億滋國際 (MDLZ) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, and welcome to the Mondelez International 2025 third-quarter earnings question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions)

下午好，歡迎參加億滋國際2025年第三季財報問答環節。（操作說明）

On today's call are Dirk Van de Put, Chairman and CEO; Luca Zaramella, CFO; and Shep Dunlap, SVP of Investor Relations.

參加今天電話會議的有：董事長兼執行長 Dirk Van de Put；財務長 Luca Zaramella；以及投資者關係高級副總裁 Shep Dunlap。

Earlier this afternoon, the company posted a press release and prepared remarks, both of which are available on its website.

今天下午早些時候，該公司發布了一份新聞稿和一份準備好的講話稿，這兩份文件都可以在其網站上找到。

During this call, the company will make forward-looking statements about performance. These statements are based on how the company sees things today. Actual results may differ materially due to risks and uncertainties. Please refer to the cautionary statements and risk factors conained in the company's 10-K, 10-Q, and 8-K filings for more details on forward-looking statements.

在本次電話會議中，本公司將對業績做出前瞻性陳述。這些說法是基於公司目前的看法。由於風險和不確定因素，實際結果可能與預期有重大差異。有關前瞻性聲明的更多詳情，請參閱本公司 10-K、10-Q 和 8-K 文件中包含的警示性聲明和風險因素。

As the company discusses results today, unless noted as reported, it will be referencing non-GAAP financial measures, which adjust for certain items included in the company's GAAP results. In addition, the company provides year-over-year growth on a constant currency basis unless otherwise noted.

公司今天在討論業績時，除非另有說明，否則將參考非GAAP財務指標，這些指標會根據公司GAAP業績中包含的某些項目進行調整。此外，除非另有說明，本公司提供的年比成長率均以固定匯率計算。

You can find the comparable GAAP measures and GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliations within the company's earnings release and at the back of the slide presentation.

您可以在公司的獲利報告中以及投影片簡報的背面找到可比較的 GAAP 指標以及 GAAP 與非 GAAP 的調整表。

Andrew Lazar, Barclays.

安德魯·拉扎爾，巴克萊銀行。

Dirk, maybe to start off, I was hoping you could talk a bit more in depth about Europe, how you're seeing things as you sort of close the year and into next, particularly when it comes to pricing that's been landed and movements sort of that you deem that you need to make, as you mentioned, price gap management in certain European markets?

Dirk，首先，我希望你能更深入地談談歐洲市場，你如何看待今年即將結束以及明年即將到來之際的情況，特別是關於已經確定的價格以及你認為需要採取的措施，正如你提到的，在某些歐洲市場進行價格差距管理？

Yes, hello, Andrew. So I would say, if I start with the consumer in Europe, I would say the consumer confidence remains, in general, stable, unchanged versus the last quarter. If I look at our biscuits, cakes and pastries and meals business, they're all performing well, where we have share growth and volume/mix growth. And if I look at it from an overall Europe perspective, I would say the category is performing generally in line -- the chocolate categories in general, in line with expectations.

是的，你好，安德魯。所以，如果我從歐洲消費者的情況說起，我會說，整體而言，消費者信心保持穩定，與上一季相比沒有變化。如果我看一下我們的餅乾、蛋糕、糕點和餐點業務，它們都表現良好，市場份額和銷售/產品組合均有所增長。如果從整個歐洲的角度來看，我認為該品類整體表現符合預期──巧克力品類整體表現符合預期。

We've seen the cocoa situation. As you know, we had to do quite substantial price increases in the order of about 30%. And so broadly speaking, I would say the chocolate business is fine, but we are clearly seeing a couple of pockets of pressure that we need to address. These are caused sometimes by competitive situations where our competitors did not increase their pricing as much as we did, largely because they are private companies.

我們已經看到了可可的情況。如您所知，我們不得不大幅提價，漲幅約為 30%。總的來說，我認為巧克力產業整體狀況良好，但我們顯然看到了一些需要解決的壓力點。有時，這是由於競爭情況造成的，我們的競爭對手並沒有像我們一樣大幅提高價格，這主要是因為他們是私人公司。

And the other thing I would say is that in certain markets, the retailers also suddenly took more margin than they have historically done. So we're fixing these problems. I wouldn't say it's a structural issue, but we need to be -- deal with, and that has caused a difference in what we were expecting for this quarter in Europe.

另外，我想說的是，在某些市場，零售商的利潤率也突然比以往更高了。所以我們正在解決這些問題。我不會說這是一個結構性問題，但我們需要處理這個問題，而這導致了我們本季在歐洲的預期與實際情況有所不同。

I would also mention that as you look at the European situation, there was a heatwave in July, which has affected our volumes, plus we have done some significant downsizing also, which affects our volumes. The two markets where we have these situations are the UK and Germany. We are starting to see a reaction to the repositioning of the price points in certain areas of the portfolio that we have done. And so we are seeing the volume and the share improve as a consequence of that.

我還想提一下，從歐洲的情況來看，7 月出現了熱浪，這影響了我們的銷量，此外，我們也進行了一些大幅度的裁員，這也影響了我們的銷量。目前出現這種情況的兩個市場是英國和德國。我們開始看到市場對我們已對投資組合中某些領域的價格調整產生了反應。因此，我們看到銷量和市場份額都因此而改善。

We've also seen that competition has started to price recently. So that also will help the situation going forward.

我們也看到，最近價格競爭已經開始顯現。這樣也有助於局勢的進一步發展。

Overall, I would say, as I see how the pricing is landing in Europe, elasticity is around 0.7, 0.8, it's higher than we would have expected where -- our thinking was more like 0.4, 0.5. And so we are taking on top of what I already explained to a number of other actions in the sense that we are innovating with new flavors and new formats. We are investing more in A&C. We're driving the seasonals very hard. We're working on promo effectiveness because that's also not playing out sometimes the way we would have expected.

總的來說，我認為，就我目前看到的歐洲定價情況來看，價格彈性在0.7到0.8之間，高於我們預期的0.4到0.5。因此，除了我剛才解釋的措施之外，我們還採取了一些其他措施，例如創新口味和新形式。我們將加大對航空航天與通訊產業的投入。我們正在大力推動季節性員工的工作。我們正在努力提高促銷效果，因為促銷效果有時並沒有達到我們預期的效果。

And largely, our main focus is on hitting the right price points where in certain cases, like on our 300-gram range in chocolate, we passed two key price points, and that was probably a little bit more than the consumer can accept at the moment.

而且，我們的主要關注點在於找到合適的價格點，但在某些情況下，例如我們的 300 克裝巧克力系列，我們跨越了兩個關鍵的價格點，這可能有點超出了消費者目前的接受範圍。

We are, of course, accompanying that with a lot of productivity and cost savings. But overall, I would say, seen the fact that this was the heaviest cocoa cost that we would have in the year from here going forward, we expect a significant improvement. We expect to see a significant improvement in Europe.

