McCormick & Company, Incorporated (MKC) 2026 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. This is Faten Freiha, VP of Investor Relations. Thank you for joining today's third quarter earnings call. To accompany this call, we posted a set of slides on our IR website, ir.mccormick.com.

早安。我是投資人關係副總裁 Faten Freiha。感謝各位參加今天的第三季財報電話會議。為配合本次會議，我們已在投資人關係網站 ir.mccormick.com 上傳一組簡報投影片。

With me this morning are Brendan Foley, Chairman, President and CEO; and Mark Gabriel, Executive Vice President and CFO. 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.

今天早上與我一同出席的有董事長、總裁暨執行長 Brendan Foley，以及執行副總裁暨財務長 Mark Gabriel。在本次電話會議中，我們將提及若干非 GAAP 財務衡量指標。這些非 GAAP 財務衡量指標的性質，以及與 GAAP 結果之間的相關調節表，已收錄於今天早上的新聞稿與投影片中。

In our comments, certain percentages are rounded. Please refer to our presentation for complete information. 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 factors. Please refer to our forward-looking statements on slide 2 for more information.

在我們的評論中，部分百分比已四捨五入。完整資訊請參閱我們的簡報。今天的簡報包含預測及其他前瞻性陳述。實際結果可能與所預測者有重大差異。本公司不承擔因新資訊、未來事件或其他因素而公開更新或修訂任何前瞻性陳述之義務。更多資訊請參閱投影片第 2 頁的前瞻性陳述。

I will now turn the discussion over to Brendan.

接下來我把討論交給 Brendan。

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Our third quarter demonstrates the resilience and differentiated performance of our flavor centric business model in a dynamic environment. We delivered strong sales growth, margin expansion and increased earnings, supported by solid base business performance and accretion from the McCormick de Mexico acquisition.

各位早安，感謝大家加入我們。在充滿變動的環境中，我們第三季展現了以風味為核心的商業模式之韌性與差異化表現。在穩健的基礎業務表現，以及收購 McCormick de Mexico 帶來的增益支持下，我們實現了強勁的銷售成長、毛利率擴張與獲利提升。

Organic growth reflected in consumer momentum in EMEA and Asia Pacific and improving trends in Consumer Americas. Global Flavor Solutions delivered strong organic growth, though volumes were slightly below our expectations, reflecting cyclical customer demand patterns and a muted food industry environment.

有機成長反映出 EMEA 與亞太地區的消費動能，以及美洲消費者業務趨勢的改善。全球風味解決方案（Global Flavor Solutions）實現強勁的有機成長，但銷量略低於我們的預期，反映客戶需求的週期性型態以及食品產業環境偏疲弱。

Our productivity initiatives and operational discipline are helping us manage higher input, freight and other ongoing inflationary costs while expanding margins. This strengthens our capacity to continue investing in our brands, innovation and capabilities, reinforcing sustainable growth and long-term value creation. Our fundamentals remain strong, supported by year-to-date results, advantaged categories and disciplined execution. We are confident in our ability to deliver on our 2026 outlook.

我們的生產力提升計畫與營運紀律，正協助我們在擴張利潤率的同時，管理更高的原物料、運輸及其他持續性的通膨成本。這強化了我們持續投資品牌、創新與能力的空間，進一步鞏固永續成長與長期價值創造。在年初至今的成果、具優勢的品類以及嚴謹的執行力支持下，我們的基本面依然強勁。我們對達成 2026 年展望充滿信心。

We remain confident in the strategic benefits of the proposed combination with Unilever Foods. Integration planning remains on track, and we continue to advance the work required to support a successful close and a strong transition.

我們仍對擬議中與聯合利華食品（Unilever Foods）的合併所帶來的策略效益充滿信心。整合規劃仍按進度推進，我們也持續推動完成交易與順利過渡所需的各項工作。

Turning now to our results on slide 4, focusing on the top line. In the third quarter, total sales grew by 17% in constant currency, reflecting acquisition contribution from McCormick de Mexico and organic sales growth of 2%, reflecting growth across consumer and Flavor Solutions.

接著看投影片第 4 頁，先聚焦營收端。第三季以固定匯率計算的總銷售成長 17%，其中包含 McCormick de Mexico 的併購貢獻，以及 2% 的有機銷售成長，反映消費者業務與風味解決方案業務皆有成長。

In Global Consumer, volume trends improved relative to the second quarter, reflecting continued momentum in EMEA and Asia Pacific and early benefits in the Americas from our targeted actions. While US category consumption is soft in select areas, our actions, including revenue growth management, value marketing and innovation, alongside expanded distribution, are driving improvement.

在全球消費者（Global Consumer）業務方面，銷量趨勢相較第二季有所改善，反映 EMEA 與亞太地區動能延續，以及我們在美洲採取的聚焦行動開始帶來早期效益。雖然美國部分品類的消費偏弱，但我們的行動（包括營收成長管理、價值行銷與創新），加上通路覆蓋擴大，正推動表現改善。

Importantly, the underlying business remains strong, our categories are well positioned for long-term growth, and we have the capacity to continue investing behind our brands and growth initiatives. In Global Flavor Solutions, organic growth reflected pricing and volume growth. Softer demand from CPG and QSR customers weighed on volume performance, with the cyclospora outbreak impacting QSRs in the US.

重要的是，基礎業務仍然強勁，我們的品類在長期成長上具備良好定位，且我們有能力持續加碼投資品牌與成長計畫。在全球風味解決方案方面，有機成長反映定價與銷量成長。來自 CPG 與 QSR 客戶的需求轉弱拖累了銷量表現，其中美國 QSR 亦受到環孢子蟲（cyclospora）疫情影響。

In EMEA, lower QSR foot traffic also pressured volumes. These factors were offset by strong performance in Asia Pacific, driven by new product launches and limited time offers with our QSR customers. Importantly, we delivered strong profit growth this quarter, supported by margin expansion and productivity initiatives, enabling continued investment in our long-term growth priorities.

在 EMEA，QSR 來客數下降也對銷量造成壓力。上述因素被亞太地區的強勁表現所抵銷，該表現由新產品上市以及與 QSR 客戶合作的限時優惠（LTO）所帶動。重要的是，本季我們在利潤率擴張與生產力提升計畫支持下，實現強勁的獲利成長，使我們得以持續投資於長期成長優先事項。

Let's move to slide 5, and let me highlight for the quarter some of the key areas of success. Starting with Global Consumer, we saw good consumption trends in select categories. In Herbs, Spices and Seasonings, unit or volume share gains in Canada, France, Poland and China continue to support global performance. In the US, as expected, we are seeing improving dollar and unit consumption trends.

接著看投影片第 5 頁，我來重點說明本季幾個關鍵成功領域。先從全球消費者業務開始，我們在部分品類看到良好的消費趨勢。在香草、香辛料與調味料（Herbs, Spices and Seasonings）方面，加拿大、法國、波蘭與中國的件數或銷量市占提升，持續支撐全球表現。在美國，如同預期，我們看到以金額與件數計的消費趨勢正在改善。

In Recipe Mixes, in the UK and Australia, we drove unit and dollar share gains for the last three quarters, supported by expanded distribution and new customer wins. In Mustard, US unit share gains were driven by enhanced distribution and promotional execution during the grilling season. Outside of the US, we continue to drive unit and dollar share gains in Poland and in the UK.

在料理調味粉／調理包（Recipe Mixes）方面，我們在英國與澳洲於過去三個季度推動件數與金額市占提升，受惠於通路擴張與新客戶贏得。在芥末（Mustard）方面，美國件數市占提升主要由燒烤季期間的通路強化與促銷執行帶動。在美國以外，我們持續在波蘭與英國推動件數與金額市占提升。

In hot sauce, we continue to strengthen our position across key markets. In the US, we delivered dollar and unit share gains for the fourth consecutive quarter led by Cholula's expanded distribution, continued base business momentum and increased household penetration. In Australia, Frank's and Cholula are gaining share, and we now hold a leading market position. In the UK, we also delivered unit and dollar share gains. These results reflect strong execution and continued brand momentum across key international markets.

在辣醬（hot sauce）方面，我們持續強化在主要市場的地位。在美國，在 Cholula 通路擴張、基礎業務動能延續以及家庭滲透率提升的帶動下，我們已連續第四個季度實現金額與件數市占提升。在澳洲，Frank's 與 Cholula 的市占正在提升，我們目前已取得領先的市場地位。在英國，我們同樣實現件數與金額市占提升。這些成果反映我們在關鍵國際市場的強勁執行力與持續的品牌動能。

In Asia Pacific, we delivered strong results in China, particularly through our retail business. Dai Chow, our chicken bouillon brand, our Chicken bullion brand continued to perform well, supported by expanded distribution, innovation and brand marketing investments. McCormick de Mexico delivered robust volume-led quarterly growth, fueled by broad-based strength in the core mayonnaise and Herbs and Spices categories.

在亞太地區，我們在中國取得強勁成果，特別是透過零售業務。Dai Chow（大超），我們的雞精品牌，我們的雞精品牌持續表現良好，受惠於通路擴張、創新以及品牌行銷投資。McCormick de Mexico 本季在銷量帶動下實現強勁成長，動能來自核心美乃滋以及香草、香辛料品類的全面性強勢表現。

Moving to Flavor Solutions. In flavors, customer innovation activity continued to support sales growth across large CPGs, private label and high-growth innovators. We are seeing opportunities in functional beverage innovation, supplements, hydration, better-for-you snacks, premiumization and customer diversification. In branded foodservice, we continue to see momentum across noncommercial channels, retail food service and independent operators. Importantly, we delivered front-of-house share gains across Frank's, Cholula, French's and McCormick.

接著談風味解決方案。在香精香料（flavors）方面，客戶的創新活動持續支撐大型 CPG、通路自有品牌以及高成長創新客戶的銷售成長。我們在機能性飲料創新、補充品、補水產品、更健康零食、高端化以及客戶多元化方面看到機會。在品牌餐飲服務（branded foodservice）方面，我們持續看到非商業通路、零售餐飲服務與獨立經營者的動能。重要的是，我們在 Frank's、Cholula、French's 與 McCormick 等品牌上，於前場（front-of-house）取得市占提升。

In Asia Pacific, we delivered strong volume growth that exceeded expectations, supported by new product launches and limited time offers with QSR customers. Continued customer diversification should support solid volume growth for the balance of the year, though at a more normalized rate than in the third quarter.

在亞太地區，我們實現超出預期的強勁銷量成長，受惠於新產品上市以及與 QSR 客戶合作的限時優惠。持續的客戶多元化應可支撐今年剩餘期間的穩健銷量成長，但成長速度將較第三季回歸更正常的水準。

Let me now touch on some areas where we are seeing pressure and speak to the actions we are taking to address them. Starting with Global Consumer, US Herb, Spices and Seasonings remained a growth category. Despite improving dollar and unit trends, we still have room to improve performance, especially in areas like cooking blends and gourmet.

接下來我談談我們看到壓力的一些領域，以及我們正在採取的應對行動。先從全球消費者業務開始，美國的香草、香辛料與調味料仍是成長型品類。儘管金額與件數趨勢正在改善，我們仍有提升表現的空間，特別是在烹調混合調味（cooking blends）與高端（gourmet）等領域。

Performance also reflects a value-conscious consumer environment. Within certain segments of the category, consumption was pressured by increased seafood and beef prices. We are acting decisively to improve consumption and strengthen our competitive position. For example, portfolio and assortment optimization to better serve distinct consumer needs and improve shelf productivity.

表現也反映出消費者更重視性價比的環境。在該品類的某些區隔中，海鮮與牛肉價格上漲對消費造成壓力。我們正果斷採取行動，以提升消費並強化競爭地位。例如，進行產品組合與品項（assortment）最佳化，以更好地滿足不同消費者需求並提升貨架生產力。

Targeted pricing, promotional and revenue growth management actions to reinforce value across key segments increased investment, including retailer search, holiday activation, precision marketing and in-store execution and continued scaling of high-growth platforms, including finishing salts and sugars to create new usage occasions and drive incremental category growth.

