導下，他不斷成長，如今已晉升為顧客體驗經理。投資我們的團隊和顧客，使我們能夠以獨樹一幟的地中海方式提供服務，我們相信這將繼續吸引客流，支持可持續發展，並在長期內提高盈利能力和股東價值。

Our results in the fourth quarter of 2023 were outstanding, with a more than 52% increase in CAVA revenue; 11.4% CAVA same restaurant sales growth, including a 6.2% increase in traffic; 19 net new restaurants, ending the quarter with 309 restaurants, a 30% increase year-over-year; adjusted EBITDA of $15.7 million, a $12.2 million increase over the fourth quarter of 2022; and net income of $2 million. And for the full year, we delivered record results, including a nearly 60% increase in CAVA revenue; 17.9% CAVA same restaurant sales growth, including a 10.4% increase in traffic; 72 net new restaurants; Adjusted EBITDA of $73.8 million, a $61.2 million increase over 2022; and net income of $13.3 million.

我們在2023年第四季的業績表現卓越，CAVA營收成長超過52%；CAVA同店銷售額成長11.4%，其中客流量成長6.2%；淨增加19家餐廳，季末餐廳總數達到309家，較去年同期成長30%；調整後EBITDA為1,570萬美元，較2022年第四季成長12020萬美元。全年業績更是創下歷史新高，CAVA營收成長近60%；CAVA同店銷售額成長17.9%，其中客流量成長10.4%；淨增加72家餐廳；調整後EBITDA為7,380萬美元，較2022年成長6,120萬美元；淨利為1,330萬美元。

Our 2023 performance was grounded in the execution of our strategic plan. I'm going to touch on the highlights of what we accomplished in Q4 and the full year before laying out the evolution of our strategy and what we are setting out to accomplish in 2024.

我們2023年的業績得益於策略計畫的有效執行。接下來，我將重點介紹我們在第四季和全年所取得的成就，然後再闡述我們策略的演變以及2024年的目標。

In Q4, we continued our expansion across the country, opening locations in 9 different states, further exhibiting the portability of our brand. We also opened our last remaining Zoe's conversion and are operating under a single powerful CAVA brand. As we work to build a best-in-class organization, we rolled out updated food safety protocols in Q4, including the completion of our transition to a new third-party auditor with more frequent and stringent restaurant policy.

第四季度，我們繼續在全國擴張，在9個不同的州開設了新店，進一步展現了我們品牌的跨地域性。此外，我們也完成了最後一家Zoe's餐廳的改造，目前以強大的CAVA品牌營運。為了打造一流的企業，我們在第四季度推出了更新的食品安全規程，包括完成了與新的第三方審核機構的交接，該機構將採用更頻繁、更嚴格的餐廳管理流程。

We also expanded training content and further strengthened our robust accountability procedures through our critical 4 initiative, which codifies our food safety priorities for our team. To deliver on these standards, as well as efficient operations and an incredible guest experience as we scale, we continue to grow our people development pipeline.

我們也拓展了培訓內容，並透過「關鍵四項」計畫進一步強化了完善的問責機制，該計畫明確了我們團隊的食品安全優先事項。為了在規模擴張的同時，達到這些標準，並實現高效營運和卓越的顧客體驗，我們將繼續拓展人才培養管道。

We ended 2023 with 55 Academy GMs, including 7 recently promoted to the multiunit leader position, exceeding our target for the year. In addition, we delivered on our 2023 target to internally place 75% of our new restaurant GMs.

截至2023年底，我們共有55位學院總經理，其中包括7位近期晉升為多店經理的總經理，超額完成了年度目標。此外，我們也達成了2023年內部晉升餐廳總經理75%的目標。

Our team building work, both at our restaurants and in our collaboration centers, has created a highly engaged team. According to industry expert Denison Consulting, an employee Net Promoter Score, or ENPS, above the 50th percentile indicates a high level of engagement. In our most recent team member survey, we ranked in the top quartile, our highest score to date. Team members also rated us in the top quintile on average in the diversity and inclusion category, and we are proud to be named by Newsweek as one of America's greatest workplaces for diversity.

我們在餐廳和協作中心的團隊建立活動，打造了一支高度敬業的團隊。據行業專家丹尼森諮詢公司（Denison Consulting）稱，員工淨推薦值（NPS）高於50%表明員工敬業度很高。在我們最近一次的員工調查中，我們的NPS排名排名前25%，創歷史新高。員工在多元化和包容性方面也給予了我們平均前20%的評價，我們很榮幸被《新聞周刊》評為美國最具多元化的工作場所之一。

To further the success of our team and our business as we scale, we build additional infrastructure to support our plans for growth. We're excited to announce that our new manufacturing facility in Verona, Virginia has commenced operations. A 55,000 square-foot production facility, Verona produces CAVA dips and spreads, and along with our existing facility in Laurel, Maryland, can support at least 750 restaurants as well as the growth of our CPG business. This vertically integrated model takes complexity out of the restaurants and improves cost overall, and lets us maintain the quality and integrity of our chef-crafted recipes.

為了進一步推動團隊和業務的成功發展，我們不斷擴大規模，並建立更多基礎設施以支援我們的成長計劃。我們很高興地宣布，位於維吉尼亞州維羅納的新生產工廠已正式投產。這座佔地 55,000 平方英尺的生產工廠生產 CAVA 蘸醬和塗抹醬，與我們位於馬裡蘭州勞雷爾的現有工廠一起，至少可以為 750 家餐廳以及我們消費品業務的增長提供支持。這種垂直整合模式簡化了餐廳的營運流程，降低了整體成本，並使我們能夠保持廚師精心打造的配方的品質和完整性。

On the culinary front, our best-in-class team continues to innovate, creating newness in our menu and giving guests reasons to try CAVA and come back more often. A prime example of this is our new grilled steak proteins. Our Mediterranean take on this beloved main demonstrates the bold unique flavors that make CAVA special. It is rich but not heavy and features the brightness of sun-dried tomato, herby oregano and a touch of red chili for fruity heat. Our Dallas and Boston market tests are progressing well, and we expect to roll steak out company-wide in the second half of 2024.

在餐飲方面，我們一流的團隊不斷創新，為菜單增添新意，讓顧客有理由光顧 CAVA 並成為回頭客。我們新推出的烤牛排就是一個絕佳的例子。這款備受歡迎的主菜以地中海風味重新演繹，展現了 CAVA 獨具特色的濃鬱風味。它口感豐富而不厚重，融合了陽光曬乾番茄的清新、香草牛至的芬芳，以及少許紅辣椒帶來的果香辛辣。我們在達拉斯和波士頓的市場測試進展順利，預計將於 2024 年下半年在全公司範圍內推廣這款牛排。

Turning to loyalty. We are in the early stages of launching a new program aimed at developing deeper connections with our passionate customer base, creating more frequent, relevant experiences and further driving traffic, mix and check. At the end of 2023, we transitioned all loyalty members to a new construct that lets them earn and bank points. In the Houston market, we started testing new types of rewards to redeem and new ways to engage guests. We are moving to the next stage gate with an expanded test of the Houston pilot in the Carolinas market. Early results are meeting expectations, and we expect to roll out a new rewards program company-wide at the end of this year.

