好時 (HSY) 2026 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the Hershey Company first quarter 2026 question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I'd now like to turn the call over to your host, Anoori Naughton, Vice President of Investor Relations for the Hershey Company. Thank you. You may begin.

各位好，歡迎參加好時公司 2026 年第一季問答環節。(接線員指示) 提醒各位，本次會議正在錄音。現在我想把電話交給本次會議主持人——好時公司投資人關係副總裁 Anoori Naughton。謝謝。您可以開始了。

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today for The Hershey Company's first quarter 2026 earnings Q&A session. I hope everyone has had the chance to read our press release and listen to our prerecorded management remarks, both of which are available on our website. In addition, we have posted a transcript of the prerecorded remarks. At the conclusion of today's live Q&A session, we will also post a transcript and audio replay of this call.

各位早安。感謝各位今天參加好時公司 2026 年第一季財報問答環節。希望各位都已閱讀我們的新聞稿並收聽我們預先錄製的管理層談話內容，兩者皆可在我們的網站上取得。此外，我們也已上傳預錄談話內容的逐字稿。在今天的即時問答結束後，我們也會上傳本次電話會議的逐字稿與音訊重播。

Please note that during today's Q&A session, we may make forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. These statements, including expectations and assumptions regarding the company's future operations and financial performance. Actual results could differ materially from those projected. The company undertakes no obligation to update these statements based on subsequent events. A detailed listing of such risks and uncertainties can be found in today's press release and the company's SEC filings.

請注意，在今天的問答環節中，我們可能會做出前瞻性陳述，這些陳述受到各種風險與不確定性影響。這些陳述包括對公司未來營運與財務表現的預期與假設。實際結果可能與預測有重大差異。公司不承擔因後續事件而更新這些陳述的任何義務。關於此類風險與不確定性的詳細清單，請參閱今日新聞稿及公司向 SEC 提交的文件。

Finally, please note that we may refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures that we believe provide useful information for investors. The information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information presented in accordance with GAAP. Reconciliations for the GAAP results are included in this morning's press release. Joining me today are Hershey's President and CEO, Kirk Tanner; and Hershey's Senior Vice President and CFO, Steven Voskuil.

最後，請注意我們可能會提及某些非 GAAP 財務衡量指標，我們認為這些指標能為投資人提供有用資訊。這些資訊不應被孤立看待，也不應作為依 GAAP 編製之財務資訊的替代。GAAP 結果的調節表已包含在今早的新聞稿中。今天與我一同出席的有好時總裁暨執行長 Kirk Tanner，以及好時資深副總裁暨財務長 Steven Voskuil。

With that, I will turn it over to the operator for the first question.

接下來，我把時間交給接線員進行第一個問題。

(Operator Instructions)

(接線員指示)

Andrew Lazar, Barclays.

Andrew Lazar，巴克萊。

I was hoping maybe to focus in a little bit on North America confectionery to start. I think in the press release, you mentioned that lower year-over-year CMG market share due to increased marketplace competition. And I know investors are understandably sensitive to this, just given the significant drop in cocoa prices of late and the concern that this could lead to sort of incremental competitive activity to spur volumes in light of elasticity.

我想先把焦點放在北美糖果業務上。我記得在新聞稿中你們提到，由於市場競爭加劇，CMG 市占率較去年同期下降。我知道投資人對此可以理解地相當敏感，因為近期可可價格大幅下跌，大家擔心這可能會在需求彈性背景下，促使競爭活動增加以帶動銷量。

So I was maybe hoping you could dig into just what you're seeing in the marketplace a bit more? And what would you would expect as some of the activations and tent-pole events sort of kick in? And would you, I guess, anticipate that Hershey returns to share growth either in 2Q or as we move through the year?

所以我想請你們更深入談談目前在市場上看到的情況？以及當一些行銷啟動活動與關鍵檔期（tent-pole events）開始發力時，你們預期會有哪些動作？另外，我想問的是，你們是否預期好時會在第二季或在今年接下來的時間裡，回到市占成長的軌道？

Yes. Great question. Yes, I'd start with competition continues to be highly rational. So it's no change in the pricing environment. I just want to start with that. We have seen increased competitive innovation and merchandising from both mainstream and premium competitors. That's what makes this category so attractive to consumers. It's one of the reasons it's so resilient. And so some of that happened a little earlier than we expected. We feel really good about our position as we exit spring resets in a net positive position across items and innovation in key channels.

是的。問得很好。我先說，競爭仍然非常理性。所以定價環境沒有改變。我想先從這點開始。我們確實看到主流與高端競品在創新與陳列促銷方面的競爭加劇。這也是這個品類對消費者如此有吸引力的原因。這也是它如此具韌性的原因之一。因此，其中一些情況發生得比我們預期更早一些。我們對於春季貨架重整（spring resets）結束時，在關鍵通路的品項與創新方面呈現淨正向的結果感到非常有信心。

And our spring and summer merchandising programs ramp up. Premium chocolate continues to be that segment that grows really well, but we are charging into that space aggressively, and we have plans in the back half of this year to have some innovation, and we'll continue to develop that. But overall, yes, we're in a competitive environment. We feel good about where we're going. We have momentum planned for the second half of the year that we feel really good about.

而且我們的春夏陳列與促銷方案正在加速推進。高端巧克力仍是成長表現很好的區隔，但我們也正積極進軍該領域，並計畫在今年下半年推出一些創新，我們也會持續開發。但整體而言，是的，我們處在一個競爭環境中。我們對前進方向感到樂觀。我們已規劃在今年下半年推出我們非常看好的成長動能。

But it is a rational pricing environment, Andrew.

不過 Andrew，這仍然是一個理性的定價環境。

Great. That's really helpful. And then you mentioned Easter sell-through was ahead of expectations. I guess it looks like maybe share was a bit weaker just in the past few weeks of data. I was just hoping you could sort of square those two things for us. And I guess, how is Easter share sort of versus your expectations?

很好。這非常有幫助。另外你們提到復活節的終端銷售（sell-through）優於預期。但我想看起來在過去幾週的數據中，市占似乎稍微偏弱。我希望你們能幫我們釐清這兩者之間的關係。以及，復活節市占相較於你們的預期表現如何？

Yes. I mean, I look at the category in the first quarter. And overall, the category in confection was really resilient, growing high single digits as expected. Overall, Easter was good for us. Category sales declined really due to the two fewer weeks versus last year, but our sell-through was really strong and outperformed our expectations.

是的。我的看法是先看第一季整個品類。整體而言，糖果品類非常有韌性，如預期般以高個位數成長。整體來說，復活節對我們而言表現不錯。品類銷售下滑主要是因為相較去年少了兩週，但我們的終端銷售非常強勁，且優於我們的預期。

I'd say that's the notable part given that Hershey's share -- we're a share leader at the season, and we typically index much higher. And so the two weeks was a big impact on the overall season. But we're very happy with our performance and the sell-through that we saw. Those exceeded our expectation. And our share was also ahead of our expectations coming out of Easter.

我會說這點特別值得注意，因為好時在該檔期是市占領先者，我們通常的指數（index）會高出許多。因此少了兩週對整體檔期影響很大。但我們對自身表現以及看到的終端銷售非常滿意。這些都超出我們的預期。而且復活節結束後，我們的市占也高於我們的預期。

Megan Clapp, Morgan Stanley.

Megan Clapp，摩根士丹利。

Maybe I wanted to start on the macro. When we sat here 2.5 months ago, I think the initial outlook you provided included what you called prudent assumptions, which you reiterated today. But obviously, since then, the backdrop has gotten more challenging. You talked in your remarks. There's elevated geopolitical uncertainty, and we're seeing higher gas prices as a result.

我想先從總體環境談起。2.5 個月前我們在這裡時，我記得你們當時提供的初步展望包含你們所稱的「審慎假設」，而你們今天也再次強調。但顯然自那之後，外部環境變得更具挑戰。你們在談話中提到，地緣政治不確定性升高，而我們也因此看到汽油價格上漲。

So I wondered if maybe you could just unpack a little bit more in terms of what you've seen in the macro so far relative to your expectations, particularly on things like SNAP where maybe you have a little bit more data. And then just broadly, as you sit here today, do you think that the guidance that you have for the remainder of the year still kind of gives you the same degree of cushion on the macro as you thought in the beginning of the year?

所以我想請你們更進一步拆解一下：到目前為止，你們看到的總體環境相較於原先預期如何，特別是在像 SNAP 這類你們可能有更多數據的面向？另外更廣泛地說，以你們今天的角度來看，你們對今年剩餘期間的指引，是否仍然像年初那樣，對總體環境保有同等程度的緩衝空間？

Yes. Really, really relevant question. Thanks for that. Consumer behavior, let's just kind of start with this quarter and then as we move through the year, but consumer behavior remained really steady throughout the quarter with shoppers making thoughtful choices. GLP-1 trends remain consistent.

是的。這個問題非常、非常切題。謝謝。消費者行為方面，我們先從本季談起，再看接下來的走勢：整個季度消費者行為都相當穩定，購物者做出更審慎的選擇。GLP-1 的趨勢仍然一致。

SNAP impact was mild given waivers were limited to five states and higher gas prices had minimal effects. We continue to monitor those very closely. But overall, the macro environment is tracking within our expectations of the year. When we talk about SNAP specifically, we realistically modeled the possible effects right from the beginning. In the first quarter, the five states that were in place, which means the overall impact was, as I mentioned, pretty mild or minor.

SNAP 的影響較為溫和，因為豁免僅限於五個州，而較高的汽油價格影響也很有限。我們會持續非常密切地監測這些因素。但整體而言，總體環境的走勢仍在我們對今年的預期範圍內。就 SNAP 而言，我們從一開始就務實地建模其可能影響。第一季僅有五個州實施，因此整體影響如我所說，相當溫和或偏小。

In those states, the effect on both the category and our business aligned with our estimates, which gives us much more confidence for the full year outlook. Now where implemented, we do see considerable consumer confusion, and it's possible that, that would improve over time. So we plan for this headwind to increase over the course of the year with SNAP, and we will adjust our plans to meet the needs of the consumer with portfolio and pack types, but it's in our assumption. I think that's the important thing. We're not seeing anything that's kind of out of how we've modeled the year and our outlook for the year.

在那些州，對品類以及我們業務的影響與我們的估算一致，這讓我們對全年展望更有信心。目前在已實施的地區，我們確實看到相當程度的消費者困惑，而這種情況可能會隨時間改善。因此，針對 SNAP，我們規劃這股逆風將在一年當中逐步加大；我們也會透過產品組合與包裝型態來調整計畫，以滿足消費者需求，但這已納入我們的假設之中。我認為這是重點。我們沒有看到任何超出我們對今年模型與全年展望所預期的情況。

So I think that stays on track as far as SNAP goes.