當然，同時，我們也獲得了很高的生產力和成本節約。但總的來說，考慮到這是我們今年以來可可成本最高的一年，我們預計未來一段時間內可可價格將大幅下降。我們預計歐洲的情況將有顯著改善。

I hope that helps, Andrew.

希望這對你有幫助，安德魯。

Yes, really thorough. Really appreciate that. And I guess, lastly, with respect to guidance, maybe you could talk briefly about the implied Q4 guidance change, just as I would assume, cocoa is largely been locked in at this point?

是的，非常細緻。非常感謝。最後，關於業績指引，您能否簡要談談第四季度業績指引的隱含變化？我猜想，可可的業績指引目前應該已經基本確定了。

And then what's the key reason behind, I guess, the cut? And then as it relates to '26, can you make reference to being an algorithm and EPS? I was hoping you could add a bit more color on your confidence around this.

那麼，裁員背後的主要原因是什麼呢？那麼，關於“26”，您能否提及一下演算法和 EPS？我希望你能更詳細地闡述你在這方面的自信。

And I guess, more importantly, the sort of the key puts and takes that we should think about when thinking about organic sales growth next year in light of the planned investments that you're making and some of the elasticity concerns.

更重要的是，考慮到你們正在進行的投資計畫以及一些彈性問題，我們在考慮明年有機銷售成長時，應該考慮哪些關鍵的投入和投入。

Thank you, Andrew. I will start by saying that on the '25 guidance, we had a series of impacts that clearly, we weren't anticipating at the time of us giving guidance for 2025. The three main ones are the tariffs and related uncertainty affecting the overall consumer confidence. The second one is the material destocking that happened in the US due to retailers lowering their working capital.

謝謝你，安德魯。首先我要說的是，在2025年的業績指引中，我們遇到了一系列影響，顯然，這些影響是我們當時在給出2025年業績指引時沒有預料到的。三大主要因素是關稅及相關不確定性對整體消費者信心的影響。第二點是由於零售商降低營運資金，導緻美國出現物料去庫存現象。

And the third one clearly was the unprecedented heatwave in Europe. Those elements lowered already, when we talked to you for Q2, our flexibility for the year. With incremental softening of the US biscuit market at the end of Q3, and we saw the market declining in volume terms a little bit more than the previous quarters, and the higher chocolate elasticities in Europe.

第三個顯然是歐洲前所未有的熱浪。這些因素在我們與您討論第二季時就已經降低，這影響了我們今年的靈活性。第三季末，美國餅乾市場逐漸疲軟，銷量下滑幅度比前幾季略大，而歐洲的巧克力市場彈性較高。

Clearly, that caused a volume/mix impact that at this point in time. We don't want to offset by cutting costs and potential growth into next year.

顯然，這造成了銷售/組合方面的影響，而這種影響在目前是存在的。我們不希望透過削減成本來抵消明年的潛在成長。

I think importantly, in the prepared remarks, we give you a sense of all the actions we are taking to improve the volume trend that we see specifically in the US and in Europe. And importantly, we have taken additional pricing in the US. We have confidence in all the plants that we are putting in place around seasonals. I think we call out clear elements of growth in the US like Tate's, the Ventures and Give & Go.

我認為重要的是，在準備好的演講稿中，我們向大家介紹了我們為改善我們在美國和歐洲看到的具體銷售趨勢而採取的所有行動。更重要的是，我們在美國採取了額外的定價策略。我們對圍繞當季植物種植的所有植物都充滿信心。我認為我們指出了美國一些明顯的成長要素，例如 Tate's、The Ventures 和 Give & Go。

And I think when you really look at what the new guidance means in terms of implied Q4, you see a step-up in the top line. [4%] is year-to-date organic net revenue growth, we are guiding you at more than 4%. And importantly, last year, below the line, we had an $0.08 impact in the tax line that is nonrecurring this year.

我認為，當你真正審視新指引對第四季業績的隱含意義時，你會發現營收方面有所提升。 [4%]指的是年初至今的有機淨營收成長，我們預期這一數字將超過4%。更重要的是，去年，在稅項下方，我們產生了 0.08 美元的影響，而今年不會再發生這種情況。

And so the implied EPS growth will translate in an over delivery compared to last year of the EBIT that will be quite good in terms of growth.

因此，隱含的每股盈餘成長將轉化為高於去年的息稅前利潤，就成長而言將相當不錯。

Obviously, as far as '26 goes, it is a little bit premature to put all the pieces together for you at this point in time. We are literally going through the plants. And you might imagine that the big question we are asking ourselves is, what cocoa level are we going to have into next year? As I mentioned a few times, we are well protected and covered. But reality is we have put in place a series of coverage strategies that would allow us to participate cocoa further potential declines.

顯然，就 2026 年而言，現在就把所有事情都安排好還為時過早。我們正在仔細檢查這些植物。您可以想像，我們現在最關心的問題是，明年我們的可可產量會是多少？正如我之前多次提到的，我們有很好的保障和保險。但現實情況是，我們已經制定了一系列應對策略，使我們能夠參與應對可可價格進一步下跌的可能性。

And so we need to understand a little bit better, and we will have a better sense of what the real cocoa impact is going to be for next year. It's certainly going to be positive even if cocoa is trading at a level that is quite higher compared to historical norms.

因此，我們需要更深入地了解情況，才能更好地掌握明年可可的真正影響。即使可可價格遠高於歷史平均水平，也肯定會帶來正面影響。

We feel quite good about the plans we have been reviewing with all the business units in terms of chocolate. We are clearly optimizing GP dollars into next year, in line with our guidelines and how we want to manage the business. The commercial approach to chocolate is quite good. We are doubling down on things that are working really well for us. And obviously, we want to build share, drive consumer value, and protecting penetration.

我們對與所有業務部門共同審查的巧克力相關計劃感到非常滿意。我們顯然正在優化明年的毛利，這符合我們的指導方針以及我們希望如何管理業務。巧克力的商業化策略相當不錯。我們正在加倍投入那些對我們非常有效的做法。顯然，我們希望擴大市場份額，提升消費者價值，並維持市場滲透率。

And I don't have to tell you again that we have big opportunities in all emerging markets. I mean, adjacencies like cakes and pastries (inaudible) bar and premium. So cocoa will be deflationary in '26, and we wanted you to hear that our goal is clear in terms of EPS growth for next year.

我無需再贅述，所有新興市場都蘊藏著巨大的機會。我的意思是，像蛋糕和糕點（聽不清楚）酒吧和高級食品這樣的鄰近事物。因此，2026 年可可價格將出現通貨緊縮，我們想讓您知道，我們明年的 EPS 成長目標很明確。

And so we are really targeting a high single-digit EPS growth for 2026 even after the material investments that we're going to put into the business to really protect the long-term growth of our categories.

