Chefs' Warehouse Inc (CHEF) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to The Chefs' Warehouse third-quarter 2025 earnings conference call. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

各位好，歡迎參加The Chefs' Warehouse 2025年第三季財報電話會議。請注意，本次會議正在錄音。

I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Alex Aldous, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary, and Chief Government Relations Officer. Please go ahead, sir.

現在我將會議交給主持人，總法律顧問、公司秘書兼首席政府關係官亞歷克斯·奧爾德斯先生。請您開始吧，先生。

Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone. With me on today's call are Chris Pappas, Founder, Chairman, and CEO; and Jim Leddy, our CFO. By now, you should have access to our third-quarter 2025 earnings press release. It can also be found at www.chefswarehouse.com under the Investor Relations section.

謝謝接線生。大家早安。今天和我一起參加電話會議的是創辦人、董事長兼執行長克里斯·帕帕斯 (Chris Pappas) 和財務長吉姆·萊迪 (Jim Leddy)。現在，您應該已經可以查看我們 2025 年第三季的收益新聞稿了。您也可以造訪 www.chefswarehouse.com，在「投資者關係」欄位下找到它。

Throughout this conference call, we will be presenting non-GAAP financial measures, including, among others, historical and estimated EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA as well as historical adjusted net income, adjusted earnings per share, adjusted operating expenses, adjusted operating expenses as a percentage of net sales and as a percentage of gross profit, net debt, net debt leverage, and free cash flow.

在本次電話會議中，我們將介紹非GAAP財務指標，其中包括歷史和估計的EBITDA和調整後的EBITDA，以及歷史調整後的淨收入、調整後的每股收益、調整後的營業費用、調整後的營業費用佔淨銷售額的百分比和占毛利潤的百分比、淨債務、淨債務槓桿率和自由現金流。

These measures are not calculated in accordance with GAAP and may be calculated differently in similarly titled non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. Quantitative reconciliations of our non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures appear in today's press release and third-quarter 2025 earnings presentation.

這些指標並非按照公認會計準則 (GAAP) 計算，其他公司使用的類似名稱的非公認會計準則財務指標的計算方法可能有所不同。我們非公認會計準則財務指標與其最直接可比較的公認會計準則財務指標的定量調節表，請參閱今天的新聞稿和2025年第三季財報。

Before we begin our formal remarks, I need to remind everyone that part of our discussion today will include forward-looking statements, including statements regarding our estimated financial performance. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and therefore, you should not put undue reliance on them.

在我們正式發言之前，我需要提醒各位，我們今天的討論將包含一些前瞻性陳述，包括關於我們預期財務表現的陳述。這些前瞻性陳述並非對未來績效的保證，因此，各位不應過度依賴這些陳述。

These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from what we expect. Some of these risks are mentioned in today's release. Others are discussed in our annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, which are available on the SEC website. Today, we are going to provide a business update and go over our third-quarter results in detail.

這些聲明受諸多風險和不確定因素的影響，可能導致實際結果與預期有重大差異。部分風險已在今天的新聞稿中提及。其他風險則在我們的年度報告（10-K 表格）和季度報告（10-Q 表格）中有所論述，這些報告均可在美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 網站上查閱。今天，我們將提供業務最新進展，並詳細解讀第三季業績。

For a portion of our discussion this morning, we will refer to a few slides posted on The Chefs' Warehouse website under Investor Relations section titled third-quarter 2025 earnings presentation. Please note that these slides are disclosed at this time for illustration purposes only. Then we will open up the call for questions.

今天上午的討論中，我們將參考The Chefs' Warehouse網站投資者關係欄位下發布的題為「2025年第三季財報」的幾張投影片。請注意，這些幻燈片目前僅用於演示目的。之後，我們將開放提問環節。

With that I will turn the call over to Chris Pappas. Chris?

接下來我將把電話轉給克里斯·帕帕斯。克里斯？

Thank you, Alex, and thank you all for joining our third-quarter 2025 earnings call. Business and demand trends improved sequentially through the third quarter and momentum in demand and market share gains continued into October. Our operating divisions across domestic and international markets delivered strong growth in revenue and gross profit dollars as well as continued progress, increasing relevance with our customer base with strong year-over-year growth in unique item placements.

謝謝Alex，也謝謝各位參加我們2025年第三季財報電話會議。第三季業務和需求趨勢較上季改善，需求和市場佔有率的成長動能延續到了10月份。我們在國內和國際市場的各個營運部門在營收和毛利方面均實現了強勁增長，同時，隨著獨特商品展示數量的同比增長，我們在客戶群中的相關性也持續提升。

As we head into the busy holiday season, I would like to thank all our Chefs' Warehouse teams from sales and procurement operations to all the supporting functions for their dedication and commitment to delivering our diverse and high-quality product, service in partnership with our suppliers and customers and the communities we serve.

隨著繁忙的假期季節即將到來，我要感謝 Chefs' Warehouse 的所有團隊，從銷售和採購運營到所有支援職能部門，感謝他們為與我們的供應商、客戶以及我們所服務的社區合作，提供多樣化和高品質的產品和服務所付出的奉獻和努力。

As a reminder, earlier in 2025, we eliminated two noncore programs in Texas that came with the acquisition of Hardie's in 2023. These programs -- one protein program focused on high-volume, low-dollar poultry, and another produce processing and packaging program -- together only represented approximately 1% of our revenue. As such, until we lap this attrition in the second quarter of 2026, we will present price and volume metrics as reported and also excluding the impact of these changes to present more representative year-over-year price inflation and volume changes for our business overall.

再次提醒，我們在2025年初終止了位於德克薩斯州的兩個非核心項目，這兩個項目是我們在2023年收購Hardie's時獲得的。這兩個項目——一個是專注於高銷售量、低單價家禽的蛋白質項目，另一個是農產品加工和包裝項目——合計僅占我們收入的約1%。因此，在2026年第二季完成這些專案調整之前，我們將繼續呈現已報告的價格和銷售指標，並剔除這些調整的影響，以便更準確地反映我們整體業務的同比價格通膨和銷售變化。

With that, please refer to slide 3 of the presentation. A few highlights from the third quarter include 9.6% growth in net sales. Specialty sales were up 7.7% over prior year, which was driven primarily by unique placement growth of 5.3%, reported specialty case growth of 3.2%, and price inflation. Excluding the elimination of the Texas produce processing and packaging program, specialty case growth was 5.4% versus the prior year quarter. Unique customer growth, 2.6% year over year.