談到忠誠度計劃，我們正處於啟動一項新計劃的初期階段，旨在與我們熱情洋溢的客戶群建立更深層次的聯繫，創造更頻繁、更貼合客戶需求的體驗，並進一步提升客流量、產品組合和客單價。 2023年底，我們已將所有忠誠會員過渡到新的積分體系，使他們能夠賺取和累積積分。在休士頓市場，我們開始測試新的獎勵兌換方式和新的客戶互動模式。現在，我們將休士頓試點計畫擴展至卡羅萊納州市場，進入下一階段。初步結果符合預期，我們預計今年底將在全公司範圍內推出新的獎勵計畫。

Before turning the call over to Tricia, I'd like to touch on our 2024 strategic plan, which reflects our evolving strategy and builds on our accomplishments to date with 4 key pillars.

在將電話交給特里西亞之前，我想談談我們的 2024 年戰略計劃，該計劃反映了我們不斷發展的戰略，並以我們迄今為止的成就為基礎，包含 4 個關鍵支柱。

The first pillar, expand our Mediterranean way in communities across the country, encompasses 3 key areas. The first area is growing our footprint and expanding channel access. This includes new restaurant growth and initiatives like our catering test. The second area is fueling our culinary innovation and communication engine to drive traffic, mix and check, illustrated by our planned steak launch in the second half of the year. And the last area is expressing our concept essence consistently across brand properties, which includes the rollout of Project Soul, our new finalized 3.0 design which creates a more inviting physical space for in-restaurant occasions.

第一支柱是將我們的地中海風味推廣到全國各地，涵蓋三個關鍵領域。第一領域是擴大我們的市場份額和通路覆蓋範圍，包括開設新餐廳以及進行餐飲外送測試等措施。第二領域是推動我們的烹飪創新和傳播，以吸引客流、豐富菜餚組合並提升顧客滿意度，例如我們計劃在下半年推出的牛排系列。最後一領域是確保我們的品牌理念在所有品牌旗下產品中保持一致，包括推出「靈魂計畫」（Project Soul），這是我們全新3.0設計方案的最終定稿，旨在為顧客打造更具吸引力的餐廳用餐空間。

Our second pillar is focused on developing personal relationships with guests even as we scale. This includes creating a cohesive physical and digital journey for guests, driven by a reimagined loyalty program and using our digital ecosystem for one-to-one communication that can deepen connections with guests and create more personalized experiences. Based on the results we're seeing today, we believe this work can further strengthen our value proposition, powerfully express our brand across multiple touch points and create differentiated thoughtful moments that make the CAVA experience stand out.

我們的第二個支柱是，即便規模不斷擴大，也要致力於與賓客建立緊密的個人關係。這包括為賓客打造線上線下無縫銜接的體驗之旅，以全新的會員忠誠計劃為驅動，並利用我們的數位生態系統進行一對一溝通，從而加深與賓客的聯繫，創造更加個性化的體驗。根據我們目前所取得的成果，我們相信這項工作能夠進一步強化我們的價值主張，在多個觸點上有力地展現我們的品牌，並創造獨具匠心的體驗時刻，使 CAVA 的體驗脫穎而出。

The third pillar, run great restaurants every location, every shift, emphasizes an ongoing focus on enhancing our training and standards to consistently deliver our CAVA hospitality and food safety protocols. We believe that this work, combined with a focus on streamlining and automating prep as well as leveraging AI technologies to improve forecasting and accuracy through our new connected kitchen initiative, will make our restaurants easier to operate, drive improved operational efficiency and effectiveness, and enhance the guest experience.

第三大支柱——「在每家餐廳、每個班次都打造卓越營運」——強調持續提升培訓水準和標準，以確保始終如一地貫徹CAVA的待客之道和食品安全規範。我們相信，這項工作，結合精簡和自動化備餐流程，以及利用人工智慧技術透過我們全新的互聯廚房計畫提升預測準確性，將使我們的餐廳營運更加便捷，營運效率和效益顯著提高，並提升顧客體驗。

Our fourth and final pillar, operate as a high-performing team, includes deepening our culture of accountability, developing enhanced data capabilities to unlock powerful actionable insights and improved productivity, and implementing programs and tools to further engage, retain and connect our teams. We will continue to evolve and enhance our talent strategies, expand and deepen our knowledge of the customer and strengthen our HR systems, while fostering a mindset of growth and discipline.

我們的第四個也是最後一個支柱是打造高效團隊，這包括深化我們的責任文化，提升數據能力以挖掘強大的可執行洞察並提高生產力，以及實施各種專案和工具來進一步提升團隊的參與度、留住人才並加強團隊聯繫。我們將持續發展和完善人才策略，拓展和深化對客戶的了解，並強化人力資源體系，同時培養成長型思維和自律精神。

I want to thank our team members for their contributions to a record-setting year and for their commitment to bringing heart, health and humanity to food. We are proud of all we have accomplished in 2023, including our entrance into the public market, but we know that we are just at the beginning of all that is possible for CAVA and we look forward to the journey ahead. With that, I'll let Tricia walk you through the financials.

我要感謝我們團隊成員為創紀錄的一年所做的貢獻，以及他們致力於將愛、健康和人文關懷融入食物的理念。我們為2023年所取得的所有成就感到自豪，包括成功上市，但我們也深知，這僅僅是CAVA無限可能的開始，我們期待未來的旅程。接下來，就讓特里西亞為大家介紹一下財務狀況。

Thanks, Brett, and good morning, everyone. CAVA revenue in the fourth quarter of 2023 grew 52.5% year-over-year to $175.5 million. Same-restaurant sales increased 11.4%, driven by traffic growth of 6.2%. Fiscal 2023 had a 53rd week, which we excluded from our same restaurant sales calculations.

謝謝Brett，大家早安。 CAVA 2023年第四季營收年增52.5%，達1.755億美元。同店銷售額成長11.4%，主要得益於客流量成長6.2%。 2023財年共有53週，我們已將該週的資料從同店銷售額的計算中剔除。

We noted broad-based same restaurant sales strength across vintages, regions, and both suburban and urban locations. We opened 19 net new CAVA restaurants in the fourth quarter, bringing our total CAVA restaurant count to 309. We continue to be pleased with the top line and margin performance of new restaurant openings.

我們注意到，無論年份、地區，或郊區和城區，同店銷售額均呈現全面成長。第四季度，我們淨增加19家CAVA餐廳，使CAVA餐廳總數達到309家。我們對新餐廳的營收和利潤率表現依然感到滿意。

In addition, our proven portability is reflected in our overall AUV above $2.6 million, with all geographies $2.3 million or more. CAVA restaurant level profit in the fourth quarter was $39.3 million or 22.4% of revenue versus $23 million or 20% of revenue in the prior year, representing a 70.7% increase.

此外，我們穩健的營運模式體現在我們整體平均單店銷售額超過260萬美元，所有地區均達到或超過230萬美元。 CAVA餐廳第四季獲利為3,930萬美元，佔營收的22.4%，而上年同期為2,300萬美元，佔營收的20%，較去年同期成長70.7%。

The margin expansion was largely the result of improved food, beverage and packaging costs and sales leverage, including the impact of the 53rd week, partially offset by incremental wage investments. CAVA's food, beverage and packaging costs were 28.8% of revenues, lower than the fourth quarter of 2022 by 210 basis points, driven by lower input costs and higher incidence of premium menu items driving favorable product mix.

