Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc (FDP) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the Fresh Del Monte Produce Second Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. Today's conference call is being broadcast live over the Internet and is also being recorded for playback purposes. (Operator Instructions)

美好的一天，歡迎參加 Fresh Del Monte Produce 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。今天的電話會議正在透過網路進行現場直播，並進行錄音以供回放。（操作員說明）

For opening remarks and introduction, I would like to turn today's call over to Vice President, Investor Relations with Fresh Del Monte Produce, Ms. Christine Cannella. Please go ahead, Ms. Cannella.

作為開場白和介紹，我想將今天的電話轉給 Fresh Del Monte Produce 投資者關係副總裁 Christine Cannella 女士。請繼續，卡內拉女士。

Thank you, Kaila. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining our second quarter 2024 conference call. Joining me today in today's discussion are Mr. Mohammad Abu-Ghazaleh, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Ms. Monica Vicente, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. I hope that you had a chance to review the press release that was issued earlier by Business Wire.

謝謝你，凱拉。大家下午好，感謝您參加我們的 2024 年第二季電話會議。與我一起參加今天討論的有董事長兼執行長穆罕默德·阿布·格扎拉先生；以及資深副總裁兼財務長 Monica Vicente 女士。我希望您有機會閱讀美國商業資訊早些時候發布的新聞稿。

You may also visit the company's IR website at investorrelations.freshdelmonte.com to access today's earnings material and to register for future distributions. This conference call is being webcast live on our website and will be available for replay after this call.

您也可以造訪該公司的投資者關係網站investorrelations.freshdelmonte.com，獲取今天的收益資料並註冊未來的分配。本次電話會議正在我們的網站上進行網路直播，並將在電話會議結束後重播。

Please note that our press release and our call today include non-GAAP measures.

請注意，我們今天的新聞稿和電話會議包括非公認會計原則措施。

Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures are set forth in the press release and earnings presentation, which is available on our website. I would like to remind you that most of the information we will be speaking to today, including the answers we give in response to your questions, may include forward-looking statements within the safe harbor provisions of the federal securities laws.

這些非公認會計原則財務指標的調節在我們網站上的新聞稿和收益演示中列出。我想提醒您，我們今天要討論的大部分信息，包括我們針對您的問題給出的答案，可能包括聯邦證券法安全港條款中的前瞻性陳述。

In today's press release and in our SEC filings, we detail risks that may cause our future results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements.

在今天的新聞稿和向 SEC 提交的文件中，我們詳細介紹了可能導致我們未來結果與這些前瞻性陳述有重大差異的風險。

Our statements are as of today, August 1, and we have no obligation to update any forward-looking statements we may make. During the call, we will provide a business update, along with an overview of our second quarter 2024 financial results, followed by a question-and-answer session.

我們的聲明截至今天（8 月 1 日），我們沒有義務更新我們可能做出的任何前瞻性聲明。在電話會議期間，我們將提供業務更新以及 2024 年第二季財務業績概述，然後進行問答環節。

With that, I will turn today's call over to Mr. Mohammad Abu-Ghazaleh. Please go ahead.

接下來，我將把今天的電話轉給穆罕默德·阿布·格扎拉先生。請繼續。

Thank you, Christine, and thank you for joining us for our second quarter 2024 Earnings Results. Overall, we are pleased with our performance this quarter, especially in our fresh and value-added products segment, which includes our pineapples, fresh-cut fruit and avocados.

謝謝 Christine，也感謝您與我們一起了解 2024 年第二季獲利結果。總體而言，我們對本季的業績感到滿意，特別是在我們的新鮮和增值產品領域，其中包括我們的鳳梨、新鮮切割水果和酪梨。

For some time now, we have been saying that these higher-margin categories, led by pineapples are our stable and the foundation of our growth strategy.

一段時間以來，我們一直在說，以鳳梨為首的這些利潤率較高的品類是我們的穩定產品，也是我們成長策略的基礎。

We are pleased to say that our company's focus in these areas is yielding positive results. During the second quarter 2024, we achieved significant margin improvements in the fresh and value-added product segment.

我們很高興地說，我們公司對這些領域的關注正在產生積極的成果。2024 年第二季度，我們在生鮮和加值產品領域實現了顯著的利潤率提高。

Gross margin for the segment was 11.2% for the quarter versus 9.2% from the prior year period, with net sales up $17 million in comparison to the same quarter last year. As one of the global leaders in pineapples, we continue to excel in this area and see increased demand for our new pineapple varieties.

該部門本季的毛利率為 11.2%，去年同期為 9.2%，淨銷售額比去年同期增加了 1,700 萬美元。作為鳳梨的全球領導者之一，我們繼續在這一領域表現出色，並看到對我們新鳳梨品種的需求不斷增加。

We have plans in place to continue growing production. Our pineapple volume growth projection over the next 3 years is at a compounded annual growth rate of 3%. Our strategy for our fresh and value-added products segment continues to be top of mind.

我們已製定計劃繼續增加產量。我們預計未來 3 年鳳梨產量的複合年增長率為 3%。我們的新鮮和增值產品領域的策略仍然是首要考慮的。

In Japan, we are optimizing our operations by consolidating 2 facilities into one. This strategic move aims to reduce operational costs and improve our margins.

