Freshpet Inc (FRPT) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Greetings. Welcome to Freshpet's First Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this conference is being recorded.

問候。歡迎參加 Freshpet 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。 （操作員指示）請注意，本次會議正在錄音。

At this time, I'll now turn the conference over to Rachel Ulsh, Vice President of Investor Relations. Rachel, you may now begin.

現在，我將會議交給投資者關係副總裁 Rachel Ulsh。瑞秋，你現在可以開始了。

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to Freshpet's First Quarter 2024 Earnings Call and Webcast. On today's call are Billy Cyr, Chief Executive Officer; and Todd Cunfer, Chief Financial Officer, Scott Morris, President and Chief Operating Officer, will also be available for Q&A.

謝謝。早安，歡迎參加 Freshpet 2024 年第一季財報電話會議和網路廣播。參加今天電話會議的有執行長 Billy Cyr；財務長 Todd Cunfer 和總裁兼營運長 Scott Morris 也將參加問答環節。

Before we begin, please remember that during the course of this call, management may make forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These include statements related to our long-term strategy, focus 2027 goals, pace in achieving these goals, prospects for growth, and new technologies and 2024 guidance. Words such as believe, could, estimate, expect, guidance, intend, may, project, will or similar conditional expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

在我們開始之前，請記住，在本次電話會議期間，管理層可能會根據 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》做出前瞻性陳述。相信、可以、估計、預期、指引、打算、可能、預期、將或類似條件表達等詞語旨在識別前瞻性陳述。

These statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements, including those associated with such statements and inaccuracies and third-party data.

這些聲明是基於管理階層目前的預期和信念，涉及風險和不確定性，可能導致實際結果與這些前瞻性聲明中所述的結果有重大差異，包括與此類聲明和不準確之處以及第三方數據相關的風險和不確定性。

Please refer to the company's annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the company's press release issued today for a detailed discussion of risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made today.

請參閱本公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的 10-K 表年度報告以及本公司今天發布的新聞稿，以詳細了解可能導致實際結果與今天做出的任何前瞻性陳述中表達或暗示的結果存在重大差異的風險。

Please note on today's call, management will refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures, such as EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA, among others. While the company believes these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information for investors, the presentation of this information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information presented in accordance with GAAP.

請注意，在今天的電話會議上，管理層將參考某些非 GAAP 財務指標，例如 EBITDA 和調整後的 EBITDA 等。雖然公司認為這些非公認會計準則財務指標為投資者提供了有用的信息，但這些資訊的呈現並非旨在單獨考慮或替代按照公認會計準則呈現的財務資訊。

Please refer to today's press release for how management defines such non-GAAP measures, why management believes such non-GAAP measures are useful, a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable measures prepared in accordance with GAAP and limitations associated with such non-GAAP measures.

請參閱今天的新聞稿，了解管理階層如何定義此類非 GAAP 指標、管理階層為何認為此類非 GAAP 指標有用、非 GAAP 財務指標與根據 GAAP 編制的最具可比性的指標的調整以及與此類非 GAAP 指標相關的限制。

Finally, the company has produced a presentation that contains many of the key metrics that will be discussed on this call. That presentation can be found on the company's investor website. Management's commentary will not specifically walk through the presentation on the call, rather it is a summary of the results and guidance they'll discuss today.

最後，該公司製作了一份演示文稿，其中包含本次電話會議將討論的許多關鍵指標。該演示文稿可以在該公司的投資者網站上找到。管理層的評論不會具體介紹電話會議上的演示，而是對他們今天將討論的結果和指導的總結。

With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Billy Cyr, Chief Executive Officer.

說到這裡，我想把電話轉給執行長 Billy Cyr。

Thank you, Rachel, and good morning, everyone. The message I'd like you to take away from today's call is that these strong quarterly results proved that some of the most critical financial metrics in our 2027 goals are achievable. Now we must prove to you that we can deliver them consistently over time. These results did not happen by accident. They were the result of a disciplined focus on the key drivers of profit improvement and the changes we've made as an organization and we're determined to continue those disciplined efforts until these results become a long-term trend.

謝謝你，Rachel，大家早安。我希望你們從今天的電話會議中得到的訊息是，這些強勁的季度業績證明，我們 2027 年目標中的一些最關鍵的財務指標是可以實現的。現在我們必須向您證明我們能夠長期持續地提供這些服務。這些結果並非偶然發生。它們是我們嚴格關注利潤成長的關鍵驅動因素以及我們作為一個組織所做的改變的結果，我們決心繼續這些嚴格的努力，直到這些結果成為長期趨勢。

Further, these results demonstrated that with increased scale comes increased profitability, which was the basis of our Fresh Future plan that we announced in early 2023. It was then that we pivoted to a more balanced approach to growth and profitability versus our previous single-minded focus on growth alone. We were able to deliver these results because of the strength of the Freshpet business model and consumer proposition, and strong improvement in the key fundamentals that drive our business.

此外，這些結果表明，規模的擴大會帶來獲利能力的提高，這也是我們在 2023 年初宣布的「新未來」計畫的基礎。 從那時起，我們就開始轉向更平衡的成長和獲利能力方法，而不是像以前那樣一心一意地關注成長。我們之所以能夠取得這些成績，是因為 Freshpet 商業模式和消費者主張的強大，以及推動我們業務發展的關鍵基本面的強勁改善。

There are several important points I'd like you to take away from these results: First, our growth model continues to deliver. We've successfully absorbed the most significant pricing we've ever faced, delivered strong volume-based growth in the quarter and return to the greater than 20% household penetration growth rate embedded in our long-term targets. Further, we added those households at a customer acquisition cost or CAC, that is comparable to the levels we experienced prior to the price increases of the last 2 years. This demonstrates the strength of the Freshpet growth model, the power of our marketing and also provides the confidence that the model can continue to deliver the 25% net sales growth embedded in our fiscal year 2027 goals.

我希望你們從這些結果中得出幾個要點：首先，我們的成長模式繼續發揮作用。我們成功吸收了有史以來面臨的最大定價，在本季度實現了強勁的銷售成長，並恢復了我們長期目標中超過 20% 的家庭滲透率成長率。此外，我們以客戶獲取成本或 CAC 增加了這些家庭，這與過去兩年價格上漲之前的水平相當。這證明了 Freshpet 成長模式的實力和我們的行銷力量，同時也讓我們有信心該模式可以繼續實現我們 2027 財年目標中 25% 的淨銷售額成長。

Second, we've improved our operational effectiveness. We're now delivering significant year-on-year improvements in our quality, input and logistics costs, the costs that we've been intensely focusing on, and that has resulted in a step change in our adjusted gross margin and adjusted EBITDA margin. Our operational achievements stem from our efforts to build strong organizational capability at all levels, beginning with our Freshpet Academy that has strengthened our production workforce and also including some of the senior leaders we've hired in the past 1.5 years. And while these operational improvements are significant, we believe we're just getting started and that our team is capable of delivering this type of operational excellence more consistently over time and, potentially, doing even better.

第二，提高了營運效率。目前，我們在品質、投入和物流成本方面實現了同比顯著改善，這些成本是我們一直重點關注的，這導致我們的調整後毛利率和調整後 EBITDA 利潤率發生了顯著變化。我們的營運成就源自於我們在各個層面建立強大組織能力的努力，首先是我們的 Freshpet 學院，它加強了我們的生產隊伍，其中還包括我們在過去 1.5 年中聘請的一些高級領導。雖然這些營運改善意義重大，但我們相信我們才剛起步，我們的團隊有能力隨著時間的推移更持續地提供這種卓越的運營，甚至可能做得更好。

Finally, we're demonstrating the capability and operating discipline needed to balance capacity and demand at such a high rate of growth. We're adding capacity on budget and on time and at a pace that enables us to keep up with our high growth rate without carrying too much excess capacity. This enables us to deliver strong fill rates to our customers while simultaneously improving our margins and is the result of the rigor and discipline that we've put in place around our growth planning.

最後，我們展示了在如此高的成長率下平衡產能和需求所需的能力和營運紀律。我們正在按預算和時間增加產能，並且擴張速度使我們能夠跟上高成長率，而不會產生過多的過剩產能。這使我們能夠為客戶提供強大的填充率，同時提高我們的利潤率，這是我們在成長規劃中採取的嚴謹和紀律的結果。

This is the balancing act between growth and capital investment that we've described to you previously, and we're increasingly mastering it at a high rate of growth. While we're pleased with the performance we delivered, we're not satisfied. We need to deliver this level of performance consistently over time. And once we've proven our ability to do that, we'd consider revising our long-term targets. But right now, we're focused on maintaining momentum in each of the remaining 3 quarters of this year.

這就是我們先前向您描述的成長與資本投資之間的平衡行為，我們正在以高成長率逐漸掌握它。雖然我們對自己的表現很滿意，但我們並不滿足。我們需要長期持續地提供這種程度的表現。一旦我們證明我們有能力做到這一點，我們就會考慮修改我們的長期目標。但現在，我們專注於保持今年剩餘三個季度的成長勢頭。

As we've mentioned many times before, the manufacturing systems to make fresh pet food are still in their infancy. We're investing heavily in organizational capability and technology to make those systems more reliable, consistent and efficient and are making good progress on many aspects of the process. But we also know that we're still in the early days of the fresh pet food category and the opportunities for improvement are sizable. We fully intend to realize those opportunities over time and have numerous initiatives underway to do that.

正如我們之前多次提到的，生產新鮮寵物食品的製造系統仍處於起步階段。我們正在大力投資組織能力和技術，以使這些系統更加可靠、一致和高效，並且在流程的許多方面都取得了良好進展。但我們也知道，新鮮寵物食品領域仍處於早期階段，改進的機會很大。我們完全有意隨著時間的推移實現這些機會，並且已經採取多項措施來實現這一目標。

Now let me walk through some of the highlights of the first quarter. We had strong momentum in the first quarter and made tremendous progress against our long-term plan, and you can see that in our financial results. First, we started the year with very strong net sales growth, with first quarter net sales of $223.8 million, up 34% year-over-year, driven primarily by volume growth of 31% and 3% price/mix. Second, we saw significant improvement in adjusted gross margin as well as adjusted EBITDA. First quarter adjusted gross margin was 45.3% compared to 41.1% in the fourth quarter and 38.5% in the prior year period.

現在讓我回顧一下第一季的一些亮點。我們在第一季發展勢頭強勁，並在長期計劃方面取得了巨大進展，您可以從我們的財務業績中看到這一點。首先，我們以非常強勁的淨銷售額成長開啟了新的一年，第一季淨銷售額為 2.238 億美元，年增 34%，主要得益於 31% 的銷量成長和 3% 的價格組合成長。其次，我們看到調整後的毛利率和調整後的 EBITDA 均有顯著改善。第一季調整後毛利率為 45.3%，第四季為 41.1%，去年同期為 38.5%。

First quarter adjusted EBITDA was $30.6 million, an increase of approximately $28 million year-over-year. Our diluted earnings per share was $0.37 excluding a markup in the value of our equity investment, EPS was $0.17 per share. I've been looking forward to the data that I could say those words for a very long time, and I expect that to become a habit going forward.

第一季調整後 EBITDA 為 3,060 萬美元，較去年同期增加約 2,800 萬美元。我們的每股攤薄收益為 0.37 美元（不含股權投資價值的加價），每股收益為 0.17 美元。我期待著我能說出這些話的數據已經很久了，我希望這能成為一種習慣。

In addition to those financial highlights, we made progress on our retail availability and visibility as well. We placed 617 fridges in the first quarter, including new stores, upgrades and second/third fridges bringing us to a total of 34,812 fridges at retail, or more than 1.7 million cubic feet of retail space. As of March 31, 2024, Freshpet could be found in 27,097 stores, 23% of which now have multiple fridges in the U.S. Fridge placements and store growth were supported by continued strong fill rates that ended the quarter in the high 90s again.

