卡夫亨氏 (KHC) 2021 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Kraft Heinz Company Third Quarter 2021 Results Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference may be recorded. (Operator Instructions)

各位好，感謝您稍候。歡迎參加卡夫亨氏公司 2021 年第三季業績電話會議。（接線員指示）請注意，今天的會議可能會被錄音。（接線員指示）

I would now like to hand the conference over to your host today, Chris Jakubik, Head of Global Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在我想將會議交給今天的主持人——全球投資人關係主管 Chris Jakubik。請開始。

Thank you, and hello, everyone. This is Chris Jakubik, Head of Global Investor Relations at The Kraft Heinz Company, and welcome to our Q&A session for our third quarter 2021 business update.

謝謝，大家好。我是卡夫亨氏公司的全球投資人關係主管 Chris Jakubik，歡迎參加我們 2021 年第三季業務更新的問答環節。

During our remarks today, we will make some forward-looking statements that are based on how we see things today. Actual results may differ due to risks and uncertainties, and these are discussed in our earnings release and our filings with the SEC.

在今天的發言中，我們將做出一些前瞻性陳述，這些陳述是基於我們目前對情勢的看法。由於風險與不確定性，實際結果可能有所不同；相關內容已在我們的新聞稿以及向美國證券交易委員會（SEC）提交的文件中討論。

We will also discuss some non-GAAP financial measures today during the call, and these non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered a replacement for and should be read together with GAAP results. And you can find the GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliations within our earnings release and the supplemental materials posted at ir.kraftheinzcompany.com.

我們也會在本次電話會議中討論一些非 GAAP 財務衡量指標；這些非 GAAP 指標不應被視為 GAAP 結果的替代，並應與 GAAP 結果一併閱讀。您可在我們的財報新聞稿以及發布於 ir.kraftheinzcompany.com 的補充資料中，找到 GAAP 與非 GAAP 的調節表。

Before we begin, I'm going to hand it over to our CEO, Miguel Patricio, for a few quick opening comments. Miguel?

在開始之前，我先把時間交給我們的執行長 Miguel Patricio，請他做幾句簡短的開場致詞。Miguel？

Thank you, Chris, and good morning, everyone. I would just like to start by sharing how encouraging it is for us to see our company leaning into a scale and agility that we have been talking about for some time, addressing short-term challenges at the same time that we are building the long-term advantage.

謝謝你，Chris，各位早安。我想先分享一點：看到公司正積極展現我們談論已久的規模與敏捷性，並在打造長期優勢的同時應對短期挑戰，這讓我們非常振奮。

We are today a much stronger company, and we are better positioned to address inflation that we are seeing. We are taking actions now to protect profitability through 2022, and our actions are not just pricing. We are also implementing price-pack architecture, value engineering and leveraging our scale in procurement.

我們如今是一家更強健的公司，也更有能力應對我們所看到的通膨。我們正在採取行動，以在 2022 年之前保護獲利能力，而我們的行動不僅僅是調價。我們也在推行價格—包裝架構（price-pack architecture）、價值工程（value engineering），並在採購上運用我們的規模優勢。

At the same time, our team has continued transforming our business for long-term growth and advantage. Our momentum with the consumer is strong and our consumer-focused, platform-based approach is taking us to new occasions. We continue to invest to improve relevance of our brands. We are making greater, more creative market investments. And at the same time, we are building agility that will deliver the $2 billion of gross efficiencies and looking to unlock more. We are continuing to pay down debt and improve our net leverage and we continue to invest in our most important assets, our people.

同時，我們的團隊也持續推動業務轉型，以實現長期成長與競爭優勢。我們在消費者端的動能強勁；以消費者為中心、以平台為基礎的方法，正帶領我們進入新的消費情境。我們持續投資以提升品牌相關性，並進行更大、更具創意的市場投資。同時，我們也在打造敏捷性，以實現 20 億美元的總效率提升，並尋求釋放更多效益。我們持續償還債務、改善淨槓桿，並持續投資於我們最重要的資產——我們的員工。

And as we mentioned in our remarks, we have done all of this while delivering better 2021 results than previously expected, which speaks to the strength of our business.

正如我們在發言中提到的，我們在做到上述所有事項的同時，也交出了優於先前預期的 2021 年業績，這反映了我們業務的韌性與實力。

Well, with that, let's take your questions.

那麼，接下來我們開始回答各位的問題。

(Operator Instructions) And our first question comes from the line of Andrew Lazar with Barclays.

（接線員指示）我們的第一個問題來自 Barclays 的 Andrew Lazar。

My question is actually for Rafa, if I could. We've been taking a look at some Nielsen trends in some key food categories in the U.S. and Western Europe. And while consumption obviously in the U.S. has certainly remained elevated, trends, at least in some categories in Europe, seem to be decelerating meaningfully, or I guess, normalizing is a better word for it, as those markets reopen at a faster pace than what we've seen here in the U.S.