採取聚焦式的定價、促銷與營收成長管理行動，以在關鍵區隔強化價值主張並加大投資，包括零售商搜尋、節慶檔期啟動、精準行銷與店內執行，以及持續擴大高成長平台（包括 finishing salts 與 sugars），以創造新的使用情境並帶動品類增量成長。

We have navigated similar consumer and competitive dynamics successfully in the past, and we are already seeing the positive impact of our actions in Herb, Spices and Seasonings consumption. With these actions underway, we expect consumption trends to continue improving and strengthen share performance. In terms of volume shipments, we expect continued improvement in the fourth quarter.

過去我們曾成功因應類似的消費者與競爭態勢，而我們已經看到我們的行動在香草、香辛料與調味料的消費上帶來正面影響。隨著這些行動持續推進，我們預期消費趨勢將持續改善，並強化市占表現。就出貨量而言，我們預期第四季將持續改善。

In addition, in Consumer Americas, we are managing a short-term industry supply constraint on a specific type of packaging material. This may have a negative impact of up to 1 point on total company volume growth for the fourth quarter, potentially impacting the expected improvement in volume shipments. Our teams are working hard at mitigating its potential impact.

此外，在美洲消費品業務方面，我們正因應某一特定包裝材料的短期產業供應限制。這可能對第四季全公司總出貨量成長造成最多約 1 個百分點的負面影響，並可能影響原先預期的出貨量改善。我們的團隊正全力以赴以降低其潛在影響。

In Recipe Mixes, performance reflected pressure in select segments, partially offset by improving trends in Mexican flavor and targeted pricing and promotional actions. We are confident that we are making progress to strengthen velocity across the core portfolio, expand consumer conversion behind McCormick Taco and accelerate Cholula recipe mixes. Together, these actions are designed to improve near-term performance and build a stronger foundation for sustainable, profitable growth.

在調理包（Recipe Mixes）方面，表現反映出部分細分市場的壓力，但墨西哥風味的改善趨勢以及有針對性的定價與促銷行動部分抵銷了這些壓力。我們有信心正持續取得進展，以強化核心產品組合的動銷速度、推動 McCormick Taco 的消費者轉換，並加速 Cholula 調理包的成長。綜合而言，這些行動旨在改善短期表現，並為可持續且具獲利性的成長奠定更強的基礎。

Moving to Flavor Solutions. In the Americas, as I mentioned earlier, we experienced softer demand as macroeconomic pressure affected select CPG and QSR customers. In EMEA, QSR customer volumes, particularly in the UK, were pressured by softer foot traffic. We expect some of these trends to be sustained in the fourth quarter as foot traffic with QSRs remained soft and consumers remain pressured. To help offset these pressures, we are focused on diversifying our customer base and working with existing customers on new products that align with evolving consumer flavor preferences and focus on value.

接著談風味解決方案（Flavor Solutions）。在美洲，如我先前提到的，因總體經濟壓力影響部分 CPG 與 QSR 客戶，我們的需求較為疲弱。在 EMEA，QSR 客戶的出貨量，特別是在英國，受到來客數下滑的壓力。我們預期其中部分趨勢將延續至第四季，因 QSR 來客數仍偏弱且消費者仍承受壓力。為協助抵銷這些壓力，我們聚焦於分散客戶基礎，並與既有客戶合作開發符合消費者風味偏好演變且強調價值的新產品。

Let me provide some context on the state of the consumer. Geopolitical volatility, elevated fuel costs and persistent inflation continue to influence consumer confidence and spending. In the US, higher gas prices and the cyclospora outbreak have added pressure and contributed to softer traffic across foodservice and grocery channels. Consumers continue to look for practical ways to manage their budgets, including using what's already in their pantry, repurposing leftovers and thinking simple, affordable ways to add flavor at home.

我想補充一些關於消費者現況的背景。地緣政治波動、偏高的燃料成本與持續的通膨，仍在影響消費者信心與支出。在美國，較高的汽油價格以及環孢子蟲（cyclospora）疫情增加了壓力，並導致餐飲服務與雜貨通路的來客數走弱。消費者持續尋找務實方式來管理預算，包括使用家中儲藏室既有食材、再利用剩菜，以及思考在家以簡單、平價的方式增添風味。

At the same time, flavor exploration, health and wellness and affordable indulgence remain important priorities, supporting demand for flavorful, convenient meal solutions across retail and foodservice. Within this environment, flavor remains a powerful constant. Consumers continue to cook at home as they seek affordable healthier meal solutions and flavor is the primary driver of purchase across occasions. The continued convergence of value-seeking behavior and health trends reinforces essential role of flavor and underscores our advantaged position across our flavor-focused portfolio.

同時，風味探索、健康與福祉，以及可負擔的小確幸仍是重要優先事項，支撐零售與餐飲服務對風味佳且便利的餐食解決方案之需求。在此環境下，風味仍是一個強而有力的不變因素。消費者在尋求更可負擔且更健康的餐食解決方案時，仍持續在家烹飪，而風味是各種情境下驅動購買的首要因素。追求價值的行為與健康趨勢持續匯流，進一步凸顯風味的關鍵角色，也凸顯我們在以風味為核心的產品組合上的優勢地位。

Let's turn to slide 6 and our growth plans. We support our confidence in delivering our top line outlook for the year and improving volume performance. Starting with consumer, we recognize that the improvement in consumer Americas will be more gradual as certain categories are experiencing a more challenging demand environment.

接著看第 6 頁以及我們的成長計畫。我們對於達成今年的營收展望並改善出貨量表現仍具信心。先從消費品業務談起，我們認知到美洲消費品業務的改善將較為循序漸進，因為部分品類正面臨更具挑戰的需求環境。

However, we continue to view these pressures as cyclical. Our categories remain fundamentally healthy, and we are focused on actions that strengthen consumption and position the business for sustainable growth. Ultimately, our priorities are clear: expanding distribution, accelerating portfolio renovation and refining revenue growth management to address increased price sensitivity in select segments, including through optimized price pack architecture. We are also increasing innovation and brand marketing investment, including precision marketing and in-store activation to build purchase intent and drive velocity across our core categories.

然而，我們仍將這些壓力視為景氣循環性因素。我們的品類基本面仍然健康，我們正聚焦於強化消費並使業務具備可持續成長定位的行動。最終，我們的優先事項很明確：擴大通路覆蓋、加速產品組合更新，並精進營收成長管理，以因應部分細分市場對價格敏感度提高的情況，包括透過最佳化的價格／包裝架構。我們也將提高創新與品牌行銷投資，包括精準行銷與店內促動，以建立購買意圖並推動核心品類的動銷速度。

These actions are designed to support an improvement in consumption trends as well as our shipments. In Flavor Solutions, we expect the current pressures, particularly among certain QSRs in the Americas and EMEA and large CPG customers in the Americas to persist through the balance of the year. At the same time, our customer innovation pipeline remains healthy with opportunities across large CPG customers, private label and high-growth innovators. We are leveraging our R&D and product development capabilities to help customers address evolving health and wellness preferences, premiumization and demand for differentiated flavor experiences.

這些行動旨在支持消費趨勢的改善以及我們的出貨表現。在風味解決方案方面，我們預期目前的壓力，特別是美洲與 EMEA 的部分 QSR，以及美洲的大型 CPG 客戶，將持續到今年剩餘期間。同時，我們的客戶創新管線仍然健康，涵蓋大型 CPG 客戶、自有品牌以及高成長創新者等機會。我們正運用研發與產品開發能力，協助客戶因應健康與福祉偏好的演變、高端化趨勢，以及對差異化風味體驗的需求。

And finally, in branded foodservice, we expect to sustain the sales momentum we have seen year-to-date. The environment remains competitive and value conscious. This is why our targeted investments in menu placements, innovation and disciplined execution are expected to drive growth across customer channels. Together, these initiatives reinforce our confidence in the resilience of our flavor-focused portfolio and our ability to deliver sustainable, profitable growth over time.

最後，在品牌餐飲服務方面，我們預期將延續今年以來所見的銷售動能。市場環境仍具競爭性且重視價值。因此，我們在菜單上架、創新以及紀律執行方面的精準投資，預期將帶動各客戶通路的成長。綜合而言，這些舉措強化了我們對以風味為核心之產品組合韌性，以及我們長期提供可持續且具獲利性成長能力的信心。

Before turning it over to Marcos, I'd like to provide a brief update on the planned Unilever Foods transaction on slide 7. Integration planning is advancing on schedule and is increasingly validating the strategic and financial rationale for the combination.

在交給 Marcos 之前，我想就第 7 頁所列的 Unilever Foods 交易計畫提供簡要更新。整合規劃正按進度推進，並日益驗證此結合在策略與財務上的合理性。

Since announcing the transaction, we have made significant progress in preparing for the integration of Unilever Foods. We have established the planned future leadership team and operating model, mobilized a dedicated integration management office and cross-functional teams and put global transition service agreements in place to support business continuity from day 1.

自宣布交易以來，我們在為整合 Unilever Foods 做準備方面已取得顯著進展。我們已建立規劃中的未來領導團隊與營運模式，啟動專責的整合管理辦公室與跨職能團隊，並已建立全球過渡服務協議，以支持自第 1 天起的營運連續性。

Detailed bottom-up planning has also provided a clear view of the synergy opportunity and the actions ownership, timing and resources required to deliver it post close. Lastly, we have made strong progress on regulatory approvals, with filings submitted on schedule and clear momentum across jurisdictions, reinforcing our confidence in a timely closing. We are excited about the opportunity to bring these two flavor-focused companies together and look forward to sharing more of our integration plans as we approach close.

由下而上的詳細規劃也讓我們清楚掌握協同效益機會，以及在交割後實現該效益所需的行動責任歸屬、時程與資源。最後，我們在監管核准方面也取得強勁進展，申報文件已按時提交，且各司法管轄區均呈現明確動能，進一步強化我們對於如期完成交割的信心。我們對於將這兩家以風味為核心的公司結合的機會感到振奮，並期待在接近交割時分享更多整合計畫。

At the same time, we remain fully focused on delivering on our stand-alone fiscal 2026 commitments as we prepare to unlock the growth capability and cost synergy benefits of the combination.

同時，在準備釋放此結合的成長能力與成本協同效益之際，我們仍全力聚焦於達成我們獨立營運下 2026 會計年度的承諾。

Now over to Marcus.

接下來交給 Marcus。

Thank you, Brendan, and good morning, everyone. Let's start on slide 9 and review our top line results for the third quarter. Total net sales grew 17% in constant currency and included 2% inorganic growth, with the balance driven by acquisition contribution from McCormick de Mexico. As we previously noted, we have substantially completed the integration of this acquisition.

謝謝你，Brendan，各位早安。我們從第 9 頁開始，回顧第三季的營收表現。以固定匯率計算，總淨銷售額成長 17%，其中包含 2% 的非有機成長，其餘主要由 McCormick de Mexico 併購貢獻所帶動。如我們先前所提，我們已大致完成該併購案的整合。

Moving to Consumer segment on slide 10. Constant currency sales increased 24%, including a 1% increase in organic sales with the remaining growth driven by acquisition contribution. Consumer organic sales in the Americas were flat, with pricing contribution of 2%, offset by volume decline. Volumes were pressured by the macro environment. We saw declines across certain categories, which were partially offset by growth in core Herbs and Spices for the quarter.

接著看第 10 頁的消費品事業部。以固定匯率計算，銷售額成長 24%，其中有機銷售成長 1%，其餘成長由併購貢獻帶動。美洲地區的消費品有機銷售持平，定價貢獻 2%，但被出貨量下滑所抵銷。出貨量受到總體環境壓力影響。我們在部分品類看到下滑，但本季核心香草與香辛料的成長部分抵銷了這些下滑。

In EMEA, consumer organic sales grew 5%, driven by a 2% increase in volume and a 3% contribution from pricing related to targeted actions taken as a result of increased commodity and freight costs. We're pleased with the sustained volume growth for the 11th consecutive quarter in EMEA.

