John B Sanfilippo & Son Inc (JBSS) 2013 Q4 法說會逐字稿

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  • Operator

  • Good day ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. fourth quarter and fiscal 2013 year-end operating results conference call. My name is Shaquana and I will be your coordinator for today. At this time all participants are in a listen-only mode. We will facilitate a question-and-answer session towards the end of this conference. (Operator Instructions).

  • I would now like to turn the presentation over to your host for today's call, Mr. Michael Valentine, Chief Financial Officer. Please proceed sir.

  • Mike Valentine - CFO & Group President

  • Thank you Shaquana. Good morning everyone, and welcome to our 2013 fourth quarter and fiscal year earnings conference call. Thank you for joining us today. On the call with me today is Jeffrey Sanfilippo, our CEO, who is currently traveling and is calling in.

  • Before we get started, we want to remind everyone that we may make some forward-looking statements today. These statements are based on our current expectations and involve certain risks and uncertainties that are inherent in our business. The factors that could negatively impact results are explained in the various SEC filings that we have made, including Forms 10-K and 10-Q. We encourage you to refer to these filings to learn more about these risks and uncertainties.

  • I'll start the call by covering financial highlights for the fourth quarter and fiscal year. The current quarter net sales increased by 6.4% to $177.4 million compared to net sales of $166.7 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012.

  • The increase in net sales in the quarterly comparison came mainly from a 16.4% increase in sales volume, which is measured in pounds sold to customers. Sales volume increased in all distribution channels and for all major product types except Walmart's, which remained relatively unchanged in the quarterly comparison.

  • Approximately 50% of the sales volume increase occurred in our consumer distribution channel. The increase in this channel came primarily from increased distribution of Fisher and private brand snack nut products, and the favorable impact of lower selling prices on consumer demand.

  • The increase in sales volume in the commercial ingredients distribution channel was attributable primarily to increased sales of peanut and pecan products due to lower selling prices, and increased almond sales as a result of distribution gains achieved by a major existing customer in that channel.

  • The increase in sales volume in the contract packaging channel was attributable to new snack mix launches and increased promotional activity implemented by a major customer in that channel.

  • Fiscal 2013 net sales increased by 4.8% to a record $734.3 million compared to fiscal 2012 net sales of $700.6 million. The increase in net sales in the yearly comparison primarily resulted from a 4.3% increase in sales volume. Sales volume increased in all distribution channels except our export channel, and increased for all major product types except walnuts, which remained relatively unchanged in the annual comparison.

  • As was the case in the quarterly comparison, the increase in sales volume in the consumer channel came mainly from increased distribution of Fisher and private brand snack nuts, in addition to the favorable impact of lower selling prices again on consumer demand during the second half of the current fiscal year.

  • An increase in sales volume for Fisher recipe nuts in the second and third quarters of the current fiscal year also contributed to the sales volume increase in the annual comparison. The increase in sales volume in the commercial ingredients channel and contract packaging channel were attributable primarily to the same reasons noted for the sales volume increases in these channels in the quarterly comparison.

  • The current fourth-quarter gross profit margin increased to 16.8% of net sales from 16.6% for last year's fourth quarter. Gross profit increased by $2.1 million or 7.5%. The increases in gross profit margin and gross profit were primarily due to manufacturing efficiency improvements achieved in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 in addition to increased sales volume.

  • Fiscal 2013 gross profit margin increased to 16.3% of net sales from 15.3% of net sales in fiscal 2012. Gross profit increased by $12.9 million or 12.1%. The increases in gross profit margin and gross profit in the fiscal year comparison were mainly attributable to improved alignment of selling prices and commodity acquisition costs that was achieved in the first half of fiscal 2013, and manufacturing efficiency improvements and increased sales volume that occurred in the second half of fiscal 2013.

  • Total operating expenses for the fourth quarter declined to 11.2% of net sales from 12.0% of net sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012. The decline of total operating expenses as a percentage of net sales was mainly attributable to a decline in advertising and marketing spending. The decline in advertising and marketing spending in the quarterly comparison was due to a timing change in our promotional spending efforts in comparison to last year.

  • In fiscal 2013, we focused more on our promotional spending in the third quarter around the Easter holiday season. Conversely, in 2012 we focused more of our promotional spending in the fourth quarter for the opening of the baseball season. The sales decline was offset in part -- in large -- I'm sorry. The decline was offset in large part by increases in consulting, shipping and compensation expenses.