如果可以的話，我的問題其實是要問 Rafa。我們一直在觀察美國與西歐一些主要食品品類的尼爾森（Nielsen）趨勢。雖然美國的消費顯然仍維持在較高水準，但至少在歐洲的某些品類中，趨勢似乎明顯放緩——或者說，用「正常化」來形容可能更貼切——因為那些市場的重啟速度比我們在美國看到的更快。

So I'm curious if KHC has seen this dynamic play out at all for the company. And if you see maybe certain trends in Europe as a fair leading indicator of what's to come in the U.S. around stickiness of demand, or if maybe there are some differences suggesting that's not a great set of data points to necessarily use to compare.

因此我想了解，KHC 是否也看到這種動態在公司層面出現？以及您是否認為歐洲的某些趨勢可以作為美國未來需求黏著度的合理領先指標；或者是否存在一些差異，使得這些數據點不太適合用來做比較。

Andrew, Rafa here. Thanks for the question. I mean from an overall market perspective in Western Europe, we have seen indeed more of a return to pre-pandemic consumption patterns than in other developed markets. That said, I mean it varies quite a bit per category, and we are seeing much greater stickiness in our Taste Elevation platforms as the consumers kind of continue to look to us to elevate their meals, right? And this is quite positive, to be honest, to us, because if you recall, I mean, we have 3 key pillars on our international growth strategy: our Taste Elevation platform; emerging markets; and foodservice channel, right?

Andrew，我是 Rafa。謝謝你的問題。從西歐整體市場角度來看，我們確實看到相較於其他已開發市場，西歐的消費型態更回到疫情前的模式。不過，這在不同品類之間差異很大；而在我們的「Taste Elevation」平台上，我們看到更強的需求黏著度，因為消費者持續依賴我們來提升他們的餐食體驗，對吧？坦白說，這對我們是相當正面的，因為如你所記得的，我們國際成長策略有三大支柱：Taste Elevation 平台；新興市場；以及餐飲服務（foodservice）通路，對吧？

So this demand stickiness in Taste Elevation, I mean, we continue to see favorable levels of consumption, growth and absolute terms on the platform and which is a platform we are focusing at, right? So we continue to see Taste Elevation demand sustaining. And in foodservice, in particular, Western Europe is rebounding very fast. I mean it's approaching 2019 levels. So -- and on top of this, we have been gaining our share in almost every market we operate in foodservice, right? So it's another strength.

因此，在 Taste Elevation 的需求黏著度方面，我們持續看到有利的消費水準、成長，以及該平台的絕對規模表現——而這正是我們聚焦的平台，對吧？所以我們仍看到 Taste Elevation 的需求維持。至於餐飲服務方面，特別是在西歐，復甦非常快，已接近 2019 年水準。此外，我們在幾乎每一個經營餐飲服務的市場都在提升市占，對吧？這也是另一項優勢。

So as I said, overall, it's true as most of the market is coming back to pre-pandemic. In some platforms, they continue to be very strong and that has played out favorably for us, Taste Elevation.

所以如我所說，整體而言，市場大多確實正在回到疫情前；但在某些平台上，需求仍然非常強勁，而這對我們來說呈現了有利的發展——也就是 Taste Elevation。

And our next question comes from the line of Jason English with Goldman Sachs.

下一個問題來自 Goldman Sachs 的 Jason English。

I guess I'll lean into price a little bit. You reiterated the comment today that -- or in the prepared remarks that you expect the price to catch up with cost by the end of the year. Can you confirm that that's not just ingredient costs, but that's sort of the total supply chain pressure?

我想稍微深入談一下價格。你們今天重申——或者在事先準備的發言中重申——你們預期到今年年底價格會追上成本。你能否確認，這不僅是指原料成本，而是涵蓋整體供應鏈壓力？

And then looking at Slide 8, is it fair to look at that as sort of a price index? So to say you came into the year with an index around 103 and you plan to exit a bit north of 106, you'll be carrying around 3 points of price into next year? Or is that 106 a bit of an average and the real exit rate is closer to 107 or 108?

另外，看第 8 張投影片，把它視為某種價格指數是否合理？也就是說，你們年初的指數大約在 103，計畫在年底略高於 106，等於把大約 3 個點的價格帶入明年？還是說 106 比較像平均值，而實際的年底退出水準更接近 107 或 108？

Jason, Paulo here. Let me try to help with this question. We expect to see a similar level of inflation at the beginning of '22 as we're seeing now in the second half of '21, okay? Most of the inflation that we're going to see is carryover for '21. We expect to enter '22 having executed the price plan that protects our profitability from current levels of cost -- current levels of costs that we are seeing now. And this should address the inflation that we expect in '22, okay? So we are seeing our execution of pricing, protecting our profitability, given the cost levels that we're seeing now and this should protect our profitability when we enter into '22.