因此，即使在我們將對業務進行大量投資以真正保護我們各品類的長期成長之後，我們仍然計劃在 2026 年實現高個位數的每股盈餘成長。

Peter Galbo, Bank of America.

Peter Galbo，美國銀行。

Dirk, I was hoping maybe you could give us a similar walk around the US in terms of the path forward maybe to getting back to growth? I know you gave kind of a very detailed answer around Europe, but would appreciate kind of a similar level of detail on the US, please.

德克，我希望你能給我們介紹美國的情況，以及它如何能重回成長軌道？我知道您對歐洲的情況已經給出了非常詳細的回答，但希望能得到關於美國情況的類似詳細的回答。

Yes, yes. Well, so as Luca already said, we saw the category slowing down more in the last quarter versus what we saw in the first half, which is obviously not good. If you look at it, the volume was down 4% versus 2.8% average year-to-date. That is driven obviously by a consumer that is very concerned in general about the economy, frustrated with the pricing they're seeing.

是的，是的。正如盧卡所說，我們看到該類別在最後一個季度成長放緩，與上半年相比，這顯然不是好事。從數據來看，成交量下降了 4%，而今年迄今的平均成交量為 2.8%。這顯然是由於消費者普遍非常關注經濟形勢，並對當前的物價感到不滿。

And we're seeing the same behavior that we've been seeing before in the sense that they are really seeking for value, that means different things for the lower-income consumers, that means going to smaller packs at the right price points.

我們看到的行為與以前一樣，那就是他們真的在追求價值，這對低收入消費者來說意味著不同的東西，這意味著要購買價格合適的小包裝產品。

For the higher income consumer, that usually goes for bigger packs and buying when they're own promotion.

對於高收入消費者來說，他們通常會選擇更大包裝的產品，並且會在產品進行促銷時購買。

We see that the basket size of the consumer is really not increasing over the last three years. And as you can imagine, as prices have gone up, they're being more squeezed on what they can buy within that basket, and they are tending to focus on what are the essentials. And as a consequence, snacking categories are not that essential for them, and we're seeing that in our volumes.

我們發現，在過去三年裡，消費者的購物籃規模並沒有真正增加。可以想像，隨著物價上漲，人們能購買的商品種類越來越少，他們往往會專注於必需品。因此，零食類產品對他們來說並不是那麼重要，我們也從銷售中看到了這一點。

And on top of that, promos are not necessarily delivering the expected ROI. What else are they doing? They're shifting channels and format. So we see a big shift from food and mass to value, club and online. We see more multipacks being sold.

此外，促銷活動未必能帶來預期的投資報酬率。他們還在做什麼？他們正在改變頻道和形式。因此，我們看到消費模式從食品和大眾消費轉向物美價廉、會員制和線上消費。我們看到多件裝產品的銷售量增加了。

There's also some good news in the sense that some of the premium segments are doing well, like Tate's for us is doing well and some of the better-for-you offerings, particularly protein related, that is for us a BUILDERS Bar under the Clif range, or a Perfect bar. They're doing well.

也有一些好消息，一些高端產品表現良好，例如我們銷售的 Tate's 產品就很好，還有一些更健康的食品，特別是與蛋白質相關的產品，例如我們銷售的 Clif 系列的 BUILDERS Bar 或 Perfect bar。他們做得很好。

We have Hu, which is our vegan chocolate; it's doing well. So we can see that there are areas that are connecting with the consumer for instance, also our Give & Go is doing quite well.

我們有一款名為 Hu 的純素巧克力，銷量很好。由此可見，有些領域正在與消費者建立聯繫，例如，我們的 Give & Go 專案也做得相當不錯。

The main concern is the US biscuits category. And of course, the government shop shutdown going forward will not help with the confidence of the consumer. If I look at the OI, the reason why the OI is negative in North America is largely driven also by cocoa. It might not immediately be clear, but Oreo or Chips Ahoy or Tate's also have quite a bit of chocolate in them. And so they are affected by them. At the moment, it's not easy to price in the US.

主要關注點是美國餅乾市場。當然，政府繼續關閉商店的做法肯定不利於提振消費者的信心。如果我看一下OI（開放式指數），北美OI為負值的原因很大程度也是由可可造成的。雖然可能乍看之下並不明顯，但奧利奧、趣多多或泰特巧克力餅乾中也含有相當多的巧克力。因此，他們會受到這些影響。目前，在美國定價並不容易。

So what are we doing about all this is the big question, of course. I would say in the first place, the one thing that's important to realize is that our presence in those channels that are benefiting, club, value, and e-commerce is good, but we don't have the same market share as we have in food and mass.

當然，最大的問題在於我們該如何應對這一切。首先，我認為需要認識到的一點是，我們在那些受益的管道（例如俱樂部、折扣店和電子商務）中的存在是好事，但我們在食品和大眾市場中的市場份額不如我們在食品和大眾市場中的市場份額。

So we've been working very hard to increase our presence there over the past more than one year. And every quarter, our market share in those channels is increasing, and we will continue to do so. That means we have to adapt our PPA. We have to increase the number of displays we have in these channels, and we need to do some route-to-market investments.

因此，在過去一年多的時間裡，我們一直在努力擴大我們在那裡的影響力。每個季度，我們在這些通路的市佔率都在成長，我們將繼續這樣做。這意味著我們必須調整我們的採購採購協議。我們必須增加這些管道的展示數量，並且需要進行一些市場通路投資。

The other channel that we are pushing very hard is on the go. And on the go, you can reach the consumer on the go with multipacks. If you think about a big multipack, and mom has to put a snack in the lunch basket, if you buy a multipack, that can cover several days or more than a week. And so we see a big opportunity in multipacks. Of course, we are working very hard on C stores because that's the other big area where on the go is happening.

我們正在大力推廣的另一個管道是行動端。而且，您還可以透過多件裝產品隨時隨地觸及消費者。如果你考慮一下大包裝的多件裝，而媽媽需要在午餐籃裡放些零食，那麼買一包多件裝就可以吃好幾天甚至一周以上。因此，我們看到了多件裝的巨大商機。當然，我們也在努力拓展便利商店業務，因為這是另一個行動消費趨勢日益增長的重要領域。

Overall, price points are critical, so we're doing a lot of RGM work on hitting the right price points. And that means really PPA at both ends of the spectrum. On one hand, the lower price. And so we've been talking about in previous calls that we need to get really to that $3 price point with some of our packs and then also the big pack as I was starting about before.

總的來說，價格點至關重要，因此我們在 RGM 方面做了很多工作，以確定合適的價格點。這意味著PPA在光譜的兩端都發揮作用。一方面，價格較低。所以，我們在之前的電話會議中一直在討論，我們需要讓一些產品包的價格真正達到 3 美元，以及我之前提到的大包裝產品。

The other thing, as I said, better for you, particularly protein is doing well. So we're driving our protein range quite hard. We're seeing 20%-plus growth there in Perfect bar and in BUILDERS. So that is something that we will continue to double down on.