除了這些財務亮點之外，我們在零售可用性和可見性方面也取得了進展。我們在第一季安裝了 617 台冰箱，包括新店、升級版和第二台/第三台冰箱，使我們的零售冰箱總數達到 34,812 台，或超過 170 萬立方英尺的零售空間。截至 2024 年 3 月 31 日，Freshpet 已覆蓋美國 27,097 家門市，其中 23% 的門市目前擁有多台冰箱。

We've rallied the organization around our Mainstream, Main Meal, More Profitable plans, what we refer to as Main & More. We're making the Freshpet brand more mainstream and getting people to use it as a main meal component and this creates intensity and concentration of the business that we believe will allow us to be more profitable. Focusing on the idea of Mainstream, according to Nielsen Omnichannel data, which includes e-commerce and direct-to-consumer, as of March 30, 2024, total U.S. pet food is a $53 billion category. We only have a 3% market share within the $37 billion dog food segment, which the majority of our business is today, leaving a vast runway for growth. Within the fresh/frozen subcategory in measured channels, which continues to outperform the broader pet food category, Freshpet has a 96% market share. The idea of the humanization of pets is becoming more and more mainstream, appealing to every income group and demographic, and it is our goal to make fresh food the standard way to feed your pets.

我們已將整個組織團結在我們的主流、主餐、更有利可圖的計劃周圍，我們稱之為「Main & More」。我們正在使 Freshpet 品牌更加主流，並讓人們將其作為主要的膳食成分，這將增強業務的強度和集中度，我們相信這將使我們獲得更多利潤。重點關注主流理念，根據尼爾森全通路數據（包括電子商務和直接面向消費者），截至 2024 年 3 月 30 日，美國寵物食品總價值為 530 億美元。在價值 370 億美元的狗糧市場中，我們僅佔有 3% 的份額，而這個市場也是我們目前業務的主要來源，因此具有巨大的成長空間。在測量通路的新鮮/冷凍子類別中，Freshpet 的表現持續優於更廣泛的寵物食品類別，其市佔率為 96%。寵物人性化的概念越來越主流，吸引每個收入群體和人口統計數據，我們的目標是讓新鮮食品成為餵養寵物的標準方式。

Our household penetration at the end of the first quarter was 12.367 million households, up 24% year-over-year and growing. Our high-profit pet owning households or HIPPOHs for short, are growing even faster, up 34% versus the prior year period. We remain on track to meet our target of 20 million households by 2027.

我們第一季末的家庭普及率為1,236.7萬戶，年增24%，而且還在成長。我們的高利潤寵物飼養家庭（簡稱 HIPPOH）成長速度更快，比去年同期成長了 34%。我們仍有望實現 2027 年涵蓋 2,000 萬戶家庭的目標。

Overall, retail availability continued to grow, with ACV of almost 65%, and we continue to see upside in continued distribution gains going forward. We'll continue to focus on increasing the percentage of stores with second and third fridges.

總體而言，零售供應量持續成長，ACV 接近 65%，我們繼續看到未來分銷收益的持續上升空間。我們將繼續致力於增加擁有第二台和第三台冰箱的商店的比例。

Turning to the concept of Main Meal. We use our advertising to educate consumers on the benefits of fresh food for their pets and that is the key driver to convert more consumers to use Freshpet as a main meal. Today, 48% of Freshpet buyers use the product as the main component of their pet's meal and there is a significant opportunity to increase this percentage even with our heavy users. 37% of Freshpet's users are HIPPOHs and they represented 89% of our sales in the first quarter. By focusing on fresh, healthy food, offering a wide range of price points and expanding our recipes, we believe consumers will naturally convert from using Freshpet as a topper to more of a main meal item, centering the plate around fresh. This concept of converting toppers into main meal users will, in turn, increase buy-rate too, which was $96.84 at quarter end, up 5% versus a year ago.

轉向主餐的概念。我們透過廣告向消費者宣傳新鮮寵物食品的益處，這是吸引更多消費者使用 Freshpet 作為主食的關鍵驅動力。如今，48% 的 Freshpet 購買者將該產品作為寵物食品的主要成分，而且即使是我們的重度用戶，這一比例仍有很大的提升機會。 Freshpet 的 37% 用戶是 HIPPOH，他們占我們第一季銷售額的 89%。透過專注於新鮮、健康的食品，提供廣泛的價格點和擴大我們的食譜，我們相信消費者會自然而然地從使用 Freshpet 作為配料轉變為將其作為主餐，並以新鮮食品為中心。這種將食材使用者轉化為主餐用戶的理念反過來也會提高購買率，本季末的購買率為 96.84 美元，比去年同期上漲了 5%。

Based on MegaChannel data, we currently have an average of 18.9 SKUs per point of distribution, up from 16.4 SKUs 1 year ago. We plan to increase the number of SKUs available at each retailer by adding second and third fridges, which amplifies our marketing spend and drives visibility for the brand, while also allowing us to showcase a wider range of our portfolio.

根據 MegaChannel 的數據，我們目前每個分銷點平均有 18.9 個 SKU，高於 1 年前的 16.4 個 SKU。我們計劃透過增加第二台和第三台冰箱來增加每個零售商可用的SKU數量，這將增加我們的行銷支出並提高品牌知名度，同時也使我們能夠展示更廣泛的產品組合。

Turning to the more part of Main & More, More Profitable. As I mentioned earlier, we significantly improved margins this quarter, with solid operating performance, thanks to the work of our team. Quality, yield, input costs and throughput all drove the over-delivery. Last quarter, I suggested that we had reached an inflection point and we're turning a corner on profitability because we're now at a point where we can leverage our scale, increase business intensity and concentration. We're now seeing those benefits of scale play out, and they're driving increased profitability.

轉向「主要及更多、更有利可圖」的更多部分。正如我之前提到的，由於我們團隊的努力，本季我們的利潤率顯著提高，營運績效穩健。品質、產量、投入成本和生產能力均導致超額交付。上個季度，我提出我們已經到達了一個轉折點，我們正在扭轉獲利狀況，因為我們現在處於可以利用規模、增加業務強度和集中度的階段。我們現在看到規模優勢正在發揮作用，並且正在推動獲利能力的提高。

First quarter adjusted gross margin increased 680 basis points year-over-year to 45.3%, and adjusted EBITDA as a percent of net sales was 13.7% compared to 1.8% in the prior year period. Logistics has been a key area of focus for us, and it was only 6.4% of net sales in the first quarter, improving 290 basis points year-over-year and coming in below our long-term target of 7.5%. We're greatly encouraged by these results and believe there is a significant opportunity to drive further profit improvement going forward, with our Ennis facility still ramping up production, and our continued work on OEE to increase yield and throughput.

第一季調整後毛利率年增 680 個基點至 45.3%，調整後 EBITDA 佔淨銷售額的百分比為 13.7%，而去年同期為 1.8%。物流一直是我們關注的重點領域，但第一季它僅佔淨銷售額的 6.4%，比去年同期成長 290 個基點，低於我們 7.5% 的長期目標。這些結果讓我們深受鼓舞，我們相信，未來將有很大機會進一步提高利潤，我們的 Ennis 工廠仍在提高產量，我們將繼續致力於 OEE 以提高產量和產量。

That leads me to an update on our capacity. We feel confident in our expansion and efficiency projects, which are all on budget. Ennis currently has 3 lines operating today, 1 roll line and 2 bag lines, and this facility is producing approximately 25% of our total production volume. Our fourth line in Ennis is slightly ahead of schedule and expected to start up by the end of the third quarter. This additional line kicks off Phase 2 in Ennis and will alleviate some complexity of changeovers and SKU assortment since it will be our second roll line in this facility.

這促使我對我們的產能進行了更新。我們對我們的擴張和效率項目充滿信心，因為它們都在預算之內。恩尼斯目前有 3 條生產線投入運營，1 條卷裝生產線和 2 條袋裝生產線，該工廠的產量約占我們總產量的 25%。我們在恩尼斯的第四條生產線略微提前了計劃，預計將在第三季末投入使用。這條新增生產線啟動了恩尼斯工廠的第二階段工作，由於這將是我們在工廠的第二條生產線，因此它將減輕轉換和 SKU 分類的一些複雜性。

We've continued to evolve our capacity expansion plans to drive greater capital efficiency. We're intently focused on: First, maximizing the throughput of our existing lines by investing in an operational excellence program designed to increase our OEE. We've seen steady progress on this, particularly in Bethlehem, where the program has been underway for more than a year. Second, maximizing the capacity of our 3 existing sites so that we can avoid the high cost of incremental infrastructure and overhead. For example, in Bethlehem, we're converting storage space to add a seventh line; in Kitchens South, we believe there is room to add 1 or 2 more lines in the existing building; and, in Ennis, we're looking at ways to add more lines as well.

我們不斷發展產能擴張計劃，以提高資本效率。我們專注於：首先，透過投資旨在提高 OEE 的卓越營運計劃來最大限度地提高現有生產線的產量。我們看到這方面取得了穩步進展，特別是在伯利恆，該計劃已經進行了一年多。其次，最大限度地發揮我們現有 3 個站點的容量，這樣我們就可以避免增加基礎設施和管理費用帶來的高成本。例如，在伯利恆，我們正在轉換儲存空間以添加第七條線；在 Kitchens South，我們認為現有建築還有空間可以增加 1 到 2 條生產線；在恩尼斯，我們也在想辦法增加更多路線。

Third, developing and implementing new technologies that generate more throughput per line and improve the yield and quality. We've developed one technology that has shown great promise, and others are in earlier stages of development. It's still too early to tell when these might impact our capacity or P&L, but we believe these technology investments are important because our need for capacity will only grow as time progresses and we continue to believe that our manufacturing expertise will be a key strategic advantage over the long haul. Scott, who successfully pioneered the development of our existing products and processes is leading our efforts to develop and commercialize these potentially breakthrough technologies.

第三，開發和實施新技術，以提高每條生產線的產量並提高產量和品質。我們開發了一項顯示出巨大前景的技術，其他技術仍處於早期開發階段。現在判斷這些因素何時會影響我們的產能或損益還為時過早，但我們認為這些技術投資非常重要，因為隨著時間的推移，我們對產能的需求只會增長，而且我們仍然相信，從長遠來看，我們的製造專業知識將是一個關鍵的戰略優勢。史考特成功地率先開發了我們現有的產品和工藝，他正帶領我們努力開發和商業化這些突破性的技術。

As I said earlier, our first quarter results demonstrate that scale leads to improved profitability. Todd will walk through our updated guidance, but I'd like to provide an update of our results versus our long-term targets. We're clearly ahead of the pace required to deliver our original 2027 goals, which gives us increased confidence in our ability to either meet or exceed those goals, but we need to show we can deliver these results consistently. Albeit encouraging, it is still early in the year, and we want to be measured in our forecast for the balance of the year. We knew the first quarter sales were going to be strong because of our sizable media investment in Q4 of 2023 and the momentum that generated and the 34% first quarter net sales growth still exceeded our own forecast.

正如我之前所說，我們的第一季業績表明，規模可以提高獲利能力。托德將介紹我們的最新指導，但我想提供我們的結果與長期目標的最新情況。我們顯然已經領先於實現我們最初的 2027 年目標所需的步伐，這使我們對實現或超越這些目標的能力更加有信心，但我們需要證明我們能夠持續地實現這些成果。儘管令人鼓舞，但現在仍處於年初，我們希望對今年的剩餘時間進行合理的預測。我們知道第一季的銷售將會強勁，因為我們在 2023 年第四季進行了大量媒體投資，並且產生的勢頭以及第一季 34% 的淨銷售額增長仍然超出了我們自己的預測。

We plan to carefully manage our top line growth for the remainder of the year so that we do not get ahead of our installed capacity or organizational capability. We believe our model works very well at approximately 25% growth, generating the right balance of growth, capital investment and cash generation. Adjusted gross margin of 45.3% in the first quarter was above our 2027 target of 45%, giving us even more reason to believe we can deliver our long-term goals. We're able to deliver this despite the fact that Ennis is still subscale and in startup mode and we've not implemented any of the new technologies we're working on yet.

我們計劃在今年剩餘時間內謹慎管理我們的營收成長，以免超出我們的安裝容量或組織能力。我們相信，我們的模型在約 25% 的成長率下運作良好，實現了成長、資本投資和現金創造之間的適當平衡。第一季調整後的毛利率為 45.3%，高於我們 2027 年 45% 的目標，這讓我們更有理由相信我們能夠實現長期目標。儘管 Ennis 仍處於規模較小且處於啟動模式，並且我們尚未實施正在研究的任何新技術，但我們仍然能夠實現這一目標。

Further, our Freshpet Operational Excellence program is still in the early innings and we believe there is lots of upside as we implement that program. But, as I mentioned earlier, we want to demonstrate consistent performance at this level before we commit to anything beyond that. Adjusted EBITDA margin of 13.7% in the first quarter is tracking ahead of plan to achieve our goal of 18% adjusted EBITDA margin in 2027.