接下來，請參閱簡報的第3頁。第三季的一些亮點包括：淨銷售額成長9.6%。特種產品銷售額年增7.7%，主要得益於5.3%的獨家銷售通路成長、3.2%的特種產品銷售量成長以及價格上漲。若不計入取消德州農產品加工和包裝項目的影響，特種產品銷售量較去年同期成長5.4%。獨立客戶數量較去年同期成長2.6%。

Reported unique customer growth was impacted by the Texas commodity poultry attrition and the temporary impact of the heightened conflict in the Middle East during the summer months. Despite the temporary summer impact, our Chefs' Middle East business continued to grow and exceed our expectations. Excluding these impacts, third-quarter year-over-year unique customer growth was approximately 5.8%. Pounds in center-of-the-plate were approximately 1.1% lower than the prior year third quarter. Excluding the attrition related to the Texas commodity poultry program, center-of-the-plate pounds growth was 9.6% higher than prior year third quarter.

報告顯示，獨立客戶成長受到德州商品家禽供應減少以及夏季中東衝突加劇的暫時性影響。儘管受到夏季的暫時性影響，我們的中東廚師業務仍持續成長，並且超乎預期。剔除這些影響後，第三季獨立客戶年增約 5.8%。餐盤中心菜餚的重量較去年同期下降約 1.1%。剔除與德州商品家禽計畫相關的供應減少，餐盤中心菜餚的重量較上年同期成長 9.6%。

Gross profit margins increased approximately 7 basis points. Gross margins in the specialty category increased approximately 59 basis points as compared to the third quarter of 2024, while gross margin in the center-of-the-plate category decreased approximately 49 basis points year over year. Jim will provide more detail on gross profit and margins in a few moments.

毛利率成長約7個基點。與2024年第三季相比，特色食品類別的毛利率成長約59個基點，而主菜類別的毛利率較去年同期下降約49個基點。吉姆稍後將詳細介紹毛利和毛利率。

Please refer to slide 4 for an update on certain of our operating metric improvements. In summary, Chart 1 shows continued improvement in gross profit dollars per route. Third-quarter 2025 trailing 12 months was 4% higher versus full-year 2024 and 37.8% higher than 2019.

請參閱投影片 4，以了解我們部分營運指標改善的最新情況。總而言之，圖表 1 顯示每條線路的毛利持續成長。 2025 年第三季（過去 12 個月）的毛利較 2024 年全年成長 4%，較 2019 年成長 37.8%。

Chart 2 shows third-quarter 2025 trailing 12-month adjusted EBITDA per employee increased 9% versus full-year 2024 and 28% versus 2019. Third-quarter 2025 trailing 12-month adjusted operating expense as a percentage of gross profit dollars improvement by 114 basis points versus full-year 2024 and 206 basis points versus 2019.

圖表 2 顯示，2025 年第三季過去 12 個月的調整後每位員工 EBITDA 比 2024 年全年增長 9%，比 2019 年增長 28%。 2025 年第三季過去 12 個月的調整後營業費用佔毛利的百分比比 2024 年全年改善 114 個基點，比 2019 年改善 206 個基點。

Subsequent to the close of our fiscal third quarter on October 1, 2025, we completed the acquisition of Italco Food Products, a small specialty food and ingredient distributor located in Denver, Colorado. We are excited for the Italco team to join The Chefs' Warehouse family of companies and brands. We look forward to leveraging our unique CW go-to-market and supply chain model as we grow into the dynamic urban and resort markets in the Centennial State.

在2025年10月1日第三財季結束後，我們完成了對位於科羅拉多州丹佛市的小型特色食品和配料分銷商Italco Food Products的收購。我們非常高興Italco團隊加入The Chefs' Warehouse旗下公司與品牌。隨著我們在科羅拉多州充滿活力的城市和度假市場不斷發展壯大，我們期待利用我們獨特的CW市場拓展和供應鏈模式。

With that, I'll turn it over to Jim to discuss more detailed financial information for the quarter and an update on our liquidity. Jim?

接下來，我將把發言權交給吉姆，讓他詳細討論本季的財務資訊以及我們流動性的最新情況。吉姆？

Thank you, Chris, and good morning, everyone. I'll now provide a comparison of our current quarter operating results versus the prior year quarter and provide an update on our balance sheet and liquidity.

謝謝克里斯，大家早安。接下來，我將比較本季與去年同期的經營業績，並介紹我們的資產負債表和流動性狀況。

Please refer to slide number five. Our net sales for the quarter ended September 26, 2025, increased approximately 9.6% to $1.021 billion from $931.5 million in the third quarter of 2024. Net inflation was 7.4% in the third quarter, consisting of 4.4% inflation in our specialty category and 12.3% inflation in our center-of-the-plate category versus the prior year quarter.

請參閱第五張投影片。截至2025年9月26日的季度，我們的淨銷售額較2024年第三季的9.315億美元成長約9.6%，達到10.21億美元。第三季淨通膨率為7.4%，其中特種食品類別通膨率為4.4%，主菜類別通膨率為12.3%（與上年同期相比）。

Reported inflation was impacted by two primary factors in the third quarter versus the prior year quarter. Center-of-the-plate inflation was impacted by the commodity poultry program attrition in 2025. Excluding this attrition impact, net inflation in the center-of-the-plate category was 5% versus the reported 12.3%.

與去年同期相比，第三季報告的通膨率主要受兩個因素影響。其中，主食價格通膨受到2025年家禽產品計畫終止的影響。剔除此終止影響後，主食價格類別的淨通膨率為5%，而報告的通膨率為12.3%。

Continued growth in specialty cross-sell, as we further integrate CW and Hardie's, results in elevated reported specialty third-quarter inflation. Excluding this impact, specialty inflation was approximately 2.1% and overall inflation for the company was approximately 3.3% versus the prior year quarter.

隨著我們進一步整合CW和Hardie's，特種產品交叉銷售持續成長，導致第三季特種產品通膨率上升。剔除此影響，特種產品通膨率約2.1%，公司整體通膨率約為3.3%（與去年同期相比）。

Gross profit increased 10% to $247.2 million for the third quarter of 2025 versus $224.7 million for the third quarter of 2024. Gross profit margins increased approximately 7 basis points to 24.2%. Selling, general, and administrative expenses increased approximately 7.9% to $208.1 million for the third quarter of 2025 from $192.9 million for the third quarter of 2024.

2025年第三季毛利成長10%，達到2.472億美元，而2024年第三季為2.247億美元。毛利率成長約7個基點，達到24.2%。 2025年第三季銷售、一般及行政費用成長約7.9%，達2.081億美元，2024年第三季為1.929億美元。

The increase was primarily due to higher costs associated with compensation and benefits to support sales growth, higher depreciation driven by facility and fleet investments, and higher self-insurance-related costs. Adjusted operating expenses increased 7% versus the prior year third quarter. And as a percentage of net sales, adjusted operating expenses were 17.8% for the third quarter of 2025.