Jason，我是 Paulo。我來嘗試協助回答這個問題。我們預期 2022 年初的通膨水準，將與 2021 年下半年目前看到的水準相近，好嗎？我們將看到的大部分通膨，都是 2021 年延續到 2022 年的影響。我們預期在進入 2022 年時，已執行完成能夠保護我們獲利能力的定價計畫，以因應我們目前看到的成本水準——也就是我們現在看到的成本水準。這應能應對我們在 2022 年所預期的通膨，好嗎？因此，我們看到定價執行正在在目前成本水準下保護我們的獲利能力，而這也應能在我們進入 2022 年時保護獲利能力。

Okay. So we're probably looking at something closer to a mid-single-digit pricing as we enter next year if you're carrying high single digit as a percentage of COGS. That's just the math on that, is that unreasonable?

好的。所以如果你們以銷貨成本（COGS）百分比來看承受的是高個位數，那麼進入明年時，可能會看到更接近中個位數的定價幅度？就數學來看是這樣，這樣的推論是否不合理？

Listen, I don't want to get into the act of forecasting our pricing. But I can tell you that the actions that we are taking now will protect the inflation that we are seeing and it will protect our profitability from this inflation that we are seeing in the current cost levels, and this could put us in a good position to enter '22.

聽著，我不想進入預測我們定價的狀態。但我可以告訴你，我們現在採取的行動將能因應我們所看到的通膨，並在目前成本水準下，保護我們的獲利能力免受這些通膨影響，而這可能讓我們在進入 2022 年時處於良好位置。

Just complementing what Paulo is saying. I think that if eventually more inflation comes, well, we'll have to take action.

補充 Paulo 的說法。我認為如果最終出現更多通膨，那麼我們就必須採取行動。

Sure. Sure. It makes sense. It makes sense. And congrats on the pricing success so far. It's better than I expected.

當然。當然。這很合理。這很合理。也恭喜你們目前為止的定價成果，比我預期的更好。

And our next question comes from the line of Pamela Kaufman with Morgan Stanley.

下一個問題來自 Morgan Stanley 的 Pamela Kaufman。

Can you elaborate on what drove the sequential softening in market share trends that you highlighted? Has that primarily been driven by the capacity constraints? Or have there been other competitive dynamics contributing to the share performance? And then how are you addressing the capacity constraints that you highlighted? And I guess what do you see is driving improved share performance going forward?

你能否進一步說明你們提到的市占趨勢逐季走弱是由什麼驅動的？這主要是由產能限制所造成的嗎？還是有其他競爭動態也在影響市占表現？另外，你們如何解決所提到的產能限制？以及你們認為未來市占表現改善的驅動因素是什麼？

Let me -- thank you, Pamela, for the question. I imagine a lot of those questions you had in there. I think there were 3 accounted, but they were related to the U.S., so I'll take it.

讓我——謝謝你，Pamela，提出這個問題。我想你在裡面問了很多問題。我認為大概有三個，但都與美國相關，所以我來回答。

I guess for me, I would say, yes, first of all, the way I think about the business is we want to make sure we continue to drive household penetration and repeat rates, which we are doing. And -- well, there were some short-term share pressures in during the back-to-school as really the demand really outgrew our capacity in a few categories.

我想就我而言，我會說，是的，首先，我看待這項業務的方式是：我們要確保持續推動家庭滲透率與重複購買率，而我們確實正在這麼做。而且——嗯，在返校季期間確實出現了一些短期的市占壓力，因為需求在少數品類中確實超出了我們的產能。

Over the long term, the fact that we are driving household penetration and repeat rates shows the strength of our portfolio and interest of our business and how we are actually managed through all that. But I would say, yes, to that. I'm very much focused on making sure that we win by maximizing the controllables. And our recipe for winning is to essentially consistently focus on satisfying the consumer needs better than anyone else, and it doesn't matter exactly what's happening at this particular moment.

從長期來看，我們正在推動家庭滲透率與重複購買率，這一事實顯示出我們產品組合的實力、我們業務的吸引力，以及我們如何在這一切之中實際進行管理。但我會說，是的，確實如此。我非常專注於確保我們能透過把可控因素最大化來取勝。而我們的致勝配方，本質上就是持續專注於比任何人都更好地滿足消費者需求，而在這個特定時點究竟發生了什麼，其實並不那麼重要。

As we go forward, I'll tell you, I see 3 specific advantage that for us, it's going to be our play in which we're going to win. We have continued to renovate our portfolio. We have controlled the cost in our brands so that we can optimize the value with our -- for our consumers. And really, that is the best recipe for us to kind of withstand against anyone else coming, any competition that comes in. And essentially, what we're doing, we are increasing the equation of what it's worth buying for at the shelf.

展望未來，我可以告訴你，我看到 3 個具體優勢，對我們而言，這將是我們取勝的打法。我們持續翻新我們的產品組合。我們控制品牌成本，以便為我們的消費者優化價值。而且，這確實是我們能夠抵禦任何後進者、任何競爭進入的最佳配方。基本上，我們正在提高在貨架上「值得購買」的價值方程式。

The second advantage we have also is we're making sure that we are differentiated at each rung of a price ladder, whether it's entry to mainstream, to premium, so that consumers can stay within our franchise even as their circumstances might change. And if you think about Mac & Cheese, we've got everywhere from an Easy Mac to the original version for consumers.