  • Total operating expenses for 2013 increased slightly to 10.7% of net sales from 10.6% of net sales for fiscal 2012. Total operating expenses increased by $4.3 million or 5.8% in annual comparison.

  • The increase in total operating expenses was primarily attributable to increases in expenses for advertising, marketing, consulting and professional services, and compensation expense. Partially offsetting these increases was a decline in broker commission expense, and a gain on the sales of land and a building where the Company operated a retail store.

  • Interest expense in the current fourth quarter declined to $1.2 million from $1.4 million for last year's fourth quarter. Interest expense in the current fiscal year fell to $4.8 million from $5.4 million for fiscal 2012. The declines in interest expense in both the quarterly and annual comparisons were primarily attributable to lower average borrowing levels.

  • As a result of the above, net income in the quarterly comparison increased by $1.7 million from 43.7%. And net income in the fiscal year comparison increased by $4.6 million or 27.1%.

  • The total values of inventory on hand at the end of the current fiscal year increased by $12.3 million or 8.4% compared to the value of inventories on hand at the end of last year. The increase in the total value of inventories was primarily attributable to increased quantities of finished goods to support increasing sales volume. The weighted average cost per pound of raw input stocks on hand in the year-end comparison decreased by 18.8%. The decrease in weighted average cost per pound was primarily attributable to lower acquisition costs for peanuts and pecans.

  • And now turn the call over to Jeffrey Sanfilippo, our CEO, who will provide additional comments on our performance in the current quarter and fiscal year. Jeff?

  • Jeffrey Sanfilippo - Chairman & CEO

  • Thank you, Mike. Good morning everyone. I'm very proud of the results for our fourth quarter and 2013 fiscal year. We achieved record net sales, as Mike mentioned, of $734.3 million and a significant improvement in net income over fiscal 2012.

  • This improvement is noteworthy since we have generated two consecutive strong years with earnings over $1.00 per share for the first time in eight years. Sales dollars and volume both increased by 4% to 5% for fiscal 2013 over fiscal 2012.

  • Our Fisher brand is the clear number two brand in recipe nuts domestically and we have narrowed the gap to the market leader. We've also gained distribution for our Fisher snack brand and grew the private brands of key retail partners. During the fourth quarter we saw meaningful increases in Orchard Valley harvest sales volume and sales dollars compared to the same period last fiscal year.

  • In addition, we gained sales volume in our commercial ingredients and contract packaging channels due to the growth initiatives of our customers in these important channels.

  • On the manufacturing side, the Company initiated several operational excellence initiatives this past year and I want to recognize the strong efforts and results of our plant and production teams. They focused on improving efficiencies and driving costs out of the supply chain.

  • The increases in gross profit margin and gross profit were primarily due to manufacturing efficiency improvements achieved in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 and increased sales volume.

  • I was also pleased that our financial performance allowed us to pay $1.00 per share special dividend to our stockholders during the fiscal year in Q2.

  • I want to thank our management team and all of our employees for their commitment to the Company's success.

  • Our recent financial performance has allowed us to devote more resources to continue to support our growth plans and execute three strategic goals. First, grow JBSS brands. We are focused on expanding the national distribution of our Fisher snack and recipe, and Orchard Valley Harvest produce brands. I will speak of our recent success when we look at category trends.

  • Innovation will continue to be a major priority in the success of the growth of our brands, whether our innovation comes from ideas such as developing new snack mixes containing nut and fruit products to meet our customers' various needs, creating new flavors for our traditional products and establishing new markets for existing products or developing innovative packaging solutions to keep our products fresh. We intend to be a brand leader in our industry.

  • Second, expansion of our international business. We are devoting increased resources to emerging international markets, particularly in Asia. The potential for our products in the international market is considerable.

  • As a leader in providing innovative nut solutions, we feel that we are qualified in expanding our markets throughout the world, and our customers will continue to view the Fisher name as one of unmatched quality and satisfaction.

  • While international sales are currently approximately 5% of our total sales, we expect to grow this portion of our business. And while our growth initiatives in emerging markets will be aggressive, our efforts will also be cautious.