利潤率的提升主要得益於食品、飲料和包裝成本的改善以及銷售槓桿效應（包括第53週的影響），但部分被新增工資支出所抵銷。 CAVA的食品、飲料和包裝成本佔收入的28.8%，比2022年第四季下降了210個基點，這主要得益於投入成本的降低以及高端菜餚佔比的提高，從而優化了產品組合。

CAVA labor and related costs were 27.8%, up 50 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2022. The increase reflects investments in our team member wages that we discussed on the third quarter earnings call, partially offset by leverage from increased sales compared to the prior year.

CAVA 的勞動力及相關成本為 27.8%，比 2022 年第四季成長了 50 個基點。這一增長反映了我們在第三季財報電話會議上討論過的對團隊成員薪資的投資，部分被與去年同期相比銷售額成長帶來的槓桿效應所抵消。

CAVA occupancy and related expenses were 8.3% of revenue, an improvement of 100 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2022 due to increased sales leverage. CAVA other operating expenses were 12.7% of revenue, an increase of 20 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2022, reflecting investments in the integrity of our physical spaces in support of our increased restaurant volumes.

CAVA的場地佔用及相關費用佔收入的8.3%，較2022年第四季下降100個基點，主要得益於銷售槓桿的提升。 CAVA的其他營運費用佔營收的12.7%，較2022年第四季成長20個基點，反映了我們為支持餐廳業務量成長而對實體空間完整性進行的投資。

Shifting to overall performance. Our general and administrative expenses for the quarter, excluding stock-based compensation, was $21.3 million compared to $15.3 million in Q4 of 2022. This $6 million increase is primarily driven by investments to support our growth, performance-based incentive compensation, recurring public company costs and legal accruals. As a percentage of revenue, G&A excluding stock-based compensation was 12% in the current quarter, an increase of 30 basis points from the prior year quarter, driven by the aforementioned items, partially offset by sales leverage.

接下來談談整體業績。本季度，不計股權激勵支出的管理費用為2,130萬美元，而2022年第四季為1,530萬美元。這600萬美元的成長主要源自於支持公司成長的投資、績效激勵性薪酬、上市公司經常性成本、法律費用提列。本季不計股權激勵支出的管理費用佔營收的12%，較上年同期成長30個基點，主要受上述項目影響，但部分則被銷售槓桿效應抵銷。

Adjusted EBITDA, including the burden of preopening costs for the quarter, was $15.7 million, which was $12.2 million higher than Q4 of 2022. The increase in adjusted EBITDA was driven by 11.4% CAVA same restaurant sales growth, improved CAVA restaurant level profit margins and the performance of new openings. Keep in mind, Q4 preopening costs included expenses related to the restaurants opened during the quarter as well as costs related to the 11 units we opened to date in Q1 of 2024.

經調整後的 EBITDA（已計入本季開業前成本）為 1,570 萬美元，較 2022 年第四季成長 1,220 萬美元。經調整後的 EBITDA 成長主要得益於 CAVA 同店銷售額成長 11.4%、CAVA 餐廳層級利潤率的提升以及新店開業的良好表現。需要注意的是，第四季的開業前成本不僅包括本季已開業餐廳的相關費用，還包括 2024 年第一季迄今已開業的 11 家餐廳的相關費用。

We reported $2 million of net income compared with a net loss of $18.8 million in Q4 of 2022, representing an increase of $20.8 million. We reported diluted earnings per share of $0.02 in the quarter compared with a diluted loss per share of $13.72 in Q4 of 2022.

本季我們實現淨利200萬美元，而2022年第四季淨虧損1,880萬美元，淨利成長2,080萬美元。本季我們公佈的稀釋後每股收益為0.02美元，而2022年第四季稀釋後每股虧損為13.72美元。

Shifting to liquidity. At the end of the quarter, we had 0 debt outstanding, $332.4 million in cash on hand and access to a $75 million undrawn revolver with an option to increase our liquidity as needed. We delivered cash flow from operations of $97.1 million for the year compared with $6 million in the prior year. The increase is primarily driven by our improved operations, driving increased profitability across the fleet.

轉向流動性。截至本季末，我們無未償債務，手頭現金3.324億美元，並可使用7500萬美元的未提取循環信貸額度，且可根據需要增加流動性。本年度經營活動產生的現金流量為9,710萬美元，而去年同期為600萬美元。這一成長主要得益於我們營運效率的提升，從而提高了整個船隊的獲利能力。

I would like to touch on our development pipeline. The pipeline we've built is diverse and not dependent on a small number of markets, landlords or site profiles. Our development team has built increased buffer into our pipeline to ensure we are insulated from potential delays in equipment availability, permitting and inspections. At the same time, we are actively building a robust pipeline for 2025, positioning us for continued growth in new and existing markets.

我想談談我們的開發項目儲備。我們建構的專案儲備多元化，並不依賴少數市場、業主或地塊類型。我們的開發團隊在專案儲備中預留了充足的緩衝空間，以確保我們能夠抵禦設備供應、許可審批和檢查等方面的潛在延誤。同時，我們正積極建構穩健的2025年專案儲備，為在新舊市場持續成長奠定基礎。

Turning to our outlook for full year 2024, we expect the following: 48 to 52 net new CAVA restaurant openings; CAVA same restaurant sales growth of 3% to 5%; CAVA restaurant level profit margin between 22.7% and 23.3%; preopening costs between $11.5 million and $12.5 million; and adjusted EBITDA, including the burden of preopening costs, between $86 million and $92 million.

展望 2024 年全年，我們預計：CAVA 餐廳淨新增開業 48 至 52 家；CAVA 同店銷售額增長 3% 至 5%；CAVA 餐廳層面的利潤率在 22.7% 至 23.3% 之間；開業前成本在 1,150 萬美元至 1250 萬美元之間調整費用為調整至 1,150 萬美元至 1250 萬美元之間的 60 萬美元（900 萬美元）在調整前成本 20 萬美元的成本 20 萬美元。萬美元之間。

I want to share some additional thoughts for our 2024 outlook. As you know, we took an approximate 3% in-restaurant menu price increase in January 2024. We continue to invest in creating value for our guests, and we do not have plans at the current time to take further price increases in response to AB 1228, whose predecessor was the California FAST Act. We expect approximately a 30 basis point reduction in restaurant level profit margin in the near term, which is contemplated in our full year guidance, but to also drive value for our guests and shareholders over the long term.

我想就我們2024年的展望分享一些補充想法。如您所知，我們在2024年1月將餐廳菜單價格上調了約3%。我們將繼續投資，為顧客創造價值，目前暫無計畫因AB 1228法案（其前身為加州FAST法案）而進一步提價。我們預計短期內餐廳層面的利潤率將下降約30個基點，這已納入我們的全年業績指引，但從長遠來看，這也將為我們的顧客和股東創造價值。

Our 2024 same-restaurant sales guidance implies a 2-year stack in the low 20s, which is in line with the back half of 2023. Our same-restaurant sales guidance also takes in consideration the Q1 2023 benefit of an unseasonably mild winter and the halo from our IPO that benefited Q2 2023 and, to a lesser extent, the third quarter of 2023.