此外，我們的 Freshpet 卓越營運計劃仍處於早期階段，我們相信，隨著該計劃的實施，它將帶來很大的好處。但是，正如我之前提到的，我們希望在此級別上表現出一致的表現，然後再做出更進一步的承諾。第一季調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 13.7%，提前實現了我們在 2027 年實現 18% 調整後 EBITDA 利潤率的目標。

As you know, we tend to front-load our media investment. Q1 media investment as a percent of net sales was more than 300 basis points higher than it will average for the year, so when you adjust for that media spending cadence, Q1's adjusted EBITDA margin was closer to 17%, very close to our 2027 goal. We believe that if we can consistently deliver the adjusted gross margin we delivered in Q1, that we can deliver the remaining building blocks of our adjusted EBITDA margin target of 18% through effectively leveraging the added scale that comes with our growth. Operating cash generation of $5.4 million was ahead of our plan, further increasing our confidence we can self-fund our growth with no need for additional equity and potentially not even needing any new debt.

如您所知，我們傾向於前期投入媒體資金。 Q1 媒體投資佔淨銷售額的百分比比全年平均高出 300 個基點以上，因此當您調整媒體支出節奏時，Q1 的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率接近 17%，非常接近我們的 2027 年目標。我們相信，如果我們能夠持續實現第一季的調整後毛利率，我們就可以透過有效利用我們成長帶來的規模效應，實現 18% 的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率目標的其餘部分。 540 萬美元的營運現金流超出了我們的計劃，這進一步增強了我們的信心，我們可以自行籌資實現增長，而不需要額外的股本，甚至可能不需要任何新的債務。

In summary, we're off to a fast start this year. We've more work to do to prove to our shareholders that we can maintain or exceed this level of performance, but we're confident in our ability to execute based on what we know today and what is within our control.

總而言之，我們今年開局很快。我們還有很多工作要做，來向股東證明我們能夠保持或超過這一業績水平，但基於我們目前所掌握的知識和我們能夠控制的範圍，我們對我們的執行能力充滿信心。

Now let me turn it over to Todd to walk you through the details of the Q1 results and our updated guidance. Todd?

現在，讓我將話題交給托德，讓他向您介紹第一季業績的詳細資訊和我們更新後的指引。托德？

Thank you, Billy, and good morning, everyone. As Billy mentioned, we had an excellent first quarter. Now I'll give you some more color on our financials and updated guidance for the year.

謝謝你，比利，大家早安。正如比利所提到的，我們第一季的表現非常出色。現在，我將向您詳細介紹我們的財務狀況和今年的最新指引。

First quarter net sales were $223.8 million, up 34% year-over-year. Nielsen measured dollar growth was 26% versus prior year period with broad-based consumption growth across channels. We saw 28% growth in XAOC, 25% in U.S. food, 13% growth in pet specialty and over 100% growth in the unmeasured channels.

第一季淨銷售額為 2.238 億美元，較去年同期成長 34%。尼爾森測算出，與去年同期相比，美元消費額成長了 26%，這得益於各通路的廣泛消費成長。我們看到XAOC成長了28%，美國食品成長了25%，寵物專賣成長了13%，未測量通路成長了100%以上。

First quarter adjusted gross margin was 45.3%, up 680 basis points year-over-year. This was driven by improvements in input costs, quality, yield and throughput. Specifically, input costs as a percent of net sales improved 390 basis points, reflecting a small amount of pricing from last year's price increase, improving yields in our manufacturing operation and lower commodity costs. Quality costs improved by 240 basis points and plant costs improved by 60 basis points, both driven by strong operating performance across all 3 manufacturing sites. Within plant costs, we were able to build much needed inventory, which contributed about 100 basis points in the quarter.

第一季調整後毛利率為45.3%，較去年成長680個基點。這是由投入成本、品質、產量和產量的提高所推動的。具體而言，投入成本佔淨銷售額的百分比提高了 390 個基點，反映了去年價格上漲的少量定價，提高了我們製造業務的收益並降低了商品成本。品質成本改善了 240 個基點，工廠成本改善了 60 個基點，這均得益於 3 個製造工廠的強勁營運表現。在工廠成本範圍內，我們能夠建立急需的庫存，這為本季貢獻了約 100 個基點。

First quarter adjusted SG&A was 31.7% of net sales compared to 36.7% in the prior year period. We spent 14.3% of net sales on media in the quarter, down from 15.5% of net sales in the prior year period. Total media investment was up 23% year-over-year, in line with our plan to have our media spending a bit less front-loaded this year. Logistics costs continued to improve and were 6.4% of net sales in the first quarter, a decrease of 290 basis points compared to the prior year period. We believe that about 1/3 of this improvement was due to market conditions such as lane rates and diesel costs, and the remainder was due to deliberate actions we took to increase fill rates, reduce miles and other efficiency-focused efforts. In fact, our logistics costs in the quarter were $1.3 million lower than in the year ago period despite shipping 31% more pounds of finished product.

第一季調整後的銷售、一般及行政支出佔淨銷售額的 31.7%，去年同期為 36.7%。本季度，我們將淨銷售額的 14.3% 用於媒體，低於去年同期的 15.5%。總媒體投資年增23％，符合我們今年減少前期媒體支出的計畫。物流成本持續改善，第一季佔淨銷售額的 6.4%，較去年同期下降 290 個基點。我們認為，這種改善的約三分之一歸因於航線費率和柴油成本等市場條件，其餘部分則歸因於我們採取的提高填充率、減少里程和其他以效率為重點的努力。事實上，儘管本季運送的成品重量增加了 31%，但物流成本卻比去年同期降低了 130 萬美元。

First quarter adjusted EBITDA was $30.6 million, or 13.7% of net sales, compared to $3 million, or 1.8% of net sales in the prior year period. This sharp increase was driven by better-than-expected net sales and improvement across input, quality, logistics and plant costs.

第一季調整後 EBITDA 為 3,060 萬美元，佔淨銷售額的 13.7%，而去年同期為 300 萬美元，佔淨銷售額的 1.8%。這一大幅成長得益於淨銷售額好於預期以及投入、品質、物流和工廠成本的改善。

Capital spending for the first quarter was $46.5 million, in line with our expectations. Operating cash flow was $5.4 million, and we had cash on hand of $258 million at the end of the quarter. We continue to believe that we've adequate cash to fully fund our growth through 2024, and we'll be free cash flow positive in 2026. We also believe that we'll have access to traditional non-dilutive forms of capital to bridge a gap in 2025, if it occurs.

第一季的資本支出為 4,650 萬美元，符合我們的預期。營運現金流為 540 萬美元，本季末我們持有現金 2.58 億美元。我們仍然相信，我們有足夠的現金來充分資助我們到 2024 年的成長，我們將在 2026 年實現自由現金流為正。

Now turning to guidance for 2024. We're maintaining our net sales guidance of at least $950 million until we've greater confidence that we'll have adequate rolls capacity to meet a higher level of demand later this year. This will also allow us to manage our growth to deliver the right balance between growth and capital investment. As we've said, we're carefully managing our growth to live within our capacity plans. If we do find that our production performance from existing lines and facilities exceeds our plan, we'd be comfortable letting the growth drift a bit higher this year. However, we also need to be mindful that we need to have adequate capacity to meet demand for next year as we exit the year. So, we're managing this closely, and we'll not commit to a higher level of growth until we're sure that we can supply it reliably, both this year and next year. Even if that means our growth rate later in the year is below our long-term rate of 25%. And we can reaccelerate as capacity becomes available.

現在談談 2024 年的指引。這也將使我們能夠管理成長，以實現成長與資本投資之間的適當平衡。正如我們所說，我們正在謹慎地管理我們的成長以滿足我們的產能計劃。如果我們確實發現現有生產線和設施的生產績效超出了我們的計劃，那麼我們願意讓今年的成長率略高一些。然而，我們也需要注意，在年底時我們需要有足夠的產能來滿足明年的需求。因此，我們正在密切管理這一點，在我們確定今年和明年都能可靠地供應之前，我們不會致力於更高的成長水平。即使這意味著我們今年稍後的成長率低於 25% 的長期成長率。當容量可用時，我們可以重新加速。

In terms of cadence, we still expect the first quarter to have the highest percent net sales growth year-over-year and expect sequentially lower percent growth throughout the remainder of the year. We may pull back media to control growth in line with the long-term algorithm. Not because demand is slowing, we're just managing the pace of growth as we expand capacity.

從節奏方面來看，我們仍然預期第一季的淨銷售額年增率最高，而預計今年剩餘時間的淨銷售額成長率將逐漸下降。我們可能會撤回媒體以根據長期演算法控製成長。這並不是因為需求放緩，我們只是在擴大產能的同時管理成長速度。

We're raising our adjusted EBITDA outlook from our previous guidance of $100 million to $110 million, to now at least $120 million to reflect the over-delivery in Q1. While our performance to date has been very encouraging, we'll not commit to a higher level of profitability for the balance of the year until we've proven that we can repeat Q1's performance reliably. As such, our revised guidance adds the Q1 over-delivery to our target for the year, but has not changed our expectations for the remaining quarters yet. We now expect adjusted gross margin to expand by at least 300 basis points for the full year, compared to 100 basis points previously and expect commodity deflation in 2024. Capital expenditures will be approximately $210 million to support the installation of capacity to meet demand in 2025, consistent with our previous guidance.

我們將調整後的 EBITDA 預期從先前的 1 億美元上調至 1.1 億美元，至現在的至少 1.2 億美元，以反映第一季的超額交付。雖然我們迄今為止的表現非常令人鼓舞，但直到我們證明能夠可靠地重複第一季的表現之前，我們不會承諾在今年剩餘時間內實現更高的盈利水平。因此，我們修改後的指引將第一季的超額交付添加到了我們今年的目標中，但尚未改變我們對剩餘季度的預期。我們現在預計全年調整後的毛利率將至少擴大 300 個基點，而之前為 100 個基點，並且預計 2024 年大宗商品將出現通貨緊縮。

In summary, we're encouraged by the first quarter results; however, it is still early and given the potential for the environment to change as we progress throughout the year, and the unforeseen issues that arise from time to time, especially for high-growth businesses, we're going to be prudent in our forecasting. We said last quarter that we're at an inflection point and believe we've turned the corner on profitability. We've gained scale and are beginning to see the benefits of that. Like Billy mentioned, there is more upside longer term as we continue to work on operational efficiencies and bring more capacity online across our facilities, especially in Ennis.

總而言之，第一季的業績令我們感到鼓舞；然而，現在還為時過早，考慮到環境可能會隨著全年的進展而發生變化，以及時常出現的不可預見的問題，特別是對於高成長企業而言，我們在預測時會保持謹慎。我們上個季度說過，我們正處於一個轉折點，並相信我們已經在盈利方面取得了突破。我們的規模不斷擴大，並開始看到其帶來的好處。正如比利所提到的那樣，隨著我們繼續致力於提高營運效率並在我們的設施（尤其是在恩尼斯的設施）中提供更多產能，長期來看我們還將擁有更多的上行空間。

For now, though, we feel comfortable maintaining our long-term targets of 45% adjusted gross margin and 18% adjusted EBITDA margin because we want to prove we can consistently deliver on our profitability metrics over time before we commit to new targets.

不過，就目前而言，我們可以放心地維持 45% 調整後毛利率和 18% 調整後 EBITDA 利潤率的長期目標，因為我們希望在承諾新目標之前證明我們能夠在一段時間內持續實現盈利指標。

Finally, this step change in our profitability adds to our confidence that we'll be able to fulfill our mission of elevating the way we feed our pets with fresh food that nourishes all. We're building Freshpet into an iconic market-leading brand that is redefining what pet food is and that we believe is better for pets, people and the planet.

