McCormick & Company Inc (MKC) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. This is Faten Freiha, VP of Investor Relations. Thank you for joining today's first-quarter earnings call. To accompany this call, we've posted a set of slides on our IR website, ir.mccormick.com. With me this morning are Brendan Foley, Chairman, President and CEO; and Marcos Gabriel, Executive Vice President and CFO.

早安.我是法登‧弗雷哈 (Faten Freiha)，投資者關係副總裁。感謝您參加今天的第一季財報電話會議。為了配合此次電話會議，我們在我們的 IR 網站 ir.mccormick.com 上發布了一組幻燈片。今天早上和我一起的還有董事長、總裁兼執行長 Brendan Foley；以及執行副總裁兼財務長馬科斯·加布里埃爾 (Marcos Gabriel)。

During this call, we will refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures. The nature of those non-GAAP financial measures and the related reconciliations to the GAAP results are included in this morning's press release and slides. In our comments, certain percentages are rounded. Please refer to our presentation for complete information.

在本次電話會議中，我們將參考某些非公認會計準則財務指標。這些非公認會計準則財務指標的性質以及與公認會計準則結果的相關對帳已包含在今天早上的新聞稿和幻燈片中。在我們的評論中，某些百分比是四捨五入的。請參閱我們的簡報以獲取完整資訊。

Today's presentation contains projections and other forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those projected. The company undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or other matters. Please refer to our forward-looking statements on slide 2 for more information.

今天的簡報包含預測和其他前瞻性陳述。實際結果可能與預測結果有重大差異。無論是由於新資訊、未來事件或其他事項，本公司均不承擔更新或公開修改任何前瞻性聲明的義務。請參閱投影片 2 上的前瞻性陳述以了解更多資訊。

I'll now turn the discussion over to Brendan.

現在我將討論交給布倫丹。

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. We are pleased to start the year with solid first quarter results that are in line with our expectations. Our performance continues to demonstrate the success of our prioritized investments in the areas that we believe will continue to drive the most value and sustain our momentum for the remainder of 2025 and beyond. McCormick remains a growth-oriented company with robust plans that leverage the demand for flavor and the strength of our brands.

大家早安，感謝大家的收看。我們很高興以符合我們預期的穩健第一季業績開啟新的一年。我們的業績繼續證明，我們在那些我們認為將繼續創造最大價值並在 2025 年剩餘時間及以後保持發展勢頭的領域的優先投資取得了成功。McCormick 仍然是一家以成長為導向的公司，擁有強大的計劃，可以利用市場對口味的需求和我們品牌的優勢。

Our strategies have proven to be effective by driving growth and compounding that growth over the years. With our strategies and best-in-class leadership, we are well positioned to continue on our trajectory and deliver on our near-term and long-term objectives with industry-leading performance.

事實證明，我們的策略多年來一直有效推動成長，並實現了複合成長。憑藉我們的策略和一流的領導力，我們有能力繼續沿著我們的軌跡前進，並以行業領先的業績實現我們的近期和長期目標。

This morning, I will begin my remarks with an overview of our first quarter results, focusing mostly on top line drivers. Next, I will review how McCormick is positioned relative to an evolving consumer landscape. Then, I will highlight some areas of success and the areas we continue to work on as well as our growth plans. Marcos will then go into more depth on the first quarter results and review our 2025 outlook. And finally, before your questions, I will have some closing comments.

今天上午，我將首先概述我們的第一季業績，主要關注營收驅動因素。接下來，我將回顧 McCormick 在不斷變化的消費者格局中的定位。然後，我將重點介紹一些成功的領域和我們繼續努力的領域以及我們的成長計劃。隨後，馬可斯將更深入地介紹第一季的業績並回顧我們的 2025 年展望。最後，在你們提問之前，我想說幾句結束語。

Turning now to our results on slide 4. In the first quarter, total organic sales increased by 2%, primarily driven by volume and product mix growth, and partially offset by pricing in line with our expectations. In Global Consumer, organic sales growth was volume-led, demonstrating continued momentum across key markets.

現在就來看看投影片 4 上的結果。第一季度，總有機銷售額成長了 2%，主要得益於銷售量和產品組合的成長，但部分被符合我們預期的定價所抵銷。在全球消費品領域，有機銷售成長以銷售為主導，顯示出主要市場的持續成長動能。

We delivered robust volume growth in all three regions. This sustained growth is supported by investments across our core categories, including innovative brand marketing, accelerated innovation aligned with consumer trends, expanded distribution and robust category management initiatives.

我們在所有三個地區都實現了強勁的銷售成長。這一持續成長得益於我們對核心類別的投資，包括創新品牌行銷、順應消費者趨勢的加速創新、擴大分銷和強有力的類別管理舉措。

As expected, volume growth was partially offset by price. In the Americas, price declined due to price gap management plans that were implemented in the second quarter of 2024, and a targeted incremental promotion related to seasonal recipe mixes. In EMEA, we took selective pricing actions to cover rising commodity costs and still maintained volume momentum. For the year to go, we expect price in our Global Consumer segment to be flat.

正如預期的那樣，銷售成長被價格部分抵消。在美洲，由於 2024 年第二季實施的價格差距管理計劃以及與季節性配方組合相關的有針對性的增量促銷，價格有所下降。在歐洲、中東和非洲地區，我們採取了選擇性定價措施來彌補不斷上漲的商品成本，同時仍維持了銷售成長動能。展望未來一年，我們預期全球消費領域的價格將保持穩定。

Now to the Global Flavor Solutions segment, where organic sales growth was also volume led. We delivered sequential volume improvement relative to the fourth quarter and are pleased with our results. Volume growth was driven by continued execution of our strategic priorities in flavors amid a challenging customer environment. Faster growing customers partially offset larger CPG customer softness.

現在來看看全球風味解決方案部門，其有機銷售成長也是由銷售主導的。與第四季度相比，我們的銷售量實現了連續成長，我們對業績感到滿意。在充滿挑戰的客戶環境中，我們持續執行口味的策略重點，從而推動了銷售量的成長。客戶成長較快部分抵消了快速消費品客戶疲軟的現象。

In addition, QSR customer performance improved in Asia Pacific and the Americas, led by innovation. Furthermore, across Asia Pacific, including China, we delivered strong volume growth as we partnered with QSR customers on new products and limited time offers. Consistent with prior years, we expect Flavor Solutions volume growth to fluctuate quarterly due to timing of customer activities. However, on a full year basis, we continue to expect to deliver positive volume growth.

此外，在創新的帶動下，亞太地區和美洲地區的 QSR 客戶滿意度有所提升。此外，在包括中國在內的亞太地區，我們與 QSR 客戶合作推出新產品和限時優惠，實現了強勁的銷售成長。與前幾年一致，我們預計風味解決方案的銷售成長將因客戶活動時間而每季波動。然而，從全年來看，我們仍然預計銷量將實現正成長。

From a profitability perspective, we delivered results in line with our expectations, as the first quarter was impacted by increased investments in marketing and technology as well as the timing of stock-based compensation expense that shifted relative to the prior year. As we look to the year-to-go period, we remain confident in our operating income and earnings growth outlook on a constant currency basis.

從獲利能力的角度來看，我們的業績符合預期，因為第一季受到行銷和技術投資增加以及股票薪酬費用時間相對於上年度變化的影響。展望未來一年，我們仍對以固定匯率計算的營業收入和獲利成長前景充滿信心。

Moving down to the macro environment, including the current state of the consumer. There is increasing consumer uncertainty and concern over returning to more inflation, and this has impacted consumer sentiment, particularly in the last month. This prolongs the consumer context of 2024, where consumers, especially lower income consumers, are more cautious, exhibiting more value-seeking behavior and tightening their budgets. As many are worried about the future, job security and rising costs, we are seeing this not just in the US but across our key markets.

轉向宏觀環境，包括消費者的當前狀態。消費者的不確定性和對通膨回升的擔憂日益增加，這影響了消費者情緒，尤其是在上個月。這延長了 2024 年的消費環境，其中消費者，尤其是低收入消費者，更加謹慎，表現出更多的價值追求行為並收緊預算。許多人都對未來、工作保障和成本上升感到擔憂，我們不僅在美國，而且在我們所有的主要市場都看到了這種情況。

At the same time, we are all witnessing shifts in consumer preferences. They are becoming more health conscious, and this trend has continued to gain momentum. They are cooking at home more often and increasingly shopping the perimeter for protein and produce. As we look at growth in edible categories, unit growth is primarily driven by these perimeter categories.

同時，我們都見證著消費者偏好的轉變。他們越來越注重健康，而且這種趨勢還在持續增強中。他們更常在家做飯，也越來越多地在周邊購買蛋白質和農產品。當我們觀察可食用類別的成長時，單位成長主要由這些週邊類別所推動。

Healthier and better-for-you trends as well as the desire to stretch budgets are fueling a continued interest in cooking from scratch, reinforcing the demand for flavor and for McCormick's categories. Spices and Seasonings remain the top growing center store category. As a result, consumption trends in our business remain strong. Ultimately, we expect the Global Consumer segment to continue to benefit from these secular trends, and we have the plans and advantaged portfolio to capitalize on them.

更健康、更有益健康的趨勢以及節省預算的願望正在激發人們對從頭開始烹飪的持續興趣，從而增強了對風味和 McCormick 類別的需求。香料和調味品仍然是中心商店成長最快的類別。因此，我們業務的消費趨勢依然強勁。最終，我們預計全球消費領域將繼續受益於這些長期趨勢，並且我們擁有利用這些趨勢的計畫和優勢投資組合。

And in our Flavor Solutions segment, we continue to partner with customers to launch new products or reformulate existing ones to fit healthier lifestyles. Furthermore, our exposure to faster-growing customers allows us to win in several high-growth categories, many of which are benefiting from the trends towards healthier eating.

在我們的風味解決方案部門，我們繼續與客戶合作推出新產品或重新配製現有產品以適應更健康的生活方式。此外，我們接觸到成長較快的客戶，這使我們在多個高成長類別中獲勝，其中許多類別都受益於更健康飲食的趨勢。

In the context of this environment, McCormick's trends remained strong. Our volume-driven first quarter results and continued strength in consumption trends demonstrate our ability to continue to successfully meet our objectives for the year.

在這樣的環境下，McCormick 的趨勢仍然強勁。我們第一季的業績以銷售量為導向，消費趨勢持續強勁，證明了我們有能力繼續成功實現今年的目標。

We continue to monitor consumer trends. Our focus remains on meeting consumers and customers where they are, delivering value, expanding our presence in growing channels, including mass [global] and e-commerce, and aligning them with flavor as well as helping customers innovate to meet consumers' changing dietary needs. We believe we have the right plans in place, and we remain well positioned to capitalize on secular trends and continue to drive differentiated long-term growth across both of our segments.

我們持續關註消費者趨勢。我們的重點仍然是滿足消費者和客戶的需求，提供價值，擴大我們在不斷增長的管道中的影響力，包括大眾（全球）和電子商務，並使其與口味保持一致，同時幫助客戶進行創新以滿足消費者不斷變化的飲食需求。我們相信我們已經制定了正確的計劃，並且我們仍然能夠利用長期趨勢並繼續推動我們兩個部門的差異化長期成長。

Let's move to slide 5, and let me highlight for the quarter, some of the key areas of success. Across our Global Consumer segment, we successfully executed on our plans with increased investment and competitive focus towards driving growth. We improved unit and volume share gains across our core categories in key markets. In the US, the vast majority of our categories are growing unit share.