  • Third, create value with key customers. We continue to invest in consumer insights, product and packaging innovation, and new product capabilities to grow our business and that of our key partners.

  • In fiscal 2013, the Company was recognized as the supplier of the year by two major customers, one in our consumer channel and one in our contract manufacturing channel. These awards are given to collaborative partners who provide significant value in research and development, category management and global supply chain optimization. This recognition demonstrates that our efforts to provide best in class integrated nut solutions are well received and successful in growing our business.

  • Turning to sales highlights by business channel, in the consumer channel net sales increased by 4.2% in dollars and 2.9% in sales volume in fiscal 2013 compared to fiscal 2012. Total Fisher brand sales volume increased by 16.5% in fiscal 2013 compared to 2012, due primarily to higher sales to existing customers and approximately $8.5 million in sales to new recipe nut customers.

  • Recent market data indicates that Fisher recipe nuts continue to gain significant market share in the overall recipe nut category. Private brand consumer sales volume increased by 3.1% in fiscal 2013 compared to 2012. Additionally, sales volume for both private brand and branded nut products were favorably impacted by an increase in consumer demand for nuts and nut products due to lower selling prices during the second half of fiscal 2013.

  • In the commercial ingredient channel net sales increased by 0.7% in dollars and 3.7% volume in fiscal 2013 compared to 2012. The sales volume increase, as Mike mentioned, was primarily due to increased sales of peanut and pecan products from lower selling prices, and increased almond sales as a result of distribution gains achieved by a major existing customer.

  • We're seeing a renewed interest from the R&D departments of major food manufacturers and food service providers, and developing new products that use nuts as an ingredient. Our sales and innovation team were successful in bringing several value-added praline pecan items to market this past year.

  • In the contract packaging channel, net sales increased by 22.1% in dollars and 14.4% in sales volume in fiscal 2013 compared to fiscal 2012. The increase in sales dollars and sales volume was primarily due to new snack mix product launches, as Mike mentioned, and increased promotional activity implemented by a major existing customer. In this channel too, we are experiencing an increase in development projects for new items that include nuts.

  • In the international channel, net sales decreased by 1.4% in dollars and 3.9% in sales volume in fiscal 2013 compared to 2012. The decrease in sales volume was due primarily to the unfavorable impact on customer demand of higher peanut prices that existed in the first two quarters of fiscal 2013, which was not offset by increased demand in the last two quarters of fiscal 2013.

  • Turning to category updates, although market information is reported through AC Nielsen data ending June 29, 2013. And when I refer to Q4, I'm referring to the final 13 weeks of the quarter ending June 29. We looked at the category on Nielsen's new total US definition which includes food, drug, mass, Walmart, military and other outlets unless otherwise specified. And when we -- when I discuss pricing, I am referring to average price per pound.

  • During the 2013 fiscal year, the nut category declined 1% in pound volume and increased 6% in sales dollars due to increased pricing. Pricing at retail during the fiscal year increased 6% versus the prior year. Price increases were most visible on peanuts, which were up 16%; mixed nuts were up 9%; cashews up 9% and walnuts were up 8%.

  • When looking at fourth-quarter consumption trends, the total nut category increased in both pounds and sales dollars, up 3% and 4%, respectively. Overall, pricing in Q4 increased 1% versus the prior year. Almonds, mixed nuts and walnuts experienced the largest price increase at 6% versus last year.

  • In the fourth quarter cashews and pecans had the strongest consumption results among nut types, increasing in both pound volume and sales dollars. Pecan increases were driven by pricing, while cashews grew due to a number of new introductions by retailers promoting their private brands.

  • Our Fisher brand had a very strong year. Fisher recipe continues to gain momentum behind the strategy of growing distribution, increasing merchandising activity and building equity. For the fourth quarter, Fisher recipe nuts increased 5% in pound sales and 10% in sales dollars versus Q4 of last year.

  • For the entire fiscal 2013 year, the Fisher recipe brand grew 16% in pounds shipped and 20% in sales dollars versus the prior year. The growth was driven by a 64% increase in display activity, and a 12% increase in total points of distribution gains.

  • The Fisher brand continued its sponsorship of the Food Network and celebrity chef Alex Guarnaschelli, which was launched last year. The program includes branded vignettes on the Food Network, print advertising in Food Network magazine and other publications, as well as a fully integrated social media effort.