正如我所說，另一件事，對你更有益，特別是蛋白質的攝取量要充足。所以我們正在大力拓展我們的蛋白質產品線。我們看到 Perfect bar 和 BUILDERS 的成長率都超過了 20%。所以我們會繼續加倍投入這方面。

And then as it relates to premium, particularly brands like Tate's, belVita, and Hu are the other ones that we are going to double down on. As it relates to health and wellness, we also see a little bit of movement in overall health and wellness. We are working on expanding the Zero Oreo range and also the gluten-free Oreo and Tate's range.

至於高端品牌，像 Tate's、belVita 和 Hu 這樣的品牌，我們將加大投入。就健康和保健而言，我們也看到整體健康和保健方面出現了一些變化。我們正在努力擴大零糖奧利奧系列產品線，以及無麩質奧利奧和泰特系列產品線。

So maybe the last thing I would mention there on how we are trying to get back to growth is that we are studying very carefully how our promotions are working, and we've seen that we have to shift the way we do certain promotions. We need a lot more activation, not just a price decrease, but activation featuring special events, things like that.

所以，關於我們如何努力恢復成長，我最後想提的是，我們正在非常仔細地研究我們的促銷活動是如何進行的，我們發現我們必須改變某些促銷活動的方式。我們需要更多促銷活動，不只是降價，而是要舉辦特別活動等等。

So those -- all those activities combined at this stage, make us believe that we can get to positive growth next year in US.

因此，現階段所有這些活動結合起來，讓我們相信明年美國市場能夠實現正成長。

Great. And Luca, maybe just on the prior question, maybe a bit more directly, you seem to have the visibility on-algorithm EPS growth for next year. I mean, should we be expecting that on top line, you'd have some visibility to algorithm top line, even if it's at the low end, just I know it's a bit more of a direct question, but would be helpful just from a modeling standpoint.

偉大的。盧卡，或許就上一個問題而言，或許更直接一點，你似乎對明年的演算法每股收益成長有所了解。我的意思是，我們是否應該期望從總體上了解演算法的整體情況，即使它處於較低水平？我知道這是一個比較直接的問題，但從建模的角度來看，這會很有幫助。

As I said, Peter, we need to put together our thinking at this point in time on what type of cocoa levels we are going to have into 2026. As I mentioned, we are well protected, but should cocoa go even lower, we will take advantage of that.

正如我所說，彼得，我們現在需要認真思考一下，到 2026 年我們的可可產量會達到什麼水準。正如我之前提到的，我們受到了很好的保護，但如果可可價格進一步下跌，我們將利用這一點。

I think the way you have to think about the top line is in three key components. One, it is Europe, where clearly, chocolate pricing might be deflationary. But as a consequence, the elasticity that we saw on the way up, should happen on the way down as well. And importantly, I think we will be seeing volume growth in the chocolate business for 2026 in Europe.

我認為看待營收成長應該從三個關鍵方面來考慮。第一，這裡是歐洲，很明顯，巧克力價格可能會出現通貨緊縮。但因此，我們在上漲過程中看到的彈性，在下跌過程中也應該出現。更重要的是，我認為到 2026 年，歐洲的巧克力業務將會出現銷售成長。

The other component is developing markets where I think you're going to see continuous growth, both volume and price-driven at this point in time. And the third component is really the US where we are not projecting an improvement of the market situation, but where we will have material benefits coming out of channel expansion, us investing more in our brands and importantly, going after things that are really working well for us and doubling down on those. I think in the prepared remarks, for instance, we mentioned Oreo with Reese's.

另一個組成部分是發展中市場，我認為目前來看，這些市場將持續成長，無論是銷售量或價格都會成長。第三個組成部分實際上是美國，我們預計美國市場情況不會有所改善，但我們將從渠道擴張、加大對品牌的投資以及更重要的是，追求那些真正對我們有效的事情並加倍投入中獲得實質性的收益。例如，我認為在準備好的演講稿中，我們提到了奧利奧和瑞茜巧克力。

So it's really impossible for us at this point in time to give you exactly the range of top line growth of 2026. But rest assured that we are driving for volume growth in chocolate in Europe, we are going to restore top line and bottom line in the US. And third, emerging markets will continue growing for us.

因此，目前我們真的無法準確地告訴您 2026 年的營收成長範圍。但請放心，我們正在努力實現歐洲巧克力銷售的成長，我們將恢復美國市場的營收和利潤。第三，新興市場將持續為我們帶來成長。

David Palmer, Evercore ISI.

David Palmer，Evercore ISI。

I just want to circle back to Europe. You mentioned the price elasticity up to 0.7 or so. And you also talked about there's some price gap issues and some competitors that have lagged on pricing. I'm curious how you're thinking about the outlook for price elasticity going forward, maybe some of the gives and takes since we don't deal with that market quite as much?

我只想再回歐洲看看。你提到價格彈性最高可達 0.7 左右。您還提到了一些價格差距問題，以及一些競爭對手在定價方面落後的問題。我很好奇您如何看待未來價格彈性的前景，也許您能談談其中的一些利弊，因為我們對這個市場接觸不多？

One scenario would be that you're making adjustments right now, and that price elasticity could come back down. And then you mentioned the historically high prices, and we've seen categories where there's a little bit of fatigue after a series of prices and that price elasticity can continue to be stubborn and rising.

一種可能是你現在正在進行調整，價格彈性可能會回落。然後您提到了歷史高點的價格，我們看到某些類別在經歷了一系列價格波動後出現了一些疲軟，價格彈性可能會繼續頑固地上升。

So I wanted to get your sense on that. And I have a quick follow-up.

所以我想聽聽你的看法。我還有一個後續問題。

Yes. Well, the type of price increases we had to implement are kind of unprecedented, if you think about it. We are players that are largely in the tablet market. We are also in the other segments of chocolate, which is gifting or (inaudible) lines. But largely tablet players, which has the biggest content of cocoa.

是的。仔細想想，我們不得不實施的這種價格上漲方式可以說是前所未有的。我們主要在平板電腦市場開展業務。我們也涉足巧克力的其他細分市場，例如禮品巧克力或（聽不清楚）包裝巧克力。但主要是平板電腦玩家，平板電腦的可可含量最高。

So as a consequence, we had to do, as I said before, about a 30% price increase. And historically, the elasticity has been around 0.4, 0.5. It is higher, as I said, 0.7, 0.8, but that's not yet dramatic in the scheme of things, I would say that's pretty good as long as you're below 1, I don't think there's many categories that would have such a limited price elasticity.