所以我認為就 SNAP 而言，一切仍按計畫推進。

Great. That's helpful. And maybe just a related question on elasticities. Last quarter, you talked about planning for around 0.8 even though actuals are running better and talked about that as maybe being potential upside to your expectations for the guidance. This quarter, you talked about elasticities being favorable versus planned levels.

很好。這很有幫助。另外也許問一個與彈性（elasticities）相關的問題。上個季度，你們談到即使實際表現更好，仍規劃約 0.8，並提到這可能成為指引預期的潛在上行因素。這個季度，你們提到彈性相較於規劃水準更為有利。

So has anything changed in April so far? Or are you still embedding that same level of conservatism on elasticities for the balance of the year? And as we think about the second quarter and what's implied from an organic sales growth perspective, how much of that is just the shipment timing and Easter reversing versus maybe something more fundamental in how you're thinking about demand?

那麼截至目前 4 月有任何變化嗎？或者你們在今年剩餘期間，仍然在彈性假設上維持同樣程度的保守性？另外，當我們思考第二季、以及從有機銷售成長角度所隱含的表現時，其中有多少只是出貨時點與復活節效應反轉所致，而非你們對需求看法上更根本性的改變？

Yes, I'll kick that over to Steve for that one.

是的，這題我交給 Steve 來回答。

Sure. Yes. On the elasticities, you said it, we continue to model what we have before that point. We're pleased to see it still holding. We have some things that will be coming to market, price pack architecture, for example, is hitting shelves right now.

當然。是的。關於彈性，你說得沒錯，我們仍持續沿用先前的建模方式。我們很高興看到目前仍維持住。我們有一些即將上市的事項，例如價格與包裝架構（price pack architecture）現在正上架到貨架上。

So we'll continue to watch that to see if elasticities evolve as they can sometimes. But right now, right in line with what we've -- better than what we've modeled and expect that to continue. And then relative to Q2 retail or Q2 sales expectations, yes, it's in the biggest pieces on the organic side were the timing issues. Two parts to that, Kirk said Easter sell-through was strong. And so one upshot from that was earlier shipping of some of our spring programming, including S'mores, for example, which is actually getting activated as we speak.

因此我們會持續觀察，看看彈性是否會如同有時候那樣出現變化。但就目前而言，表現與我們的預期一致——甚至優於我們的模型——並預期這種狀況會持續。至於第二季零售端或第二季銷售預期，是的，在有機面的最大因素是時點問題。這有兩個部分，Kirk 提到復活節的終端銷售（sell-through）很強。因此其中一個結果是，我們部分春季活動的出貨更早，包括例如 S'mores，而這項活動我們此刻正在啟動。

That's earlier than we typically would have seen. We also had a little bit of pull-forward internationally as some customers were doing -- playing a little bit of defense trying to get ahead or offense trying to get ahead of potential disruption in the Middle East. So those were the two big pieces that sort of pulled things forward from our standpoint. Nothing structurally different relative to Q2 expectations.

這比我們通常看到的時間更早。我們在國際市場也有一些提前拉貨，因為部分客戶採取——有點像防守、想提前因應，或是進攻、想搶先因應——中東可能出現的干擾。所以從我們的角度看，這兩個是把一些需求往前拉的主要因素。相較於第二季的預期，沒有任何結構性的不同。

Peter Galbo, Bank of America.

Peter Galbo，美國銀行（Bank of America）。

Steve, maybe if I could pick up on the back of Megan's question there on 2Q organic sales. I think the implied is that confection organic may actually dip negative in the second quarter, just given some of the timing aspects. So I just wanted to press on that a little bit just as a clarification point.

Steve，延續 Megan 剛才關於第二季有機銷售的問題。我認為隱含的意思是，糖果（confection）有機成長在第二季可能會轉為小幅負成長，主要是因為一些時點因素。所以我想就這點再追問一下，作為釐清。

Yes, it is expected to be slightly down in Q2 due to that timing that we just talked about.

是的，因為我們剛談到的時點因素，預期第二季會小幅下滑。

Okay. Great. And then just a broader question, Steve, in terms of just the margin cadence over the rest of the year, obviously, there was a little bit of favorability, I think, on the gross margin side, maybe because of some of the volume. But maybe you can just help us think about gross margin phasing over the back three quarters of the year.

了解。很好。接著更宏觀地問一下，Steve，關於今年剩餘期間的毛利率節奏，顯然毛利率端有一些有利因素，我想可能部分來自於銷量。但也許你可以幫我們理解一下，接下來三個季度毛利率的分佈／推移（phasing）會是如何？

Sure. Well, we're expecting in Q2 gross margins to increase by nearly 300 basis points versus the prior year period. So that's where you really start to see the inflection. And then as we get to the back half of the year, we expect something greater than 500 basis points. And again, we've got the year pretty well planned out. So I'd say we have good visibility to that. But that's how that inflection starts in Q2 and then accelerates in the back half.

當然。我們預期第二季毛利率相較去年同期將提升將近 300 個基點。所以你會在那裡真正開始看到拐點。接著到了下半年，我們預期提升幅度會大於 500 個基點。而且，我們對全年規劃已經安排得相當完整。所以我會說我們對此有很好的能見度。但整體就是：拐點從第二季開始，並在下半年加速。

Peter Grom, UBS.

Peter Grom，瑞銀（UBS）。

So Kirk, in your prepared remarks, you touched on some of the drivers that you believe will keep top line momentum in the back half of the year as you annualize pricing impact. So can you maybe just unpack that a bit more? And maybe more specifically, what's the degree of visibility or level of confidence on that momentum or that momentum can be sustained as you look ahead?

Kirk，在你的事先準備發言中，你提到一些你認為能在下半年、當定價影響進入年對年比較（annualize）後，仍可維持營收動能的驅動因素。你能否再更詳細拆解一下？更具體地說，對於這股動能的能見度或信心程度為何？以及展望未來，你認為這股動能能在多大程度上持續？

Yes. Good question. Yes, we have confidence in H2, driven by a few things. One, we see a really strong seasons planned for the second half. Our tent-poles will deliver a full point of growth. Americana, the Hershey movie, we've got a lot built into that, a lot of support from our customers. Resets have been really important. So gains across several channels, mass, grocery, dollar, drug. So we see real positive position coming out of the spring resets, which is important to us. And then innovation.

是的。好問題。是的，我們對下半年（H2）有信心，主要由幾個因素驅動。第一，我們看到下半年規劃的季節性檔期非常強。我們的關鍵檔期（tent-poles）將帶來整整 1 個百分點的成長。Americana、Hershey 電影，我們在這些上面投入很多，也獲得客戶端大量支持。貨架重置（resets）一直非常重要。因此我們在多個通路都有所斬獲：量販（mass）、雜貨（grocery）、一元店（dollar）、藥妝（drug）。所以我們看到春季貨架重置後帶來非常正面的位置提升，這對我們很重要。再來是創新。

That -- we've got good innovation. We'll have a big innovation on Hershey's in the fall as well that we're really excited about. It gets us into that accessible premium space. So that is really important. Now, of course, we're watching the macros just like everyone.

也就是——我們有很好的創新。今年秋季我們在 Hershey's 也會有一個大型創新，我們非常期待。它讓我們切入更「可負擔的高端」（accessible premium）區隔。所以這點非常重要。當然，我們也和大家一樣在關注總體環境（macros）。

But when we think about what we can control, we feel really good, and we have a lot of confidence in where we're going as we ramp up our execution and deliver against our plan. So we feel good about H2. Again, we'll keep an eye on the macros and control what we can control.

但當我們思考我們能掌控的部分，我們感覺非常好，並且對我們前進的方向很有信心，因為我們正在強化執行力並依計畫交付成果。所以我們對下半年感覺良好。同樣地，我們會持續關注總體環境，並掌控我們能掌控的事情。

No, that's great and very helpful. And then just a follow-up on snacks. A strong quarter at 5%, but I think it's a bit below what we see in terms of consumption. And in the remarks, you touched on plant reduction and private label production and product recall. So do those items account for the entire gap relative to what we see in consumption? And then maybe specifically, any thoughts around how we should be thinking about growth for this segment moving forward, especially just in the context of the implied guidance?

不，這很棒，也非常有幫助。接著追問一下零食（snacks）。本季成長 5% 表現強勁，但我認為這略低於我們在消費量（consumption）上看到的表現。而在發言中，你提到工廠減產、自有品牌代工生產，以及產品召回。所以這些項目是否足以解釋與我們在消費量上看到的表現之間的全部落差？另外更具體地說，對於這個部門未來的成長，你有什麼看法，特別是在隱含指引的脈絡下？

Yes. One thing that I would say on snacks or on our salty snacks is that's primarily driven by private label. And so our core brands in salty are up nearly 10%. So that is not the issue. Now, as you know, as we brought those businesses in, we had a private label business. That's getting smaller in our business over time. So that's a bit of it. Our salty brands are doing exceptionally well.

是的。我想就零食、或我們的鹹味零食補充一點：這主要是由自有品牌所驅動。因此，我們在鹹味品類的核心品牌成長接近10%。所以問題不在這裡。另外，如你所知，當我們把那些業務納入時，我們原本有一塊自有品牌業務。那塊業務在我們的整體業務中隨時間推移正在縮小。所以這也是其中一部分原因。我們的鹹味品牌表現非常出色。

Yes. And I'll just say in terms of the profitability side, you really pointed to the two things. We had a couple of discrete things. The voluntary withdrawal was actually immaterial in total, but that combined with the delayed opening of the DC meant that we spent more on logistics, trying to -- with a fast-growing business, trying to maintain strong service. And so those additional costs were incurred in the quarter. They're done. And so now we're in a better spot, and we expect operating income to grow and increase by double digits for the year. So a small speed bump in the first quarter, but past it and back on track.

是的。我再補充一下獲利能力方面，你其實點出了兩個重點。我們有幾件獨立的事項。自願性下架（voluntary withdrawal）整體而言其實影響不大，但它再加上配送中心（DC）延後啟用，意味著我們在物流上花了更多成本——在業務快速成長的情況下，努力維持強勁的服務水準。因此，這些額外成本在本季發生。這些都已經結束了。所以現在我們處於更好的狀態，並且我們預期全年營業利益將以兩位數成長並提升。第一季有個小小的減速帶，但已經過去了，並回到正軌。

Chris Carey, Wells Fargo Securities.