讓我們轉到第 5 張投影片，讓我重點介紹本季的一些關鍵成功領域。在我們的全球消費者領域，我們成功執行了計劃，增加了投資並專注於競爭以推動成長。我們提高了主要市場中核心產品類別的單位和銷售份額。在美國，我們絕大多數品類的單位份額都在成長。

Let me provide some color on the categories globally. Starting with Spices and Seasonings. In Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific, including China, we delivered strong volume growth. In the US, we drove unit and volume share growth, outpacing private label for the third consecutive quarter. In addition, we drove market share gains in Canada and China.

讓我對全球的類別提供一些說明。從香料和調味料開始。在美洲、歐洲、中東和非洲地區以及包括中國在內的亞太地區，我們的銷售量實現了強勁成長。在美國，我們推動了單位和銷售份額的成長，連續第三個季度超過自有品牌。此外，我們也推動了加拿大和中國的市佔率成長。

In recipe mixes, we continue to strengthen consumption trends in the Americas and drove unit and volume share gains in the first quarter. In the US, McCormick gravy and chili recipe mixes were a significant growth driver as they deliver on the value and convenience consumers are seeking. In addition, we are outpacing the total category in total new buyers as well as dollars per buyer. In Canada, we drove dollar unit and volume share gains.

在配方混合物中，我們繼續加強美洲的消費趨勢，並推動第一季單位和銷售份額的成長。在美國，McCormick 肉汁和辣椒配方混合物是重要的成長動力，因為它們滿足了消費者所尋求的價值和便利。此外，我們的新買家總數以及每位買家的購買金額都超過了其他類別。在加拿大，我們推動了美元單位和銷售份額的成長。

In mustard, we made great progress globally over the last four quarters and are pleased to see that our plans are driving great results. In the first quarter, we drove dollar, unit and volume share gains in the Americas. In Poland, one of the top mustard consuming countries, our mustard consumption continues to grow, and we are also realizing dollar share gains. In addition, we are gaining dollar share in the UK.

在芥末方面，我們在過去四個季度中在全球範圍內取得了巨大進展，並很高興看到我們的計劃正在帶來巨大的成果。第一季度，我們在美洲的美元、單位和銷售份額均有所成長。在芥末消費量最大的國家之一波蘭，我們的芥末消費量持續成長，我們也實現了美元份額的成長。此外，我們在英國的美元份額正在增加。

In hot sauce, our plans continue to yield great results. In the US, we drove positive unit share gains reflecting significant progress. Distribution gains as well as investments in differentiated brand marketing, including a strong Super Bowl activation, and innovation, continue to fuel our performance. Outside of the US, we are gaining market share in France, the UK and Australia.

在辣醬方面，我們的計劃繼續取得巨大成果。在美國，我們的單位份額實現了正增長，反映了顯著的進步。分銷收益以及差異化品牌行銷的投資（包括強大的超級盃活化和創新）繼續推動我們的業績。除美國以外，我們在法國、英國和澳洲的市佔率也不斷擴大。

Additionally, we continue to make progress on total distribution points. In the Americas, we significantly expanded TDPs of our Spices and Seasonings, recipe mixes and hot sauce in the Americas. In EMEA, we are seeing broad-based distribution gains in Spices and Seasonings and hot sauce. We are also gaining distribution in high-growth channels like discounters and e-commerce.

此外，我們在總分銷點方面繼續取得進展。在美洲，我們大幅擴大了香料和調味料、配方混合物和辣醬的 TDP。在歐洲、中東和非洲地區，我們看到香料、調味料和辣醬的分銷範圍廣泛擴大。我們也在折扣店和電子商務等高成長通路中獲得分銷。

In Asia Pacific, our business in China is recovering gradually relative to the prior year, as expected. We delivered strong performance amid a continually challenged environment. Growth in our categories, including spices and seasonings and condiments outpaced the market, which included the Chinese New Year holiday.

在亞太地區，我們在中國的業務相對於去年正在逐步復甦，正如預期的那樣。在持續充滿挑戰的環境中，我們依然取得了出色的表現。受中國新年假期的影響，包括香料、調味品和佐料在內的各品類的增長速度超過了市場。

Moving to Flavor Solutions. We saw strength in our technically insulated high-margin product category, Flavors. In Flavors, in the Americas, we remain focused on being the partner of choice across our four taste competencies: savory, heat, naturally sweet and citrus and fruit. As a result of this continued focus, we are winning new customers and gaining share.

轉向風味解決方案。我們看到了技術上絕緣的高利潤產品類別—調味品的優勢。在美洲的調味品領域，我們始終致力於成為四種口味領域的首選合作夥伴：鹹味、辣味、天然甜味以及柑橘和水果味。由於持續關注這一點，我們贏得了新客戶並獲得了市場份額。

We outperformed the industry across many end categories, including alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages as well as snacking bars. Partially offsetting this is the softness we continue to see in larger CPG customer volumes. QSR trends improved in the Americas and in Asia Pacific. In the Americas, we are continuing to drive innovation with our customers, driving volume growth amid soft book traffic. In China and Australia, our customers new products and promotions are driving strong volume growth. In Southeast Asia, volume growth benefited from our customers lapping the impact of geopolitical boycotts in the prior year.

我們在許多終端類別中的表現都優於行業，包括酒精飲料和非酒精飲料以及小吃店。部分抵消了這一影響的是，我們繼續看到 CPG 客戶數量增加的疲軟。美洲和亞太地區的 QSR 趨勢有所改善。在美洲，我們繼續與客戶一起推動創新，在圖書流量疲軟的情況下推動銷售成長。在中國和澳大利亞，我們的客戶的新產品和促銷活動正在推動銷量強勁成長。在東南亞，銷售成長得益於我們的客戶克服了上一年地緣政治抵制的影響。

Let me now touch on some areas where we are seeing some pressure. The areas of pressure are primarily in our Flavor Solutions business. In the Americas and in EMEA, some of our CPG customers continue to experience softness in volumes within their own businesses. We continue to work on offsetting these trends through innovation and collaboration with customers and by winning new customers.

現在讓我來談談我們面臨壓力的一些領域。壓力主要集中在我們的風味解決方案業務。在美洲和歐洲、中東和非洲地區，我們的一些 CPG 客戶繼續經歷自身業務量疲軟的情況。我們將繼續致力於透過創新、與客戶合作以及贏得新客戶來抵消這些趨勢。

The foodservice environment remains challenged. While our food away-from-home performance continues to outpace the industry, we are seeing flat performance in branded foodservice in the Americas, as well as some of our customers are seeing softness in their volumes due to a slowdown in foot traffic. QSR traffic remained soft in EMEA. We have seen this pressure impact our results for several quarters. It's difficult to predict QSR traffic. However, we are collaborating with our customers as they focus on improving their volumes through innovation and value and align with consumer trends.

餐飲服務環境仍面臨挑戰。雖然我們的外出用餐表現持續領先業界，但我們看到美洲品牌餐飲服務表現平平，而且由於客流量減少，我們的一些客戶的營業額也出現疲軟。歐洲、中東和非洲地區的 QSR 客流量依然疲軟。我們已經看到這種壓力對我們幾季的業績產生了影響。預測 QSR 客流量很困難。然而，我們正在與客戶合作，因為他們專注於透過創新和價值來提高銷售並順應消費者趨勢。

As outlined on slide 6, our growth plans remain consistent to drive growth through category management, brand marketing, new products, our proprietary technologies and our differentiated customer engagement. Our growth levers are supported and enhanced through data and analytics as we continue to accelerate our digital transformation. Our base business is strengthening across major markets and core categories. And we have a number of initiatives in flight that will continue to drive this performance and differentiation.

正如投影片 6 中所概述的那樣，我們的成長計畫保持一致，透過品類管理、品牌行銷、新產品、我們的專有技術和我們差異化的客戶參與來推動成長。隨著我們不斷加速數位轉型，我們的成長槓桿透過數據和分析得到支持和增強。我們的基礎業務正在各主要市場和核心類別中不斷加強。我們正在實施一系列舉措，以繼續推動這項業績和差異化。

Let me focus on brand marketing as our plans across all categories are supported by our global brand marketing initiatives. We are prioritizing investments to connect with consumers and fuel growth. Our differentiated brand marketing is driven by a combination of factors.

讓我重點談談品牌行銷，因為我們所有類別的計劃都得到了全球品牌行銷計劃的支持。我們優先投資於與消費者建立聯繫並促進成長。我們的差異化品牌行銷是由多種因素共同推動的。

In addition to maintaining a high share of [voice] we are committed to having the best content in our categories, content that inspires and educates consumers and reaches them at the right points on their path to purchase and on their flavor or diet journey, from flavor exploration to menu planning, to shopping and cooking and even to eating and sharing the experience online.

除了保持較高的[聲音]份額外，我們還致力於在我們的類別中提供最好的內容，這些內容可以激勵和教育消費者，並在他們購買和口味或飲食旅程中的正確時刻接觸到他們，從口味探索到菜單規劃，到購物和烹飪，甚至在線用餐和分享體驗。

In the first quarter, brand marketing spend increased against the high spend in the prior year as expected. This increase was broad-based and a key driver in supporting volume growth for this quarter as well as for maintaining our volume momentum for 2025. Through our efforts across multiple channels and by leveraging our digital capabilities, we are driving further household penetration and increasing buy rates across our core categories.

第一季度，品牌行銷支出與去年同期的高支出相比有所增加，正如預期的那樣。這一成長具有廣泛的基礎，是支持本季銷售成長以及保持 2025 年銷量動能的關鍵驅動力。透過多管道的努力和利用我們的數位能力，我們正在進一步推動家庭滲透，並提高核心類別的購買率。

Our holiday campaigns across our regions proved successful. Our marketing campaigns in the Americas highlight our everyday value, innovation and point of difference to consumers, and are supporting our volume growth and driving share gains. Our Frank's Super Bowl activation campaign with Paris Hilton was very successful. We gained new buyers, and media and consumer sentiment was incredibly positive.

我們在各地區開展的假日活動都取得了成功。我們在美洲的行銷活動向消費者強調了我們的日常價值、創新和差異點，並支持了我們的銷售成長和推動了份額的成長。我們與帕麗斯·希爾頓合作的弗蘭克超級碗激活活動非常成功。我們獲得了新的買家，媒體和消費者情緒也非常正面。

To wrap up our growth plans, although we are navigating in a difficult environment, we remain confident in the long-term health of our business and in our fundamentals, and in delivering our 2025 financial outlook on both near-term and long-term objectives. We remain focused on investing behind our growth levers to continue to drive differentiated performance.

總結我們的成長計劃，儘管我們正處於艱難的環境中，但我們仍然對業務的長期健康和基本面充滿信心，並且有信心實現 2025 年的短期和長期財務展望。我們將繼續專注於投資成長槓桿，以繼續推動差異化績效。

Now over to Marcos.

現在輪到馬科斯了。

Thank you, Brendan, and good morning, everyone. Starting on slide 8. Our total organic payers grew 2% for the quarter. This increase was volume led, with more than 2% volume and product mix growth, partially offset by pricing.