成長的主要原因是為支持銷售成長而增加的薪資和福利成本、因設施和車隊投資而導致的折舊增加，以及自保相關成本上升。經調整後的營運費用較上年同期成長7%。 2025年第三季度，經調整後的營運費用佔淨銷售額的17.8%。

Operating income for the third quarter of 2025 was $38.9 million compared to $31.9 million for the third quarter of 2024. The increase in operating income was driven primarily by higher gross profit, partially offset by higher selling, general, and administrative expenses versus the prior year quarter. Our GAAP net income was $19.1 million or $0.44 per diluted share for the third quarter of 2025, compared to net income of $14.1 million or $0.34 per diluted share for the third quarter of 2024.

2025年第三季營業收入為3,890萬美元，而2024年第三季為3,190萬美元。營業收入成長主要得益於毛利增加，但部分被銷售、一般及行政費用較上年同期增加所抵銷。 2025年第三季度，我們以美國通用會計準則（GAAP）計算的淨利為1,910萬美元，即每股攤薄收益0.44美元，而2024年第三季淨利為1,410萬美元，即每股攤薄收益0.34美元。

On a non-GAAP basis, we had adjusted EBITDA of $65.1 million for the third quarter of 2025 compared to $54.5 million for the prior year third quarter. Adjusted net income was $21.5 million or $0.50 per diluted share for the third quarter of 2025, compared to $15.4 million or $0.36 per diluted share for the prior year third quarter.

以非GAAP準則計算，我們2025年第三季的調整後EBITDA為6,510萬美元，而去年同期為5,450萬美元。 2025年第三季的調整後淨利為2,150萬美元，即每股攤薄收益0.50美元，而去年同期為1,540萬美元，即每股攤薄收益0.36美元。

Turning to the balance sheet and an update on our liquidity. Please refer to slide number six. At the end of the third quarter, we had total liquidity of $224.6 million, comprised of $65.1 million in cash and $159.5 million in availability under our ABL facility. As of September 26, 2025, total net debt was approximately $575.2 million, inclusive of all cash and cash equivalents, and net debt to adjusted EBITDA was approximately 2.3 times.

接下來來看資產負債表和流動性更新狀況。請參閱第六張幻燈片。截至第三季末，我們的總流動資金為2.246億美元，其中包括6,510萬美元現金和1.595億美元的資產抵押貸款額度。截至2025年9月26日，包括所有現金及現金等價物在內，淨債務總額約5.752億美元，淨債務與調整後EBITDA比率約為2.3倍。

Turning to our full-year guidance for 2025. Based on the current trends in the business, we are updating and raising our full-year financial guidance as follows. We estimate that net sales for the full year of 2025 will be in the range of $4.085 billion to $4.115 billion, gross profit to be between $987 million and $995 million, and adjusted EBITDA to be between $247 million and $253 million. Please note, for the full-year 2025, we expect the convertible notes maturing in 2028 to be dilutive, and therefore, we expect the fully diluted share count to be approximately 46 million shares.

接下來談談我們對2025年全年的業績展望。基於目前的業務趨勢，我們對全年財務預期進行瞭如下更新和上調。我們預計2025年全年淨銷售額將在40.85億美元至41.15億美元之間，毛利將在9.87億美元至9.95億美元之間，調整後EBITDA將在2.47億美元至2.53億美元之間。請注意，由於我們預計2028年到期的可轉換債券將稀釋2025年全年的股份，因此我們預計完全稀釋後的股份數量約為4,600萬股。

Thank you. And at this point, we will open it up to questions. Operator?

謝謝。現在，我們將開放提問環節。請問接線生是誰？

(Operator Instructions) Alex Slagle, Jefferies.

（操作說明）Alex Slagle，傑富瑞集團。

It sounds like case growth trends and (technical difficulty) backdrop improved sequentially through the 3Q and (technical difficulty) just given some of the choppiness we've heard elsewhere in the industry. And I know you're also lapping some tougher results. So just curious if you could expand on these trends (technical difficulty).

聽起來第三季個案成長趨勢和技術難度方面都有所改善，而技術難度方面則略有下降，這與業內其他地區的情況有所不同。我知道你們也面臨一些比較嚴峻的挑戰。所以，我想請您詳細解釋一下這些趨勢和技術難度的問題。

I think from a Q3 standpoint, the last couple of years, we've mentioned that July and August were a little weaker than we expected, given all the international travel. I think we didn't really see that impact this year. So while July and August are seasonally some of the weaker months in the food distribution industry in general, we actually saw a very good summer results. And then September was strong. And as we mentioned in our prepared remarks, trends continued into October. So the fourth quarter is looking pretty good at this point.

我認為從第三季來看，過去幾年，由於國際旅行的增多，我們提到7月和8月的業績略低於預期。但今年我們並沒有真正感受到這種影響。雖然7月和8月通常是食品分銷行業的淡季，但我們今年的夏季業績實際上非常出色。 9月的業績也很強勁。正如我們在事先準備好的演講稿中所提到的，這種趨勢延續到了10月份。因此，目前來看，第四季的前景相當樂觀。

Any thoughts on the potential impact of the government shutdown as you look ahead? And I know you mentioned the Middle East. Maybe you can give an update on (technical difficulty).

展望未來，您對政府停擺可能造成的影響有何看法？我知道您提到了中東局勢，能否提供最新進展（技術故障）。

Yes, you're breaking up a little bit, Alex. But right now, where we sit, we're always cautiously optimistic. The fourth quarter, we think it's going to perform pretty well. The Middle East is performing. I think Qatar took a little hit, but the Dubai, and Abu Dhabi, Oman, I think our business is really strong. Our major markets are all performing well.

是的，Alex，你的說法有點斷斷續續的。但就目前而言，我們始終保持謹慎樂觀的態度。我們認為第四季業績會相當不錯。中東地區表現良好。我認為卡達受到了一些衝擊，但杜拜、阿布達比和阿曼的業務非常強勁。我們所有主要市場都表現良好。

And I think a lot -- again, it comes down to we got way ahead of it a long time ago, started to invest in the facilities for capacity and invest in the sales force, invest in the technology. And I just think that whatever headwinds are out there, the team is just doing a phenomenal job of gaining market share and winning in a lot of categories. And I think that's why you see such great numbers.

我覺得很多因素——歸根究底——在於我們很久以前就走在了前列，開始投資產能設施、銷售團隊和技術。我認為，無論面臨怎樣的逆境，團隊在獲取市場份額和贏得眾多品類方面都做得非常出色。我認為這就是我們取得如此亮眼成績的原因。

And the first part of the question was on the government shutdown in the US and just whether you expected any impact --

問題的第一部分是關於美國政府停擺，以及你是否預料到會產生任何影響——

I think there might be a little effect maybe in DC or something. But our customers' customer base is skewed to obviously a lot of business meals and upper casual to high end. We've lived through a bunch of government shutdowns. We never saw a real big impact.