在 EMEA，消費品有機銷售成長 5%，主要由出貨量成長 2% 以及因應原物料與運費成本上升所採取的精準行動帶來 3% 的定價貢獻所驅動。我們對 EMEA 連續第 11 季維持出貨量成長感到滿意。

Consumer organic sales in the Asia Pacific region increased by 4%. The increase was driven primarily by volume and reflects the continued gradual recovery in China. The strength in our retail business is more than offsetting the softness we continue to see in foodservice. Outside of China, we delivered strong volume growth across Australia and Southeast Asia.

亞太地區的消費品有機銷售成長 4%。成長主要由出貨量帶動，反映中國持續逐步復甦。我們零售業務的強勁表現，已足以抵銷我們在餐飲服務端持續看到的疲弱。在中國以外，我們在澳洲與東南亞均實現強勁的出貨量成長。

Turning to our Flavor Solutions segment on slide 11. Third quarter constant currency sales grew by 6%, including 3% organic growth, driven by price and volume. The remaining growth was driven by acquisition contribution. In the Americas, Flavor Solutions organic sales increased 3%, reflecting a 3% price contribution and flat volumes. Volumes for the quarter were impacted by softer trends with QSR and CPG customers.

接著看投影片11的風味解決方案（Flavor Solutions）事業部。第三季以固定匯率計算的銷售額成長6%，其中包含3%的有機成長，主要由價格與銷量帶動。其餘成長則來自併購貢獻。在美洲地區，風味解決方案有機銷售成長3%，反映價格貢獻3%，銷量持平。本季銷量受到速食連鎖（QSR）與消費性包裝食品（CPG）客戶需求趨勢轉弱的影響。

In EMEA, organic sales were up 1%, driven by price offset by lower volume, reflecting soft QSR customers volumes due to a decline in food traffic, particularly in the UK. In the Asia Pacific region, Flavor Solutions organic sales increased by 8%, driven by strong volume growth of 10%, partially offset by price. The strong volume growth was driven by timing of new product innovation and limited time offers with our QSR customers in China and Southeast Asia.

在歐洲、中東與非洲（EMEA）地區，有機銷售成長1%，由價格帶動，但被較低的銷量所抵銷；銷量走弱反映QSR客戶因來客數下滑而減少，尤其是在英國。在亞太地區，風味解決方案有機銷售成長8%，由10%的強勁銷量成長帶動，部分被價格因素所抵銷。強勁的銷量成長主要來自新品創新推出時點，以及我們在中國與東南亞的QSR客戶推出限時優惠（LTO）。

Moving to slide 12. Adjusted gross profit margin expanded 180 basis points in the third quarter, driven by accretion from McCormick de Mexico as well as improvements in our base business, including pricing, savings from our comprehensive continues into the program, or CCI, partially offset by increased freight costs.

接著看投影片12。第三季調整後毛利率擴張180個基點，主要受惠於墨西哥McCormick（McCormick de Mexico）的併入增益，以及我們本業的改善，包括定價、全面持續改善計畫（Comprehensive Continuous Improvement program，CCI）帶來的節省；部分被運費成本上升所抵銷。

Selling, general and administrative expenses, or SG&A, increased relative to the third quarter of last year, driven by the impact of consolidating McCormick de Mexico and increased investments in technology and brand marketing. As a percentage of sales, SG&A was 110 basis points higher compared to the prior year. For the quarter, adjusted operating income increased by 22% or 21% in constant currency. This increase was driven by strong top line growth and gross margin expansion, partially offset by higher SG&A. Our third quarter adjusted effective tax rate was 22.6% compared to 16.1% in the prior year, driven by a greater level of favorable tax items in the prior year.

銷售、一般及行政費用（SG&A）相較去年第三季增加，主要因合併墨西哥McCormick的影響，以及對科技與品牌行銷的投資增加。以銷售額百分比計，SG&A較去年提高110個基點。本季調整後營業利益成長22%，以固定匯率計成長21%。此增幅主要由強勁的營收成長與毛利率擴張帶動，部分被較高的SG&A所抵銷。第三季調整後有效稅率為22.6%，去年同期為16.1%，主要因去年有較多有利的稅務項目。

Turning to segment operational results on slide 13. Consumer adjusted operating income increased 24%, with minimal impact from currency with flat adjusted operating margins. Benefits from acquisition accretion and productivity initiatives were offset by increased inflation, higher logistics costs driven by Middle East conflict, tighter freight capacity resulting from recent changes to US federal regulations and continued brand marketing investments.

接著看投影片13的事業部營運結果。消費者（Consumer）事業部調整後營業利益成長24%，匯率影響極小，調整後營業利益率持平。併購增益與生產力提升措施的效益，被通膨上升、因中東衝突導致的物流成本增加、近期美國聯邦法規變更造成的運輸運能趨緊，以及持續的品牌行銷投資所抵銷。

Flavor Solutions adjusted operating income increased by 18% or 16% in constant currency and adjusted operating margin expanded by 120 basis points, reflecting top line growth and our continued focus on improving Flavor Solutions profitability in line with our 2024 Investor Day commitment.

風味解決方案事業部調整後營業利益成長18%，以固定匯率計成長16%；調整後營業利益率擴張120個基點，反映營收成長，以及我們持續聚焦提升風味解決方案獲利能力，並與我們在2024年投資人日的承諾一致。

At the bottom line, as shown on slide 14, third quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share was $0.86, up 1% compared to the year ago period, reflect increased adjusted operating income, partially offset by a higher tax rate.

在最終獲利方面，如投影片14所示，2026年第三季調整後每股盈餘為0.86美元，較去年同期成長1%，反映調整後營業利益增加，部分被較高的稅率所抵銷。

On slide 15, we've summarize highlights for cash flow and balance sheet. Cash flow from operations year-to-date was approximately $600 million compared to $420 million in the prior year, driven primarily by higher profitability and improved working capital. This strong cash generation enabled us to return $387 million of cash to shareholders through dividends and used $131 million for capital expenditures to expand capacity, advance digital transformation and optimize our cost structure. We continue to expect strong performance in our cash flow from operations for the fiscal year.

在投影片15，我們彙總了現金流與資產負債表的重點。年初至今營運活動現金流約為6億美元，去年同期為4.2億美元，主要由獲利提升與營運資金改善所帶動。強勁的現金創造能力使我們得以透過股利向股東返還3.87億美元現金，並投入1.31億美元資本支出以擴充產能、推進數位轉型並優化成本結構。我們仍預期本財年營運活動現金流將維持強勁表現。

Our capital allocation priorities remain balanced. This means funding investments to drive growth, supporting our dividends and maintaining a strong balance sheet. We remain committed to a strong investment-grade rating. At the end of this quarter, our leverage ratio was approximately 2.9 times. We expect to continue to make progress in paying down debt, positioning as well ahead of the Unilever Foods close.

我們的資本配置優先順序仍維持平衡。這意味著為推動成長提供投資資金、支持股利並維持強健的資產負債表。我們仍致力於維持強勁的投資等級評等。在本季末，我們的槓桿比率約為2.9倍。我們預期將持續在償還債務方面取得進展，並在聯合利華食品（Unilever Foods）交易完成前就做好更充分的準備。

As previously noted, at close of Unilever Foods, we expect to have industry-leading operating margins of 21% and working capital benefits that support 100% free cash flow conversion from net income before any synergies. Post close, we expect to continue investing in the business while driving margin expansion, delivering and supporting our dividend consistent with our history.

如先前所述，在聯合利華食品交易完成時，我們預期將擁有業界領先的21%營業利益率，以及可帶來營運資金效益、在未計入任何綜效前即可支持淨利100%自由現金流轉換率。交易完成後，我們預期將在推動利益率擴張的同時持續投資業務，並依循我們一貫的歷史，持續發放並支持股利。

Based on current estimates, after brand investments, costs to achieve synergies and dividends, we anticipate having $1.5 billion to $2 billion available to pay down debt within the first two years and delever to 3 times. Longer term, we would target a leverage ratio of 2 times to 3 times.

根據目前估計，在品牌投資、達成綜效的相關成本以及股利之後，我們預期在前兩年將有15億至20億美元可用於償還債務，並將槓桿降至3倍。長期而言，我們將以2倍至3倍的槓桿比率為目標。

Turning to slide 16 to review our 2026 financial outlook which remains broadly consistent with what we shared on our last earnings call. A few call-outs. On organic growth, we expect full year organic growth to reflect the stable volumes and positive pricing contributions, primarily driven by flavor solutions. Overall, we expect organic growth to be between the low end and midpoint of our guidance range, including approximately a 30 basis point impact from the supply constraint mentioned earlier.

接著看投影片16，回顧我們的2026年財務展望，整體上仍與上次法說會分享的內容大致一致。有幾點補充說明。在有機成長方面，我們預期全年有機成長將反映銷量穩定與正向的定價貢獻，主要由風味解決方案帶動。整體而言，我們預期有機成長將落在指引區間的低端至中點之間，其中包含先前提到的供應限制約30個基點的影響。

On tariffs, our cost assumptions primarily related to the global 10% tariff remain unchanged based on the latest development and information available today. At this time, we do not expect Canadian tariffs to have a meaningful impact on this year's results.

關於關稅，我們的成本假設主要與全球10%關稅相關；基於今日最新進展與可得資訊，該假設維持不變。目前我們不預期加拿大關稅會對今年的業績造成顯著影響。

Moving to gross margin. Year-to-date performance has exceeded our implied guidance, benefiting from accretion from McCormick de Mexico, strong sales growth as well as our productivity initiatives, including some that were pulled forward into the third quarter. Looking at the full year, we now expect cost inflation of 6% to 7% compared to our prior expectation of a mid-single-digit year-over-year increase.

接著看毛利率。年初至今的表現已超出我們隱含的指引，受惠於墨西哥McCormick的併入增益、強勁的銷售成長，以及我們的生產力提升措施，其中部分措施已提前在第三季實現。就全年而言，我們目前預期成本通膨為6%至7%，高於先前預期的年增中個位數水準。

Despite this increase, we're maintaining our full year expectations of 100 basis points to 120 basis points of gross margin expansion versus 2025 and now expect to be at the high end of the range. For the fourth quarter, we're implying some year-over-year margin compression as we expect rising commodity and freight costs as well as commercial investments in Consumer Americas to impact gross margin. Overall, our implied guide reflects a dynamic cost environment while maintaining our commitment to invest for growth.

儘管通膨上升，我們仍維持全年毛利率相較2025年擴張100至120個基點的預期，且目前預期將落在區間高端。對第四季而言，我們隱含毛利率可能出現年對年收縮，因我們預期大宗商品與運費成本上升，以及在美洲消費者事業部的商業投資將影響毛利率。整體而言，我們的隱含指引反映成本環境具動態變化，同時維持我們為成長而投資的承諾。

Lastly, on operating income growth and earnings per share we expect to be at the midpoint of the range for the year. In addition, our implied guide for the fourth quarter reflects continued investments in technology, including our ERP implementation costs and brand marketing support. These costs remain consistent with assumptions we initially included in our full year guidance back in January of this year. Earnings per share in the fourth quarter will be impacted by lapping of favorable tax rates in the prior year of 23.9%.

最後，在營業利益成長與每股盈餘方面，我們預期全年將落在區間中點。此外，我們對第四季的隱含指引反映持續對科技的投資，包括ERP導入成本與品牌行銷支持。這些成本與我們今年1月在全年指引中最初納入的假設一致。第四季每股盈餘將受到去年同期較有利稅率23.9%之比較基期效應影響。

To close, we remain confident in the long-term resilience of our business and our ability to deliver on our 2026 outlook. Through disciplined execution, targeted investments in our growth priorities and continued productivity progress, we're well positioned to drive net sales and operating income growth while generating strong cash flow to support balanced capital allocation.