我們的第二個優勢是，我們確保在價格階梯的每一個層級都具備差異化，無論是入門、主流到高端，讓消費者即使在自身情況改變時，也能留在我們的品牌體系內。以通心粉起司（Mac & Cheese）為例，我們從 Easy Mac 到原始版本，覆蓋各類消費者需求。

And then the third piece I would say is, we are transforming our portfolio through all these divestitures that actually have significantly reduced our private label exposure. So we have continued to renovate and manage our cost. We have continued to bring -- making sure that we have differentiated products within our categories, no matter what the circumstances of the consumers are. And we have a portfolio that is much reduced versus private label.

第三點我會說，我們正透過這些資產剝離來轉型我們的產品組合，而這些舉措已大幅降低我們對自有品牌（private label）的曝險。因此，我們持續翻新並管理成本；我們也持續推進——確保在各個品類中，不論消費者處於何種情境，我們都擁有具差異化的產品。同時，我們的產品組合相較於自有品牌的比重已大幅降低。

And frankly, we continue to see opportunities to capture profitable growth, focusing on our consumer platforms. So we are executing with excellence and leveraging this broad renovation, innovation and the rest of creating that our teams are doing.

坦白說，我們仍持續看到把握獲利性成長的機會，並聚焦於我們的消費者平台。因此，我們以卓越執行落地，並善用這一系列廣泛的翻新、創新以及我們團隊正在推動的其他創造性工作。

I think, Pamela, you also spoke -- a part of your question dealt about the supply chain constraints that we're seeing. I think the way I would look at it is across the industry, we are seeing a supply chain that is being tested on a daily basis. But what I will say is our supply chain team has been very agile, taking advantage of our global scale. We're showing agility in labor, in manufacturing, in logistics. And I'll give you some examples of what I mean.

Pamela，我想你也提到——你的問題有一部分談到我們所看到的供應鏈限制。我看待這件事的方式是：整個產業的供應鏈每天都在承受考驗。但我要說的是，我們的供應鏈團隊非常敏捷，並善用我們的全球規模。我們在人力、製造與物流方面都展現出敏捷性。我給你一些例子說明我的意思。

We are reducing the amount of time to hire and significantly increase the applicant pool by leveraging new digital tools at Kraft Heinz. We are improving the flexibility in terms of the materials that are available with really an ownership mindset across sales, procurement and manufacturing. And those things will change in our plans, 39 of them across the U.S., sometimes on a weekly basis. And then in logistics, we've actually increased the throughput on warehouses by shifting more of how we operate 24/7 and increasing the automation since the pre-pandemic time.

我們透過在卡夫亨氏（Kraft Heinz）導入新的數位工具，縮短招募所需時間並大幅擴大應徵者來源。我們也以真正的主人翁心態，跨銷售、採購與製造部門提升可用物料的彈性。這些事項會反映在我們的計畫中——在美國共有 39 項，有時甚至每週都會調整。至於物流方面，我們透過將更多營運轉為 24/7 並自疫情前就持續提升自動化，實際上已提高倉庫的吞吐量。

So having said that, I will tell you that we do have a good line of sight of continuing to improve our customer service levels as we move forward. And because, frankly, restoring the top-tier customer service to the pre-pandemic level is a continued focus for us and entire team. And thanks for your question, Pamela.

話雖如此，我可以告訴你，隨著我們向前推進，我們對於持續改善客戶服務水準有相當清晰的掌握。因為坦白說，將一流的客戶服務恢復到疫情前水準，仍是我們與整個團隊持續聚焦的重點。謝謝你的提問，Pamela。

Pamela, you also asked about moving forward in terms of capacity. On top of everything that Carlos is saying, I just want to add that we have been adding capacity. We increased substantially our Heinz ketchup capacity; Mac & Cheese; on frozen snacks, Delimex and Bagel Bites; on Claussen cucumbers; on meal; and on kids' juices. So it's -- this investment in capacity is a great proof on our belief about the demand for our products in the future.

Pamela，你也問到未來在產能方面的推進。在 Carlos 所說的一切之外，我只想補充，我們一直在增加產能。我們大幅提升了亨氏番茄醬產能；Mac & Cheese；冷凍點心方面的 Delimex 與 Bagel Bites；Claussen 醃黃瓜；餐食（meal）；以及兒童果汁。因此——這些產能投資，是我們對未來產品需求信念的有力證明。

And our next question comes from the line of Bryan Spillane with Bank of America.

下一個問題來自美國銀行（Bank of America）的 Bryan Spillane。

So my question is, I guess, tied to some of these themes here, just in terms of inflation and pricing and margins. And maybe if we could just step back pre -- all of this inflation and pre-COVID, right, there was a transformation in your supply chain, which -- that work has started. And as we kind of look at gross margins or profitability at the gross profit line, you've held up pretty well, right, relative to your peers, if anything, probably a little bit better.