最後，獲利能力的這一重大變化增強了我們的信心，我們將能夠完成我們的使命，即透過滋養所有寵物的新鮮食物來提升我們餵養寵物的方式。我們正在將 Freshpet 打造成為一個標誌性的市場領導品牌，重新定義寵物食品，並堅信這對寵物、人類和地球都有好處。

That concludes our overview. We will now be glad to answer your questions. As a reminder, we ask that you please focus your questions on the quarter, guidance and the company's operations. Operator?

我們的概述到此結束。我們現在很高興回答您的問題。提醒一下，請您將問題集中在季度、指導和公司營運上。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Ken Goldman with JPMorgan.

（操作員指示）我們的第一個問題來自摩根大通的肯‧戈德曼 (Ken Goldman)。

In speaking with investors this morning, I think there's a general feeling, you guys have addressed this a little bit that your outlook maybe remains conservative. And I understand there's still uncertainty about production capacity toward the end of the year. But just going beyond that, in addition to those capacity questions, I guess, is it reasonable to think that, there is still a little bit of prudence as well, in your top and bottom line guidance outside that? Well, I'm just trying to think of areas where you might be a little more circumspect. Just looking forward than what maybe current conditions might indicate?

今天早上與投資者交談時，我認為大家普遍感覺，你們已經稍微解決了這個問題，你們的觀點可能仍然是保守的。據我了解，年底的生產能力仍有不確定性。但是除此之外，除了那些能力問題之外，我想，您是否合理地認為，在您的頂線和底線指導中仍然帶有一點謹慎？好吧，我只是想知道在哪些方面你可能需要更加謹慎。只是期待一下當前的狀況可能預示著什麼？

Yes. Thanks for the question, Ken. I'll take the top line part of that, and then Todd will give you our view on the bottom line part of that. But as you know, we're very thrilled with the Q1 performance. And it was a real good confidence confirming point that set our -- our volume-based growth is back. And we've our household penetration growth, is back to where we want them to be. I mean, demonstrated consistent strong performance on that level. And it's also proving that the media is driving our growth.

是的。謝謝你的提問，肯。我將討論其中最重要的部分，然後 Todd 將討論其中最重要的部分。但正如您所知，我們對第一季的表現感到非常興奮。這是一個非常好的信心確認點，它使我們的基於數量的增長又回來了。我們的家庭滲透率成長已經回到了我們期望的水平。我的意思是，在那個層面上表現出持續強勁的表現。這也證明媒體正在推動我們的成長。

We've really strong Q4 media that drove the growth in Q1. But as you acknowledge, the reality is that we've to be very mindful of the balance between demand, capacity and the cash that it takes, to deliver the capacity. And we're trying to find that fine line. We're not particularly concerned based on what we see about the macro market, although we're hearing everybody else's reports on it. We're not seeing it in the environment we're operating in. We're seeing the strong household penetration growth across a variety of income groups. We're seeing very good pull across a variety of classes of trade. So, we feel very good about that.

我們的第四季媒體表現非常強勁，推動了第一季的成長。但正如你所承認的，現實情況是我們必須非常注意需求、產能和實現產能所需現金之間的平衡。我們正在努力尋找那條微妙的界線。儘管我們聽取了其他人對此的報道，但根據我們對宏觀市場的觀察，我們並不特別擔心。在我們營運的環境中，我們並沒有看到這一點。我們看到各種貿易類別都表現出非常好的拉動效果。因此，我們對此感覺非常好。

Our concern is really based on capacity available this year and capacity next year. And if we get too far ahead of ourselves, our fill rates go down and we start needing to pull forward more capacity addition. The counter to all that and the anecdote to that for us, is if we continue to see very strong operating performance, meaning throughput on our existing lines, it will give us license to lean in a little bit more than what we're already doing. But we're really going to be focused on managing the growth to fit within that very tight band that we've outlined because that's where we operate best.

我們的擔心實際上是基於今年可用的產能和明年的產能。如果我們太超前，我們的供應率就會下降，我們就需要提前增加更多的產能。對我們來說，與此相反的以及與之相關的軼事是，如果我們繼續看到非常強勁的營運業績，即現有生產線的產量，它將給我們權利去比現在做得更多一些。但我們確實將專注於管理成長，以適應我們劃定的非常嚴格的範圍，因為這是我們最佳的營運範圍。

Now, Todd can give you a little bit of view on the bottom line.

現在，托德可以提供你一些關於底線的看法。

Yes. I mean, obviously the big variable from an EBITDA perspective, is the gross margin line. So obviously terrific Q1, a little bit over 45%. We've given guidance of at least 43%. So kind of -- what are some of the issues that could bring that down for the rest of the year? So first and foremost is, as we had in the opening remarks, we built much needed inventory, particularly on rolls in Q1.

是的。我的意思是，從 EBITDA 角度來看，最大的變數顯然是毛利率線。因此顯然第一季的表現非常出色，略高於 45%。我們給出的指導比例至少為 43%。那麼——在今年剩餘時間內，哪些問題可能會導致這個數字下降？因此，首先正如我們在開場白中提到的那樣，我們建立了急需的庫存，特別是第一季的庫存。

That helped us by about 100 basis points from a fixed cost leverage perspective. That will not repeat later in the year, and in fact will likely unwind. So that will put a little bit of a headwind on gross margin for the remainder of the year. We had a great quality quarter. As you know, that can move around. So we're being a little cautious on, can we continue to be at that less than 3% rate on quality?

從固定成本槓桿的角度來看，這幫助我們提高了約 100 個基點。這種情況在今年稍後不會重演，事實上很可能會結束。所以這會對今年剩餘時間的毛利率造成一點阻力。我們本季的業績非常出色。如你所知，它可以移動。因此，我們要保持謹慎，我們能否繼續保持低於 3% 的品質率？

So, we're a little more conservative there. We do have our annual wage increase in the plants coming in June. Not a huge impact, but will put a little pressure on gross margins. And then there's the fourth line in Ennis will be starting up in the third quarter. We've done a much better job of bringing up lines, not as big of an impact on the P&L as in the previous years.

因此，我們在這方面比較保守。我們工廠的年度薪資將於六月上漲。影響不是很大，但會對毛利率造成一點壓力。然後恩尼斯的第四條線將在第三節開始。我們在提高線路方面做得更好了，對損益表的影響不像前幾年那麼大。

But there will be, an increase in fixed cost on the balance sheet at the end of Q3 going into Q4. So, feel great about the start. We do have some pressures, but, if some things go our way, obviously we can do a bit better.

但在第三季末和第四季時，資產負債表上的固定成本將會增加。因此，開始的時候感覺很棒。我們確實面臨一些壓力，但是，如果事情順利的話，我們顯然可以做得更好。

That's helpful. And then a quick follow-up. As we think about modeling the upcoming quarter, 2Q, are there any particular factors we should consider, either positive or negative? I'm just thinking about areas like the timing of media spending, bridge placements and I guess the timing of that inventory unwind you mentioned?

這很有幫助。然後快速跟進。當我們考慮為即將到來的第二季度建模時，是否有任何特定的因素我們應該考慮，無論是積極的還是消極的？我只是在考慮諸如媒體支出時機、橋樑配置等領域，我想還有您提到的庫存平倉時機？

Yes, obviously a sequential build in revenue, not a huge one, but we'll have a sequential build in revenue in Q2. A fairly strong media spend for the quarter. We're still working through a couple of things that could change a little bit, but we'll have a fair amount of spend as we always do in the second quarter.

是的，顯然收入會連續增加，雖然不是很大，但第二季的收入會連續增加。本季的媒體支出相當強勁。我們仍在處理一些可能會稍有變化的事情，但我們會像往常一樣在第二季進行相當數量的支出。

I don't -- we may unwind some of the inventory in Q2. More of it might be in Q3. That is still a variable, but it will unwind, later in the year. But those are the big areas, and logistics, continue to be favorable for us.

我不知道——我們可能會在第二季清理部分庫存。更多內容可能會出現在第三季。這仍然是一個變數，但它將在今年稍後消除。但這些都是大領域，而且物流對我們仍然有利。

The next question comes from the line of Mark Astrachan with Stifel.

下一個問題來自 Stifel 的 Mark Astrachan。

I guess maybe a big picture question. If you look at this, the expanded scanner data that we now get, Freshpet's driving, I don't know, 50% of the dog food category growth year-to-date, 60% since March. It certainly seems like the category acceptances has increased amongst consumers. I guess, how do you think about that, as it relates to discussions with retailers regarding expanding existing fridges, adding second and third fridges, going into some of those places where you're under penetrated in retailers where you don't exist like Sam's? And just maybe talk big picture about kind of how you're approaching that today, versus where you were 12 or 18 months ago, particularly as you come out of that period of capacity constraints?

我想這可能是一個大問題。如果你看我們現在獲得的擴展掃描器數據，Freshpet 推動了今年迄今為止狗糧類別成長的 50%，自 3 月以來成長了 60%。看起來消費者對該類別的接受度確實已經提高。我想，您怎麼看待這個問題呢？能否從整體上談談您目前如何處理這個問題，與 12 或 18 個月前相比，特別是當您走出產能限制時期時？

Hey, Mark. So, look, I feel like this is the work we've been doing for a very, very long period of time. We're really confident we're offering a superior product, and I think it's increasingly recognized not only by consumers, but I think just generally the marketplace. We're seeing retailers, kind of just, really kind of reassess what's going on in the category and be more and more comfortable, with adding more fridges deeper into their distribution. So, I think what we'll start to see is we'll continue to see second and third fridges added over time.

嘿，馬克。所以，看，我覺得這是我們長期以來一直在做的工作。我們非常有信心我們提供的是優質的產品，而且我認為它不僅越來越受到消費者的認可，而且我認為也得到了整個市場的認可。我們看到零售商正在重新評估該類別的現狀，並且越來越放心地在其分銷管道中增加更多的冰箱。所以，我認為我們將開始看到隨著時間的推移，我們將繼續看到第二台和第三台冰箱的增加。

Got it. That's helpful. And then maybe another question just on capacity. So, you haven't formally updated kind of where we're going beyond this year. You've talked, obviously, about the efficiency programs and existing facilities and those added to Ennis ramping. You also talked about all these added lines. I guess any way to frame, just how much incremental capacity all of this stuff together collectively, can be as we sit here today?

知道了。這很有幫助。然後也許還有另一個關於容量的問題。所以，您還沒有正式更新我們今年以後要去的地方。顯然，您已經談到了效率計劃和現有設施以及為 Ennis 增建的設施。您還談到了所有這些添加的線條。我想，有什麼辦法可以解釋，當我們今天坐在這裡時，所有這些東西加在一起能增加多少容量？

Yes, Mark. It is a little bit of a complex board, because there is capacity additions that come from our existing lines as we get the higher throughput, additional lines in the existing facilities. And then obviously, the new technologies that we've talked about. I think what we'd prefer to do is just have people think about us as tightly managing the capacity additions to be consistent with the net sales growth that we're projecting.

是的，馬克。這是一個有點複雜的董事會，因為隨著我們獲得更高的吞吐量，現有設施中的額外生產線也增加了產能。顯然，我們已經討論了新技術。我認為我們更願意讓人們認為我們嚴格管理產能增加以與我們預期的淨銷售額成長保持一致。

We're -- we've gotten really good and really tight at projecting our volume and net sales out over extended periods of time and then building a capital spending plan and an operational improvement plan that is able to supply that.

我們已經非常擅長並且非常嚴格地預測長期內的銷售和淨銷售額，然後製定能夠實現這一目標的資本支出計劃和營運改善計劃。

We're really guided by getting to fill rates that are very high fill rate because what we've seen over time is, if we've a high fill rate, that's a really good indicator that we've a lot of good performance on the operations side, whether it's the quality part, whether it's the freight cost.

我們真正遵循的指導原則是獲得非常高的填充率，因為隨著時間的推移，我們看到，如果我們有高填充率，這是一個很好的指標，表明我們在營運方面有很多良好的表現，無論是品質部分，還是運費部分。

But getting a high fill rate becomes a very good marker for operational effectiveness, or operational performance. So, I'd look at the net sales line and say that we'll build capacity to adequately supply that over an extended period of time. And if there's variations in the growth rate, we'll find a way to match it, but we'd really like to manage the growth rate to live within our long-term guidance.

但獲得高填充率可以成為營運效率或營運績效的一個很好的標誌。因此，我會看一下淨銷售額，並說我們將在較長時間內建立充足的供應能力。如果成長率發生變化，我們會找到方法來適應，但我們真正希望的是管理成長率以符合我們的長期指導方針。

Our next question is from the line of Peter Benedict with Baird.