我們對 2024 年同店銷售額的預期意味著未來兩年銷售額將保持在 20% 左右，這與 2023 年下半年的業績基本一致。此外，我們的同店銷售額預期也考慮到了 2023 年第一季異常暖冬帶來的利好，以及 IPO 帶來的正面影響，這種影響在 2023 年第二季和第三季（程度稍輕）均有所體現。

Our results in 2023 demonstrate the power of our operating model. This is an important time in our growth trajectory, and our 2024 guidance reflects our investments to deliver on our model as we scale and grow. We expect restaurant level profit margin to be between 22.7% and 23.3%, or 150 to 210 basis points below 2023. This incorporates the previously discussed 120 basis point increase in wages implemented in the fourth quarter of 2023 as part of our investment in team members, along with additional near-term investments to drive restaurant level margin expansion over the long term. We expect similar seasonality of restaurant level profit margin throughout 2024. And as a reminder, that our first quarter includes 16 weeks.

我們在2023年的業績展現了我們營運模式的強大實力。目前正值我們成長的關鍵時期，而我們對2024年的業績展望也反映了我們為實現此模式、擴大規模和實現成長而進行的投資。我們預計餐廳層面的利潤率將在22.7%至23.3%之間，比2023年下降150至210個基點。這其中包含了先前討論過的、於2023年第四季度實施的120個基點的工資增長，作為我們對團隊成員投資的一部分，以及為推動餐廳層面利潤率長期增長而進行的額外近期投資。我們預計2024年全年餐廳層面的利潤率將呈現類似的季節性波動。另需注意的是，我們的第一季包含16週。

Before going to Q&A, I want to acknowledge our restaurant, manufacturing and collaboration center teams for the outstanding results they delivered in 2023. Through their collective ambition and passion for positivity, they reinforced our proven portability and powerful unit economics. CAVA continues to get stronger with every new restaurant we open and every new guest we welcome to our table. Now I will turn the call back over to the operator to open it up for Q&A.

在進入問答環節之前，我想特別感謝我們的餐廳、生產製造和協作中心團隊在2023年取得的卓越成績。憑藉他們共同的雄心壯志和積極樂觀的態度，他們鞏固了我們成熟的業務模式和強大的單店經濟效益。隨著每家新餐廳的開幕和每位新顧客的到來，CAVA 的實力都在不斷增強。現在，我將把電話交還給接線員，開始問答環節。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Brian Harbour at Morgan Stanley.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自摩根士丹利的布萊恩·哈伯。

Maybe as you think about that same-store sales range for this year, obviously, the low end of that is just kind of your pricing plan. Do you -- are you still seeing -- do you still expect kind of more premium attach? What do you see as kind of mix drivers of that this year? And then how much traffic perhaps would you expect within that range that you've talked about?

或許您在考慮今年的同店銷售範圍時，很明顯，最低限值就是您的定價方案。您是否仍預期會有更多高階產品上架？您認為今年哪些因素會推動這股趨勢？此外，您預計在您提到的價格區間內，客流量會是多少？

Brian, so our 3% to 5% guide really reflects a 2-year same-restaurant stack in the low 20s for the full year, with higher in the first part of the year than it is in the back part of the year because of those Q1 impacts from favorable weather that we had talked about previously. The other thing that it considers is the IPO halo in Q2 and to a lesser extent in Q3. It does reflect the 3% price that you called out, and traffic and mix is the remainder. But the way we're looking at it is if PPA continues to expand, you'd likely see the same restaurant sales guide, the actual results to be closer to the high end of the range.

布萊恩，我們3%到5%的預期增長實際上反映的是過去兩年同期餐廳銷售額在20家左右的水平，由於之前提到的第一季有利天氣的影響，上半年的增長會高於下半年。此外，該預期還考慮了第二季和第三季（程度稍輕）的IPO光環效應。它確實反映了你提到的3%的價格，其餘部分則取決於客流量和菜餚組合。但我們的判斷是，如果PPA（每人均消費）持續成長，餐廳銷售額預期可能會維持不變，實際結果會更接近預期範圍的高端。

Our next question comes from the line of Jon Tower at Citigroup.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗集團的 Jon Tower。

I was curious, Brett, you had mentioned earlier 2 things that I was hoping you could expand upon. First, you talked about new design for some of the stores and expanding space for in-store occasions. I'm just curious if you could dig into whether or not you feel like new store prototypes will require a bigger footprint in general versus what you've got today for the store base?

布雷特，我很好奇，你之前提到過兩件事，我希望你能詳細說說。首先，你談到了部分門市的新設計以及擴大店內活動空間。我只是想知道，你是否認為新的門市原型通常需要比現有門市更大的佔地面積？

And then the second is if you could maybe provide a little bit more color on where you are in the connected kitchen initiative. How much more you see with respect to investment over the next 12 months? And kind of specifically where you plan on within the store kind of going after?

第二個問題是，您能否更詳細地介紹一下您在智慧廚房專案方面的進度？您預計未來12個月會追加多少投資？具體來說，您計劃在門市的哪些方面重點推進？

Yes. Thanks, Jon. Thanks for the question. With regards to the footprint, we don't see any change in our footprint. It's really enhancing and warming the aesthetic in our physical space to really accommodate and invite more in-restaurant occasions. 64% of our guests opt to come and engage with us in our physical channel. We have 36% that engage in our digital channels. We have great digital channels. We have 31 pickup-by-car digital pickup lanes as well as all of our pickup off-the-shelf opportunities. And we have great physical channels. We don't think it's an either/or. We think it's an and. And so we want to really take advantage of that opportunity to drive additional physical occasions along with those digital occasions.

是的，謝謝Jon，謝謝你的提問。關於店面佈局，我們目前沒有看到任何變化。我們主要致力於提升和優化實體空間的美感體驗，以更好地吸引顧客到店用餐。 64%的顧客選擇透過實體管道與我們互動，36%的顧客則透過線上管道。我們的線上通路非常完善，設有31條線上取餐通道，以及所有現點現做的取餐點。同時，我們的實體通路也非常出色。我們認為線上線下並非二選一的關係，而是可以兼顧的。因此，我們希望充分利用這項優勢，在促進線上線下互動的同時，也增加更多顧客到店用餐的次數。

In regards to the connected kitchen initiative, this is the beginning of a multiyear journey where we see a tremendous opportunity to improve productivity, to drive greater operational effectiveness and efficiency by taking a lot of complexity off the team members' plate. So it's really taking to another level of sophistication things like predictive scheduling, predictive prep, predictive cook batching through the use of data and AI models. And any expense or CapEx investment is reflected in our guidance and our longer-term guidance. But again, this is a multiyear initiative that we're excited about, and we see the opportunity again to drive greater productivity and make it easier for our team to run our CAVA restaurants and deliver that great Mediterranean hospitality and food.

