(CBRL) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day and welcome to the Cracker Barrel Fiscal 2023 Second Quarter Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded.

美好的一天，歡迎來到 Cracker Barrel 2023 財年第二季度電話會議。 （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 Kaleb Johannes, Vice President, Investor Relations and Business Transformation. Please go ahead.

我現在想將會議轉交給投資者關係和業務轉型副總裁 Kaleb Johannes。請繼續。

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to Cracker Barrel's Second Quarter Fiscal 2023 Conference Call and Webcast.

謝謝。早上好，歡迎來到 Cracker Barrel 的 2023 財年第二季度電話會議和網絡直播。

This morning, we issued a press release announcing our second quarter results. In this press release and on the call, we'll refer to non-GAAP financial measures for the second quarter ended January 27, 2023. The non-GAAP financial measures are adjusted to exclude the non-cash amortization of the assets recognized from the gain on our sales and leaseback transactions and the related tax impacts.

今天早上，我們發布了一份新聞稿，宣布了我們第二季度的業績。在本新聞稿和電話會議上，我們將參考截至 2023 年 1 月 27 日的第二季度的非 GAAP 財務措施。非 GAAP 財務措施進行了調整，以排除從我們的銷售和回租交易收益以及相關的稅收影響。

The company believes that excluding these items from the financial results provides investors with an enhanced understanding of the company's financial performance. This information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for net income or earnings per share information prepared in accordance with GAAP. The last page of the press release include reconciliations from the non-GAAP information to the GAAP financials.

公司認為，從財務業績中剔除這些項目可以讓投資者更好地了解公司的財務業績。此信息不應被孤立地考慮或替代根據 GAAP 編制的淨收入或每股收益信息。新聞稿的最後一頁包括從非 GAAP 信息到 GAAP 財務的調節。

On the call with me this morning are Cracker Barrel's President and CEO, Sandy Cochran; Senior Vice President and CFO, Craig Pommells and Senior Vice President and CMO, Jen Tate. Sandy and Craig will provide a review of the business, financials and outlook. We will then open up the call for questions for Sandy, Craig and Jen.

今天早上和我通電話的是 Cracker Barrel 的總裁兼首席執行官 Sandy Cochran；高級副總裁兼首席財務官 Craig Pommells 和高級副總裁兼首席營銷官 Jen Tate。桑迪和克雷格將對業務、財務和前景進行審查。然後，我們將開始向桑迪、克雷格和珍提問。

On this call, statements may be made by management of their beliefs and expectations regarding the company's future operating results or expected future events. These are known as forward-looking statements, which involve risks and uncertainties that, in many cases, are beyond management's control or may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. We caution our listeners and readers in considering forward-looking statements and information. Many of the factors that could affect results are summarized in the cautionary description of risks and uncertainties found at the end of the press release and are described in detail in our reports that we filed with or furnished to the SEC.

在此次電話會議上，管理層可能會發表他們對公司未來經營業績或預期未來事件的看法和預期。這些被稱為前瞻性陳述，其中涉及風險和不確定性，在許多情況下，這些風險和不確定性超出了管理層的控制範圍，或者可能導致實際結果與預期存在重大差異。我們提醒我們的聽眾和讀者考慮前瞻性陳述和信息。許多可能影響結果的因素在新聞稿末尾對風險和不確定性的警示性描述中進行了總結，並在我們向美國證券交易委員會提交或提供給美國證券交易委員會的報告中進行了詳細描述。

Finally, the information shared on the call is valid as of today's date and the company undertakes no obligation to update it, except as may be required under applicable law.

最後，電話中分享的信息截至今天有效，公司不承擔更新信息的義務，除非適用法律可能要求。

I'll now turn the call over to Cracker Barrel's President and CEO, Sandy Cochran. Sandy?

我現在將電話轉給 Cracker Barrel 的總裁兼首席執行官 Sandy Cochran。沙？

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. This morning, we announced total sales growth of 8.3% and adjusted operating income margin rate of 4.5%. These results exceeded our expectations, and I was especially pleased with our continued strong retail and off-premise performance.

謝謝大家，早上好。今天上午，我們宣布總銷售額增長 8.3%，調整後的營業收入利潤率為 4.5%。這些結果超出了我們的預期，我對我們持續強勁的零售和場外業績感到特別滿意。

I believe our results underscore the appeal of our brand, menu offerings and merchandise as well as the traction from our initiatives. While we continue to face macroeconomic headwinds and heightened uncertainty, we are making great progress on key initiatives and I believe we're well positioned to sustain our momentum and deliver further margin improvements in the back half of the year, driven by Q4.

我相信我們的結果強調了我們品牌、菜單產品和商品的吸引力以及我們舉措的吸引力。雖然我們繼續面臨宏觀經濟逆風和不確定性加劇，但我們在關鍵舉措上取得了很大進展，我相信我們有能力在第四季度的推動下保持我們的勢頭並在今年下半年進一步提高利潤率。

I'd now like to speak to some highlights from our second quarter. As you know, our second quarter is of outsized importance to us due to the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. And our teams once again executed at a high level and bolstered our leadership for these occasions, particularly in our off-premise channels. We again saw significant demand for our bundled holiday offerings, meaningfully grew our catering business and offered seasonal culinary promotions, including Country Fried Turkey and Cinnamon Roll Pie that continue to resonate with guests as did the other menu items we introduced such as our new sampler offerings.

我現在想談談我們第二季度的一些亮點。如您所知，由於感恩節和聖誕節假期，我們的第二季度對我們來說非常重要。我們的團隊再次以高水平執行並加強了我們在這些場合的領導能力，尤其是在我們的場外渠道中。我們再次看到對我們的假日捆綁產品的巨大需求，有意義地發展了我們的餐飲業務，並提供了季節性的烹飪促銷活動，包括鄉村炸火雞和肉桂卷派，它們繼續引起客人的共鳴，我們推出的其他菜單項目，如我們的新樣品產品，也是如此.

We saw and are continuing to see our catering channel do well, driven by enhancements we've made to our offerings and our optimized marketing support and we're on track to achieve our target of growing this channel by 25% to $100 million this fiscal year.

我們看到並繼續看到我們的餐飲渠道表現良好，這得益於我們對產品所做的改進和優化的營銷支持，我們有望實現本財年將該渠道增長 25% 至 1 億美元的目標年。

Our retail teams continued their streak of delivering strong results, which was especially impressive in light of the challenged retail backdrop and the performance we were lapping in the prior year. Guests responded enthusiastically to our holiday assortments, particularly our nostalgic blow molds, glitter globes and holiday trim.

我們的零售團隊繼續保持強勁業績，鑑於充滿挑戰的零售背景和我們上一年的業績，這尤其令人印象深刻。客人們對我們的節日分類反應熱烈，尤其是我們懷舊的吹塑模具、閃光球和節日裝飾。

Our retail margins, the well below last year's historically high levels were in line with our expectations. From an operations standpoint, we remain focused on hospitality and the guest experience. We believe our staffing levels are solid, and we've seen improvements in both hourly and manager turnover. We're encouraged by the test results of our labor system, and we recently implemented it in over 150 stores, bringing the total to approximately 300 and are planning to complete the rollout to the substantial majority of the system by the end of the fiscal year.

我們的零售利潤率遠低於去年的歷史高位，符合我們的預期。從運營的角度來看，我們仍然專注於熱情好客和賓客體驗。我們相信我們的人員配置水平是穩固的，而且我們已經看到每小時和經理更替率都有所改善。我們對勞動力系統的測試結果感到鼓舞，我們最近在 150 多家商店實施了該系統，使總數達到約 300 家，併計劃在本財政年度結束前完成對大部分系統的推出.

We believe this new system will enhance both the guest and employee experience while also delivering productivity improvements.

我們相信這個新系統將提升客人和員工的體驗，同時提高生產力。

From a guest visitation perspective, we again saw gains with the lower income guests as we believe our strong value proposition continues to appeal to this group who remain pressured by the macroeconomic environment. We saw a moderate improvement in year-over-year visitation from guests 65 and over, which was in part due to lapping Omicron and visitation among younger guests was relatively flat compared to the prior year.

從客人訪問的角度來看，我們再次看到低收入客人的收益，因為我們相信我們強大的價值主張繼續吸引這個仍然受到宏觀經濟環境壓力的群體。我們看到 65 歲及以上客人的訪問量同比有適度改善，部分原因是 Omicron 和年輕客人的訪問量與前一年相比相對平穩。

Lastly, Maple Street opened 2 locations during the quarter, both of which were in new markets. Columbus, Ohio and Houston, Texas, and we're encouraged by the performance of these new locations. The team continues to prepare for successfully scaling and we're looking forward to accelerating their growth in the back half of the fiscal year and beyond.