我們的下一個問題來自貝爾德的彼得·本尼迪克特。

Yes. My first is just on, there was a comment around kind of adding organizational capacity to support the growth. Maybe talk about your views on that, both short-term and longer-term, just as you think about kind of cadence growth of the business, and what's going on just from an organizational capacity, where are you focused?

是的。我首先想說的是，有一條評論是關於增加組織能力以支持成長。也許可以談談您對此的看法，包括短期和長期，就像您考慮業務的節奏成長一樣，從組織能力的角度來看，您關注的重點是什麼？

Yes. I mean, obviously, we've added quite a bit of talent in the last 18 months. We added a Head of Manufacturing. We added a Head of Quality. We added a General Counsel. We added Rachel and her role in Investor Relations. And I think it's fair to say that if we're a company that's guided to $950 million in sales this year, and will be $1.8 billion in 2027, there will be fairly sizable increases in the overall organizational capability.

是的。我的意思是，顯然，我們在過去的 18 個月增加了不少人才。我們增加了一位製造主管。我們增加了一位品質主管。我們增加了一位總法律顧問。我們新增了 Rachel 和她在投資者關係中的職位。我認為可以公平地說，如果我們是一家今年銷售額預計為 9.5 億美元的公司，到 2027 年銷售額將達到 18 億美元，那麼整體組織能力將會有相當大的提升。

But we've filled in many of the most critical top roles. That doesn't mean we won't add any other top roles as we kind of expand the footprint of the company, and develop high-level sophistication in several of the areas. And it's something we're always doing. We're always looking for what's next and just like we plan the capacity out over a longer period of time, we're now planning the organizational capability.

但我們已經填補了許多最關鍵的高階職位。這並不意味著我們不會增加任何其他高層職位，因為我們正在擴大公司的影響力，並在多個領域實現高水準的成熟。我們也一直在做這樣的事。我們總是在尋找下一步，就像我們規劃更長時期內的產能一樣，我們現在正在規劃組織能力。

If there's one learning that we've had over the last couple of years, is that during the pandemic, we probably got a little bit behind in building organizational capability, and we're not going to let that happen again.

如果說過去幾年我們的一個教訓是什麼的話，那就是在疫情期間，我們在組織能力建設方面可能有些落後，我們不會讓這種情況再次發生。

No, that makes sense. And then just maybe, Todd, just as you think about the 18% target in 2027, the gross margin number already kind of getting to that 45%. As you think about upside to that, do you think that is more opportunity in gross margin if that were to potentially come through? I'm just trying to think about how -- or understand how you're thinking about some of the upside opportunities within the operating margin profile for the business longer term?

不，這很有道理。那麼也許，托德，正如您所想到的 2027 年 18% 的目標一樣，毛利率數字已經達到了 45%。當您考慮其好處時，您是否認為如果這一目標有可能實現，那麼毛利率是否會有更大的機會？我只是想知道——或者了解您如何看待公司長期營業利潤率狀況中的一些上行機會？

Yes, sure. So obviously, we're not in a position right now to change our guidance. But where the upside could come from? Clearly, the biggest piece is gross margin. So we're ahead of schedule. We think we've a lot of projects and a lot of room to grow over the next few years. So, we're going to shoot, to try to beat the 45% at some point. But obviously, we're not changing that right now. The other piece, obviously, is logistics, which is below our definition of adjusted gross margin. We're already 100 basis points below that long-term target that we called out in CAGNY last year. So that's the other piece. But gross margin is the biggest component.

是的，當然。因此顯然，我們現在還不能改變我們的指導方針。但好處從何而來？顯然，最大的部分是毛利率。因此我們提前完成了計劃。我們認為未來幾年我們有很多項目並且有很大的成長空間。因此，我們會努力，嘗試在某個時候突破 45% 這個目標。但顯然，我們現在不會改變這一點。另一個部分顯然是物流，它低於我們對調整後毛利率的定義。我們已經比去年在 CAGNY 提出的長期目標低了 100 個基點。這是另一部分。但毛利率是最大的組成部分。

Our next questions are from the line of Rupesh Parikh with Oppenheimer.

我們的下一個問題來自奧本海默公司的 Rupesh Parikh。

So just going back to the unmeasured channels, so greater than 100% growth in consumption this quarter. How do you guys feel about the sustainability there? And then just curious what you're seeing in the online channel?

回到未測量的管道，本季的消費量成長超過了 100%。你們對於那裡的可持續性有什麼看法？我很好奇您在線上頻道上看到了什麼？

So, Rupesh, how you doing? so look, we've so much opportunity to expand accessibility to this business and this brand. And it's not -- it's in all the unmeasured channel, especially through e-commerce. We talk about club. We talked about opportunities in mass. There is such tremendous opportunity and a long, long runway in front of us to continue, to kind of expand accessibility and make sure that we -- wherever consumers want to buy our products, we're as accessible as we possibly can be.

那麼，魯佩什，你好嗎？所以看，我們有很多機會來擴大這個業務和這個品牌的可及性。但事實並非如此——它存在於所有未經測量的管道中，尤其是透過電子商務。我們談論俱樂部。我們大規模地談論了機會。我們面前有如此巨大的機會和漫長的道路要繼續擴大可及性，並確保無論消費者想在何處購買我們的產品，我們都能盡可能地為他們提供可及性。

So, we feel terrific about the runway there for the next several years. If you look at them, they're outpacing -- those unmeasured channels have been outpacing growth. We started talking about it over a year ago. We think we've several years where we've that opportunity. And then, there's several other growth levers that, we've behind that we'll continue to kind of press out and expand to. We'll talk about those, I think, more into the future.

因此，我們對未來幾年那裡的跑道感到非常滿意。如果你觀察一下，你會發現這些未經測量的管道已經超過了成長速度。我們一年前就開始談論這個問題。我們認為我們還有幾年的時間擁有這樣的機會。然後，還有其他幾個成長槓桿，我們已經準備好繼續推動和擴展。我想，我們以後會進一步討論這些問題。

Great. And then, maybe just one follow-up question. So to the extent that we continue seeing EBITDA upside, are there opportunities to pull forward investments into this fiscal year?

偉大的。然後，也許只有一個後續問題。那麼，如果我們繼續看到 EBITDA 上漲，是否有機會將投資提前到本財年？

Yes, we're actually -- I mean, we're always assessing that. There are some opportunities. It's probably not as much traditionally from a marketing perspective, but there are some project work from a gross margin improvement that we're looking at right now that -- we're not talking huge amounts here, but like I said earlier, there's a number of projects that -- Scott is leading many of them to try to improve gross margin over the next couple of years. And we'd like to spend a little bit of money now into '25 to try to fast forward as many of those as possible.

是的，我們實際上——我的意思是，我們一直在評估這一點。有一些機會。從行銷角度來看，傳統上可能沒有那麼多，但我們現在正在考慮一些從毛利率提高角度進行的項目工作——我們在這裡不談論巨大的金額，但就像我之前說過的，有很多項目——斯科特正在領導其中的許多項目，試圖在未來幾年提高毛利率。我們現在想在 25 年投入一點資金，盡可能地加快實現這些目標。

We've actively identified a whole bunch of work that's hoping to create a more, longer-term annuities and margin expansion over time. So, there's actually even 2 areas that we're working around.

我們積極地確定了一系列工作，希望隨著時間的推移創造更多、更長期的年金並擴大利潤。因此，我們實際上正在針對兩個領域開展工作。

I'd add to that, that we're also thinking about that from an organizational capability perspective, too. If there's places where we see an opportunity where increased organizational capability can accelerate our margin improvement, we'll make that investment as well.

我想補充一點，我們也從組織能力的角度來考慮這個問題。如果我們發現某個地方有機會透過提升組織能力來加速我們的利潤率提高，我們也會進行這項投資。

It really -- we feel incredibly fortunate as a company and organization. And look, the work that team's done is extraordinary. Like -- but every single area of the organization is performing incredibly well. And what that leads us to is how do we think as far forward as we possibly can in every single area and kind of leverage the leadership position that we've and be as thoughtful about our business as possible.

作為一家公司和組織，我們確實感到非常幸運。看看，這個團隊所做的工作非常出色。就像——但是組織的每個領域都表現得非常好。而這引導我們要思考的是，我們如何在每一個領域盡可能地向前思考，如何利用我們現有的領導地位，如何盡可能地深思熟慮地考慮我們的業務。

Our next question is from the line of Brian Holland with D.A. Davidson.

我們的下一個問題來自 D.A. 的 Brian Holland。戴維森。

Just if I triangulate the commentary about some of the throughput initiatives that we're working through, and as we get increasingly flexible with how we think about the existing manufacturing base and adding lines, et cetera. Are there any implications for that or ramifications that flow through the CapEx as we think about the next few years? And maybe with that, I haven't heard any commentary about the change in the free cash flow inflection timing. But, if the throughput initiatives are coming through, if we can add existing -- if we can add more capacity within the existing network, and we've this EBITDA margin upside. Can we get free cash flow positive in fiscal '25?

我只是對我們正在進行的一些吞吐量計劃的評論進行三角測量，並且隨著我們對現有製造基礎和增加生產線等的看法變得越來越靈活。當我們考慮未來幾年時，這是否會對資本支出產生任何影響或後果？也許因為如此，我還沒有聽到任何關於自由現金流拐點時機變化的評論。但是，如果吞吐量計劃得以實施，如果我們能夠在現有網路內增加更多容量，那麼我們的 EBITDA 利潤率就會上升。我們能在 25 財年獲得正的自由現金流嗎？

So look, everything that we're doing on that front is obviously starting to pay some huge dividends. And, my goal and the organization's goal is to push out those CapEx investments to the right as far as possible with obviously still maintaining enough capacity to grow the business around 25% rate. So, I think the organization is doing a really, really good job around that.

所以看，我們在這方面所做的一切顯然開始帶來巨大的回報。而且，我的目標和組織的目標是盡可能地將這些資本支出投資推向正確的方向，同時顯然仍保持足夠的能力使業務以 25% 左右的速度成長。因此，我認為該組織在這方面做得非常非常好。

Getting free cash flow positive in '25 would be challenging. We still feel great about '26. I'd say, obviously the operating cash flow has improved dramatically in the last 12 to 18 months. We're sitting on a fair amount of cash right now. As every day goes by, I feel more and more secure that we'll not have to go out and raise additional funds. We may have to, a little bit of a bridge term loan, or something or revolver.

在25年獲得正的自由現金流將會很有挑戰性。我們仍然對 26 年感到十分高興。我想說，顯然過去的 12 到 18 個月中營運現金流已經有了顯著改善。我們目前擁有相當數量的現金。隨著時間一天天過去，我越來越有信心，我們不需要出去籌集額外的資金。我們可能需要一點過橋貸款，或是循環貸款之類的東西。

But that cash flow position, that liquidity position continues to improve. So everything that we're going on from a throughput yield is not only improving margins, but increasing free cash flow. But we continue to feel great about the forecast in that area that we put out.

但現金流狀況、流動性狀況持續改善。因此，我們從生產量收益出發所做的一切不僅是為了提高利潤率，而且還要增加自由現金流。但我們仍然對我們在該地區發布的預測感到非常滿意。

Appreciate the color, Todd. And then just kind of stepping back and appreciate the appropriately conservative management of your guidance, both near and longer term. But, we talk about the inflection that we're seeing this morning and the earnings power of this model. But obviously, this is a culmination of, at least the past 5 quarters kind of building to this. So when you talk about sort of wanting to be careful here and watching kind of quarter-by-quarter, what particularly keeps you up at night right now with respect to like kind of what you see in Q1 and some sort of anxiety about, hey, we're not sure whether we can sustain this, because clearly we've, some points on the board now of sustained progress to this point.

欣賞這顏色，托德。然後退一步來看看，欣賞您對短期和長期指導的適當保守管理。但是，我們談論的是今天早上看到的拐點以及這種模式的盈利能力。但顯然，這是過去 5 個季度以來不斷累積的結果。因此，當您談到想要在這裡保持謹慎並逐個季度地關注時，特別讓您夜不能寐的是什麼，例如您在第一季度看到的情況，以及某種焦慮，嘿，我們不確定我們是否能維持這種狀態，因為很明顯，我們現在在董事會上已經提出了一些關於持續進展的觀點。

So I just want to make sure I understand what you were particularly focused on that would create some variability in the models, we look over the next 12 months and certainly beyond?