因此，正如我之前所說，我們不得不將價格提高約 30%。從歷史上看，價格彈性通常在 0.4 到 0.5 之間。正如我所說，現在的價格彈性更高，達到了 0.7 到 0.8，但從整體來看，這還不包括什麼顯著的變化。只要價格彈性低於 1，我認為這已經相當不錯了。我不認為有很多類別的價格彈性會如此有限。

But the main thing is, if you think about a 30% price increase on a 300-gram chocolate bar, for instance, you start to really get into quite high euros per bar. And I think as an example, that one, that's the one where we believe that we need to do something going forward. That doesn't necessarily mean elasticity needs to improve. What we need to do is get that bar to a price point, which is much more acceptable for the consumer.

但最重要的是，例如，如果你考慮一塊 300 克的巧克力棒價格上漲 30%，那麼每塊巧克力棒的價格就會變得非常高，達到相當高的歐元數。我認為，就拿這件事來說，我們認為我們需要採取一些措施來改進它。但這並不一定意味著彈性需要提高。我們需要做的就是把酒吧的價格降到一個消費者更容易接受的水平。

Short term, we can do that by reducing the price. Long term, we have to see if we reduce it to for instance, a 250-gram bar or something like that. So it is really adapting to very specific circumstances where we knew that we were taking a risk by passing certain price points, and in some cases, that worked quite well. In other cases, it didn't turn out so well. So that's one movement we are doing right now.

短期內，我們可以透過降低價格來實現這一點。從長遠來看，我們必須看看是否可以將其減少到例如 250 克左右的規格。所以，這其實是在適應非常具體的情況，我們知道突破某些價格點是有風險的，在某些情況下，這樣做效果相當不錯。但在其他情況下，結果卻不盡人意。這就是我們目前正在進行的一項行動。

That movement is helped a little bit by some of the more benign cocoa environment. I wouldn't say cocoa is getting extremely cheap, but it's still much higher than it used to be, but at least it's come down from the high that we saw during this year.

可可種植環境相對溫和，這對這種趨勢起到了一定的推動作用。我不會說可可價格已經非常便宜了，但它仍然比以前貴得多，不過至少已經從今年的高點回落了。

The other one is probably that we need to adapt certain formats and look at where our competition is placed and make sure that we are in a much more competitive level. That would be the second big movement that we need to make.

另一個方面可能是我們需要調整某些形式，看看我們的競爭對手處於什麼位置，並確保我們處於更具競爭力的水平。這將是我們需要採取的第二個重大措施。

So these two movements, we believe, will solve some of the issues that we're seeing. And again, I want to emphasize that, yes, things are different than we expected, but it's not that they're often a major way of what we would have expected to happen in Europe, but we do need to make a number of adjustments of which I just gave you two.

因此，我們相信，這兩項措施將解決我們目前看到的一些問題。我再次強調，是的，情況與我們預期的不同，但這並不意味著它們與我們預期在歐洲發生的事情有很大的不同，但我們確實需要做出一些調整，我剛才就提到了其中兩點。

And when you look at your emerging markets, I don't want to make a big deal of the type of price elasticities that it looked like in the third quarter, they were still not bad. Your volume was down, the price elasticity would be sub-0.5, even if you take that quarter in isolation.

至於新興市場，我不想過度強調第三季的價格彈性，它們仍然不算糟糕。即使單獨考慮該季度，由於銷量下降，價格彈性也會低於 0.5。

But are you seeing certain markets where you're seeing a little bit of fatigue or maybe price gap issues? Or is that is that playing out just as you would think there? And I'll pass it on.

但您是否注意到某些市場出現了一些疲軟跡象，或是有價格差距問題？或者，事情的發展就如你所想的？我會把它轉交給別人。

Yes. I would say, in the emerging markets, I would say it's playing out largely the way that we would expect. The first thing I would say is there is more downsizing that has an effect on our volume.

是的。我認為，在新興市場，情況基本上符合我們的預期。首先我想說的是，裁員潮對我們的銷售量產生了影響。

So if you think about it, our emerging markets, volume was down 4.7%. And first of all, Argentina, where everything has been going on, I probably assume that you're aware of that. So there, we saw hyperinflation, very negative macros and so our volumes were significantly affected in the quarter in Argentina. I guess with the recent elections, that will start to improve going forward.

所以仔細想想，我們的新興市場交易量下降了 4.7%。首先，阿根廷發生了很多事情，我想你應該已經有所了解了。因此，我們在阿根廷看到了惡性通貨膨脹和非常負面的宏觀經濟形勢，因此我們當季的阿根廷銷售受到了顯著影響。我想隨著最近的選舉，這種情況今後會開始好轉。

And then the other big market for us is India, where we decided not to increase our prices that much, but to downsize quite a bit. So if you take out those two, the 4.7% becomes a 3% volume decline. So there's a number of effects in there that are driven by downsizing or the economy in two markets.

另一個對我們來說非常重要的市場是印度，我們決定不大幅提高價格，而是大幅縮減規模。所以如果去掉這兩個因素，4.7%的降幅就變成了3%的成交量下降。因此，其中存在許多由兩個市場的裁員或經濟狀況所驅動的影響。

If I then go a little bit around, I would say, the one market that we are experiencing more pressure is China, where we had low-single-digit growth, a negative low-single-digit growth in Q3, which is a new thing for us. Year to date, we are positive in our growth. We do see some short-term pressure. But overall, we believe that things will be okay going forward. And as you know, we still have a big distribution runway.

如果我再往下說，我認為我們目前面臨壓力最大的市場是中國，我們在中國的成長率只有個位數，第三季甚至出現了個位數的負成長，這對我們來說是件新鮮事。今年迄今為止，我們的成長勢頭良好。我們確實看到了一些短期壓力。但總的來說，我們相信未來一切都會好起來的。如你所知，我們仍然有很大的分銷管道。

It's clear that the consumer there is still not in the same confidence and probably still at a low for the last 20 years, and we're starting to see some signs of that. But we do believe gradually, the consumer confidence will come back.

很明顯，那裡的消費者仍然沒有同樣的信心，而且可能仍然處於近 20 年來的低谷，我們已經開始看到一些跡象表明這一點。但我們相信，消費者信心會逐漸恢復。

India, I mentioned, India in fact is doing quite well in the movement that we had to make. So performing better than we expected, mid-single-digit growth in Q3, low single digit year-to-date. And then if I go to Brazil, double-digit growth in Q3, excellent execution in biscuits, chocolate and gum and candy.

正如我之前提到的，印度實際上在我們必須進行的這項變革中做得相當不錯。業績優於預期，第三季實現個位數中段成長，年初至今達到個位數低段成長。然後，如果我去巴西，第三季實現了兩位數的成長，餅乾、巧克力、口香糖和糖果的銷售表現都非常出色。

And then Mexico, also improving. I wouldn't say that the consumer in Mexico is in a good place. Clearly, very concerned about the economy and overall job opportunities, but our business is recuperating from some of the issues that we had before. We're seeing good mid-single-digit growth in Q3.