在日本，我們正在透過將 2 家工廠合併為 1 家來優化營運。這項策略性舉措旨在降低營運成本並提高我們的利潤率。

In Europe, we completed an expansion of our fresh cut facility in the UK, which optimize our efficiency and improve our gross margin for this market in the second quarter by almost 60% year-over-year.

在歐洲，我們完成了英國鮮切工廠的擴建，這優化了我們的效率，並使我們第二季度該市場的毛利率年增了近 60%。

We are actively working to grow our business at this facility. And in North America, we continue to expand our reach with large key customers. On average, we have seen business with 5 of our top 20 customers grow by more than 20% year-to-date versus last year.

我們正在積極努力發展我們在該工廠的業務。在北美，我們持續擴大與大型關鍵客戶的聯繫。平均而言，今年迄今為止，我們與 20 位前 20 位客戶中的 5 位的業務量比去年增長了 20% 以上。

We also continue to expand our SKU list with recent innovations such as specialty fruits, desserts and on-the-go odds. Last quarter, we discussed our fresh guacamole, a product that fully leverages our vertical integration and one we believe has a lot of potential.

我們也繼續透過最近的創新來擴大我們的 SKU 列表，例如特色水果、甜點和隨身賠率。上個季度，我們討論了新鮮的酪梨醬，這是一種充分利用我們垂直整合的產品，我們相信它具有很大的潛力。

We started a test run with this product in November 2023 with 640 units. Fast forward to today, and we have sold more than 315,000 units in less than 7 months.

我們於 2023 年 11 月開始對產品進行 640 台試運轉。快進到今天，不到 7 個月的時間，我們已售出超過 315,000 件。

We expect that our unprecedented all-natural fresh guacamole will now be available in nearly 3,000 stores nationwide by the end of the summer, a significant expansion in just a few months since its launch.

我們預計，到夏末，我們前所未有的全天然新鮮酪梨醬將在全國近 3,000 家商店上市，這是自推出以來短短幾個月內的大幅擴張。

As such, we continue to expand production to keep up with the demand for this product. We are also pleased with our avocado program, which is showing remarkable potential. As one of the top avocado importers in the US, we see significant opportunities for further expansion in this category, thanks to our robust infrastructure.

因此，我們繼續擴大生產以滿足對該產品的需求。我們也對我們的酪梨計劃感到滿意，該計劃顯示出巨大的潛力。作為美國最大的酪梨進口商之一，由於我們強大的基礎設施，我們看到了進一步擴大這個類別的巨大機會。

Building on our commitment to harness the full potential of our growing operations, we are actively working on ways to maximize the full utilization of our fruit residues. To this end, we recently opened a biofertilizers plan in our Kenyan operations.

基於我們充分發揮種植業務潛力的承諾，我們正在積極研究如何最大限度地充分利用我們的水果殘留物。為此，我們最近在肯亞工廠啟動了一項生物肥料計畫。

This innovative facility transforms residues and buy products from our pineapple processing operations into biofertilizers.

這個創新設施將我們鳳梨加工業務的殘留物和購買產品轉化為生物肥料。

Initially, we plan to utilize this product within our Kenyan operations and eventually make it available to other growers in East Africa with aspirations to see its benefits ripple across our global footprint. This is part of our last that we need to focus on high-margin products.

最初，我們計劃在肯亞業務中使用該產品，並最終將其提供給東非的其他種植者，希望看到其好處波及我們的全球足跡。這是我們最後需要關注高利潤產品的一部分。

With that, I will turn it over to Monica to discuss our second quarter 2024 results in detail.

接下來，我將把它交給 Monica，詳細討論我們 2024 年第二季的業績。

Thank you, Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh, and good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us on today's call. Let's start with our man packing operations.

謝謝阿布·格扎拉先生，大家下午好，謝謝您參加今天的電話會議。讓我們從人員打包操作開始。

We remain actively engaged in exploring strategic alternatives to determine the best path forward for this business. Our commitment to thoroughly analyze all potential options continues. While we have not yet reached a definitive conclusion, our evaluation process is progressing and our intent remains to make a decision in the near term.

我們仍然積極探索策略替代方案，以確定該業務的最佳前進道路。我們將繼續致力於徹底分析所有潛在的選擇。雖然我們尚未得出明確的結論，但我們的評估過程正在取得進展，我們的意圖仍然是在短期內做出決定。

As previously stated, there can be no assurance that this process will result in a specific strategic outcome. Now, let's move on to our financial results for the second quarter of 2024.

如前所述，無法保證此過程將產生特定的策略成果。現在，讓我們來看看 2024 年第二季的財務表現。

Net sales were $1.140 billion compared with $1.181 billion in the prior year. The decrease in net sales was primarily due to lower banana net sales, which were the result of lower sales volume and lower per unit selling prices, partially offset by an increase in net sales in the fresh and value-added products segment, driven by higher per unit selling prices.