我覺得可能在華盛頓特區之類的地區會受到一些影響。但我們的客戶群顯然以商務餐和中高端休閒餐飲為主。我們經歷過好幾次政府停擺，從未感受到真正的重大影響。

We haven't seen a material impact to date, Alex.

到目前為止，我們還沒有看到實質的影響，亞歷克斯。

Mark Carden, UBS.

瑞銀集團的馬克卡登。

So to start, just building on the 4Q commentary a bit. So the midpoint of your updated guidance, it implies a notable slowdown in adjusted EBITDA growth and little-to-no margin expansion. Just curious if this reflects some conservatism. I know the compare is a bit tougher, but is there anything else that we should be keeping in mind there?

首先，我想就第四季業績評論做一些補充。您更新後的業績指引中點顯示，調整後 EBITDA 成長明顯放緩，利潤率幾乎沒有提升。我想知道這是否反映了您較保守的預測。我知道同比數據比較困難，但除此之外，我們還需要注意哪些方面？

No, Mark, I don't think so. I think we raised the full-year revenue guidance by $50 million to $70 million from the midpoint to the higher end. I think we feel pretty good about the mid-to-higher end of the guidance at this point given what we've seen in October. As you know, we're always a little bit on the conservative side in terms of guidance.

不，馬克，我不這麼認為。我們把全年營收預期從中間值上調了5000萬到7000萬美元。鑑於10月份的情況，我們目前對預期中位數到上限的預測相當有信心。你也知道，我們在業績預期方面一向比較保守。

And we raised adjusted EBITDA by $5 million to $7 million from the mid-to-higher point. So it implies a pretty healthy 7% to 7.5% year-over-year Q4 revenue growth and full-year 8% to 8.5%, which would be slightly lower than what we've seen year-to-date. But I think it implies a really healthy 10% flowthrough on that revenue growth to adjusted EBITDA. And so, yes, I think that's where we ended up.

我們將調整後 EBITDA 的預期從先前的中高點上調了 500 萬美元至 700 萬美元。這意味著第四季營收年增 7% 至 7.5%，全年年增 8% 至 8.5%，略低於年初至今的成長速度。但我認為，營收成長將轉化為調整後 EBITDA 的成長將達到 10%，這是一個非常健康的訊號。所以，是的，我認為這就是我們最終的期望。

And then you guys talked about the acquisition of Italco in Colorado. I know that Rockies are a growth geography for you guys. Does this solve a lot of your capacity desires there? Would you need to do more? And then just more broadly, with some of the economic uncertainty that's out there, have you noticed any shifts in M&A backdrop?

然後你們談到了收購科羅拉多州的Italco公司。我知道洛磯山脈是你們的成長區域。這次收購是否滿足了你們在那裡的大部分產能需求？你們是否還需要採取更多措施？此外，更廣泛地說，鑑於當前的經濟狀況存在一些不確定性，你們是否注意到併購市場環境發生了任何變化？

Yes. Well, listen, I 100% agree, the Rockies is going to be a great market for us. You have all the resorts and Denver is a dynamic town and they've had good population growth from, I'd say, from the higher end. Obviously, Aspen has always been pretty higher end. But we've been talking with the company that we just acquired for many, many years. We were very familiar with them, very similar product catalog. Obviously, it's a small business, but we think it's going to be a great, great market for us.

是的。聽著，我百分之百同意，落基山脈對我們來說將是一個絕佳的市場。那裡度假村林立，丹佛也是一個充滿活力的城市，而且人口成長勢頭良好，尤其是高端人群。當然，阿斯彭一直以來都是高端市場。但我們和剛收購的那家公司已經洽談了很多年。我們非常了解他們，他們的產品目錄也與我們非常相似。顯然，這是一家小公司，但我們認為這將是一個非常棒的市場。

And the M&A market, I mean, it's pretty frothy. It's been like that for a while. We've been really, really conservative because we just have so much positive momentum going on with all the facilities that we've just opened and all the people we've hired in the last five years. So we've just been really, really picky and careful and just pick spots that really make sense for us because I just think we have so much momentum in the organic growth. And it's a good time to be able to sit back and just be really picky.

併購市場現在相當活躍，這種情況已經持續了一段時間。我們一直非常謹慎，因為我們目前發展勢頭強勁，過去五年裡我們新建了許多設施，也招募了許多員工。所以我們一直非常挑剔和謹慎，只選擇真正適合我們的收購目標，因為我認為我們目前的內生成長勢頭非常強勁。現在正是能夠靜下心來仔細甄選收購目標的好時機。

Brian Harbour, Morgan Stanley.

布萊恩‧哈伯，摩根士丹利。

I was curious, have you actually seen accelerating share gains perhaps recently? Or could you talk about how your market share has trended lately?

我很好奇，您最近是否看到市場佔有率加速成長？或者您能否談談您近期的市佔率趨勢？

Well, Brian, given the investments that we've made coming out of COVID the last couple of years in capacity expansion in markets like the Middle East and the Northwest and Florida and Southern California and even in the New York metro area, we have a number of markets that are growing at different phases. Our high-growth markets are growing low double digits to anywhere between 10% and 20%, and we have our mature markets still growing very healthily.

布萊恩，鑑於過去幾年我們在新冠疫情後對中東、西北部、佛羅裡達州、南加州乃至紐約都會區等市場的產能擴張進行的投資，我們目前有許多市場正處於不同的增長階段。我們的高成長市場成長率在兩位數偏低到10%到20%之間，而我們的成熟市場也依然保持著非常健康的成長動能。

And as we add categories in those high-growth markets that are maybe underpenetrated in terms of the opportunity, we're obviously taking market share, growing penetration, and adding a lot of new customers, and then doing things the same but maybe on a slightly smaller scale in our more mature markets as we continue to add categories and grow. So it's different in every region, but that's part of our model is to grow that way.

隨著我們在那些高成長但市場滲透率可能不足的市場中增加產品類別，我們顯然會擴大市場份額、提高滲透率並吸引大量新客戶。然後在更成熟的市場中，我們也採取同樣的做法，只是規模可能略小一些，因為我們會繼續增加產品類別並實現成長。所以每個地區的情況都不盡相同，但這正是我們商業模式的一部分。

And could you maybe talk a little bit more just by types of customers that you serve? You're seeing this acceleration here. Is that true with non-restaurant customers? Is it true with the different types of restaurants that you serve? Could you just dig into that a bit?