謝謝你，布倫丹，大家早安。從投影片 8 開始。本季我們的有機付款人總數增加了 2%。這一增長是由銷量驅動的，銷量和產品組合增長超過 2%，但部分被價格所抵消。

Moving to our Consumer segment on slide 9. Organic sales increased 1% as volume growth of 3% was partially offset by a 2% impact of pricing investments. Consumer organic sales in Americas was flat, 3% volume growth was offset by price investments. Volume growth was strong across our core categories and was driven by our investments in brand marketing, innovation and category management. In terms of pricing, the decline primarily reflects the price gap management investments that were mostly in place in the second quarter of 2024, as well as incremental and targeted promotional activities.

前往投影片 9 上的消費者部分。有機銷售額成長 1%，因為 3% 的銷售成長被 2% 的定價投資影響部分抵銷。美洲的消費者有機產品銷售持平，3%的銷售成長被價格投資所抵銷。我們的核心產品類別的銷售成長強勁，這得益於我們在品牌行銷、創新和產品類別管理方面的投資。就定價而言，下降主要反映了 2024 年第二季大部分到位的價格差距管理投資，以及增量和有針對性的促銷活動。

In EMEA, we grew consumer organic sales 4%, driven by a 2% increase in volume and 2% increase in price. The volume growth was broad-based across product categories in our major markets. We're pleased with the strong sustained volume growth in EMEA. As Brendan mentioned, we took selected pricing actions in EMEA to offset commodity costs.

在歐洲、中東和非洲地區，我們的消費者有機銷售額成長了 4%，這得益於銷量成長 2% 和價格上漲 2%。我們主要市場中各產品類別的銷售量均廣泛成長。我們對歐洲、中東和非洲地區持續強勁的銷售成長感到滿意。正如布倫丹所提到的，我們在歐洲、中東和非洲地區採取了選擇性定價措施來抵銷商品成本。

Consumer organic sales in the Asia Pacific region increased 3% driven by a 2% increase in volume and 1% contribution from price. This growth reflects the gradual recovery we expect in China. We're pleased with our performance and expect these trends to continue through 2025.

亞太地區的消費者有機銷售額成長了 3%，這得益於銷量成長 2% 和價格貢獻 1%。這一增長反映了我們預期中國經濟將逐步復甦。我們對我們的表現感到滿意，並預計這些趨勢將持續到 2025 年。

Turning to our Flavor Solutions segment on slide 10. First quarter organic sales increased 3%, driven by volume growth of 2% and a 1% contribution from price. In the Americas, Flavor Solutions organic sales increased 4%, reflecting 3% price contribution and 1% volume growth. Our results reflect a strong performance with faster growing flavor customers and improved QSR growth, which were partially offset by soft CPG customer volumes. The price contribution is primarily related to currency in Latin America.

前往幻燈片 10 上的風味解決方案部分。第一季有機銷售額成長 3%，其中銷量成長 2% 以及價格貢獻 1%。在美洲，風味解決方案有機銷售額成長 4%，其中價格貢獻為 3%，銷售成長為 1%。我們的業績體現出強勁的表現，風味客戶成長更快，QSR 成長改善，但這些被疲軟的 CPG 客戶數量部分抵消。價格貢獻主要與拉丁美洲的貨幣有關。

In EMEA, organic sales decreased by 4%, including a 2% decline from price and a 2% impact of lower volume and product mix, reflecting the impact of soft CPG and QSR customer volumes. In the Asia Pacific region, Flavor Solutions organic sales increased 15%, with volume growth of 16%, driven by QSR customer promotions, limited time offers as well as new products, partially offset by pricing.

在歐洲、中東和非洲地區，有機銷售額下降了 4%，其中包括價格下降 2% 以及銷量和產品組合下降 2% 的影響，反映了軟 CPG 和 QSR 客戶量的影響。在亞太地區，風味解決方案有機銷售額成長 15%，銷售成長 16%，這得益於 QSR 客戶促銷、限時優惠以及新產品，但部分被定價所抵消。

Moving to slide 11. As expected, gross profit margin expanded by 20 basis points in the first quarter versus the year ago period, driven primarily by the benefits from our Comprehensive Continuous Improvement program, or CCI. Selling, general and administrative expenses, or SG&A, increased relative to the first quarter of last year, driven primarily by a shift in timing of our stock-based compensation expense from the second quarter into the first quarter, as well as increased investments in technology and marketing as expected.

移至投影片 11。正如預期的那樣，第一季的毛利率較去年同期擴大了 20 個基點，這主要得益於我們的綜合持續改善計劃 (CCI) 帶來的好處。銷售、一般及行政開支（SG&A）較去年第一季有所增加，主要原因是我們的股票薪酬開支時間從第二季度轉移到第一季度，以及技術和營銷方面的投資如預期增加。

For the quarter, adjusted operating income declined by 5%. Excluding impact of currency, adjusted operating income decreased by 3%. This decline was driven by the increased SG&A expenses I just mentioned. Our first quarter adjusted effective tax rate was 22%, compared to 26% in the year ago period. Our tax rate this past quarter benefited from discrete tax items. Our income from unconsolidated operations in the first quarter declined 18% and primarily due to the strengthening of the US dollar against the Mexican peso.

本季度，調整後的營業收入下降了 5%。排除貨幣影響，調整後營業收入下降了3%。這種下降是由於我剛才提到的銷售、一般和行政費用增加所造成的。我們第一季的調整後有效稅率為 22%，而去年同期為 26%。我們上季的稅率受惠於單一稅項目。我們第一季的非合併業務收入下降了 18%，主要原因是美元兌墨西哥比索走強。

Turning to our segment operational results on slide 12. Adjusted operating income in the Consumer segment decreased 17% or 16% in constant currency. The decrease was primarily due to pricing and increased SG&A costs, including brand marketing and technology investments, partially offset by cost savings generated by our CCI program. Looking ahead, we expect Consumer adjusted operating income margin expansion to normalize in the year-to-go period.

轉向第 12 張投影片上的分部營運成果。消費者部門的調整後營業收入下降了 17%，以固定匯率計算下降了 16%。下降的主要原因是定價和銷售、一般及行政費用（SG&A）增加，包括品牌行銷和技術投資，但部分被我們的 CCI 計畫產生的成本節約所抵銷。展望未來，我們預期消費者調整後的營業收入利潤率擴張將在去年同期恢復正常。

In Flavor Solutions, adjusted operating income increased 28%, and or 33% in constant currency, driven by product mix, pricing and CCI cost savings, partially offset by increased SG&A costs. We continue to make progress in expanding our operating margins in line with our objectives.

在調味品解決方案方面，調整後的營業收入增長了 28%，按固定匯率計算增長了 33%，這得益於產品組合、定價和 CCI 成本節約，但銷售、一般及行政費用的增加部分抵消了這一增長。我們將繼續按照我們的目標，不斷提高營業利潤率。

The bottom line, as shown on slide 13, first quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share was $0.60 as compared to $0.63 for the year ago period. This decrease was primarily due to the SG&A increase I mentioned earlier, as well as the increasing impact of currency on our operating profit and unconsolidated results, partially offset by a more favorable tax rate. The impact of currency on adjusted earnings per share is about $0.03 per share.

底線是，如幻燈片 13 所示，2025 年第一季調整後每股收益為 0.60 美元，而去年同期為 0.63 美元。這一下降主要是由於我之前提到的銷售、一般和行政費用的增加，以及貨幣對我們的營業利潤和非合併業績的影響不斷增加，但更優惠的稅率部分抵消了這一影響。貨幣對調整後每股收益的影響約為每股 0.03 美元。

On slide 14, we summarized highlights for cash flow and balance sheet. Our cash flow from operations for the first quarter of 2025 was $116 million compared to $138 million in 2024. The decrease was driven primarily by higher cash used for working capital, partially offset by lower incentive compensation.

在第 14 張投影片上，我們總結了現金流量和資產負債表的亮點。我們 2025 年第一季的經營現金流為 1.16 億美元，而 2024 年為 1.38 億美元。下降的主要原因是用於營運資本的現金增加，但激勵薪酬減少部分抵消了這種影響。

We returned $121 million of cash to shareholders through dividends and used $37 million for capital expenditures. Note that the timing of capital expenditures would fluctuate on a quarterly basis, depending on the phasing of initiatives equaling projects to increase capacity and capabilities to meet growing demand, advance our digital transformation and optimize our cost structure.

我們透過股息向股東返還了 1.21 億美元現金，並使用 3,700 萬美元用於資本支出。請注意，資本支出的時間將按季度波動，具體取決於等同於增加產能和能力以滿足不斷增長的需求、推進數位轉型和優化成本結構的計劃的分階段實施。

Our priority remains to have a balanced use of cash. This means funding investments to drive growth, returning a significant portion of cash to shareholders through dividends and maintaining a strong balance sheet. We remain committed to a strong investment-grade rating and expect to continue to deliver strong cash flow in 2025 driven by profit and working capital initiatives.

我們的首要任務仍然是平衡使用現金。這意味著透過投資來推動成長，透過股息向股東返還大量現金，並維持強勁的資產負債表。我們仍然致力於保持強勁的投資等級評級，並預計在利潤和營運資本計畫的推動下，到 2025 年將繼續實現強勁的現金流。

Now turning to our 2025 financial outlook on slide 15. We are maintaining our guidance for the year. Our outlook continues to reflect our prioritized investments in key categories to strengthen volume trends and drive long-term profitable growth, while appreciating the current level of uncertainty in the consumer and macro environment.

現在轉到第 15 張投影片上的 2025 年財務展望。我們維持今年的指導方針。我們的展望繼續反映出我們對關鍵類別的優先投資，以加強銷售趨勢並推動長期獲利成長，同時也認識到當前消費者和宏觀環境的不確定性水平。

First, let me address tariffs. As you know, the situation remains fluid. At this time, we plan to offset costs related to US import tariffs on China with our CCI savings and some very targeted price adjustments. Our focus remains on safeguarding the health and competitiveness of our brands, sustaining the growth moment in our business and maintaining transparency with our customers.

首先，讓我談談關稅問題。正如你們所知，局勢仍然不穩定。目前，我們計劃利用 CCI 節省和一些非常有針對性的價格調整來抵消美國對中國進口關稅相關的成本。我們的重點仍然是維護我們品牌的健康和競爭力，維持我們業務的成長勢頭並保持對客戶的透明度。

We don't believe our current planned actions will be material to the total business or will have a significant impact on our volume mix outlook for the year. That said, due to continued uncertainty on this topic, our outlook does not include any additional impacts from tariffs that could potentially be implemented this year. As things evolve, we will provide updates on our outlook within our typical reporting basis.

我們認為，我們目前計劃的行動不會對整體業務產生重大影響，也不會對我們今年的銷售組合前景產生重大影響。話雖如此，由於該主題仍然存在不確定性，我們的展望不包括今年可能實施的關稅帶來的任何額外影響。隨著事態的發展，我們將在典型的報告基礎上提供有關展望的更新。

Turning now to the details of our outlook. Currency rates are still expected to have a 1 point negative impact on both net sales and adjusted operating income and 2 points on adjusted earnings per share. At the top line, we continue to expect organic net sales growth to range between 1% and 3%, and for growth to be volume led. In the year-to-go, we expect to deliver total volume growth across both segments, and for total pricing to be flat to slightly positive, primarily driven by Flavor Solutions.