我的問題我想與這裡的一些主題相關，主要是通膨、定價與利潤率。也許我們可以退一步看，在這波通膨之前、在 COVID 之前，對吧，你們的供應鏈曾進行一項轉型，而那項工作已經開始。當我們看毛利率或以毛利線衡量的獲利能力時，你們表現得相當不錯，對吧，相較同業而言，如果有的話，可能還略好一些。

So I guess, as we're kind of thinking about profitability going forward, knowing that there's some pricing that's coming through to cover inflation. But how much are you also still benefiting incrementally from some of the supply chain work you've done? And how much of that is going to be also a contributor to helping to offset all of the inflation and supply chain disruptions?

所以我想，在思考未來獲利能力時，考量到有一些定價正在落地以覆蓋通膨，你們在多大程度上仍能從先前已完成的供應鏈工作中獲得邊際上的額外效益？而其中又有多少會成為抵消通膨與供應鏈干擾的貢獻來源？

So Bryan, let me start here and then we can maybe build -- someone else here can build on top of my answer. What you said is true, like when we come back to when the time that in 2019, when we disclosed our strategy, beginning of 2020, the -- we were very focused on improving our gross profit over time. And in order to do that, we developed many programs in terms of efficiencies in supply chain, in terms of focusing on leads. Also pricing -- new pricing strategy and revenue management strategy, and this is taking place. You can see that today, with all the inflationary pressure that we're seeing and the gap that we have in between the pricing realization and the cost inflation, we are keeping the gross profit margin the same level that we have at pre-pandemic. And this gives us a lot of confidence in our plan going forward. So I would say that our strategy to improve profitability to gross profit margin is working.

Bryan，我先從這裡開始，然後我們也許可以再延伸——其他人也可以在我的回答之上補充。你說得沒錯：回到 2019 年我們揭露策略、以及 2020 年初的那段時間，我們非常專注於隨時間提升毛利。為了做到這一點，我們在供應鏈效率方面制定了許多計畫，也在聚焦於「leads」方面（原文如此）。另外還有定價——新的定價策略與營收管理策略，而這些都正在發生。你今天可以看到，在我們面臨的通膨壓力之下，以及定價實現與成本通膨之間存在缺口的情況下，我們仍將毛利率維持在疫情前的同一水準。這讓我們對未來的計畫非常有信心。所以我會說，我們提升獲利能力、改善毛利率的策略正在奏效。

Yes. What I would add, too, and you think about our overall progress in our transformation, it's both in terms of some of the things that you heard from Miguel earlier. We are, in fact, making a significant push on fast track and critical projects in our capacity.

是的。我也想補充，當你思考我們整體轉型的進展時，這同時體現在你先前從 Miguel 聽到的一些事項上。我們確實正在大力推進產能方面的快速通道（fast track）與關鍵專案。

So I think Miguel gave you some examples, I'll give you a couple more, which is if you think about ketchup, the fact that in Heinz, Dip & Squeeze kind of such a small package, we have nearly doubled our capacity by the end of next year. If you think about Mac & Cheese, by the second half of next year, we've actually increased about 20% of our cups capacity. And even in frozen snacks, by -- also by second half of next year, we will have increased about 1/3 of our capacity in areas like Delimex. And -- so both across -- these are some of the examples of things that we saw earlier in the pandemic, we may fast track in our projects, and we continue to do that. More work to do ahead.

我想 Miguel 已給了你一些例子，我再補充幾個：以番茄醬為例，在亨氏（Heinz）Dip & Squeeze 這種小包裝上，我們到明年年底前幾乎把產能翻倍。以 Mac & Cheese 為例，到明年下半年，我們的杯裝產能實際上提升了約 20%。即便在冷凍點心方面——同樣到明年下半年——我們在 Delimex 等領域的產能將提升約 1/3。這些都是一些例子：在疫情早期我們看到需求後，可能會把專案加速推進（fast track），而我們也持續這麼做。未來還有更多工作要做。

The other way I look at it is in terms of our -- how do we make sure we get more of our utilization of our assets. And for me, things like improving our OEE, which we have now done '20 versus '21 -- I'm sorry, '20 versus '19, '21 versus '20, it is also the way that we're going to continue to make sure that as we go forward, we attack it in both ways, making sure that we are being smart about investing in our capacity, and that we are getting more of our assets through improvements in our OEE. So thanks for your question, Bryan.

我看待這件事的另一個角度，是我們——如何確保更充分地利用我們的資產。對我而言，像是提升我們的 OEE（整體設備效率），我們現在已經做到——'20 相較於 '21——抱歉，是 '20 相較於 '19、'21 相較於 '20；這也是我們未來持續推進的方式，確保我們往前走時能從兩個面向同時著手：一方面在產能投資上做出明智決策，另一方面透過提升 OEE 來更充分運用我們的資產。謝謝你的提問，Bryan。

And our next question comes from the line of Robert Moskow with Crédit Suisse.