淨銷售額為 11.40 億美元，上一年為 11.81 億美元。淨銷售額的下降主要是由於香蕉淨銷售額的下降，這是由於銷量下降和單位售價下降造成的，但部分被生鮮和增值產品領域淨銷售額的增長所抵消。

Gross profit for the second quarter of 2024 was $113 million compared with $117 million in the prior year, and gross margin was in line with last year at 9.9%. The decrease in gross profit was primarily due to lower net sales, higher per unit production and procurement costs, which were partly driven by negative impact of increased weather-related events, mainly high temperatures and low rainfall in our production areas in Central America and the Philippines as well as the negative impact of exchange rates.

2024年第二季毛利為1.13億美元，去年同期為1.17億美元，毛利率與去年持平，為9.9%。毛利下降主要是由於淨銷售下降、單位生產和採購成本上升，部分原因是天氣相關事件增加的負面影響，主要是中美洲和美國產區的高溫和降雨量減少。影響。

The decrease was partially offset by lower per unit ocean freight costs and higher per unit selling prices in our fresh and value-added products segment. Adjusted gross profit, which excludes other product-related charges of $1 million due to shipment disruptions in the Red Sea and additional cleanup costs in our Greece facility associated with the flooding that occurred last year was $114 million compared with $117 million in the prior year.

這一下降被我們的新鮮和增值產品部門的單位海運成本降低和單位售價提高所部分抵消。調整後毛利為 1.14 億美元，不包括因紅海運輸中斷而產生的 100 萬美元其他產品相關費用，以及與去年洪水相關的希臘工廠額外清理費用，而上一年為 1.17 億美元。

Operating income for the second quarter of 2024 was $68 million compared with $72 million last year. The decrease in operating income was primarily due to lower gross profit and a higher gain on sale of assets in the prior year.

2024 年第二季的營業收入為 6,800 萬美元，而去年為 7,200 萬美元。營業收入下降的主要原因是去年毛利下降和資產出售收益增加。

Adjusted operating income was $65 million compared with $68 million last year. Adjusted operating income for the second quarter of 2024 excludes the $1 million of other product-related charges previously mentioned as well as a $3 million gain on the sale of a European warehouse and a $2 million insurance recovery associated with the fire damage at a South America warehouse facility in the fourth quarter of 2023.

調整後營業收入為 6,500 萬美元，去年為 6,800 萬美元。2024 年第二季調整後營業收入不包括先前提及的 100 萬美元其他產品相關費用，以及出售歐洲倉庫獲得的 300 萬美元收益以及與南美洲火災損失相關的 200 萬美元保險賠償倉庫設施將於2023 年第四季建成。

These gains were partially offset by a $1 million impairment charge in the Philippines. Other income expense net for the second quarter of 2024 was a gain of $2 million compared with a loss of $6 million in the prior year.

這些收益被菲律賓 100 萬美元的減損費用部分抵銷。2024 年第二季的其他收入支出淨額為 200 萬美元，而上一年為虧損 600 萬美元。

The change was mainly due to a gain in an investment this quarter compared with a foreign currency loss in the same period last year. Net income attributable to Fresh Del Monte was $54 million for the second quarter of 2024 compared with $48 million in the prior year.

這項變更主要是由於本季的投資收益與去年同期的外匯損失相比。2024 年第二季 Fresh Del Monte 的淨利為 5,400 萬美元，而去年同期為 4,800 萬美元。

And adjusted FDP net income was $51 million compared with $46 million last year. Adjusted FDP net income for the second quarter of 2024 excludes the previously mentioned adjustments and the associated $1 million tax effect.

調整後的 FDP 淨利潤為 5,100 萬美元，而去年為 4,600 萬美元。2024 年第二季調整後的 FDP 淨利潤不包括前面提到的調整和相關的 100 萬美元稅收影響。

Our diluted earnings per share were $1.12 in the second quarter of 2024 compared with $0.99 in the prior year. Adjusted diluted earnings per share were $1.06 compared with $0.96 last year.

2024 年第二季我們的攤薄每股收益為 1.12 美元，而前一年為 0.99 美元。調整後稀釋每股收益為 1.06 美元，去年為 0.96 美元。

Adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter of 2024 was $89 million or 8% of net sales. This compares favorably to the same quarter last year, where adjusted EBITDA was $85 million or 7% of net sales.

2024 年第二季調整後 EBITDA 為 8,900 萬美元，佔淨銷售額的 8%。與去年同期相比，調整後的 EBITDA 為 8,500 萬美元，佔淨銷售額的 7%。

I will now go into more detail on the second quarter performance for each of our segments, beginning with our fresh and value-added products segment. Net sales for the second quarter of 2024 were $694 million compared with $678 million in the prior year.

我現在將更詳細地介紹我們每個部門的第二季業績，首先是我們的新鮮和增值產品部門。2024 年第二季的淨銷售額為 6.94 億美元，而去年同期為 6.78 億美元。

The increase in net sales was primarily a result of higher per unit selling prices of avocados, along with higher sales volume and higher pricing of non-tropical fruit. The increase was partially offset by lower net sales of vegetables and fresh-cut fruit due to lower sales volume.