總結來說，我們仍對公司業務的長期韌性以及達成2026年展望的能力充滿信心。透過嚴謹的執行、對成長優先事項的精準投資，以及持續推進生產力提升，我們已具備良好條件推動淨銷售與營業利益成長，同時產生強勁現金流，以支持均衡的資本配置。

Thank you, Marcos. I would like to close with three key takeaways on slide 17. First, our differentiated performance, flavor-focused portfolio and geographic footprint continue to provide resilience in the dynamic environment. Third quarter results reflect the strength of our base business, the contribution from McCormick de Mexico and the benefit of a disciplined productivity and cost management.

謝謝你，Marcos。我想以投影片17的三項重點作結。第一，我們具差異化的表現、以風味為核心的產品組合與地理布局，持續在多變環境中提供韌性。第三季結果反映我們本業的實力、墨西哥McCormick的貢獻，以及嚴謹的生產力與成本管理所帶來的效益。

Second, we are actively managing through uneven category performance while investing to strengthen our competitive position. Our gross margin performance enables us to continue to invest in the business to drive top line growth and improved performance in Consumer Americas.

第二，我們在各品類表現不均的情況下積極進行管理，同時投資以強化我們的競爭地位。我們的毛利率表現使我們能夠持續投資於業務，以推動營收成長並改善美洲消費者業務的表現。

Third, we are executing against a clear value creation agenda, delivering our 2026 commitments, investing behind advantaged growth platforms and planning for the Unilever Foods combination. Strong cash generation, a balanced capital allocation framework and continued deleveraging provide the financial flexibility to support both near-term execution and long-term profitable growth.

第三，我們正依循清晰的價值創造議程執行，兌現我們對2026年的承諾，投資於具優勢的成長平台，並為聯合利華食品業務的合併進行規劃。強勁的現金創造能力、均衡的資本配置框架以及持續去槓桿，提供了財務彈性，以同時支持短期執行與長期的獲利性成長。

Finally, I want to thank all McCormick employees for their continued dedication, agility and focus on delivering for our consumers, customers and shareholders.

最後，我要感謝所有McCormick員工持續的投入、敏捷與專注，為我們的消費者、客戶與股東交付成果。

(Operator Instructions)

（接線員指示）

Andrew Lazar, Barclays.

Andrew Lazar，巴克萊。

Great. Thanks very much. Good morning, everybody. Brendan, in consumer, both EMEA and APAC, are performing well, as you talked about. But you now look for a more gradual improvement in Americas volumes versus, let's say, your previous guidance. You made some very specific interventions in 3Q to sort of improve volume trends. And we saw some sequential improvement, but I think, a bit slower than probably most were expecting.

很好。非常感謝。各位早安。Brendan，在消費者業務方面，EMEA與APAC如你所說表現都很好。但你們現在預期美洲的銷量改善會更為漸進，相較於先前的指引。你們在第三季做了一些非常具體的介入措施，來改善銷量趨勢。我們確實看到一些環比改善，但我認為速度比多數人預期的要慢一些。

So I guess my question is, how would you assess the success of those initial actions? And sort of what, if anything, do you need to do either differently or additionally in 4Q to continue to see more of that sequential improvement?

所以我想問的是，你會如何評估這些初步行動的成效？以及在第四季，為了持續看到更多環比改善，你們是否需要做任何不同或額外的事情？

Well, Andrew, thank you for the question. Yes, I think if I provide some -- just some context on how we look at the third quarter and maybe how we're looking to the fourth quarter, too, we definitely saw improvement in our business, especially in Americas consumer, not only on shipments, but also consumption for the quarter. But definitely, there were a lot of transitory issues that impacted the quarter.

Andrew，謝謝你的提問。是的，我想如果我先提供一些背景，說明我們如何看待第三季，以及我們如何看向第四季：我們確實看到業務有所改善，特別是在美洲消費者業務，不僅出貨量，該季的消費量也有所提升。但確實有許多短期因素影響了該季表現。

I mean I think when we were walking out of the second quarter, I was expecting the consumer to largely being a similar environment at that point in time for the rest of the back half. That's definitely not what happened or at least what we saw. We saw softer category unit consumption like in a good example might be in condiments and sauces and some select other categories. Higher feed and seafood prices. We think it definitely has impacted probably parts of our recipe mix business and maybe some other items that we have that are connected with those proteins.

我的意思是，當我們走出第二季時，我原本預期消費者端在當時的環境下，於下半年剩餘時間大致會維持相似狀況。但實際上並非如此，至少我們看到的不是這樣。我們看到品類的單位消費量走弱，例如調味品與醬料，以及其他一些特定品類。飼料與海鮮價格上漲。我們認為這確實可能影響了我們配方混合（recipe mix）業務的部分表現，以及其他與這些蛋白類產品相關的品項。

Rising gas prices, definitely, we believe, drove increased price sensitivity for the consumer, and therefore, an increased focus on value. But the -- our Herbs, Spices and Seasonings business and recipe mix really sort of remain in a very competitive environment, and we're going to continue to drive improvement as we look at the fourth quarter especially in areas like cooking blends and our gourmet line as well as recipe mix.

汽油價格上升，我們確實認為這提高了消費者對價格的敏感度，因此更聚焦於價值。但我們的香草、香辛料與調味料（Herbs, Spices and Seasonings）業務以及配方混合（recipe mix）仍處於非常競爭的環境中；展望第四季，我們將持續推動改善，特別是在如烹調調味混合（cooking blends）、我們的美食（gourmet）產品線以及配方混合等領域。

I would also say in the third quarter, perhaps the implementation speed of everything that we're trying to do just wasn't as fast as we wanted to as we're trying to coordinate plans with retailers, et cetera. We had a lot of bright spots in the third quarter, as you said, great momentum in EMEA and Asia Pacific.

我也想說，第三季我們推動各項措施的落地速度，或許沒有我們希望的那麼快，因為我們需要與零售商協調計畫等等。第三季我們也有很多亮點，如你所說，EMEA與亞太地區動能非常強。

But I would also say, in the US, our US RedCap business, which is also expressed as our core purpose spice portfolio, performed very well. It was performing well year-to-date. It performed even better in the third quarter. And we continue to see share gains within Herbs, Spices and Seasonings and strong unit volume coming from that. And then overall, we're performing well in areas like convenient fresh and seasoned salt and other innovation platforms that we've been launching.

但我也要說，在美國，我們的美國RedCap業務（也就是我們核心用途的香辛料產品組合）表現非常好。年初至今表現就很好。第三季表現更好。我們持續在香草、香辛料與調味料品類中取得市占提升，並帶來強勁的單位銷量。此外，我們在便利鮮食（convenient fresh）、調味鹽（seasoned salt）以及其他我們推出的創新平台等領域，整體表現也很不錯。

So -- and in addition, share gains in hot sauce and mustard. So there was a lot to be pleased with in terms of performance across the portfolio, but the areas that we really want to attack, we felt like we made the improvement, but the implementation be maybe not as great as we thought and certainly a more pressured consumer.

另外，在辣醬與芥末方面也有市占提升。因此，就整個產品組合的表現而言，有很多值得肯定之處；但我們真正想要加強攻堅的領域，我們覺得確實有改善，只是落地執行可能沒有我們想像得那麼好，而且消費者端的壓力也更大。

As I look to the fourth quarter, there are some things that are working well right now, and I would just give you some examples of just some of the levers that we're pulling that we talked about in the second quarter, they're certainly going to have more impact, I believe, in the fourth quarter. Price pack architecture has been a plus. We launched it on our growmates line, also on our cooking brands line. And so we're seeing, we believe, early improvement coming from that. And what it did was it build a price pocket that we felt like we were competing in. So that was always in our innovation plan.

展望第四季，目前有一些事情運作得很好；我舉幾個例子，說明我們在第二季提到、正在拉動的一些槓桿，我相信在第四季會產生更大的影響。價格/包裝架構（price pack architecture）帶來了正面效果。我們已在growmates產品線以及我們的cooking brands產品線上推出。因此我們相信已看到初步改善。它的作用是建立一個我們認為需要競爭的價格帶（price pocket）。所以這一直都在我們的創新計畫之中。

We're increasing our competitive spend on search. We're seeing just a lot more productivity coming from that. And so that's having a really strong impact, and I expect that to be even more powerful as we go into the fourth quarter because the overall efficacy of the spend just continues to strengthen in that area. And then we're sharpening promotions and assortment across our categories. But I would say, more work remains on areas like cooking blends.

我們正在增加在搜尋（search）上的競爭性投放。我們看到由此帶來更高的生產力。因此這產生了非常強的影響；而且我預期進入第四季後會更有力，因為這方面投放的整體效能仍在持續提升。另外，我們也在各品類中強化促銷與品項組合（assortment）。但我會說，在像烹調調味混合（cooking blends）這些領域，仍有更多工作要做。

We're seeing early improvement to our renovation that we launched in the second half. So I expect to see maybe more continued improvement there. And the same is true on like recipe mixes. We're seeing a good improvement in Mexican flavors, which is a specific targeted area that we had in the third quarter. We now need to make sure that we sort of shore up the core strength behind the rest of the recipe mix line. And we have a number of initiatives to kind of help that. So I'll stop right there unless you want to dig further, but I want to give you some context to both the third and the fourth quarter.

我們看到下半年推出的產品翻新（renovation）已有初步改善。因此我預期那裡會持續看到更多改善。配方混合（recipe mixes）也是同樣情況。我們在墨西哥風味方面看到不錯的改善，這是我們第三季鎖定的特定重點領域。接下來我們需要確保，能夠鞏固配方混合產品線其餘部分背後的核心強項。我們有多項措施來協助達成。所以我先說到這裡；除非你想再深入探討，但我想先提供你一些關於第三季與第四季的背景。

That's helpful. I appreciate that context very much. Maybe just a very quick follow-up for Marcos. McCormick obviously set to issue debt with the completion of the transaction and rates have risen since the deal was first announced. How should investors think about exposure to higher rates? And does this impact expected accretion math at all? Thanks so much.

這很有幫助。我非常感謝你提供的背景。或許再很快追問Marcos一題。McCormick在交易完成時顯然將發行債務，而自交易首次宣布以來利率已上升。投資人應該如何看待較高利率的曝險？這是否會影響預期的增厚（accretion）計算？非常感謝。

Yes. No, thanks for the question, Andrew. I know this is on the mind of investors this day. So we are staying very close to market dynamics as we continue to really evaluate our debt financial strategy. Based on the assumptions today, we're well positioned to deliver on the commitments that we made both in terms of EPS accretion as well as delevering from 4 times when we close to down to 3 times in two years even with interest rate volatility. So we feel pretty confident about that.

是的。Andrew，謝謝你的提問。我知道這是投資人目前很關心的議題。因此，隨著我們持續評估債務融資策略，我們會非常密切關注市場動態。以目前的假設來看，即使利率波動，我們也具備良好條件來兌現我們所做的承諾，包括每股盈餘（EPS）增厚，以及在交割時槓桿約4倍，並在兩年內降至3倍的去槓桿目標。因此我們對此相當有信心。

As we continue to evaluate the go-forward approach, we have a range of alternatives at our disposal. So I'm going to comment on three elements that they are very important. The Number one is currency mix. As we think about debt financing in the future, as a larger company, we now have the capacity to add other currencies to the mix. So think about it as a mix of US dollar as well as euro-denominated debt.

在我們持續評估未來的推進方式時，我們手上有一系列可用的替代方案。我將就三個非常重要的要素做說明。第一是貨幣組合。當我們思考未來的債務融資時，作為一家規模更大的公司，我們現在有能力在組合中加入其他貨幣。可以把它想成是美元與歐元計價債務的組合。

And that will help reduce overall weighted average cost of funding. The idea of adding currencies, we're looking into other markets as well, markets in which we have a good presence, and we expect it to generate substantial cash flows that we can add to that mix of basket of currency. So currency is one.

而這將有助於降低整體加權平均資金成本。至於增加幣別的想法，我們也在研究其他市場，也就是我們具有良好布局的市場；我們預期這些市場將產生可觀的現金流，可納入我們的幣別籃子組合中。因此，幣別是其中一項。

The second element is the fixed versus floating ratio that we're going to be using. We are right now evaluating the right mix between fixed and floating rates that will also help balance the cost and provide flexibility to manage interest rates. As we introduce floating rates, that helps lower near-term expenses. So that's a place that we want to be, but we want to find the right balance between fixed and floating.