Chris Carey，Wells Fargo Securities。

Can I just follow up on the Snacks margin? So obviously, kind of some discrete headwinds in the quarter, relatively low-water mark on margins. You talked about accelerating profit from here. Is that mostly driven by just the sequential improvement in margins as opposed to, say, top line? And then do you still feel good about the margin targets that you had put out there at Investor Day. Just maybe contextualize that and I have a follow-up.

我可以再追問一下零食的毛利率嗎？所以很明顯，本季有一些相對獨立的一次性逆風，毛利率也相對處於低點。你提到接下來獲利會加速。這主要是由毛利率逐季改善所帶動，而不是例如營收端（top line）嗎？另外，你們對在投資人日提出的毛利率目標仍然有信心嗎？請你稍微把脈絡說明一下，我還有一個追問。

Yes, the margin will improve on the basis of just not having those onetime issues. That will be the biggest factor. We are going to have some amortization that will come along with the LesserEvil acquisition. So that's sort of in the base. And there's some mix impact with LesserEvil in the mix at a kind of total salty level. But those are expected. And aside from that, kind of on the core business, we'll continue to see that margin improvement over the course of the year.

是的，毛利率會改善，主要是因為不再有那些一次性問題。那將是最大的因素。我們會有一些攤銷費用，會隨著收購 LesserEvil 而產生。所以那算是基礎項目的一部分。另外，在整體鹹味品類層級，LesserEvil 納入組合後也會帶來一些產品組合（mix）影響。但這些都是預期之內的。除此之外，就核心業務而言，我們會在今年的過程中持續看到毛利率改善。

Okay. And just a follow-up on the spring resets. A lot of exciting activity from here. Can you just give us a bit more insight on some of the key wins, how you expect those benefits to come through and some of the timing?

好的。再追問一下春季重置（spring resets）。從現在開始有很多令人振奮的活動。你能否再多分享一些關鍵的勝出點、你預期這些效益會如何反映出來，以及一些時間點？

Yes, I think about those in two things, space in the number of new facings, new SKUs that we have in the sets across the primary channels across mass, dollar, drug, and grocery, that's a big part. So winning at the shelf is the first thing I think about, and we're in a positive position there. The second is the support that we're getting from retailers on the perimeter with our tent-pole events. So I think the combination of both winning at the shelf and winning on the perimeter, supported by our retail sales team is really how we're thinking about that. And that's really the one-two punch of the momentum that we see in the second half.

是的，我把這些分成兩個面向來看：第一是貨架空間——也就是我們在各主要通路（量販、平價店、藥妝與雜貨）陳列組合（sets）中，新增的陳列面（facings）數量與新增的 SKU 數量，這是一大部分。所以我首先想到的是在貨架上勝出，而我們在這方面處於正向的位置。第二是零售商在賣場周邊（perimeter）針對我們的旗艦活動（tent-pole events）所提供的支持。因此，我們的思考是：在零售銷售團隊的支持下，同時在貨架上勝出、也在周邊區域勝出。而這正是我們在下半年看到動能的「一二連擊」。

And that shows up in tent-pole and season events, too, on the perimeters and the support that we get. But it really is both winning across DMG and Salty for both shelf space wins and perimeter inventory. And we're tracking that. We're very disciplined about looking at that every single week. So we feel really good about where we're going.

而這也會反映在旗艦活動與季節性活動上——在周邊區域以及我們獲得的支持。但重點確實是：在 DMG 與 Salty 兩個品類上，同時在貨架空間的勝出與周邊區域的庫存配置上勝出。我們正在追蹤這些。我們非常嚴謹，每週都會檢視一次。所以我們對未來走向感到非常有信心。

Leah Jordan, Goldman Sachs.

Leah Jordan，Goldman Sachs。

You noted a mild impact from higher gas prices on the consumer. But just, see if you could provide more color on how your sales have trended in the C-store channel specifically and how you think about potentially supporting that channel if these macro challenges sustain?

你提到油價上漲對消費者有輕微影響。不過想請你再多補充一些：你們在便利商店（C-store）通路的銷售趨勢具體如何？

Yes. We made those comments early in Q1, right? We saw a very little impact because it was a later event. I think it really comes to how high the prices go and how long they stay. C-store is the right question to ask. We look at that as well, and our confection business continues to perform in line with our expectation. And we look at things like our immediate consumption business, and those continue to do well through this time. Again, we know that this is a longer issue that could have a bigger impact. But right now, we see that performance standing in check. And so we feel good about that.

是的。我們在第一季初就做了那些評論，對吧？我們看到的影響非常小，因為那是較晚發生的事件。我認為關鍵在於價格會漲到多高、以及會維持多久。便利商店通路確實是個對的問題。我們也有在看，而我們的糖果（confection）業務持續符合我們的預期表現。我們也會看像是即時消費（immediate consumption）業務，而這些在這段期間也持續表現良好。再次強調，我們知道這是一個可能影響更大的長期議題。但就目前而言，我們看到表現仍受控。因此我們對此感到放心。

But we're always staying focused on that and looking for other things that we can do with our retail partners in the convenience channel to keep the business front in mind. We know that when high gas prices happen, frequency goes up with consumers. So they come to the gas station more, they buy less. They are purchasing less, but the frequency goes up, that keeps the channel robust, at least with our category. And again, we continue to see results as expected right now. So we're feeling good about it, but we'll stay very focused on that.

但我們會一直聚焦在這點上，並與便利通路的零售夥伴一起尋找其他可做的事情，讓業務保持在首要位置。我們知道當油價高時，消費者的到訪頻率會上升。所以他們會更常去加油站，但買得更少。他們購買量下降，但頻率上升，至少就我們的品類而言，這讓通路仍然很有韌性。而且再次強調，目前我們仍看到結果符合預期。所以我們感覺良好，但也會持續非常專注於此。

Okay. Great. And then just a quick follow-up from an earlier question. Just see if you could provide more color on your visibility maybe around costs for packaging and freight specifically. I guess what have you actually seen in higher costs so far? And then what are you baking in for the back half?

好的。謝謝。再快速追問一個先前的問題。想請你再多談談你們對包材與運輸（freight）成本的可視性。也就是說，到目前為止你們實際看到哪些成本上升？以及你們對下半年（back half）納入了哪些假設？

Yes, I'm happy to take that one. So far, we're really not seeing a big impact. Again, in the hedging program and our commodities team, some of these impacts and commodities are managed through that group. And so we've got good visibility really through this year and in some cases, even beyond. And so now having said that, like Kirk said, if it looks like it's going to be prolonged and it's going to be significant, then we'll be looking further out at some of the implications. But right now, from everything we can see, we're in a good spot, feel well covered for 2026.

好的，我很樂意回答這題。到目前為止，我們其實沒有看到很大的影響。同樣地，在避險計畫與我們的大宗商品團隊之下，其中一些影響與大宗商品是透過該團隊來管理的。因此，我們對今年的情況有很好的可視性，在某些情況下甚至更往後也看得到。不過話說回來，就像 Kirk 說的，如果看起來會拖得很久、而且影響會很顯著，那我們就會把視野拉得更遠，評估一些可能的影響。但就目前我們所見，一切狀況良好；我們覺得對 2026 年的覆蓋（hedge/保障）也很充足。

David Palmer, Evercore ISI.

David Palmer，Evercore ISI。

I wanted to ask you a couple of questions on the merchandising front and some of the stuff you touched on in your prepared remarks and back in the Investor Day, you talked about the evolution of pack types and shelf sets. And I know some of that was planned maybe more into the fall. Like I think you said the standup bags versus take-home were maybe something that would get increased distribution into the second half of the year. But you mentioned some stuff earlier on. So maybe you can give a summary of maybe what you're doing now and what's coming. And then as far as promotions, I wonder, are we going to see in scanner data more display year-over-year in the data as you're more all months on, so to speak?

我想在商品陳列（merchandising）方面問幾個問題，關於你在事先準備的發言中提到、以及在投資人日回顧過的一些內容：你談到包裝型態與貨架陳列組合（shelf sets）的演進。我知道其中一些可能原本規劃在秋季才會更明顯。例如我記得你說過，直立袋（standup bags）相對於家庭裝（take-home）可能會在下半年獲得更高的鋪貨（distribution）。但你稍早又提到了一些進展。所以也許你可以總結一下你們現在正在做什麼、接下來還會做什麼。另外就促銷而言，我想問的是：隨著你們更像是「全年都在做」（all months on），我們是否會在掃描數據（scanner data）中看到展示（display）活動的年增更明顯？

Yes. The right questions. When you get down to the details of how we execute at retail, I think that's really important, David. We start with the number of SKU gains that we are getting across mass grocery dollar, and we're building that into kind of the pipeline. We are deploying the standup bags versus lie-flat bags.

是的。問得很好。當你深入到我們在零售端如何執行的細節時，我認為那真的非常重要，David。我們先從在大型量販、雜貨與美元店通路所取得的 SKU 增量開始，並把這些納入某種管線來推進。我們正在導入直立袋（standup bags），取代平放袋（lie-flat bags）。

So that is something that is consumer preferred. It elevates. We've tested that. That is well received by consumers, and it just drives visibility and it's something that makes the category easier to navigate, shop, accessible, all those things that category management drives. So that's the first.

因此，這是消費者偏好的做法。它能提升呈現效果。我們已經測試過。消費者反應很好，而且它能提升可視性，並讓品類更容易瀏覽、選購、更易取得——這些都是品類管理所推動的。這是第一點。

So we're looking at how productive the shelf is -- we're measuring on-shelf availability just as our customers do, and we go over that every single week. So that intensity around the shelf is really important. The second area is this perimeter and what does tent-pole activation on top of seasons. And we measure inventory, points of interruption on the floor, amount of inventory that we have on the floor and location in the store. And I think that helps us drive what's incremental, how this delivers against the plan, how much growth we're getting into this space and what new occasions we're driving.

所以我們在看貨架的生產力如何——我們像客戶一樣衡量貨架可得性（on-shelf availability），而且每週都會檢視。因此，對貨架的這種高強度管理非常重要。第二個領域是外圍區（perimeter），以及在季節性之上所謂「主題檔期」（tent-pole）啟動活動是什麼。我們會衡量庫存、賣場地面上的中斷點（points of interruption）、地面陳列的庫存量以及在店內的位置。我認為這能幫助我們推動哪些是增量、這如何達成計畫、我們在這個空間帶來多少成長，以及我們正在創造哪些新的消費情境。

New occasions are like as we come into the celebration of the 250-year celebration of our country for the 4th of July, we are bringing Hershey's Kisses, our Hershey bars platform, our S'mores platform and our Dot's Pretzels platform into that. So we're going after that new occasion being a part of that celebration and a party. That's incremental to what we have done in the past. And that's really the element of what tent-poles brings. It is more activation on the perimeter, getting into more occasions and more moments that consumers are celebrating. And the combination of those two things is what we give us a lot of confidence for the second half of the year.