現在來談談我們展望的細節。預計匯率仍將對淨銷售額和調整後營業收入產生 1 個百分點的負面影響，對調整後每股盈餘產生 2 個百分點的負面影響。就營收而言，我們繼續預期有機淨銷售額成長率將在 1% 至 3% 之間，且成長將以銷量為主導。在未來一年，我們預計兩個部門的總銷量將實現成長，而總價格將保持平穩或略微上漲，這主要得益於風味解決方案的推動。

For China, our outlook assumes a gradual recovery, and we expect China consumer sales to improve slightly year-over-year. We saw this come through this past quarter, and we expect it to continue for the rest of the year.

對於中國，我們的展望是假設其將逐步復甦，並且我們預計中國消費品銷售額將比去年同期略有改善。我們在上個季度看到了這種情況，我們預計這種情況將在今年剩餘時間內持續下去。

Our 2025 gross margin is still projected to range between 50 to 100 basis points higher than 2024. This gross margin expansion reflects favorable impacts from product mix and cost savings from our CCI program, partially offset by the anticipated impact of a low single-digit increase in cost inflation. Consistent with historical trends, we expect our gross margin expansion to build throughout the year.

我們預計 2025 年的毛利率仍將比 2024 年高出 50 至 100 個基點。毛利率的擴大反映了產品組合和 CCI 計劃的成本節約帶來的有利影響，但被成本通膨低個位數成長的預期影響部分抵消。與歷史趨勢一致，我們預計全年毛利率將持續成長。

In addition to our gross margin expansion, we expect SG&A benefits from cost savings to be partially offset by investments in technology as well as brand marketing to drive volume growth. For the year, we expect our brand marketing spend to increase in the high single digits, reflecting a double-digit increase, partially offset by anticipated CCI savings.

除了毛利率的擴大之外，我們預期成本節約帶來的銷售、一般及行政費用收益將部分被技術投資和品牌行銷所抵消，從而推動銷售成長。今年，我們預計品牌行銷支出將實現高個位數成長，達到兩位數成長，但部分將被預期的 CCI 節省所抵銷。

As a result, our adjusted operating income is expected to grow 4% to 6% in constant currency. Similar to our gross margin trends, we expect growth in our operating income to build throughout the year. This remains a balanced outlook that gives us the flexibility to continue to invest in the business, while expanding margins in line with our 2028 objectives.

因此，以固定匯率計算，我們的調整後營業收入預計將成長 4% 至 6%。與我們的毛利率趨勢類似，我們預計全年營業收入將持續成長。這仍然是一個平衡的前景，使我們能夠靈活地繼續投資於業務，同時根據我們的 2028 年目標擴大利潤率。

In terms of tax, we expect our tax rate to be approximately 22% for the year compared to 20.5% in 2024, where we benefited from a number of discrete tax items that are not expected to repeat in 2025. We expect our income from unconsolidated operations to decline in the mid-teens range in 2025, reflecting the strengthening of the US dollar against the Mexican peso, which is impacting the results of our largest joint venture, McCormick and the Mexico.

在稅收方面，我們預計今年的稅率約為 22%，而 2024 年為 20.5%，我們受益於一些預計在 2025 年不會重複的單獨稅項。我們預計，到 2025 年，非合併業務收入將下降 15% 左右，這反映了美元兌墨西哥比索的走強，這將影響我們最大的合資企業 McCormick and the Mexico 的業績。

To summarize, our 2025 adjusted earnings per share projection of $3.03 to $3.08 on a reported dollar basis reflects current steel headwinds and the impact of increased tax rate relative to the prior year. On a constant currency basis, our adjusted EPS is still expected to grow between 5% and 7%.

總而言之，我們對 2025 年每股收益的調整預測為 3.03 美元至 3.08 美元（以報告的美元計算），反映了當前鋼鐵業的不利因素以及相對於上一年稅率提高的影響。以固定匯率計算，我們的調整後每股盈餘預計仍將成長 5% 至 7%。

To wrap up, our continued volume growth underscores that our plants are yielding results and sustaining this differentiated performance. Looking ahead, our cost savings programs will continue to fuel our investments and drive margin expansion. And we remain confident in the underlying fundamentals of our business and in delivering on our 2025 financial outlook, near-term and long-term objectives.

總而言之，我們持續的產量成長凸顯了我們的工廠正在取得成果並維持這種差異化的表現。展望未來，我們的成本節約計畫將繼續推動我們的投資並推動利潤率的擴大。我們對我們業務的基本面以及實現 2025 年財務前景、近期和長期目標仍然充滿信心。

Thank you, Marcos. Before moving to Q&A, I would like to close with our key takeaways on slide 16. While the environment has gotten more challenging and consumer sentiment has been impacted, we have managed (inaudible) environment in the past and we expect to navigate through this successfully as we continue to refine and align our plans.

謝謝你，馬科斯。在進入問答環節之前，我想以投影片 16 上的要點作為結束。雖然環境變得更具挑戰性，消費者情緒也受到了影響，但我們過去已經管理了（聽不清楚）環境，我們希望透過繼續改進和調整我們的計劃來成功度過難關。

The long-term trends that fuel our categories, consumer interest in healthy, flavorful cooking, key flavor exploration and trusted brands, continue to be strong. And importantly, consumer interest in cooking is growing. We continue to execute on our strategic road map with speed and agility and in alignment with consumer trends. Further capitalizing on our attractive categories across segments and driving category leadership, our results demonstrate that we are investing in the areas that drive the most value, and we expect to maintain this momentum.

推動我們產品類別發展的長期趨勢、消費者對健康、美味烹飪、關鍵風味探索和值得信賴的品牌的興趣持續強勁。重要的是，消費者對烹飪的興趣正在增長。我們將繼續快速、靈活地執行我們的策略路線圖，並順應消費者趨勢。我們的業績進一步利用了我們在各個細分市場中具有吸引力的類別並推動了類別領導地位，表明我們正在投資那些能夠帶來最大價值的領域，並且我們期望保持這種勢頭。

We also expect to continue to expand margins and manage our costs as we are investing in the business. These improvements are led by our favorable product mix and cost savings programs. Our performance, historically and over the last few quarters, coupled with our growth plans, give us confidence in achieving our near- and long-term objectives. Ultimately, we believe the execution of our growth plans will be a win for consumers, customers, our categories and McCormick, which will continue to differentiate and strengthen our leadership.

我們也希望在投資業務的同時繼續擴大利潤率並管理成本。這些改進是由我們良好的產品組合和成本節約計劃所推動的。從歷史和過去幾個季度來看，我們的業績加上我們的成長計劃，讓我們有信心實現我們的近期和長期目標。最終，我們相信，我們成長計畫的實施將為消費者、客戶、我們的產品類別和 McCormick 帶來雙贏，這將繼續使我們脫穎而出並加強我們的領導地位。

Finally, I want to recognize all McCormick employees for their dedication and contributions and reiterate my confidence that, together, we will continue to drive differentiated results and shareholder value. Now for your questions.

最後，我要感謝所有 McCormick 員工的奉獻和貢獻，並重申我的信心，我們將共同繼續推動差異化績效和股東價值。現在回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Andrew Lazar, Barclays.

巴克萊銀行的安德魯·拉扎爾。

Great. Thanks so much. Good morning, everybody. I think on last quarter's call, you had guided to operating profit in fiscal 1Q to be sort of flat to slightly down. As you mentioned, operating profit fell about 5% in the quarter. The decline was heavily weighted, obviously, to the Consumer segment. I think you mentioned pricing, stock-based comp and brand investments. I think a lot of which were anticipated previously.

偉大的。非常感謝。大家早安。我認為在上個季度的電話會議上，您預計第一財季的營業利潤將持平或略有下降。正如您所說，本季營業利潤下降了約 5%。顯然，消費領域是導致這下滑的主要原因。我想您提到了定價、股票補償和品牌投資。我認為其中很多都是之前就預料到的。

So I'm just trying to get a better sense for what drove maybe the stronger-than-forecast operating profit decline, particularly in consumer. Was there a timing shift relative to initial expectations or sort of what drove that? And then more importantly, I guess, what now gives you the confidence in sort of reaffirming the full year? Thanks so much.

因此，我只是想更了解是什麼導致了營業利潤下降幅度超出預期，尤其是在消費者領域。與最初的預期相比，時間上是否有所變化，或者是什麼導致了這種變化？那麼，我想，更重要的是，現在是什麼讓您有信心重申全年業績？非常感謝。

Okay. Andrew, let me kick it off, and I'll have Marcos handle maybe more directly the question on operating profit. At a high level, Q1 was roughly in line with what our expectations were. And in fact, we had planned for Q1 to be sort of a different quarter than what the rest of the year will look like. And I think you kind of see that play out in a lot of our prepared comments.

好的。安德魯，讓我先開始，我會讓馬可斯更直接地處理有關營業利潤的問題。從整體來看，第一季大致符合我們的預期。事實上，我們計劃讓第一季的表現與今年剩餘時間的表現有所不同。我想，您可以在我們準備好的許多評論中看到這一點。

But there are timing elements that were called out before, like you mentioned, that will certainly impact that. But we do remain confident in the year-to-go period, and it's really supported by strong sales performance. Marcos, do you want to --

但正如您所提到的，先前提到的時間因素肯定會對此產生影響。但我們對於明年的業績仍充滿信心，強勁的銷售業績也為我們提供了有力的支持。馬科斯，你想--

Yeah, sure. So Andrew, on the operating profit, I mean, you mentioned minus 5% decline in Q1. Adjusted for currency, it was minus 3%. So on a constant currency basis, 3%. A couple of timing-related items, as we mentioned on the call. One is the shift of the stock-based compensation from Q2 into Q1. And I feel normalized for that, and ROP would be essentially flat for Q1.

是的，當然。那麼安德魯，關於營業利潤，我的意思是，你提到第一季下降了 5%。經貨幣調整後，為負 3%。因此，以固定匯率計算，成長率為 3%。正如我們在電話中提到的，有幾個與時間相關的事項。一是股票薪酬從第二季轉移到第一季。我認為這已屬正常，並且第一季的 ROP 將基本持平。

Also, we had some timing in terms of brand marketing and technology investments hitting in Q1. We're going to continue to have some of those investments in the future quarters of the year, but a little bit of timing between Q1 and Q2 there as well. In the Consumer space, specifically, we had to lap the price gap management investments that we put in place in 2024. So that was a headwind that's going to go away.

此外，我們在第一季的品牌行銷和技術投資方面也有一些時機。我們將在今年未來幾季繼續進行一些此類投資，但在第一季和第二季之間也會進行一些時間安排。具體來說，在消費者領域，我們必須完成 2024 年實施的價格差距管理投資。所以，這種逆風將會消失。

If you think about it on the Consumer operating profit, a decline of 16%. I mean two-thirds of it roll away in the next quarter, which is the pricing and the stock comp shift. And FX was a bigger headwind. I mean we're trying to focus on the things that we can control. It was a bigger headwind. Now we're seeing FX moderating a little bit going forward. So that's where we're keeping the guidance as it is.

如果你考慮消費者營業利潤，你會發現下降了 16%。我的意思是其中三分之二將在下個季度消失，即定價和股票補償轉變。而外匯則是更大的阻力。我的意思是我們正努力集中精力於我們能夠控制的事情。這是一個更大的逆風。現在我們看到外匯走勢正在略有緩和。因此，我們將維持現有的指導方針。

And then in terms of the guidance question, yes, we do have a lot of confidence in the guidance that we've put out there. I mean top line is coming as we expected. We will continue to see growth in both segments, Consumer and Flavor Solutions for the full year. In the Consumer, you're going to see growth all quarters and across all regions for the balance of the year.