第二個要素是我們將採用的固定利率與浮動利率的比例。我們目前正在評估固定與浮動利率之間的適當組合，這也將有助於平衡成本並提供管理利率的彈性。當我們引入浮動利率時，將有助於降低短期費用。因此那是我們希望達到的方向，但我們也希望在固定與浮動之間找到適當的平衡。

And then finally, I would say the maturity profile and the tenor of the debt, we're going to look at very diversified maturities likely stagger over the long term, and that approach will also help manage overall funding costs.

最後，我會說是到期結構與債務期限；我們將檢視非常多元化的到期分布，可能在長期內採取分期錯開到期，而這種做法也將有助於管理整體融資成本。

So those are the three elements that we're looking into right now. Obviously, we're also looking into reissuance of hedging alternatives, subject to market conditions, but it will depend on how the final structure come along. But right now, we believe we have a very prudent plan in place and the right strategies to really preserve the earnings that we have outlined to you and in terms of earnings per share, but also as well as the cash generation to pay down debt.

以上就是我們目前正在研究的三個要素。當然，我們也在評估重新發行避險替代方案，這取決於市場狀況，但也將視最終結構如何成形而定。不過就目前而言，我們相信我們已制定非常審慎的計畫，並具備正確的策略，能夠確實維持我們先前向各位說明的獲利表現（以每股盈餘而言），同時也能維持現金創造能力以償還債務。

Peter Galbo, Bank of America.

美國銀行（Bank of America）的 Peter Galbo。

Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking the questions. Brendan, I'd like to go back to your commentary just around recipe mixes. You've made the interventions. You've introduced the Cholula offering, I think, in Mexican and it seems like it's starting to move in the right direction. But it still seems to be, I think, kind of the biggest thing holding you back from a volume perspective in the Americas consumer business.

嗨，早安。謝謝讓我提問。Brendan，我想回到你剛才關於配方混合（recipe mixes）的評論。你們已經採取了介入措施。你們也推出了 Cholula 的產品，我想是在墨西哥風味那一區，而且看起來開始朝正確方向發展。但從美洲消費者業務的銷量角度來看，這似乎仍然是拖累你們最大的因素。

And so understanding there's more interventions to come, but just maybe you can give us a little bit more of a time line in terms of how you're going to get that business back to bright? Again, as the rest of the portfolio in Americas continues to kind of come along, that would seem to be holding you back a bit from something that could be a more volume-led story, which I think is what obviously you'd like to try and get back to.

因此，在理解後續還會有更多介入措施的前提下，你是否能提供更明確的時間表，說明你們打算如何讓這項業務回到正軌？再說一次，當美洲其他產品組合持續改善時，這看起來似乎有點拖累你們，讓原本可能更偏向由銷量帶動的故事受到影響，而我想那顯然是你們希望努力回到的狀態。

Well, thank you, Peter. The context of the recipe mix, here's what I would say. I definitely would say our recovery is probably going a little bit longer than what we would have expected. But -- and I think that the environment just reflects continued competitive activity, some retailer distribution changes and just some value trade down that we've seen in select segments.

謝謝你，Peter。就配方混合的背景而言，我會這麼說：我確實會說，我們的復甦時間可能比我們原先預期的稍微久一些。但——我認為這個環境反映了持續的競爭活動、部分零售商通路配置的變動，以及我們在某些細分市場看到的價值導向降級（value trade down）。

Broadly, what we've seen within this last year is there is a demand shift in store shelf location which impacted the category and our own performance. And so we're seeing a lot of strong growth in the Mexican aisle. So that's where you find a lot of products sort of dedicated to the sort of Mexican cuisine. But the great majority of our presence happens to be in another aisle.

整體而言，我們在過去一年看到的是，店內貨架位置的需求出現轉移，這影響了整個品類以及我們自身的表現。因此，我們看到墨西哥品類走道（Mexican aisle）有很強勁的成長。那裡通常陳列許多專門對應墨西哥料理的產品。但我們的主要陳列位置其實是在另一個走道。

So where we're seeing a ton of growth right now, certainly in that Mexican aisle, certainly still some growth in the core aisle, but it's more demonstrable, I think, in Mexican aisle. And we need to address that by being stronger in the Mexican aisle. And that's why, as you just noted, we're going to see even more increased focus behind Cholula as a brand competing in that offering for consumers, but also restoring the strength of the core recipe mix aisle.

所以我們目前看到大量成長的地方，確實是在墨西哥走道；核心走道也仍有一些成長，但我認為在墨西哥走道更為明顯。我們需要透過在墨西哥走道更強勢來因應。這也是為什麼，如你剛才提到的，我們將進一步加大對 Cholula 品牌的投入，讓它在該品類中與其他品牌競爭、提供消費者選擇，同時也要恢復核心配方混合走道的強勢。

So it's a two-pronged game for us. And our priority is to rebuild the velocity in the core portfolio and improve our customer conversion behind McCormick Taco and also accelerate Cholula recipe mixes. And that will be supported by increased retail media, improved shelf execution and addressing just pricing and promotion gaps in key accounts. As I just mentioned, we're already seeing really good improvement in Mexican-flavored recipe mixes, just positive unit volume more recently, and it's supported by some of those tactics that I just mentioned.

因此，對我們而言這是一個雙管齊下的策略。我們的優先事項是重建核心產品組合的動銷速度（velocity）、提升 McCormick Taco 的客戶轉換率，並加速 Cholula 配方混合的成長。這將透過增加零售媒體投放、改善貨架執行，以及在關鍵客戶中補齊定價與促銷落差來支持。如我剛才提到的，我們已經在墨西哥風味配方混合上看到非常好的改善，最近單位銷量（unit volume）轉為正成長，而這也受到我剛才提到的一些策略所支持。

And we expect to start lapping what was just certain prior year pricing and distribution headwinds as we get into early '27. But having said that, I'm not relying just on a comparison on consumption and share. We're really focused on just making sure that we fundamentally improve underlying consumption. And so that's been our plan. We feel like we're making the right progress on it right now. And I do expect continued, more gradual progress moving forward as we go into the first quarter of '27.

我們預期在進入 2027 年初時，將開始跨越（lapping）前一年某些定價與通路分布的不利因素。但即便如此，我並不只是依賴消費與市占的比較基期。我們真正聚焦的是確保從根本上改善底層消費量。這就是我們的計畫。我們覺得目前在這方面取得了正確的進展。而我也預期，隨著我們進入 2027 年第一季，未來會持續、但更為漸進地改善。

Great. That's helpful. And maybe if we could touch a bit more on the packaging issue. I know you don't want to get into brand specifics around that. But again, as we all are tracking some of the Nielsen data and Circana data, just clearly going to become apparent where it is.

很好。這很有幫助。另外也許我們可以再多談一點包裝問題。我知道你不想針對品牌細節多做說明。但同樣地，當我們都在追蹤一些尼爾森（Nielsen）與 Circana 的數據時，很明顯會看得出來問題出在哪裡。

So maybe you can just help us understand exactly what happened with the packaging supplier? What you're doing to rectify it? And maybe just what exactly happens because it's a little bit unclear to me as we're trying to track recovery, what that might look like?

所以也許你可以幫我們理解，包裝供應商到底發生了什麼事？你們正在做什麼來修正？以及究竟會如何發展？因為就我們試著追蹤復甦進度而言，我有點不太清楚那會長什麼樣子。

Sure. Well, the issue affects a specific packaging component. It really mostly just affects us in Consumer Americas. There's no Flavor Solutions exposure to this. And it's not a commodity availability or a raw material issue. So our broader Spice and Seasoning sourcing is unaffected by this. And importantly, I would not call this a demand issue either so overall. But the -- it's really a packaging component and more of a conversion issue rather than the availability of material.

當然。這個問題影響的是某一個特定的包裝零組件。它主要影響我們在美洲消費者業務（Consumer Americas）。風味解決方案（Flavor Solutions）並未受到影響。這也不是大宗商品供應或原物料短缺的問題。因此，我們更廣泛的香辛料與調味品採購不受此影響。而且重要的是，我也不會把這稱為需求問題，整體而言不是。但——這確實是包裝零組件的問題，更像是材料轉換（conversion）問題，而不是材料可得性問題。

And so as we work through that, and it tends to be -- it's more of an industry issue, it's not just impacting us. But we plan to mitigate it with other packaging formats. So that's why we felt like it was prudent just to call it out as a potential short-term supply issue just given the timing of this call and everything else, it's just sort of well, let's just make sure that we at least illustrate that it could happen.

因此在我們處理的過程中，而且這更偏向產業性問題，不是只有我們受到影響。但我們計畫以其他包裝形式來降低影響。所以我們才覺得有必要把它提出來，作為一個可能的短期供應問題；考量到這次電話會議的時間點以及其他因素，我們只是想確保至少讓大家了解這件事可能會發生。

But we're really actively trying to mitigate it right now with different packaging formats and just rectifying what was more of a material conversion problem. So that's about as far as we're going to go at this point, I think, in making sure that we illustrate it to everyone, but we'll report more on it as we get into the fourth quarter call in January.

但我們目前正非常積極地透過不同的包裝形式來降低影響，並修正這個較偏向材料轉換的問題。我想目前我們就先說到這裡，確保我們已向大家說明；至於更多進展，我們會在一月的第四季電話會議上再進一步報告。

Tom Palmer, JPMorgan.

摩根大通（JPMorgan）的 Tom Palmer。

Thanks for the questions. The guidance and prepared remarks indicate input cost inflation has stepped up, but I don't think that's surprising for people on this call. And it's going to be more apparent here in the fourth quarter. And I think the implication is that it does have some earnings impact. Should we think about the cost pressures as kind of an enduring headwind as we move into 2027 that will continue to constrain earnings growth? Or is maybe when we look at 4Q, there's a bit of timing where some of the mitigating actions don't take hold as fast as cost inflation steps up?

謝謝讓我提問。你們的指引與事先準備的講稿顯示投入成本通膨已經升溫，但我想對這通電話上的各位來說並不意外。而且在第四季會更為明顯。我認為這意味著它確實會對獲利造成一些影響。我們是否應該把這些成本壓力視為在邁入 2027 年後仍將持續存在的不利因素，並持續限制獲利成長？或者當我們看第四季時，是否存在一些時點因素，也就是成本通膨升溫的速度快於部分緩解措施發揮效果的速度？

Yes, I can answer that, Tom. So yes, there are timing of expenses that shifted from Q3 into Q4. So if I take a step back and comment on the gross margin for the year, and then I'll get to your 2027 question as well. I mean, if you take a step back, we came into the year with an expectation of 60 basis points gross margin expansion versus 2025, we're now expecting to deliver about 120 basis points. And even if you take tariff refunds out, which is about 35 basis points, is still a significant gross margin expansion year-over-year despite the very challenging cost environment that we are facing.

是的，Tom，我可以回答。所以是的，確實有一些費用的時點從第三季移轉到第四季。所以如果我先退一步，先評論一下今年的毛利率，然後我也會回答你關於 2027 年的問題。我的意思是，如果你退一步看，我們在年初預期相較 2025 年毛利率擴張 60 個基點，現在我們預期可達成約 120 個基點。即使把關稅退稅因素拿掉（約 35 個基點），在我們所面臨非常具挑戰性的成本環境下，毛利率年增仍然是顯著擴張。

So I would say it is the testament of the resilience, the strength of McCormick in terms of finding CCI and driving CCI to execution quickly over the last three quarters and be able to offset all this inflation that we're seeing come through. Year-to-date, we are about 180 basis points for the year. So that gives me confidence in the call of 120 basis points for the full year. It is reasonable, it is achievable.