墨西哥的情況也在好轉。我不會說墨西哥消費者的處境很好。顯然，我們非常關注經濟狀況和整體就業機會，但我們的業務正在從先前的一些問題中恢復過來。第三季我們看到了良好的中等個位數成長。

So I would say, overall, we feel pretty good. Maybe looking at the volume, you might say that there is -- or it might look like there's a big elasticity effect, but that's really not the case from our perspective. And on our four big markets, we feel quite good at the moment.

所以總的來說，我們感覺還不錯。從銷售來看，你可能會說——或者看起來好像存在很大的彈性效應，但從我們的角度來看，事實並非如此。目前，我們對四大市場的情況都相當滿意。

Megan Clapp, Morgan Stanley.

梅根克拉普，摩根士丹利。

Luca, maybe just a quick follow-up. I think in one of your answers, you said the guide does imply a step-up in the fourth quarter from an organic sales perspective. It sounds like that's mostly driven by Europe. I guess, is that fair?

盧卡，或許只需要簡單跟進。我認為你在某個回答中提到過，該指南確實暗示第四季度從有機銷售角度來看會有顯著增長。聽起來這主要是由歐洲推動的。我想，這樣公平嗎？

And then just the second part of the question, I think you had anticipated some rebound in North America just as the pricing flowed through. So can you just help us understand a little bit more about what you're expecting for North America in the fourth quarter, just given (inaudible) data has been a little bit softer recently?

至於問題的第二部分，我認為您已經預料到北美市場會反彈，因為價格已經回落。鑑於最近（聽不清楚）數據略顯疲軟，您能否幫我們更詳細地了解您對北美第四季的預期？

Thank you, Megan. Yes, we expect a bit of a rebound in Europe. Definitely, there is going to be a big activation around Christmas, so the team is full steam ahead in terms of delivering the season and -- so you will see a little bit of a volume step-up in Europe, and that's one of the drivers.

謝謝你，梅根。是的，我們預期歐洲經濟會出現小幅反彈。聖誕節前後肯定會有一場大型促銷活動，所以團隊正在全力以赴地推進節日活動——因此你會看到歐洲的銷量略有增長，這也是其中一個驅動因素。

I think you see emerging markets despite the numbers that on the face of it are in terms of volume/mix, maybe a little bit lower than you would have expected. As Dirk mentioned, there is a big impact of Argentina, but the chocolate elasticity in emerging markets is just on 0.3 times as of Q3. And we expect that not to improve, but not to worsen either in Q4.

我認為，儘管從表面上看，新興市場的數量/組合可能比你預期的要少一些，但你仍然會看到它們的潛力。正如 Dirk 所提到的，阿根廷的影響很大，但截至第三季度，新興市場的巧克力彈性僅為 0.3 倍。我們預計第四季情況不會好轉，但也不會惡化。

And importantly, in places like Mexico, China, India, Brazil, et cetera. I think the top line will continue to be good. So yes, there will be a better top line going into Q4.

而且更重要的是，在墨西哥、中國、印度、巴西等地也是如此。我認為營收將繼續保持良好勢頭。所以，是的，第四季營收將會更好。

In the US, we are projecting a market that is in line with the minus 4% volume wise that we have been talking. But as we said, we are fine-tuning our pricing strategies and our promos, and so you will see a little bit of more pricing kicking in, and that will have a positive impact on both the top and the bottom line. And so that's where we are at this point in time.

在美國，我們預期市場銷量將下降 4%，這與我們之前所說的下降幅度一致。但正如我們所說，我們正在微調定價策略和促銷活動，因此您會看到更多價格優惠措施出台，這將對收入和利潤產生積極影響。這就是我們目前所處的階段。

Okay. Great. And then maybe just as a follow-up. You talked about in the prepared remarks, the new multiyear North America supply chain program. Maybe you can just spend a little bit of time helping us understand what's different about this from prior productivity programs and any early targets you can share today?

好的。偉大的。然後或許可以作為後續跟進。您在準備好的演講稿中談到了新的多年期北美供應鏈計畫。或許您可以花一點時間，幫助我們了解這個計畫與以往的生產力提升計畫有何不同，以及您今天可以分享哪些初步目標？

Yes, it is a plan that we have been reviewing with the team for the last, I would say, six to nine months. It is leveraging the competitive advantages that we have in terms of supply chain already. I think if you look at our profitability in the US in biscuits and compare it to other players, it is obvious that we have quite a few good things to -- that help us deliver good profitability of the business.

是的，這是我們過去六到九個月以來一直與團隊一起審查的計劃。這是在利用我們現有的供應鏈競爭優勢。我認為，如果你看看我們在美國餅乾業務的盈利能力，並與其他競爭對手進行比較，很明顯，我們有很多優勢——這些優勢幫助我們實現了良好的業務盈利能力。

The new program will be intended to address mostly cost in some of the US bakeries. I think we still have opportunities in terms of putting down lines that are more automated and address: A, some capacity constraints that we have; but importantly, our overall cost structure, and I think it will be a meaningful impact, again, that you will start seeing most likely as of 2027.

新計劃旨在主要解決美國部分麵包店的成本問題。我認為我們在鋪設更自動化的生產線方面仍然有機會，這可以解決：A，我們面臨的一些產能限制；但更重要的是，我們的整體成本結構，我認為這將產生有意義的影響，而且你很可能從 2027 年開始看到這種影響。

And the second big element that we are addressing at this point in time is our DSD system. We stand by it, it is a competitive advantage. And so we're not talking about the front-face delivery of our great brands to retailers, but we are rather talking about the logistics system that is in the back of all of that.

我們現在要解決的第二個重要問題是我們的DSD系統。我們堅持這一觀點，這是一種競爭優勢。因此，我們討論的不是將我們優秀的品牌產品直接交付給零售商，而是支撐這一切的物流系統。

And having potentially fewer distribution centers and branches and automating those will result, A, in much better cost from a logistics standpoint; but second, in a much better service level and inventory for retailers.

減少配送中心和分店的數量並實現自動化，將帶來以下結果：A，從物流角度來看，成本會大大降低；B，零售商的服務水準和庫存狀況將大大改善。

And so let's stay tuned. We'll talk a little bit more about it in the next few months. And all of this will be done within the envelope of the cash flow goals that we have.

所以，讓我們繼續關注。我們將在接下來的幾個月中更詳細地討論這個問題。所有這些都將在我們設定的現金流目標範圍內完成。

Tom Palmer, JPMorgan.

湯姆‧帕爾默，摩根大通。

You noted the planned reinvestment for 2026 just when kind of talking about earnings, SG&A has been running down quite a bit this year. I guess any framing of how much of the reduction we've seen this year is more persistent cost reductions versus items that kind of come back next year?