能否再詳細談談您服務的客戶類型？您觀察到這種成長加速現象。非餐飲客戶群也存在這種情況嗎？您服務的不同類型的餐廳也有這種情況嗎？能否深入探討一下？

Yes. Well, again, we're obviously the smallest of the public companies. And I always say we are really a marketing company that also distributes. So we're really very differentiated from the big three broadliners -- public broadliners. So I think it is a little confusing when you really look at who Chefs' Warehouse is. We are servicing -- obviously, there's overlap.

是的。嗯，再說一遍，我們顯然是上市公司中規模最小的。我一直說我們本質上是一家行銷公司，同時也從事分銷業務。所以我們與三大上市綜合零售商——也就是上市的綜合零售商——有著非常大的差別。因此，當你真正了解 Chefs' Warehouse 的業務時，可能會感到有些困惑。我們服務於……當然，這其中肯定存在重疊。

We always have competition. Our motto is anybody that has a truck is a competitor. So we have that competitive nature. But we really do beat to a different drum. It's a much more complicated logistical business that we've put together over 40 years. And the way we go to market and the customer base, it's very diverse, purposely that way because I've lived through all the past recessions and things that can go wrong, obviously, COVID. So it's pretty diverse, and it was strategically created that way.

我們始終面臨競爭。我們的座右銘是：凡是有卡車的，都是競爭對手。所以我們天生具有競爭意識。但我們的經營方式確實與眾不同。我們打造了一個更為複雜的物流體系，歷經40餘年的發展。我們的市場策略和客戶群都非常多元化，這是我們刻意為之，因為我經歷過以往的經濟衰退以及各種可能出現的變故，當然也包括新冠疫情。所以，我們的業務非常多元化，這是我們策略性地建構的。

So we do have a balance. And no one is immune to a big headwind. But we like where we're positioned in the market, and we're cautiously optimistic that our customer base is more resilient than the overall food-away-from-home market.

所以我們目前處於平衡狀態。當然，沒有人能完全免於強勁逆風的影響。但我們對自身的市場定位感到滿意，並且謹慎樂觀地認為，我們的客戶群比整個外送市場更具韌性。

Peter Saleh, BTIG.

Peter Saleh，BTIG。

Congrats on a great quarter. Maybe I just wanted to ask on inflation and beef costs. There's been a lot of discussion. There's been a lot of inflation in beef. What are you guys seeing? It doesn't seem like it's impacting your margins, at least not in the third quarter. Any thoughts on the go forward and the overall beef market and the impact on financials?

恭喜你們本季業績出色！我只是想問一下關於通貨膨脹和牛肉成本的問題。最近大家都在討論這個問題，牛肉價格上漲幅度很大。你們那邊的情況如何？看起來至少在第三季度，這並沒有影響到你們的利潤率。對於未來的市場趨勢、整體牛肉市場以及對財務狀況的影響，你們有什麼看法？

Yes. I think what you saw in the third quarter, Pete, was an elevated level of inflation year over year. I think protein prices have been pretty firm the entire year. So some of it is the year-over-year comparisons. But when you exclude the Texas transition, it's around 5% year over year. So definitely elevated.

是的。皮特，我認為你在第三季看到的是同比通膨水平偏高。我認為蛋白質價格全年都相當堅挺。所以部分原因是如同比比較造成的。但如果排除德州的過渡期，年漲幅約5%。所以一定偏高。

Our year-over-year protein margins were down versus prior year, but we got really good gross profit dollar growth because when you have that level of inflation, you're not going to pass all of it on to your customer, and you're going to get it back over time as you hold prices a little bit and drag them down a little slower when the market comes down.

雖然我們蛋白質產品的年利潤率較上年有所下降，但我們的毛利美元增長非常可觀，因為在通貨膨脹如此嚴重的情況下，你不可能把所有成本都轉嫁給顧客，但隨著你保持價格一段時間，並在市場下跌時緩慢降低價格，你會逐漸收回成本。

So I think our team has done a good job of managing through this inflationary environment in terms of securing the supply chain. We sell the highest quality proteins in the industry to the best restaurants and steakhouses. So I think they've done a good job of navigating this inflationary environment.

所以我認為我們的團隊在應對通膨環境、保障供應鏈方面做得很好。我們向最好的餐廳和牛排館供應業內最高品質的蛋白質。所以我認為他們很好地應對了通貨膨脹環境。

And then just on the Chefs' Middle East business, I think you mentioned there was maybe a little bit of a step back, which makes sense. Has that started to recover again as we head into the fourth quarter here? Just curious as to the trajectory on that business.

關於廚師在中東的業務，我想您之前提到可能出現了一些下滑，這很正常。隨著我們進入第四季度，這項業務是否已經開始復甦了？我很想了解這項業務的發展軌跡。

Yes. We just highlighted that our unique customer growth, which is usually in the mid- to high mid-single-digit year-over-year type of growth, consistent with our placement growth and volume growth. It was impacted by obviously the attrition in Texas, the Texas transition of those low-margin customers. And then in the Middle East, during the summer when you had the Qatar conflict, we had some customers shut down for a couple of months, but they've started to come back online, and those two things impacted our unique customer growth.

是的。我們剛才重點提到，我們獨特的客戶成長率通常保持在個位數中高段位，與我們的投放量和銷售成長保持一致。顯然，德州的客戶流失，尤其是那些低利潤客戶的轉移，對我們的成長產生了影響。此外，在中東，夏季卡達衝突期間，我們的一些客戶停業了幾個月，但他們現在已經開始恢復營運。這兩件事都影響了我們獨特的客戶成長。

We really just highlighted The Chefs' Middle East just for that temporary impact. Overall, the business continues to grow really nicely. As you know, we've expanded not only our Dubai facility, but we've also recently expanded our facility in Qatar, and then we're pretty close to finishing our facility in Oman. So we're expanding our capacity in all three of those markets, and we're seeing really nice double-digit growth, and they continue to improve. A good amount of our elevated protein volume growth in the quarter year over year was driven by our nascent but really well-growing protein program that we've started to enhance in the region.

我們之所以重點介紹“The Chefs' Middle East”，只是因為它帶來了暫時的影響。整體而言，業務持續穩定成長。如您所知，我們不僅擴建了杜拜的工廠，最近還擴建了卡達的工廠，阿曼的工廠也即將完工。因此，我們在所有這三個市場都擴大了產能，並且實現了兩位數的顯著成長，而且還在持續改善中。本季蛋白質銷量較去年同期成長顯著，這主要得益於我們剛起步但發展勢頭強勁的蛋白質項目，我們已開始在該地區大力推進該項目。

Kelly Bania, Capital Markets.

Kelly Bania，資本市場。

I wanted to just go back a little bit to the acceleration in the past couple of months. Just curious if you can talk about that a little bit more in terms of how that played out between your mature markets and maybe your higher growth markets, if that's more broad-based, or if there's any particular categories or regions that are standing out in terms of how that played out through the quarter in terms of the growth rates.