然後就指導問題而言，是的，我們對我們提出的指導非常有信心。我的意思是收入正如我們預期的那樣。全年我們將繼續看到消費者和調味解決方案兩個部門的成長。在消費者方面，今年餘下時間裡，你將會看到各個季度和各個地區的成長。

Pleased with the Flavor Solutions performance this quarter, driving not only top line but also profitability. And as you saw, profitability was up 240 basis points on the back of CCI, product mix and as well as the top line that drives leverage through the P&L. So happy there as well.

對本季風味解決方案的表現感到滿意，不僅推動了營收成長，還提高了獲利能力。如您所見，在 CCI、產品組合以及透過損益表推動槓桿作用的營業收入的推動下，獲利能力上升了 240 個基點。那裡也很開心。

Gross margin will build throughout the year, as I said on the call, 50 to 100 points on a full year basis on the back of the CCI program. We want to invest back in the business, as we said before, in terms of SG&A, particularly brand marketing. And we feel confident about expanding margins for the full year between 4% and 6% operating profit growth for the full year, primarily driven by the Flavor Solutions segment.

正如我在電話會議上所說的那樣，在 CCI 計劃的支持下，毛利率將在全年增長 50 到 100 個百分點。正如我們之前所說，我們希望在銷售、一般和行政費用方面重新投資於業務，特別是品牌行銷。我們有信心，全年利潤率將擴大 4% 至 6%，這主要得益於風味解決方案部門的推動。

Thanks so much. I appreciate the color.

非常感謝。我很欣賞這個顏色。

Peter Galbo, Bank of America.

美國銀行的彼得‧加爾博 (Peter Galbo)。

Hi. Good morning, guys. Two questions on the Americas Consumer business. And Brendan, I'll toss the first one to you. I think you mentioned that the price gap management -- the incremental price gap management in the first quarter was maybe seasonal or tied to a seasonal business. And the expectation is that the consumer price will be flat going forward. I'm just wondering if, on an underlying basis, within Americas, if that pricing still has an opportunity to be negative given some incremental investments?

你好。大家早安。關於美洲消費者業務的兩個問題。布倫丹，我把第一個問題丟給你。我認為您曾提到價格差距管理—第一季的增量價格差距管理可能是季節性的或與季節性業務相關。預計未來消費者物價將保持穩定。我只是想知道，從根本上講，在美洲，考慮到一些增量投資，該定價是否仍有機會為負值？

And maybe that's you saw good returns on the promo around the holidays and so you'll look at that as we get into grilling season, and then you're offsetting that possibly with EMEA. But I just want to understand kind of the pieces underneath the flat price for Consumer comment at a total company level relative maybe to the geography.

也許您在假期促銷期間看到了不錯的回報，所以當我們進入燒烤季節時，您會看到這一點，然後您可能會用 EMEA 來抵消這一點。但我只是想了解消費者在整個公司層面上相對於地理位置的固定價格下的評論。

Okay. So thanks, Peter. First of all, let me just kick off with, overall, we had very really strong sales performance throughout the company in both segments. Specifically thinking about Consumer, that's where most of your question focused on, we delivered really strong volume growth across the business. I mean across all regions, up 2.6%. So we really think that, that was indicative of the type of strength we have been communicating on in the prior quarters.

好的。所以謝謝你，彼得。首先，我要說的是，整體而言，我們公司在兩個部門的銷售表現都非常強勁。具體來說，考慮到消費者，這是您的大多數問題所關注的，我們在整個業務中實現了非常強勁的銷售成長。我的意思是所有地區都上漲了 2.6%。因此，我們確實認為，這表明了我們在前幾季一直在傳達的實力類型。

There was a price element, obviously, as you called out, typically in Americas in Q1. And a lot of that had to do with -- we did target an incremental promotion on a recipe mix business. I'm not sure if everyone felt the cold weather that most of the country felt, but that's really good for chili volume and gravy. And so we saw an opportunity, really a great opportunity to just continue to drive that business even harder during the first quarter because it's a great time of the year for those specific products.

顯然，正如您所說，存在價格因素，通常是在第一季的美洲。這在很大程度上與我們針對配方混合業務的增量推廣有關。我不確定是否每個人都感受到了全國大部分地區所感受到的寒冷天氣，但這對辣椒的量和肉汁來說確實有好處。因此，我們看到了一個機會，一個真正絕佳的機會，可以繼續在第一季更加努力地推動該業務，因為對於這些特定產品來說，這是一年中的黃金時期。

And we really see it actually in a lot of our volume and share performance in that segment of our business. So that's what really drove a lot of it. It was sort of one of those -- we reserve the flexibility to be able to spend across the business where we feel like we need to, and that might have been sort of the one element that was, if you could say, incremental to what the price gap management plans and programs one would have expected.

我們確實從我們該業務領域的銷量和份額表現中看到了這一點。這才是真正推動這一切的因素。這有點像其中之一——我們保留了靈活性，能夠在整個業務中根據需要進行支出，如果你可以這樣說，這可能是一個元素，它是人們所期望的價格差距管理計劃和方案的增量。

As we look to the rest of the year, we don't really see price having much contribution in terms of it being super positive or super negative across the portfolio globally. But I would say that's definitely going to be the case in the Americas. We're going to be maintaining the price investments in the prior year. There is a little bit of pricing that's going to come through in EMEA to deal with some commodity pressures that they're feeling. So you will see a little bit of that, but they will be growing volume. And so that's kind of one perspective, I think, on how to think about the first quarter and then what to expect for the rest of the year.

展望今年剩餘時間，我們並不認為價格對全球投資組合產生太大的正面或負面影響。但我想說，美洲的情況肯定是如此。我們將維持上一年度的價格投資。歐洲、中東和非洲地區將會採取一些定價措施來應對他們感受到的一些商品壓力。因此，您會看到一點點這種情況，但它們的數量會不斷增長。所以我認為這是關於如何看待第一季以及對今年剩餘時間的預期的觀點。

Volume growth in the Americas is really the fundamental driver. I think you saw that strength in our consumption. You're also seeing it in the actual sales results. There might have been a little bit of a gap from a standpoint of our consumption in our sales, but that's really typical dynamics for us in the first quarter as we would typically see that after obviously a very strong holiday period that we had. So I'll stop there to see if I've addressed your question, but happy to take on more.

美洲的銷量成長確實是根本驅動力。我想您已經看到了我們消費的強勁勢頭。您也可以在實際銷售結果中看到這一點。從我們的消費和銷售角度來看，可能存在一點差距，但這對我們來說確實是第一季的典型動態，因為我們通常會在經歷非常強勁的假期後看到這種情況。因此，我就此打住，看看是否已經回答了您的問題，但很高興能夠回答更多問題。

No, thanks, Brendan, I think that's very helpful context. And maybe just as a follow-up, I think we've gotten a few questions this morning just around, again, in Americas Consumer kind of shipment versus consumption. And just whether there were any dynamics you saw from a carryover perspective on inventories out of Thanksgiving? Or any timing shift related to Easter just that you're thinking about, again, as we contemplate the consumption? Thanks.

不，謝謝，布倫丹，我認為這是非常有幫助的背景。也許只是作為後續問題，我想我們今天早上又收到了一些關於美洲消費者出貨量與消費量的問題。從感恩節後的庫存結轉角度來看，您是否看到了任何動態？或者當我們考慮消費時，您是否考慮過與復活節相關的任何時間變化？謝謝。

Sure. Yeah, let me go -- let me add some more context on shipments to consumption. We have very few concerns about our shipment versus consumption profile. Just to give you some more context. First of all, we had a really great holiday program, resulting in really strong consumption, not only in Q4 but also in Q1.

當然。是的，讓我開始吧——讓我添加一些有關出貨量和消費量的背景資訊。我們對我們的出貨量與消費狀況幾乎沒有什麼擔憂。只是為了給你更多背景資訊。首先，我們有一個非常棒的假期計劃，導致消費非常強勁，不僅在第四季度，而且在第一季也是如此。

So we have a really strong consumption profile kind of underpinning really our sales growth over the past two quarters. Consumption and the outpacing in Q1 of sales is a typical dynamic that we see on inventory patterns across our business over the last decade or so. I mean that's just something that we typically expect.

因此，我們擁有非常強勁的消費狀況，這實際上支撐了我們過去兩個季度的銷售成長。消費和第一季銷售的超額成長是我們在過去十年左右的業務庫存模式中看到的典型動態。我的意思是這只是我們通常所期望的。

There's probably two other variables, though, that I think one could say is a little bit incremental or new in this quarter. And the first one is we're not really seeing any early Easter shipments like we did last year because Easter is falling later in April. And so it's just there isn't really anything happening in Q1 regard to -- with regard to Easter, like it might have the year before.

不過，我認為可能還有另外兩個變量，可以說本季是有點增量或新的。首先，我們沒有像去年那樣看到復活節早期的發貨，因為復活節是在四月下旬。因此，第一季與復活節有關的活動實際上沒有發生，就像前一年一樣。

And then we do have a strong innovation plan for the year. We got an early kickoff on that this year, which means a little bit more slotting spend. Whatever increases we had in slotting comes into the first quarter because it matches with the shipments of the item. So that's one indication that obviously, we're off to a good start on innovation. But some of that spend comes into the first quarter, and that was a little bit heavier than it was the prior year.

我們今年確實有一個強而有力的創新計畫。今年我們提前開始了這項活動，這意味著上架費用會稍微增加一些。無論我們在排架方面有什麼增加，都會進入第一季度，因為它與產品的出貨量相符。這顯然表明我們在創新方面已經有了一個良好的開始。但部分支出發生在第一季，比去年同期略高一些。

But I don't look at those two things as structural problems. Those are just cycles that we go through. It's really quite normal. And I think it looks -- the profile is what we would expect. If you combine Q4 and Q1 together into one number, it's exactly where we want to be.

但我並不認為這兩件事是結構性問題。這些只是我們經歷的周期。這確實很正常。我認為它看起來——概況正是我們所期望的。如果將 Q4 和 Q1 合併為一個數字，那正是我們想要的。

Great. Thanks so much, Brendan.

偉大的。非常感謝，布倫丹。

Alexia Howard, Bernstein.

亞歷克西亞·霍華德，伯恩斯坦。

Good morning, everyone. Hi, there. So can I focus on the growth of sales in Flavor Solutions. I'm wondering if you could quantify or at least comment on how much new high -- these new high-growth customers are adding to your sales or your volumes in that segment? And then by contrast, how much does the QSRs benefited also in there? And then offsetting that, you had the CPG customer weakness, how big was that compared to some of the other dynamics? And then I have a follow-up.

大家早安。你好呀。因此我可以專注於風味解決方案的銷售成長。我想知道您是否可以量化或至少評論一下這些新的高成長客戶對您在該領域的銷售額或銷量增加了多少？那麼相較之下，速食店又從中受益多少呢？然後抵消這一點，你有 CPG 客戶的弱點，與其他一些動態相比，這有多大？然後我有一個後續問題。

Thanks for the question, Alexia. We did have a good quarter on Flavor Solutions overall. In fact, I would say, in two out of our three regions, we have volume growth, mostly in the Americas and Asia Pacific. Just to give you a little bit more context and detail, I'm not going to be able to sort of quantify each individual segment within or kind of categorize each volume and give it a framing on numbers. So I'll give you some context in terms of what we saw in the quarter.