您剛才提到了 2026 年的再投資計劃，當時我們正在討論收益情況，而今年的銷售、一般及行政費用已經大幅下降。我想，對於今年我們看到的成本削減有多少是持續性的成本削減，又有多少是明年可能再次出現的項目，該如何界定呢？

So in terms of SG&A, I would say there are three key components of it. The number one is clearly the working media and working media is a little bit in decline compared to last year, but we didn't touch structurally the amount of spending investments we have been making in that P&L line in 2025.

所以就銷售、一般及行政費用而言，我認為它有三個關鍵組成部分。第一大因素顯然是工作媒體，與去年相比，工作媒體略有下降，但我們在 2025 年損益表中並沒有對這部分支出進行結構性調整。

Going forward, you will see a big step-up of that line into 2026, and we firmly believe that the virtuous cycle that has delivered great results for us will have to be put back in place in 2026, particularly as there is cocoa coming down and there is a cost favorability due to that.

展望未來，到 2026 年，您將會看到這條生產線大幅提升，我們堅信，為我們帶來巨大收益的良性循環必須在 2026 年重新建立起來，尤其是在可可價格下降、成本有利的情況下。

The second element is non-working media that has been managed in a declining mode for 2025 and that will continue into 2026. Obviously, we'll have to make some specific investments, but we expect the non-working media line to be cutting control.

第二個要素是已於 2025 年開始逐步減少的非工作媒體，這種情況將持續到 2026 年。顯然，我們需要進行一些具體的投資，但我們預期不運作的媒體線將削減控制權。

And the third element is the overhead. This year, specifically, there is a positive impact due to our incentive plan that is not as high as we had it last year. But importantly, as we go forward, I think the team is working on initiatives that will deliver further SG&A savings. And so we expect that line to be in level to 2025 in 2026, with the exception, obviously, of the incentive that will be planned at 100% for 2026.

第三個要素是開銷。今年，由於我們的激勵計劃沒有去年那麼高，因此產生了積極的影響。但重要的是，展望未來，我認為團隊正在努力推動各項舉措，以進一步節省銷售、管理及行政費用。因此，我們預計該項指標在 2026 年將與 2025 年的水平持平，但顯然，激勵措施除外，該激勵措施計劃在 2026 年達到 100%。

Okay, thank you for all that. And I apologize for asking again on Europe. But I do just want to clarify on elasticity because I think there's kind of two pieces you discussed. This 0.7 to 0.8, that's effectively like non-seasonal products where you're seeing that elasticity and the belief is that will not change for the quarter. But as you shift more to seasonal, you'll effectively see better volume trends because those items will have less elasticity?

好的，非常感謝。很抱歉再次詢問有關歐洲的問題。但我還是想澄清一下彈性，因為我覺得你討論的內容包含兩個面向。這個 0.7 到 0.8 的範圍，實際上就像非季節性產品一樣，你會看到這種彈性，而且人們認為這種情況在本季不會改變。但是，隨著你更多地轉向季節性商品，你會發現銷售趨勢會更好，因為這些商品的彈性較小？

Yes. That's basically the correct assumption in the sense that the 0.7, 0.8, unless we start to do major movements, and what I said is we are adapting in certain areas, that means it's not an across-the-board sort of adjustment of our pricing. It's only in those specific cases where we think we need to bring it back to the right price point.

是的。從某種意義上說，這基本上是正確的假設，即 0.7、0.8，除非我們開始進行重大調整，正如我所說，我們正在某些領域進行調整，這意味著我們的定價不會進行全面調整。只有在這些特定情況下，我們才會認為需要將其價格調整回適當的水平。

And so the 0.7, 0.8 roughly will be maintained on the normal range. And just historically, we noticed that the seasonal range, the consumer is not that clear on what the right price point is and also is inclined to pay a little bit more. So the seasonal range will have less elasticity.

因此，0.7、0.8 左右的數值將維持在正常範圍內。從歷史數據來看，我們注意到，隨著季節變化，消費者對合適的價位並不太清楚，也傾向於多付一點錢。因此，季節性波動範圍的彈性會降低。

Chris Carey, Wells Fargo Securities.

克里斯凱裡，富國證券。

So I wanted to ask about North America strategy. Some of your competitors in North America or peers, maybe better said, have taken the approach of investing into value, into pricing, so as to establish a foundation from which to grow volume longer term and have effectively accepted the consequences over a 12-month time horizon.

所以我想問一下北美戰略。你們在北美的一些競爭對手或同行（或許更準確地說是同行）採取了投資於價值和定價的方法，以便建立一個可以長期增長銷量的基礎，並且有效地接受了 12 個月時間範圍內的後果。

I think you certainly dabbled with this strategy in the front half of the year, and it impacted your profitability and there's been some shift towards, I suppose, protecting the profit pool.

我認為你們在上半年確實嘗試過這種策略，這影響了你們的獲利能力，而且我認為你們的策略已經轉向保護利潤池。

Can you just talk about your, I suppose, level of confidence is the right way to put this, that a strategy that's a bit more focused on value and protecting the profit pool is the right strategy as we exit this cycle over the next 6 to 12 months?

您能否談談您對未來 6 到 12 個月內走出當前週期時採取的策略的信心程度（我想用“信心程度”來形容比較恰當），即更加註重價值和保護利潤池的策略是否是正確的策略？

And maybe just if you could highlight a bit more whether you don't see these as mutually exclusive items, you can both protect the profit pool with pricing, but also offer value with some of the innovations and pack changes? So a little bit of detail on the strategy evolution in North America regarding pricing and volume.

或許您可以再強調一下，您是否認為這些並非互斥的選項，這樣既可以透過定價來保護利潤，也可以透過一些創新和包裝變化來提供價值？接下來，我們將詳細介紹北美在定價和銷售方面的策略演進。

Yes. Well, I would start with saying it's a particular year for us in the sense that you have on one hand, the whole chocolate, cocoa movement that we have to deal with. And on top of that, you've got North America, particularly US market that is slower than we've seen in quite a while. And so at a certain stage, we need to, yes, protect our overall profit pool, and we cannot try to solve for all problems at the same time. And so that would be one reflection that we had.

是的。首先，我想說今年對我們來說是特別的一年，一方面，我們必須應對整個巧克力和可可運動。此外，北美市場，特別是美國市場，成長速度比我們近段時間看到的要慢。因此，在某個階段，我們需要保護我們的整體利潤池，但我們不可能同時解決所有問題。這就是我們當時的一個思考方向。

The other one, I would say, as we started off the year, and we had a certain promotional strategy, what we noticed in North America is that that promotional strategy was not giving us the volume effect that we were hoping for. And as a consequence, that started to affect our margins more than what we have thought -- or our profit pool, if you want.