新的消費情境例如：當我們迎來 7 月 4 日、也就是我們國家 250 週年慶祝活動時，我們會把 Hershey's Kisses、Hershey 巧克力棒平台、S'mores 平台以及 Dot's Pretzels 平台帶入其中。所以我們要抓住這個新情境，成為慶祝與派對的一部分。這相較於我們過去所做的是增量。而這正是「主題檔期」所帶來的要素。它代表在外圍區有更多啟動活動，切入更多情境與更多消費者正在慶祝的時刻。而這兩者的結合，讓我們對下半年非常有信心。

I just wanted to get a sense from you. I remember last Halloween, you were talking about how you maybe had some regrets about some bits of execution, maybe pack types you're promoting and some other things. But bigger picture, it feels like seasons were such a rich harvest for Hershey. You guys were leaning into it, particularly during the COVID era. And maybe some of this is just an era that happened where seasons -- the going was good and you got a lot out of it.

我只是想從你這裡了解一下。我記得去年萬聖節時，你提到可能對某些執行面有些遺憾，例如你們主推的包裝型態以及其他一些事情。但從更大的角度看，季節性對好時（Hershey）來說似乎是非常豐收的一塊。你們一直在加碼，特別是在 COVID 時期。也許其中一部分只是那個時代的因素——季節性表現很好，而你們也從中獲得很多。

But I'm wondering how you're thinking about seasons going forward, not just Halloween, but is this going to be something that kind of tracks with confectionery growth overall for you? Or how do you think about seasons going forward?

但我想問的是，你們未來如何看待季節性，不只是萬聖節，而是這是否會成為一個大致跟隨你們整體糖果成長的項目？或者你們未來如何看待季節性？

Yes. We have a great foundation for seasons, but I think that we can be even more disruptive and looking for what consumers are looking for. As we go into Halloween even this year, we feel really good about what we learned and then what new things we can bring to consumers that they are looking for that make that season even more robust. So we -- that as a leader in seasons, it's on us to be much more thoughtful about where consumers are going, continuing to modernize it, but we're building from a very strong base. But as I look at seasons in the second half, we feel really good.

是的。我們在季節性方面有很好的基礎，但我認為我們可以更具顛覆性，更貼近消費者在找什麼。即使是今年進入萬聖節，我們對所學到的經驗以及能帶給消費者、他們正在尋找的新東西都感到非常樂觀，這會讓那個季節更強勁。所以——作為季節性領導者，我們有責任更周全地思考消費者的走向，持續現代化，但我們是建立在非常強的基礎之上。不過就我看下半年的季節性，我們感覺非常好。

We can see the buys with our customers. We can see what's landing. And you can evaluate, hey, are we going to have a really good season? Is this going to be an okay season? We're feeling really good about the back half seasons with what we've been able to partner with our customers with.

我們可以看到客戶的採購（buys）。我們可以看到哪些產品正在上架落地。你也可以評估：嘿，我們會有一個非常好的旺季嗎？會是一個還可以的旺季嗎？就我們與客戶合作所達成的成果而言，我們對下半年各個季節檔期的表現非常有信心。

Tom Palmer, JPMorgan.

Tom Palmer，摩根大通（JPMorgan）。

Sorry to kind of be the third person to ask here, but I did just want to maybe clarify on the expected headline organic sales growth slowdown in the second quarter. I appreciate you've really highlighted it as more shipment timing than anything else. But could we just kind of quantify the specific items that are driving the slowdown? There was 2 points for, I think, ship ahead in the first quarter. There was maybe some Easter timing to consider. Is there anything else? Just could we kind of quantify like underlying maybe what 1Q would look like versus 2Q if we strip out some of this timing?

抱歉我成了第三個問這個的人，但我確實想釐清一下第二季預期的有機銷售成長（headline organic sales growth）放緩。我理解你們已經強調這更多是出貨時點（shipment timing）而非其他因素。但我們能否量化一下，究竟是哪些具體項目在推動這個放緩？第一季我記得有 2 個百分點是提前出貨（ship ahead）。也可能要考慮復活節時點。還有其他因素嗎？我們能否量化一下：如果把這些時點因素剔除，第一季相對第二季的基礎表現大概會是什麼樣子？

Yes, you've got the biggest pieces. We said slightly down in Q2 due to the timing. Easter sell-through was strong. So the Q2 impact is bigger than anticipated that and a little bit in international that we talked about are really the two biggest drivers of pulling forward.

是的，你已經抓到最大的幾塊了。我們說第二季會因為時點因素而小幅下滑。復活節的終端銷售（sell-through）很強。因此，第二季的影響比原先預期更大；再加上我們提到的國際市場的一點影響，這兩個是提前拉貨（pulling forward）的最大驅動因素。

Yes. Look, I'll just share a little bit of how I think about it. So Easter was a significant timing issue, right? So we saw that. We saw sell-through go really well. That pulled a few of our programming into quarter one. But then if I look at what success looks like, the overall consumption trends are staying consistent. So once you get through the overlap in April, you'll see momentum pick up in May and you'll see momentum pick up in June.

是的。我分享一下我怎麼看。復活節是一個很顯著的時點問題，對吧？所以我們看到了。我們看到終端銷售表現非常好。這把我們部分的促銷/方案（programming）拉到第一季。但如果我看成功的樣貌，整體消費趨勢仍維持一致。所以一旦你度過 4 月的重疊影響，你會看到 5 月動能回升，也會看到 6 月動能回升。

So you think about those consistencies, if you remove those onetime events, I think you've got -- you're going to see very consistent performance on consumption, sell-through and execution. So I'm looking at April, the impact of Easter, May with some momentum certainly building, getting back on track in June following that.

所以當你看這些一致性，如果把那些一次性事件移除，我認為你會看到——在消費、終端銷售與執行面都會是非常一致的表現。因此我看的是：4 月有復活節的影響；5 月動能確實開始建立；6 月在那之後回到正軌。

Okay. And then a question on the spring shelf resets. Maybe frame it relative to past years. Is this more impactful, more changes than we've seen recently?

好的。接著問一個關於春季貨架重置（spring shelf resets）的问题。也許相對於過去幾年來看。這次的影響更大、變動更多嗎？

Yes. We feel good about what we're seeing from an increase versus a year ago versus what we've seen in the last couple of years. So I'm confident that this is a win for us. It's a win for the portfolio that we have, plus some of the moves we made for making the gondola a much more shoppable and inspiring for consumers. So when you package it all together, number of facings, standup, merchandising and how we are merchandising with category management insights, I feel really good about where we're going this year versus last year, yes.

是的。就我們看到的情況，相較於一年前、也相較於過去幾年，我們的提升更明顯。所以我有信心這對我們是個勝利。這對我們的產品組合是個勝利，再加上我們做的一些調整，讓貨架端架/長貨架（gondola）對消費者而言更好逛、更有啟發性。所以把這些都合在一起——陳列面數（facings）、直立袋、陳列執行，以及我們如何運用品類管理洞察來做陳列——我對今年相較去年我們要走的方向感覺非常好，是的。

Robert Moskow, TD Cowen.

Robert Moskow，TD Cowen。

A couple of questions about innovation. I wanted to know what are your expectations for this Hershey premium product you're launching in the second half? And Hershey's struggled to introduce viable premium offerings in the past. I think there's questions out there about how far the brand can stretch. So I'm trying to figure out how big of a bet it is. And then I had a follow-up.

有幾個關於創新的問題。我想了解你們對下半年推出的這個 Hershey 高端（premium）產品有什麼期待？而且 Hershey 過去在推出可行的高端產品方面一直有些掙扎。我想外界也在質疑這個品牌能延伸到多遠。所以我想弄清楚這會是一個多大的押注。然後我還有一個追問。

Yes. Well, overall innovation, we feel really good about. Let me talk about Hershey, this elevated experience. This is a truly elevated and maybe, Robert, if you were at Investor Day, you had the opportunity to try this. I absolutely love these products. So hopefully, you love them. I know I -- all right. Well, I love them. They're an important part, right? I think that when you look at innovation, it is a collection of those things.

是的。嗯，整體而言，我們對創新感到非常有信心。我來談談好時這個升級版體驗。這真的是一個更高端的體驗；也許，Robert，如果你有參加投資人日，你就有機會試吃。我非常喜歡這些產品。所以希望你也喜歡。我知道我——好吧。嗯，我很喜歡。它們是很重要的一部分，對吧？我認為當你看創新時，它是由這些事情所組成的集合。

So we have high expectation for that brand. And we think it's right in the sweet spot of what Hershey can deliver. And that's on deep consumer research and understanding and testing. So we know that we have the opportunity with Hershey to nail it and knock it out of the park with that innovation. But we also look at innovation in totality.

所以我們對那個品牌有很高的期待。而且我們認為它正好落在好時能夠交付的甜蜜點上。這是建立在深入的消費者研究、理解與測試之上。因此我們知道，好時有機會把這項創新做得非常到位、表現非常亮眼。但我們也會從整體角度來看創新。

So across our portfolio, across our Sweets portfolio with Jolly Rancher, we also continue to see Reese's Oreo be a standout add on the Hershey innovation and you see that, plus then we have a big Hershey experience with Hershey movie coming out in quarter four. But it's the collection of those things is how we model and build our business. It's not reliant on one thing. It is the collection of those things that make the business strong. Having said all that, we have really good expectations for this elevated Hershey experience, and we are launching a product that consumers in the testing have loved.

因此在我們的整體產品組合中、在我們的糖果（Sweets）產品組合中，以 Jolly Rancher 而言，我們也持續看到 Reese's Oreo 作為好時創新中的一個亮點加成，你也看得到；此外，我們在第四季還有一個大型的好時體驗，因為好時電影將在第四季上映。但我們建模並打造業務的方式，是靠這些事情的組合。不是依賴單一項。正是這些事情的組合讓業務更強健。話雖如此，我們對這個升級版的好時體驗抱持非常好的期待，而且我們正在推出一款在測試中深受消費者喜愛的產品。

Got it. Okay. My follow-up was about Sweets. Can you tease out Sweets performance in first quarter and what your expectations are for this year? The data shows that the Shaq product line is down substantially. The Sweets portfolio had been growing 20%-plus. I just want to get a sense of your confidence that you can capitalize on the strong consumer demand for -- especially among young people for this segment.

