J & J Snack Foods Corp (JJSF) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day and thank you for standing by, and welcome to the J&J Snack Foods' third-quarter 2024 conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

美好的一天，感謝您的耐心等待，歡迎參加 J&J Snack Foods 2024 年第三季電話會議。 （操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。

I would now like to hand the conference over to your first speaker today, Norberto Aja, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在我想將會議交給今天的第一位發言人，投資者關係部門的諾貝托·阿賈 (Norberto Aja)。請繼續。

Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining the J&J Snack Foods' fiscal 2024 third-quarter conference call.

謝謝接線員，大家早安。感謝您參加強生休閒食品 2024 財年第三季電話會議。

Before getting started, let me take a minute to read the Safe Harbor language. This call contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements made on this call that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including statements regarding management's plans, strategies, goals, expectations and objectives. and our anticipated financial performance. These statements are neither promises or guarantees and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other important factors that may cause results, performance , or achievements could be materially different from any future results, performance or, achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

在開始之前，讓我花一點時間閱讀安全港語言。本次電話會議包含1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》含義內的前瞻性陳述。 、策略的陳述、目標、期望和目標。以及我們預期的財務表現。這些陳述既不是承諾也不是保證，涉及已知和未知的風險、不確定性和其他重要因素，可能導致結果、業績或成就可能與前瞻性陳述中明示或暗示的任何未來結果、業績或成就存在重大差異。

Risk factors and other items discussed in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2023, and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made today. Any such forward-looking statements represent management's estimates as of the date of this call, Tuesday, August 6, 2024. While we may elect to update forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause expectations to change.

我們在截至2023 年9 月30 日的年度10-K 表格年度報告以及我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的其他文件中討論的風險因素和其他項目可能會導致實際結果與前瞻性聲明所示的結果存在重大差異今天做的。任何此類前瞻性陳述均代表管理階層截至本次電話會議之日（2024 年8 月6 日星期二）的估計。的義務，即使如果後續事件導致預期發生變化。

In addition, we may also reference certain non-GAAP measures on the call today, including adjusted EBITDA, adjusted operating income, or adjusted earnings per share, all of which are reconciled to the nearest GAAP measure and the company's earnings press release, which you can find in our Investor Relations section of the website.

此外，我們也可能在今天的電話會議上引用某些非GAAP 衡量標準，包括調整後的EBITDA、調整後的營業收入或調整後的每股盈餘，所有這些都與最接近的GAAP 衡量標準和公司的收益新聞稿進行了調整。

Joining me on the call today is Dan Fachner, our Chief Executive Office; along with Ken Plunk, our Chief Financial Officer. Following management's prepared remarks, we will open the call for a question-and-answer session.

今天和我一起參加電話會議的是我們的執行長 Dan Fachner；以及我們的財務長 Ken Plunk。在管理階層準備好發言後，我們將開始問答環節。

With that, I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Dan Fachner. Please go ahead, Dan.

現在，我想將電話轉給 Dan Fachner 先生。請繼續，丹。

Thank you, Noberto. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. J&J Snack Foods delivered an excellent third quarter building on our strong momentum from the first half of the year. I'm so proud of the J&J team and employees who continue to execute our strategy while delivering consistent results. These results continue to validate that the investments we have made and the strategies that we have implemented are having a positive impact on the sales and earnings power of our business. And it's positioning J&J to win in what remains a dynamic consumer and operating environment.

謝謝你，諾伯托。大家早安，感謝您今天加入我們。強生休閒食品公司 (J&J Snack Foods) 在上半年強勁勢頭的基礎上，第三季業績表現出色。我為強生團隊和員工感到非常自豪，他們繼續執行我們的策略，同時提供一致的結果。這些結果繼續驗證我們所做的投資和我們實施的策略正在對我們業務的銷售和盈利能力產生積極影響。它使強生能夠在充滿活力的消費者和營運環境中獲勝。

To further illustrate our success, I will share a few highlights from the quarter, followed by a review of our sales performance and operations. Our record third quarter net sales of $440 million marked the second highest quarterly net sales performance in our company's 53-year history. This impressive result was led by strong sales in our foodservice and retail segments, offset by temporary challenges in the frozen beverages, which were impacted by softer sales in the theater channel.

為了進一步說明我們的成功，我將分享本季的一些亮點，然後回顧我們的銷售業績和營運情況。我們第三季的淨銷售額達到創紀錄的 4.4 億美元，這是我們公司 53 年歷史上第二高的季度淨銷售額業績。這一令人印象深刻的業績是由我們的餐飲服務和零售部門的強勁銷售所帶動的，但被冷凍飲料的暫時挑戰所抵消，冷凍飲料受到劇院通路銷售疲軟的影響。

Our ability to grow the top line 3.3% while maintaining a healthy 33.6% gross margin underscores the strength of our strategy, led by improved operating efficiencies and a balanced and diverse portfolio of products, brands, and customer channels. We continued our trend of growing profits faster than sales with a third-quarter operating income and net earnings growth of 3.8%. This resulted in a record high quarterly earnings per diluted share in the quarter. Ken will provide more insight into our financial performance in just a few minutes.

我們能夠在維持 33.6% 的健康毛利率的同時實現收入成長 3.3%，這突顯了我們策略的優勢，該策略的主導因素是營運效率的提高以及產品、品牌和客戶通路的平衡和多樣化組合。我們持續維持利潤成長快於銷售額的趨勢，第三季營業收入和淨利成長 3.8%。這導致該季度稀釋後每股收益創下歷史新高。肯將在短短幾分鐘內提供有關我們財務表現的更多見解。

Our strategies to leverage innovation and cross-selling opportunities to expand placements of our core products and brands continue to deliver positive results.

我們利用創新和交叉銷售機會擴大核心產品和品牌投放的策略繼續取得正面成果。

Taking a closer look at our sales performance. Third-quarter net sales growth was driven by higher volumes across most of our core products and brands as well as strong business performance in our foodservice and retail segments. As we had anticipated, production delays related to the 2023 actors' strike had a negative effect on this quarter's film slate as compared to last year, especially in April and May. The theater industry reported declines in attendance during the quarter of approximately 30%, which impacted fiscal third-quarter sales of frozen beverages, soft pretzels, and churros.

仔細看看我們的銷售業績。第三季淨銷售額成長得益於我們大多數核心產品和品牌銷售的增加以及食品服務和零售領域的強勁業務表現。正如我們預期的那樣，與去年相比，與 2023 年演員罷工相關的製作延遲對本季的電影排片產生了負面影響，尤其是 4 月和 5 月。劇院產業報告稱，本季上座率下降了約 30%，影響了第三財季冷凍飲料、軟椒鹽捲餅和油條的銷售。

We estimate that these temporary challenges impacted sales by approximately $7 million compared to the same period last year. While the sales theater channel declined in the third quarter, I do want to highlight the impact of great movie releases in the market and why we remain so confident in growing sales in this channel. The opening of Inside Out 2 in mid-June created momentum as we close the quarter, resulting a record month of frozen beverage sales with gallons up 4% and overall sales increase of 6% compared to last year. Inside Out 2 was the first of several strong releases planned for Q4 and the remainder of the year. This momentum should also benefit our Dippin' Dots as they complete the rollout to AMC, Cinemark, and Marcus Theatres over the next few months.

我們估計，與去年同期相比，這些暫時的挑戰對銷售額的影響約為 700 萬美元。雖然戲院通路的銷售在第三季有所下降，但我確實想強調市場上精彩電影發行的影響，以及為什麼我們對該通路的銷售成長仍然如此有信心。 6 月中旬，Inside Out 2 的開幕為季度末帶來了動力，導致當月冷凍飲料銷量創歷史新高，與去年相比，加侖數增長了 4%，整體銷量增長了 6%。 《腦筋急轉彎 2》是計劃在第四季和今年剩餘時間發布的幾款強勁版本中的第一個。這種勢頭也應該有利於我們的 Dippin' Dots，因為他們將在接下來的幾個月內完成在 AMC、Cinemark 和 Marcus 影院的推出。

Looking ahead, our movie theater customers as well as industry observers expect box office and attendance trends to begin to recover in the second half of calendar 2024. These positive trends are expected to continue into calendar 2025 with a greater number of titles, including a diverse offering of proven franchise films and highly anticipated new titles. As a result, we expect sales of our products and brands to significantly improve in this channel as attendance trends recover.