最後，Maple Street 在本季度開設了 2 個地點，均位於新市場。俄亥俄州哥倫布和得克薩斯州休斯頓，我們對這些新地點的表現感到鼓舞。該團隊繼續為成功擴大規模做準備，我們期待著在本財年下半年及以後加速他們的增長。

Craig will now cover our second quarter results in greater detail and provide an update on our expectations for the fiscal year. And once he's finished, I'll provide some additional details about upcoming initiatives.

克雷格現在將更詳細地介紹我們第二季度的業績，並提供我們對本財年預期的最新信息。在他完成後，我將提供一些有關即將推出的計劃的更多詳細信息。

Thank you, Sandy, and good morning, everyone. For the second quarter, we delivered top line results that surpassed our expectations for both restaurant and retail. Total revenue was $933.9 million, an increase of 8.3% over the prior year quarter. From a monthly cadence, our performance in November and December was generally in line with our expectations. And January outperformed as we benefited from a larger-than-anticipated benefit from lapping Omicron as well as favorable weather during the month.

謝謝你，桑迪，大家早上好。對於第二季度，我們實現了超出我們對餐廳和零售業預期的最高業績。總收入為 9.339 億美元，比去年同期增長 8.3%。從月度節奏來看，我們在 11 月和 12 月的表現總體上符合我們的預期。 1 月份的表現優於預期，因為我們受益於研磨 Omicron 帶來的超出預期的收益以及本月有利的天氣。

Restaurant revenue increased 9.4% to $718 million, and Retail revenue increased 4.7% to $215.9 million versus the prior year quarter. Comparable store total sales, including both restaurant and retail grew by 7.4%. Comparable store restaurant sales grew by 8.4% over the prior year, driven primarily by approximately 9% traffic, roughly half of which was carried forward pricing from fiscal 2022 and half of which was new pricing.

餐廳收入同比增長 9.4% 至 7.18 億美元，零售收入同比增長 4.7% 至 2.159 億美元。包括餐廳和零售在內的可比商店總銷售額增長了 7.4%。可比商店餐廳銷售額比上一年增長 8.4%，主要受約 9% 客流量的推動，其中約一半來自 2022 財年的結轉定價，其中一半是新定價。

Traffic declined 1.7%, which was in line with industry trends. We continue to closely monitor the impact of our pricing has happened on traffic and check, and we remain pleased that we have not seen any meaningful pushback from our guests in this regard.

客流量下降 1.7%，符合行業趨勢。我們將繼續密切關注我們的定價對流量和檢查的影響，我們很高興我們沒有看到客人在這方面做出任何有意義的反對。

We also saw favorable menu mix of over 1%, driven by increased sales for our shareable Barrel Bites and beverages. Off-premise sales were approximately 23% of restaurant sales. As a reminder, off-premise mix is elevated during the second quarter due to the seasonally high sales for our bundled holiday offerings and catering business.

我們還看到超過 1% 的有利菜單組合，這得益於我們可分享的 Barrel Bites 和飲料的銷量增加。場外銷售額約佔餐廳銷售額的 23%。提醒一下，由於我們捆綁式假日產品和餐飲業務的季節性高銷售額，第二季度場外組合有所增加。

Comparable store retail sales increased 4.1% compared to the second quarter of the prior year. Apparel, decor and food delivered, the largest increases by category.

與去年第二季度相比，可比商店零售額增長了 4.1%。服裝、裝飾和送餐，按類別增長最大。

Moving on to our second quarter expenses. Total cost of goods sold in the quarter was 35% of total revenue versus 32.9% in the prior year quarter. Restaurant cost of goods sold in the second quarter was 29.3% of restaurant sales versus 27.4% in the prior year quarter. This 190 basis point increase was primarily driven by commodity inflation of 12.5% partially offset by pricing and to a lesser extent, by a change in mix of menu items as well as higher freight.

繼續我們的第二季度開支。本季度銷售商品的總成本佔總收入的 35%，而去年同期為 32.9%。第二季度餐廳銷售商品成本佔餐廳銷售額的 29.3%，而去年同期為 27.4%。這 190 個基點的增長主要是由 12.5% 的商品通脹推動的，部分被定價所抵消，在較小程度上被菜單項目組合的變化以及更高的運費所抵消。

We experienced inflation across most of our market basket where the primary drivers of the year-over-year increase in Q2 were poultry, dairy and produce. Second quarter retail cost of goods sold was in line with our expectations at 54% of retail sales versus 50.4% in the prior quarter, which, as a reminder, was an atypically low COGS rate. This 360 basis point increase was primarily driven by a more normalized promotional activity, although our markdown rates remained favorable when compared to historical levels.

我們的大部分市場籃子都經歷了通貨膨脹，其中第二季度同比增長的主要驅動因素是家禽、乳製品和農產品。第二季度商品零售成本符合我們的預期，佔零售額的 54%，而上一季度為 50.4%，提醒一下，這是一個異常低的 COGS 率。這 360 個基點的增長主要是由更加規範化的促銷活動推動的，儘管與歷史水平相比我們的降價率仍然有利。

Our inventories at quarter end were $187 million compared to $154 million in the prior year. The increase was primarily due to carrying more retail product to support higher sales, and to a lesser extent, a normalization in timing of deliveries.

我們在季度末的庫存為 1.87 億美元，而去年同期為 1.54 億美元。這一增長主要是由於攜帶更多零售產品以支持更高的銷售額，以及在較小程度上是由於交貨時間的正常化。

With regard to labor costs, our second quarter labor and related expenses were 33.6% of revenue versus 34.4% in the prior year quarter. This 80 basis point decrease was primarily driven by sales leverage, partially offset by hourly restaurant wage inflation of 7%.

關於勞動力成本，我們第二季度的勞動力和相關費用佔收入的 33.6%，而去年同期為 34.4%。這 80 個基點的下降主要是由銷售槓桿驅動的，部分被 7% 的餐廳小時工資通脹所抵消。

Adjusted other operating expenses were 22% of revenue versus 21.9% in the prior year quarter. This 10 basis point increase was primarily driven by higher maintenance, utilities and supplies expense resulting from inflation, partially offset by lower depreciation and advertising expense resulting from sales leverage.

調整後的其他運營費用佔收入的 22%，而去年同期為 21.9%。這 10 個基點的增長主要是由於通貨膨脹導致的維護、公用事業和用品費用增加，部分被銷售槓桿導致的折舊和廣告費用減少所抵消。

Finally, our general and administrative expenses in the second quarter were 4.8% of revenue versus 5% in the prior year quarter. This 20 basis point decrease primarily resulted from sales leverage.

最後，我們第二季度的一般和行政費用佔收入的 4.8%，而去年同期為 5%。這 20 個基點的下降主要是由於銷售槓桿。

All of this culminated in GAAP operating income of $39 million. Adjusted for the noncash amortization of the asset recognized from the gains on the sale and leaseback transactions, operating income for the quarter was $42.2 million or 4.5% of revenue.

所有這一切最終使 GAAP 營業收入達到 3900 萬美元。根據從售後回租交易收益中確認的資產非現金攤銷進行調整後，本季度營業收入為 4220 萬美元，佔收入的 4.5%。

Net interest expense for the quarter was $4.4 million compared to net interest expense of $2.2 million in the prior year quarter. This increase is the result of higher interest rates and a higher level of borrowing. Our GAAP effective tax rate for the second quarter was 11.8%. Second quarter GAAP earnings per diluted share were $1.37 and adjusted earnings per diluted share were $1.48.

本季度的淨利息支出為 440 萬美元，而去年同期的淨利息支出為 220 萬美元。這種增長是利率上升和借貸水平上升的結果。我們第二季度的 GAAP 有效稅率為 11.8%。第二季度 GAAP 每股攤薄收益為 1.37 美元，調整後每股攤薄收益為 1.48 美元。

In the second quarter, EBITDA was $67.7 million or 7.3% of total revenue.

第二季度，EBITDA 為 6770 萬美元，佔總收入的 7.3%。

Now turning to capital allocation and our balance sheet. We remain committed to a balanced approach to our capital allocation. Our first priority remains invested in the growth of Cracker Barrel and Maple Street. Beyond that, we plan to return capital to our shareholders, while maintaining appropriate flexibility and a conservative balance sheet.

現在轉向資本配置和我們的資產負債表。我們仍然致力於平衡我們的資本配置方法。我們的首要任務仍然是投資於 Cracker Barrel 和 Maple Street 的發展。除此之外，我們計劃向股東返還資本，同時保持適當的靈活性和保守的資產負債表。

In the second quarter, we invested $27 million in capital expenditures and we returned $34 million to shareholders in the second quarter through a combination of dividends and share repurchases.