我想稍微回顧一下過去幾個月的成長加速。我很好奇您能否更詳細地談談，在成熟市場和高成長市場之間，這種成長是如何體現的？這種增長是否具有更廣泛的特徵？或者，就本季成長率而言，是否有任何特定類別或地區表現突出？

Yes. I think you got to look at it, Kelly, that obviously, the bigger markets have more impact on our numbers, and they're doing great. The smaller markets, obviously, their percentage growth is higher, but it's from a smaller number.

是的。凱莉，我覺得你應該這樣看，很明顯，規模較大的市場對我們的業績影響更大，而且它們的表現也非常出色。規模較小的市場，雖然成長率較高，但它們的基數較小。

So I know it's hard to look at from your seat. It's so diverse now, Chefs' Warehouse that we're pretty much -- I mean, there's a few exceptions, and they're minor in the total volume. But we're accelerating growth in so many different categories and in smaller markets that it's hard to really give you a total picture. But from my desk, obviously, I look at categories, I look at subcategories, I look at the major territories, outer territories.

我知道從您的角度來看，情況很難全面了解。 Chefs' Warehouse 現在的業務非常多元化，我們幾乎——我的意思是，當然也有一些例外，但它們在總銷量中所佔比例很小。我們在許多不同的品類和較小的市場都實現了快速成長，所以很難為您呈現完整的圖像。但就我而言，我當然會關注品類、子品類、主要市場和周邊市場。

And I just think the team has done such a great job executing the vision that we want to be the partner of the chef in that mid-to-high casual all the way up to super-fine dining. And I just think they're really executing. And obviously, they're taking market share, and they're also winning on a lot of what's opening, which is really important for us because just our natural attrition is, say, 7% to 10%.

我認為團隊在執行我們的願景方面做得非常出色，我們希望成為中高端休閒餐飲甚至超高級餐飲領域中廚師的合作夥伴。我認為他們確實做到了。顯然，他們正在搶佔市場份額，並且在許多新開餐廳中也取得了成功，這對我們來說非常重要，因為我們自身的自然流失率大約在7%到10%之間。

So it's so important for us to keep growing the account base and the category base, especially when you have negative news all over the news that some customer accounts are [down]. I just think our customer base -- again, we're small compared to if you're going to put us in the distribution world, we're really boutique. And we like being boutique, and we like where we are, and I just think it's hard to compare us to everything else and all the noise that's out there.

所以對我們來說，持續拓展客戶群和品類至關重要，尤其是在新聞鋪天蓋地都是一些客戶帳戶下滑的負面消息的時候。我覺得我們的客戶群——再說一遍，如果把我們放在整個分銷領域，我們的規模確實很小，我們真的是一家精品公司。我們喜歡這種精品化的定位，也喜歡我們現在的處境，我覺得很難把我們和其他公司以及外界的各種噪音相提並論。

Just to follow up on that and then wanted to ask about the acquisition. But how much do you, Chris, attribute this to just the training that you've been investing in with the sales force and some of the education and tools that you're giving the sales force?

我只是想跟進一下，然後想問關於收購的事。克里斯，你認為這在多大程度上要歸功於你對銷售團隊的培訓投入，以及你為他們提供的一些教育和工具？

Yes. I think a lot. Again, we're celebrating our 40th year, and I've been looking at these numbers for probably 42 years, even while we were trying to get going. So it takes so much to train the team to -- especially to sell the premium products that we sell. It's not overnight. You got to invest way ahead of time. And I just think the team is doing such a fabulous job executing, and you have to be at this level.

是的，我想了很多。今年是我們成立40週年，而我關注這些數據已經有42年了，甚至從我們創業初期就開始關注了。所以，培養一支團隊需要投入大量精力——尤其是在銷售我們銷售的高端產品方面。這並非一朝一夕就能完成的。你必須提前投入大量資源。我認為團隊在執行方面做得非常出色，而你必須達到這樣的水平。

And our digital team, our IT team, we're giving them all the tools that you need today. And everyone talks about AI. Of course, we're using AI and investing in AI. And I think everybody is going to have good AI. I don't think that's going to be the differentiator at the end of the day. You have to have it, but the customer needs to want to do business with you.

我們的數位化團隊和IT團隊，我們正在為他們提供您今天所需的一切工具。現在人人都談論人工智慧。當然，我們也在使用人工智慧，也正在投資人工智慧。我認為最終每個人都會擁有優秀的人工智慧。但我認為這最終不會成為決定性因素。你必須擁有人工智慧，但客戶必須願意與你合作。

We always say, Chefs' not for everyone. And of course, we want to sell more and more products, but we're really disciplined on who we are, and we're not for everyone. So I think the AI tools are making us better. I think we're right there, world-class, with everybody else and where we're investing, and we're getting a great return on those tools. But at the end of the day, you still have to satisfy the customer in every way. You have to have the service and you have to be likable. And I think our laser focus on our customer base and who we are and not trying to be someone else, I think that's what I see -- I think you're seeing the results from that.

我們常說，廚師這個職業並不適合所有人。當然，我們希望銷售越來越多的產品，但我們對自己定位非常明確，我們並不適合所有人。所以我認為人工智慧工具正在幫助我們做得更好。我認為我們與世界一流的同行並駕齊驅，在我們投資的領域，這些工具也帶來了豐厚的回報。但歸根結底，你仍然需要在各個方面滿足客戶的需求。你必須提供優質的服務，並且要讓客戶喜歡你。我認為，我們始終專注於我們的客戶群和我們自身的定位，而不是試圖成為別人，這就是我看到的——我認為你們也看到了由此帶來的成果。

Can I just ask one more about the acquisition, I think Italco? Just maybe what stood out about that acquisition? It's been a while. I'm sure there's a lot of potential targets on your desk. What stood out? Why does this make sense for Chefs' now? And can you just talk a little bit about the margin structure and the quality of their book of business and how much it aligns with Chefs' philosophy on the quality customer?

我能否再問一個關於收購Italco的問題？您覺得這次收購最突出的是什麼？畢竟已經過去一段時間了。我知道您手頭上有很多潛在的收購目標。是什麼讓您印象深刻？為什麼現在收購這家公司對Chefs'來說意義重大？您能否簡單談談他們的利潤結構、業務質量，以及這與Chefs'注重客戶品質的理念有多契合？

Great question. And again, it is a small acquisition. It's really a super-high-quality company, great people. We've known them for years and years and years. We just were so busy with so many other markets and all the facilities that we're putting up, getting going, and all the categories we've invested in that, thank God, they were very patient and waited for us because it's one of the -- I would say, one of the last, I'd call like really pure specialty businesses.