展望未來，我們的電影院客戶以及行業觀察家預計票房和上座率趨勢將在 2024 年下半年開始復甦。經營電影和備受期待的新片。因此，隨著出席人數趨勢的恢復，我們預計我們的產品和品牌的銷售將在該管道中顯著改善。

Moving on to our segments. In foodservice, frozen novelty sales increased 9.1%, led by the continued growth of Dippin' Dots, which increased 5.3%. Bakery sales increased 6.8%, driven by unit volume growth in cookies, new products, encouraging same-store results, and expanded customer placements. In addition, we saw meaningful improvement in the handheld sales, up 25.3%.

繼續我們的部分。在餐飲服務領域，冷凍新奇商品銷售額成長 9.1%，其中 Dippin' Dots 持續成長，銷售額成長 5.3%。受餅乾單位銷售成長、新產品、令人鼓舞的同店業績以及擴大的客戶安置的推動，麵包店銷售額增長了 6.8%。此外，我們還看到手持設備銷量顯著改善，成長了 25.3%。

Overall, foodservice segment sales grew 3.7% with the increase in these product categories, partially offset by softness in soft pretzels and churros due to the previously mentioned challenges in the theater. We continue to see strong growth in churros with the third-largest QSR and remain confident in this opportunity going forward.

總體而言，隨著這些產品類別的增加，餐飲服務部門的銷售額增長了 3.7%，但由於前面提到的劇院面臨的挑戰，軟椒鹽捲餅和油條的疲軟部分抵消了這一增長。我們繼續看到第三大快餐店油條的強勁成長，並對未來的這個機會保持信心。

Moving to retail, we experienced broad-based growth across nearly all of our product categories, resulting in a 12.4% increase in sales for the quarter. Handhelds grew approximately 70%, driven by expanded placements with a major mass merchant. Frozen novelty sales increased 11%, led by growth of LUIGI'S, ICEE tubes, and Dogsters, which was driven by unit volume growth and incremental placements in the club channel.

轉向零售領域，我們幾乎所有產品類別都經歷了廣泛的成長，導致本季銷售額成長 12.4%。受大型大眾商家擴大投放的推動，手持設備成長了約 70%。在 LUIGI'S、ICEE tube 和 Dogsters 的成長帶動下，冰凍新奇品銷售額成長了 11%，而銷售成長和俱樂部通路的增量投放推動了這一成長。

Soft pretzel sales increased 8.2% led by our continued expansion of SUPERPRETZEL products, largely reflecting strong demand for SUPERPRETZEL Bavarian sticks. Biscuit sales were down slightly in the quarter.

由於 SUPERPRETZEL 產品的持續擴張，軟椒鹽捲餅銷量成長了 8.2%，這在很大程度上反映了對 SUPERPRETZEL 巴伐利亞棒的強勁需求。本季餅乾銷量略有下降。

The frozen beverage segment declined 2.6% for the quarter, driven by the previously discussed softness in the theater channel. Frozen Beverages decreased 1.1% due to a 6% drop in gallons. However, gallons increased 3% in Q3, excluding the impact of theaters. Let me just say that one more time. Gallons increased 3% in Q3, excluding the impact of theaters driven by strong performance and mass merchandisers, amusement, and QSR.

由於先前討論的影院管道疲軟，冷凍飲料細分市場本季下降了 2.6%。由於加侖數量下降 6%，冷凍飲料下降 1.1%。然而，排除戲院的影響，第三季加侖成長了 3%。讓我再說一次。加侖數在第三季度增長了 3%，不包括劇院強勁表演和大型商場、娛樂和 QSR 推動的影響。

We continue to diversify our customer portfolio, finding growth opportunities in channels like QSR. In fact, we are very encouraged with the current test at KFC that was recently highlighted on Good Afternoon Kentucky as they market this new program and new flavors like Sweet Lightening and Blackberry Lemonade in the local Lexington market. Repair and maintenance revenues decreased 1.6%, reflecting the lower preventative maintenance call volumes. Machine sales well exceeding our internal budget for the quarter were down 15.4% as we lapped a large QSR rollout from last year.

我們繼續使我們的客戶組合多樣化，在 QSR 等管道中尋找成長機會。事實上，我們對肯德基目前的測試感到非常鼓舞，肯德基最近在《肯塔基州下午好》節目中重點介紹了這一測試，因為他們在當地的列剋星敦市場營銷了這一新計劃和新口味，如甜閃電和黑莓檸檬水。維修和保養收入下降 1.6%，反映預防性維護呼叫量減少。由於我們從去年開始大規模推出 QSR，本季機器銷售量遠遠超出了我們的內部預算，下降了 15.4%。

Let me quickly highlight a couple of other important focus areas as we continue to cross-sell our brands and products across, channels, starting with SUPERPRETZEL. This iconic brand is outperforming the snack category and continues to provide opportunities for growth, new product extensions, or new points of sale. We are expanding across retail, led by the launch of Bavarian sticks, which remains the number two seller in the SUPERPRETZEL portfolio, reaching an ACV now of 28% and growing.

讓我快速強調其他幾個重要的重點領域，因為我們繼續跨通路交叉銷售我們的品牌和產品，從 SUPERPRETZEL 開始。這個標誌性品牌的表現優於零食類別，並繼續提供成長、新產品擴展或新銷售點的機會。我們正在向零售領域擴張，以推出巴伐利亞棒為主導，該棒仍然是 SUPERPRETZEL 產品組合中排名第二的銷售商，ACV 目前已達到 28%，並且還在不斷增長。

I'm so pleased with the incremental distribution we are achieving with leading retailers. In late fiscal Q4, we expect to double our store count with a major grocery retailer under the SUPERPRETZEL and Auntie Anne's brands.

我對我們與領先零售商實現的增量分銷感到非常滿意。在第四財季末，我們預計一家大型雜貨零售商的 SUPERPRETZEL 和 Auntie Anne's 品牌商店數量將增加一倍。

Let's talk about Dippin' Dots. Summer promotions are underway with Regal and Chuck E. Cheese, resulting in higher volumes and increased brand awareness. We also continue to roll out Dippin' Dots at AMC, Cinemark, and Marcus Theatres, with expectations to be in approximately 930 locations by the end of the calendar year.

我們來談談 Dippin' Dots。 Regal 和 Chuck E. Cheese 正在進行夏季促銷活動，從而提高銷售並提高品牌知名度。我們也將繼續在 AMC、喜滿客和馬庫斯劇院推出 Dippin' Dots，預計到年底將在約 930 個地點推出。

Currently, we have installed Dippin' Dots at 176 AMC locations, 134 Cinemark locations, and 51 Marcus locations. Also, we are actively testing new opportunities with convenience store customers and will be installing freezers in approximately 230 locations with a major foodservice customer. We remain confident in our plans to expand Dippin' Dots across customers and channels.

目前，我們已在 176 個 AMC 影院、134 個 Cinemark 影院和 51 個 Marcus 影院安裝了 Dippin' Dots。此外，我們正在積極與便利商店客戶測試新機會，並將在主要餐飲服務客戶的約 230 個地點安裝冰櫃。我們對在客戶和頻道上擴展 Dippin' Dots 的計劃仍然充滿信心。

I'd like to spend some time highlighting the significant impact of our operational investments over the last couple of years. The investments we have made in manufacturing and distribution capabilities are resulting in improvements across key efficiency metrics. Starting with our supply chain strategy, all three RDCs are exceeding expectations and will enable us to continue driving productivity improvements. At this time, 85% of our sales orders are shipped from the new distribution network versus only 26% a year ago with the average length of haul decreasing by 38%, and on-time performance improving to over 82% versus 73% a year ago.