第二季度，我們投資了 2700 萬美元用於資本支出，並通過股息和股票回購相結合的方式在第二季度向股東返還了 3400 萬美元。

Lastly, we ended the quarter with $454 million in total debt. With respect to our 2023 outlook, I would like to provide some additional color on the guidance in this morning's release.

最後，我們在本季度末的總債務為 4.54 億美元。關於我們的 2023 年展望，我想在今天上午發布的指南中提供一些額外的顏色。

We are pleased with our Q2 results, and we're confident we will sustain our momentum in the second half of the year. That said, I want to remind everyone, we continue to operate in an environment with heightened uncertainty that makes predicting the balance of the year even more challenging than normal.

我們對第二季度的業績感到滿意，我們有信心在下半年保持我們的勢頭。也就是說，我想提醒大家，我們繼續在一個不確定性增加的環境中運營，這使得預測今年的餘額比正常情況下更具挑戰性。

Turning to the guidance. We currently expect total fiscal 2023 revenue growth over the prior year of 7% to 9%. This is primarily driven by pricing, which we now anticipate will be approximately 8.5% for the full year. As previously mentioned, we remain prudent and thoughtful in our approach to pricing and continue to utilize multiple approaches to monitor guest reactions to price increases.

轉向指導。我們目前預計 2023 財年總收入比上一年增長 7% 至 9%。這主要是由定價驅動的，我們現在預計全年的定價約為 8.5%。如前所述，我們在定價方法上保持謹慎和周到，並繼續利用多種方法來監控客人對價格上漲的反應。

We anticipate the opening of 3 to 4 new Cracker Barrel locations and approximately 15 new Maple Street locations. Our updated expectations from Maple Street reflects the possibility that some units that were planned to open late in fiscal '23 may slip into early fiscal '24, primarily as a result of construction delays.

我們預計將開設 3 至 4 個新的 Cracker Barrel 地點和大約 15 個新的 Maple Street 地點。我們對 Maple Street 的最新預期反映了一些計劃在 23 財年後期開放的單位可能會推遲到 24 財年初期，這主要是由於施工延誤。

We now anticipate commodity inflation of approximately 8.5% to 9% for the fiscal year. This assumes mid-single-digit inflation in Q3 and low single-digit inflation in Q4. Our current outlook for commodity inflation reflects updated expectations for Q4. While we now expect lower inflation in some protein categories compared to our previous outlook, this favorability is being more than offset by higher anticipated inflation in eggs and produce.

我們現在預計本財年商品通脹率約為 8.5% 至 9%。這是假設第三季度的中個位數通脹和第四季度的低個位數通脹。我們目前對商品通脹的展望反映了對第四季度的最新預期。雖然我們現在預計某些蛋白質類別的通貨膨脹率低於我們之前的展望，但這種有利因素被雞蛋和農產品的預期通貨膨脹率上升所抵消。

We now expect [restaurant-only] inflation of 6.5% for the fiscal year. The labor market for restaurants and hospitality remains relatively tight, which has resulted in a slower than anticipated moderation of wage inflation. We now expect to deliver approximately $25 million in cost savings during this fiscal year.

我們現在預計本財年 [僅限餐廳] 的通貨膨脹率為 6.5%。餐館和酒店業的勞動力市場仍然相對緊張，這導致工資通脹的放緩速度低於預期。我們現在預計本財年將節省大約 2500 萬美元的成本。

In addition to the above assumptions for revenue growth, commodity and wage inflation and cost savings, our operating income margin expectation continues to contemplate the following assumptions: continued inflationary pressures in other areas of the P&L, most notably supplies, utilities and maintenance, moderation in retail margin compared to the prior year near historic high and incentive compensation normalization, which will have a meaningful impact on G&A in Q3 and Q4.

除了上述收入增長、商品和工資通脹以及成本節約的假設外，我們的營業利潤率預期還繼續考慮以下假設：損益表其他領域的持續通脹壓力，最顯著的是供應、公用事業和維護，零售利潤率與上一年相比接近歷史高位，激勵薪酬正常化，這將對第三季度和第四季度的 G&A 產生重大影響。

Taking all of this into account, we expect full year adjusted operating income margin in the high 4% range, including 4.3% to 4.7% in Q3 and 6.5% to 7% in Q4. We also believe there is upside in our operating income expectation if there were to be further moderation in the commodity environment and potential downside if there were to be a deterioration of the consumer environment or if inflation fails to moderate or further increases.

考慮到所有這些因素，我們預計全年調整後營業收入利潤率將在 4% 的高位區間內，其中第三季度為 4.3% 至 4.7%，第四季度為 6.5% 至 7%。我們還認為，如果大宗商品環境進一步放緩，我們的營業收入預期會有上行空間；如果消費環境惡化，或者通脹未能緩和或進一步上升，則可能存在下行空間。

Lastly, we expect a GAAP effective tax rate of 10% to 12% and an adjusted effective tax rate of 11% to 13%. And we anticipate that capital expenditures for the full year will be approximately $110 million to $120 million.

最後，我們預計 GAAP 有效稅率為 10% 至 12%，調整後有效稅率為 11% 至 13%。我們預計全年的資本支出約為 1.1 億至 1.2 億美元。

I'll now turn the call back over to Sandy so she may share additional details around our business plans and outlook for fiscal 2023.

我現在將電話轉回給桑迪，以便她可以分享有關我們 2023 財年業務計劃和展望的更多詳細信息。

As Craig outlined, while we continue to operate in an uncertain environment and faced some headwinds, our outlook is optimistic. Despite this backdrop, we're confident that we'll deliver further margin improvements in the back half of the year, primarily driven by margin gains in Q4. I'd now like to speak to some Q3 highlights.

正如克雷格概述的那樣，雖然我們繼續在不確定的環境中運營並面臨一些不利因素，但我們的前景是樂觀的。儘管存在這種背景，但我們有信心在今年下半年進一步提高利潤率，這主要是受到第四季度利潤率增長的推動。我現在想談談第三季度的一些亮點。

I'm excited about several menu initiatives that we believe will further reinforce our value leadership which we think is critical in the current environment while also introducing new craveable offerings. Our current menu promotion and advertising campaign is focused on value and variety reminding guests that we have over 20 meals for under $12, including several hearty signature favorites.

我對幾項菜單計劃感到興奮，我們認為這些計劃將進一步加強我們認為在當前環境中至關重要的價值領導地位，同時還會推出新的令人渴望的產品。我們當前的菜單促銷和廣告活動側重於價值和多樣性，提醒客人我們有超過 20 種餐點，價格低於 12 美元，包括幾款豐盛的招牌美食。

Additionally, we've recently introduced new $5 take home offerings. With the purchase of any entree, guests have the choice to add 1 of 3 additional entrees, which includes a protein inside for just $5.

此外，我們最近推出了新的 5 美元帶回家產品。購買任何主菜後，客人可以選擇添加 3 份額外主菜中的 1 份，其中包含蛋白質，只需 5 美元。

It's early, but we've been encouraged by what we've seen so far and believe this is yet another way we can provide value to and build affinity with our guests. We remain thoughtful and deliberate on how we're taking pricing, and we're being mindful to maintain the value sections of our menu and attractive entry price points. We continue to closely monitor the effects of our pricing actions and believe our strategy is appropriately balancing, protecting margins while also preserving our value strength.

現在還為時過早，但我們對目前所見所聞感到鼓舞，並相信這是我們可以為客人提供價值並與他們建立親和力的另一種方式。我們對如何定價保持深思熟慮，並註意保持菜單的價值部分和有吸引力的入門價位。我們將繼續密切關注我們定價行動的影響，並相信我們的戰略是適當平衡的，在保護利潤率的同時也保持了我們的價值優勢。

In addition to focusing on value, we continue to enhance our menu, currently featuring a new Cheesy Bacon Homestyle Chicken, which is part of the 20 under $12. And we're also seeing success with recent innovation in the Breakfast Day part with offerings such as our Homestyle Chicken and French Toast. Both of these offerings are examples of how we continue to leverage our signature fried chicken and innovate our menu.

除了注重價值之外，我們還繼續改進我們的菜單，目前有一種新的芝士培根家常雞，它是 20 種低於 12 美元的產品的一部分。我們還看到早餐日部分最近的創新取得了成功，例如我們的家常雞肉和法式吐司。這兩種產品都是我們如何繼續利用我們的招牌炸雞和創新菜單的例子。

For off-premise, we're looking forward to the Easter occasion and expect we'll see strong demand for our Easter bundled offerings. We're continuing to enhance our catering menu as well. Regarding retail, we believe the strong value and uniqueness of our merchandise will continue to have cross-generational appeal. Our Easter assortments are off to a good start, and we're excited about other seasonal assortments that we believe will also resonate with guests.