另一方面，我想說的是，年初的時候我們制定了一項促銷策略，但我們在北美發現，這項促銷策略並沒有為我們帶來我們預期的銷售效果。因此，這開始對我們的利潤率造成比我們預想的更大的影響——或者說，對我們的利潤池造成更大的影響。

And so the shift that you've seen with now some price increases and some changes in the way we promote are really not driven necessarily by protecting the profit pool but are really driven by seeing how can we optimize our situation. And so going forward, as you look into next year, on one hand, as we explained, we think that the chocolate situation will significantly improve and that will allow us also to invest more into North America.

因此，你們現在看到的這種價格上漲和促銷方式的改變，其實不一定是出於保護利潤池的目的，而是為了優化我們的處境。因此，展望明年，一方面，正如我們解釋的那樣，我們認為巧克力市場的情況將顯著改善，這將使我們能夠增加對北美地區的投資。

If we would use that extra investment for a value play at the moment, I'm not convinced that that is the best solution. As I said before, consumers don't seem to necessarily just react to value. They seem to be much more in a situation where they say, well, I can buy in my basket today what I can afford. I'm not planning to increase my spending. Within that, I need to cover my essentials. And yes, sometimes I will buy my biscuits, sometimes I won't.

如果我們現在要把這筆額外的投資用於價值投資，我並不認為這是最佳方案。正如我之前所說，消費者似乎不一定只對價值做出反應。他們似乎更傾向於這樣一種想法：今天我只能買得起的東西。我沒有增加開支的計劃。其中，我需要滿足一些基本需求。是的，有時候我會買餅乾，有時候不會。

But even if the biscuits are a very cheap price, it doesn't necessarily mean that they will buy them. So our experience with the value strategy hasn't been that great.

即使餅乾價格非常便宜，也不一定代表他們會買。所以，我們在價值投資策略方面的經驗並不太好。

What we do, do is in our PPA strategy, we have launched a range of products that are at lower price points, you get less product for it, but at least it's available at the $3 or the $4 price point where about 1.5 years ago, 70% of our range or so was above the $4 price point.

我們在 PPA 策略中所做的，就是推出一系列價格較低的產品，雖然產品數量較少，但至少價格在 3 美元或 4 美元左右。而大約 1.5 年前，我們產品系列中約 70% 的產品價格都高於 4 美元。

And we've significantly moved that. In a way, that is a value strategy, but those products come still at very good margins. So that's the way I see the movements that we are going to do. And I hope this clarifies it a little bit.

我們已經取得了顯著進展。從某種意義上說，這是一種價值策略，但這些產品的利潤率仍然非常高。這就是我對我們將要採取的行動的看法。希望這能稍微解釋清楚一些。

Yes. Helpful. One quick follow-up on the investment a little bit around this SG&A bucket. Is there any pull forward of investment that you had planned for 2026 coming into Q4 as you see some opportunities to lean in to achieve some of those outcomes that you're looking for?

是的。很有幫助。關於這筆投資，我再簡單跟進一下銷售、一般及行政費用項下的情況。鑑於您看到了一些實現您所期望的一些目標的機會，您是否將原計劃於 2026 年進行的投資提前至第四季度？

And then just as it pertains to this 2026 earnings outlook, does that embed a full spending, a replenishment of spending that you would expect to be sufficient so as not to need to do that again going into 2027?

那麼，就 2026 年的獲利展望而言，這是否包含了全面的支出，即補充支出，您預計這足以避免在 2027 年再次進行此類支出？

Look, I think at this point in time, the Q4 plans for A&C investments are locked in. So there is -- the guidance we gave you is in line with the level of spending. And clearly, we allocated money in the places where we saw opportunities. And as I said, we pulled back, particularly on nonworking media. But in general, pricing a lot, and they are contemplated in guidance.

我認為，目前A&C第四季的投資計畫已經確定。所以，我們給你的指導意見與支出水準是一致的。很顯然，我們把資金投入了我們看到機會的地方。正如我所說，我們減少了投入，尤其是在非工作媒體方面。但總的來說，定價很重要，而且在指導意見中也會考慮這些因素。

The virtuous model of this company is continuous investments in our brands, in our franchises and execution at point of sales and activation at point of sales. For instance, if you take some of the plans we have for next year, particularly around our chocolate with Biscoff or the fact that we are launching Biscoff in India, I think that will be meaningful spending and incremental cost due to activation at point of sales.

這家公司的良性模式是不斷投資於我們的品牌、我們的特許經營權以及銷售點的執行和銷售點的激活。例如，看看我們明年的一些計劃，特別是關於我們的 Biscoff 巧克力，或者我們將在印度推出 Biscoff，我認為這將是一項有意義的支出，並且由於在銷售點的激活，還會產生額外的成本。

I don't think it's possible to assume in a growth company like the one we want to be that we have done in 2026 with the investment. If you look at the amount of working media we have put into the system in the last few years, it is quite meaningful.

我認為，對於像我們想要成為的那種成長型公司來說，不可能假設我們在 2026 年透過投資已經實現了目標。如果你看看我們在過去幾年投入系統中的工作媒體數量，你會發現這意義非凡。

But I think that is one of the reasons why we see our categories doing well. We have seen the company delivering good top line, volume-driven and price driven in a balanced way, and we want to continue that algorithm.

但我認為，這正是我們看到各個類別表現良好的原因之一。我們看到公司在營收、銷售和價格方面都取得了良好的平衡發展，我們希望繼續保持這種發展模式。

I think importantly, you will see us in the years to come to go more deliberately after key incremental spaces like snack bars and cakes and pastries. We have just launched 7Days in Brazil. We want to make sure there is efficiency of spending behind all these incremental initiatives.

我認為重要的是，在未來的幾年裡，你會看到我們更有意識地進入小吃店、蛋糕和糕點等關鍵的增量領域。我們剛在巴西推出了 7Days。我們希望確保所有這些漸進式措施背後都有高效率的資金投入。

And so we don't want to play necessarily on a model that is launched, see how it does and then invest A&C, we want to go all in at both in terms of execution at point of sales and support to our brands.

因此，我們不想僅僅依靠已經推出的模式，看看效果如何，然後再進行廣告和贊助方面的投資，我們希望在銷售點的執行和對我們品牌的支持方面都全力以赴。

And this does conclude our question-and-answer session. I would now like to hand it back to Dirk Van de Put for any additional or closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。現在我謹將發言權交還給德克·范德普特，請他作補充或總結發言。

Well, thank you for attending our Q3 earnings call. Obviously, if you have any further questions, our IR team, Shep and Ron are available to answer anything else that you would like to discuss. Thank you.

感謝各位參加我們的第三季財報電話會議。當然，如果您還有其他問題，我們的投資者關係團隊成員 Shep 和 Ron 隨時可以解答您想討論的任何問題。謝謝。

Thank you, everybody.

謝謝大家。

This does conclude today's program. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect at any time, and have a wonderful evening.

今天的節目到此結束。感謝您的參與。您可以隨時斷開連接，祝您度過一個美好的夜晚。