關於互聯廚房計劃，這標誌著一項多年計劃的開始。我們看到了巨大的機遇，可以透過減輕團隊成員的工作負擔，顯著提升生產力，提高營運效率和效益。這項計畫將預測性排班、預測性備餐、預測性批量烹飪等技術提升到一個新的高度，並運用數據和人工智慧模型來實現。任何相關支出或資本支出都已反映在我們的業績指引和長期績效指引中。再次強調，這是我們充滿信心的多年計劃，我們看到了再次提升生產力、讓我們的團隊更輕鬆地經營 CAVA 餐廳，並提供卓越的地中海式熱情款待和美食的機會。

Our next question comes from the line of Brian Mullan at Piper Sandler.

我們的下一個問題來自 Piper Sandler 公司的 Brian Mullan。

Just a question on venue innovation. Brett, you shared in the prepared remarks, you're going to roll steak out across the system, I think, in the second half of this year, which is exciting. Can you just talk about what you saw in the test, what caused you to go ahead and take this next step for the full launch? And just maybe talk about the benefits to the business from a consumer perspective and then maybe an economic perspective.

關於餐廳創新，我有個問題。布雷特，你在事先準備好的演講稿裡提到，你們計劃在今年下半年將牛排菜推廣到整個系統，這真是令人興奮。能談談試營運的情況嗎？是什麼促使你們決定全面推出牛排菜色？能否從消費者和經濟兩個角度談談這對餐廳的益處？

Yes. We're excited to be on track to launch this in the second half of the year. What we're seeing in the test is the consumer receptivity as well as the operational effectiveness that we were looking to validate. And so that's the stage gate we're in with the multi-market test in Dallas and Boston, and we've seen results that have been meeting our expectations in both markets.

是的。我們很高興能按計劃在今年下半年推出這項服務。測試結果顯示，消費者接受度以及營運效率都符合我們的預期。目前，我們在達拉斯和波士頓的多市場測試已進入階段性階段，兩個市場的測試結果都符合我們的預期。

And if you remember, we used to have grilled meatballs on our menu that we removed back in January. And so a beef item is definitely a perceived gap in our menu that we think is an opportunity to drive incremental occasions and frequency that doesn't currently exist on the menu. So we're excited to launch that in the second half of the year.

如果你還記得，我們​​之前的菜單上有烤肉丸，但已於今年一月下架。因此，牛肉菜品無疑是我們菜單上的一個空白，我們認為這是一個增加顧客光顧次數和就餐頻率的機會，而這些目前都還不在我們的菜單上。所以我們很高興能在今年下半年推出這道菜。

And as it relates to the economics, the test is designed to be margin dollar equivalent and so we're continuing to evaluate the results of those tests and we'll have updates on our next call and how that might impact our guidance. At this point, the guidance does not reflect any impact as a result of the steak test. So we'll continue to give you updates as we move forward.

就經濟層面而言，該測試旨在以利潤率美元為基準，因此我們正在持續評估這些測試的結果，並將在下次電話會議上提供最新信息，說明這些結果可能如何影響我們的業績指引。目前，該業績指引尚未反映牛排測試的任何影響。我們將持續更新相關資訊。

And our next question comes from the line of Andy Barish at Jefferies.

下一個問題來自傑富瑞集團的安迪·巴里什。

I guess it's kind of a connected question. Just the Southeast and Southwest markets are your lower volume markets coming out of the Zoe's conversions. Any specific kind of plans in that region of the country? Or does it really tie into kind of the real estate pipeline and just continuing to build out and drive awareness. And I'll have a follow-up, I guess, shortly.

我想這算是個相關的問題。東南和西南市場是你們Zoe's改造計畫帶來的銷售較低的市場。你們在這些地區有什麼具體的計畫嗎？還是說這真的跟房地產開發案、持續建設和提升品牌知名度息息相關？我稍後會再跟進一下。

Andy, thanks for the question. The Southeast and the Southwest are at $2.3 million AUVs and $2.4 million, respectively. And really, those AUVs reflect a relatively young fleet of restaurants in those markets, and that's what's driving the AUV. So we don't see a need to do anything to necessarily impact those markets any differently, but just continuing to execute on incredible hospitality and amazing culinary and innovation, and you should see those results continue to increase like the rest of the fleet.

安迪，謝謝你的提問。東南地區和西南地區的平均單店營業額分別為230萬美元和240萬美元。實際上，這些平均單店營業額反映出這些市場餐廳的營運相對年輕，而這正是推動平均單店營業額成長的主要因素。因此，我們認為沒有必要對這些市場採取任何不同的策略，只需繼續提供卓越的服務、精湛的烹飪技能和創新理念，相信這些市場的業績會像其他地區的餐廳一樣持續成長。

And then anything on the real estate pipeline you can share with us? Obviously, a good start with 11 so far quarter-to-date, on just -- on the state by quarter or the balance by type of stores, new markets, developing markets, et cetera?

那麼，關於房地產開發項目，您有什麼可以和我們分享的嗎？顯然，目前為止本季已有11個項目，這是一個不錯的開端。請問這些項目是按季度統計的，還是按門市類型（例如新市場、發展中市場等）分類的？

Yes. So our real estate pipeline is very robust. The team has been executing really well on our strategy. So we have a very balanced pipeline, meaning about 10% in established markets and then another 10% or 20% in those emerging markets -- excuse me, the greenfield markets, which were those brand new markets like Chicago where we'll be opening up, and the rest of it is in our growth in emerging markets. And so we're executing against that, feel really good about it, built in the appropriate buffers in the time line, and we're envisioning a fairly even spread of restaurant openings throughout the year.

是的。我們的房地產項目儲備非常充足。團隊在執行策略方面做得非常出色。我們的專案儲備非常均衡，大約10%位於成熟市場，另外10%到20%位於新興市場——抱歉，我說的是綠地市場，也就是像芝加哥這樣我們即將開設新店的全新市場，其餘部分則用於我們在新興市場的成長。我們正按計劃推進，對此非常有信心，並在時間安排中預留了適當的緩衝時間，預計全年餐廳開業數量將較為均衡。

Our next question comes from the line of David Tarantino at Baird.

我們的下一個問題來自 Baird 公司的 David Tarantino。

Congratulations on a great 2023. My question, Tricia, I had a clarification question on the Q4 revenue number. And just looking at relative to how we and others modeled it, the upside on the revenue was not quite as high as the upside on the comps. I was wondering if you could maybe -- if there's anything to call out related to something outside the comp line that might have influenced that outcome? And maybe in particular, as a follow-up, if you could comment specifically on what you're seeing in the most recent class of openings in terms of average unit volumes, that would be great.

恭喜您在2023年取得如此佳績！特里西亞，我有個關於第四季營收數據的問題想請教。根據我們和其他機構的預測模型，營收的成長潛力似乎不如同店銷售額的成長潛力那麼高。我想請問一下，除了同店銷售額之外，還有什麼其他因素可能影響了這個結果？另外，能否就最近新開業的門市的平均單店銷售額發表一下看法？非常感謝！

David, thanks for that. Certainly, I'll start with your -- the last part first. Our new restaurant openings have been exceeding our expectations, both on the AUV side as well as on the restaurant level margin side. So really pleased with, again, the real estate process and the pipeline and what those new restaurants have been delivering and continue to deliver throughout the year.