所以我會說，這證明了 McCormick 的韌性與實力：在過去三個季度中，能夠找到 CCI，並快速推動 CCI 落地執行，從而抵消我們所看到的通膨影響。年初至今，我們今年約為 180 個基點。因此，這讓我對全年 120 個基點的指引更有信心。這是合理的，也是可達成的。

Now if you think about Q4, you've got to look about Q4 in Q3 to get in tandem because there was a shift of expenses between Q3 and Q4. So the best way of looking into Q2 and Q4 is really not in isolation one quarter, but putting them together and looking from a Half two perspective. In Q3, we had a very positive performance from McCormick de Mexico, which drove accretion across the P&L. And that was a good contributor in terms of gross margin, but also pricing in CCI were able to offset cost inflation. But as I said, quite a bit of expenses got shifted into Q4.

現在如果你看第四季，你必須把第四季和第三季一起看，因為第三季與第四季之間有費用移轉。所以看第三季和第四季的最佳方式，並不是把單一季度孤立來看，而是把它們放在一起，從下半年（H2）的角度來看。在第三季，McCormick de Mexico 的表現非常正面，帶動損益表各項目增厚。這對毛利率是很好的貢獻者，同時定價與 CCI 也能抵消成本通膨。但如我所說，相當多的費用被移轉到第四季。

And then when you look at it -- so it is going to be a tailwind into Q4, a headwind -- was a tailwind in Q3, it's going to be a headwind into Q4. If you think about Q4 specifically, in addition to that shift in costs from Q3 to Q4, we are facing more costs. We raised our guide to about 7% inflation. And we're facing more costs, both in terms of raw packaging, but also freight, or primarily freight costs due to fuel as well as capacity constraints in the US, we're seeing more impacts on freight specifically.

然後當你這樣看——它在第三季是順風，但到了第四季就會變成逆風。如果你特別看第四季，除了成本從第三季移轉到第四季之外，我們也面臨更多成本。我們把指引上調到約 7% 的通膨。我們面臨更多成本，包含原物料與包材，以及運輸費——或主要是運輸費，因為燃料以及美國的運能限制，我們看到運輸方面的影響更大，特別是在運費上。

So Q4, we'll see that. And also, we'll be investing in some of the gross margin gains in the earlier part of the year. We're going to invest some in trade investments to drive volume improvements in the quarter. But looking at it together, Q3 and Q4, our margin expansion is about 60 basis points. So that's how I would frame it for 2026.

所以第四季我們會看到這些。另外，我們也會把今年前段時間取得的一些毛利率增益拿來再投資。我們會在通路投資上投入一些，以推動本季的銷量改善。但把第三季和第四季合在一起看，我們的毛利率擴張約為 60 個基點。所以這就是我對 2026 年的說法框架。

Going into 2027, obviously, it's a little bit too early to talk about a formal outlook for 2027. However, the environment has evolved meaningfully since we talked about it back in February, and we'll be able to provide an initial perspective when we report the fourth quarter results in January. But as I look back into 2026, quite a few factors have been less favorable than we expected, inflation, the freight aspects that I talked to about it, consumer pressure and even more uneven demand environment.

至於 2027 年，顯然現在談 2027 年的正式展望還有點太早。不過，自從我們在二月談到這件事以來，環境已經有了顯著變化；我們會在一月公布第四季結果時提供初步觀點。但回頭看 2026 年，有不少因素比我們預期更不利：通膨、我提到的運輸面因素、消費者壓力，甚至更不均衡的需求環境。

But as we look into 2027, our priority will be to drive sales growth and volume across the company, while managing the inflation. We do have a good CCI program in place. We expect inflation to actually to continue into next year, but we do have a very good CCI program in place that you saw hitting us, impacting us in Q3 -- over the last three quarters, actually very positively. That will continue into 2027. But we see more headwinds for margins and earnings per share as we go into 2026. So all to say that more to come. We are riding to this discussion right now as we close the year, looking into the outlook for 2027, but this is the first qualitative, I would say, comments that I can make about that.

但展望 2027 年，我們的優先事項將是在管理通膨的同時，推動全公司銷售成長與銷量提升。我們確實有一個良好的 CCI 計畫。我們預期通膨實際上會延續到明年，但我們也有一個非常好的 CCI 計畫；你在第三季——其實在過去三個季度——已經看到它對我們的影響非常正面。這將延續到 2027 年。但隨著我們進入 2026 年，我們看到毛利率與每股盈餘會面臨更多逆風。所以總之，後續還會有更多資訊。我們正值年末收官、著手思考 2027 年展望之際進行這場討論；這是我目前能對此做出的第一個偏質性的評論。

Thanks for all that detail. That was very helpful. Maybe just a follow-up on that topic. I think one of the areas of focus this year has been, and I think it's worked right, is addressing some price gaps as a way to help stimulate volume. As you move into this more inflationary environment, how do you kind of think about balancing the need to kind of protect the P&L maybe with pricing actions versus maintaining that value-centric angle?

謝謝你提供這麼多細節。這非常有幫助。也許就這個主題再追問一下。我想今年其中一個重點領域是——而且我認為效果不錯——透過縮小一些價差來刺激銷量。當你進入更具通膨的環境時，你如何看待在需要透過定價行動來保護損益表（P&L）與維持以價值為核心的定位之間取得平衡？

I appreciate the question, Tom. I would say -- what was true a few years ago, let's say, pre-pandemic, really isn't true today. There hasn't been any reprieve on inflation as we think about this over the last several years. The consumer has been more pressured and also has the same relief. And so it does make for a challenging environment to recover on price.

謝謝你的問題，Tom。我會說——幾年前（例如疫情前）成立的情況，今天其實已不再成立。回顧過去幾年，我們並沒有看到通膨有任何喘息空間。消費者承受的壓力更大，也同樣沒有獲得緩解。因此，在價格上要回收成本就變得很具挑戰。

And so the way we're looking at it is, it's important to maintain a durable business model, and we're focused on this. But at the same time, win with consumer value and maintain a very strong competitive posture on shelf. So kind of building on what Marcos just said, we're looking to CCI, our productivity program, which frankly exceeded our plan this year. It's gotten a lot of focus from us.

因此我們的看法是，維持一個具持久性的商業模式很重要，而我們也正聚焦於此。但同時，也要以消費者價值取勝，並在貨架上維持非常強的競爭態勢。所以延續 Marcos 剛才所說，我們會依靠 CCI，也就是我們的生產力計畫；坦白說，今年它的表現超出我們的計畫。我們對此投入了很多關注。

Revenue growth management would be another lever. We're building out this with stronger technology and greater predictability, which allows us to be more precise. And the third area, I would say, broadly is just support brand superiority in our products. And that's important to have it shelf, especially if you're going to have a premium versus private label and other brands. So it's been challenging, I think, over this period, and we're proud of how we navigated it, I think, thus far.

營收成長管理（Revenue Growth Management）會是另一個槓桿。我們正透過更強的技術與更高的可預測性來建構這項能力，讓我們能更精準。第三個面向，我會說更廣泛地，就是支持我們產品的品牌優勢。這對於在貨架上競爭很重要，特別是當你相較自有品牌（private label）與其他品牌有溢價時。所以我認為這段期間確實很具挑戰，而我們也為目前為止的應對方式感到自豪。

And we think what's enabled us to do this is just our scale presence, having a portfolio focus on flavor, operating in great categories and also having strong capabilities like global sourcing and brand marketing. So all of those sort of kind of create this broad competitive advantage to be able to sort of deal with this. But as Marcos just said, as we look ahead to '27, and we have a continued inflationary environment at least that's kind of our current thinking, we're working through now how to plan for that, and we're going to still try to balance that need to meet the consumer with where they are, but also maintain a durable business.

我們認為能做到這些，主要是因為我們的規模與市場布局、以風味為核心的產品組合聚焦、在優質品類中營運，以及擁有全球採購與品牌行銷等強大能力。所以這些因素共同形成廣泛的競爭優勢，使我們能夠應對這些情況。但如 Marcos 剛才所說，展望 27 年，且至少以我們目前的看法，通膨環境仍將持續；我們正在規劃如何因應。我們仍會努力在貼近消費者現況的需求與維持具持久性的業務之間取得平衡。

Steve Powers, Deutsche Bank

Steve Powers，德意志銀行

Great. Good morning, guys. Different tactic, as I think about -- I think investors are very focused on the Unilever Foods business where growth has been trending softer than envisioned at the time of deal announcement.

很好。各位早安。換個角度來看——我想投資人非常關注聯合利華食品（Unilever Foods）業務，因為其成長趨勢比交易宣布時所設想的更為疲弱。

I guess as you're planning for integration, obviously, you're not in control of that business, but how confident are you that momentum can improve and be restored in that business before deal close? And how important is that recovery to realizing some of the growth synergies that were embedded in the transaction rationale?

我想問的是，當你們規劃整合時，顯然你們並不掌控那項業務，但你們對於在交易完成前該業務的動能能夠改善並恢復，有多大信心？而這樣的復甦對於實現交易理由中所內含的一些成長綜效，有多重要？

Well, like you said at this time, it's difficult for us to comment on their business since we're not really running it and don't have that sort of internal level insight about how they're looking at it. But that part of the business, particularly in the United States, is feeling more than likely the same -- their same pressures that we're seeing consumer face at shelf.

嗯，就像你說的，在這個時間點，我們很難評論他們的業務，因為我們並沒有實際在經營，也沒有那種內部層級的洞察來了解他們是如何看待的。但那一部分的業務，特別是在美國，很可能正感受到與我們看到的消費者在貨架端所面臨的相同壓力。

So I imagine that those are very similar to what we're calling out on our own business. And I expect that probably again, if you're looking at very much the same sort of tactics and approach towards making sure they're getting back to volume growth as they historically have driven. So that's pretty confident that the company has a view on remaining very competitive as it relates to volumes, but also trying to balance out what's going on in terms of input costs.

所以我想，那些情況與我們在自身業務中所指出的非常相似。而且我預期，若你看他們的作法與策略，可能也會非常類似：確保能回到他們過去一向帶動的銷量成長。因此我相當有信心，公司對於在銷量面維持高度競爭力有其看法，同時也試圖在投入成本的變動之間取得平衡。

As we look ahead and if the core or spirit of your question is, does it make me think differently about how we think about the -- what underpins and what underwrites sort of the strength of this combination? It doesn't create, I think, an incremental level of concern. It's really all about continuing to sort of strengthen the business before we close, and then we get an opportunity to really dig into it.

往前看，如果你問題的核心或精神是：這是否會讓我以不同方式看待——也就是，究竟是什麼支撐並承保這項組合的強度？我認為這不會帶來額外的擔憂程度。重點在於在交割前持續強化業務，然後我們就有機會真正深入研究。

And I think we're collaboratively with the leaders that will be combined with McCormick leaders to really put forward just obviously, a very strong and effective growth program. But as we go into '27, we still have a lot that we have to sort out right now in terms of inflation and cost and where the consumer is going to be.

我認為我們會與將與 McCormick 領導團隊合併的領導者協同合作，提出一個顯然非常強而有效的成長計畫。但當我們進入 2027 年時，就通膨、成本以及消費者將走向何處而言，我們現在仍有很多事情需要釐清。

So I think those are very similar questions that they're going to be trying to address as we do it at the same time. But I still have confidence, Steve, in our ability to drive growth behind this portfolio. Again, I would point to we operate in really good categories. There's growth in these categories. They're fundamentally focused on flavor, and that is a key consumer need. But it is about short term, there's going to be ups and downs. But over the long term, we really do believe in the growth of both of these businesses.

所以我認為，這些也是他們在同一時間會試圖解決的非常類似的問題。但 Steve，我仍對我們推動這個產品組合成長的能力有信心。再次強調，我們所處的是非常好的品類。這些品類本身就有成長。它們在本質上聚焦於風味，而這是消費者的關鍵需求。但短期而言，會有起起落落。然而從長期來看，我們確實相信這兩項業務的成長。

Appreciate that. And then maybe a question for Marcos. It sounds like PSA planning and separation carve-out work streams are progressing well. I guess, is there any further you can go in terms of, I guess, more discretely defining TSA scope, duration of those agreements, costs of those agreements? Any more details that are available today? And if not today, I guess, when do you think you might be able to add some of that specificity?