對於場外業務，我們期待著復活節的到來，並預計我們會看到對複活節捆綁產品的強勁需求。我們也在繼續改進我們的餐飲菜單。在零售方面，我們相信我們商品的強大價值和獨特性將繼續具有跨代吸引力。我們的複活節品種有了一個良好的開端，我們對其他季節性品種感到興奮，我們相信它們也會引起客人的共鳴。

In closing, we had a solid quarter. We delivered quarterly results that exceeded our expectations. Our initiatives are gaining traction and we're making progress on our margin recovery. We remain confident in our strategies, and believe we're well positioned to drive continued performance through our strategic initiatives and our focus on operational excellence, menu innovation, value, technology and the guest experience.

最後，我們有一個穩定的季度。我們交付的季度業績超出了我們的預期。我們的舉措越來越受歡迎，我們正在恢復利潤率方面取得進展。我們對我們的戰略充滿信心，並相信我們有能力通過我們的戰略舉措和我們對卓越運營、菜單創新、價值、技術和客戶體驗的關注來推動持續的績效。

Finally, I want to thank our employees for their strong efforts and continued dedication. And with that, I'll turn the call over to the operator for your questions.

最後，我要感謝我們的員工的不懈努力和不懈奉獻。有了這個，我會把電話轉給接線員來回答你的問題。

(Operator Instructions) The first question comes from Jeff Farmer with Gordon Haskett.

（操作員說明）第一個問題來自 Jeff Farmer 和 Gordon Haskett。

You touched on it, but you're looking for $25 million of cost savings from -- and business model improvements, I should say. So I guess the question is, what drove that increase in the guidance in terms of flow through? How much of that do you expect to flow through versus being reinvested?

你談到了它，但你正在尋找 2500 萬美元的成本節約——以及商業模式的改進，我應該說。所以我想問題是，是什麼推動了流量方面的指導增加？您預計其中有多少會流經而不是被再投資？

Jeff, this is Craig. The increase in the guidance is we've continued to -- a function of -- we've continued to add projects to our cost save list. I mean as you think about how to address inflation, Obviously, there's a price component, you constantly are looking for ways to make the business more efficient, and that's an ongoing process.

傑夫，這是克雷格。指導的增加是我們繼續——一個功能——我們繼續將項目添加到我們的成本節省列表中。我的意思是當你考慮如何解決通貨膨脹時，顯然，有一個價格因素，你一直在尋找提高業務效率的方法，這是一個持續的過程。

So as more of those projects have gone from idea to confidence -- high confidence that we'll implement them successfully, we have increased the cost saves as a result.

因此，隨著越來越多的項目從想法變成信心——我們對成功實施它們充滿信心，因此我們增加了成本節約。

And the -- in terms of the skew of the cost saves, it's more -- it's heavily weighted towards the second half of the year versus the first half of the year. Now having said that, what I would say is the cost saves, some of that's being used to partially mitigate inflation in terms of commodity and in terms of wage. So we have a gross cost save number. Some of that's being invested to drive things like different technology initiatives and some of it's being used to partially mitigate cost increases in areas like maintenance and commodities and so on.

而且 - 就成本節省的偏差而言，它更多 - 與上半年相比，它更傾向於今年下半年。話雖如此，我要說的是節省的成本，其中一些被用於部分緩解商品和工資方面的通貨膨脹。所以我們有一個總成本節省數字。其中一些投資用於推動不同的技術計劃，另一些則用於部分緩解維護和商品等領域的成本增長。

Okay. But it sounds like you're probably not going to be a little bit more specific than that. So if it's $25 million gross, is half of it being reinvested? Or is there some sort of market level you can provide for us?

好的。但聽起來你可能不會比這更具體一點。那麼，如果它的總收入為 2500 萬美元，其中的一半是否用於再投資？還是您可以為我們提供某種市場水平？

Yes. The inflation numbers that we've shared, for example, has the benefit of the cost saves in them already. So if I -- so if I were to say how much is it flowing through net-net, I think there's a risk of some double counting because we've already included it in some of our other guidance amounts.

是的。例如，我們分享的通貨膨脹數據已經從中節省了成本。因此，如果我 - 如果我要說有多少流經淨網，我認為存在重複計算的風險，因為我們已經將其包含在我們的其他一些指導金額中。

Okay. And then just one more quick one. I apologize if I missed this, but just in terms of February trends sort of moving through the Omicron favorability, anything you guys offered. Again, I apologize if I missed it on February trends, anything you can offer there?

好的。然後再快一點。如果我錯過了這一點，我深表歉意，但就 2 月份的趨勢而言，有點像通過 Omicron 的好感度，你們提供的任何東西。再次，如果我錯過了 2 月的趨勢，我深表歉意，您能在那裡提供什麼？

So clearly, January on a year-over-year basis was a big positive in large part because of Omicron, but also weather was quite favorable. It was warmer than normal. And February, has been much more consistent with our overall expectations. So clearly, a moderation from January, but that was an unusual time period and February is in line with expectations.

很明顯，一月份與去年同期相比是一個很大的積極因素，這在很大程度上是因為 Omicron，而且天氣也非常有利。天氣比平時暖和。而 2 月，與我們的總體預期更加一致。很明顯，從 1 月份開始有所放緩，但那是一個不尋常的時期，而 2 月份符合預期。

Our next question comes from Todd Brooks with The Benchmark Company.

我們的下一個問題來自 The Benchmark Company 的 Todd Brooks。

First, if I can explore dine-in performance. Sandy, you talked about the buckets of strength at holiday being off-premise, being catering but what are we seeing as far as dine-in performance either if you want to compare traffic levels to pre-pandemic or compare sequentially to what you were seeing in fiscal Q1, that would be helpful.

首先，如果我可以探索堂食性能。桑迪，你談到了假日期間在場外、餐飲方面的優勢，但如果你想將流量水平與大流行前進行比較，或者按順序與你所看到的進行比較，那麼就堂食表現而言，我們看到了什麼在第一財季，這會有所幫助。

Todd, this is Craig. I'll start us off. On a 1-year basis -- look, the consumer has shifted in a lot of ways, okay? So on a 1-year basis, we have continued to see some improvements in dine-in on a 1-year basis. Dine-in is clearly still down versus pre-COVID. Yes, so I think those are the highlights. Dine-in is growing certainly within sales and also traffic. Relative to pre-COVID, we're still down, but we've seen tremendous gains in off-premise or individual to go third party and catering has been a particularly strong bright spot that we have made a focus area that's also driving our off-premise business.

托德，這是克雷格。我會開始的。在一年的基礎上——看，消費者已經在很多方面發生了變化，好嗎？因此，在 1 年的基礎上，我們繼續看到在 1 年的基礎上堂食有所改善。與 COVID 之前相比，堂食顯然仍處於下降狀態。是的，所以我認為這些是亮點。堂食在銷售額和客流量方面都在增長。相對於 COVID 之前，我們仍然處於低迷狀態，但我們已經看到在場外或個人轉向第三方方面取得了巨大的進步，而餐飲一直是一個特別強大的亮點，我們已經成為一個重點領域，這也推動了我們的發展-前提業務。

Okay. Craig, just a follow-up there. Can you share how much of that $25 million in growth in catering is already kind of in the bar now that we're through the important holiday season?

好的。克雷格，只是那裡的後續行動。既然我們已經度過了重要的假日季節，您能否分享 2500 萬美元的餐飲增長中有多少已經在酒吧里了？

Can I take that?

我可以接受嗎？

Sure, Jen. I'll turn it over to Jennifer for that one.

當然，珍。我會把它交給詹妮弗。

Yes. I think what we would say is that Q2 exceeded our expectations in terms of off-premise. We were up 40% year-over-year in terms of catering. So we felt really, really good about the progress we made in the second quarter in catering. And that's also true in terms of our third-party delivering. We had a solid quarter there as well. So we definitely feel like we are well on track to hit that goal that we set out for the year.

是的。我想我們要說的是，第二季度在外部部署方面超出了我們的預期。我們在餐飲方面同比增長 40%。因此，我們對第二季度在餐飲方面取得的進展感到非常非常滿意。就我們的第三方交付而言也是如此。我們在那裡也有一個穩定的季度。因此，我們絕對覺得我們正在順利實現我們為今年設定的目標。

And Q2 is our strongest. With respect to catering, Q2 is the biggest quarter.

Q2是我們最強的。在餐飲方面，Q2 是最大的一個季度。

Great. And then final one, I'll jump back in queue. On the pricing strategy, I know kind of coming out of last quarter, you were targeting maybe 8% menu price increase. I think the full year now has crept up another 50 basis points. Can we maybe talk about continued increases in the face of maybe moderating, especially commodity outlook going forward? And how does price roll off?