淨銷售額的成長主要是由於酪梨的單位售價較高，以及非熱帶水果的銷售和定價較高。這一增長被蔬菜和鮮切水果因銷量下降導致的淨銷售額下降所部分抵消。

Gross profit was $78 million compared with $62 million in the prior year, and gross margin was 11.2% compared with 9.2% last year.

毛利為 7,800 萬美元，去年同期為 6,200 萬美元，毛利率為 11.2%，去年同期為 9.2%。

The increase in gross profit was primarily driven by higher per unit selling prices, which was partially offset by higher per unit production and procurement costs of avocados as well as the negative impact of exchange rates, primarily a stronger Costa Rican colón and Mexican peso.

毛利的成長主要是由於單位銷售價格的上漲，但部分被酪梨單位生產和採購成本的上升以及匯率的負面影響（主要是哥斯達黎加科朗和墨西哥比索走強）所抵消。

Gross profit for the second quarter of 2024 includes the $1 million of other product-related charges previously mentioned.

2024 年第二季的毛利包括前面提到的 100 萬美元其他產品相關費用。

In our banana segment, net sales for the second quarter of 2024 were $394 million compared with $449 million in the prior year. The decrease in net sales was primarily due to a 10% reduction in sales volume.

在我們的香蕉部門，2024 年第二季的淨銷售額為 3.94 億美元，而前一年為 4.49 億美元。淨銷售額下降主要是因為銷量減少10%。

During the quarter, we experienced lower sales volume in North America due to competitive market pressures and lower sales volume and lower per unit pricing in Asia, along with the negative impact of exchange rate fluctuations, mainly a weaker Japanese yen.

本季，由於市場競爭壓力，我們在北美的銷售量下降，而亞洲的銷售下降和單位定價較低，以及匯率波動（主要是日圓走弱）的負面影響。

Gross profit was $30 million compared with $51 million in the prior year, and gross margin was 7.6% compared with 11.3% last year. The decrease in gross profit was principally driven by lower net sales, higher per unit production and procurement costs and the negative impact of fluctuations in exchange rates due to a stronger Costa Rican colón.

毛利為 3,000 萬美元，去年同期為 5,100 萬美元，毛利率為 7.6%，去年同期為 11.3%。毛利下降的主要原因是淨銷售額下降、單位生產和採購成本上升以及哥斯達黎加貨幣走強導致的匯率波動的負面影響。

The decrease was partially offset by lower per unit distribution and ocean freight costs.

這一下降被單位分銷和海運成本的下降部分抵消。

In our other products and services segment for the second quarter of 2024, net sales were $51 million compared with $54 million in the prior year. The decrease in net sales was primarily due to the sale of our Chilean plastic products business, which we sold in the second quarter of 2023.

2024 年第二季我們其他產品和服務部門的淨銷售額為 5,100 萬美元，而前一年為 5,400 萬美元。淨銷售額下降的主要原因是我們在 2023 年第二季出售了智利塑膠製品業務。

Gross profit was $6 million compared with $4 million in the prior year, and gross margin was 10.7% compared with 7.8% last year.

毛利為 600 萬美元，去年為 400 萬美元，毛利率為 10.7%，去年為 7.8%。

The increase in gross profit was primarily due to higher per unit selling prices in our poultry and meat business. Now, moving on to selected financial data. Our income tax rate for the second quarter of 2024 was 19%, in line with the prior year.

毛利的增加主要是由於我們的家禽和肉類業務的單位售價較高。現在，轉向選定的財務數據。2024 年第二季我們的所得稅稅率為 19%，與前一年持平。

We expect our effective tax rate for the full year to approximate 21%. Now, let's turn our attention to our financial position, focusing on our net cash and capital spend for the quarter.

我們預計全年的有效稅率約為 21%。現在，讓我們將注意力轉向我們的財務狀況，並專注於本季的淨現金和資本支出。

Net cash provided by operating activities for the first 6 months of 2024 was $144 million compared with $133 million in the prior year. The increase was primarily due to working capital fluctuations mainly driven by higher levels of accounts payable and accrued expenses due to timing of period-end payments to suppliers, along with lower levels of accounts receivables.

2024 年前 6 個月經營活動提供的淨現金為 1.44 億美元，而前一年為 1.33 億美元。這一增長主要是由於營運資金波動，主要是由於期末向供應商付款的時間安排導致應付賬款和應計費用水平較高以及應收賬款水平較低所致。

Long-term debt decreased by 29% to $285 million at the end of the second quarter compared with $400 million at the end of the same quarter last year.

第二季末長期債務下降 29%，至 2.85 億美元，去年同期為 4 億美元。

This marks the lowest level of long-term debt since the end of 2017, reflecting our commitment to maintaining a prudent capital structure and creating long-term value for our shareholders.

這是自2017年底以來長期債務水平的最低水平，反映了我們致力於維持審慎的資本結構並為股東創造長期價值的承諾。

By lowering our debt, our leverage ratio is now 1.2 times adjusted EBITDA. As it relates to our capital expenditures for the first 6 months of 2024, we invested $21 million compared with $19 million in the prior year. We expect capital expenditures for the year to be in the range of $60 million to $65 million.