了解。好。我接續的問題是關於糖果（Sweets）。你能否拆解一下糖果在第一季的表現，以及你們對今年的預期？數據顯示 Shaq 產品線大幅下滑。糖果產品組合之前一直有 20% 以上的成長。我想了解你們是否有信心能把握這個品類強勁的消費者需求——尤其是在年輕族群之間對這個區隔的需求。

Yes. I mean our biggest brand in Sweets is Jolly Rancher and Jolly Rancher performed very well in my opening comments. It performed much faster than the category. That continues. There was some really good innovation on heat wave, et cetera.

是的。我的意思是，我們糖果（Sweets）中最大的品牌是 Jolly Rancher，而我在開場評論中也提到，Jolly Rancher 表現非常好。它的表現遠快於該品類。這個趨勢仍在延續。在 heat wave 等方面也有一些非常不錯的創新。

Now we've launched a new item with the Shaq lineup. That will give us some momentum later this spring and in the summer. So we feel good about where we are with Sweets. Jolly Rancher will continue to be a hero in the space. We've got a strong program around Twizzlers this summer.

現在我們也在 Shaq 系列推出了一個新品項。這將在今年春末、以及夏季為我們帶來一些動能。所以我們對糖果（Sweets）目前的狀況感覺良好。Jolly Rancher 會持續成為這個領域的主力品牌。今年夏天我們也會針對 Twizzlers 推出強而有力的方案。

And we have a robust pipeline in '27 and '28 across Sweets, that we'll share. We've shared some of the Sweets portfolio and the innovation that's coming. So we're going to continue to invest in this. When we talk about investing in R&D, there are some specific areas that we're focused on. One is premium, two is Sweets, three is better-for-you.

而且在 2027 年與 2028 年，我們在糖果（Sweets）方面有一個很扎實的產品管線，之後會再分享。我們也已經分享了部分糖果產品組合以及即將推出的創新。所以我們會持續在這方面投資。當我們談到投資研發（R&D）時，有幾個我們特別聚焦的領域。第一是高端（premium），第二是糖果（Sweets），第三是更健康（better-for-you）。

And you'll see us continue to make that pipeline much more robust in the future. And we've seen that. We're -- that is in our R&D right now, and we've seen that pipeline. So we feel really good about where we're going.

而你們會看到我們未來持續把這個管線做得更強、更充實。而且我們已經看到這一點。我們——這些目前就在我們的研發（R&D）中，我們也看到了那個管線。所以我們對未來的方向感到非常有信心。

Max Gumport, BNP Paribas.

Max Gumport，法國巴黎銀行（BNP Paribas）。

I wanted to return to some of the macro headwinds you're watching. So two of them included the accelerated health and wellness trends and increasing GLP-1 adoption. Can you just provide an updated view on what you're seeing there and also how you're looking to navigate your portfolio through these headwinds?

我想回到你們正在關注的一些宏觀逆風。其中兩項包括健康與福祉趨勢加速，以及 GLP-1 的採用率提升。你能否更新一下你們目前看到的情況，以及你們打算如何在這些逆風下調整並因應你們的產品組合？

Yes. Thanks for the question. I was just going to go back to one of the key drivers of the confection category, in particular, is that this is an emotional category. It is a treat, not a meal. And I think that's playing out with GLP-1 users.

是的。謝謝你的問題。我想回到糖果品類的一個關鍵驅動因素，特別是：這是一個情緒性的品類。它是一種犒賞（treat），不是一餐。我認為這也反映在 GLP-1 使用者身上。

and the overall health and wellness trends. Consumers on these drugs, specifically GLP-1, continue to enjoy the category in smaller portions. We know that. Our research supports the confection category is relatively insulated compared to other food categories. Our framework for estimating the GLP-1 impact includes scenario assumptions for both the near- and the long-term horizon for adoption rates.

以及整體的健康與福祉趨勢。服用這些藥物的消費者，特別是 GLP-1，仍然會以較小的份量享用這個品類。我們知道這點。我們的研究也支持：相較於其他食品品類，糖果品類相對更具抗衝擊性。我們用來估算 GLP-1 影響的框架，包含對採用率在短期與長期的情境假設。

So we have been monitoring calorie reduction, user lapse rates and other behavior changes. Now the accelerated adoption rate alongside affordability and new formats are well contemplated in our outlook. So we spend a great deal of time understanding this. It is in our outlook. It is in line with what we've seen and what we expect, but we'll continue to do this.

因此我們一直在監測熱量攝取下降、使用者中斷（lapse）比率，以及其他行為變化。目前採用率加速，再加上可負擔性與新劑型/新形式的推出，這些都已充分納入我們的展望之中。所以我們花了大量時間去理解這件事。它已經反映在我們的展望裡。也與我們所看到、以及我們所預期的相一致，但我們會持續追蹤。

But this is something that we are continuously monitoring. But overall, again, the category is about a treat. It's still being enjoyed through this. Again, it's about 40 calories per day, two to three servings per week for the average American on confection. So that's just the scope of what we're seeing. And so that gives us the confidence of where we're going here with this macro.

但這確實是我們會持續監控的事情。不過整體而言，再次強調，這個品類是關於犒賞（treat）。在這樣的情況下，人們仍然會享用它。同樣地，平均美國人在糖果上的攝取大約是每天 40 卡路里、每週 2 到 3 次。這就是我們所看到的範圍。因此，這也讓我們對在這個宏觀因素下的前進方向更有信心。

Great. And then just returning to price elasticities. It sounds like everything you're seeing is quite good so far. It's running better than planned. Competitors have followed, retailers have accepted. Obviously, the price elasticity response suggests consumers are not showing a worse reaction than peers. But can you just provide a bit more color about how this informs your view of your performance from here and also how it factors into the 2% to 4% organic sales growth target you gave for '27 just a month ago?

很好。接著回到價格彈性。聽起來你們目前看到的一切都相當不錯。表現比原先規劃更好。競爭對手也跟進了，零售商也接受了。顯然，價格彈性的反應顯示，消費者的反應並沒有比同業更差。但你能否再多補充一些細節，說明這如何影響你們對未來表現的看法，以及它如何納入你們一個月前給出的 2027 年 2% 到 4% 有機銷售成長目標？

Yes, sure. I'd be happy to take that one. So as I said, elasticities are running favorable. They have so far, they continue to. And it just points to the resilience in these categories, especially in instant consumables, refreshment and seasons.

好的，當然。我很樂意回答這題。如我所說，彈性表現偏有利。到目前為止是如此，而且仍在延續。這也顯示這些品類的韌性，特別是在即時消費品、提神/休閒（refreshment）以及節慶（seasons）方面。

We've talked in the past how seasons are so precious to consumers. So as we look out, we don't see a material change. It doesn't change. As we think about the outlook for the year, we're not changing the guide. So we're still inside the earlier guidance, even though the Q1 results look strong.

我們過去談過，節慶對消費者而言非常珍貴。因此往前看，我們沒有看到實質性的變化。這不會改變。就今年的展望而言，我們不會調整指引。所以即便第一季結果看起來強勁，我們仍然維持在先前給出的指引範圍之內。

And it's partly because we still have that price pack architecture hitting shelves as we speak. And we know elasticities move. So I'll say we're being a little bit cautious there. But we'll continue to monitor it over the coming quarters. We'll be in a better spot to take a look at the guide at the midyear mark. We'll have most of the price pack architecture in place at that point and have a better beat. But we're really encouraged by what we're seeing so far and the resilience of the consumer in the category.

而這部分原因在於，我們的價格／包裝架構仍在此刻持續上架到貨架上。而我們也知道需求彈性會變動。所以我會說，我們在那方面會稍微保守一些。但我們會在接下來幾個季度持續監測。到年中時點，我們會處在更好的位置來檢視指引。屆時大部分的價格／包裝架構都會到位，我們也會有更清楚的掌握。但就目前所見，我們確實受到鼓舞，且該品類消費者的韌性也相當強。

Jim Salera, Stephens Inc.

Jim Salera，Stephens Inc.

Kirk, you mentioned tent-poles are poised to add a full point of growth this year. I'm wondering if you can offer some detail around the retail execution given there's a much higher frequency compared to traditional calendar with really just the seasons. And I imagine there's at least some kind of different messaging, whether it's marketing or in-store that's going to call attention to kind of the uniqueness of each of those tent-poles. Can you just walk through how the sales force is dealing with that and maybe how the marketing team is calling attention to each of those unique occasions?

Kirk，你提到今年這些「tent-poles」有望貢獻整整一個百分點的成長。我想請你就零售端的執行多談一些細節，因為相較於傳統行事曆主要就是幾個季節檔期，這些活動的頻率高得多。我想至少會需要一些不同的訊息傳達，不論是行銷或店內陳列，都要凸顯每一個「tent-poles」的獨特性。你能否說明一下業務團隊如何因應，以及行銷團隊如何讓每個獨特的時點／場合受到關注？

Yes. I think that is a great question. This really brings the best of demand creation and demand execution or demand fulfillment. So these moments like the 4th of July is typically where we did not participate, right? This -- between salty and sweet, we have this great opportunity to participate in these big moments of celebration that are relevant with consumers.

是的。我認為這是個很好的問題。這其實把需求創造與需求執行（或需求履約）兩者的優勢結合起來。像美國獨立日（7月4日）這樣的時點，過去通常我們是不參與的，對吧？而現在——在鹹食與甜食之間——我們有很好的機會參與這些與消費者高度相關的大型慶祝時刻。

So that's kind of the -- that's the motivation, the inspiration behind it. Now what we've done is we've worked with our customers. We put the demand creation together with the marketing. And then what we do is we bring that to life like we've never done before at the 4th of July, and we've activated that with our sales force. Our customers are encouraged by this because, look, it just makes these events bigger in-store.

所以這就是背後的動機與靈感來源。接著我們所做的是與客戶合作。我們把需求創造與行銷整合起來。然後我們把它以前所未有的方式在獨立日具體落地，並透過業務團隊推動啟動。客戶對此感到振奮，因為你看，這會讓這些活動在店內變得更盛大。

It brings more retail theater to the store with our big brands like Hershey and Dots and that makes the overall season better for the retailer. So that is kind of leveraging our strength as a business to bring more relevance to these holidays. And it gives us a chance to capture some of that share, that share of that occasion. This allows us to go from a season into a tent-pole into a season -- into a tent-pole, again, and that allows our sales force to be constantly focused on how they develop those big moments in retail. And our customers are very supportive of this. It gives more for the shopper to engage with. But this is -- I would say this is playing to our strengths.