偉大的。然後是最後一個，我會跳回到隊列中。關於定價策略，我知道上個季度的情況，你的目標是將菜單價格提高 8%。我認為全年現在又上漲了 50 個基點。面對可能放緩的情況，尤其是商品前景，我們能否談談持續增長？價格如何下降？

So with the incremental, I think you said half of the increase you're running now occurred during the quarter. Do we stay at a steady kind of 8.5% through the balance of the year? Or is it lumpier now that we've got -- I don't know the timing of the other roll-offs.

因此，對於增量，我認為你說你現在運行的增長的一半發生在本季度。在今年餘下的時間裡，我們是否會保持在 8.5% 的穩定水平？或者現在我們已經有了 - 我不知道其他滾降的時間。

Craig -- it's Todd. The pricing, we have that 8.5% on the year. And for Q2, about half of that is the rollover from prior year and the other half is the accumulation of the pricing action so far in this fiscal year. For the back half of the year, the overall pricing level cumulative, meaning the prior year rollover as well as pricing in this fiscal year we expect to remain in the high 8% range. Now just mathematically, as you go throughout the year, we will have -- less of that price is going to be driven by actions that we took in the prior year, but we will benefit from pricing actions, for example, that we took in Q1. So upper 8% range for Q3 and Q4.

克雷格——是托德。定價，我們今年有 8.5%。對於第二季度，其中大約一半是上一年的展期，另一半是本財年迄今為止定價行動的累積。對於今年下半年，整體定價水平累計，這意味著上一年的展期以及本財年的定價我們預計將保持在 8% 的高位範圍內。現在從數學上講，當你全年進行時，我們將擁有 - 更少的價格將由我們在前一年採取的行動驅動，但我們將從定價行動中受益，例如，我們採取的行動Q1。因此，Q3 和 Q4 的上限為 8%。

Our next question comes from Alton Stump with Loop Capital.

我們的下一個問題來自 Loop Capital 的 Alton Stump。

I just want to ask about the competitive environment. There's obviously been a lot of news flow. This time of the year certainly is typically more promotional anyway but even more so with consumers with the concern about a recession or et cetera. What do you see competitively? Is it worse than usually at this time of the year? Or do you think it's in par with what you had thought heading into the first half of the calendar year?

我只想問一下競爭環境。顯然有很多新聞流。無論如何，每年的這個時候通常都會有更多的促銷活動，但對於擔心經濟衰退等的消費者來說更是如此。你看到什麼有競爭力？一年中的這個時候比平時更糟嗎？或者你認為這與你進入日曆年上半年的想法相提並論嗎？

Alton, I'll start and then let Jen sort of wrap up. As we mentioned, our focus in Q3 certainly has been on reinforcing the value that we believe is on our menu with our 20 under $12, and now we've introduced our $5 take home. And so our marketing messaging will be largely about that because we believe value will be important. I think our competitors would agree based on the advertising. We're seeing that -- we're seeing more, I would think, and I'll let Jen speak to detail where would appear they are, even reintroducing or reinforcing the value on their menus and promotions. So it's not dissimilar to what we went through back in '10 and '09 when the industry was coming out of a difficult economic time and consumers will challenge them. So I would assume it's going to continue, if not accelerate.

奧爾頓，我先開始，然後讓珍做個總結。正如我們所提到的，我們在第三季度的重點當然是加強我們認為菜單上的價值，我們的 20 美元低於 12 美元，現在我們推出了 5 美元的帶回家。因此，我們的營銷信息將主要圍繞這一點，因為我們相信價值很重要。我認為我們的競爭對手會根據廣告同意。我們看到了——我們看到了更多，我想，我會讓 Jen 詳細說明他們會出現在哪裡，甚至重新引入或加強他們菜單和促銷活動的價值。因此，這與我們在 10 年和 09 年經歷的情況沒有什麼不同，當時該行業正走出經濟困難時期，消費者將挑戰他們。所以我認為它會繼續下去，即使不會加速。

Yes, I think Sandy said it really well. We're definitely seeing an increase in the number of price pointed, discounted promotional messaging, especially with some of our big competitors. But what we're really focused on is talking about the fact that we just have so many items on our menu that are price pointed well from $8.99, $9.99, $10.99, we have over 20 things, 20 meals that are under 20 -- under $12. And so we start very soon promoting all of that across all channels of our media mix, just to drive home the point that whatever day part you come in, there are familiar favorites, but also new enticing innovations that are under $12.

是的，我認為桑迪說得非常好。我們肯定會看到標價、打折促銷信息的數量在增加，尤其是我們的一些大競爭對手。但我們真正關注的是這樣一個事實，即我們的菜單上有這麼多項目，價格從 8.99 美元、9.99 美元、10.99 美元起，我們有超過 20 種東西，20 餐低於 20 美元——低於12 美元。因此，我們很快就開始在我們媒體組合的所有渠道中推廣所有這些內容，只是為了讓大家明白，無論你在哪一天，都有熟悉的最愛，但也有低於 12 美元的新的誘人創新。

So we'll be focusing on that strong everyday value and promoting that the balance of the year as well as that new platform of $5 take homes, which we think will really give people added value, an extra reason to make a visit to Cracker Barrel. We've seen really strong response so far on that. So I do think the competitive environment is heating up, but our intention is to continue to double down even more strongly on the great value we have on our menu.

因此，我們將專注於強大的日常價值，並宣傳今年的餘額以及 5 美元的新平台帶回家，我們認為這將真正為人們帶來附加值，這是訪問 Cracker Barrel 的額外理由.到目前為止，我們已經看到了非常強烈的反應。因此，我確實認為競爭環境正在升溫，但我們的意圖是繼續加大對我們菜單上的巨大價值的投入。

I'm going to add to that a little, Jen, just because while we're pleased with everything, Jen just said about value, we do continue to be pleased with the work we're doing on the check building initiatives that we have, our beverage attachments, our premium size, our Barrel Bites and those things. So we're watching all of that, especially with the price increases we're taking to be sure that for those guests who either are looking for something maybe more indulgent or kind of afforded that those items are on the menu, and we're seeing that they are still choosing them. But for those guests that are looking for value, I think our investment over the last few years in ensuring the value is still there and now the marketing around it will be helpful.

Jen，我要補充一點，只是因為雖然我們對所有事情都感到滿意，但 Jen 剛剛談到了價值，我們確實繼續對我們在支票建設計劃方面所做的工作感到滿意、我們的飲料附件、我們的優質尺寸、我們的 Barrel Bites 等等。所以我們正在關注這一切，尤其是在價格上漲的情況下，我們正在確保對於那些正在尋找可能更放縱或有點負擔得起菜單上的東西的客人，我們是看到他們還在選擇他們。但對於那些尋求價值的客人，我認為我們過去幾年為確保價值的投資仍然存在，現在圍繞它的營銷將有所幫助。

Our next question comes from Katherine Griffin with Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的凱瑟琳格里芬。

I wanted to ask about the fourth quarter commodities outlook. I think that went from expectations of deflationary to low single-digit inflation. So I was just wondering kind of how you could rank order what the main drivers of that were.

我想問一下第四季度的商品前景。我認為這從通貨緊縮的預期轉變為低個位數的通脹。所以我只是想知道如何對主要驅動因素進行排序。

Yes. The top 2 are going to be eggs and produce and certainly, I think if you were to -- from a spot market perspective, eggs went way up in hundreds of percent and then it's moderating. Relative to our contracts and formula prices, we are -- we were in a much more favorable position with eggs. And now given the current market conditions, even though it's moderated from a spot market perspective, we do expect egg prices to be higher than our prior projections in Q4, and the same goes for produce.

是的。前 2 名將是雞蛋和農產品，當然，我認為如果你要 - 從現貨市場的角度來看，雞蛋上漲了百分之幾百，然後它正在緩和。相對於我們的合同和配方價格，我們 - 我們在雞蛋方面處於更有利的位置。現在考慮到當前的市場狀況，即使從現貨市場的角度來看有所緩和，我們確實預計雞蛋價格會高於我們之前在第四季度的預測，農產品也是如此。

The good news is that we are seeing solid developments that are in line with our expectations on most other -- in most proteins.

好消息是，我們正在看到符合我們對大多數其他大多數蛋白質的預期的堅實發展。

Okay. Understood. And then just on Maple Street unit outlook, I think -- I'm guessing that changes there. You called out some construction headwinds. So I was just wondering if you could elaborate on that. Is that sort of supply chain constraints, labor, permitting? What sort of -- what do you mean by construction headwinds?