我想花一些時間強調過去幾年我們營運投資的重大影響。我們在製造和分銷能力方面的投資正在改善關鍵效率指標。從我們的供應鏈策略開始，所有三個區域配送中心都超出了預期，將使我們能夠繼續推動生產力的提升。目前，我們 85% 的銷售訂單是從新的分銷網絡發貨，而一年前僅為 26%，平均運輸長度減少了 38%，準時率提高到 82% 以上，而一年前為 73%。

Line haul cost per pound decreased 17% compared to the same quarter last year in our snack food business. We have reached -- reduced the number of cold storage locations to 10, driving efficiencies in how we ship products and reducing transfers across our network by 9%.

我們的休閒食品業務的每磅長途運輸成本與去年同期相比下降了 17%。我們已經將冷藏地點的數量減少到 10 個，提高了我們運輸產品的效率，並將整個網路的運輸量減少了 9%。

Shifting to operations, the addition of six new production lines has significantly expanded our capacity. This has enabled added efficiency and given us the ability to meet growth opportunities across our core products, such as pretzels, churros, and frozen novelties. The expanded capacity has created production efficiencies and higher output metrics through better automation, which improves product margins, decrease in overtime, and provides the flexibility to respond to new sales opportunities. Fill rates have reached 98.5%, a high point for (technical difficulty) business and high relative to the overall industry trend.

轉向運營，增加了 6 條新生產線，顯著擴大了我們的產能。這提高了效率，並使我們能夠抓住椒鹽捲餅、油條和冷凍新奇產品等核心產品的成長機會。擴大的產能透過更好的自動化提高了生產效率和更高的產出指標，從而提高了產品利潤，減少了加班時間，並提供了應對新銷售機會的靈活性。填充率達98.5%，是（技術難度）業務的高點，相對產業整體趨勢也處於較高水準。

Finally, as many of you likely saw in our 8-K filing, our CFO, Ken Plunk, will be retiring at the end of this calendar year. The company will be conducting a thorough search process to identify a successor and to ensure a smooth transition. Ken's been a great partner and leader to both me and the organization. I want to thank Ken for his help and support as we transformed the business over these past four years.

最後，正如你們中的許多人可能在我們的 8-K 文件中看到的那樣，我們的財務長 Ken Plunk 將於本日曆年年底退休。該公司將進行徹底的搜索過程，以確定繼任者並確保平穩過渡。肯對我和組織來說都是一位出色的合作夥伴和領導者。我要感謝 Ken 在過去四年裡我們在業務轉型過程中提供的幫助和支持。

The entire J&J team, the Board of Directors, and I wish him and his family the very best in his new chapter of his life. Thank you, Ken.

整個強生團隊、董事會和我祝福他和他的家人在人生的新篇章中一切順利。謝謝你，肯。

In summary, I am pleased with our ability to post record third-quarter sales and profits while managing through continued challenges in the consumer environment. I'm so proud of how the J&J team continues to execute on our growth agenda. While we expect our 2024 fiscal fourth-quarter results to be impacted by one less sales week versus the comparable prior-year period, it is clear that our strategies to maximize sales across our customer channels and improve operating efficiencies are working.

總而言之，我對我們能夠在應對消費者環境中持續挑戰的同時創下第三季銷售和利潤紀錄感到滿意。我對強生團隊繼續執行我們的成長議程感到非常自豪。雖然我們預計 2024 財年第四季的業績將受到與去年同期相比銷售週減少的影響，但很明顯，我們最大限度地提高整個客戶管道的銷售額和提高營運效率的策略正在發揮作用。

We have a strong portfolio of beloved products and brands with tremendous growth opportunities ahead of us and we remain confident in our ability to deliver long-term value to our employees, our partners, and our shareholders.

我們擁有強大的深受喜愛的產品和品牌組合，面前有巨大的成長機會，我們對為員工、合作夥伴和股東提供長期價值的能力充滿信心。

With that, I would now like to pass the call over to Ken to review our financial performance in more detail. Ken?

現在，我想將電話轉接給 Ken，以更詳細地審查我們的財務表現。肯？

Thank you, Dan, and good morning, everyone. I will start by saying that it's been a tremendous honor serve as CFO for J&J Snack Foods, and I am truly blessed to have worked alongside Dan and his amazing team to improve and grow this business. I'm proud of the finance and IT organization that we have developed over the last four years and confident that the foundation is set to continue delivering strong financial discipline, business performance, and system capabilities.

謝謝丹，大家早安。首先，我要說的是，擔任強生休閒食品公司的財務長是一種巨大的榮幸，我真的很幸運能夠與 Dan 和他出色的團隊一起工作，以改善和發展這項業務。我為我們在過去四年中發展的財務和 IT 組織感到自豪，並相信基金會將繼續提供強大的財務紀律、業務績效和系統功能。

Turning to our results, I am pleased with our ability to deliver strong performance for the quarter, including record fiscal third-quarter net sales. This combined with gross margins of 33.6% contributed to significant profit growth and profits growing faster than sales.

談到我們的業績，我對我們在本季度實現強勁業績的能力感到滿意，包括創紀錄的第三財季淨銷售額。這與 33.6% 的毛利率相結合，促成了利潤顯著增長，且利潤增長速度快於銷售額增長。

Net sales for the quarter totaled $440 million, an increase of 3.3% versus the prior year. As Dan mentioned, top-line performance was led by higher volumes and new business performance in our foodservice and retail segments, more than offsetting softer sales in our frozen beverages segment.

該季度淨銷售額總計 4.4 億美元，比上年增長 3.3%。正如丹所提到的，營收業績是由我們的餐飲服務和零售部門的銷售增加和新業務績效所帶動的，這遠遠抵消了我們冷凍飲料部門銷售疲軟的影響。

Foodservice, our largest segment, saw sales increase 3.7% to $264 million. Handheld sales increased 25.3% to over $21 million. Bakery and frozen novelties increased 6.8% and 9.1%, respectively, driven by unit volume growth in cookies and a 5.3% increase in Dippin' Dots sales. Growth across the segment was offset by a decrease in soft pretzels and churros sales of 6.3% and 0.7%, respectively, driven primarily by the challenges in our theater channel that Dan referenced earlier.

餐飲服務是我們最大的細分市場，銷售額成長 3.7%，達到 2.64 億美元。手持設備銷售額成長 25.3%，超過 2,100 萬美元。受餅乾單位銷售成長和 Dippin' Dots 銷量成長 5.3% 的推動，烘焙食品和冷凍新奇食品分別成長 6.8% 和 9.1%。該細分市場的成長被軟椒鹽捲餅和油條銷售額分別下降 6.3% 和 0.7% 所抵消，這主要是由於 Dan 之前提到的劇院管道面臨的挑戰。

In addition, sales of new products and added placement with new customers totaled approximately $6.4 million, driven primarily by the addition of churros to the menu of a major QSR customer. This led to third-quarter operating income of $20.2 million, a decrease of 2.6% versus the prior year period, reflecting a less favorable sales mix.

此外，新產品的銷售額和新客戶的增加銷售總額約為 640 萬美元，這主要是由於在主要 QSR 客戶的菜單中添加了油條。這導致第三季營業收入為 2,020 萬美元，比去年同期下降 2.6%，反映出銷售組合較不利。

Moving to our retail segment, Q3 '24 retail sales totaled $68.7 million or an increase of 12.4%, driven by handheld sales growth of 69.9% as we expanded product placement with a major mass merchant. In addition, frozen novelty sales increased 10.9%, led by the growth of LUIGI'S, ICEE novelties, Dogsters, and an overall higher shipment as customers added inventory for the peak spring and summer seasons.

轉向我們的零售部門，24 年第 3 季零售額總計 6,870 萬美元，成長 12.4%，這是由於我們擴大了與一家主要大賣場的產品植入，手持設備銷售增長了 69.9%。此外，由於 LUIGI'S、ICEE 新奇品、Dogsters 的成長以及客戶在春季和夏季旺季增加庫存而導致整體出貨量增加，冷凍新奇品銷售額成長了 10.9%。

Soft pretzel sales increased 8.2%, led by a continued expansion of SUPERPRETZEL products in retail, while biscuit sales decreased 5.8% in the quarter. We also benefited from new product innovation and customer placement in this segment of approximately $3.1 million in the quarter. This was largely the result of the SUPERPRETZEL Bavarian sticks launched earlier in the year into the retail segment. We expect continued growth of this product as a major retailer expands placement in the fourth quarter.