它讓門店有更多零售「戲劇性」呈現（retail theater），搭配我們像 Hershey、Dots 這些大品牌，進而讓零售商的整個檔期表現更好。所以這是在運用我們作為企業的強項，讓這些節慶更具相關性。也讓我們有機會抓住其中一部分市占——也就是該場合的市占。這讓我們能從一個季節檔期切換到一個「tent-pole」，再回到季節檔期——再到另一個「tent-pole」，使我們的業務團隊能持續聚焦於如何在零售端打造這些重要時刻。而我們的客戶也非常支持。這也讓購物者有更多可以互動參與的內容。但我會說，這是在發揮我們的長處。

Do you have any sense for how much of a gap there is between some of the tent-poles and the traditional season events. I just wonder if there might be a concern of some overlap if somebody stocked up on Hershey's Kisses or LesserEvil popcorn ahead of what would otherwise be kind of seasonal purchase window?

你是否大概能判斷，這些「tent-poles」與傳統季節性活動之間的間隔有多大？我只是想知道，是否可能會有一些重疊的疑慮，例如有人在原本應該是季節性購買窗口之前，就先囤了 Hershey's Kisses 或 LesserEvil 爆米花？

No. I mean there's enough gap between these that we're measuring incrementality and the breadth of our portfolio allows us to play in these tent-poles and seasons without being redundant or cannibalizing each other. We are the nimber one season executor in CMG. We have the largest share of seasons. So when you bring tent-poles to life, we're bringing them to life with different brands, different opportunities, and we're making them as incremental as possible.

不會。我的意思是，這些活動之間的間隔足夠，我們也在衡量增量效果；而我們產品組合的廣度，讓我們能同時在這些「tent-poles」與季節檔期中發揮，而不會重複或彼此侵蝕（cannibalize）。我們是 CMG 中季節檔期執行的第一名。我們在季節檔期的市占最大。因此當你把「tent-poles」做出來時，我們會用不同品牌、不同機會點來落地，並盡可能讓它們帶來增量。

I would tell you, a big collaborator in this is our customers. Our customers own the categories as well, and this is leveraging the best of what we have and the best insights that they have. And that's really what the magic is. But right now, I feel like there's a really good cadence. So you'll see this summer, you'll see us execute the 250 anniversary, you'll see us execute S'mores and summer travel, then you're going to go into Halloween. And there's a nice gap between those to have the sell-down and then the build for Halloween. It really makes sense for retail.

我想說，這當中一個很重要的合作夥伴是我們的客戶。客戶同樣也在經營這些品類，而這是在結合我們最擅長的能力與他們最好的洞察。那才是真正的「魔法」所在。但就目前而言，我覺得節奏安排得非常好。所以你會看到今年夏天，我們會執行 250 週年紀念活動，會執行 S'mores 與夏季旅行，接著你就會進入萬聖節。而這些之間有很好的間隔，讓商品可以先賣到一定程度（sell-down），再為萬聖節做鋪貨與建檔（build）。這對零售端來說非常合理。

Alexia Howard, Bernstein.

Alexia Howard，Bernstein。

I just want to ask about the Reese's expansion in Europe. I know a while back, you mentioned that in the UK, the household penetration was in the high teens, I believe, but that was a while ago. Where have you got to now? I believe you may have gone into some other countries in Europe with Reese's. And at what point do you start to think about actually putting plant manufacturing capacity into that region?

我想問一下 Reese's 在歐洲的擴張。我記得你之前提到，在英國的家庭滲透率大概在十幾個百分點的高段，但那是好一段時間以前了。你們現在進展到哪裡了？我相信你們可能也把 Reese's 推進到歐洲其他一些國家。那你們會在什麼時點開始考慮，實際在該區域投入工廠製造產能？

Yes. Great question. We continue to see Reese's drive in our UK and other European countries. Our plan is to continue to develop that. We have a win with Reese's plan that is working. We see innovation off that platform. And that is a real platform in the UK. We're today leveraging a couple of things. We are leveraging imports, and we're leveraging local manufacturing for some of the products.

是的。很好的問題。我們持續看到 Reese's 在英國以及其他歐洲國家的帶動力。我們的計畫是持續把它做大。我們有一套正在奏效的 Reese's 成功計畫（win plan）。我們也看到以該平台為基礎的創新。而在英國，這確實是一個真正的平台。目前我們主要運用幾件事。我們運用進口，同時也針對部分產品運用當地製造。

The plan is to scale Reese's internationally, especially in the UK and Europe. Once we scale, then we'll look to in-source. So I think that's the natural progression of how we build that business and make it much more profitable. I would tell you what we've learned and the playbook that we've learned in the UK and Europe is allowing us to take it other places. So I was just recently in Brazil. It's starting in Brazil. It's having the same impact. Brazilians love peanut butter.

計畫是把 Reese's 在國際市場擴大規模，特別是在英國與歐洲。一旦規模做起來，我們就會評估內製（in-source）。所以我認為，這是我們建立該業務並讓獲利能力顯著提升的自然進程。我想說，我們在英國與歐洲學到的經驗與作戰手冊（playbook），也讓我們能把它帶到其他地方。例如我最近剛去巴西。它正在巴西起步。而且產生了同樣的效果。巴西人很喜歡花生醬。

And so it is -- again, we'll run that playbook and allow us to build that platform. It's also working in Mexico. Now we manufacture it in Mexico, so it's a little closer to home. But those are the playbooks that we are developing in one country or one market that we're able to take into other markets, and Reese's has been very exciting for us in that regard.

所以——同樣地——我們會複製那套作戰手冊，讓我們能建立那個平台。在墨西哥也同樣奏效。而我們在墨西哥有生產，所以離我們本土更近一些。但這些就是我們在某個國家或某個市場建立起來的作戰手冊，並能帶到其他市場；在這方面，Reese's 對我們而言一直非常令人振奮。

Great. And then just to follow up on Rob Moskow's question, innovation. Are you able to quantify where you're at in new products as a percent of sales introduced over, say, the last three years? And are you at the level that you think you want to be at? Can you sustain the level?

很好。另外延續 Rob Moskow 的問題，關於創新。你能否量化一下，例如過去三年推出的新產品占銷售額的比例，目前大概是多少？而你們是否已達到你們希望達到的水準？你們能否維持這個水準？

Or do you need to go higher?

還是你需要再往上提高？

Well, I think that's a great question. From -- it's a high single-digit level of contribution to percent of sales for us. I think there's always opportunity. And I would tell you that our innovation strategy is one of focus, meaning we are innovating in those places that we have the greatest opportunity for us, that is premium sweets, better for you. I think I would think about that also in concert of growing our core brands.

嗯，我覺得這是個很好的問題。就——對我們而言，這大約是占銷售額百分比的高個位數水準的貢獻。我認為永遠都有機會。我也想告訴你，我們的創新策略是聚焦型的，意思是我們會在對我們機會最大的領域進行創新，也就是高端糖果、更健康（better for you）。我也會把這點與我們核心品牌的成長一併來思考。

Our core continues to grow faster than the category. And so when you have a healthy core business in Reese's and Hershey, your innovation is even more meaningful. So again, innovation will be focused. It will -- I think there's always more for us to do, especially when we get more breakthroughs with sweets and premium and better for you, that will give us even further traction as we develop the portfolio. Now on the salty snack side, we continue to innovate as well, also a really important part of building our portfolio.

我們的核心業務持續以快於品類的速度成長。因此，當你在 Reese's 和 Hershey 擁有健康的核心業務時，你的創新就更具意義。所以再說一次，創新會是聚焦的。我認為我們總是還能做得更多，特別是當我們在糖果、高端與更健康（better for you）方面取得更多突破時，將在我們打造產品組合的過程中帶來更進一步的推動力。而在鹹味零食方面，我們也持續創新，這同樣是打造我們產品組合非常重要的一部分。

We just recently launched the snack mix behind the Dots brand, and that's done exceptionally well. So again, that same model of healthy core and then innovation that's more disruptive in nature in salty, where we're taking the snack mix category and disrupting it with Dots and seeing a lot of traction with consumers there. I would tell you, this company is very focused on raising the bar on innovation, and we have a lot of momentum in front of us.

我們最近以 Dots 品牌推出了零食綜合包（snack mix），表現非常出色。所以同樣地，這是健康核心加上更具顛覆性的鹹味創新模式——我們把零食綜合包品類用 Dots 來做顛覆，並在消費者端看到很強的動能。我想說的是，這家公司非常專注於提高創新的標準，而我們眼前也有很強的成長動能。

All I would add there is one of the reasons we talked about incremental R&D investment coming to help build that capability and build that muscle for the future.

我補充一點：我們之所以提到增加研發（R&D）投資，其中一個原因就是要協助建立這項能力，並為未來鍛鍊這塊「肌肉」。

Scott Marks, Jefferies.

Scott Marks，Jefferies。

First thing I wanted to ask about in the prerecorded remarks, you noted that the Hershey and Reese's brand non-seasonals grew pretty materially. I think you called out 11% and 10% growth there. Could you help us understand the drivers behind that? I know you called out March Madness tent-pole, but is there anything else kind of helping support that strong performance?

我第一個想問的是，在預錄的發言中，你提到 Hershey 和 Reese's 的非季節性產品成長相當顯著。我記得你提到分別成長 11% 和 10%。你能幫我們理解背後的驅動因素嗎？我知道你提到以「三月瘋」（March Madness）作為主打活動（tent-pole），但還有沒有其他因素在支撐這樣強勁的表現？

Yes. There's a couple of things. On our Hershey campaign, if you remember, during the Olympics was very well received, and that gave a lot of lift to the Hershey brand. That, I think, is really important. On Reese's, Reese's was the center of our big tent-pole event for March Madness.

是的。有幾個因素。在 Hershey 的行銷活動方面，如果你還記得，我們在奧運期間的活動反響非常好，這為 Hershey 品牌帶來很大的拉抬。我認為這點非常重要。至於 Reese's，Reese's 是我們三月瘋大型主打活動（tent-pole event）的核心。

So that allowed us to build inventory and get traction on the brand. But when we look at programming behind creating demand for Hershey -- the brand Hershey's and Reese's, this is an example of how it comes to life and works, and it works on the core. So this is -- Q1 is just an example of how that can come to life.

因此，這讓我們能夠建立庫存並讓品牌獲得動能。但當我們看推動 Hershey——也就是 Hershey's 與 Reese's 這些品牌需求的整體規劃時，這就是它如何落地並發揮作用的例子，而且它對核心業務有效。所以第一季（Q1）只是它如何落地的一個例子。

Okay. Clear on that. And then second question for me in terms of how you're thinking about the cocoa market and outlook? One of your chocolate competitors earlier this week said that they believe current prices fairly reflect where supply and demand are globally. Just curious if you can give us an update on your thoughts around the cocoa market and how you're thinking about the go forward from here.