問得好。再次強調，這只是小規模收購。這家公司實力非常強，員工也很棒。我們認識他們很多年了。只是我們當時忙於其他市場，還有許多正在建設、啟動的項目，以及我們投資的各個領域，所以，謝天謝地，他們非常耐心，一直等著我們，因為他們是——我敢說，是為數不多的真正純粹的專業企業之一。

We bought a bunch of these early on when we went public, and we were getting our foot into all the states. We said we're going to be in just about every -- in every NFL city, except maybe Green Bay. And they were really one of the last small boutique companies that, for us, it was like a no-brainer. They have a similar catalog of high-end products. They service a ton of customers. Their offerings are much more narrow than us.

我們上市初期就買了他們的股票，當時我們正努力拓展到所有州。我們當時的目標是幾乎涵蓋所有NFL球隊所在的城市，可能除了綠灣以外。他們真的是我們最後幾家毫不猶豫就決定要收購的小型精品公司之一。他們的產品目錄和我們類似，都是高端產品。他們服務的客戶群非常龐大。不過，他們的產品範圍比我們窄得多。

So that's why we're really excited about this because with Chefs' Warehouse, catalogs, and all our teams going in there, doing training, hiring, we're going to hire a lot of salespeople throughout Colorado, and obviously, boutique places like New Mexico, and they're going to all the mountains and resorts. And we just are really excited that this is going to be a great Chefs' Warehouse over the next 10 years.

所以，這就是我們對此感到非常興奮的原因，因為有了 Chefs' Warehouse、產品目錄以及我們所有團隊的參與，我們將在科羅拉多州各地招聘大量銷售人員，當然，像新墨西哥州這樣的精品店也會招聘，他們將前往各個山區和度假村。我們非常高興，未來十年，Chefs' Warehouse 將會蓬勃發展。

Margaret-May Binshtok, Wolfe Research.

Margaret-May Binshtok，Wolfe Research。

I just wanted to ask if you guys continue to see progress with digital penetration, trying to get towards your long-term goal through the quarter and if there's anything to call out in terms of how digital penetration is helping you guys gain relevance with your existing customers?

我想問一下，你們在數位化滲透方面是否繼續取得進展，是否在本季度朝著長期目標邁進，以及在數位化滲透如何幫助你們提高與現有客戶的相關性方面，有什麼值得一提的亮點嗎？

Yes. The digital team has done a great job, and it's making the sales force more and more efficient. I think the whole goal of this is to be able to do more with less. And I think we're having great success. But we continue to really rely on our tremendous sales force really to push penetration. I think the digital tools are great support, and it's giving us that last extra -- I always say it gives you that last extra yard getting into the -- to score a touchdown. So we continue to invest in it. It continues to give us a great ROI, and it's just part of what I call the go-to sales strategy of Chefs' Warehouse.

是的。數位化團隊做得非常出色，他們讓銷售團隊的效率越來越高。我認為最終目標是用更少的資源做更多的事情。而且我認為我們在這方面取得了巨大的成功。但我們仍然非常依賴我們強大的銷售團隊來推動市場滲透。我認為數位化工具提供了極大的支持，它給了我們最後衝刺的助力——我常說，它能幫你衝進達陣區，拿下最後一分。所以我們會繼續投資於此。它持續為我們帶來豐厚的回報，而且它正是我所說的Chef's Warehouse核心銷售策略的一部分。

And Margaret, on adoption, we didn't have it in the presentation this quarter, but we're a little bit over 60%. So on the specialty side, we continue to drive adoption.

瑪格麗特，關於領養方面，我們本季的報告中沒有提到，但我們的領養率略高於60%。因此，在專科領域，我們將繼續推動領養。

And then just one more. Anything to call out in terms of business-related travel? Are you seeing any weakness there?

最後一個問題。關於商務旅行方面，有什麼需要特別指出的嗎？您認為這方面有什麼不足之處嗎？

I mean, we hear a lot of complaints. We hear complaints, especially in Las Vegas. The Canadians aren't coming. We hear that in Florida as well. But in so many of our major cities, there's someone eating all this food. So I think there's lots of domestic tourism still. And in the Middle East, they continue to have great tourism.

我的意思是，我們聽到了很多抱怨。尤其是在拉斯維加斯，抱怨聲不斷。加拿大人都不來了。我們在佛羅裡達州也聽到了類似的說法。但在我們許多大城市，總有人在享用美食。所以我認為國內旅遊依然很興旺。中東地區的旅遊業也一直非常繁榮。

So we hear noise, but we look at our results, and we're really happy with them. So it'd be great if there was a big boom again with our friendly neighbors. I think that would obviously juice the returns even more. But we hear a lot, but we see the numbers, and we say someone is traveling.

所以我們聽到了一些傳言，但我們看了結果，非常滿意。如果和友善的鄰居們再次迎來一次繁榮，那就太好了。我認為這顯然會進一步提升收益。我們聽到了很多傳言，但我們看到了數據，然後我們判斷是否有人在旅行。

Todd Brooks, Benchmark Company.

Todd Brooks，Benchmark 公司。

A couple of questions. First, and Jim, you talked about when you were thinking about the updated guidance and being comfortable with the mid-to-upper end of the revenue guidance. And Chris, you've been doing this a long time. When you're through October and you're talking to your customers now, what's the sense of trend being locked in for a good holiday season based on the momentum that you've seen build across September and October?

我有幾個問題。首先，吉姆，你剛才提到過，你當時正在考慮更新業績指引，並且對營收指引的中高端部分比較滿意。克里斯，你從事這行很久了。現在十月已經過去，你和客戶交流後，根據九月和十月以來的成長勢頭，你覺得今年假期季節的銷售趨勢會如何？

I'm always cautiously optimistic. We just had a bunch of big shows in a lot of our markets. So I was fortunate enough to get out and attend and speak to a lot of customers. And it can always change. We live in really interesting times. A few [tweets] and the sentiment changes, but we're hearing good holiday bookings. So I was really enthused to hear that a lot of the holiday bookings are pretty strong. So we're really cautiously optimistic it's going to be a good quarter..

我總是保持謹慎樂觀的態度。我們最近在許多市場都參加了一系列大型展會。我很幸運能夠有機會親自到場，與許多客戶交流。當然，情況瞬息萬變。我們生活在一個充滿變數的時代。幾條推文就能改變輿論走向，但我們確實聽到了一些不錯的假期預訂資訊。所以，聽到很多假日預訂都非常強勁，我感到非常振奮。因此，我們對本季的業績持謹慎樂觀的態度。

And then my last question. You've seen a lot, Chris. You've been doing this for over 40 years, like you said. So I get a lot of incoming calls about, well, if Performance and US Foods get together, isn't that bad for Chefs'. Can you talk about just historically when you've seen big consolidations in the industry, what it's meant for the Chefs' Warehouse as far as maybe customers to be had, sales force talent to be had, I think that might clear up some of the maybe trepidation that some people think about the combination potentially happening.