  • Looking at a snapshot of our Fisher snack business, volume in pounds shipped increased 20%. Sales dollars increased 15% in the fourth quarter versus last year's fourth quarter.

  • The Fisher snack business increased pound volume by 39% and sales dollars by 23% for fiscal 2013 versus last year. The sales gain has been due to increased distribution and increased merchandising around our integrated marketing campaign. Total points of distribution for the brand increased 28% and display activity increased 133% versus the last fiscal year.

  • In the produce department, we continue to focus on our Orchard Valley Harvest brand. While we are still in a rebuilding phase for the brand, during the fourth quarter we saw meaningful increases in total distribution points of Orchard Valley Harvest as we gained new retail customers and expanded our product placement in the produce section.

  • Orchard Valley Harvest is gaining positive momentum as a result of in and out promotions and key distribution wins on our two-ounce mini item packages. Early results on this new line are positive, as it appeals to the grab and go nature of the health-conscious consumer in the produce section of the store.

  • In closing, we accomplished a tremendous amount this past year and I am pleased with our fourth quarter and year-end 2013 results. Again, I want to thank our management team and each of our employees for their dedication and leadership. And while I am proud of our accomplishments this past year, our Company still has much more to achieve to reach its potential in fiscal 2014 and beyond.

  • We will stay focused on executing our corporate strategies for the long-term and I remain very optimistic about our future. Our Company will continue to invest in our people, brands, and processes to provide increased value for our customers and stockholders. We appreciate your participation the call and thank you for your interest in John B. Sanfilippo & Son.

  • I will now turn the call back over to Mike.

  • Mike Valentine - CFO & Group President

  • Okay, thanks Jeff. At this time, we will open the call to your questions from participants. Shaquana, could you please queue up the first question?

  • Operator

  • (Operator Instructions) Luke Gittemeier, Nokomis.

  • Luke Gittemeier - Analyst

  • Good work on the quarter, good work on the Fisher brand in particular. It's good to be hearing about the growth there. I'm a little curious on the walnuts. I guess I would've expected more strength there. Can you just talk about what's going on in that market and what you're seeing?

  • Mike Valentine - CFO & Group President

  • Jeff, do you want to take that one?

  • Jeffrey Sanfilippo - Chairman & CEO

  • For Fisher specifically or just overall category?

  • Luke Gittemeier - Analyst

  • Overall category.

  • Jeffrey Sanfilippo - Chairman & CEO

  • So we saw some price increases on walnuts in the marketplace. There's been a lot of export demand for walnuts this year, so it's been a little bit challenging on building walnut distribution gains when you've got so much competition for raw material going into exports.

  • Plus, the other commodities were very competitive from a pricing standpoint. So in the recipe nut, in the category you'll see some switch from walnuts to almonds and other commodities.

  • Luke Gittemeier - Analyst

  • Sorry, so the walnut supply is the tough part?

  • Jeffrey Sanfilippo - Chairman & CEO

  • Well, it's a combination of promotional activity when prices get higher for some retail nut types, you'll see consumers switch from, say, walnuts, as an example, to almonds for a recipe. So, you had increases in pricing for walnuts this year; you would see a little bit of switching to other nut types away from walnuts.

  • Luke Gittemeier - Analyst

  • And then on the supply side, in terms of I guess getting your hands on raw materials and finding suppliers and how many buyers are out there, what are you seeing there?

  • Jeffrey Sanfilippo - Chairman & CEO

  • Correct, so there's some increase in export demand for walnuts. But really the big piece was, if you look at average retail prices for walnuts in the US, it increased 7.9% in dollars; went from an average of $7.24 a pound $7.81. So you saw an increase in walnut pricing whereas you saw decreases in average retail prices of pecans. Almond average retail price went down 17%.

  • So walnuts became a more expensive item for recipe nuts, and that's potentially where we see a shift in some of the volume.

  • Luke Gittemeier - Analyst

  • Okay. And I guess what are the -- you'd put walnuts, almonds and pecans kind of in that shifting category between each other on what people end up buying based on price? Or are there (multiple speakers) -- it's sort of all nuts?