透過降低債務，我們的槓桿率現在是調整後 EBITDA 的 1.2 倍。由於這與我們 2024 年前 6 個月的資本支出有關，我們投資了 2,100 萬美元，而前一年為 1,900 萬美元。我們預計今年的資本支出將在 6,000 萬至 6,500 萬美元之間。

As announced in our press release, we declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.25 per share, payable on September 6, 2024, to shareholders of record on August 15, 2024. I now want to give you an outlook for the full year of 2024 by business segment.

正如我們在新聞稿中宣布的那樣，我們宣佈於 2024 年 9 月 6 日向 2024 年 8 月 15 日登記在冊的股東派發每股 0.25 美元的季度現金股息。現在我想按業務部門對 2024 年全年進行展望。

In our fresh and value-added segment, we anticipate net sales for the full year to be in the range of 1% to 2% higher compared to the prior year, primarily driven by our avocado, pineapple and fresh-cut fruit product lines.

在我們的生鮮和增值業務領域，我們預計全年淨銷售額將比上年增長 1% 至 2%，這主要是由我們的酪梨、鳳梨和鮮切水果產品線推動的。

It's important to note that the third quarter traditionally presents challenges due to the influx of competing summer fruit and vegetables entering the market. However, we remain confident in our strategy and product offerings to navigate the seasonal pressures effectively.

值得注意的是，由於競爭性夏季水果和蔬菜大量湧入市場，第三季傳統上會帶來挑戰。然而，我們對有效應對季節性壓力的策略和產品供應仍然充滿信心。

For our banana segment, due to the ongoing competitive market pressures, along with shipping challenges through the Red Sea, for the full year, we anticipate our sales volume to be 5% to 7% lower and our per unit pricing to be 4% to 5% lower as compared to the prior year.

對於我們的香蕉細分市場，由於持續的市場競爭壓力，以及紅海運輸的挑戰，我們預計全年銷量將下降 5% 至 7%，單位定價將下降 4% 至 4%。 5%。

Historically, the second half of the year sees higher industry volumes and lower pricing. It's important to note that in our 2 largest markets, North America and Europe, they have approximately 80% and 75%, respectively, under yearly banana sales contracts.

從歷史上看，下半年產業銷售增加，價格下降。值得注意的是，在我們最大的 2 個市場（北美和歐洲），每年的香蕉銷售合約分別佔約 80% 和 75%。

Our expectations for the remainder of 2024 for the other products and services segment remained consistent with the results reported in the first half of the year. We are pleased with the progress in our fresh and value-added products segment, where we continue to experience notable gross margin improvement.

我們對 2024 年剩餘時間其他產品和服務部門的預期與上半年報告的結果一致。我們對新鮮和增值產品領域的進展感到高興，我們在該領域的毛利率繼續顯著改善。

Additionally, we have made substantial progress in strengthening our balance sheet and reducing our debt to the lowest level in 6 years. We believe these steps position us well for future growth and stability.

此外，我們在強化資產負債表和將債務降至六年來最低水準方面取得了實質進展。我們相信這些步驟為我們未來的成長和穩定奠定了良好的基礎。

This concludes our financial review. We can now turn the call over to Q&A. Kaila?

我們的財務審查到此結束。我們現在可以將通話轉至問答環節。凱拉？

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Mitchell Pinheiro with Sturdivant Company.

米切爾·皮涅羅 (Mitchell Pinheiro) 與 Sturdivant 公司。

So, I guess my first question is, and I really do appreciate some of the guidance or comments around your segments, it's very helpful. So, you had a particularly strong margin improvement in the fresh value add, I should say.

所以，我想我的第一個問題是，我真的很感謝有關您的細分的一些指導或評論，這非常有幫助。所以，我應該說，你在新鮮增值方面的利潤率有了特別強勁的提高。

And like, is that sustainable in the back half more or less? Is that the level that we should be looking at? Or were there some benefits like either mix or something in the quarter that elevated it?

就像，這在後半場或多或少是可持續的嗎？這是我們應該關注的層次嗎？或者是否有一些好處，例如混合或本季度的某些因素提高了它？

I know like 11% is an area that you're looking to get to as a target, or higher maybe. But I'm just curious, are we there yet? Or was there a couple of items in the quarter that helped?

我知道 11% 是您希望達到的目標，或更高。但我只是好奇，我們到了嗎？或者本季是否有一些項目有幫助？

So, Mitch, we had a good quarter. I think we're making good progress in improving the fresh and value-added margins. As I said, you know the second half, especially the summer months, there's competing fruit. So, there will be more pressure on the segment. But we're definitely making progress, and we definitely see an improvement in the margins.

所以，米奇，我們度過了一個美好的季度。我認為我們在提高新鮮利潤和增值利潤方面取得了良好進展。正如我所說，你知道下半年，尤其是夏季，會有相互競爭的水果。因此，該細分市場將面臨更大的壓力。但我們確實正在取得進展，而且我們確實看到了利潤率的提高。

We have the great mix with our Honeyglow pineapple, our Pinkglow. Our Fresh Cut products are doing well, like Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh said, our UK Fresh-cut facility has improved their margins because of the investments we've made and our non-tropical, especially grapes have really been performing well this year.