好的。明白了。然後就 Maple Street 的單位前景而言，我想——我猜那裡會發生變化。你指出了一些建築逆風。所以我只是想知道你是否可以詳細說明一下。這種供應鏈限制、勞動力、許可嗎？什麼樣的——你所說的建築逆風是什麼意思？

All of that. Different stories. Some cases, it's permitting is the issue some communities have -- don't have as many people to do it. It takes longer to get it. In some cases, we can't get the equipment, in some cases we can't get the labor to do the construction. So it's every one of those categories or probably have at least one issue in.

所有的。不同的故事。在某些情況下，允許的是一些社區存在的問題——沒有那麼多人去做。需要更長的時間才能得到它。在某些情況下，我們無法獲得設備，在某些情況下，我們無法獲得施工所需的勞動力。所以它是這些類別中的每一個，或者可能至少有一個問題。

And it's less so a problem for the Cracker Barrel stores?

對於 Cracker Barrel 商店來說，這不是什麼大問題嗎？

It's less of one because we have fewer stores. But on each of the ones we have, it is a problem. We actually are delayed on one of our new units because it couldn't pour the footings because of both weather and labor. So this is likely to be a problem for a little while longer, while the supply chain problems and the labor issues continue to work their way through the system.

它少了一個，因為我們的商店少了。但是對於我們擁有的每一個，這都是一個問題。事實上，我們的一個新單位被推遲了，因為天氣和勞動力都無法澆築地基。因此，這可能會持續一段時間，而供應鏈問題和勞工問題將繼續在整個系統中發揮作用。

Our next question comes from Jake Bartlett with Truist Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自 Truist Securities 的 Jake Bartlett。

My first is on the top line, and there's still a very wide range for the year, which means a very, very wide range for the back half in terms of the revenue guidance. My rough math is just over 6% to just over 10% kind of range of revenue growth in the back half.

我的第一個是頂線，今年的範圍仍然非常廣泛，這意味著就收入指導而言，後半部分的範圍非常非常廣泛。我的粗略計算是下半年收入增長略高於 6% 至略高於 10%。

Craig, you've -- and Sandy you've talked about kind of the volatility of results kind of leading to some of that caution on the wide range. But it seems like the volatility we've seen so far has been to the upside, given the really strong January. What are some signs that give you concern about demand and kind of lead you to keep that range so wide even though that we have half the year in the bag.

克雷格，你 - 和桑迪你已經談到了結果的波動性導致在廣泛範圍內的一些謹慎。但鑑於 1 月份的強勁表現，我們迄今為止看到的波動似乎是向上的。有哪些跡象讓你擔心需求，並導致你保持這個範圍如此之大，即使我們有半年的時間。

The -- you said it actually when you set it up, the underlying environment is much more volatile than is normal. And I think given that volatility, that just implies to us a wider range. It kind of goes hand in hand. Our experience so far of this fiscal has been that we're meeting our expectations. But the path from A to B, as we saw in January, for example, there's more movement than normal. As we think about our second half of the year, there are some assumptions built in that if they -- to the degree that they play out very positively, will put us in the high end of the range and to the degree that they don't would put us on the low end of the range or maybe even put some risks.

你在設置它時實際上說過，底層環境比正常情況下更不穩定。我認為鑑於這種波動性，這對我們來說意味著範圍更廣。它有點齊頭並進。到目前為止，我們在本財年的經驗是我們達到了預期。但是從 A 到 B 的路徑，正如我們在 1 月份看到的那樣，例如，移動比正常情況更多。當我們考慮今年下半年時，有一些假設，如果它們——在非常積極的情況下發揮作用，將使我們處於範圍的高端，而在一定程度上，它們不會”這會讓我們處於範圍的低端，甚至可能會帶來一些風險。

For example, in the second half of the year, we're going to be comping on the effects of the Ukraine war, which impacted gas prices, specifically, which impacts how folks travel and what they do while they're on their travel trip. And we also saw a sharp negative sentiment from our over 65 guests. And they were monitoring that, and it really had a negative halo in their minds in their outlook for their financial future. So our expectation -- in our guidance, there is an expectation that we're going to comp over that and that will be a positive. Now to the degree that there is something else that's negative that offsets that, then that would impact us negatively.

例如，在今年下半年，我們將對烏克蘭戰爭的影響進行比較，這影響了汽油價格，特別是影響了人們的旅行方式以及他們在旅行期間所做的事情.我們還看到超過 65 位客人表達了強烈的負面情緒。他們正在監控這一點，在他們的財務前景展望中，這確實在他們的腦海中產生了負面的光環。因此，我們的期望——在我們的指導中，期望我們能夠克服這一點，這將是積極的。現在，如果有其他負面因素抵消了這一點，那麼這會對我們產生負面影響。

Got it. Got it. Okay. And then I wanted to dig in a little bit more on the commodity and the COGS new guidance. If you can tell us what you have contracted at this point? I think the last time you spoke, it was roughly 45% but if you could just give us an idea of what's contracted. And then also what we should look out for. So of the exposure out there, what are you most sensitive in the back that you don't have contracted for that we can really monitor and see whether you're kind of on track to hit that guidance?

知道了。知道了。好的。然後我想深入了解商品和 COGS 新指南。如果你能告訴我們你現在簽約了什麼？我想你上次發言時大約是 45%，但如果你能告訴我們合同內容是什麼。然後還有我們應該注意什麼。那麼在外面的曝光中，你在後面最敏感的是什麼，你沒有簽約，我們可以真正監控，看看你是否在某種程度上達到了那個指導？

So in the back half of the year, we are carrying about 10% less coverage than we did last year at this time. And that's a function of the -- while spot market prices are coming down, but the spot market's a little different from your contracted price. And because the spot market is coming down, it's coming down off of highs. So as a result of all of that, we have not -- it hasn't seemed prudent to us to lock in to the degree that we have traditionally. So there are -- and that really extends across a variety of areas of our market basket.

因此，在今年下半年，我們的覆蓋率比去年同期減少了約 10%。這是一個函數——雖然現貨市場價格正在下降，但現貨市場與您的合同價格略有不同。而且由於現貨市場正在下跌，它正在從高位回落。因此，由於所有這些，我們沒有——鎖定我們傳統上的程度似乎並不明智。所以有 - 這真的延伸到我們市場籃子的各個領域。

So less coverage than normal but the rationale behind that is spot market is coming down, but it's still high. And there is a lot of risk aversion with the suppliers. They do not want to provide a degree of coverage at the premium that they traditionally would. So that math is starting to change but it hasn't changed as yet. So I would say, as you know, we carry a fairly broad market basket in terms of our concentration in different areas.

覆蓋率低於正常水平，但背後的原因是現貨市場正在下降，但仍然很高。供應商有很多風險厭惡情緒。他們不想以傳統上的保費提供一定程度的保險。因此，數學開始發生變化，但目前還沒有改變。所以我想說，正如你所知，就我們在不同領域的集中度而言，我們擁有相當廣泛的市場籃子。

And there is exposure, that exposure to market forces is higher than it's been really across most of those. We do have fair amount of coverage, but less than we normally would. We also have some formula prices out there, and those formulas have some exposure. So it's probably not as black and white as an answer as you would like. So more exposure than normal, but the underlying environment is also starting to look more favorable from a commodities perspective.

還有風險敞口，市場力量的敞口高於大多數市場的實際敞口。我們確實有相當多的報導，但比我們通常會少。我們也有一些公式價格，這些公式有一些曝光率。所以它可能不像你想要的那樣黑白分明。因此比正常情況下更多的風險敞口，但從大宗商品的角度來看，基礎環境也開始看起來更加有利。

Great. And then last question. Within COGS, there's been -- for the last 4 quarters, there's been a big bad guy in there, something that's causing your COGS to be higher. So if I look at in the second quarter, 9% price, 12.5% commodities, there was more pressure on COGS. Basically, there's kind of an unspoken for kind of 3.9% "inflation." So it's been a bad guy. I think there's freight in there, mix. Does that switch to become a good tailwind in the next couple of quarters as that -- as some of those normalize? Is that how we should think about it?

偉大的。然後是最後一個問題。在 COGS 中，在過去的 4 個季度裡，有一個大壞蛋，導致你的 COGS 更高。因此，如果我看第二季度，9% 的價格，12.5% 的商品，銷貨成本的壓力更大。基本上，對於 3.9% 的“通貨膨脹”，有一種不言自明的說法。所以這是一個壞人。我認為那裡有貨物，混合。這是否會在接下來的幾個季度中成為順風——正如其中一些正常化一樣？我們應該這樣想嗎？

Yes, we had about roughly 60 bps of menu mix and that menu mix is coming from some of the work that we've done to really provide guests more options to upgrade. And those have come with a higher check in the form of mix, but it's also come with a higher COGS percent. So it's margin favorable but the cost percent has increased as a result.