下一個問題來自瑞士信貸（Crédit Suisse）的 Robert Moskow。

I just wanted to try to square the outlook for 2022 slide with your comments about pricing catching up to costs. Because if pricing is really catching up to costs, that would imply that your EBITDA growth on a core basis, ex divestitures, should be able to grow in 2022. So if you're confident enough that the pricing is really catching up, why not take the extra step and talk about it in your outlook? As it stands, the slide is pretty general. It says that things are going to be stronger than you thought post pandemic. But I'm not quite sure it points to EBITDA growth on a core basis yet.

我想嘗試把你們對 2022 年展望的投影片，與你們關於定價正在追上成本的評論對齊。因為如果定價真的在追上成本，那就意味著你們在核心基礎上、剔除資產剝離影響後的 EBITDA 成長，在 2022 年應該能夠成長。所以如果你們有足夠信心認為定價確實在追上，為什麼不在展望中再往前一步談得更明確？就目前而言，那張投影片相當概括，只是說疫情後的情況會比你們原先想的更強。但我還不太確定它是否已指向核心基礎上的 EBITDA 成長。

Rob, so let me start saying that we are not providing guidance for '22, and we are not providing also at this time any outlook for '22 besides the one that we shared. We can say that we are very confident with our path, and we are very confident about our ability to retain consumers and retain volume that we are having today. And we are also confident in our ability to sustain the strong margins that we have.

Rob，我先說明，我們不提供 '22 的指引（guidance），目前也不會提供除我們已分享內容之外的任何 '22 展望。我們可以說的是，我們對我們的路徑非常有信心，也對我們保留消費者、維持目前的銷量（volume）的能力非常有信心。同時，我們也有信心維持我們目前的強勁利潤率。

We -- our focus here is to protect the margin dollars from inflation, as we mentioned. And again, to give you a little bit more color, you can say that, and also we share that in Q3, and we discussed that in Q3, we had lower than run rate percentage margins. And we expect these margins to improve as price realization comes, but that is as far as we go in 2022.

我們——如同我們提到的，我們在這裡的重點是保護毛利金額不受通膨侵蝕。再一次，為了讓各位更具體了解，你可以這麼說：我們也在第三季分享並討論過，第三季我們的百分比毛利率低於常態運行水準。我們預期隨著價格落地（price realization）逐步實現，這些毛利率將會改善，但這就是我們在 2022 年所能提供的範圍。

We are very confident with the fact that we have -- we are in a better space. We're a better company in a better space with stronger consumption and with confidence in our ability to price the short-term inflation that we are seeing.

我們非常有信心，因為我們——我們正處於更好的賽道，是一家更好的公司，所在領域的消費力更強，並且我們有信心能夠透過定價來因應我們目前看到的短期通膨。

And our next question comes from the line of Chris Growe with Stifel.

下一個問題來自 Stifel 的 Chris Growe。

I just had a question for you in relation to promotions, and you've talked about how you're rebuilding promotions in your business, especially in the U.S. I think you talked about a normalized promotional environment. So I just want to understand, and this kind of gets back to a degree around pricing, as you recover promotions, especially against the period a year ago, where they were lower, can you achieve price realization on a net basis that offsets inflation? And maybe related to that, would that rebuilding a promotion, recovering promotion, continue in the first half of 2022, maybe a bit of an offset to the pricing you're taking at retail?

我有一個關於促銷的問題。你們談到正在重建業務中的促銷，尤其是在美國。我想你們提到一個正常化的促銷環境。所以我想了解的是，這在某種程度上也回到定價：當你們恢復促銷、特別是相較於一年前促銷較低的期間，你們是否能在淨額基礎上實現價格落地，以抵消通膨？另外相關的是，這種重建促銷、恢復促銷的動作，是否會在 2022 年上半年持續，並可能在某種程度上抵消你們在零售端採取的漲價？

So Chris, let me answer that and try to explain, I think, a couple of things you mentioned in your question. First, let me just put in the context of the transformation that we've been having here in Kraft Heinz. I mean, if you think back, a critical aspect of our transformation is a consumer-first approach to all that we do, so -- which essentially is why our plan is to invest behind our consumer platforms during those event windows where actually consumers are looking to us for solutions.

Chris，我來回答並嘗試解釋你問題中提到的幾點。首先，我先把它放在我們卡夫亨氏正在進行的轉型背景下來看。回想一下，我們轉型的一個關鍵面向，是對我們所做的一切採取「消費者優先」的方法——這本質上也是為什麼我們的計畫是在那些事件窗口（event windows）期間，當消費者實際上在尋求我們提供解決方案時，去投資支持我們的消費者平台。

So if we think about the gains that we have made so far, the fact that we have continued to drive brand household penetration and repeat rate, it is exactly because we have done that. We have been able to make sure that in moments during the year that consumers are looking for those specific solutions that we can offer, essentially the scale of what we -- of our products in a way that satisfies the needs better than anyone else. And we have been and expect to be, as we look into 2022, more active with better execution than 2020 during this critical windows, but clearly not as deep as we were in 2019.