所以我只是想確保我理解你特別關注的是什麼，這會在模型中產生一些變化，我們展望未來 12 個月甚至更久？

Yes. I mean, Brian, I think you've to start with the fact that the, especially on the gross margin and the EBITDA margin, it was a very significant step-up from the trajectory that we had built, as you pointed out, over the last 5 quarters. And so what we want to be is appropriately conservative to say that, maybe not all of that will stick in the subsequent 3 quarters of this year.

是的。我的意思是，布萊恩，我認為你必須先考慮這樣一個事實，特別是毛利率和 EBITDA 利潤率，正如你所指出的，與我們在過去 5 個季度建立的軌跡相比，這是一個非常顯著的提升。因此，我們希望適當保守地說，也許所有這些都不會在今年接下來的三個季度中持續下去。

We hope it does and we're trying to plan to make that happen. But the reality is it was a very big step up and we just don't want to plan on everything happening right every quarter until we've demonstrated that over a much longer period of time. This is a new business. This is a completely new technology. Nobody else does what we do. And so, there's more variability in it than you'd normally see in a much more well-established business.

我們希望如此，並且正在努力製定計劃來實現它。但事實上，這是一個非常大的進步，我們只是不想計劃每個季度都發生所有事情，直到我們在更長的時間內證明這一點。這是一項新業務。這是一項全新的技術。沒有人做我們所做的事情。因此，與更成熟的企業相比，其變化性更大。

But we're getting better and better at it. We're managing it better and better. The top line part of this is the part that, as you know, has been much, much more stable over a long period of time. We're able to predict that really well. In this case, the top line is being driven by our ability to supply it reliably. I'm going to go back to the comment I made earlier, we believe having a very good fill rate, is a very strong indicator of operational performance. And we do not want to get ourselves in a position where we don't have a high fill rate, because that will indicate that we're having some other issues.

但我們在這方面做得越來越好。我們管理得越來越好。如你所知，其中最重要的部分是在很長一段時間內一直更加穩定。我們能夠很好地預測這一點。在這種情況下，營業收入取決於我們可靠供應的能力。我要回到我之前所發表的評論，我們認為擁有非常好的填充率是營運績效的一個非常強大的指標。我們不想陷入沒有高填充率的境地，因為這表明我們遇到了其他問題。

So, we're going to plan the growth to live within the capacity and deliver that strong fill rate.

因此，我們將規劃成長以控制在容量範圍內並實現強勁的填充率。

Our next question is from the line of Bill Chappell with Truist.

我們的下一個問題來自 Truist 的 Bill Chappell。

First kind of question or maybe a little more color on the roll capacity issues that you might run into later this year. Maybe any sense of just -- I'm just trying to understand, as we're this early in the year, it seems, and roll production is fairly straightforward. I'm just trying to understand, one, have you seen a surge in kind of rolls versus bags as new customers have come in? Kind of what's the difference there?

第一類問題，或者可能更詳細地講講您今年稍後可能會遇到的捲容量問題。也許有任何感覺——我只是想理解，因為今年才剛開始，而且捲筒生產似乎相當簡單。我只是想了解，第一，隨著新顧客的加入，您是否看到捲裝食品和袋裝食品的銷量激增？那裡有什麼區別？

And then two, do you see there being some other issue? I'm just trying to understand why roll capacity would be tough to do that, or if you're just trying to be conservative, let's move to the back half of the year, just in case?

其次，您是否發現還有其他問題？我只是想知道為什麼卷容量會很難做到這一點，或者如果你只是想保守一點，那麼讓我們轉到今年下半年，以防萬一？

Bill, I think as we've said since the beginning, we knew that this is a little bit of a game of leapfrog. You bring up a line it gives you a big surge in the capacity for that particular product form, and you do fine, and then you've to think about bringing up the next line, which might be on bags. In this case, the one we'll bring up now is rolls. But after that, there will be bag lines.

比爾，我想正如我們從一開始就說的那樣，我們知道這有點像是一場跳躍遊戲。你提出一條產品線，它會大大增加該特定產品形式的產能，如果你做得很好，那麼你就必須考慮提出下一條產品線，它可能與袋子有關。在這種情況下，我們現在要提出的是卷。但在那之後，就會有行李排隊了。

And we haven't spaced out just right, or we believe it's just about right. But you're dependent upon bringing that line up at the rate you want on the timing that you want. That means construction has to be complete. You've to do all the line commissioning qualification, then you've to go through a ramp-up curve on the line. And we're at the point now where our growth has been very robust on both rolls and bags.

而且我們還沒有達到恰到好處的程度，或者說我們認為已經達到了恰到好處的程度。但您需要按照您想要的速率和您想要的時間將該線拉高。這意味著施工必須完成。您必須完成所有線路偵錯確認，然後必須經歷線路上的爬升曲線。現在，我們的捲筒紙和袋裝紙都實現了非常強勁的成長。

So, we're dependent upon the next roll line coming online, and we just don't want to get ahead of ourselves. There's always some variability in the start-up of the line, and we just don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves. The growth has been good on rolls. And we're at the point now where the operational improvements we've made in Bethlehem are helping us build inventory on rolls so that as the net -- as the consumption of rolls continues to grow in Q2 and Q3, we can supply it from the existing facilities in existing line, but we need that line to come on in Ennis. Otherwise, we'll get in a position where we'll start short shipping of rolls, or at a minimum drawing down our inventory and our fill rates will drop.

所以，我們依賴下一條軋輥生產線的上線，我們只是不想超前。生產線的啟動總是會有一些變化，我們只是不想走太遠。成長勢頭良好。現在我們正處於這樣一個階段：我們在伯利恆所做的營運改善正在幫助我們建立捲筒庫存，這樣隨著捲筒淨消費量在第二季度和第三季度持續增長，我們可以從現有生產線的現有設施中供應捲筒，但我們需要那條生產線在恩尼斯上線。否則，我們將面臨捲筒出貨不足的情況，或至少減少我們的庫存，我們的填充率也會下降。

So -- it's what it was planned. It's built in the plan all along, it's the way we've been thinking about it.

所以——這就是計劃好的。這一直是計畫中的一部分，我們也是這麼思考的。

And I'd say, like you mentioned -- I think in the beginning of question, you mentioned an issue. There is no issue. We just want to make sure we stay within a band that we're comfortable with. And as Billy said, we're running actually slightly ahead from the standpoint of bringing capacity online.

我想說，就像您提到的那樣——我認為在問題開始時，您提到了一個問題。沒有問題。我們只是想確保我們保持在一個我們感到舒適的範圍內。正如比利所說，從線上容量的角度來看，我們實際上略微領先。

Got it. Okay. I'll follow up later on that. So, I guess, just on the second cooler initiative, I mean, certainly, I understand and you got more than enough metrics showing how. As you add a second cooler, you drive velocity. But -- at some point, do you need more SKUs? Do you need more forms or different products to fill those coolers to really keep the velocity going? Or are you fine with kind of the core 4 or 5 SKUs that you've in both coolers just to drive forward?

知道了。好的。我稍後會跟進此事。所以，我想，就第二個冷卻器計劃而言，我的意思是，當然，我理解，而且你有足夠的指標來顯示如何。當你添加第二個冷卻器時，你就推動了速度。但是——在某個時候，您是否需要更多的 SKU？您是否需要更多形式或不同的產品來填充這些冷卻器以真正保持速度？或者您對在兩種冷卻器中都使用 4 或 5 個核心 SKU 來推動其發展感到滿意？

Actually, Bill that is actually a really good question and something we've been doing a ton of work around and you're going to see over the next 12 to 18 months. You'll tend to see us basically looking through the portfolio and actually bringing down. We've actually been on a downward path on bringing down complexity and the number of SKUs we've across the portfolio, okay?

事實上，比爾，這是一個非常好的問題，我們已經做了大量的工作，你將在未來 12 到 18 個月內看到成果。您會看到我們基本上是在瀏覽投資組合並將其實際降低。實際上，我們在降低整個產品組合的複雜性和 SKU 數量方面一直在走下坡路，好嗎？

So you'll see simplification and you'll see products that are more suited to our kind of future state manufacturing. I want to say future state, it's like within the next 12 months. It will be literally optimized portfolio to make sure it works incredibly well within our overall manufacturing network while balancing out the demand that we need from a consumer standpoint.

所以你會看到簡化，你會看到更適合我們未來製造的產品。我想說未來的狀態，就像未來 12 個月內。這將是真正優化的產品組合，以確保它在我們的整體製造網路中運作良好，同時平衡我們從消費者角度所需的需求。

So, we're really trying to optimize the entire portfolio to maximize our consumer demand and maximize on profitability. And that -- there's a huge piece of work that we're -- I was talking a little bit earlier about leaning forward and thinking forward on what we need to do with the company. That's exactly the work that we're embarking upon. Now all that being said, I'll say we're having incredible success as we're going into second coolers.

因此，我們確實在努力優化整個產品組合，以最大限度地滿足消費者需求並實現盈利能力最大化。而且——我們還有一項艱鉅的工作——我之前談到過向前看，思考我們需要為公司做些什麼。這正是我們正在著手的工作。現在說了這麼多，我想說的是，當我們進入第二個冷卻器時，我們取得了令人難以置信的成功。

And one of the things we're doing in second coolers is we're spreading out on some core SKUs to make sure that we've holding capacity through the weekend because the reality is in stores with high velocity, we're still seeing some out of stocks and there's definitely potential for us to build out on some of the core SKUs. We're seeing core SKUs basis -- SKUs that have been around for 15 years, continue to grow at kind of mid-teens rates. That's like really good stuff. On the other piece of it, we're definitely seeing kind of the more specialized parts of the portfolio, some of the little more feature-oriented, benefit-oriented and actually most humanized and most expensive products, we've leading growth rates. So we're kind of seeing it across. And while we don't need many more, we need to optimize what we've. And again, that will go to the work that we're embarking upon.

我們在二級冷藏室所做的事情之一是，我們將一些核心 SKU 進行分散管理，以確保我們整個週末都有足夠的庫存，因為現實情況是，在高速流通的商店中，我們仍然看到一些商品缺貨，我們絕對有潛力在一些核心 SKU 上進行分散管理。我們看到核心 SKU 基礎——已經存在 15 年的 SKU 繼續以十幾歲的中段速度成長。這真是好東西。另一方面，我們確實看到了產品組合中更專業化的部分，一些更注重功能、更注重效益、實際上最人性化、最昂貴的產品，我們的成長率處於領先地位。所以我們好像已經看透了這一點。儘管我們不需要更多，但我們需要優化現有的資源。再次強調，這將有助於我們進行工作。

Our next question is from the line of Bryan Spillane with Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Bryan Spillane。

I just had a follow-up on the questions around free cash flow and cash. So maybe, Todd, you were -- cash from operations positive this quarter. And it looks like a lot of it is just the profitability, but -- can you talk a little bit about the path to free cash flow, how much of it will be, just the increase in profits versus sourcing from working capital, or I guess, over time CapEx? But just trying to get an understanding of other things we should watch in terms of monitoring free cash flow other than CapEx and profits?

我剛剛就有關自由現金流和現金的問題進行了跟進。所以也許，托德，你本季的經營現金流是正數。看起來其中很大一部分只是盈利能力，但是——您能否談談自由現金流的路徑，其中有多少是利潤的增加，而不是營運資本的來源，或者我猜，是隨著時間的推移的資本支出？但是，只是想了解除了資本支出和利潤之外，我們在監控自由現金流方面還應該關注哪些其他事項？

Yes. So look, we're trying to manage -- we're still growing obviously at an extraordinary rate. And so, we'll have to continue to spend a fairly heavy amount of CapEx to build out capacity over the next few years. We're trying to manage that in the kind of the 200 to 225 zone. We've done a nice job of doing that. And we're off to a good start this year. So I feel very comfortable that we can manage within that range.