大衛，謝謝你的回覆。當然，我會先回答你最後那部分。我們新開的餐廳業績超出了預期，無論是平均單店銷售額還是餐廳層面的利潤率都達到了預期。所以，我對房地產開發流程、專案儲備以及這些新餐廳在過去一年中取得的成績感到非常滿意，而且這些成績還將持續下去。

So when we think about the models themselves and how you might have been looking at it, it looks like the impact of average weekly sales doesn't properly reflect all of the seasonality associated with our business. So the fourth quarter is our seasonally softest quarter with the lowest average weekly sales of any quarter for us at CAVA. And at the same time, I think there could have been a little bit of an overestimation of the impact of the 53rd week, keeping in mind that week had holiday impacts on top of the seasonality component to it.

所以，當我們思考這些模型本身以及您可能的分析方式時，似乎平均每週銷售額的影響並沒有充分反映我們業務的所有季節性因素。第四季是我們CAVA所有季度中業績最淡的季度，也是平均每週銷售額最低的季度。同時，我認為第53週的影響可能被略微高估了，因為考慮到那一週除了季節性因素外，還受到了假日的影響。

Our next question comes from the line of Christopher O'Cull at Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自 Stifel 的 Christopher O'Cull 團隊。

Congrats on an excellent year. Brett, what are the key performance goals for the store ops team as you enter into '24? And I was hoping you could describe maybe the KPIs that will measure that progress and maybe where those measures are today and where you want them to be at the end of the year.

恭喜你度過了精彩的一年。布雷特，進入2024年，你為門市營運團隊設定的關鍵績效目標是什麼？我希望你能描述一下衡量這些進展的關鍵績效指標，以及這些指標目前的水平和你希望在年底達到的目標。

Yes. Chris, thanks for the question. From an operations metrics, we have our proprietary op scorecard where we have 7 key operating and financial metrics that we track. And that's everything from -- that incorporates customer experience scores to management of COGS and labor, ensuring accuracy, consistent portions as well as food safety adherence and accountability.

是的，克里斯，謝謝你的提問。從營運指標來看，我們有自己獨有的營運記分卡，其中包含我們追蹤的7項關鍵營運和財務指標。這些指標涵蓋了方方面面，從客戶體驗評分到銷售成本和人工成本的管理，再到確保準確性、份量一致性以及食品安全合規性和責任落實。

So we are looking at throughput opportunities as well. We think that they exist, but we want to make sure we're not pushing on the gas pedal too far, too fast. And so we are testing some different labor deployments to take advantage of that opportunity as the year progresses.

所以我們也在關注產能提升的機會。我們認為這些機會是存在的，但我們想確保不會操之過急。因此，我們正在測試一些不同的勞動力部署方案，以便在今年的進程中抓住這些機會。

Our next question comes from the line of Sharon Zackfia at William Blair.

我們的下一個問題來自威廉布萊爾大學的莎倫扎克菲亞。

A question on development. As you have accelerated greenfield throughout '23, have you encountered any surprises kind of positive or negative? How has that kind of -- pipeline has been manifesting. Obviously, you raised the '24 outlook. So are you seeing more predictability and timing of delivery of sites and ability to get them up and running as you would have anticipated maybe pre-pandemic? I know there's been a lot of moving parts in getting units up and running in the last few years.

關於開發方面的問題。您在2023年加快了新建專案的推進，是否遇到任何意料之外的情況，無論是積極的還是消極的？這些專案進度如何？顯然，您提高了對2024年的展望。那麼，您是否看到專案交付和投產的可預測性和時間安排比疫情前預期的更加合理？我知道過去幾年裡，專案投產涉及諸多環節。

Sharon, yes, certainly, lots of moving parts. Us, like many others in the space, have seen development pipeline time lines expand, so increasing a month or 2 over the past few years. Nothing has really surprised us. We were anticipating there would be challenges, built that into our pipeline so that it would be appropriately reflective of what we could deliver, and we're continuing to just evaluate where the opportunities are.

莎倫，是的，當然，牽涉的環節很多。和業內許多其他公司一樣，我們也經歷了開發週期延長的趨勢，在過去幾年裡，開發週期增加了一到兩個月。這並沒有讓我們感到驚訝。我們預料到會遇到挑戰，並將這些挑戰納入了我們的開發計劃，以確保其能夠適當地反映我們的交付能力。目前，我們仍在持續評估各種機會。

I mean we're in 24 states today, but still a lot of white space across the country. So the real estate teams are out scoping out new markets where there's lots of opportunity, and there are many of them. So if there was ever a situation where a market may not be materializing the way we'd like, we feel like we've got the appropriate mindset to develop patience and find the right sites that are going to deliver the right returns and drive that overall value.

我的意思是，我們目前業務已覆蓋24個州，但全國各地仍有許多空白市場。因此，我們的房地產團隊正在積極尋找充滿機會的新市場，而這樣的市場有很多。所以，如果某個市場的發展不如預期，我們相信我們擁有足夠的耐心，能夠找到合適的地點，從而帶來理想的回報，並提升整體價值。

Can I ask a follow-up? Have you changed the way you build brand awareness as you're doing greenfield? Or is it really similar to kind of what the strategy has been over the last 5 or so years?

我可以再問一個後續問題嗎？在開拓新市場的過程中，你們是否改變了品牌推廣的方式？還是說，它與過去五年左右的策略非常相似？

Sharon, it's Brett. We have updated our local store marketing campaign to drive increased local press awareness and elevated our Community Day. I'm excited that our recent opening in Hollywood, California had a record-setting Community Day of raising donations for our philanthropic partner in the market. So I think the team has done some nice tactical improvements to drive greater awareness around openings at a local level. So we have done some things around that. And as we open up Chicago, given the size and scale of the market, we will be doing a bit more of an upper funnel type campaign to announce our arrival in the market.

莎倫，我是布雷特。我們更新了本地門市的行銷活動，旨在提升本地媒體的關注度，並升級了社區日活動。我很高興地看到，我們最近在加州好萊塢新店開業，社區日活動籌款額創下新紀錄，為我們在當地的慈善合作夥伴籌集了善款。我認為團隊在策略上做出了一些不錯的改進，提高了本地新店開幕的知名度。我們圍繞這些方面做了一些工作。鑑於芝加哥市場的規模，在我們即將開設芝加哥新店之際，我們將開展更深入的通路行銷活動，以宣告我們正式進駐該市場。

Our next question comes from the line of Andrew Charles at TD Cowen.

我們的下一個問題來自 TD Cowen 的 Andrew Charles。

Great. I wanted to ask about the digital pickup lanes. How is that performing versus the original expectations for about 10% to 15% higher volumes. And what I'm really trying to understand is if you're approaching the point where it makes sense to either ramp the mix of new stores above the 50% run rate or test retrofits or relocations, just given the favorable ROIC you're likely observing?