感謝說明。接著也許問 Marcos 一個問題。聽起來 PSA 規劃以及分離/切割（carve-out）工作流進展順利。我想問的是，你是否能再多談一些，例如更具體地界定 TSA 的範圍、協議期限、以及這些協議的成本？今天是否有更多可提供的細節？如果今天還不行，你認為何時可能可以提供更明確的資訊？

Yes, sure. I mean TSAs are in process, as we spoke before, continue to evolve the detail of the scope of each one. I mean broadly, we talked about TSAs in primarily supporting the back office of our operations. I think of our global business solutions, think about IT, think about support into HR areas, finance areas. So that is primarily the support that we're going to get from TSA for about two years. We talked about two years. We're going to have a phased exit to TSAs. We don't want to exit all TSAs at the same time. That wouldn't be practical. So we're going to be having a more detailed plan.

是的，當然。我的意思是，TSA 正在進行中；如同我們之前談到的，我們會持續細化每一項的範圍細節。整體而言，我們談到 TSA 主要是用來支援我們營運的後勤（back office）。例如我們的全球商務解決方案、IT、以及對人資領域、財務領域的支援。因此，這主要是我們將透過 TSA 取得、為期約兩年的支援。我們談過是兩年。我們會分階段退出 TSA。我們不希望同一時間退出所有 TSA。那並不實際。所以我們會制定更詳細的計畫。

We're not able to share you at that plan, but we're going to be able to share a plan of more of a gradual exit of TSAs over the first couple of years. And then from the cost perspective, we do have those costs assumed in our deal model. So that should not be something incremental that we should think about that way. So overall, progressing as planned, more details to come in the next, I would say, few months. And hopefully, we'll be able to share more in the next earnings call.

我們目前還無法向你分享該計畫，但我們將能分享一個在前一兩年逐步退出 TSA 的計畫。至於成本面，我們已在交易模型中納入這些成本假設。因此，這不應被視為我們需要以那種方式去考量的額外增量項目。總體而言，一切按計畫推進；我想在接下來幾個月會有更多細節。也希望我們能在下一次財報電話會議中分享更多。

Robert Moskow, TD Cowen.

Robert Moskow，TD Cowen。

Hey, thank you. I was hoping if you can give a little more detail on what caused momentum with your CPG customers in the US to slow down in the third quarter. On the last earnings call, you sounded very confident about a lot of reformulation projects.

嗨，謝謝。我想請你再多提供一些細節，說明是什麼原因導致你們在美國的 CPG 客戶動能在第三季放緩。在上一次財報電話會議上，你們對許多配方重整（reformulation）專案聽起來非常有信心。

And also, it just sounded like that their sales performance was just okay. I mean is it really just like the volume declines, the regular everyday volume declines just got worse? Or does anything in the pipeline kind of get delayed in terms of reformulation and new products?

而且也聽起來他們的銷售表現只是還可以。我的意思是，真的只是像銷量下滑、日常（regular everyday）的銷量下滑變得更糟嗎？還是說在配方重整與新產品方面，有任何管線中的項目出現延遲？

Rob, I think if I were to go quickly, you gave me two choices there. I'll go with the first one. I think it was more based on overall acceleration of volume declines that we saw in the industry over the course of the third quarter. Now to provide just additional context though on top of that. The -- we saw softer QSR traffic particularly in the US and the UK, plus softer demand from CPG customers driven by softer-than-expected consumption back to my quick answer given those two choices that you gave, that's the way we would express what we saw in terms of the slowdown that wasn't expected in the third quarter.

Rob，如果我快速回答，你給了我兩個選項。我選第一個。我認為主要是因為我們在第三季期間看到產業整體的銷量下滑加速。不過再補充一些背景。我們看到 QSR（速食餐飲）客流在美國與英國特別疲弱，加上 CPG 客戶的需求也偏弱，原因是實際消費低於預期。回到你給我的兩個選項，我們會用這種方式來表達第三季出現、且未預期的放緩。

I will say on the QSR side, the cyclospora outbreak in the US is clear it did have pressure on QSR traffic. I think we started to really see that express itself in terms of store traffic in July. Maybe it started to come back in August, but at that point, I think suppliers already had enough inventory -- or sorry, customers already had enough inventory. So we think that had an impact in the third quarter.

我會說，在 QSR 方面，美國的環孢子蟲（cyclospora）疫情爆發很明顯對 QSR 客流造成壓力。我認為我們在 7 月開始真正看到它在門店客流上反映出來。也許 8 月開始回升，但到那時，我認為供應商已經有足夠庫存——或抱歉，是客戶已經有足夠庫存。所以我們認為這對第三季造成了影響。

I would characterize that as very short term based on everything that I'm hearing. But these pressures were really what impacted that. We believe it's the third quarter. But we think we'll offset that. And we believe the fact that we were flat in the Americas effectively on volume is a function of just having a healthy innovation pipeline still have a lot of focus around customer diversification and gaining share in terms of customers, good private label growth.

根據我聽到的所有資訊，我會把這形容為非常短期的影響。但確實是這些壓力造成了影響。我們認為這是在第三季。但我們認為會把它抵消掉。而且我們相信，我們在美洲地區的銷量基本持平，反映的是我們仍有健康的創新管線、仍高度聚焦於客戶多元化並在客戶端取得市占、良好的自有品牌（private label）成長。

and just continue to strengthen the areas that we keep talking about, which is health and wellness, functional beverages, better-for-you snacking and those continue to perform well. So hopefully, that addresses sort of the insight you're looking for, Rob.

以及持續強化我們一直在談的領域，也就是健康與保健、機能性飲料、更健康的零食（better-for-you snacking），而這些表現仍然良好。所以希望這能回答你想了解的洞察，Rob。

Yes, it does. And maybe a follow-up. I appreciate you acknowledging that the implementation of your interventions in US retail were a little slower than expected. So I'm going to give you two choices again.

是的，有幫助。我再追問一下。感謝你承認你們在美國零售端介入措施的落地執行比預期慢一些。所以我再給你兩個選項。

Do you think it was related to retailers being a little reluctant to make changes at this time of the year? Or your organization is going through a lot right now. There's a lot of focus on the Unilever acquisition. Has that implement -- has that affected execution in any form or function? And I'll think of a third choice, but maybe just these two.

你認為這是否與零售商在一年中的這個時點對於做出變更有些猶豫有關？或者你們組織目前正經歷很多事情。大家把很多焦點放在聯合利華（Unilever）收購案上。那個落地——那是否在任何形式或功能上影響了執行？我還可以想到第三個選項，但先就這兩個吧。

Again, I'm going with your first. So it really has a lot to do with just coordination of timing with customers. I'm going to come back to more context on the second point, I think you were mentioning there, these teams are operating separately.

再一次，我會採用你第一個說法。所以這確實很大程度上只是與客戶在時程上的協調有關。我會回到你提到的第二點再補充一些背景，我想你是在說這些團隊是分開運作的。

So whoever is doing integration is working on integration exclusively. And those who are working on the base business, which is the majority of the company is exclusively focusing on our current business. So I'm quite confident that's not the case. It really has a lot to do with implementation timing and coordination with customers.

所以，負責整合的人只專注在整合工作上。而負責基礎業務的人——也就是公司大多數人——則是專注在我們目前的業務上。所以我相當有信心情況並非如此。這真的更多是與導入時點以及與客戶的協調有關。

Alexia Howard, Bernstein.

Alexia Howard，Bernstein。

Can I focus on the US consumer business once again. You mentioned a couple of actions that you're taking and maybe you could just provide a little more elaboration there. So you talked about the need to maybe invest in price and promotion to shore up the affordability side of things. I think Americas Consumer, we saw pricing up, I think it was a little over 2% this quarter.

我想再一次聚焦在美國消費者業務。你提到你們正在採取幾項行動，也許你可以再多做一些說明。你談到可能需要在價格與促銷上投資，以強化可負擔性這一面。我想在美洲消費者業務這邊，我們看到本季定價上升，我記得是略高於2%。

As we roll into fiscal '27, should we expect that price growth to turn negative once again, as it did a couple of years ago, the last time you were trying to fix this? And then you also mentioned portfolio assortment optimization to better serve some distinct consumer needs. Could you give us a couple of examples of that just so that we can understand what that means. Thank you, and I'll pass it on.

當我們進入2027財年時，我們是否應該預期這個價格成長會再次轉為負值，就像幾年前你們上一次試圖修復這個問題時那樣？另外你也提到透過產品組合/品項最佳化來更好地滿足一些不同的消費者需求。你能否舉幾個例子，讓我們理解那是什麼意思？謝謝，我把問題交給下一位。

Yes. Alexia, your audio cut out in part of your first question. Could you just maybe hit that one more time, sorry?

好的。Alexia，你第一個問題有一部分音訊斷掉了。你可以再重複一次嗎，不好意思？

Sure. It was just, should we expect pricing to turn negative in US consumer as it did a couple of years ago when you were shoring up the business before?

當然。我只是想問：美國消費者業務的定價是否會像幾年前你們在強化業務時那樣轉為負值？

No, we don't expect pricing to go negative. It certainly will be perhaps less pricing contribution than what we've seen year-to-date. But we don't anticipate it to go negative. Now there was a second question. Sorry, I got distracted there by the audio cut out.

不，我們不預期定價會轉為負值。它當然可能會比我們今年迄今所看到的定價貢獻更少一些。但我們不預期會變成負值。剛剛還有第二個問題。抱歉，我被音訊中斷分心了。

That's fine. You talked about portfolio assortment optimization to better serve distinct consumer needs. Could you give some examples of that so we can better understand it?

沒關係。你提到透過產品組合/品項最佳化來更好地滿足不同的消費者需求。你能否舉一些例子，讓我們更好理解？

Yes. I think really on portfolio assortment, it really is about probably going back to areas like thinking about some of the top selling flavors, making sure that those are on shelf, thinking about where we're getting strong velocity as well as price pack architecture, continue to implement that on shelf. That's part of the assortment optimization that we're seeing in parts of our portfolio.

可以。我認為在產品組合/品項方面，主要是回到一些領域，例如思考哪些是最暢銷的口味，確保它們在貨架上有供應；也思考哪些地方有強勁的銷售速度，以及價格-包裝架構（price pack architecture），並持續把這些在貨架上落地。這就是我們在部分產品組合中看到的品項最佳化的一部分。

Innovation sort of replaces either it's incremental to shelf or replaces items that we think are not turning as well as they should. So we see assortment optimization happen there on the shelf. But broadly, we are still gaining distribution as we look at our total portfolio.

創新要嘛是在貨架上做增量擴充，要嘛是替換掉我們認為周轉不如預期的品項。所以我們看到品項最佳化就在貨架端發生。但整體而言，從我們的總產品組合來看，我們仍在提升鋪貨/通路覆蓋。

Rob Dickerson, US Bancorp.

Rob Dickerson，US Bancorp。

Great. Maybe just kind of a broader question around kind of where the consumer is and then some of your comments around the cyclicality, right, of the business and just kind of how well the portfolio is positioned as kind of what I'm hearing is going to renovate the portfolio a little bit, right, optimize some of the assortment kind of, I guess, leaning a little bit to brand spend, but at the same time, like we don't really see prices coming down necessarily, which I get, especially given the cost inflation.

很好。我想問一個更宏觀的問題，關於消費者目前的狀況，以及你對業務週期性的評論，也就是產品組合的定位有多好——我聽起來你們會對產品組合做一些更新，對品項做一些最佳化；我猜也會稍微更偏向品牌投入，但同時我們似乎不太會看到價格必然下來，這我理解，尤其在成本通膨的背景下。

But just like if the consumer is still stretch and demand is still a little weak, right, every one is value conscious and have been that way for multiple years. but it's all cyclical. Like is kind of like the kind of the overall answer is like, well, the consumer just needs to get healthier as has to have more money and then everything is fixed. And I know that's the lame question, but just trying to cut through like a lot of the noise and just figure out like what fixes that. That's it.