我們與 Honeyglow 鳳梨、Pinkglow 完美搭配。我們的鮮切產品表現良好，正如阿布·格扎拉先生所說，我們的英國鮮切工廠的利潤率有所提高，因為我們進行了投資，而且我們的非熱帶，尤其是葡萄今年確實表現良好。

So, definitely getting where we want to be in that fresh and value-added product category full year, there is some pressure on this segment, but we expect to have a good year.

因此，全年肯定會在新鮮和增值產品類別中達到我們想要的目標，該細分市場面臨一些壓力，但我們預計會有一個美好的一年。

I would like to add to Monica's remarks here and clarification that I have been saying that for quite a while, Mitch, that we are, let's say, reinventing Fresh Del Monte in a way that will be a lot more value-added products and a lot more innovation and development that, in my opinion, which will restructured the company in a completely different way than it was for the last 27, 28 years.

我想補充一下莫妮卡的評論，並澄清一下，米奇，我已經說過很長一段時間了，我們正在以一種更具附加價值的產品和更多的方式重塑Fresh Del Monte。看來，更多的創新和發展將以與過去27、28 年完全不同的方式重組公司。

So, as we go forward, you will be hearing from us more information and more details about our developments and about our new, let's say, value-added and higher-margin products that will be rolling out into the market.

因此，隨著我們的前進，您將從我們那裡聽到更多有關我們的發展以及我們即將推向市場的增值和更高利潤的新產品的信息和詳細信息。

So, this momentum that you have seen or you have witnessed now in the second quarter, I believe it will continue, and I believe it will accelerate as we go forward. That's what I can say at this stage on.

因此，您在第二季度已經看到或現在目睹的這種勢頭，我相信它將繼續下去，並且隨著我們的前進，它將會加速。這就是我現階段能說的。

Well, I'm curious, so like your project in Kenya, is that something where you're creating this for internal use, so it becomes like a cost offset? Or will it become a separate revenue stream in profit?

好吧，我很好奇，就像您在肯亞的項目一樣，您是為了內部使用而創建這個項目，所以它變得像是一種成本抵消？或者它會成為利潤中的一個單獨的收入來源嗎？

It will be twofold. It will be exactly like you said, it will help reduction of our costs by using, let's say, more organic biofertilizers rather than the chemicals. That's one side on this. It will be twofold. It would be less in terms of money spent, and it will be more sustainable than any other product.

這將是雙重的。正如您所說，透過使用更多的有機生物肥料而不是化學品，這將有助於降低我們的成本。這是一方面。這將是雙重的。與任何其他產品相比，它的花費會更少，而且更可持續。

So, we will win on the sustainability front as well on the commercial front. Second part of your question is that, it's going to be at the preliminary stage, it will be mainly for our use in our operations.

因此，我們將在永續發展方面以及商業方面獲勝。你問題的第二部分是，它將處於初級階段，主要供我們在營運中使用。

But definitely, our aim and target are to go into the open market and start marketing the products also to third parties and other growers in Kenya and hopefully, in East Africa in general.

但毫無疑問，我們的目的和目標是進入開放市場，並開始向肯亞和整個東非的第三方和其他種植者行銷產品。

And just a follow-up on that is, I don't remember what you said about the ad, when does it open? And how long would it take to get meaningful scale?

跟進的是，我不記得你對廣告說了什麼，它什麼時候打開？需要多長時間才能達到有意義的規模？

We just actually started last month, Mitch. We started production in a very small way. Don't forget that this is like just a startup. We do have associates' partners in this venture that we have in Kenya, a minority partner that is from Spain, a Spanish company that is specialized in this category.

我們其實是上個月才開始的，米奇。我們以非常小的方式開始生產。不要忘記，這就像一家新創公司。我們在肯亞的這個合資企業中確實有聯營公司的合作夥伴，其中一個來自西班牙的少數合作夥伴是一家專門從事這一類別的西班牙公司。

And, of course, that technology and know-how and recipes and formulas is a very important backbone of our new development. So, it will be kind of, I would give it another, to the end of the year, and we will see more, let's say, concrete development and results from that point on.

當然，技術、專業知識、配方和配方是我們新發展的非常重要的支柱。因此，我會在今年年底再考慮一次，從那時起我們將看到更多具體的發展和成果。

And then when it comes to the produce category in the United States, I mean, what are you seeing given the inflation that we've seen, it's global, but just talking about North America, in particular, are you seeing the produce category having any unusual either demand trends? Or is there anything there that you can call out that we should know?

然後，當涉及美國的農產品類別時，我的意思是，考慮到我們所看到的通貨膨脹，您看到了什麼，這是全球性的，但只是談論北美，特別是，您是否看到農產品類別有什麼不尋常的需求趨勢嗎？或者有什麼是我們應該知道的？

I believe that the produce industry in general has a challenge in terms of the pricing in the market. And that is reflecting actually on many fronts as we have seen.