  • Jeffrey Sanfilippo - Chairman & CEO

  • Correct, yes, no I would use those as the three main ingredients in the US. You've got some pine nuts there; you've got macadamias. Peanut consumption for nut toppings actually grew as well a little bit. So it's a combination of different types but the main ones are walnuts, pecans and almonds.

  • Luke Gittemeier - Analyst

  • Okay great, well thanks, I appreciate it.

  • Jeffrey Sanfilippo - Chairman & CEO

  • Thanks.

  • Operator

  • (Operator Instructions) Christopher Robertson, Cardinal Capital.

  • Christopher Robertson - Analyst

  • Good morning, I wanted to talk a little bit about promotional activity and get a better sense for how much of the timing that you discussed in the press release and conference call around whether it was, I believe, the baseball season or I forget what the other one was. How much of that is driving the sort of near-term results versus what your expectations would be more on a normalized year-over-year type number, and how sticky you think the sales with the promotion can be?

  • Mike Valentine - CFO & Group President

  • Jeff, do you want to take that one?

  • Jeffrey Sanfilippo - Chairman & CEO

  • Sure. So what we did is we have reallocated some of our resources. We did a lot of promotions in prior years in the sports snack area -- Super Bowl promotions, a lot of spring type of baseball promotions. We shifted some of those resources and promotional funds to our recipe brand, really focused on Easter holidays. There's a big increase in consumption during Easter for baking, cooking, and so we just shifted some of those funds away from the snack piece more towards supporting the recipe nut program.

  • I would say that it should be a consistent trend going forward. We'll continue to invest in our snack brand. But we really -- a lot of our resources are focus on building the recipe nut program focusing on around holidays, Christmas, Thanksgiving and then the Easter time period.

  • Christopher Robertson - Analyst

  • And as far as the stickiness, is it too early to tell whether you feel like competition has increased in terms of other players being promotional as well?

  • Jeffrey Sanfilippo - Chairman & CEO

  • I would say we expect to see additional promotional levels from our competitors as well. I don't know if it would be any different from what we've seen this past year. It's their call; it's hard for me to comment on that.

  • Christopher Robertson - Analyst

  • But you haven't seen it yet in the marketplace in a meaningful way?

  • Jeffrey Sanfilippo - Chairman & CEO

  • Correct.

  • Christopher Robertson - Analyst

  • Okay. And as far as -- sorry, go ahead. As far as the walnuts go, I feel like we covered that. The only thing I would want to add is does it feel like that marketplace, ex the export portion of it, has normalized relative to the disruption that your primary competitor has been going through?

  • Jeffrey Sanfilippo - Chairman & CEO

  • When you say normalized, normalized from a consumption supply standpoint or consumption demand?

  • Christopher Robertson - Analyst

  • No, more of the -- before it gets to the retail side of it, just where growers are going and -- or does it still feel like the market is a bit turbulent?

  • Jeffrey Sanfilippo - Chairman & CEO

  • I wouldn't say the market is turbulent. Really it's Mother Nature determines how much crop we get each year. I will say what we expect to see an increase in demand internationally for walnuts; just it's a growing popular nut type. But really it's going to be up to Mother Nature, and then walnut growers hopefully planning additional acreage for walnuts to continue with the demand.

  • Christopher Robertson - Analyst

  • And you feel like your share there is pretty stable or can you grow that more?

  • Jeffrey Sanfilippo - Chairman & CEO

  • We feel it's stable. Obviously, if we had more access to walnuts we believe we would continue to grow that segment of our business.

  • Christopher Robertson - Analyst

  • And if we could just jump over to the comments around manufacturing efficiency, is there any way you can quantify that? Maybe what inning do you think we are there? Or is that sort of driven by pricing and therefore the volume that you can push through?

  • Jeffrey Sanfilippo - Chairman & CEO

  • It's a combination -- go ahead Mike.

  • Mike Valentine - CFO & Group President

  • Okay, I'll take that one. As Jeff mentioned, we started that initiative in the fourth quarter, so it's a little too soon to say, you know, how sustainable that can be or even to quantify it. But it did have a meaningful impact in our fourth-quarter results.

  • Christopher Robertson - Analyst

  • And is it the kind of thing you can continue to see that playing out at least over the next 12 months or remaining three quarters from when you started it?