由於 SUPERPRETZEL 產品在零售領域的持續擴張，軟椒鹽捲餅銷售額成長了 8.2%，而餅乾銷售額本季下降了 5.8%。本季我們也受惠於該細分市場的新產品創新和客戶安置，收益約 310 萬美元。這主要是今年稍早在零售領域推出的 SUPERPRETZEL Bavarian 棒的結果。我們預計，隨著主要零售商在第四季度擴大佈局，該產品將繼續成長。

This led to an operating income of $7.8 million or an increase of $3.6 million versus the prior year period, reflecting the improved sales, product mix, and higher gross margin. As it relates to our third segment, frozen beverages, sales were $106.8 million, a 2.6% decrease compared to a record Q3 2023. Beverage sales were down 1.1% or approximately $800,000 below prior years, reflecting weakness in the theater customer channel.

這使得營業收入達到 780 萬美元，比去年同期增加 360 萬美元，反映出銷售額、產品組合的改善和毛利率的提高。與我們的第三個細分市場冷凍飲料相關，銷售額為1.068 億美元，與創紀錄的2023 年第三季相比下降2.6%。反映出影院客戶通路的疲軟。

Overall gallons sold declined 6% in the quarter but did increase 3%, excluding the impact of the theater channel. And this was led by growth in amusement, convenience, and mass merchandisers. As Dan mentioned, we expect volumes to experience a significant improvement in the back half of the calendar year, given the stronger schedule of film releases. Repair and maintenance revenues also decreased by 1.6% as we saw lower preventive maintenance call volumes.

本季總加侖銷量下降 6%，但在排除影院頻道的影響後確實增加了 3%。這是由娛樂、便利設施和量販店的成長所帶動的。正如丹所提到的，鑑於電影上映計畫更加強勁，我們預計今年下半年的銷售將顯著改善。由於預防性維護呼叫量減少，維修和維護收入也下降了 1.6%。

Machine sales were down 15.4% as we lapped a significant customer rollout from last year. This led to operating income of $22.1 million, compared to Q3 '23 operating income of $23.3 million, with the decrease driven by weaker top-line sales. Our investments and initiatives over the last two years to enhance profit margins and drive efficiency across our business are proving to be successful.

與去年相比，我們的客戶數量大幅增加，因此機器銷售量下降了 15.4%。這導致營業收入為 2,210 萬美元，而 23 年第三季的營業收入為 2,330 萬美元，這是由於營收疲軟所致。過去兩年，我們為提高利潤率和提高整個業務效率而進行的投資和措施被證明是成功的。

For the quarter, gross profit totaled $147.8 million, a 3.4% increase compared to Q3 '23. This led to a gross margin of 33.6%, flat versus prior year, despite a less favorable sales mix. We remain confident in our ability to deliver strong and consistent profit margins and expect to achieve gross margin of 30% or better for the full year.

本季毛利總計 1.478 億美元，較 23 年第三季成長 3.4%。儘管銷售組合較不利，但毛利率為 33.6%，與前一年持平。我們對實現強勁且穩定的利潤率的能力仍然充滿信心，並預計全年毛利率達到 30% 或更高。

As it relates to inflation across our portfolio of raw materials, we saw net low-mid-single-digit inflation increases, with the net increase primarily driven by increases in the cost of cocoa/chocolate, and to a lesser extent, increases in the cost of sugar and sweeteners. Those increases were somewhat offset by deflationary trends seen in flour, cheese, dairy mixes, and eggs.

由於它與我們原料組合的通膨有關，我們看到了中低個位數的淨通膨增長，淨增長主要是由可可/巧克力成本的增長推動的，在較小程度上是由可可/巧克力成本的增長推動的。這些增長在一定程度上被麵粉、起司、乳製品和雞蛋的通貨緊縮趨勢所抵消。

Pricing adjustments and contractual cost true ups helped minimize the majority of the impact on our gross margins in the quarter. Our procurement team continues to effectively manage supply costs. We are well-positioned to respond to any impacts.

定價調整和合約成本真實上升有助於最大限度地減少對本季毛利率的大部分影響。我們的採購團隊持續有效管理供應成本。我們有能力應對任何影響。

Looking at expenses, total operating expenses increased $3.1 million, or 3.2%, representing 22.2% of sales for the quarter, flat with the prior year. Distribution costs were 10.2% of sales in the quarter, compared to 10.4% in the prior year period, as the investments we have made to increase efficiency across our distribution network and supply chain continue to drive expense savings.

從費用來看，總營運費用增加了 310 萬美元，即 3.2%，佔本季銷售額的 22.2%，與前一年持平。分銷成本佔本季銷售額的 10.2%，而去年同期為 10.4%，因為我們為提高分銷網絡和供應鏈效率而進行的投資繼續推動費用節省。

Marketing and selling expenses were 7.4% of sales, flat versus the prior period, as we continue to invest in our product innovation, brand promotions, and new selling opportunities. Administrative expenses were 4.5% of sales in Q3 '24, compared to 4.4% in Q3 of '23. This led to operating income of $50.1 million or a 3.8% increase compared to $48.3 million in Q3 '23.

由於我們持續投資於產品創新、品牌推廣和新的銷售機會，行銷和銷售費用佔銷售額的 7.4%，與上一期持平。 24 年第三季管理費用佔銷售額的 4.5%，而 23 年第三季為 4.4%。這使得營業收入達到 5,010 萬美元，較 2023 年第三季的 4,830 萬美元成長 3.8%。

Adjusted operating income was $53.1 million or a 3.9% increase compared to Q3 '23. After the impact of income taxes of $14.1 million compared to $12.6 million in the comparable prior year, net earnings increased 3.8% to $36.3 million, resulting in record quarterly earnings per diluted share of $1.87, compared to $1.81 in the prior year period. Adjusted earnings per diluted share were $1.98 for the quarter compared to $1.92 in the prior year period. Adjusted EBITDA increased 6.3% to $70.9 million from $66.6 million in the prior-year period, and our effective tax rate was 27.9% in the third quarter.

調整後營業收入為 5,310 萬美元，與 23 年第三季相比成長 3.9%。扣除所得稅 1,410 萬美元（上年同期為 1,260 萬美元）的影響後，淨利潤增長 3.8%，達到 3,630 萬美元，每股攤薄收益季度創紀錄地達到 1.87 美元，而去年同期為 1.81 美元。本季調整後每股攤薄收益為 1.98 美元，去年同期為 1.92 美元。調整後 EBITDA 成長 6.3%，從去年同期的 6,660 萬美元增至 7,090 萬美元，第三季的有效稅率為 27.9%。

Looking at our liquidity position, we continue to have a healthy balance sheet and overall strong liquidity, with $64 million in cash and approximately $12 million in debt. Our ability to improve cash flow through working capital initiatives and stronger profitability is generating more cash to pay down debt, pay dividends, and continue investing in our business.

從我們的流動性狀況來看，我們仍然擁有健康的資產負債表和整體強勁的流動性，擁有 6,400 萬美元的現金和約 1,200 萬美元的債務。我們透過營運資本計畫改善現金流的能力和更強的獲利能力正在產生更多現金來償還債務、支付股息並繼續投資於我們的業務。

Our focus will continue to be on maintaining a healthy balance sheet and prudent leverage position, which enables us to continue investing in the growth of our business and returning value to our shareholders. In addition, we have ample availability under our revolver of approximately $203 million and additional borrowing capacity.

我們的重點將繼續是維持健康的資產負債表和審慎的槓桿狀況，這使我們能夠繼續投資於業務成長並為股東回報價值。此外，我們還擁有約 2.03 億美元的充足可用資金和額外的借貸能力。

To sum it all up, while we recognize there's still much work to be done to capture the vast opportunities in front of us, we are encouraged by our results to improve every aspect of how we do business. We are confident that the power of our brand portfolio and the unwavering dedication of our employees will continue to deliver strong results and added value for our shareholders.