我認為農產品產業總體上在市場定價方面面臨挑戰。正如我們所看到的，這實際上反映在許多方面。

We have never seen any time in the last 10, 15 years that the banana prices in Ecuador, for instance, will not come down in the summer. I mean, usually, this time of the year, prices in Ecuador on the FOB level would be around $4, $3, $4, or $5 at the most.

例如，在過去的 10 年、15 年裡，我們從未見過厄瓜多爾的香蕉價格在夏季不會下降。我的意思是，通常每年的這個時候，厄瓜多爾的離岸價格最多約為 4 美元、3 美元、4 美元或 5 美元左右。

Now, we are seeing prices in the $6, $7, $8, $9 average for the FOB, which has never happened before. And that is the result of so many losses and so many farmers going out of the market or growing less bananas.

現在，我們看到離岸價平均價格為 6 美元、7 美元、8 美元、9 美元，這是以前從未發生過的。這是大量損失和大量農民退出市場或減少香蕉種植的結果。

The same happens in South America. Usually, there is a surplus at this time of the year. Now, we don't see any surpluses in Central America.

同樣的情況也發生在南美洲。通常，每年的這個時候都會有盈餘。現在，我們沒有看到中美洲有任何盈餘。

That's as far as bananas are concerned. But if you look at the produce business in general, unfortunately, the prices at the shelf level besides bananas, I'm not talking about bananas, but anything else besides banana is quite high its price tag. And that is driving, in my opinion, consumers from consuming more or consuming enough to move this product out of the shelf.

就香蕉而言，就是這樣。但如果你看看整個農產品行業，不幸的是，除了香蕉之外，貨架上的價格，我不是在談論香蕉，但除了香蕉之外的其他任何東西的價格都相當高。在我看來，這正在促使消費者消費更多或消費足夠的產品來將其下架。

And that's why we see now really less competition even in the Valley in Salinas, where we are having our vegetable business, we see that it is becoming more rationalized and things are getting improved as far as our operations are concerned. And that is the result of less demand and less movement in the market.

這就是為什麼我們現在看到競爭確實減少了，即使是在薩利納斯山谷，我們在那裡開展蔬菜業務，我們看到它變得更加合理化，就我們的運營而言，情況正在得到改善。這是需求減少和市場波動減少的結果。

In my opinion, this trend is going to continue for a while and until rationalization take place and prices come down a little bit for consumers to start picking up the products.

在我看來，這種趨勢將持續一段時間，直到合理化發生並且價格略有下降，消費者才會開始購買產品。

Was fresh-cut fruit in this particular quarter? Was that impacted by any of this pricing or?

這個特定季度有鮮切水果嗎？這是否受到任何定價的影響？

I think we have been very lucky that fresh-cut fruit has been very well received, continuous expansion and continuous sell-through. And, as I said a while ago, the fresh guacamole segment that we just started has taken off extremely well.

我認為我們很幸運，鮮切水果很受歡迎，不斷擴張，持續暢銷。而且，正如我剛才所說，我們剛開始的新鮮酪梨醬業務發展得非常好。

As I said, we started with 650 packs sold in late November of last year. And until recently, we have moved over 315,000 and that's just a start.

正如我所說，去年 11 月下旬我們開始銷售 650 包。直到最近，我們已經搬遷了超過 315,000 人，而這只是一個開始。

So, we believe that this will be a huge category for us going into the future. And this is very unique for Fresh Del Monte actually. It's been developed innovated by Fresh Del Monte took us over 6, 7 months of development until this was created this product. So, we are quite satisfied. I'm proud that we have been able to create such products in the market.

因此，我們相信這對我們未來來說將是一個巨大的類別。事實上，這對 Fresh Del Monte 來說是非常獨特的。它是由 Fresh Del Monte 創新開發的，我們花了 6、7 個月的時間開發這個產品。所以，我們還是比較滿意的。我很自豪我們能夠在市場上創造出這樣的產品。

And just to add a little bit on that, Mitch. Fresh-cut fruit has strong pricing as did most of our products in the fresh and value-added product category and strong margins. So, fresh-cut fruit is definitely in a good form. And pineapple, as you know, is our main product in this category.

米奇，我想補充一點。與我們的大多數新鮮和增值產品類別中的產品一樣，鮮切水果的定價強勁，利潤率也很高。所以說，鮮切水果的形態一定是很好的。如您所知，菠蘿是我們這一類別的主要產品。

Yes, I was going to get to a good segue. I mean you lead in the pineapple business and your innovation has been quite good over the last couple of years. You talked about 3% CAGR in terms of like volume. Is that limited just based on physical production timing? Or what drives the 3% number? Why wouldn't it be higher?

是的，我本來打算好好繼續。我的意思是，你們在菠蘿業務中處於領先地位，並且你們的創新在過去幾年中表現得非常好。您談到了類似數量的複合年增長率為 3%。這是否僅基於實際生產時間而受到限制？或者是什麼推動了 3% 的數字？為什麼不能更高一點呢？

We are restricted by land availability and it takes time to grow new fields of pineapples. So, this is all internal growth and this is not coming from third-party growers. And today, it's not so easy to grow and pineapples in a big volume or in a big acreage since there are limitations, be it in the growing countries or even finding new areas for producing pineapples.