但如果消費者仍然吃緊、需求仍偏弱，對吧，大家都很重視性價比，而且已經好幾年都是如此，但這又是週期性的。那整體答案是不是就是：消費者只要變得更健康、手上有更多錢，一切就會改善？我知道這問題有點老套，但我只是想排除雜訊，弄清楚到底什麼能解決這件事。就這樣。

Well, I think all of us would like healthier consumers, but we're not relying on that as we think about our plans moving ahead. We think about this environment is pretty much remaining status quo, if you will, especially as we look at perhaps 2027. But it did turn a little bit more incrementally more pressured, I think, and so far in the back half of the year, at least is what we're seeing. I think the attitude that we're taking, Rob, is you got to -- we keep using this expression, but it really does kind of guide our thinking, meet the consumer with where they are. And I think the consumer is really looking for even better value.

我想我們所有人都希望消費者更健康，但我們在規劃未來計畫時並不依賴這一點。我們認為這個環境大致會維持現狀，尤其當我們看向可能的2027年。但我認為它確實又變得更有壓力一些，至少就我們目前在今年下半年所看到的情況而言。Rob，我們採取的態度是——我們一直用這個說法，但它確實指引我們的思考——在消費者所在的位置與他們相遇。而我認為消費者正在尋求更好的價值。

Right now, it isn't necessarily a lower price. Consumers are still willing to pay for convenience, delivery. We see e-commerce growth growing for a reason because consumers find value in that overall, or there are items where they'll spend more per item because they're getting just better value like in our large sizes. So it's a dynamic sort of environment, I would say. We expect to continue to operate in this environment and continue to do well.

而現在這不一定意味著更低的價格。消費者仍願意為便利性、外送付費。我們看到電商成長是有原因的，因為消費者在整體上覺得那有價值；或者有些品項他們願意每件花更多，因為他們得到更好的價值，例如我們的大包裝規格。所以我會說這是一個動態的環境。我們預期會持續在這樣的環境中營運，並且持續表現良好。

And we're going to have periods where we have to find a way to recover from inflation, but also find even more creative for us and making sure that the consumer sees value at shelf. But I think if it's not look sort of what has to be true for things to get better, I think it's really, for our business, it's -- we're operating in great categories and that fundamentally really drives and underwrites sort of our view of our business looking ahead. And that's why we remain flavor focused.

而且我們會有一些時期必須想辦法回收通膨帶來的成本壓力，同時也要更有創意，確保消費者在貨架端能看到價值。但如果要說「什麼條件成立，情況才會變好」，我認為對我們的業務而言，是——我們所處的是很好的品類，而這在根本上驅動並支撐了我們對未來業務的看法。這也是為什麼我們仍然聚焦在風味。

And then on top of that, we have to continue to make sure that we have a competitive edge on shelf in terms of making sure we drive consumer value in whatever conditions we're operating in.

此外，我們也必須持續確保在貨架端具備競爭優勢，確保無論在任何營運條件下，我們都能為消費者創造價值。

All right. Super. That's fair. And then just -- maybe just a quick question. There have been some comments just to kind of around like improved or increased distribution, and maybe I missed it.

好的。非常好。這很合理。再來——我想快速問一個問題。你們有一些評論提到通路覆蓋改善或增加，也許我漏聽了。

But is that like the way you're thinking about this is just like is that TDPs essentially? Or is this -- there could be potential to kind of make more inroads into certain channels, maybe where you have less exposure now?

但你們的思考方式是：那基本上就是指TDP（總鋪貨點數）嗎？還是說——你們可能會在某些目前曝險較低的通路取得更多進展？

Yes. We're measuring it both ways, Rob. So we are looking at TDPs. It's a pretty clear metric, especially if you look at sort of retail ACV distribution. But it's also about having more items in other channels.

是的。Rob，我們兩種方式都在衡量。所以我們會看TDP。這是一個相當清楚的指標，尤其當你看零售ACV（全品類銷售額）鋪貨/通路覆蓋時。但同時也關乎在其他通路擁有更多品項。

So -- and that's going to be -- we're seeing a lot of channel growth in club stores or e-commerce or discount channels. And so we see the need to continue driving distribution growth in those areas, too.

所以——而這也會是——我們看到會員制量販店、電商或折扣通路都有很強的通路成長。因此我們也看到有必要在這些領域持續推動通路覆蓋成長。

Max Gumport, BNP Paribas.

Max Gumport，法國巴黎銀行（BNP Paribas）。

Thanks for the question. Between rising freight, which includes ocean freight, are there inflationary pressures and supply chain constraints. Some of these dynamics feel reminiscent of what we heard and saw during the COVID and supply chain bottleneck years, which really hampered your margin and profit delivery during that period.

謝謝你的提問。在運費上升（包括海運運費）的情況下，確實存在通膨壓力與供應鏈限制。其中一些動態讓人想起我們在 COVID 與供應鏈瓶頸那幾年所聽到、看到的情況，而那段期間確實嚴重影響了你們的毛利率與獲利表現。

So as you start to face these accelerating pressures again, I'm curious if you have more confidence in your ability to withstand them, particularly given learnings from that period and maybe even some supply chain improvements you've made over the last several years. I'm really asking because if the market starts to consider what your gross margin delivery can look like next year, particularly given the implied rate for 4Q, I think this will become more topical.

因此，當你們再次開始面臨這些加速的壓力時，我想了解你們是否更有信心能夠承受，特別是考量到那段期間的經驗教訓，以及過去幾年你們可能已做出的一些供應鏈改善。我之所以這麼問，是因為如果市場開始思考你們明年的毛利率交付可能會是什麼樣子，尤其考量到第 4 季隱含的速度，我認為這會變得更受關注。

Max, I think you bring up a relevant observation, which is these are similar variables that we were dealing with back during that time period. I think one of the things that I would start off with, and I'm going to hand it over to Marcos for additional context is, one of the key priorities I've asked the organization to work on over the past three years is just really this idea of focusing on resiliency in all forms because the external marketplace isn't necessarily friendly all the time with making things easy.

Max，我認為你提出了一個很相關的觀察，也就是這些變數與我們當時那段期間所面對的相似。我想先從一點開始，然後我會把話交給 Marcos 補充更多背景：過去三年我要求組織著力的一個關鍵優先事項，就是真正聚焦於各種形式的韌性，因為外部市場環境並不總是友善，未必會讓事情變得容易。

So we think about resiliency as an important quality about our company that we want to keep improving. And we're always looking for opportunity areas where we can do that. And I think that gives us, I wouldn't say -- I wouldn't call it overconfidence, just an ability to sort of deal with them maybe a little bit quicker and faster as we learn from each event that occurs.

所以我們把韌性視為公司一項重要特質，並希望持續提升。我們也一直在尋找可以做到這一點的機會領域。我認為這讓我們——我不會說是過度自信——而是有能力在每次事件發生後汲取經驗，或許能更快、更迅速地去應對。

So that would be my kickoff. And Marcos any --

以上是我的開場。Marcos，有沒有--

Yes. I would add to the resilience. I would add that our CCI program has really stepped up over the last couple of years, Max. Think about looking at all lines of the P&L in terms of where we find savings and productivity and optimization initiatives, standardizing process across the globe. I mean that standardization and automation of processes have been a key enabler for us to continue to be more efficient overall.

是的。我會在韌性之外再補充一點。Max，我們的 CCI 計畫在過去幾年確實大幅提升。想想看，我們從損益表（P&L）的各個項目著手，找出節省、提升生產力與最佳化的倡議，在全球範圍內標準化流程。我的意思是，流程的標準化與自動化一直是我們能夠持續提升整體效率的關鍵推動因素。

So a CCI program that is in place for 16 years now has been elevated over the last five, I would say, taking into account our global footprint, taking into account our Global Business Solutions organization in many places across the globe, but also taking into account the use of technology.

因此，這個已推行 16 年的 CCI 計畫，在過去五年我會說被進一步提升，考量到我們的全球布局，考量到我們在全球多地的全球商務解決方案（Global Business Solutions）組織，同時也考量到科技的運用。

So all in all, to say that we do have a more resilient business, as Brendan just mentioned, but also the underlying CCI program continues to evolve, continues to be widespread in the organization and continues to give confidence. I mean I look at 2026 as an example, 120 basis points of gross margin expansion, a good portion of it was because of the CCI program that was put in place. So I do feel more confident, although headwinds are there for us to manage, but I do feel more confident today going into 2027 than back back in 2019.

總體而言，可以說我們確實擁有更具韌性的業務，正如 Brendan 剛才提到的；同時，底層的 CCI 計畫也持續演進、在組織內更廣泛推行，並持續帶來信心。以 2026 年為例，毛利率擴張 120 個基點，其中相當一部分就是因為已落地的 CCI 計畫。所以我確實更有信心，雖然我們仍需管理逆風，但相較於 2019 年，如今在邁向 2027 年時我更有信心。

Scott Marks, Jefferies.

Scott Marks，Jefferies。

Hey, good morning, all. Thanks very much for squeezing us in here. I wanted to just ask one about McCormick de Mexico. It looks like performance was a bit stronger than folks were looking for. Wondering if you could just help us understand some of the some of the key drivers within that business. And as we look ahead, how you're thinking about trajectory as we look into Q4 and into next year?

各位早安。非常感謝讓我們插個問題。我想問一個關於墨西哥 McCormick（McCormick de Mexico） 的問題。看起來表現比大家預期的要強一些。想請你們協助我們理解該業務的一些關鍵驅動因素。以及往前看，你們如何看待第 4 季以及明年的走勢？

Well, I think in our prepared remarks, I would go back to that and the performance of the Manas category was really pretty strong. overall. And that is consistent with what our expectations are for the mayonnaise category in that market. And their level of -- that part of our organization, that level of execution, I think, has been really quite effective and quite strong. But we also saw performance in categories like Herbs and Spices, which just is growing very nicely right now.

我想回到我們事先準備的發言，其中提到 Manas 類別的表現整體確實相當強勁。這也符合我們對該市場美乃滋類別的預期。而我們組織中負責那一塊的執行力，我認為一直都非常有效、也非常強。此外，我們也看到像香草與香辛料（Herbs and Spices）等類別的表現，而目前成長非常不錯。

And we're able to grow share in that part of the portfolio there. And so we're seeing a nice lift in that category. As you might recall, we're present in a number of categories other than in that part of our business in Mexico. So we really were pleased with, I think, the performance of that category, too, overall. As we look ahead, I think the our outlook on this and the rationale and the thesis behind making sure that we sort of brought more of it back into McCormick's ownership is still holds true.

我們也能在那部分的產品組合中提升市占。因此我們看到該類別有不錯的拉抬。如你所記得的，我們在墨西哥的這部分業務中，除了那一塊之外也涉足多個類別。所以我們對該類別整體的表現也感到非常滿意。展望未來，我認為我們對此的看法、以及確保把更多業務重新納回 McCormick 持股之下的理由與投資論點，仍然成立。

Obviously, there's a growing market long term. We see good performance in the categories that we're operating in with a number of them like Herbs and Spices with even more upside. So I think we have a very sort of strong outlook for that part of our portfolio, as we called out when we did the original transaction, it was in January of this year?

顯然，長期來看這是一個成長中的市場。我們看到所營運的各個類別都有良好表現，其中像香草與香辛料等類別還有更大的上行空間。因此我認為我們對這部分產品組合的展望相當強勁，正如我們在最初交易時所提到的——那是在今年一月嗎？

Yes. We committed to accretion across all lines of the P&L, and that's coming through in 2026 pretty much.

是的。我們承諾在損益表（P&L）的各個項目都能帶來增益（accretion），而在 2026 年基本上已經反映出來了。

Thank you. I'd like to turn the floor back to Faten Freiha for closing remarks.

謝謝。我想把時間交回給 Faten Freiha 作結語。

Thank you all for joining our call today. If you have any further questions, please reach out to me. And this concludes our conference call for this morning.

感謝各位今天參與我們的電話會議。如果你們還有任何進一步的問題，請與我聯繫。今天上午的電話會議到此結束。

You may now disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

各位現在可以掛線。感謝各位的參與。