總而言之，雖然我們意識到要抓住擺在我們面前的巨大機會還有很多工作要做，但我們對改善業務各個方面的成果感到鼓舞。我們相信，我們品牌組合的力量和員工堅定不移的奉獻精神將繼續為我們的股東帶來強勁的業績和附加價值。

I would now like to turn the call over to the operator for Q&A. Operator?

我現在想將電話轉給接線員進行問答。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Todd Brooks, The Benchmark Company.

（操作員說明）Todd Brooks，Benchmark 公司。

Hey, thanks for taking my question, and nice results in the quarter here, kind of absorbing some of that pressure in the theater channel.

嘿，感謝您提出我的問題，本季度取得了不錯的成績，有點吸收了劇院頻道的一些壓力。

First question is on that theater channel, and I think this might be helpful for all of us, can you size, if you think about foodservice and frozen beverage, what percentage of each of those segments is made up by the theater channel?

第一個問題是關於劇院頻道的，我認為這可能對我們所有人都有幫助，如果您考慮餐飲服務和冷凍飲料，您能否估算一下劇院頻道在這些細分市場中所佔的比例是多少？

We don't have that exact number on the foodservice side. We know on the beverage side, it's about 25% of the ICEE beverage sales. The foodservice side is much less than that but growing. It's a nice piece of business for us that continues to grow and we've even added some people from a company standpoint into that group to try to energize it.

我們在餐飲服務方面沒有確切的數字。我們知道，在飲料方面，它約佔 ICEE 飲料銷售額的 25%。餐飲服務方面的規模遠小於此，但仍在成長。對我們來說，這是一項持續成長的好業務，我們甚至從公司的角度添加了一些人到該團隊中，試圖為其註入活力。

Okay, great. Thanks, Dan. Secondly, the churro's success with Subway has obviously been a great story. I look at that sidekick line, and I see three products that J&J would be well-suited to make, not just the churros. Have you had any luck making inroads with either the cookie offering there or the soft pretzel offering?

好的，太好了。謝謝，丹。其次，油條與賽百味的成功顯然是一個偉大的故事。我看了那條副線，發現強生非常適合生產三種產品，而不僅僅是油條。您是否有幸透過那裡的餅乾產品或軟椒鹽捲餅產品取得了進展？

We've built a really nice relationship with that company through this program, but they have both that in their buying arm. We've built a great relationship. We're continuing to have conversations and absolutely believe that, in the future, we'll have the opportunity to be making some of those products or some others. There's some nice opportunities for us coming.

我們透過這個計劃與該公司建立了非常良好的關係，但他們的採購部門同時擁有這兩種關係。我們已經建立了良好的關係。我們正在繼續進行對話，並且絕對相信，在未來，我們將有機會生產其中一些產品或其他一些產品。我們即將迎來一些很好的機會。

Okay, great. And then a final one, and you touched on the KFC test a little bit, Dan, but was just wondering if you look forward a couple of calendar quarters here, what we're seeing either on the new product launch side, the distribution side, or maybe some tests that are out there that can help you continue -- you drove, I think, almost a little over $9 million in revenues from new placements and new products, which is great to see. I'm just wondering what you can share with us in the go-forward look for what may continue to drive that.

好的，太好了。然後是最後一個，丹，你稍微談到了肯德基測試，但只是想知道你是否期待這裡的幾個日曆季度，我們在新產品發布方面、分銷方面看到了什麼，或者也許有一些測試可以幫助你繼續——我認為，你從新的展示位置和新產品中獲得了幾乎超過900 萬美元的收入，這是很高興看到的。我只是想知道您可以與我們分享哪些未來可能繼續推動這一趨勢的內容。

Yeah, I'm not sure I can share some names, but I will tell you we have a tremendous pipeline in retail. We've got a couple of things that are really strong for us and a lot of new -- a lot of customers expanding the distribution.

是的，我不確定我可以分享一些名字，但我會告訴你我們在零售業擁有巨大的通路。我們有一些對我們來說非常強大的東西，還有很多新東西——很多客戶正在擴大分銷範圍。

On the foodservice side, we've talked about this in the past whenever a particular customer like Subway comes out with a cereal product, there's lots of others who are watching that. And so we have some tests in play that -- some will even kick in before the year's end with some other large organizations out there that we'll see continue to grow. And so really happy there.

在餐飲服務方面，我們過去曾討論過這一點，每當像賽百味這樣的特定客戶推出穀物產品時，就會有很多其他人在關注。因此，我們正在進行一些測試——有些測試甚至會在年底前與其他一些大型組織一起啟動，我們將看到它們繼續成長。在那裡真的很開心。

The bakery side, as you watch those numbers, we've got some good things and some private label areas that we're continuing to grow that we're happy about. And then just the ICEE with the KFC, as you mentioned, that's a really big opportunity for us. And so far, that test has gone extremely well with a lot of press around it, a lot of people, a lot of attention to it. So I love our pipeline right now. I think we've got a really good chance of having a really strong 2025.

在麵包店方面，當你看到這些數字時，我們有一些好東西和一些自有品牌領域，我們正在繼續成長，對此我們感到很高興。然後就是與肯德基的 ICEE，正如您所提到的，這對我們來說是一個非常大的機會。到目前為止，這項測試進展得非常順利，有許多媒體、很多人、很多人關注它。所以我現在很喜歡我們的管道。我認為我們很有可能迎來一個非常強大的 2025 年。

Connor Rattigan, Consumer Edge.

康納拉蒂根，《消費者邊緣》。

Hey, guys. Good morning. Congrats on the great quarter.

嘿，夥計們。早安.恭喜這個偉大的季度。

Yeah, so you guys called out the weakness in frozen beverages, driven by the theater channel. So I'm curious, could you guys maybe share how trends looked across the other channels to maybe give us a better sense of relative performance across those channels? Like, was performance relatively even outside the theaters or was there may be quite a bit of volatility by channel?

是的，所以你們指出了由劇院頻道推動的冷凍飲料的弱點。所以我很好奇，你們能否分享一下其他管道的趨勢，以便讓我們更了解這些管道的相對錶現？例如，戲院外的表演是否相對均勻，或者各個頻道之間可能存在相當大的波動？

Well, you know, we were up in volume in most of all of our big brands and products. It was a pretty good quarter overall for us. And I mentioned this in my opening, even inside the beverage side of our business, inside ICEE, if you took the theater channel out, we would have been up by 3%. And so overall, a pretty good quarter with all of our products and we're seeing some nice growth.

嗯，你知道，我們大多數大品牌和產品的銷售量都增加了。總體而言，這對我們來說是一個相當不錯的季度。我在開場白中提到了這一點，即使在我們業務的飲料方面，在 ICEE 內部，如果你把劇院頻道去掉，我們也會上漲 3%。總的來說，我們所有產品的季度表現都相當不錯，我們看到了一些不錯的成長。

Connor, I mean, we were purposeful in making that comment about what the gallon increase was without theaters. So that tells you amusement was up, QSR was up, mass merchandise was up as it relates to frozen beverages. So again, this was really a tale of, particularly in April and May, where the theater industry was as related to releases. And you can read pretty much any publication from any of that theater companies and you'll see that. Outside of that, really, really good quarter for us on that side of the business.

康納，我的意思是，我們有目的地對沒有劇院的情況下加侖的增加量做出評論。所以這告訴你娛樂增加了，快餐增加了，大眾商品增加了，因為這與冷凍飲料有關。再說一次，這確實是一個故事，特別是在四月和五月，戲劇業與發行相關。你幾乎可以閱讀任何一家劇院公司的任何出版物，你就會看到這一點。除此之外，對於我們這方面的業務來說，這個季度真的非常非常好。

Awesome. So also in the press release, you guys noted some strength in amusement parks, specifically with Dippin' Dots. So I'm curious, what you guys really see as the driver there? Was it just strong summer seasonal traffic? Maybe there was some pricing distribution gains? Any color on that would be great.