如果我們回顧迄今為止取得的成果——我們持續推動品牌的家庭滲透率與回購率——正是因為我們這麼做。我們能確保在一年中那些消費者尋找特定解決方案的時刻，我們能提供相應方案；本質上，是以我們產品的規模優勢來滿足需求，而且做得比任何人都好。展望 2022 年，我們已經並預期將在這些關鍵窗口更積極、執行得比 2020 年更好，但顯然不會像 2019 年那樣促銷力度那麼深。

And frankly, we continue to see opportunities to capture that growth. So as we are going to move forward, we are going to remain diligent on making sure it satisfies our consumer needs better than everyone else, guided by our platform and our renewed focus on making sure that, again, everything we do as part of our transformation with that consumer-first approach. Thank you.

坦白說，我們仍然看到抓住這些成長的機會。因此，隨著我們往前推進，我們會持續嚴謹地確保我們比任何人都更能滿足消費者需求，並以我們的平台為指引，並重新聚焦於確保——再次強調——我們轉型的一切作為都以消費者優先的方法來推動。謝謝。

And our next question comes from the line of Alexia Howard with Bernstein.

下一個問題來自 Bernstein 的 Alexia Howard。

Okay, so in your prepared remarks, you alluded to an appetite for more acquisitions in the emerging markets. I think you referenced the Assan Foods and the Hemmer deals that you've done so far. Can you talk a little bit about what additional or where you're focused in terms of potential future deals? Are there particular categories, particular regions that you're looking at? Can you say anything about the kind of scale of the pipeline in terms of would you be looking just at tuck-ins or potentially something more medium size?

好的，所以在你們的事先準備講稿中，你們提到對新興市場進一步併購的意願。我想你們提到了目前已完成的 Assan Foods 與 Hemmer 交易。你們能否談談未來潛在交易的額外方向或聚焦點？是否有特定品類、特定區域是你們在看的？另外，就管線規模而言，你們能否說明你們是只會看小型補強型併購（tuck-ins），還是也可能考慮中等規模的交易？

Sure. Sure, Alexia. Maybe I can comment and then give the word to Rafael since he is responsible for emerging markets, among other things.

當然。當然，Alexia。也許我先評論一下，然後把話交給 Rafael，因為他除了其他職責外，也負責新興市場。

We have, of course, today a portfolio that is better than we had 2 years ago, and a much stronger balance sheet. And with that comes more flexibility, right? And you are right, I think that if we have opportunities for acquisitions, we'll look at them, and always with price discipline.

當然，我們目前的產品組合比兩年前更好，資產負債表也強健得多。這也帶來更大的彈性，對吧？你說得沒錯，我認為如果有併購機會，我們會去看，而且始終會保持價格紀律。

We like a lot to follow our strategy. And as a consequence, Taste Elevation, which is really one of the critical strategic pillars of the strategy of the international zone, is in the place where we are looking for opportunities. And that helps also Foodservice business. So like the Assan business in Turkey that we acquired is a leading company in foodservice, and we expect to grow to the retailers with that base in Turkey as well.

我們非常希望遵循我們的策略。因此，Taste Elevation（風味升級）——這確實是國際區策略中一個關鍵的策略支柱——正是我們尋找機會的領域。這也能幫助餐飲服務（Foodservice）業務。就像我們在土耳其收購的 Assan 業務，是餐飲服務領域的領先公司，我們也預期以土耳其作為基礎，進一步拓展到零售通路。

And I'll give the microphone, the word to Rafael, so he can give you more color about areas that we are looking at.

我把麥克風——把話交給 Rafael，讓他為你補充更多我們正在關注的領域細節。

Yes. I mean the reason we are so excited about Assan, about Hemmer is exactly, as Miguel said, its own strategy, right? They are, I mean, strong margin categories in the right countries. As you said, Taste Elevation and emerging markets, those are -- and foodservice, those are the pillars for our strategy, and what they can enable us in the future. I mean, each of those 2 businesses, I mentioned Assan and Hemmer, they are just short of $100 million each. But with Assan, I mean, we will not only be able build Heinz as a bigger brand in Turkey, but we'll have capacity to grow much faster across the Middle East.

是的。我們之所以對 Assan、對 Hemmer 感到非常興奮，正如 Miguel 所說，完全是因為它們符合我們的策略，對吧？它們——也就是說——是在正確國家、具備高毛利的品類。正如你提到的，Taste Elevation 與新興市場——以及餐飲服務——這些都是我們策略的支柱，也是它們未來能為我們帶來的能力。我是說，這兩個業務——我提到的 Assan 和 Hemmer——各自規模都略低於 1 億美元。但以 Assan 而言，我們不僅能把 Heinz 在土耳其打造為更大的品牌，也將有能力在中東地區更快速成長。

And with Hemmer, I mean, Hemmer, we have announced, but we are now waiting for regulatory approval, we will not only strengthen our distribution, especially in the south of Brazil, we'll be able to participate in much more the value ladders of the chain within Taste Elevation. And we can really leverage their portfolio to build our scale faster, I mean, in retail and the foodservice channel. So they are definitely like, again, as I said, on strategy, and that's what makes us the most exciting is Taste Elevation and within the core emerging markets that we want to grow at and we see a lot of opportunities.