謝謝你的提問，Alexia。總體而言，我們在風味解決方案方面確實有一個良好的季度表現。事實上，我想說，在我們三個地區中有兩個地區的銷售量都有成長，主要是美洲和亞太地區。為了給您更多背景資訊和細節，我無法對每個單獨的部分進行量化，也無法對每個卷進行分類並為其提供數位框架。因此，我將向您介紹本季我們看到的一些背景。

We did very well with those high-growth sort of innovator customers that are a lot of emerging segments, many of them attached to health and wellness. And so we continue to see strong growth from them. We also continue to acquire new customers there. So it's not only volume, but it's also gaining share that's helping us there. And it allows us to diversify our sales mix and our portfolio.

我們在那些高成長的創新客戶方面做得非常好，這些客戶很多都是新興領域，其中許多都與健康和保健有關。因此我們繼續看到他們的強勁成長。我們也繼續在那裡獲得新客戶。因此，它不僅在數量上對我們有幫助，而且在市場份額上也在不斷增長。它使我們能夠實現銷售組合和產品組合的多樣化。

But we also saw strengthening the QSR business even if there is weak traffic in the industry. And what was driving that is we had some innovation wins executed in the quarter. We also won some new customers there, too. So in the Americas region, it was the QSR customer base and the sort of small, high-innovator customers that we have in Flavor that we're really driving and offsetting any of the weakness that we saw with larger CPGs.

但我們也看到，即使產業客流量疲軟，QSR 業務仍在加強。推動這一進程的是我們在本季取得了一些創新勝利。我們也在那裡贏得了一些新客戶。因此，在美洲地區，我們真正推動的是 QSR 客戶群以及 Flavor 中的小型、高創新客戶，並抵消了我們在大型 CPG 中看到的任何弱點。

In Asia Pacific, it was a lot of QSR performance that drove the business. Increased customer promotions and limited time offers certainly contributed to some strong numbers. But also we were lapping the geopolitical boycott from a year ago. So that also improved volume performance in Asia Pacific. EMEA, on the other hand, definitely saw continued weakness, although we see sequential improvement quarter-to-quarter, it still is soft in terms of traffic with QSRs.

在亞太地區，許多 QSR 的表現推動了業務的發展。增加的客戶促銷和限時優惠無疑對強勁的業績做出了貢獻。但我們也正在經歷一年前的地緣政治抵制。因此這也提高了亞太地區的銷售表現。另一方面，歐洲、中東和非洲地區肯定繼續表現疲軟，儘管我們看到季度環比有所改善，但就 QSR 客流量而言仍然疲軟。

And so that one -- that region was down. But underlying all of this, there is a softness with larger CPG companies, I would say, not just within the Americas, but also, we're seeing that in Europe, too. And that's consistent with what you're hearing, I think, from other company reports. And so we're seeing a little bit of that in our performance. I would say, though, when we look at a category to category, we tend to still outperform what's going on in the broader market, but nonetheless, the bumps are weaker.

所以那個地區——那個地區被摧毀了。但在所有這一切的背後，我想說，大型 CPG 公司表現疲軟，不僅在美洲，而且在歐洲也看到了這種情況。我認為這與您從其他公司報告中聽到的內容一致。我們在我們的表現中看到了一點這一點。不過，我想說，當我們逐一觀察時，我們往往仍會跑贏大盤，但儘管如此，波動會較小。

Great. And as a quick follow-up. It's probably too early to say anything, but RFK Jr. seems to be pursuing an agenda of driving out artificial additives across packaged food and probably in the restaurant sector as well. As I said, it's probably too early to tell because he's just turned off on the scene, but are you seeing any uptick in reformulation efforts on the part of your CPG or restaurant customers in the US?

偉大的。並作為快速的後續行動。現在下結論可能還為時過早，但羅伯特甘迺迪似乎正在推行一項計劃，即在包裝食品中以及餐飲業中淘汰人工添加劑。正如我所說，現在下結論可能還為時過早，因為他剛剛退出舞台，但您是否看到美國快速消費品或餐廳顧客在重新配方方面有所努力？

Yes. With regard to colors, just let me first provide some context on the McCormick portfolio, our consumer portfolio. We don't really have a lot of usage of color in our products, as you might expect, at least very, very few overall. Now with respect to formulations, we are seeing more activity on that, definitely.

是的。關於顏色，首先讓我提供一些關於 McCormick 產品組合（即我們的消費者產品組合）的背景資訊。正如您所料，我們的產品實際上並沒有使用太多的顏色，至少總體上非常非常少。現在就配方而言，我們確實看到了更多的活動。

Now reformulation activity has always been a part of the work that we do with our customer base, and we've been doing that for quite some time. But we are seeing a tick-up in reformulation activity, and that would align with what you're seeing and being written out in the news media regarding what we're hearing from the new administration.

現在，重新配方活動一直是我們為客戶群開展的工作的一部分，而且我們已經這樣做了很長一段時間。但我們看到重新制定活動正在增加，這與您所看到的以及新聞媒體所報導的有關新政府的消息一致。

But it isn't just colors, it's also sodium. We've always been working on sodium. It's also about just working on trends that are certainly positive, like hydration, functional foods, high protein. We're seeing reformulation activity across our customer base, but also a lot of new product activity, too.

但它不僅僅是顏色，它也是鈉。我們一直在研究鈉。這也只是在研究肯定正面的趨勢，例如補水、功能性食品、高蛋白。我們看到整個客戶群都在進行重新配方活動，同時也有很多新產品活動。

Great. Thank you very much. I'll pass it on.

偉大的。非常感謝。我會傳達的。

Ken Goldman, JPMorgan.

摩根大通的肯‧戈德曼。

Hi. Thank you. Understanding the situation changes daily or sometimes hourly, what should investors be looking for in terms of key tariff risks ahead, as well as, I guess, related headwinds and actions that the company will take in response? And I know these are myriad in nature, but anything you're really keeping an eye on that we should also be following, I think, would be helpful.

你好。謝謝。了解情況每天甚至每小時都在變化，投資者應該關注未來的主要關稅風險，以及相關的不利因素和公司將採取的應對措施？我知道這些本質上是多種多樣的，但我認為，您真正關注的、我們也應該關注的任何事物都會有所幫助。

Well, just in case it might have been missed. There are known tariffs already that we have accounted for in our in our forecast and our guidance for the year. Those are specifically the ones that were levied on China. So those are already factored into our thinking right now, overall, Ken. As it relates to anything moving forward, it is difficult to sort of project on what will be the areas that we have to focus on, because we're not exactly sure how exactly these might come through.

好吧，以防萬一被遺漏了。我們已經在年度預測和指導中考慮了已知的關稅。這些正是對中國徵收的稅。所以總的來說，這些現在已經被考慮到我們的考慮之中了，肯。就任何向前邁進的事情而言，我們很難預測出我們需要關注的領域是什麼，因為我們不確定這些領域究竟會如何實現。

So we're still -- like you just said, we're staying very close to what the latest news and the latest potential plans might be. We're thinking through a number of scenarios there in terms of how that might get applied. There's obviously a lot of variability on how one might think through these tariffs just based on, what might be recent reports, but we're staying close to what everyone else is learning, too.

所以我們仍然——就像你剛才說的，我們非常關注最新消息和最新的潛在計劃。我們正在思考如何應用這項技術的多種場景。顯然，僅根據最近的報告，人們對這些關稅的看法可能會有很大差異，但我們也會密切關注其他人所了解的情況。

I think from a broader standpoint, I would just say these are situations that we dealt with in the past, and we expect to be able to deal with them successfully moving forward, too, depending on where the tariff might be in terms of country or on type of sort of raw ingredient or finished good. I mean this is quite varied, I would say. And as you might expect, complex. But we're prepared to work through that when we know exactly what will happen.

我認為從更廣泛的角度來看，這些都是我們過去處理過的情況，我們也希望能夠成功地處理它們，這取決於關稅在國家或原材料或成品類型方面的位置。我想說的是，這是相當多樣化的。正如您所料，它很複雜。但當我們確切知道會發生什麼時，我們準備好努力解決這個問題。

Okay. Thank you. And then a quick follow-up. I recognize that given quarterly guidance isn't always your practice. But just in light of some of the moving pieces in the first half and some of the conversation about pricing and SBC shifts, how would you like us to sort of think about directionally EBIT and EPS in 2Q either relative to 1Q or versus a year ago? Just I think any help you can get in -- or we can get in or sort of narrowing that would be useful. Thank you.

好的。謝謝。然後進行快速跟進。我認識到給出季度指導並不總是你們的做法。但是，僅考慮到上半年的一些變動以及有關定價和 SBC 轉變的一些討論，您希望我們如何看待第二季度相對於第一季度或一年前而言的 EBIT 和 EPS 的方向性？我認為，您能得到的任何幫助，或者我們可以得到的任何幫助，或者縮小範圍都會很有用。謝謝。

Yeah. Ken, I'm going to maybe kick it off and then ask Marcos to add more context to this. But kind of back to my opening remarks, we always saw Q1 as being a very different quarter than the rest of the year. And so I think that would be the picture that we continue to paint. We felt like we've made that kind of clear when we closed the fiscal year in '24. But Marcos, do you want to add to Ken's question?

是的。肯，我可能會先開始討論，然後請馬科斯補充更多背景資訊。但回到我的開場白，我們一直認為第一季與今年其他季度截然不同。所以我認為這將是我們繼續描繪的畫面。當我們結束 24 財年時，我們感覺我們已經明確表達了這一點。但是馬科斯，你想補充一下肯的問題嗎？

Yes, Ken. So it's difficult to give really guidance, as you can imagine, especially in this dynamic environment that we are in these days. You should see a continued momentum in terms of -- our top line growth will continue, as I mentioned, between Q3, Q2 and Q4. The margin, gross margin will build progressively. You'll see the bulk of our profitability comes in the second half of the year, which is -- second half is bigger than the first half.

是的，肯。因此，你可以想像，提供真正的指導非常困難，尤其是在我們目前所處的這種動態環境中。您應該會看到持續的勢頭——正如我所提到的，我們的營收成長將在第三季、第二季和第四季之間持續下去。利潤率、毛利率將逐步提高。您會發現我們的大部分獲利來自於下半年，也就是說，下半年的獲利比上半年還要大。

So you should see more of the gross margin impacting the second -- on a positive way, impacting the second half versus the first half. And that will flow through the P&L to operating profit as well. We continue to invest in SG&A every quarter, and that is proving to be positive in terms of the volume that we're getting out of those investments that we're making. And then profitability will continue to build as well in line with the gross margin build. So you should see some of the slip and timing-related items that impacted in Q1 as a tailwind into Q2, but then continue to build gross margin and operating margin through the balance of the year.

因此，你應該會看到毛利率對下半年的影響更大——以積極的方式，對下半年的影響比對上半年更大。這也將透過損益表流入營業利潤。我們每季都會繼續對銷售、一般及行政費用 (SG&A) 進行投資，從我們從這些投資中獲得的收益來看，這被證明是正面的。然後獲利能力也將隨著毛利率的提高而持續提高。因此，您應該會看到，第一季的一些延誤和與時間相關的項目會成為第二季的順風，但隨後會在今年餘下的時間裡繼續提高毛利率和營業利潤率。

Robert Moskow, TD Cowen.