驚人的。因此，在新聞稿中，你們也注意到了遊樂園的一些優勢，特別是 Dippin' Dots。所以我很好奇，你們對司機的真正看法是什麼？僅僅是夏季季節性交通旺盛嗎？也許有一些定價分配收益？任何顏色都會很棒。

Our teams do a great job, Connor, of getting into the amusement park industry and making sure we're well positioned when the season comes. And the Dippin' Dots team really excels in that area. And in fact, I toured one of our amusement parks last week with a group of leaders and the Dippin' Dots presentation across that Six Flags Park was tremendous. They just do a really good job, making sure we're positioned right, making sure that it's marketed appropriately. It certainly helps when you have a nice warm summer and we're having that. But that industry seems to be doing really well in all facets of our business right now.

康納，我們的團隊在進入遊樂園行業方面做得很好，並確保我們在季節到來時處於有利位置。 Dippin' Dots 團隊在這方面確實表現出色。事實上，上週我和一群領導人一起參觀了我們的一個遊樂園，六旗公園的 Dippin' Dots 演示非常精彩。他們做得非常好，確保我們定位正確，確保產品得到適當的行銷。當你度過一個溫暖的夏天時，這肯定會有所幫助，而我們正在經歷這樣的夏天。但該行業目前似乎在我們業務的各個方面都表現得非常好。

Awesome. And then just one last quick follow-up. So you guys had previously mentioned that about 80% of your product was flowing through the new RDC system. I'm not sure if I missed it but did that pick up a little bit during the quarter?

驚人的。然後是最後一個快速跟進。你們之前提到過，你們大約 80% 的產品都流經新的 RDC 系統。我不確定我是否錯過了這一點，但這個季度這種情況是否有所回升？

I think it ticked up, I want to say, Conor, maybe a couple of hundred basis points. I think, again, doing this on memory, I want to think Q2 was around 78%. So yeah, it ticked up somewhat from Q2.

我想說，康納，我認為它上漲了，也許上漲了幾百個基點。我再次認為，根據記憶進行計算，我認為第二季的準確率約為 78%。是的，它比第二季度有所上升。

Jon Andersen, William Blair.

喬恩·安德森，威廉·布萊爾。

Hi. Thanks for the questions. And, Ken, thanks for your help the past few years, and best to you in your retirement down the road.

你好。感謝您的提問。肯，感謝您過去幾年的幫助，並祝您退休後一切順利。

Thank you, Jon.

謝謝你，喬恩。

Yeah, you bet. I guess I wanted to first ask just a big picture question around the consumer, what you're seeing in terms of any macro impacts on your business relative to the consumer? Are they exhibiting more value-seeking behavior, or any channel shift you're seeing across the various channels that you serve that suggest either the consumer remains healthy or you're seeing some pockets of weakness? Thanks

是的，你打賭。我想我想先問一個有關消費者的大問題，相對於消費者而言，您認為對您的業務有什麼宏觀影響？他們是否表現出更多的價值追求行為，或者您在所服務的各個管道中看到的任何管道轉變表明消費者保持健康或您看到了一些弱點？謝謝

You know, Jon, we talked a lot about this and I use this term last quarter and I probably use it the same again today. I just still think that consumer is a little fickle. I think they react to what has been said in the media. I think either over the last 24 hours, we saw stocks plummet and then come back up. And I think when you don't -- we expected some interest rate drop last week and that didn't happen, the consumer reaction to that.

你知道，喬恩，我們對此談了很多，上個季度我使用了這個術語，今天我可能會再次使用它。我只是仍然認為消費者有點善變。我認為他們對媒體所說的話做出了反應。我認為在過去 24 小時內，我們看到股市暴跌然後又回升。我認為當你不這樣做時——我們預計上週利率會有所下降，但消費者對此的反應並沒有發生。

I think what we see kind of still is a somewhat of a tale of two cities, right? I think the low end consumer still is under pressure on a lot of ways, and they're cautious and they're careful about how they spend it. And then I think we see the opposite end of that spectrum where they're looking for premium or expensive rental kind of environment to be able to spend on things.

我認為我們看到的仍然是兩個城市的故事，對嗎？我認為低端消費者在許多方面仍然面臨壓力，他們很謹慎，對如何消費也很謹慎。然後我認為我們看到了這一範圍的另一端，他們正在尋找優質或昂貴的租賃環境以便能夠花錢購買東西。

I think it's still a fickle customer. And I think it probably will remain that at least during this period of time as we're going through an election. So we're going to have to watch that really close, right? I think they're discerning on where they spend their money.

我認為這仍然是一個善變的客戶。我認為至少在我們正在進行選舉的這段時間裡，這種情況可能會持續下去。所以我們必須非常仔細地觀察，對嗎？我認為他們對花錢的地方很挑剔。

Makes sense. So if you stripped out the theater channel this quarter, it looks like your sales would have been up about 5%. I think, historically, that has been an area that I think the company has grown organically. Is that a reasonable a mid-single-digit organic growth rate expectation, a reasonable way to think about the business as you look to, not just the fourth quarter, but fiscal 2025. Like you've got a lot of great tests in the works, you've got some good new products that are expanding distribution, just a lot of cross-selling stuff that's working. So trying to get a better sense for how that all rolls up and do a topline view here.

有道理。因此，如果您本季剔除戲院頻道，您的銷售額似乎會成長約 5%。我認為，從歷史上看，這一直是公司有機成長的一個領域。這是一個合理的中個位數有機成長率預期嗎？新產品正在擴大分銷，還有很多交叉銷售的東西正在發揮作用。因此，試圖更好地了解這一切是如何滾動的，並在這裡進行頂線視圖。

Jon, I think that's a really good way to look at it. We are working really hard to be right in that mid-single-digit growth year over year, and I think we're well positioned for that in the future. And you mentioned the third theaters. And I just want to kind of highlight kind of the impact of what good movie releases can do for us.

喬恩，我認為這是一個很好的看待問題的方式。我們正在非常努力地實現年復一年中個位數的成長，我認為我們在未來已經做好了充分的準備。你提到了第三劇院。我只是想強調一下好的電影發行可以為我們帶來的影響。

So the theater industry really struggled in April, struggled in May, and struggled most of June. But we get into the back half of June and we get a couple of really good movie releases out there and we just catapult our sales so much that I CEE ends up having a record month of June, right? And so what we're encouraged by is that we can continue what we've talked about with the new products releases and the new distribution and seeing the growth in our core products and then you get the theater business to come back, which all indications look like it will, in back half of '24. I think what I heard is they have 10 big movies. Only 4 of them have been released so far. So we've got 6 of them in the back half of the year, and then 2025, a great lineup. All of that combined, we feel pretty well positioned to be in that mid-single-digit growth for the future.

所以戲劇產業在四月確實很掙扎，五月也很掙扎，六月的大部分時間都在掙扎。但進入 6 月下半月，我們上映了幾部非常好的電影，我們的銷量猛增，以至於中東歐最終在 6 月創下了創紀錄的紀錄，對嗎？因此，令我們感到鼓舞的是，我們可以繼續我們所討論的新產品發布和新發行，並看到我們核心產品的增長，然後你可以讓影院業務回來，所有跡像都表明看起來會在24 年下半年實現。我想我聽到的是他們有 10 部大電影。到目前為止，僅發布了其中 4 個。所以我們在今年下半年和 2025 年都有 6 個這樣的陣容，這是一個很棒的陣容。所有這些加在一起，我們感覺自己已經處於有利地位，未來將實現中等個位數的成長。

That's helpful. And I guess following on that, is it fair to say that because your products that you're selling in theaters are some of the core brands, that's a margin-accretive part of your business as well?

這很有幫助。我想接下來，可以公平地說，因為您在戲院銷售的產品是一些核心品牌，所以這也是您業務的利潤成長部分？

Yeah, absolutely. And you know, we're growing with the Dippin' Dots side of that with AMC, Cinemark, and Marcus Theatres and a couple of other regional chains. And as you know, the margins through Dippin' Dots are really helping.