是的。所以看，我們正在努力管理——我們顯然仍在以驚人的速度成長。因此，未來幾年我們將不得不繼續投入相當多的資本支出來擴大產能。我們正嘗試在 200 到 225 的區域內實現這一目標。我們在這方面做得很好。今年我們的開局很好。因此，我感到很放心，我們可以在這個範圍內實現目標。

Most -- almost all of where we're going to get to positive free cash flow, to your question, will come from profitability. So as the business expands, as the margins expand, the amount of EBITDA that we're going to throw off is obviously going to increase fairly substantially over the next couple of years, if we're able to execute our plan.

對於您的問題，我們獲得的正自由現金流幾乎全部來自獲利能力。因此，隨著業務的擴大和利潤率的提高，如果我們能夠執行我們的計劃，那麼未來幾年我們將實現的 EBITDA 數量顯然會大幅增加。

So nothing dramatic in working capital. We'll obviously try to manage that as closely as we can, but it really is just the profitability and the scale and the growth of this business that will drive all the vast majority of the operating cash flow.

因此營運資金方面沒有什麼大的波動。我們顯然會盡力管理這一點，但實際上，正是這項業務的獲利能力、規模和成長才將推動絕大部分營運現金流。

All right. Cool. That's super simple. I can follow that. And then the second question just around the convert. Can you remind us just given the share price, just the mechanics, I think we're bumping up close in terms of it being convertible. But just -- could you just remind us all of just the mechanics and what should we be watching for in terms of the share price?

好的。涼爽的。這非常簡單。我可以理解。第二個問題與轉換有關。您能否提醒我們，僅從股價和機制來看，我認為我們在可轉換性方面已經非常接近了。但是—您能否提醒我們一下機制以及在股價方面我們應該關注什麼？

Yes. I mean, look, it's obviously a 5-year convert. We cannot force that conversion on our end for until year 3. So nothing to do from our side. We're at a point where someone actually could force they could convert -- the bondholders could force us to convert, but because of the optionality value of it, no one has any rationale to do it, they could trade out the bond and take a profit, but they'd leave money on the table if they'd force to convert. So that's highly, highly unlikely.

是的。我的意思是，你看，這顯然是一個 5 年的轉變。在第三年之前，我們無法強制進行這種轉換。我們處於這樣一個階段：有人實際上可以強迫他們轉換 - 債券持有人可以強迫我們轉換，但由於它的可選性價值，沒有人有理由這樣做，他們可以交易債券並獲利，但如果他們強制轉換，他們就會把錢留在桌上。所以這種可能性極小。

There will be no dilution from a GAAP perspective until we get net income well over $100 million. And then just don't forget, we've -- from an economic perspective, we've the CAP call that we put on that protects us economically to about to $120 a share. After that, it will become somewhat dilutive economically.

從 GAAP 角度來看，在我們的淨收入超過 1 億美元之前，不會有任何稀釋。然後別忘了，從經濟角度來看，我們已經實施了 CAP 要求，可以在經濟上保護我們，將每股盈餘控制在 120 美元左右。此後，其將在經濟上產生一定程度的稀釋作用。

But obviously, we're thrilled that we're going to -- look like we might be at the $120 today, if the price stays where it is, but we're sitting tight from our perspective for 2 more years until we kind decide at that point whether we want to force the conversion or not.

但顯然，我們很高興——如果價格保持在目前水平，我們今天的價格可能達到 120 美元，但從我們的角度來看，我們將再觀望兩年，直到我們決定是否要強制轉換。

All right. Todd. And just maybe if I could sneak one last one in. Just -- are we -- do we have a comfortable level of cash on the balance sheet, just given how fast the business is growing, CapEx needs, just kind of your feeling of comfort level based with the cash you've on the balance sheet now?

好的。托德。也許我可以偷偷問最後一個問題。

Yes. I feel really good. Obviously, we've got plenty of cash for this year. I think there's a very good chance -- we've a good chance of having enough cash for next year. And then obviously, we think we're going to be free cash flow positive in '26. And look, based on the amount of EBITDA we're driving right now, if we do need a small amount of capital in '25 or '26, clearly, we've enough profitability to borrow that pretty effectively.

是的。我感覺非常好。顯然，我們今年有足夠的現金。我認為我們很有可能——我們很有可能為明年累積足夠的現金。顯然，我們認為我們在26年將實現自由現金流為正。而且，根據我們目前的 EBITDA 金額，如果我們在 25 年或 26 年確實需要少量資金，顯然我們有足夠的獲利能力來非常有效地借入這筆資金。

Our next question is from the line of Robert Moskow with TD Cowen.

我們的下一個問題來自 TD Cowen 的 Robert Moskow。

I think I've asked this question in a different way last quarter, but I'm going to try to do it this way this time. Do you've any data on what progress you're making on shifting your mix to main meal versus toppers. You said 48%, does that demonstrate any progress? And then, if you fast forward like a few years from now, what does success look like? Does it have to be significantly higher to 2027 goals, or -- to what extent does it matter?

我想我上個季度曾以不同的方式問過這個問題，但這次我會嘗試以這種方式來提出。您是否有任何數據表明您在將混合物轉變為主餐而不是配料方面取得了什麼進展？你說 48%，這表示有進步嗎？那麼，如果快轉幾年，成功是什麼樣子的呢？它是否必須顯著高於 2027 年的目標，或者——它在多大程度上重要？

So, hey Rob, so let me start with the way -- here's what we're seeing in the business, right? So from a penetration standpoint, we're very consistent on the penetration growth that we're consistently seeing. And the people that we're building the most with, that are outpacing, are basically those super heavy, heavy or the people that we refer to as the HIPPOHs, right? So that means that, that naturally basically pushing buy rate.

那麼，嘿，羅布，讓我先說一下——這是我們在業務中看到的，對吧？因此，從滲透率的角度來看，我們始終如一地看到滲透率持續成長。而我們合作最多的、速度最快的人，基本上都是超級重量級人物、重量級人物，或是我們稱之為 HIPPOH 的人，對嗎？所以這意味著，這自然而然地基本上推高了購買率。

That group is really the one who pushes the buy rate forward. So, the way we've basically planned the majority of this is, it's going to be a penetration focus, but we want to make sure that the -- that within that penetration piece, we're getting a lot of those super heavy and heavy households. They're coming in and pushing the buy rate forward. We definitely have some expansion in buy rate. We're consistently seeing that.

這個族群才是真正推動購買率上升的族群。因此，我們基本上計劃了大部分工作，重點是滲透，但我們希望確保在滲透部分，我們能夠涵蓋大量超重和重度家庭。他們不斷湧入並推高了購買率。我們的購買率確實有所擴大。我們一直都看到這樣的情況。

And then we've so many data points now that are starting to show where people are not just buying ones, they're buying 2s and now they're starting to buy 6 packs, like we're looking at like where people are buying bulk packs of our products. And I think that clearly speaks to this ideology of this is not a topper. This is something that is a main meal for my dog. This is a replacement.

現在我們有了很多數據點，開始顯示人們不只是購買 1 個，他們還購買 2 個，現在他們開始購買 6 個一包，就像我們看到人們購買我們產品的大包裝一樣。我認為這清楚地表明了這不是最好的意識形態。這是我的狗的主餐。這是一個替代品。

So you got the super heavy, heavy staff, you've got everything that we're doing around selling multipacks, and you're going to see more and more of these multipacks come out there. And we feel like that answers, like that demonstrates to consumers. And it really answers any questions that we've around how this is not a topper, it is a main meal.

因此，您擁有極其繁重的員工隊伍，您了解我們圍繞銷售多件裝所做的一切，而且您會看到越來越多的此類多件裝出現。我們覺得這就像是向消費者展示的答案。它確實回答了我們的疑問：這不是一道配菜，而是一頓主餐。

Okay. Scott, that explains the marketing. But like I guess my question is, quantifiably, does it -- does that number have to go higher to hit your 2027 goals? Or could you get there without it going higher?

好的。斯科特，這解釋了行銷。但我想我的問題是，從量化角度來看，這個數字是否必須更高才能實現你的 2027 年目標？或者說如果不升高溫度你能到達那裡嗎？

Rob, we look at this pretty closely because, ultimately, if you're going to drive 25% growth in a simplistic form, a portion of it is going to come from penetration, a portion of it is going to come from buy rate. And the way we think the model works, is low 20% growth on the penetration. That gets us to our 20 million households. And you've to have, call it, low to mid-single digits growth in the buy rate in order for that to work.

羅布，我們非常仔細地研究這個問題，因為最終，如果你要以簡單的方式實現 25% 的增長，那麼一部分增長將來自滲透率，一部分增長將來自購買率。我們認為該模型的工作原理是滲透率的成長率低於20%。這樣我們就有 2000 萬個家庭了。為了實現這一目標，你必須擁有所謂的低到中等個位數的購買率成長。

So the sum of those 2 should be 25%, 26% kind of number. And the mix is not particularly important. Obviously, you want to have some of both, but we wanted really to be led by household penetration being in the low to mid-20s. That's the range that we're looking for. So the direct answer to your question is you do need to see buying rate continue to grow, but it needs to grow at a low to mid-single digits.

所以這兩個數字總和應該是 25%、26% 之類的數字。而且混合並不是特別重要。顯然，您希望兩者兼而有之，但我們真正希望的是家庭普及率達到 25% 左右。這就是我們正在尋找的範圍。所以對你的問題的直接回答是，你確實需要看到購買率繼續成長，但它需要以低到中等個位數的速度成長。

Our next question is from the line of Michael Lavery with Piper Sandler.

我們的下一個問題來自 Piper Sandler 的 Michael Lavery。

I just wanted to come back to some of the new technologies you've touched on, and I understand that they're in process and you probably don't want to be too specific. But can you just help us understand, is it more -- would it be retrofitting equipment or replacing it? Or is it like a software upgrade that can increase speeds? Or maybe just some way to have it in our heads the right way. And then a little bit of a sense of the magnitude of cost. And is that already contemplated in things like potentially, I don't know if the timing could be as soon as this year, but would it be in this year's CapEx? How do we think about just where it fits from a magnitude and timing of cost piece of that as well?

我只是想回顧一下您提到的一些新技術，我知道它們正在發展中，您可能不想太具體。但您能否幫助我們理解，這更多的是──改造設備還是更換設備？或者它像軟體升級一樣可以提高速度？或者可能只是讓我們以正確的方式記住它。然後稍微了解一下成本的大小。這是否已經考慮到了潛在的問題，我不知道具體時間是否最早在今年，但這會是今年的資本支出嗎？我們該如何從成本的規模和時間角度來考慮它的適用範圍？

So Michael, I'll handle the first part and either Todd and/or Billy can touch on the second part from a capital standpoint. So -- the very first thing that we're doing and the single biggest focus is to optimize the current manufacturing footprint that we've and the lines that we've. And there is a lot of opportunity there, and we -- within the results that we're showing in this quarter and that we've planned over the next 12 to 18 months, you'll continue to see really nice progress in that area.

因此，邁克爾，我將負責第一部分，托德和/或比利可以從資本的角度處理第二部分。因此，我們要做的第一件事也是最大的重點就是優化我們目前的製造足跡和生產線。這裡有很多機會，而且我們—在本季度展示的結果以及我們在未來 12 到 18 個月內計劃的結果中，您將繼續看到該領域取得非常好的進展。

Secondarily, there are small retrofits to existing lines that we've, and we've done enough work on where we know that there can be increased productivity and throughput levels on those lines. And then third, there is a next generation of technology that we've touched on. We're 100% confident it is going to work. It's just a question of when.

其次，我們對現有生產線進行了一些小規模的改造，並且已經做了足夠的工作，我們知道可以提高這些生產線的生產力和產量水準。第三，我們已經討論了下一代技術。我們百分之百地確信它將會起作用。這只是一個時間問題。

And we -- and I'll turn it over to Todd from a capital standpoint. But we're basically going to work this out over the next kind of periods of time here in the not distant future, where we'll look at what's happening on the throughput we're getting and then the new technologies. And we will layer these things in at the appropriate levels, but we've budgeted this very, very conservatively too.

而且我們 — — 從資本角度來說，我將把它交給托德。但我們基本上會在不久的將來的一段時間內解決這個問題，我們會觀察我們所獲得的吞吐量以及新技術的情況。我們將在適當的層面上分層安排這些內容，但我們對此的預算也非常非常保守。

So from a CapEx perspective, this new technology, as you know, will be the seventh line that we've on the Bethlehem campus. We believe it will be ready to start producing product sometime in the first half of 2025. It absolutely -- we're spending money on it now. It's absolutely part of the $210 million capital guidance we've given the year. A big chunk of the spend on this new technology will be this year.