好的。我想問一下關於線上提貨通道的情況。與最初預期的10%到15%的銷售成長相比，實際表現如何？我真正想了解的是，鑑於目前可能觀察到的可觀投資回報率，您是否已經接近一個合適的時機，可以考慮將新店數量增加到50%以上，或者嘗試改造現有門市或進行門市搬遷？

Andrew. So we've got 31 pickup lanes today, and the pickup lanes do continue to look better from an overall AUV perspective and slightly higher from a restaurant level margin perspective. What we're thinking about and how we're executing is making sure we're being thoughtful around the choices we're making on pickup lanes and don't get pressured into chasing a number.

安德魯：我們今天有31個取餐通道，從整體平均單次乘數（AUV）來看，取餐通道的表現確實越來越好，從餐廳層面的利潤率來看也略有提高。我們正在思考和執行的是，確保我們在選擇取餐通道時深思熟慮，而不是為了追求數字而盲目擴張。

And so while you mentioned a 50% target itself, we're likely going to be over 1/3 but less than 50% as we think about pickup lanes going forward. Our focus is driving the best cash on cash return that we possibly can and making sure that we're exceeding the 35% target for cash on cash return and really delivering a lot of value. So what we don't want to do is feel a lot of pressure to really go into a site and compete with a Raising Cane's or a Chick-fil-A on something that we really can't underwrite in the same way and get us in a spot that doesn't drive those returns in the attempts to meet a goal to have as many pickup lines as possible.

所以，雖然您提到了50%的目標，但考慮到我們未來在自提車道方面的規劃，實際比例可能會超過三分之一但低於50%。我們的重點是盡可能提高現金回報率，確保超過35%的現金回報率目標，並真正創造價值。因此，我們不想為了追求盡可能多的自提車道而被迫進入某個地點，與Raising Cane's或Chick-fil-A這樣的連鎖餐廳競爭，因為我們無法以同樣的方式承保這類項目，最終導致收益下降。

Great news is we perform really well whether we're in line, freestanding or have a pickup lane. And so we're just making sure we can optimize those returns in the best way possible.

好消息是，無論是在排隊等候、獨立擺放或設有取貨通道，我們的表現都非常出色。因此，我們正在確保以最佳方式優化這些收益。

That makes sense. And then, Tricia, last quarter, you flagged to not expect materially positive comps for 1Q '24, given the tough comparison. And now that we're 2 months into the year with unfavorable weather for the industry in January that's improved in February, are there any other PSAs that you'd call out for modeling 1Q comps?

這很有道理。還有，Tricia，上個季度你曾表示，鑑於去年同期基數較高，預計2024年第一季的同店銷售額不會出現實質成長。現在今年已經過去兩個月了，1月的天氣對產業不利，但2月情況有所改善。對於預測第一季同店銷售額，你還有其他需要特別注意的事項嗎？

Thanks for the question, Andrew. As you all know, we don't give intra-quarter guidance. So we're not going to speak to what we're seeing in Q1 itself. But I will say that nothing's changed our approach to our guide of 3% to 5% as we thought about it last year and into this year.

謝謝你的提問，安德魯。大家都知道，我們不提供季度內業績指引。所以我們不會談論第一季的具體情況。但我可以肯定的是，我們去年和今年設定的3%至5%的業績指引仍然不變。

And our next question comes from the line of Nick Setyan at Wedbush Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自 Wedbush Securities 的 Nick Setyan。

I just wanted to hone in on margins a bit. Just what you guys expect in terms of inflation, food cost inflation in '24 and with 3% pricing, why we couldn't -- particularly with the upside in Q4, why we couldn't see flat to down COGS in 2024.

我只是想更深入地探討一下利潤率。你們預計2024年食品價格會如何上漲？假設價格上漲3%，為什麼我們無法──尤其是在第四季出現上漲的情況下──實現2024年銷售成本持平或下降？

Nick, thanks for the question. When we think about food cost inflation, we're thinking low to mid-single digits, but there are some increases, particularly around chicken and olives and olive oil. So our chicken, we had great pricing last year related to chicken. And as we go into next year, there'll be some increase in that area.

尼克，謝謝你的提問。我們說的食品成本通膨，是指個位數低到中等的漲幅，但確實有一些價格上漲，尤其是在雞肉、橄欖和橄欖油方面。去年我們的雞肉定價很優惠，但到了明年，這方面的價格肯定會上漲。

And then also, olives and olive oil were impacted by an unseasonably warm climate. Our temperatures overseas in Europe, where we secure our products, that have some impact overall, so we wanted to take that into account as we're thinking about COGS and what that will look like. The other piece around COGS is 2023, and we've talked about this before, but really benefited from very high same-restaurant sales growth that was creating efficiencies in COGS from a waste perspective and other items. And so that will drive into the impact on COGS as you go into '24 itself.

此外，橄欖和橄欖油也受到了異常溫暖氣候的影響。我們在歐洲的海外市場（我們的產品產地）的氣溫也產生了一定的影響，因此我們在考慮銷售成本及其變化趨勢時，希望將這一點納入考慮。關於銷售成本的另一個重要因素是2023年，我們之前也討論過這一點，但2023年受益於同店銷售額的大幅增長，這從減少浪費和其他方面提高了銷售成本的效率。因此，這將對2024年的銷售成本產生正面影響。

And then just in terms of the unit growth outlook, would you mind telling us what Q1's number of units might look like?

那麼就銷售成長前景而言，您能否告訴我們第一季的銷售量可能是多少？

From a Q1 perspective, we've already opened 11. Keep in mind, Q1 has 16 weeks, and I'm anticipating that openings will be fairly even throughout the year.

從第一季來看，我們已經開了 11 家門市。請記住，第一季有 16 週，我預計全年的門市開幕數量將相當均衡。

Our next question comes from the line of Brian Vaccaro at Raymond James.

我們的下一個問題來自 Raymond James 的 Brian Vaccaro。

Just following up on Nick's question on store margins. Could you help us parse out the incremental labor versus other investments that are embedded within that guidance? And then I have a quick follow-up.

我接著問Nick關於門市利潤率的問題。您能否幫我們分析一下，在利潤率指引中，新增的人力成本與其他投資分別佔多少比例？另外，我還有一個後續問題。

Yes. So as we talked about on the third quarter call, we did invest in incremental labor in Q4 of 2023 about 120 basis points. I mean that will be offset with just the natural leverage and labor over time as AUVs grow. But the other thing to think about is other investments that could be related to our pillar around running great restaurants every day and every shift. So think about things like increased managerial resources at higher volume restaurants that would drive increased productivity and further pipeline depth, but at the same time, creating productivity over the long term. So there'll be investments that we're making that we've shared, and then it will be offset by leverage overall as we continue to scale and grow the business in the restaurant.

是的。正如我們在第三季財報電話會議上所提到的，我們在2023年第四季增加了約120個基點的勞動投資。我的意思是，隨著平均單店銷售額（AUV）的成長，這部分投入最終會被自然槓桿效應和勞動成本的提升所抵消。但我們還需要考慮其他一些投資，這些投資可能與我們「每天、每個班次都提供優質餐廳服務」的核心理念相關。例如，在客流量較高的餐廳增加管理資源，這將有助於提高生產效率，並進一步拓展業務管道，同時也能從長遠角度提升生產效率。所以，我們會進行一些投資，這些投資也已經和大家分享了，但隨著我們餐廳業務規模的不斷擴大和成長，這些投入最終會被整體槓桿效應所抵消。

And I think you mentioned opportunities to improve throughput in certain markets as well. Is there a thought that you'll need to add hourly hours per store in a significant number of stores?