是的，絕對是。你知道，我們正在與 AMC、Cinemark 和 Marcus Theaters 以及其他一些地區連鎖影院一起與 Dippin' Dots 一起成長。如您所知，Dippin' Dots 的利潤確實很有幫助。

I was just going to add and we stated this in Dan's script, but a really big deal. When we add over 900 theaters between now and the end of the year for Dippin' Dots, it's going to be a really nice business and then obviously be accretive to margins as we go into those winter months. So that's another reason we feel optimistic as we head into the end of the year and into next year.

我只是想補充一下，我們在丹的劇本中提到了這一點，但這確實是一件大事。當我們從現在到今年年底為 Dippin' Dots 增加 900 多家影院時，這將是一項非常好的生意，而且隨著我們進入冬季，利潤顯然會增加。這是我們在進入年底和明年時感到樂觀的另一個原因。

That's helpful. Also ties into my last question. You reaffirmed the outlook for gross margin this year to be above 30%, which I think was an interim target for you at one point. Assuming you deliver on that this fiscal year and the work that you've done from an operational perspective, a productivity perspective, and again, centering your investments around some of the core higher margin parts of your business, have you given any thought to what gross margin might look like longer term?

這很有幫助。也與我的最後一個問題有關。您重申今年毛利率的前景將在30%以上，我認為這是您一度的中期目標。假設您在本財年實現了這一目標，並從營運角度、生產力角度完成了工作，並且再次將投資集中在業務的一些核心高利潤部分，您是否考慮過什麼？ ？

Yeah, I think Dan and I both talked last quarter. We have a desire, and this won't be next year, it may even be two, three years down the road, to get us up close to that mid-30%s range. But as we focus on building plans where profits go faster than sales. And obviously, gross profit is going to play a big role in that.

是的，我想丹和我上個季度都談過。我們有一個願望，這不會是明年，甚至可能是兩三年後，讓我們接近 30% 左右的範圍。但當我們專注於制定利潤成長速度快於銷售額的計畫時。顯然，毛利將在其中發揮重要作用。

We expect to keep engine that number up and some of that will be based on focusing on really driving the core growth of those products that you mentioned earlier and then improving the margins of our lower margin business, which we've really made nice progress in a couple of those areas this year, but that's kind of where we're headed. I feel good about where we're going to land for this fiscal year, given the first three quarters, and I think that will build from there.

我們希望保持這個數字的成長，其中一些將基於專注於真正推動您之前提到的那些產品的核心增長，然後提高我們的低利潤業務的利潤率，我們在這方面確實取得了很好的進展今年有幾個這樣的領域，但這就是我們的發展方向。考慮到前三個季度，我對本財年的目標感到滿意，我認為這將從那裡開始。

Andrew Wolf, CL King.

安德魯沃爾夫，CL金。

Good morning. I also wanted to ask about the gross margin. Just back of the envelope, looks like if the $7 million of movie theater business had come, the gross margin would have expanded, I don't know, 10 to 20 basis points, something in that range. Is that reasonable?

早安.我還想問毛利率。從表面上看，如果 700 萬美元的電影院業務到來，毛利率將會擴大，我不知道，10 到 20 個基點，在這個範圍內。這樣合理嗎？

Yeah, that's a good estimate, Andrew.

是的，這是一個很好的估計，安德魯。

Okay. The other thing I wanted to ask about gross margin was just pricing power. Some of the big retailers, their customers are hurting, at least a lot of them, and they're mass marketers, so they have everybody. And inflation for you, I guess, is running, you said, low- to mid-single digits on the ingredient side. Obviously, there's an offset with your productivity improvements.

好的。關於毛利率我想問的另一件事是定價能力。一些大型零售商的客戶正在受到傷害，至少有許多客戶，而且他們是大眾行銷人員，所以他們擁有所有人。我想，你說，原料方面的通膨率正在低至中個位數。顯然，生產力的提升會產生抵消效果。

What do you feel about pricing power? There's contractual things, I think, certainly in foodservice, but maybe in retail, and just in general, just the ability to pass through, not to try to get margin out of price, but just to make yourself whole on the production side.

您對定價能力有何看法？我認為，在餐飲服務中當然存在合約性的東西，但也許在零售業，而且一般來說，只是通過的能力，不是試圖從價格中獲取利潤，而只是為了在生產方面使自己完整。

Well, I mean, it's a great question. I think you have to be really careful with pricing during this environment that we're in. As you talked about, we do have some contractual things that we're able to pass on, and we're able to do that with the rise in cocoa and chocolate. And then you have to earn pricing outside of that, right?

嗯，我的意思是，這是一個很好的問題。我認為在我們所處的這種環境下，你必須非常小心定價。和巧克力中。然後你還必須賺取除此之外的定價，對嗎？

We have to be really careful about where we price and how we price and making sure that we have earned that price increase. Our new three RDCs and the efficiencies that we're gaining there and the new capacity that we have and making sure that we're delivering the customers on time and efficiently allow us to be able to earn some of that.

我們必須非常小心定價的地點和方式，並確保我們贏得了價格上漲。我們新的三個 RDC 以及我們在那裡獲得的效率和我們擁有的新產能以及確保我們按時高效地為客戶提供服務的能力使我們能夠贏得其中的一部分。

But we're going to have to be really careful how we price that on. I think like I said, we were able to do that with chocolates and we'll watch any other of those key items in the future to make sure that we're being diligent and disciplined about how we do it.

但我們必須非常小心地定價。我想就像我說的，我們能夠用巧克力做到這一點，並且我們將來會關注任何其他關鍵項目，以確保我們在做這件事時勤奮和自律。

Okay. And the last thing, since you mentioned Thinsters, is there an opportunity for a quite small brand like that -- to actually get some meaningful distribution, given your relationships?

好的。最後一件事，自從你提到 Thinsters 以來，考慮到你們的關係，像這樣一個相當小的品牌是否有機會真正獲得一些有意義的分銷？

We love the product.

我們喜歡這個產品。

Yeah. We love the M&A strategy, or do you need bigger brands like a Dippin' Dots when it comes to M&A?

是的。我們喜歡併購策略，或者在併購方面您是否需要像 Dippin' Dots 這樣的更大品牌？

Well, you know, I'd love to find bigger brands. We've talked about that all along. But Thinsters was such an easy acquisition to make because it's such a great product and very well respected and we believe that we do have an opportunity to grow that. I don't know how big that can be, but our teams are really excited about how they're represented and growing it and we see some opportunities in the short term with it. We'll continue to look for larger ones like Dippin' Dots. But it doesn't mean we won't look for something like this, that's easy to kind of strap on and grow.

嗯，你知道，我很想找到更大的品牌。我們一直在談論這個。但 Thinsters 是一次很容易完成的收購，因為它是一款非常出色的產品並且非常受人尊敬，我們相信我們確實有機會發展它。我不知道它能有多大，但我們的團隊對他們的代表和發展感到非常興奮，我們看到了短期內的一些機會。我們將繼續尋找更大的，例如 Dippin' Dots。但這並不意味著我們不會尋找這樣的東西，因為它很容易捆綁和成長。

Robert Dickerson, Jefferies.

羅伯特·迪克森，傑弗里斯。

Great. Thanks so much. Just to -- just a couple of quick clarification questions, a little perspective. I guess just in the retail segment, op margin was around that 11% level. We have seen some decent volatility the past few years in that segment. I'm assuming that was more cost price related. If we think about the 11%-ish in Q3, are we back on track to get to a more normalized standard run rate going forward or are there puts and takes, et cetera?

偉大的。非常感謝。只是為了──幾個快速澄清的問題，一點觀點。我想光是零售領域，營運利潤率就在 11% 左右。過去幾年，我們在該領域看到了一些相當大的波動。我認為這與成本價格更相關。如果我們考慮第三季的 11% 左右，我們是否回到了正軌，以達到更正常化的標準運行率，或者是否存在看跌期權和看跌期權等？

And no, Rob, that's a great question. I do think we're back on track. I mean, I'm not going to commit to 11% every quarter, but I think much more in that range, I think we've finally gotten things dialed in as it relates to how we manage margin in those retail products. We're moving and growing more in those higher core frozen novelties, soft pretzels. As long as we do that, that's going to mix out much better than it was, you know, a few quarters ago or a couple of years ago. So I do think this is more realistic to what we ought to be able to do there versus, say, a year or so ago.