好的。這點很清楚。那我第二個問題是，你們如何看待可可市場與後續展望？你們的一家巧克力競爭對手本週稍早表示，他們認為目前價格已相當公平地反映全球供需狀況。想請教你們是否能更新一下對可可市場的看法，以及你們接下來會如何思考後續走勢。

Sure. Yes, we still remain at a view that long term, cocoa could remain above some of those really low or historical levels that we've seen. Now we'll see how it plays out. So I'd say long term, we probably have a somewhat cautious view. In the near term, we continue to anticipate a larger surplus in '25 and '26, partly the diversification of the supply chain, strong crops, declining demand, continued expansion in new origins and so forth.

當然。是的，我們仍然認為從長期來看，可可價格可能會維持在高於我們過去看到的一些非常低、或歷史水準之上。當然，後續還要看情況如何發展。所以我會說，長期而言我們可能抱持較為審慎的看法。但在短期內，我們仍預期 2025 年與 2026 年會出現較大的供給盈餘，部分原因包括供應鏈多元化、作物收成強勁、需求下滑、以及新產地持續擴張等等。

So if that happens, if we would see cocoa fall, as we talked about at the investor conference, we have ability to participate, particularly in '27 and beyond in that downside. And so those would be things that could trigger upside opportunity to our '27 and '28 outlook. But we're watching the space closely, obviously, making sure that we're managing the business for the long term in terms of hedging, but also in structures that allow agility to participate in downside.

因此如果真的如此、如果我們看到可可價格下跌，正如我們在投資人會議上談到的，我們有能力參與（受益於）那個下行，特別是在 2027 年及之後。因此，這些因素可能會觸發我們對 2027 年與 2028 年展望的上行機會。但我們會密切關注這個領域，顯然也會確保從長期角度管理業務，包括避險（hedging），同時也透過能夠保持彈性的架構，讓我們可以參與下行帶來的好處。

Michael Lavery, Piper Sandler.

Michael Lavery，Piper Sandler。

Just picking up on '27 there. I know it was only a month ago, you gave a preliminary outlook there. But any thoughts since? And maybe in particular, could you help contextualize how to think about some of the risks from higher oil-related costs, maybe how much of a percent of COGS that impacts or just how to think about what to watch there?

接續你剛才提到的 2027 年。我知道大概一個月前你們才給了初步展望。但之後有沒有新的想法？尤其是，能否幫我們釐清如何看待較高的油價相關成本所帶來的一些風險，例如它大概影響銷貨成本（COGS）的百分之多少，或是我們應該關注哪些重點？

Sure. I'm happy to kind of take that. I think we talked a little bit about the conference in general about things that could go upsides or downsides for '27. We kind of broke them into controllables and noncontrollables. I think that basket is still largely the same.

好的。我很樂意來回答。我想我們在會議上大致談過一些可能對 2027 年帶來上行或下行的因素。我們大致把它們分成可控與不可控。我認為那個「籃子」目前大致仍是相同的。

The things that we can control around innovation and media, ROIs, tent-poles as we just talked about, elasticity to some degree and of course, continuing to deliver on productivity and cost savings, all of those things, we continue to have high confidence on our ability to manage and execute. We do have some factors outside of our control. We just touched on cocoa being one that could be -- could potentially be an upside. We'll see where the market goes. And then the macro headwinds and, of course, competition.

我們能控制的部分，包括創新與媒體投放、投資報酬率（ROI）、像剛才提到的主打活動（tent-poles）、某種程度上的需求彈性（elasticity），以及當然持續交付生產力提升與成本節省；對於我們管理與執行這些事項的能力，我們仍然非常有信心。我們也確實有一些不在我們控制範圍內的因素。我們剛提到可可就是其中之一——它可能會成為上行因素。我們會看市場如何發展。另外還有總體環境逆風，以及當然還有競爭。

So far, and I'll come to oil. As Kirk said earlier, from a macro standpoint, there's nothing we're seeing that's sort of outside the bounds of what we would have talked about back at the conference. We didn't expect those areas to get better in '27, and that's factored into the outlook. With respect to oil, in particular, it's pretty small exposure for us. The bigger impact would be indirect through packaging and so forth.

到目前為止——我也會談到油價。如 Kirk 先前所說，從總體角度來看，我們目前沒有看到任何超出我們在會議上所討論範圍的情況。我們本來就不預期那些領域在 2027 年會變好，而這也已反映在展望之中。就油價而言，特別是，我們的直接曝險其實很小。較大的影響會是透過包裝等方面的間接影響。

And those impacts take time. So it does go back a little bit to what Kirk said about how high and how long would the oil price impact last. At this stage, sitting here, we wouldn't change anything as we look to '27 and beyond.

而這些影響需要時間才會顯現。所以這也回到 Kirk 所說的：油價影響會有多高、會持續多久。以目前此刻來看，當我們展望 2027 年及之後，我們不會因此改變任何看法。

Okay. That's helpful. And just a follow-up on the '26 outlook. You had pointed to elasticities remaining favorable as a potential driver of upside to guidance. And it sounds like that's so far sticking and staying true. I guess what's some of your thinking on holding it then? Is it just that it's a little bit early still? I know you mentioned some price pack architecture changes still coming. Are those maybe more significant than we might appreciate? Or how do you help us think about some of that?

好的。這很有幫助。另外追問一下 2026 年的展望。你們曾指出需求彈性維持有利，可能是指引上修的潛在驅動因素。聽起來目前為止這點仍然成立。我想問的是，你們對於「維持不變」的考量是什麼？是因為現在仍稍早嗎？我知道你提到仍有一些價格/包裝架構（price pack architecture）的調整即將到來。那些調整是否比我們理解的更為重要？或者你會如何幫助我們思考其中的一些因素？

Yes. I think it's just being cautious. We said we're really pleased with the start to the year. I feel really confident about the balance of the year, items that we can control, elasticities as they can move around, but we like what we see and our projection is still strong. But like we just talked about, oil price is kind of a new macro to keep an eye on.

是的。我認為這只是保持謹慎。我們說過，我們對今年開局感到非常滿意。對於今年剩餘時間我很有信心，對於我們能掌控的事項、以及可能會有波動的彈性因素，我們喜歡目前看到的情況，我們的預測仍然強勁。但就像我們剛才談到的，油價算是一個需要留意的新宏觀因素。

And in general, there's still a lot of movement and evolution in those macros. So I think it's just a prudent approach. By the time we get to the midyear mark, we'll have a lot more visibility on all of this and be able to take potentially a different position.

而且整體而言，這些宏觀因素仍在大幅波動並持續演變。所以我認為這只是採取審慎的做法。等到年中時，我們對這一切會有更高的能見度，並可能能夠採取不同的立場。

Steve Powers, Deutsche Bank.

Steve Powers，德意志銀行。

First, a quick follow-up. Kirk, I think you mentioned earlier just in talking about the Snacks growth rate that your choices to deprioritize some of the non-core, non-branded parts of the portfolio was a bit of a notable drag on the top line relative to consumption. I guess just I want to frame how big that non-core part of the portfolio is today and whether that is something that we should keep in mind as a drag that will continue or if it was more just isolated this quarter?

首先，快速追問一下。Kirk，我想你先前在談零食（Snacks）成長率時提到，你們選擇降低部分非核心、非品牌的產品組合優先順序，這相較於消費量（consumption）對營收（top line）造成了較明顯的拖累。我想請你界定一下，目前這個非核心部分在整體產品組合中有多大，以及我們是否應該把它視為會持續存在的拖累，還是說這比較像是本季的單一事件？

Yes. It will continue to be a drag. And then we'll continue to communicate kind of where the brand performance is versus the private label. I mean this is something that was planned, and it's something we're working with our customers on. So we feel really good about that.

是的。它會持續成為拖累。然後我們也會持續溝通品牌表現相對於自有品牌（private label）的情況。我的意思是，這是原本就規劃好的，也是我們正在與客戶一起推進的事情。所以我們對此感覺非常好。

I think our focus is on driving meaningful volume and growth with our branded products, and we like where we're going. We are driving a significant amount of the growth in the category. So if you look at salty, the drivers of growth are definitely Dots, SkinnyPop, LesserEvil. They're driving exceptional growth, and we see that continuing. Now part of the private label, yes, that will be a drag. But overall, we'll be in a really good place full year on both top line and bottom line for our salty portfolio.

我認為我們的重點是透過自有品牌產品推動有意義的銷量與成長，我們也喜歡目前的方向。我們正在帶動該品類相當大一部分的成長。所以如果你看鹹食（salty）品類，成長驅動因素絕對是 Dots、SkinnyPop、LesserEvil。它們帶來了非常出色的成長，我們也看到這會持續。至於自有品牌的部分，是的，這會是一個拖累。但整體而言，就我們的鹹食產品組合來看，今年全年在營收端與獲利端（top line 和 bottom line）都會處於非常好的位置。

Okay. Perfect. And then I just wanted to ask on functional snacking. I don't think we've talked about it yet on this call. It was one of the higher growth platforms that I think you highlighted and we discussed at Investor Day.

好的。非常好。接著我想問功能性零食（functional snacking）。我想我們在這通電話上還沒談到。這是你們在投資人日（Investor Day）提到並討論過的、成長較快的平台之一。

Maybe just a little perspective on how that part of the business is situated as we go into the balance of the year. And I guess maybe from your perspective, if perhaps that is a higher priority for incremental investment attention than maybe on the outside, it's perceived.

想請你分享一下，隨著今年進入後續期間，這部分業務目前的定位如何。另外從你們的角度看，這是否可能比外界所認為的更值得優先投入增量投資與關注？

Yes, absolutely. And that's a big growth. I mean the business is relatively small compared to the rest of our business. That is an area that we are investing in. This is a space that consumers are -- they're in. And we're seeing a high level of growth reflected in our earlier comments that will be -- that will continue to be a part. Now our job is to build this business to be a much larger, more influential part of our business, and we're doing just that. We're investing in R&D. We're updating our formulas. You'll see really good brand work across one and fulfill.