羅伯特·莫斯科（Robert Moskow），TD Cowen。

Hi, there. Thanks for the question. Brendan, I wanted to follow-up to Andrew's question at the top of the call. You described the results as roughly in line with your expectations, and I'm just trying to drill down a little bit more into the organic growth for Consumer versus organic growth for Flavor Solutions. Just based on tone heading into the results, I would have thought that Flavor Solutions would be a little weaker, Consumer would be stronger given everything you said about the shift to scratch cooking the desire for more fresher foods and the flavors that are used to prepare them.

你好呀。謝謝你的提問。布倫丹，我想跟進安德魯在電話會議開始時提出的問題。您所描述的結果大致符合您的預期，而我只是想更深入地研究消費者的有機成長與風味解決方案的有機成長。僅根據結果的基調，我原本認為風味解決方案會稍微弱一些，而消費者會更強，因為您所說的一切都與從頭烹飪的轉變有關，人們對更新鮮的食物和用於準備這些食物的風味的渴望有關。

And so this is kind of the reverse in first quarter. And I want to know if that was also in line with your expectations or not. And then more specifically on the chili promotion, is that a profitable promotion? It obviously drove a lot of volume. You said it was incremental. Did it grow profits? Thanks.

這與第一季的情況正好相反。我想知道這是否也符合您的期望。然後更具體地說，關於辣椒促銷，這是一個有利可圖的促銷嗎？顯然，它帶來了很大的銷售。你說它是漸進的。利潤增加了嗎？謝謝。

Sure. Thank you, Rob. Let me go to the top of your question in terms of expectations overall. I do think that Flavor Solutions is a little bit stronger than what we would have expected. I think it really came through more in the QSR volume performance overall. So I think that was one part of your question.

當然。謝謝你，羅布。讓我從整體期望的角度來回答你的問題。我確實認為 Flavor Solutions 比我們預期的要強一些。我認為它確實在 QSR 整體銷售表現上發揮了更大的作用。所以我認為這是你問題的一部分。

But then from a Consumer standpoint, boy, I'm looking at the volume and it was really quite good. I mean the Americas was up, I think, 2.9%. We talked about the shift to consumption, obviously, as being a dynamic there that we typically expect. But overall, we felt like -- and as you see the consumption, we think it was quite strong overall. So -- and in fact, a nice continuation from what we saw in Q4. Now the holiday season obviously has a lot more demand going on in it, but we see a continuation of the strength that we have.

但是從消費者的角度來看，我看到了銷售量，而且它確實相當不錯。我的意思是美洲上漲了 2.9%。我們討論了消費轉型，顯然這是我們通常預期的一種動態。但總體而言，我們感覺——正如您所看到的消費情況，我們認為總體而言消費情況相當強勁。所以 — — 事實上，這是我們在第四季度看到的情況的良好延續。現在假期期間的需求顯然會大大增加，但我們看到這種強勁勢頭將持續下去。

China, I would say we were looking for a gradual improvement, and we are pleased with the performance of China in the first quarter. As we look at our performance versus the Chinese New Year in the market, we believe that we slightly outperformed there. So that was -- we planned on growth. We called it slight growth, I would say, that 3% that we saw was pretty good in terms of the challenge in the marketplace that is and where consumer sentiment is at that point in time.

中國，我想說，我們期待的是逐步的改善，我們對中國在第一季的表現感到滿意。當我們回顧我們在農曆新年期間的市場表現時，我們認為我們的表現略有超越。這就是—我們計劃的成長。我們稱之為輕微成長，我想說，就當時的市場挑戰和消費者情緒而言，我們看到的 3% 的成長已經相當不錯了。

So just to give you context on the consumer side, I would say quite pleased with the performance of volume in the Americas and as well as in China. EMEA also performed well, too. Now we see a little bit more pricing coming through in EMEA as a result of some commodity pressure that they're feeling, but we're still growing volume in the context of having a little bit more pricing. And so that's the profile there.

因此，僅從消費者方面來說，我對美洲和中國的銷售表現感到非常滿意。歐洲、中東和非洲地區也表現良好。現在，由於感受到一些商品壓力，我們看到歐洲、中東和非洲地區的定價略有上漲，但在定價略有上漲的背景下，我們的銷售仍在成長。這就是那裡的概況。

Now with respect to the incremental promotional recipe mix, when we look at price overall, revenue management, price gap management, all of those things, we certainly take a very hard look at whether or not they're smart from a profit perspective. So I can tell you that our team, when they execute these programs, they're doing because they know that they're strategically good for the business, they build loyalty and they're also financially smart.

現在，關於增量促銷方案組合，當我們考慮整體價格、收入管理、價格差距管理等所有這些因素時，我們當然會認真考慮從利潤角度來看它們是否明智。因此我可以告訴你們，我們的團隊在執行這些計劃時，是因為他們知道這些計劃在策略上對業務有利，能夠建立忠誠度，而且在財務上也很精明。

And so we're pretty pleased with the performance, I think, overall, in the first quarter. And just to kind of help bridge if there's any slight disappointment in the Consumer number, I would just say, we felt like that number was pretty strong.

因此，我認為我們對第一季的整體表現非常滿意。如果消費者數據有任何令人失望的地方，我只想說，我們覺得這個數字相當強勁。

Great. (inaudible) Thank you.

偉大的。（聽不清楚）謝謝。

I want to make sure I got the call at the point of your question. Okay. Great.

我想確保我在你提問時接到了電話。好的。偉大的。

Max Gumport, BNP Parabas.

馬克斯·甘波特（Max Gumport），法國巴黎銀行

Hey. Thanks for the questions. Recently, packaged food players, particularly those with exposure to snacking, some of whom are your key customers in Flavor Solutions have been observing prolonged softness and attributing it to the consumer feeling financial pressure. It sounds like you've acknowledged some of those pressures, but you also seem to be attributing much more of this to changing consumer preferences as well, which is supporting your -- some of your key categories in the Consumer segment.

嘿。感謝您的提問。最近，包裝食品企業，特別是那些接觸零食的食品企業（其中一些是您在風味解決方案方面的主要客戶）一直在觀察長期的疲軟現象，並將其歸因於消費者感受到的財務壓力。聽起來您已經承認了其中的一些壓力，但您似乎也將其中更多的壓力歸因於消費者偏好的變化，這支持了您在消費者領域的一些關鍵類別。

I was hoping you could provide a bit more color on these changing consumer preferences that you're seeing. And also, how you would think about parsing out the weakness that we're seeing in snacking between the consumer feeling financial pressure versus the consumer changing their preferences for eating. Thanks very much.

我希望您能更詳細地介紹您所看到的消費者偏好的變化。此外，您如何看待我們在消費者感受到的經濟壓力與消費者改變飲食偏好之間看到的零食消費弱點？非常感謝。

Well, thank you for the question, Max. As it relates to sort of snacking trends and are the drivers related more towards affordability or are the drivers related to health and wellness trends, like a lot of things in life, it's a lot of both things, I think probably. It's hard to parse that out.

好吧，謝謝你的提問，馬克斯。因為它與某種零食趨勢有關，其驅動因素是否更多地與可負擔性有關，或者是否與健康和保健趨勢有關，就像生活中的許多事情一樣，我認為很可能是兩者兼而有之。這很難分析清楚。

Let me tell you what I think we're seeing is in terms of snacking trends, there is a little bit more softness, but we're seeing pockets of growth also in snacking, too. So especially within those value-added segments, so protein-based snacks and better-for-you options are, in many ways, part of the snacking category as well, and we could see growth in those areas. So I don't know that snacking, by itself, is the issue. It's just people are looking for other opportunities and other options as they consider snacking as part of the repertoire throughout the day.

讓我告訴你，就零食趨勢而言，我認為我們看到的是，雖然有點疲軟，但我們也看到了零食的成長點。因此，特別是在這些增值領域，蛋白質類零食和更適合您的選擇在許多方面也屬於零食類別的一部分，我們可以看到這些領域的成長。所以我不知道吃零食本身是不是一個問題。人們只是在尋找其他機會和其他選擇，因為他們認為零食是全天活動的一部分。

But we also, in terms of our own performance, believe that we're gaining market share in a number of these areas from competitors. So it's helped offset what we believe to be. Maybe a little bit of temporary weaknesses as we're looking at the snacking category, but it's more dynamic than maybe just one version of it. And that would be -- sort of one context I would get from a consumer perspective, specifically on snacking.

但就我們自身的業績而言，我們也相信，我們正在從競爭對手手中搶奪許多領域的市場份額。因此，它有助於抵消我們所認為的影響。當我們考慮零食類別時，可能會出現一些暫時的弱點，但它比僅僅一個版本更有活力。這就是我從消費者角度獲得的一種背景信息，特別是關於零食。

Now if you think about just broadly the state of the consumer, Max, we think consumers continue to be resilient, but they're definitely still in a challenging environment. And as many of us have seen, consumer sentiment has been impacted, especially over this past month, primarily related to concerns over rising inflation potentially. And I think my -- our view is that this prolongs what we saw as we thought about sort of the back half of '24, that the mindset of the consumer may not be getting -- shifting all that much towards the positive. It's just still kind of remaining resilient but challenged.

現在，如果你廣泛地考慮消費者的狀況，馬克斯，我們認為消費者繼續保持韌性，但他們肯定仍處於充滿挑戰的環境中。正如我們許多人所看到的，消費者情緒受到了影響，尤其是在過去的一個月裡，這主要與對通膨可能上升的擔憂有關。我認為，我們的觀點是，這延長了我們在 2024 年下半年看到的情況，即消費者的心態可能沒有太大的正向轉變。它仍然保持著彈性，但面臨挑戰。

They're still cautious about how they spend their money on food and beverage, and they're continuing that value-seeking behavior. In our own categories, what we're seeing is some people are maybe trading down to smaller units, but we're also seeing a lot of growth in our larger units actually. So it tells me that people are looking for value. They're also putting a lot of focus on the value per ounce that they're spending.

他們在食品和飲料方面的支出仍然很謹慎，並且繼續追求價值的行為。在我們自己的類別中，我們看到有些人可能正在轉向較小的單位，但實際上我們也看到較大單位的成長。所以這告訴我人們正在尋找價值。他們也非常重視每盎司的花費價值。

So I think consumers are quite savvy as we all know, and they're trying to make their dollar stretch as much as they can, which is another reason why they go into the perimeter of the store to make scratch meals, et cetera. They see them as healthier, but they also see them as cheaper. And so I think both of these kind of -- you started with the Snacking segment, but I'm going to end just more broadly, what we're seeing in our own categories is consumers are sort of blending both, and it's hard to parse them apart.

所以我認為，正如我們所知，消費者非常精明，他們試圖盡可能地節省開支，這也是他們到商店周圍做飯等的另一個原因。他們認為它們更健康，但也更便宜。所以我認為這兩種——你從零食部分開始，但我將以更廣泛的範圍來結束，我們在自己的類別中看到的是消費者將兩者融合在一起，很難將它們區分開來。

Great. Thanks very much. I'll leave it there.

偉大的。非常感謝。我就把它留在那裡。

Steve Powers, Deutsche Bank.

德意志銀行的史蒂夫·鮑爾斯。

Hey, everybody. Good morning. Thank you. Brendan, I was hoping you could talk a little bit more about what you're seeing in Europe and, I guess, in the EMEA segment as it relates to Consumer. Volume growth there as well this quarter, and you've got some pricing coming through because of the commodity backdrop. But at the same time, you cited other CPG companies in Europe kind of facing parallel dynamics as we're seeing here in the US with consumer weakness.