因此，從資本支出的角度來看，如您所知，這項新技術將成為我們在伯利恆園區的第七條生產線。我們相信它將在 2025 年上半年的某個時候準備好開始生產產品。這絕對是我們今年給出的 2.1 億美元資本指引的一部分。該新技術的大部分支出將在今年完成。

There will be some in next year as well, but a good chunk of it is this year. As we look forward, and if it proves to be successful, we'll use this technology on new lines in places like Ennis, as we build out bag capacity. And then potentially, depending on how big of a margin improvement, we've with this new technology, we'll look at potentially retrofitting existing lines as well, but that's kind of TBD.

明年也會有一些，但其中很大一部分是今年。展望未來，如果事實證明該技術可行，我們將在恩尼斯等地的新生產線上使用這項技術，以擴大袋子容量。然後，根據我們利用這項新技術帶來的利潤率提高幅度，我們可能會考慮改造現有生產線，但這仍有待確定。

Yes. I just want to amplify that we view manufacturing as a core competency for us and a significant competitive advantage. And so, both Scott and Todd referenced a significant investment in the new technology. But as Scott indicated, there are other pieces, too, that are less significant than the seventh line in Bethlehem that we're implementing as we go along. The ultimate goal of all of this, though, is to end up in a situation where we're delivering a significant improvement in the return on invested capital for our shareholders. And we're also delivering improvements in the quality that the consumer gets.

是的。我只是想強調一下，我們將製造業視為我們的核心競爭力和顯著的競爭優勢。因此，斯科特和托德都提到了對新技術的大量投資。但正如斯科特指出的那樣，還有其他一些內容，它們的重要性不如伯利恆的第七行，我們正在逐步實現它們。然而，所有這一切的最終目標是，我們能夠為股東帶來顯著的投資資本回報率的提高。我們也不斷提高消費者所獲得的品質。

And we think, if we do those things well, it will be very, very difficult for somebody to match our execution and our capability.

我們認為，如果我們做好這些事情，那麼其他人就很難與我們的執行力和能力相提並論。

Okay. That's great color. And just a quick follow-up on the commodity color. You had, I think, about almost a 400 basis point benefit there. Anything in particular driving that?

好的。顏色真棒。並快速跟進商品顏色。我認為，您獲得了大約 400 個基點的收益。有什麼特別的原因導致這現象嗎？

And I think the chicken processing plant in Ennis -- not only is going to get more favorable as volumes build, but I think has pricing that's a little bit more stable. So would it be right to think chicken isn't a big swing factor there? Or is that favorable as well?

我認為，隨著產量的增加，恩尼斯的雞肉加工廠不僅會變得更加有利，而且我認為其價格也會更加穩定。那麼，我們可以認為雞肉在那裡不是一個重要的影響因素嗎？或者說這也是有利的？

Yes. So obviously, as we talked about on the call back in February, we do have some deflation. We're about 75% covered now. So obviously, we've got risk and opportunity for about 1/4 of our input costs at this point, but we feel very good about where we're from an input cost perspective. You mentioned chicken processing. It's going really, really well.

是的。因此顯然，正如我們在二月電話會議上談到的那樣，我們確實存在一些通貨緊縮。目前我們的覆蓋率已達 75% 左右。因此顯然，目前我們面臨的風險和機會約佔投入成本的 1/4，但從投入成本的角度來看，我們對目前的狀況感到非常滿意。您提到了雞肉加工。一切進展非常順利。

I mean, it was a headwind last year as we were -- as we brought it up as there just was not enough volume going through that facility by design, as Ennis grows in volume over time. But with Ennis being close to 25% of our capacity this year. It's starting to -- the economics of that are improving greatly this year, and they'll continue to improve over the next couple of years. We obviously yield -- Billy in his comments has mentioned, what a fantastic start to the year we've had in yield.

我的意思是，去年對我們來說是一個阻力——我們提出這個問題是因為按照設計，通過該設施的產量不夠，而隨著時間的推移，Ennis 的產量不斷增長。但今年恩尼斯的產能已接近我們產能的 25%。今年經濟情勢開始大大改善，未來幾年將持續改善。我們顯然獲得了收益——比利在他的評論中提到，今年我們的收益開局非常好。

All the OEE projects we've, particularly in Bethlehem and also in Ennis have been tremendous. Our Kitchens South facility is operating really, really well right now. We're -- we could not be more pleased with what's going on there. And then we obviously had some a little bit of pricing in Q1 that has benefited. That's the last piece of that, that does not persist for the remainder of the years. But those are the components of it.

我們的所有 OEE 項目，特別是在伯利恆和恩尼斯的項目，都非常出色。我們的 Kitchens South 工廠目前運作非常良好。我們 — — 我們對那裡所發生的事情感到非常滿意。然後我們顯然在第一季獲得了一些定價方面的益處。這是最後一部分，在餘下的歲月裡不會再存在。但這些是它的組成部分。

Our final question for today comes from the line of Jon Andersen with William Blair.

我們今天的最後一個問題來自威廉布萊爾的喬恩安德森。

Mine is on -- I've a 2-parter on media. I think you mentioned in the prepared remarks that media was about 14% of sales in the quarter. Can you remind us what your kind of plan for the year is, and talk a little bit about the cadence there? And then I think I also heard maybe Billy mentioned that the customer acquisition costs have improved of late. Could you discuss a little bit how volatile that CAC figure is, has been in the past, and perhaps why you think you're seeing current improvement?

我的是 -- 我在媒體上有兩個部分。我記得您在準備好的發言中提到過，媒體約佔本季銷售額的 14%。您能否提醒我們今年的計劃是什麼，並談談其中的節奏？然後我想我還聽到比利提到最近客戶獲取成本有所改善。您能否稍微討論一下 CAC 數據的波動性，過去的波動性，以及您認為目前有所改善的原因？

Yes, I'll start off, and I'll let Scott talk about the CAC. Yes, about 14% of net sales this year grew about 23%, 24% year-over-year. That percent of net is down year-over-year. So, we're starting to get a little bit of leverage in the P&L from media. Our expectation is it will grow relatively with sales for the full year.

是的，我先開始，然後讓斯科特談談 CAC。是的，今年的淨銷售額約有 14%，年增約 23%、24%。與去年同期相比，淨利潤的百分比有所下降。因此，我們開始從媒體的損益表中獲得一些影響力。我們預計它將隨著全年銷售額相對增長。

So that last year, it was around 11%. We think it will be approximately 11% or slightly less this year as we've talked about, volume is too strong.

去年這一比例約為 11%。我們認為今年的增幅將在 11% 左右或略低，正如我們之前所說，交易量太強勁了。

We'll potentially look at pulling back a little bit of media spend to pull things off a bit, and we continue to monitor that very, very closely. From a cadence perspective, we'll spend fairly heavily in Q2. But from first half, second half, it will be a little bit more balanced than we normally have. So more in the first half, but less as a percentage of than we've historically had.

我們可能會考慮減少一些媒體支出以取得一些進展，並且我們會繼續密切關注這一點。從節奏角度來看，我們在第二季的投入將相當大。但從上半場和下半場來看，情況會比平常更平衡一些。因此，上半年的增幅較大，但佔比卻低於歷史水準。

I'll let Scott talk about the CAC.

我讓斯科特來談談 CAC。

Yes. I'll start by saying when we plan this out over many years, we did not anticipate that we'd be able to keep CAC as stable as it has been. It's been really -- it's been pretty amazing to be able to like years and years in, to have a similar CAC level. Typically, the deeper you get into your TAM, your total addressable market, typically the higher your CAC go up.

是的。首先要說的是，當我們經過多年的規劃時，並沒有預料到我們能夠讓 CAC 保持現在的穩定。真的——能夠在這麼多年裡保持相似的 CAC 水平真是太神奇了。通常，你對 TAM（即總潛在市場）了解得越深，你的 CAC 通常會越高。

Now it's -- to even start talking about CAC from a packaged goods organization, a little bit unusual. But we do think about it that way and track it that way. So we're getting further and further into our theoretical TAM, which we watch and continues to expand a little bit every year also. We see our CAC being incredibly stable. The only time we really saw volatility in our CAC, it's been very range-bound. The only time we really push towards the top, top of the range and stay there for a bit was during like kind of the unwinding of COVID, and along with the really significant price increases that we've put through.

現在——甚至從包裝商品組織開始談論CAC，都有點不尋常。但我們確實是以這種方式思考並追蹤它。因此，我們對理論 TAM 的了解越來越深入，我們每年都會觀察它並發現它仍在擴大一點。我們發現我們的 CAC 非常穩定。這是我們真正看到 CAC 波動的唯一一次，它一直處於區間波動之中。唯一一次我們真正向頂級產品邁進並維持一段時間，是在新冠疫情的緩解期間，以及我們經歷的大幅價格上漲期間。

It took a while for that to settle consumers to get comfortable and then for the CAC to return kind of into those normal levels. Now one piece on that, that I think is helpful. When we look at not only the communication and the advertising, the performance is extraordinary on the creative. But the other piece is on the media planning piece, there's incredible work that goes into that and we continue to press into some new areas. And some people -- I've people coming and go, "Oh, I saw one of your ads for the first time, you were on golf or you were on some type of sports."

需要一段時間才能讓消費者適應，然後 CAC 才能恢復到正常水平。關於這一點，我認為有一點是有幫助的。當我們不僅看溝通和廣告時，創意上的表現也是非凡的。但另一部分是關於媒體策劃的部分，我們在這方面投入了令人難以置信的工作，並且我們繼續朝著一些新的領域邁進。有些人——我遇到過一些人來來往往，“哦，我第一次看到你的一個廣告，你的廣告是關於高爾夫或某種體育運動的。”

We continue to kind of press into these new areas, and we're actually seeing in some of them better performance than we've in existing areas, which leads us to believe that as we continue to expand into these new media channels and using some of these new techniques and even technologies that we've a really nice runway ahead of us to continue to keep CAC within that range.

我們繼續朝著這些新領域邁進，實際上我們看到其中一些領域的表現比現有領域更好，這讓我們相信，隨著我們繼續擴展到這些新媒體管道，並使用一些新技術，我們擁有非常好的跑道，可以繼續將 CAC 保持在該範圍內。

And let me just add to that, Jon, is one of the things that we've seen is, as we've grown the visibility of our retail presence, meaning second fridges, larger fridges, end cap fridges and whatnot, it does help with the efficiency of the media, meaning advertising that you're spending against a business that has a very high level of retail visibility is much more efficient than if we were spending the media against small fridges in the middle of the aisle.

喬恩，讓我補充一點，我們看到的一件事是，隨著我們零售業務的知名度不斷提高，這意味著第二台冰箱、更大的冰箱、端蓋冰箱等等，它確實有助於提高媒體的效率，這意味著你針對具有很高零售知名度的企業進行的廣告宣傳，比我們針對過道中間的小冰箱進行的媒體宣傳要有效得多。

And so, the significant improvement in second and third fridges and end caps and fridge islands and some retailers, is helping maintain that CAC at a very, very effective or efficient level.

因此，第二台和第三台冰箱、端蓋和冰箱島以及一些零售商的顯著改進有助於將 CAC 維持在非常非常有效或高效的水平。

Thank you. At this time, I'll turn the floor back to further remarks from management.

謝謝。現在，我將把發言權轉回給管理層，聽取他們的進一步評論。

Great. Thank you. I'll leave you with one thought. This is from an unknown author. But if you want the best seat in the house, you'll have to move the dog. To which I'd add, all you have to do is make a move for the fridge where Freshpet is kept and the dog will gladly vacate the seat. Thank you very much for your interest.

偉大的。謝謝。我只給你留下一個想法。這是一位不知名的作者寫的。但如果你想坐在家裡最好的座位，你就必須把狗搬走。我想補充一點，你所要做的就是走向存放 Freshpet 的冰箱，狗狗就會很高興地讓出座位。非常感謝您的關注。

This will conclude today's conference. You may now disconnect your lines at this time. We thank you for your participation.

今天的會議到此結束。現在您可以斷開您的線路了。我們感謝您的參與。