  • Mike Valentine - CFO & Group President

  • Yes, it's an ongoing effort. And it's pretty much an introduction of lean manufacturing techniques. So it will take some time to get that ingrained in the culture in our manufacturing operations, but it's been well-received by the people in our plant, so we think it should continue on.

  • Christopher Robertson - Analyst

  • And definitely appreciate the special dividend that you did earlier in the year. Is that sort of your preferred method of distributing excess capital? Or do you see the opportunity for acquisitions or share repurchase?

  • Mike Valentine - CFO & Group President

  • You know, everything's on the table. But you know, first and foremost is how many financial resources we dedicate to our nut purchases, and that can be driven by price and quantities available. So, you know, until that's determined, we can't really say what we're going to do with the excess after that, if there is even any.

  • Christopher Robertson - Analyst

  • And as far as the international side of the distribution, how capital intensive is that? And how -- I guess it sounds like the supply of nuts is really your biggest constraint there. How do you see that playing out over the next handful of years?

  • Jeffrey Sanfilippo - Chairman & CEO

  • This is Jeffrey -- (multiple speakers) sure, sure. So, emerging markets we believe are great growth opportunities. As I mentioned, international sales right now is only 5% of our total volume, but we see great opportunities in places like China.

  • So the capital expense is not dramatic right now. It's really just building a distribution base, a sales force, some marketing expertise in country and then building our distribution of Fisher brand.

  • I would say long-term, potentially if we were to start manufacturing in China, then you would see ramp up in some capital investment. But short-term, it's really just building that infrastructure from a sales and marketing standpoint.

  • Christopher Robertson - Analyst

  • And the comment about the major customer selling more, how much additional opportunities do you see like that? And how much of that is in your control versus you're just distributing the nuts to them when they see those kind of gains?

  • Mike Valentine - CFO & Group President

  • I'll take that -- (multiple speakers)

  • Jeffrey Sanfilippo - Chairman & CEO

  • Go ahead, Mike.

  • Mike Valentine - CFO & Group President

  • I'll take that one, Jeff. We referenced two major customers. The one in commercial ingredients channel, it's really 100% their efforts determine how that volume changes. In the contract packaging channel we do collaborate with a major customer there, you know, by offering innovation and other sorts of support. So we do play a minor role in that respect.

  • Christopher Robertson - Analyst

  • And is that somewhat driven by the price of the nuts at the time for their ability to sell more? Or is it sort of the innovation is driving their ability to ultimately find those avenues?

  • Mike Valentine - CFO & Group President

  • It's a combination of both, because the innovation in many cases can be somewhat opportunistic, you know, based on the prices nuts. So in other words the innovation tends to gravitate towards lower price products versus higher-priced products.

  • Christopher Robertson - Analyst

  • Okay. I guess the only other question I had -- and I appreciate the time -- is around the innovation side of the fence. We've seen a lot of opportunity because of lower cost nuts driving sales. How much do you think innovation can really grow things, regardless of the underlying pricing of the raw materials?

  • Jeffrey Sanfilippo - Chairman & CEO

  • This is Jeffrey. We're seeing not a renewed interest, because there's always been an interest in health and wellness. We think innovation can help bring healthy products to market just giving it a different taste profile, different flavor. So I think there's innovation from a flavor standpoint that is still growing.

  • The other piece of it is the packaging side. You know a nut is a nut, so we've got to bring additional -- not only flavors but you need packaging, you need delivery mechanisms to consumers. And we think there's a lot of new technology in the packaging side, both from a material standpoint and from a manufacturing standpoint, that could bring fresh new ideas to the category. So we believe innovation is still a critical area of opportunity for growth.

  • Christopher Robertson - Analyst

  • I appreciate you answering all my questions today, thank you.

  • Jeffrey Sanfilippo - Chairman & CEO

  • Thanks, good questions. Appreciate it.

  • Operator

  • Emmett Wright, Milwaukee Private Wealth Management.

  • Emmett Wright - Analyst

  • Mike, well done in managing your balance sheet, particularly your debt reduction. What are your plans going forward for balance sheet management?

  • Mike Valentine - CFO & Group President

  • Well, you know as far as the long-term debt goes, it's scheduled and the prepayment penalties are pretty considerable, especially on the Tranche A mortgage. So there's not much we can do there. The other piece of long-term debt, the smaller piece is securing that original [ultra site] property we have. And that really is kind of subject to whether that property sells or not.