是的，我們有大約 60 bps 的菜單組合，而該菜單組合來自我們為真正為客人提供更多升級選項所做的一些工作。這些以混合的形式帶來了更高的支票，但它也帶來了更高的銷貨成本百分比。所以它的利潤率是有利的，但成本百分比因此增加了。

And as you noted, we started seeing that play out to some degree in about Q3 of last year and it got increased a little bit further in Q4 of last year. So we'll be comping on that. I do not anticipate a major tailwind in that regard. But I also do not anticipate the headwind to the same degree. But having said all of that, really, we are providing a -- we continue to give guests flexibility in terms of how they choose to use us, and we're keeping our lower entry price points. And to the degree that guests opt into things that have a higher price. Those items typically come with a higher cost of goods sold, that's fairly normal. So to the degree that, that continues to happen, I wouldn't be surprised that, that is a COGS headwind but as of this point, as you noted, we will be comping over when that started in Q3.

正如您所指出的，我們在去年第三季度左右開始看到這種情況在某種程度上發揮作用，並且在去年第四季度進一步增加。因此，我們將對此進行補償。我預計在這方面不會出現重大順風。但我也沒有預料到同樣程度的逆風。但話雖如此，實際上，我們正在提供 - 我們繼續為客人提供靈活性，讓他們選擇如何使用我們，並且我們保持較低的入門價格。並且客人選擇價格更高的東西的程度。這些商品通常具有較高的商品銷售成本，這是很正常的。因此，就這種情況繼續發生的程度而言，我不會感到驚訝，這是一個 COGS 逆風，但正如你所指出的那樣，截至目前，我們將在第三季度開始時進行補償。

Our next question comes from Andrew Wolf with CL King.

我們的下一個問題來自 CL King 的 Andrew Wolf。

I wanted to start with the labor system where you've mentioned it's beginning to roll out or it is being rolled out to about half the chain by now. So how is -- could you just give us an update how it is doing versus sort of like achieving the milestones, let's say, in getting to the KPIs that you've targeted. And as I understand it, it's a lot of it has to do with matching work with guest traffic and so on. So is this something where ultimately it's a labor productivity metric that you could either share with us or we could try to figure out on our own?

我想從你提到的勞動力系統開始推出，或者它現在已經推廣到大約一半的供應鏈。那麼如何 - 你能否向我們介紹一下它是如何做的，而不是像實現里程碑一樣，比方說，在達到你所針對的 KPI 方面。據我了解，這在很大程度上與匹配工作與訪客流量等有關。那麼，這是否最終成為您可以與我們分享或者我們可以嘗試自己弄清楚的勞動生產率指標？

Yes. Andrew, so let me start that. First of all, we've got our new, we call it here PCM labor. In about 300 stores now, just ruled about the last 150, and we are continued to be pleased with the results. As you said, the system does a variety of things, but it primarily helps matching the specific labor that a store needs with the sales they anticipate sort of by category.

是的。安德魯，讓我開始吧。首先，我們有新的，我們在這裡稱之為 PCM 勞動力。現在大約有 300 家商店，剛剛統治了最後 150 家，我們對結果繼續感到滿意。正如您所說，該系統可以做很多事情，但它主要幫助將商店所需的特定勞動力與他們按類別分類的預期銷售額相匹配。

So catering sales have different labor demands than dine-in, which is different than individual off-premise and it helps the stores match labor to the specific time of day and type of business that they're trying to do, gives them better visibility to their sales, it just allows them to better match.

因此，餐飲銷售與堂食有不同的勞動力需求，這與個人場外不同，它有助於商店將勞動力與一天中的特定時間和他們嘗試做的業務類型相匹配，讓他們更好地了解他們的銷售，它只是讓他們更好地匹配。

It also has a benefit for the employee experience. The system is cloud-based and comes with an app. So employees are able to access the system and do a variety of things that helps them. So it has this benefit to the employee experience. I think in general, we believe it will allow us to better manage our labor. I would imagine it will help us improve productivity, but I don't anticipate, Craig, giving specific guest per labor hour productivity metrics on that one component. There's a lot of other things in our labor line, management labor over a whole lot of other components that roll up to the guidance.

它還對員工體驗有好處。該系統是基於雲的，並帶有一個應用程序。因此，員工能夠訪問系統並執行各種對他們有幫助的事情。所以它對員工體驗有好處。我認為總的來說，我們相信這將使我們能夠更好地管理我們的勞動力。我想這會幫助我們提高生產力，但克雷格，我預計不會在該組件上為特定客人提供每工時生產力指標。我們的勞動力線上還有很多其他事情，管理勞動力涉及許多其他組件，這些組件都匯總到指南中。

Yes, I think, Andrew, in the $25 million cost save, we've got, I think it's about 40% coming out of cost of sales, and I think we've got about 40% coming out of labor. And this is a component of that labor component.

是的，我認為，安德魯，在 2500 萬美元的成本節省中，我們有大約 40% 來自銷售成本，我認為我們有大約 40% 來自勞動力。這是該勞動力部分的一個組成部分。

Okay. Appreciate that color. The other question I wanted to ask you is if I heard right, I think the younger cohort visits or sales were about flat year-on-year. And I know that is a strategic target to increase penetration. Can you kind of give us a -- is it kind of seasonality because you're selling more of other stuff, like the catering-related items in Thanksgiving and Christmas? Or is it -- do you think some of the marketing programs or product programs are kind of just sort of in a phase where there you need to be -- you're waiting for the loyalty program, for example? Is it just sort of a timing issue?

好的。欣賞那種顏色。我想問你的另一個問題是，如果我沒聽錯，我認為年輕群體的訪問量或銷售額同比持平。我知道這是提高滲透率的戰略目標。你能不能給我們一個 - 它是不是有點季節性，因為你賣了更多其他東西，比如感恩節和聖誕節的餐飲相關物品？或者是——您是否認為某些營銷計劃或產品計劃只是處於您需要的階段——例如，您正在等待忠誠度計劃？這只是一個時間問題嗎？

Andrew, it's Jen. I think for Q2 specifically, we were unchanged with our younger cohorts. But as we look back over several quarters, we have seen sort of steady, modest improvement with those younger cohorts. So I think this was just a quarter where we didn't see gains but we did see some modest improvement with our older guests in this particular quarter. I can't say whether that was seasonality or most likely that piece, the older guests returning was due to the wrapping of the Omicron wave.

安德魯，是珍。我認為特別是對於第二季度，我們的年輕群體沒有變化。但當我們回顧過去的幾個季度時，我們看到這些年輕群體在某種程度上取得了穩定、適度的改善。所以我認為這只是一個我們沒有看到收益的季度，但我們確實看到在這個特定季度我們的老客人有一些適度的改善。我不能說這是季節性的還是很可能是那一塊，老客人回來是由於 Omicron 波浪的包裹。

So we were pleased to see, obviously, some of our older guests coming back and we do believe a significant portion of those will continue to return. It's just hard to say how many win. And we have been working to diversify our guest base, and we are pleased with the progress we've seen in increasing frequency with the younger guests. It just -- Q2 just wasn't a particularly meaningful quarter with the younger cohorts. But overall, we feel good about that. And we do have a lot planned towards the end of the year to continue those efforts to bring in more younger folks, one of the biggest ones being the launch of our loyalty rewards program.

所以我們很高興看到，顯然，我們的一些老客人回來了，我們相信其中很大一部分人會繼續回來。很難說有多少贏了。我們一直在努力使我們的客人群多樣化，我們很高興看到我們在越來越多的年輕客人中看到的進步。它只是——第二季度對於年輕群體來說並不是一個特別有意義的季度。但總的來說，我們對此感覺良好。我們在年底前確實有很多計劃，以繼續努力吸引更多年輕人，其中最大的計劃之一是推出我們的忠誠度獎勵計劃。

So you remain on track to launch the program in your fiscal fourth quarter, the loyalty program?

因此，您仍有望在第四財季啟動該計劃，即忠誠度計劃？

We are working very hard to meet that timing, and we certainly do intend to launch in the fourth quarter.

我們正在非常努力地趕上那個時間點，我們當然打算在第四季度推出。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question comes from Jon Tower with Citibank. Jon, you're line might be on mute. We're going to go to the next questioner, Todd Brooks with The Benchmark Company.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自花旗銀行的 Jon Tower。喬恩，你的線路可能處於靜音狀態。我們將轉到下一位提問者，The Benchmark Company 的 Todd Brooks。

Just a couple of quick follow-ups here. On an earlier question, you were talking about Maple Street and construction frictions. And I just want to start to look out to the forward year. If this is a 15 unit type of year and you're building a pipeline of sites, a pipeline of talent and then taking the frictions into account, which hopefully will ease going into fiscal '24 for you. What's a reasonable growth expectation. If you open 15 next year, you think you can open 20 in the out year? Or how should we start to frame that up?