我想您也提到了在某些市場提高吞吐量的機會。您是否考慮過在相當數量的門市增加每家門市的每小時工時？

Brian, it's Brett. No, we think there's opportunity to be more efficient with our labor deployments and recalibrate how we deploy labor along with some of the aspects I talked about the -- in relation to the connected kitchen initiative that will drive even greater productivity through our data.

布萊恩，我是布雷特。不，我們認為有機會提高勞動力部署效率，並重新調整勞動力部署方式，以及我剛才提到的一些方面——這與互聯廚房計劃有關，該計劃將透過我們的數據推動更高的生產力。

All right. Great. And then my real question kind of is just can you provide some more color on how the converted Zoe's units are performing? Perhaps you could touch on the year-on-year comp growth for the class of the 2021 conversions or some color on where AUVs are currently running for the class of '22 conversions?

好的，太好了。那麼我真正的問題是，您能否更詳細地介紹一下改裝後的Zoe船型的表現？或許您可以談談2021款改裝船型的年增幅，或是2022款改裝船型目前的營運狀況？

Yes. So we're pleased with our Zoe's conversions and we look at those like new restaurant openings. So we evaluate those with the others. And as I mentioned, our new restaurant openings are exceeding our expectations and really excited about those conversions as well as our organic ground-up NROs.

是的。我們對 Zoe's 的改造成功率很滿意，我們把它們看作是新開的餐廳。所以我們會把它們和其他餐廳的開幕情況一起評估。正如我剛才提到的，我們新開的餐廳數量超出了預期，我們對這些改造成功以及我們從零開始打造的全新餐廳都非常興奮。

Our next question comes from the line of Rahul Kro at JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的 Rahul Kro。

Can you elaborate a little more on the 3.0 design? Brett, are you guys trying to lower the cost of the box? Or are you actually scaling up on increasing the cost while you're trying to increase the movement space in the box?

關於3.0設計，您能再詳細說說嗎？ Brett，你們是想降低盒子的成本嗎？還是說，為了增加盒子內部的活動空間，反而增加了成本？

Yes, Rahul, thanks for the question. No expected change in the cost of what we've guided to. This is really about warming up using some of our refreshed pallet colors, some environmental aspects, softer seating. We think we have a great opportunity. You've seen the full service model be challenged to the modern consumer to deliver a relevant value proposition. And we think of our value proposition as quality, relevance, experience and convenience.

是的，Rahul，謝謝你的提問。我們預計價格不會改變，與先前的指導價一致。這次的重點在於運用一些我們更新的色調、一些環保元素以及更舒適的座椅，營造溫馨的氛圍。我們認為這是一個絕佳的機會。你也看到了，如今的消費者對全方位服務模式提出了挑戰，需要提供實際相關的價值主張。而我們認為，我們的價值主張在於品質、相關性、體驗和便利性。

We're able to deliver that quality food, relevant food, Mediterranean diet, number one ranked diet 7 years running, really that unique cuisine where taste and health unite, convenience certainly with our digital channels and our fast format, and then experience. We think we can deliver great experience and an enhanced dining room aesthetic to drive even greater physical occasions as we drive greater digital occasions. So we're just kind of reimagining how we show up in our dining rooms to make it more inviting and drive greater in-restaurant occasions and occasions across all channels.

我們能夠提供優質、符合需求的菜餚，包括連續7年排名第一的地中海飲食，真正將美味與健康完美結合的獨特美食。當然，我們也能透過數位化管道和快速的用餐模式，提供便利的用餐體驗。我們相信，透過打造卓越的用餐體驗和更舒適的用餐環境，我們能夠促進更多線下和線上顧客的消費。因此，我們正在重新構想餐廳的呈現方式，使其更具吸引力，從而促進更多顧客在餐廳內以及所有管道的消費。

That's perfect. I have a follow-up. Thanks for all your color on the connected kitchen initiative. It looks like there is a lot to look forward to here. Meanwhile, are there any low-hanging fruit within your existing operational structure that can be addressed outside this in a shorter time frame, anything related to labor or in-store ops? Anything that you guys can discuss here?

太好了。我還有後續問題。感謝您詳細介紹了智慧廚房計劃。看來這個計畫有很多值得期待的地方。同時，在你們現有的營運架構中，有沒有什麼比較容易改進的地方，可以在較短的時間內解決？例如與勞動力或門市營運相關的方面？有什麼可以討論的嗎？

Yes. I mentioned it just a bit ago. We think we have an opportunity to be more efficient with our labor hours and how we deploy our labor, when we do our prep versus our peak times and how we create more consistent labor efficiency across both dayparts. And we are -- yes, and actually, that test was deployed this past week on the initial labor redeployments.

是的，我剛才也提到了。我們認為有機會提高工時利用效率，優化勞動力配置，例如合理安排備餐時間和高峰時段，以及如何在一天中的不同時段實現更穩定的勞動力效率。而且，我們正在進行測試——是的，實際上，上週我們已經在首批勞動力重新配置方案中進行了測試。

Understood. So does this involve any movement of like prep off-premise, more prep off-premise or anything else related of that sort?

明白了。那麼這是否涉及任何形式的異地備餐、異地備餐或其他類似的事情？

No. It's simply balancing out prep and cook and deployments to better match the revenue curves of the restaurants.

不，這只是在平衡備餐、烹飪和人員調配，以更好地匹配餐廳的收入曲線。

And there are no further questions in the queue at this time. So I'll hand the floor back to Brett for the closing comments.

目前沒有其他問題需要提問。那麼，我將發言權交還給布雷特，請他做總結發言。

I want to thank everyone for joining the call today. Before we sign off, I want to say once again how proud I am of our CAVA team for delivering a record year in 2023. With 72 net new restaurant openings and success in new and existing markets, we prove the portability and broad appeal of our Mediterranean concept. Our guests were resilient, as evidenced by 10.4% traffic growth, and our powerful unit economic engine continued to deliver impressive results.

感謝各位今天參加電話會議。在會議結束前，我想再次表達我對CAVA團隊的自豪之情，感謝他們在2023年創下歷史新高。我們新增72家餐廳，並在新舊市場均取得成功，證明了我們地中海餐飲概念的普適性和廣泛吸引力。顧客的忠誠度很高，客流量成長了10.4%，我們強大的單店經濟效益也持續帶來令人矚目的業績。

We built a solid foundation for the growth we can achieve as we create the next major cultural cuisine category, and we are making thoughtful investments to drive long-term growth, profitability and shareholder value. Thanks again for joining us. Happy spring on Friday, and I look forward to speaking with you next quarter.

我們為打造下一個重要的文化美食類別奠定了堅實的基礎，並正在進行審慎的投資，以推動長期成長、獲利能力和股東價值。再次感謝您的參與。祝您週五春意盎然，期待下季與您再次交流。

Thank you. This now concludes the conference. Thank you all very much for attending. You may now disconnect your lines.

謝謝大家。會議到此結束。非常感謝各位的出席。現在可以掛斷電話了。