最後一個問題。克里斯，你見多識廣，正如你所說，你從事這行已經超過40年了。所以我常接到電話，詢問如果Performance和US Foods合併，對Chef' Warehouse會不會有太大影響。可以談談歷史上產業內發生的幾次大規模整合，對Chef' Warehouse意味著什麼嗎？例如客戶來源、銷售人才等方面。我想這或許能消除一些人對合併可能帶來的擔憂。

Great question. And I could just go by historically, what we've seen -- and even when we do an acquisition, when we look at an acquisition, we're looking at it for long term. Obviously, fold-ins are very synergistic, because you usually just take in the sales force and you're getting the efficiency on trucks and customer service and the back office and all that wonderful stuff. But we always model going backwards in most acquisitions.

問得好。我可以根據歷史經驗來回答──即使是收購，我們也會著眼於長遠發展。顯然，併購帶來的綜效非常顯著，因為通常情況下，你只需要吸收銷售團隊，就能獲得卡車營運、客戶服務、後台營運等方面的效率優勢。但我們在大多數收購中都會考慮長遠發展。

Not all. Colorado, we think, it's really small, but we think because it's so small, once we get everything squared out, it's just going to be an explosive market for us. But historically, we go backwards when we do an acquisition because customers usually want to hedge their bet, they're not sure, and all that wonderful stuff. And when we've seen big acquisitions in territories, we usually get a nice uptick.

並非全部。我們認為科羅拉多州的市場規模確實很小，但正因為如此，一旦我們把所有事情都理順，它對我們來說將會是一個爆發式成長的市場。但從歷史經驗來看，我們進行收購後業績往往會下滑，因為客戶通常想要分散風險，他們不確定，等等。而當我們在一些地區進行大規模收購時，通常都會迎來可觀的成長。

And again, a lot of it is customers want to hedge their bet or salespeople are nervous and there's a lot of integration and a lot going on. So if this big deal goes through, we are cautiously optimistic that it could be really, really good for CW just from the fact that customers are going to want to hedge their bet, and we'll pick up a lot of new business.

而且，很多時候是因為客戶想要分散風險，或是銷售人員感到緊張，再加上整合工作很多，各種事情都同時在進行。所以，如果這筆大交易最終達成，我們謹慎樂觀地認為，這對CW來說可能真的非常有利，因為客戶會想要分散風險，而我們也會因此獲得大量新業務。

Ben Klieve, Lake Street Capital Market.

本·克利夫，湖街資本市場。

Congratulations on a really good quarter here. I've got a question about your organic growth initiatives over the last year or two. They're really starting to, I would expect, fill in. And I'm wondering if there's anything to call out operationally out of Texas, Florida, California that has maybe been a surprise or an operational challenge as you go into the holiday season. Have those organic investments continued to hum as expected? Or has there been any issues to call out?

恭喜你們本季業績斐然。我有一個關於你們過去一兩年內有機成長計畫的問題。我想問一下，這些計劃目前進展順利，應該已經初見成效。我想了解一下，在即將到來的假期季節，你們在德克薩斯州、佛羅裡達州和加利福尼亞州的運營方面是否遇到任何意料之外的情況或挑戰？這些有機成長投資是否繼續如預期發揮作用？或是是否出現了什麼問題？

Yes. I don't think I've woken up one day in 42 years where there [isn't] an issue. It's the nature of a service company. But yes, I mean, we have such a great team at this point. We're never satisfied. Obviously, every day we're trying to get better. Most markets, again, we're really cautiously optimistic they're going to have a great fourth quarter and a great 2026. The biggest opportunities for us are places like Texas, where we're just -- we're really new, even though we bought a company that's historically been in the market, but as Chefs' Warehouse, we're still in the first inning.

是的。 42年來，我好像沒有哪一天醒來沒遇到問題。這就是服務型公司的本質。不過，我們現在確實擁有一支非常優秀的團隊。我們永遠不會滿足。顯然，我們每天都在努力做得更好。對於大多數市場，我們仍然持謹慎樂觀的態度，認為它們在第四季和2026年都會表現出色。對我們來說，最大的機會在於像德克薩斯州這樣的地方，我們在那裡——我們其實還很新，儘管我們收購了一家在市場上歷史悠久的公司，但作為Chef's Warehouse，我們仍然處於起步階段。

So we're just so excited about the opportunity for that growth over the next 10 years. Florida, we made the big investment. We're getting a great ROI. We've got an incredible team, and we still think that we're in the first inning there, but we're really excited. LA has got a new facility, and they're having great growth.

所以，我們對未來十年的發展機會感到無比興奮。我們在佛羅裡達投入巨資，獲得了豐厚的回報。我們擁有一支卓越的團隊，雖然我們仍然認為目前還處於起步階段，但我們對此充滿信心。洛杉磯也新建了一座場館，並且發展勢頭強勁。

So we're really excited about that. We got our new protein facility up and running in Richmond, and they're having a great year. And we have great hopes for '26 and beyond. So I don't think there's a market that I'm not really -- I have any complaints about and couldn't be more proud of what they're doing. But the big opportunity in a market that we're just really new in, like Texas, I think, is really exciting.

所以我們對此感到非常興奮。我們在里士滿的新蛋白質加工廠已經投產，今年的表現非常出色。我們對2026年及以後的發展充滿信心。所以我覺得，對於我們目前所在的市場，我沒有任何不滿，也為他們所取得的成就感到無比自豪。但是，像德州這樣我們剛進入的市場，蘊藏著巨大的機遇，我認為這真的令人振奮。

Well, congratulations again to both of you and the whole team on a good quarter and a good outlook here for the fourth quarter.

再次恭喜你們兩位以及整個團隊，本季表現出色，對第四季也充滿信心。

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, as there are no further questions, I would now hand the conference over to Chris Pappas for his closing comments.

謝謝。女士們、先生們，既然沒有其他問題了，現在我將會議交給克里斯‧帕帕斯先生，請他作總結發言。

Yes. Well, once again, I want to thank the team at CW. They've done a phenomenal job and really excited what they're going to do in '26 and beyond. And we thank all our investors and analysts for joining our call, and we look forward to the next call. And thank you again for joining.

是的。再次感謝CW團隊，他們做得非常出色，我對他們在2026年及以後的發展充滿期待。感謝所有投資者和分析師參加我們的電話會議，我們期待下次會議。再次感謝大家的參與。

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, the conference of The Chefs' Warehouse has now concluded. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect your lines.

謝謝。女士們、先生們，廚師倉庫會議到此結束。感謝各位的參與。現在可以掛斷電話了。