這裡只是幾個快速跟進。在之前的一個問題中，您談到了楓樹街和建筑摩擦。我只想開始展望未來的一年。如果今年是 15 個單元類型，並且您正在構建站點管道、人才管道，然後將摩擦考慮在內，這有望為您減輕進入 24 財年的壓力。什麼是合理的增長預期。如果明年開15個，你覺得明年能開20個？或者我們應該如何開始構建它？

Todd, it's Craig. At this time, it's still early enough in the planning process that we're not prepared to share any -- our fiscal '24 openings as yet.

托德，我是克雷格。目前，在規劃過程中還處於早期階段，我們還沒有準備好分享任何信息——我們的 24 財年開放計劃。

Okay. Fair enough. And then my second follow-up is on the retail gross margins. I know we talked in the quarter that just ended about a normalization in kind of markdown rates, and we saw that in the gross margin. When I look at Q3, because we've been so clean the past couple of years from an inventory standpoint, we've seen kind of retail gross margins in that 47% range. But I think historically, in a normalized environment, even more in the mid 48% to 49% range. So just wondering how clean are the inventories? Do the markdowns carry over into this quarter? And should we think about that old historical kind of 48% to 49% range? Or is there a shot to do the 47% again?

好的。很公平。然後我的第二個後續行動是零售毛利率。我知道我們在剛剛結束的那個季度談到了降價率的正常化，我們在毛利率中看到了這一點。當我看第三季度時，因為從庫存的角度來看，過去幾年我們一直非常乾淨，我們看到零售毛利率在 47% 的範圍內。但我認為，從歷史上看，在正常化環境中，甚至更多在 48% 到 49% 的中間範圍內。所以只是想知道庫存有多乾淨？降價會延續到本季度嗎？我們是否應該考慮 48% 到 49% 的舊曆史範圍？還是有機會再次達到 47%？

Well, I can -- I'll start on the inventory and then turn it over to Craig to see what he -- how specific he wants to get on retail guidance. But the inventories are actually, I'd say, very clean. I think our retail teams did a good job of managing through, particularly our seasonal inventories. First of all, the consumers love them. And so that we went into the season with strong sales. And as we got closer, they really did a good job of managing the markdown. So we were able to clear a lot of inventory at a higher price than I think we would have if we had waited longer, particularly, we had a big storm right at the Christmas weekend. So I feel good about where inventories are now.

好吧，我可以——我會從庫存開始，然後把它交給克雷格，看看他——他想獲得零售指導的具體程度。但我想說，庫存實際上非常乾淨。我認為我們的零售團隊在管理方面做得很好，尤其是我們的季節性庫存。首先，消費者喜歡它們。因此，我們進入了銷售強勁的季節。隨著我們越來越近，他們在管理降價方面確實做得很好。因此，我們能夠以比我想像的更高的價格清理大量庫存，如果我們等待更長時間，尤其是在聖誕節週末我們遇到了一場大風暴。所以我對現在的庫存情況感覺很好。

In terms of margin expectations for the quarter, generally, we're going to be in more of a normalizing standpoint from now on, which is not as good as last year, but better than '19 is kind of what I...

就本季度的利潤率預期而言，一般來說，從現在開始我們將處於更正常化的立場，這不如去年好，但比 19 年好是我的...

Exactly. That's exactly right. We're -- the retail business is doing great. They are on track. We're very pleased and the margin approach is returning to normal. I think last year's Q3, we were still lower than normal. And by Q4, we were much closer. So I would say as we go forward, it's closer to where we've been traditionally pre-COVID.

確切地。這是完全正確的。我們——零售業務做得很好。他們走上正軌。我們非常高興，保證金方法正在恢復正常。我認為去年第三季度，我們仍然低於正常水平。到第四季度，我們更接近了。所以我想說，隨著我們的前進，它更接近我們傳統上 COVID 之前的狀態。

Our next question comes from Katherine Griffin with Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的凱瑟琳格里芬。

I wanted to ask about a little bit more on off-premise. So I think with that coming in a little stronger than expected, maybe reflecting some sort of structurally stronger demand. I'm just wondering if you could talk more about any of the changes you made in the restaurants either with respect to technology or adopting the physical layout in order to fulfill that demand?

我想多問一些關於場外的事情。因此，我認為這比預期的要強一些，可能反映出某種結構性的強勁需求。我只是想知道您是否可以更多地談談您在技術或採用物理佈局方面對餐廳所做的任何更改以滿足該需求？

I'll turn it over to Jen as to -- she has more specifics, Katherine. But I -- first of all, the second quarter is historically a very strong off-premise quarter for us. We've lots of opportunities for whether it's celebration meals and the catering or Heat n' Serve programs or just individual to go. And I think in each category, our teams really did a good job of delivering. We had -- our operations teams have been really focused on the guest experience with off-prem and improving accuracy and in delivering the -- particularly on Thanksgiving and Christmas. We do a lot of that business actually often at our back door, and it's managed really well. We invested in more marketing against our catering. I think some of the menu optimization items that we had available were good or catering sales managers, that team did a great job of selling our catering to lots of businesses as we went into the holidays. So it was really a lot of work done by a lot of our teams that delivered the results. Jen, do you want to add anything to that?

我會把它交給 Jen，她有更多細節，Katherine。但我 - 首先，第二季度對我們來說歷史上是一個非常強勁的場外季度。我們有很多機會，無論是慶祝餐和餐飲，還是熱食計劃，或者只是個人去。我認為在每個類別中，我們的團隊都確實做得很好。我們 - 我們的運營團隊一直非常專注於客戶體驗，提高準確性和交付 - 特別是在感恩節和聖誕節。我們實際上經常在我們的後門做很多這樣的業務，而且管理得非常好。我們在餐飲方面投入了更多營銷。我認為我們可用的一些菜單優化項目是優秀的或餐飲銷售經理，當我們進入假期時，該團隊在將我們的餐飲銷售給許多企業方面做得很好。所以我們的很多團隊確實做了很多工作才交付了結果。珍，你想補充什麼嗎？

Well, that was pretty good. Yes, I would just say our off-premise business is composed of 40% individual to go pick up, 40% third-party delivery and then 20% like catering and Heat n' Serve. During this quarter, the 2 strongest parts of the off-premise business were indeed the third-party delivery and then our catering and Heat n' Serve. And I would say that big drivers of that were marketing efforts in terms of third party and catering and improving accuracy, which has really helped delivery and getting fully staffed with those catering sales managers because we saw strong growth in the B2B sales there, expanding that delivery network for catering so that all of our stores in our whole system can deliver catering. That was really important. And we are doubling down on marketing because we do have such a strong platform with catering and third party. So we plan to continue that the balance of the year.

嗯，那很好。是的，我只想說我們的場外業務包括 40% 的個人去取貨、40% 的第三方交付以及 20% 的餐飲和 Heat n' Serve。在本季度，場外業務最強勁的兩個部分確實是第三方交付，然後是我們的餐飲和 Heat n' Serve。我想說，這方面的主要推動力是在第三方和餐飲方面的營銷努力以及提高準確性，這確實有助於交付和配備這些餐飲銷售經理，因為我們看到那裡的 B2B 銷售強勁增長，擴大了餐飲配送網絡，使我們整個系統中的所有商店都可以配送餐飲。這真的很重要。我們正在加倍營銷，因為我們確實擁有如此強大的餐飲和第三方平台。所以我們計劃在今年餘下的時間裡繼續這樣做。

We also did launch and improve our digital app.

我們還推出並改進了我們的數字應用程序。

Yes, the app that -- we've now got a native app that has done really well, and our app ratings are strong. I think 4.8 was the latest I saw in the Apple Store so that's been a huge improvement. We're seeing a lot of customer adoption of that and increased usage of that for placing these orders.

是的，這個應用程序——我們現在有一個做得非常好的本地應用程序，而且我們的應用程序評級很高。我認為 4.8 是我在 Apple Store 看到的最新版本，所以這是一個巨大的改進。我們看到很多客戶採用它，並且越來越多地使用它來下訂單。

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

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉交給 Sandra Cochran 作閉幕詞。

Well, thank you for joining us today. We appreciate the interest. I'm pleased with our Q2 results. Believe our strategy and execution will sustain our momentum and drive continued performance improvements in the second half of the fiscal year.

好吧，謝謝你今天加入我們。我們感謝您的興趣。我對我們第二季度的業績感到滿意。相信我們的戰略和執行將保持我們的勢頭，並推動本財年下半年的業績持續改善。

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。