嘿，大家好。早安.謝謝。布倫丹，我希望您能多談談您在歐洲以及歐洲、中東和非洲地區看到的情況，因為這些情況與消費者有關。本季銷售也有所成長，而且由於大宗商品的背景，一些定價也隨之而來。但同時，您提到歐洲其他 CPG 公司也面臨著與我們在美國看到的消費者疲軟類似的情況。

So as you think about the progression of demand in Europe over the balance of the year, I guess, how are you sort of taking you through the scenarios there? And is there incremental investments that may have to be put into place in Europe as well as the year goes on to offset some of that demand weakness?

因此，當您思考歐洲在今年餘下時間的需求變化時，我想，您會如何描述那裡的情況？那麼，歐洲是否需要在未來一年內進行增量投資來抵銷部分需求疲軟？

Thanks, Steve. Well, in Europe specifically, let me step back. We do a lot of proprietary research throughout the year, frequently throughout the year. And we're trying to understand consumer sentiment not only with cooking and shopping and value and inflation, et cetera, many other -- many topics, but we do this almost every quarter, and that helps us understand what the sentiment of the consumer is, especially let's say, comparing Europe to the US or other big markets that we operate in.

謝謝，史蒂夫。好吧，具體來說在歐洲，讓我退後一步來說。我們全年都會進行大量的專有研究，而且是經常性的。我們試圖了解消費者情緒，不僅是烹飪、購物、價值和通貨膨脹等許多其他主題，而且我們幾乎每個季度都會這樣做，這有助於我們了解消費者的情緒，特別是將歐洲與美國或我們經營的其他大市場進行比較。

What's striking to us is the similarity that we're seeing from a US consumer sentiment, broadly, with European. And so very similar trends in terms of, hey, I'm cooking from scratch more often, I'm eating at home more often than I did. I'm looking for value overall. We see growth in discounters, as an example of that, which we're gaining distribution in. We also see performance of e-commerce really accelerating too. So people are looking for sort of that convenience overall, and that's accelerating quite nicely in that marketplace.

令我們震驚的是，我們看到美國消費者情緒與歐洲消費者情緒大致相似。所以，就趨勢而言，它們非常相似，嘿，我更常從頭開始做飯，我比以前更常在家吃飯。我正在尋找整體價值。例如，我們看到折扣店的成長，我們正在獲得分銷。我們也看到電子商務的表現確實在加速。所以人們總體上都在尋求那種便利，而且這種便利性在市場上正在迅速發展。

So we're seeing somewhat of a similar sort of parallel, if you will, behaviors and sentiment from a consumer standpoint. The worry of inflation is just as high there as it would be here in the US. And so that's coming through in the data that we're looking at. So I don't know that I could pinpoint something uniquely different in Europe that's happening in the US right now.

因此，從消費者的角度來看，我們看到了某種類似的行為和情緒。那裡的通貨膨脹擔憂程度與美國一樣高。這就是我們所看到的數據所體現的。所以我不知道我是否能指出歐洲正在發生和美國目前截然不同的事情。

Okay. Maybe if I could just follow up. So the -- is there -- as we see net positive pricing flowing through your business this quarter and over the course of the year, as expected, is that -- is what we're really seeing in there is sort of commodity-based pricing offset by promotional investments and the like? Or is the (inaudible) in value, not quite as strong as the US despite those dynamics?

好的。也許我可以跟進一下。那麼，正如我們所料，本季度以及全年，您的業務中都出現了淨正定價，那麼，我們真正看到的是基於商品的定價被促銷投資等所抵消嗎？或者，儘管有這些動態，但其價值（聽不清楚）還是不如美國那麼強勁？

The commodity inflation that we're experiencing there is not broad-based, it's very targeted on specific items. And so as you know, like for example, we have a homemade desserts business in France, and so there are very specific items are receiving some inflation there. And so think about this as quite targeted.

我們所經歷的大宗商品通膨並不是普遍性的，而是針對特定商品的。如你所知，例如，我們在法國有一家自製甜點生意，所以那裡的一些特定商品的價格正在上漲。因此，可以認為這是非常有針對性的。

But still, having said that, we're focused on making sure that we have the right price points on shelf. It isn't necessarily through promotions only, but it's also through just sort of that -- making sure like price gap management that we're getting to the right price point on the shelf. But I do want to illustrate that's more of a targeted issue from a commodity standpoint, not broad-based.

但話雖如此，我們仍然專注於確保貨架上有合適的價格。這不一定只透過促銷來實現，也可以透過某種方式——確保像價格差距管理這樣的方式，讓我們在貨架上獲得正確的價格點。但我確實想說明，從商品的角度來看，這更多的是一個有針對性的問題，而不是廣泛的問題。

Yeah. Understood. Thank you so much.

是的。明白了。太感謝了。

Tom Palmer, Citi.

花旗銀行的湯姆·帕爾默。

Good morning and thanks for the question. Maybe just to start out, I wanted to clarify an element of Ken's question from earlier. I appreciate the sales momentum and the expectation for gross margin to build as the year progresses. But I wanted to just clarify on SG&A, given some of the timing items that were called out in 1Q. I think traditionally, SG&A dollars in the second quarter are quite a bit higher than we see in the first quarter. Does this still hold this year? Or was there enough pull forward of some of these items into 1Q that will be a bit more balanced?

早安，感謝您的提問。也許只是為了開始，我想澄清一下肯之前提出的一個問題。我欣賞銷售勢頭以及隨著時間的推移毛利率將不斷上升的預期。但考慮到第一季提到的一些時間項目，我只想澄清一下銷售、一般和行政費用。我認為傳統上，第二季的銷售、一般及行政費用比第一季高出不少。今年還這樣嗎？或者，這些項目中的一些是否有足夠的提前量進入第一季度，從而會更加平衡一些？

It is going to be balanced between Q1 and Q2. You should look at those two quarters together, Tom, as you think about the SG&A line. There is a shift into Q1, a negative shift into Q1, as I explained, but that's going to be a tailwind into Q2. Brand marketing technology will continue across both quarters. So Q1, you saw some of that, a little bit more heavily than anticipated, but it's going to come back in Q2 as well. We're going to continue to last on the back of those two items. So I would look at it as the combination of Q1 and Q2 for a more normalized view on SG&A.

它將在第一季和第二季之間保持平衡。湯姆，當你考慮銷售、一般及行政費用時，你應該把這兩個季度放在一起看。正如我所解釋的，第一季出現了轉變，出現了負面轉變，但這將成為第二季的順風。品牌行銷技術將貫穿兩個季度。因此，在第一季度，您會看到一些比預期更嚴重的情況，但在第二季度，這種情況也會再次出現。我們將繼續依靠這兩項成果。因此，我會將其視為 Q1 和 Q2 的組合，以便對 SG&A 有更規範的看法。

Okay. Thank you. And I wanted to ask on Canada. We've seen headlines about weaker sales for US brands. Are you seeing any of that at this point? And then just any refresher on your exposure to Canada? Thank you.

好的。謝謝。我想問一下有關加拿大的問題。我們看到了美國品牌銷售疲軟的新聞頭條。現在您看到這些了嗎？然後您能再複習一下您對加拿大的了解嗎？謝謝。

In Canada, we actually had a really -- just like in the US, a really robust quarter in terms of consumption and performance there. And I'm familiar with what you're referring to in terms of what we've seen written in the press. But we currently -- we're not experiencing any sort of difficulties there. And honestly, as we look at our performance from a consumption and sales standpoint, we're pretty happy with it.

在加拿大，我們實際上就像在美國一樣，在消費和性能方面經歷了一個非常強勁的季度。從媒體報道來看，我很了解您所提到的情況。但我們目前沒有遇到任何困難。老實說，從消費和銷售的角度來看我們的表現，我們對此感到非常滿意。

Okay. Thank you.

好的。謝謝。

Matt Smith, Stifel.

馬特史密斯（Matt Smith），Stifel。

Hi, good morning. I wanted to follow up on America's QSR trends or QSR trends more broadly. You called out traffic -- or weaker traffic trend, but volumes were actually up. Can you talk about the drivers of growth that more than offset that traffic weakness and your expectation for the rest of the year in terms of industry traffic trends and your ability to outpace the industry traffic? Were some of the limited time offers and menu benefits more short term? Or do those continue and allow you to outperform the traffic trends we're seeing for QSR? Thank you.

嗨，早安。我想更廣泛地追蹤美國的 QSR 趨勢或 QSR 趨勢。您喊出了交通量——或者交通趨勢較弱，但實際上流量是上升的。您能否談談能夠抵消流量疲軟的成長動力，以及您對今年剩餘時間行業流量趨勢的預期以及您超越行業流量的能力？一些限時優惠和菜單福利是否只是短期的？或者這些會持續下去並讓你超越我們看到的 QSR 流量趨勢？謝謝。

We've often described this business as lumpy, variability quarter-to-quarter. And one of the variables that drives that is things like customer promotions, limited time offers, because they may or may not continue for either a short period of time or a long period of time. Difficult for us to fully predict. But that is one element in terms of what we saw, is just particularly when you think about Asia Pacific, just a lot more heightened activity.

我們經常將這項業務描述為不穩定且每季都存在變化的業務。推動這一趨勢的變數之一是客戶促銷、限時優惠等，因為它們可能會持續很短的時間，也可能不會持續很長一段時間。我們很難完全預測。但就我們所見，這是一個因素，特別是當你想到亞太地區時，你會發現活動更加活躍。

In fact, I would say QSR in Asia Pacific have been doing pretty well for the last couple of quarters. And so they've been growing stores, but also accelerating on traffic overall. In fact, I think the store growth itself is one other contributor to overall performance there, which is not a same-store sales type metric overall.

事實上，我想說亞太地區的 QSR 在過去幾季表現相當不錯。因此，他們不僅不斷增加門市數量，而且整體客流量也不斷增加。事實上，我認為門市成長本身是影響整體績效的另一個因素，而這並不是同店銷售額類型的指標。

The other items that, for us, if we win more business or we get innovation, that becomes incremental to the prior year. And so that enables one to sort of overcome whatever might be the trends with traffic going on in the industry. So we saw more of that happen in the Americas region.

對我們來說，其他項目，如果我們贏得更多業務或獲得創新，那麼與前一年相比就會增加。這樣，人們就能克服產業中可能出現的任何流量趨勢。因此，我們看到美洲地區發生了更多這樣的情況。

And that is an example of something that is necessarily short term, but rather it's something that sort of -- continue to sort of improve our sales mix by either winning new customers or getting new products overall or selling them new products, if you will. So that's the other context there, which is equivalent to gaining share, if you will.

這是一個必然是短期的事情的例子，但它是一種——透過贏得新客戶或獲得新產品或向他們銷售新產品來繼續改善我們的銷售組合，如果你願意的話。這就是另一種情況，如果你願意的話，這相當於獲得份額。

Thank you, Brendan. I'll pass it on.

謝謝你，布倫丹。我會傳達的。

Thank you. I'll now turn the call back to Brendan Foley for closing remarks.

謝謝。現在我將把電話轉回布倫丹·福利 (Brendan Foley) 進行結束語。

Thank you all for joining today's call. If you have any further questions regarding today's information, please feel free to contact me. This concludes our conference call for this morning.

感謝大家參加今天的電話會議。如果您對今天的資訊還有任何其他疑問，請隨時與我聯繫。今天上午的電話會議到此結束。