我們受到土地供應的限制，種植新的鳳梨田需要時間。因此，這都是內部成長，而不是來自第三方種植者。如今，大量或大面積種植鳳梨並不容易，因為無論是在種植國家還是在尋找新的鳳梨生產地區都存在著限制。

And don't forget the most important thing, Mitch, that we have been saying that for many, many years that we're a vertically integrated company. We produce, we ship and we sell. And the fresh-cut strength and backbone of this is this strategy of being a vertically integrated that we can always have the product available with consistency in supply and consistency in quality, which really gives confidence and trust to our customers and the consumers at the end of the day.

不要忘記最重要的事情，米奇，多年來我們一直在說我們是一家垂直整合的公司。我們生產、運輸和銷售。其鮮切優勢和支柱是垂直整合的策略，我們始終可以提供供應一致和品質一致的產品，這最終真正為我們的客戶和消費者帶來信心和信任當日。

So, that's a value that we have built over the last 27, 28 years, and that has a huge, huge value today with our infrastructure. We are the number one fresh-cut fruit operator in the US, in North America. And I believe we will continue to dominate this position going forward.

所以，這是我們在過去 27、28 年建立的價值，並且在今天我們的基礎設施中具有巨大的價值。我們是美國和北美第一大鮮切水果業者。我相信我們未來將繼續佔據這一地位。

Just one more question in (inaudible) to pineapple. The Honeyglow is a terrific product and I was wondering whether it's hard to have like a sort of patent protection, but like a little bit of strategic protection for a while. Are you seeing any competition in like the Honeyglow category? Or do you own the category and you have it to yourselves for a while?

菠蘿還有一個問題（聽不清楚）。Honeyglow 是一款很棒的產品，我想知道它是否很難獲得某種專利保護，而是暫時的一點策略保護。您是否看到像 Honeyglow 類別這樣的競爭？或者你擁有這個類別並且你自己擁有它一段時間？

No, this is a technology that we have developed over the years how to produce Honeyglow and how to select Honeyglow. And, of course, competition after our success has tried to copy our plan, and they have tried. But as far as I can see that nobody has been able to kind of copy and imitate what we have been doing. And I think it's not just because of our expertise and knowledge about pineapples, but as well as the variety that we have.

不，這是我們多年來開發的如何生產Honeyglow以及如何選擇Honeyglow的技術。當然，我們成功後的競爭也試圖複製我們的計劃，他們也嘗試過。但據我所知，沒有人能夠複製和模仿我們一直在做的事情。我認為這不僅是因為我們對鳳梨的專業知識和知識，還因為我們擁有的品種。

And don't forget that we were the one that created the gold pineapple. I mean it was developed by Del Monte, and we have the original seeds, and that's something that is very, very important to know that we have pure seeds.

別忘了我們是創造金鳳梨的人。我的意思是它是由德爾蒙特開發的，我們有原始種子，知道我們有純種子是非常非常重要的。

And that's something that no one else in the market has ever had because everything that is in the seeds today was started actually from Fresh Del Monte at the time, the early 2000, late '90s, and some of it was not pure material.

這是市場上其他人從未擁有過的東西，因為今天種子中的所有東西實際上都是從當時的 Fresh Del Monte 開始的，即 2000 年初、90 年代末，其中一些並不是純粹的材料。

So, over the years, it starts mutating and start changing the variety. So, I believe into this and that's why we have that dominant and leading position in this category.

因此，多年來，它開始變異並開始改變品種。因此，我相信這一點，這就是為什麼我們在這一類別中擁有主導地位和領先地位。

And to add to that, Mitch, remember, for pineapple, we grow over 70% of our volume. So, that makes a significant difference because we can control the growing, the harvesting and that's where the Honeyglow it's really important to have control of that.

除此之外，米奇，請記住，我們種植的鳳梨佔總產量的 70% 以上。所以，這會產生顯著的差異，因為我們可以控制生長和收穫，這就是 Honeyglow 控制這些的真正重要的地方。

That and our logistics, which help also with that. It has to have the cold chain all the way through the customer. So, I believe that really gives us a huge advantage having control of the production all the way to the customer. And our quality even if they try to compete with us, our quality is the best.

這以及我們的物流也對此有所幫助。它必須擁有貫穿客戶的全程冷鏈。因此，我相信這確實為我們帶來了巨大的優勢，可以控制生產一直到客戶。而我們的質量，即使他們試圖與我們競爭，我們的品質也是最好的。

(Operator Instructions) And at this time, I'm not seeing any further questions. Mr. Mohammad Abu-Ghazaleh, I'll turn the call back over to you.

（操作員說明） 目前，我沒有看到任何進一步的問題。穆罕默德·阿布·格扎拉先生，我會將電話轉回給您。

Thank you very much, Kaila. And I appreciate everybody's presence on this call today. And I hope we speak to you on our next quarter call, and I wish you a good day. Thank you.

非常感謝你，凱拉。我感謝大家出席今天的電話會議。我希望我們在下個季度的電話會議上與您交談，祝您有美好的一天。謝謝。

And this concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線。