不，羅布，這是一個很好的問題。我確實認為我們回到了正軌。我的意思是，我不會承諾每個季度達到 11%，但我認為在這個範圍內更多，我認為我們終於得到了調整，因為它與我們如何管理這些零售產品的利潤有關。我們正在更多地轉向和發展那些更高核心的冷凍新奇產品——軟椒鹽捲餅。只要我們這樣做，效果就會比幾個季度前或幾年前好得多。因此，我確實認為，與一年左右之前相比，這對於我們應該在那裡做的事情來說更加現實。

All right. Fair enough. It seems more realistic.

好的。很公平。看起來更現實。

Okay. And then I guess just, a broader question on the margin mix vis-a-vis new distribution. I heard you say, more distribution to mass retailer. I think there's more distribution coming, more stores from a bigger grocer. We talked about Subway. You got the KFC launch potentially coming at some point.

好的。然後我想，關於新分配的利潤組合的更廣泛的問題。我聽到你說，更多地向大眾零售商分銷。我認為更大的雜貨店將會有更多的分銷、更多的商店。我們談論了地鐵。肯德基可能會在某個時候推出。

As you enter those new stores -- let's just take KFC as an example. Let's say, okay, we're in 2 stores now, and then we go to 100, and maybe we go to 500, whatever it is. And this would be, I guess, a similar dynamic on Dippin' Dots.

當你進入這些新店時——讓我們以肯德基為例。比方說，好吧，我們現在有 2 家商店，然後我們會增加到 100 家，也許我們會增加到 500 家，無論是什麼。我想，這在 Dippin' Dots 上也有類似的動態。

Once you're in, let's say, a movie theater or KFC with those products, is that just you get your normal margin rate on that product, that dollar per product from the start? Or is there scalability in this business? It seems like there usually is, but I'm asking because I'm not really sure if there is. Maybe it's just day 1, that's what we get. And yes, the more we sell, the more profit we make. Or the more you sell in movie theaters or KFC or Subway or what have you, you actually are getting incremental volume leverage and scalability benefits in the overall business.

一旦你進入電影院或肯德基購買這些產品，你就只能得到該產品的正常利潤率，也就是從一開始就獲得每件產品的美元嗎？或者這個業務是否具有可擴展性？似乎通常都有，但我問是因為我不太確定有沒有。也許這只是第一天，這就是我們得到的。是的，我們賣得越多，我們賺的利潤就越多。或者，你在電影院、肯德基、賽百味或其他什麼地方銷售的產品越多，你實際上就會在整個業務中獲得增量的銷售槓桿和可擴展性優勢。

It's a really good question. You know, anytime you have volume, you do get some scalability. You're talking about a couple of areas that are a little bit different. When you're talking about ICEE or Dippin' Dots, it's not quite the same thing. But you know, if you grow in Dippin' Dots and you're able to produce more product, you're getting some scalability inside that plant where we produce it. So you do get some advantages there.

這是一個非常好的問題。您知道，只要有容量，您就可以獲得一定的可擴充性。您談論的是幾個略有不同的領域。當您談論 ICEE 或 Dippin' Dots 時，它們並不完全相同。但你知道，如果你在 Dippin' Dots 中成長，並且能夠生產更多產品，那麼你就可以在我們生產產品的工廠內獲得一定的可擴展性。所以你確實在那裡得到了一些優勢。

On the ICEE side, we're always very, very conscious what the cost is. There typically is the piece of equipment. And so you get some scalability around buying large numbers of pieces of equipment, and hopefully, you're able to be careful about how many people you have to hire to take care of that business.

在 ICEE 方面，我們始終非常非常清楚成本是什麼。通常有一個設備。因此，您可以在購買大量設備時獲得一定的可擴展性，並且希望您能夠謹慎考慮必須僱用多少人來處理該業務。

And so there's some scalability that happens there, but it's not quite the same as in a manufacturing plant. I hope that answers your question. It's a little bit different of a question, but the answer is yes, there is some scalability, but maybe not as sizeable as you might think.

因此，那裡會發生一些可擴展性，但它與製造工廠中的情況不太一樣。我希望這能回答你的問題。這是一個有點不同的問題，但答案是肯定的，有一定的可擴展性，但可能沒有您想像的那麼大。

Okay. Yeah. And, Dan, I'm also asking because look, clearly you don't provide long-term guidance, right? But you've spent a lot of money on the efficiency side that gives you a lot of benefits. And then I'm also hearing, we're also getting a lot of distribution across pretty much all channels, at least, all major channels.

好的。是的。而且，丹，我也這麼問，因為你看，顯然你沒有提供長期指導，對嗎？但你在效率方面花了很多錢，這為你帶來了很多好處。然後我還聽說，我們在幾乎所有管道（至少是所有主要管道）上都獲得了大量發行。

Really are, yeah.

確實是，是的。

And then there's like a volume-led story, right? So usually what follows is a margin expansion story. We just don't have a slide that's showing us that. So it seems like that's clearly the idea here. Is that fair?

然後就是一個以卷為主導的故事，對吧？因此，接下來通常是利潤擴張的故事。我們只是沒有一張幻燈片向我們展示這一點。所以看起來這顯然就是這裡的想法。這樣公平嗎？

It is and it falls right into what I've talked about with the RDCs and the efficiencies that we're gaining from that. And if you think about the Dippin' Dots side, we've got those RDC's early enough to be able to build a box inside a box and maybe were even a little bit ahead of ourselves. We knew that that was something that needed to happen to build and grow that piece of business. And now we're growing into that box in a box which will help us gain some efficiencies and the go-forward.

確實如此，這正好符合我與 RDC 討論的內容以及我們從中獲得的效率。如果你考慮一下 Dippin' Dots 方面，我們很早就有了這些 RDC，能夠在盒子裡建造一個盒子，甚至可能比我們自己領先一點。我們知道，這是建立和發展該業務所需發生的事情。現在我們正在成長為一個盒子中的盒子，這將幫助我們提高效率和前進。

Yeah, Rob, these are all pieces in our ability and confidence to continue to move that gross margin number up. As we grow volume in these areas, leverage automation, that's going to create bits of efficiency that grab basis points in margin that should help us evolve to higher gross margin rate over the next two, three years.

是的，羅布，這些都是我們繼續提高毛利率的能力和信心的一部分。隨著我們在這些領域的銷售成長，利用自動化，這將創造一些效率，抓住利潤率的基點，這將有助於我們在未來兩三年內向更高的毛利率發展。

Thank you. I'm showing no further questions at this time and would now like to turn it back to Dan Fachner for closing remarks. Go ahead.

謝謝。我目前沒有提出任何進一步的問題，現在想將其轉回給丹·法赫納（Dan Fachner）做結束語。前進。

Thank you, operator.

謝謝你，接線生。

In closing, we remain extremely confident in our path forward and in our ability to continue to execute at a high level. We are building a culture that emphasizes improving every aspect of our business in order to leverage the opportunities in front of us as well as to create some new opportunities of our own.

最後，我們對我們的前進道路以及繼續高水準執行的能力仍然充滿信心。我們正在建立一種強調改善業務各個方面的文化，以便利用我們面前的機會並創造我們自己的一些新機會。

We look forward to updating you on our progress later this fall. In the interim, should you have any questions or wish to speak to us, please contact our Investor Relations firm JCIR at 212- 835-8500.

我們期待在今年秋天晚些時候向您通報我們的最新進展。在此期間，如果您有任何疑問或希望與我們聯繫，請致電 212-835-8500 聯繫我們的投資者關係公司 JCIR。

Thank you and have a great morning.

謝謝您，祝您早安。

Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program, and you may now disconnect.

感謝您參加今天的會議。這確實結束了程序，您現在可以斷開連接。