  • Emmett Wright - Analyst

  • And I assume that's a for sale asset on your balance sheet?

  • Mike Valentine - CFO & Group President

  • That's correct.

  • Emmett Wright - Analyst

  • Thank you. Jeffrey, with respect to the rollout of product through Kroger, how would you qualify that in satisfying your expectations?

  • Jeffrey Sanfilippo - Chairman & CEO

  • You know, we look at it from -- obviously the new distribution is critical, gaining more distribution points, so more products on the shelf, more stores carrying our product. We also are looking at the velocity, how many items are turning every week. And I would say all three metrics are meeting our expectations.

  • Emmett Wright - Analyst

  • Great, glad to hear that. And Mike, this might be back to you. With regard to your gross margin, it looks like 16% might be roughly your steady-state. Would it be reasonable for me to assume that in the future? Or is there really gross margin expansion opportunity?

  • Mike Valentine - CFO & Group President

  • You know, Jeff, a lot of it is going to depend on sales volume. You know, we believe we can continue these manufacturing efficiency efforts to help that. But sales volume is very critical in respect not only to gross profit dollars, but also to that margin.

  • Emmett Wright - Analyst

  • All right. And Jeff, last question for you would be can you give us an update on changes in personnel over the last year and how that has impacted the business?

  • Jeffrey Sanfilippo - Chairman & CEO

  • Sure. So, you know we -- no changes in our consumer channel. We've changed a little bit of our commercial ingredient channel. We have our VP who is retiring in December, so we brought a new gentlemen on from -- has great food service experience in Steve Chester.

  • He just joined the Company in last month or so, and so he will be taking on the role of overseeing our commercial ingredient department. He brings a lot of marketing expertise with him, and more operator-driven type of program. So we see very good opportunities to build more value in the commercial ingredient channel.

  • The international channel -- we have a new gentlemen running that division, comes from Brown-Forman. Great branded experience; helped launch several of their brands in China. So we've got a much higher level of talent in brand management across the channel, so very excited, very happy with the leadership team and the different sales divisions.

  • Emmett Wright - Analyst

  • Is the increased compensation expense that you referenced in your release related to the hiring of these two individuals or is there something more to compensation change?

  • Mike Valentine - CFO & Group President

  • I have that, Jeff. A lot of that is just due to improved operating results and its impact on incentive compensation.

  • Emmett Wright - Analyst

  • Will this be disclosed in the proxy and look something like last year?

  • Mike Valentine - CFO & Group President

  • Yes.

  • Emmett Wright - Analyst

  • That's all for today. Thank you, good luck and hope things continue to work out for you.

  • Jeffrey Sanfilippo - Chairman & CEO

  • Great, thanks.

  • Operator

  • Bruce Winter.

  • Bruce Winter - Analyst

  • Yes, thank you. I think I understand the things that you're doing with your strategy to influence 2014. What would you think is the two or three most important things that are out of your control that you're looking for that will influence 2014?

  • Jeffrey Sanfilippo - Chairman & CEO

  • This is Jeffrey. So from the sales side, obviously we don't have a crystal ball on what our competitors are going to do. We've got great competitors in our industry across our channels. So that's something that's [not out] of our control -- if they increase their promotional spending, cut prices, do things different in the market than they've done.

  • The second big thing from the sales standpoint is the -- what supply we have available, what type of things we're going to have available to promote and continue to grow our brands. So those would be the two things.

  • And the international piece, third I guess, would be just fluctuations in demand overseas. Right now we continue to see it grow. It used to be double-digit. It's now high single-digit growth, but we still anticipate great opportunities there. But again, we don't control that.

  • Bruce Winter - Analyst

  • Great, thanks, keep up the good work.

  • Jeffrey Sanfilippo - Chairman & CEO

  • Thank you.

  • Mike Valentine - CFO & Group President

  • Thank you.

  • Operator

  • At this time I would like to turn the call back over to Mr. Michael Valentine for closing remarks.

  • Mike Valentine - CFO & Group President

  • Okay, thank you. At this time that ends our fourth quarter 2013 and fiscal year 2013 conference call. We thank everyone for their interest in JBSS and we wish you all a good day. Thank you.

  • Operator

  • Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This concludes the presentation. You may now disconnect and have a great day.