是的，完全同意。而且那是一個很大的成長動能。我的意思是，與我們其他業務相比，這個業務目前規模相對較小。這是我們正在投資的領域。這是消費者正在參與的市場空間。我們也看到很高的成長水準，呼應我先前的評論——這將會持續成為我們業務的一部分。現在我們的工作是把這個業務打造得更大，成為我們業務中更具影響力的一部分，而我們正在這麼做。我們正在投資研發（R&D）。我們正在更新配方。你會看到在 One 和 Fulfill 上有非常好的品牌工作。

We've also entered into a JV with VitaKey, which is -- has breakthrough protein delivery that we really like to see, and that R&D will be meaningfully different. We know that we have to be differentiated in this space. And we feel really good about where we're going with the protein and functional business. And right now, we're seeing high mid-single digit or double-digit growth on our business today, and we know we can build that for the future. So more to come from us on this area. It's a small but mighty part of our growth, and you'll see the investment in innovation, and we'll have a lot more to talk about for some of these breakthroughs that we're working on.

我們也與 VitaKey 成立了一家合資企業（JV）；它擁有我們非常看好的突破性蛋白質傳遞技術，而那方面的研發將會有顯著不同。我們知道在這個領域必須做出差異化。我們對蛋白質與功能性業務的發展方向感到非常好。目前我們的業務正呈現中高個位數或雙位數的成長，我們也知道可以為未來把它做大。所以在這個領域我們後續還會有更多分享。這是我們成長中「規模不大但很強」的一部分，你也會看到我們在創新上的投資；對於我們正在推進的一些突破，我們也會有更多內容可以談。

Rob Dickerson, Jefferies.

Rob Dickerson，Jefferies。

I'm in BTIG now. But I appreciate the shout out. Yes, Steve, I just wanted to come back to the margin question again, but more specific to confection. I mean, obviously, there's been a lot of volatility over the past few years for pretty well understood reasons, clearly you did better in Q1 versus last year's Q1, but then there's some shift in Easter and there's reinvestment, their activations coming. And so I'm just kind of curious, I guess it's more specific to cadence, but also for the rest of the year, but also just kind of relative to history, right?

我現在在 BTIG。但我很感謝你剛才的點名。是的，Steve，我想再回到毛利率的問題，但更聚焦在糖果（confection）。我的意思是，過去幾年因為大家都很清楚的原因，波動非常大；很明顯你們今年第一季（Q1）比去年第一季表現更好，但接著復活節檔期有些移動，還有再投資、以及後續的行銷推廣（activations）。所以我有點好奇——我想更具體是節奏（cadence），也包括今年剩餘時間，以及相對於歷史水準來看，對吧？

If we kind of exclude the past few years, your confection margin was like somewhat stable, let's say, quarter-to-quarter, clearly, some seasonality differences, but somewhat stable. So I'm just curious, like as we think through kind of this year, right, with cocoa coming down and then also, I guess, into next year, is there kind of a perspective that, yes, like I think the next few quarters, there should be more stability? Or should we see it like maybe even come down a little bit in Q2 and then really ramp as we get through the back half of the year? And I have a quick follow-up.

如果我們先排除過去幾年，你們的糖果毛利率大致上算是相對穩定，例如季度對季度之間相對穩定；當然有一些季節性差異，但整體算穩。所以我想問的是，當我們思考今年——可可價格下來了——以及我想也包括明年，你們是否認為接下來幾季會更穩定？或者我們應該預期第二季（Q2）可能還會小幅下滑，然後在下半年才真正拉升？我還有一個快速追問。

Sure. Yes, we ar`e going to see some movements still this quarter. Our challenge always is season, season timing. I feel like forever, we'll be talking about seasonal timing quarter-to-quarter variability related to that. But as we look through the balance of the year, there's nothing big change.

當然。是的，本季我們仍會看到一些波動。我們一直面臨的挑戰是季節性、以及季節時點。我覺得我們可能永遠都會在談，因季節時點造成的季度間波動。但就今年剩餘時間來看，沒有什麼重大的變化。

We have more tent-poles to plan for, more activation to plan for. But we're going to -- particularly as we get to the back half of the year, we start lapping some of the higher-priced cocoa and commodities, we're going to see that step up. And so we're not -- we're going to see that play out over the course of the year. I'd say there's nothing unusual to really point out in that sequence.

我們有更多關鍵檔期（tent-poles）要規劃，也有更多行銷推廣要規劃。但我們會——特別是進入下半年時，當我們開始與先前較高價格的可可與大宗原物料成本形成基期比較（lapping）時，我們會看到毛利率上升。因此——我們會在全年過程中看到這個情況逐步展開。我會說，在這個節奏上沒有什麼特別異常需要指出。

Okay. So if we think about kind of where the gross margin cadence kind of planned for the year, it would seem like kind of plus or minus, let's say, kind of the op margin in confection would kind of follow. Is that fair?

好的。所以如果我們思考今年規劃的毛利率節奏，大致上正負一些波動，那麼糖果的營業利益率（op margin）應該也會跟著走，這樣理解合理嗎？

Can you say it again? I'm not sure I totally understood your question.

你可以再說一次嗎？我不確定我是否完全理解你的問題。

Gross margin, right? You spoke earlier to kind of what was implied in Q2 and then the back half. I'm just curious like is the cadence kind of the trajectory on North American confectionery margin -- operating margin should kind of basically track with gross margin.

毛利率，對吧？你先前談到某種程度上在第二季以及下半年所隱含的內容。我只是好奇，北美糖果的利潤率走勢節奏是否大致如此——營業利潤率應該基本上會跟著毛利率走。

Yes. The difference is where they will disconnect is the investing in media, which will pick up certainly in Q2 and even in the back half. So that's the disconnect between, say, gross margin and operating margins as expected. So that's all part of the plan for this year. So that's where the two will have some deviation.

是的。差異在於兩者會出現脫鉤的地方是媒體投資，這在第二季當然會增加，甚至在下半年也會增加。所以，這就是例如毛利率與營業利潤率之間如預期會出現的脫鉤。這都是今年計畫的一部分。因此兩者會有一些偏離。

All right. Great. And then just a quick follow-up, what you just touched on SM&A came in a little bit light in Q1, I think relative to expectations, but it sounds like expectations for the year haven't changed. And then just given timing of shelf resets, what have you, you've spoken to, it sounds like that SM&A will then be kind of ramping as we get through the year. Is that right?

好的。很好。接著再快速追問一下，你剛提到第一季的銷售、行銷與管理費用（SM&A）似乎比預期略低，但聽起來全年預期沒有改變。另外，考量到貨架重置的時點等等，你也提到，聽起來SM&A會在今年接下來的時間逐步拉升。是這樣嗎？

Yes, you got it. Yes. The expectation for the full year is unchanged, still expect to see double-digit increase in marketing and advertising. We did have some movement between Q1 and Q2. Some of that was delayed nonworking media development, which slipped into Q2. And then we've also tuned a little bit more towards spring activations in the working media. So -- but overall, for the full year, no change in expectation.

是的，你說得沒錯。是的。全年預期不變，仍預期行銷與廣告將出現兩位數成長。我們確實在第一季與第二季之間做了一些調整。其中一部分是延後的非投放媒體（nonworking media）開發，延到第二季。另外，我們也在投放媒體（working media）方面，稍微更聚焦於春季活動。所以——但整體而言，全年預期沒有改變。

John Baumgartner, Mizuho Securities.

John Baumgartner，瑞穗證券。

Kirk, I just wanted to come back to premium chocolate. At Investor Day, there was reference to Brookside, and that seems to be differentiated when it was acquired, but you ended up stalling out on competition. And then in premium trade-up, the Hershey's Bliss, that was a play on texture, but that faded after a few years. So I'm curious, when you speak to breakthrough now, is the plan here to essentially sort of outpace and out-texture competitors in the mass market and reset expectations for the mass market? Or is the target more so new consumers and channels that maybe have not been a traditional focus for Hershey? How do we think about that balance there?

Kirk，我想回到高端巧克力這個話題。在投資人日上曾提到Brookside，當初收購時看起來具差異化，但後來在競爭下似乎停滯。另外在高端升級方面，Hershey's Bliss主打口感，但幾年後也淡出。所以我好奇，你現在談到「突破」時，這裡的計畫是否本質上是要在大眾市場中超越競品、在口感上勝出，並重新設定大眾市場的期待？還是目標更偏向新的消費者與通路——也許過去並非Hershey傳統的重點？我們該如何看待這之間的平衡？

Yes. I think those are really relevant. I think about premium, I think about accessible premium. Consumers are looking for new experience, that's not changed. We have three brands that we love for this. One is Brookside, as you mentioned, we'll innovate on Brookside. We're seeing growth in Brookside. We also are investing in Cadbury. Cadbury has a lot of potential in this market. It is a premium experience.

是的。我認為這些都非常切題。我談高端時，我想到的是「可負擔的高端」（accessible premium）。消費者在尋找新的體驗，這點沒有改變。我們有三個很喜歡、很適合這件事的品牌。其中之一是你提到的Brookside，我們會在Brookside上做創新。我們看到Brookside正在成長。我們也在投資Cadbury。Cadbury在這個市場有很大的潛力。它是一種高端體驗。

It's accessible as well. And we'll innovate on Cadbury as part of that. So you've got between Brookside and Cadbury, there's really good momentum. And then like we talked about, we're building some accessible premium on our Hershey's brand, and we'll have new brands that we talk about later in this year for next year that create this great experience for consumers. So indulgent, premium, really targeted towards Gen Z consumers.

同時也很可負擔。我們也會把Cadbury的創新納入其中。所以在Brookside與Cadbury之間，確實有很好的動能。另外如同我們談到的，我們也在Hershey's品牌上打造一些可負擔的高端產品；而且今年稍晚我們會談到一些新品牌，為明年推出，為消費者創造很棒的體驗。也就是放縱享受、高端，並且非常聚焦於Z世代消費者。

So we feel really good about where we're going with our premium business and being a part of that. But I think there's -- it's a small part of the business today. So when you think about pure premium, it's about 5% of the total category. Now there's a lot of growth because there's a lot of experience inside of premium, and that's drawing consumers to that. So we are definitely going to be in that space and leading in that space through some of our key brands that we have.

因此，我們對高端業務的發展方向以及參與其中感到非常有信心。但我認為——它目前仍只占業務的一小部分。所以當你想到純高端（pure premium）時，它大約占整體品類的5%。不過成長性很高，因為高端裡面有很多體驗元素，這正在吸引消費者。因此我們一定會在這個領域，而且會透過我們的一些關鍵品牌在這個領域領先。

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our question-and-answer session. I'll turn the floor back to Ms. Naughton for any final comments.

各位女士先生，我們的問答環節到此結束。我把時間交回給Naughton女士，請她做最後的補充。

Thank you all. We look forward to catching up with many of you over the coming days and weeks.

謝謝大家。我們期待在接下來的幾天與幾週內，能與各位中的許多人再進一步交流。

Thank you. This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

謝謝。今天的會議到此結束。您現在可以中斷連線。感謝您的參與。