至於 Hemmer，我是說，我們已經宣布 Hemmer 的交易，但目前正在等待監管核准。我們不僅會強化我們的配送能力，特別是在巴西南部，也能在 Taste Elevation 的價值階梯（value ladders）中更深入參與整個鏈條。我們也能真正運用他們的產品組合，更快建立我們的規模——無論是在零售或餐飲服務通路。因此它們確實——再次如我所說——非常符合策略；而最令我們興奮的是 Taste Elevation，以及我們希望加速成長的核心新興市場，在那裡我們看到很多機會。

And our next question comes from the line of Ken Goldman with JPMorgan.

下一個問題來自 JPMorgan 的 Ken Goldman。

A couple of U.S.-based food producers have suffered through some worker strikes recently. I'm just curious how you're feeling about your labor relations in general at the moment? And I guess how investors should think about the risk, if there is any, of Kraft Heinz, perhaps facing some incremental challenges on this front?

最近有幾家以美國為主的食品生產商遭遇了一些員工罷工。我想了解你們目前對整體勞資關係的感受如何？另外，我想投資人應該如何看待卡夫亨氏在這方面可能面臨的風險——如果有的話——是否可能出現一些額外挑戰？

Ken, thanks for your question. I'm obviously not going to speak to anybody else's business. What I'll tell you is that our teams, as I mentioned earlier, have shown tremendous agility of making sure that we are, in fact, continue to have a focus on engagement of our workforce.

Ken，謝謝你的問題。我顯然不會評論其他公司的業務。我能告訴你的是，正如我先前提到的，我們的團隊展現了極大的敏捷性，確保我們確實持續聚焦於提升員工隊伍的投入度（engagement）。

As we sit here today, what I'll tell you is that we have seen pockets of some places where we've had some labor challenges in terms of shortages, but also they have been very much focused on a few in isolated occasions. As we move forward, I am actually confident that we have been able to actually and will continue to manage through specific areas where there have been some isolated situations in which we have had some labor shortages, but in a way that is actually not a concern for us on a regular basis or on an ongoing basis as we move forward.

就我們今天所處的狀況而言，我能告訴你的是，我們確實在某些地點看到一些勞動力方面的挑戰，主要是人力短缺，但這些情況非常集中在少數、且屬於零星個案。展望未來，我其實有信心，我們已經能夠、也將持續能夠管理那些特定領域中出現的零星人力短缺情況，而且這並不會成為我們在日常或持續營運上的常態性疑慮。

So actually, I feel very good about where we are and how we continue to monitor this in an agile way. I don't know, anything else you wanted to build on, Miguel?

所以其實，我對我們目前的狀況以及我們如何以敏捷方式持續監控這件事感覺很好。我不知道，Miguel，你還有什麼想補充的嗎？

No. I think that the only thing I would add is that we've been working hard to improve the engagement of the company overall. And that brings us more confidence about the possible labor issues for the future. And at this moment, we don't see any risk of a strike, but that doesn't mean that that's not possible. But -- so we are confident about that.

沒有。我想我唯一要補充的是，我們一直努力提升公司整體的員工投入度。這讓我們對未來可能出現的勞動力議題更有信心。而在此刻，我們看不到任何罷工風險，但這不代表不可能發生。不過——所以我們對此是有信心的。

Yes. No, I think -- as Miguel said, I think -- yes. No, I think we're in a good position and really feel good about our -- the way, kind of, our teams have handled it. And with agility, they have shown during this really difficult time. So thank you.

是的。沒有，我想——如 Miguel 所說，我想——是的。沒有，我想我們處於一個很好的位置，並且對我們——某種程度上——團隊在這段非常艱難的期間所展現的處理方式感到很放心。他們展現了敏捷性。所以謝謝。

So I think we're about out of time there. So we'll end it there. Thanks, everyone, for joining us today. And for anybody who has follow-up questions, IR will be available to take your questions. And for anybody in the media, Kathy Krenger and her team will be available for your follow-ups. So thanks, everyone, and have a great day.

我想我們差不多到時間了，所以我們就到這裡結束。感謝各位今天加入。如果有人有後續問題，投資人關係（IR）團隊會提供協助並回答各位的問題。媒體朋友方面，Kathy Krenger 和她的團隊也會協助各位後續提問。謝謝大家，祝各位有美好的一天。

Thank you.

謝謝。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. And you may all disconnect. Everyone, have a great day.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝各位參與。各位現在可以掛線。祝大家有美好的一天。