Sunopta Inc (STKL) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to SunOpta's second-quarter 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Reed Anderson with ICR. Thank you. You may begin.

大家好，歡迎參加 SunOpta 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）謹此提醒，本次會議正在錄製中。現在我想將會議交給主持人 ICR 的里德安德森 (Reed Anderson)。謝謝。你可以開始了。

Good afternoon and thank you for joining us on SunOpta's second-quarter fiscal 2024 earnings conference call. On the call today are Brian Kocher, Chief Executive Officer; and Greg Gaba, Chief Financial Officer. By now, everyone should have access to the earnings press release that was issued earlier this afternoon and is available on the Investor Relations page of SunOpta's website at www.sunopta.com.

下午好，感謝您參加 SunOpta 2024 財年第二季財報電話會議。今天參加電話會議的是執行長 Brian Kocher；格雷格·加巴（Greg Gaba），財務長。到目前為止，每個人都應該可以訪問今天下午早些時候發布的收益新聞稿，該新聞稿可在 SunOpta 網站 www.sunopta.com 的投資者關係頁面上找到。

This call is being webcast and its transcription will also be available on the company's website. As a reminder, please note that the prepared remarks which follow contain forward-looking statements and management may make additional forward-looking statements in response to your questions.

這次電話會議正在網路直播，其轉錄內容也將在公司網站上發布。請注意，以下準備好的評論包含前瞻性陳述，管理層可能會針對您的問題做出額外的前瞻性陳述。

These statements do not guarantee future performance and therefore undue reliance should not be placed upon them. We refer you to all risk factors contained in SunOpta's press release issued this afternoon, the company's Annual Report filed on Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a more detailed discussion of the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projections and any forward-looking statements.

這些聲明不保證未來的表現，因此不應過度依賴它們。我們建議您參閱今天下午發布的SunOpta 新聞稿、該公司以10-K 表形式提交的年度報告以及向美國證券交易委員會提交的其他文件中包含的所有風險因素，以便更詳細地討論可能導致實際結果不同的因素這些預測和任何前瞻性陳述的實質內容。

The company undertakes no obligation to publicly correct or update the forward-looking statements made during the presentation to reflect future events or circumstances, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

本公司不承擔公開更正或更新演示期間所做的前瞻性陳述以反映未來事件或情況的義務，除非適用的證券法可能要求。

Finally, we would like to remind listeners that the company may refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures during this teleconference. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures was included with the company's press release issued earlier today.

最後，我們想提醒聽眾，公司可能會在本次電話會議期間參考某些非公認會計準則財務指標。今天稍早發布的公司新聞稿中包含了這些非公認會計原則財務指標的調節表。

Also, please note, in the prepared remarks to follow, unless otherwise stated, the company will be referring to the continuing operations portion of the business and all figures are in US dollars, occasionally rounded to the nearest million.

另請注意，在隨後準備的評論中，除非另有說明，否則公司將指業務的持續營運部分，所有數字均以美元為單位，有時會四捨五入到最接近的百萬位。

Now, I'll turn the call over to Brian to begin. Brian?

現在，我將把電話轉給布萊恩開始。布萊恩？

Good afternoon and thank you for joining us today. For today's call, I'll start with the highlights of our latest quarter's performance, along with an update on business trends and key priorities. Greg will follow with a review of the financials and our outlook. Then we'll take your questions.

下午好，感謝您今天加入我們。在今天的電話會議中，我將首先介紹我們最新季度的業績亮點，以及業務趨勢和關鍵優先事項的最新情況。格雷格隨後將回顧財務狀況和我們的前景。然後我們將回答您的問題。

Our second-quarter headline is very simple. Both volume-driven revenue growth of 21% and adjusted EBITDA of $20.6 million exceeded our guidance. And I'd like to share context on that performance, specifically focusing on our revenue and operational initiatives.

我們第二季的標題非常簡單。銷售驅動的收入成長 21% 和調整後 EBITDA 2060 萬美元都超出了我們的指導。我想分享一下這項業績的背景，特別是我們的收入和營運計畫。

With respect to our revenue performance, on our last call, we guided to revenue growth that we could see. We worked on initiatives beyond our known wins, and then we overdelivered with 21% volume-driven revenue growth. For the fourth quarter in a row, our volume growth was spread broadly across customers, panels and major product categories.

關於我們的收入表現，在上次電話會議中，我們指導了我們可以看到的收入成長。我們致力於超越已知成果的舉措，然後我們超額交付了 21% 的銷售驅動收入成長。連續第四個季度，我們的銷售成長廣泛分佈在客戶、面板和主要產品類別。

We are executing well across our product portfolio and continue to see significant opportunities for further growth and improvement. Remember last quarter I mentioned, we have visibility into our customers' initiatives and pipelines, which gave us confidence in our demand generation engine and confidence to increase our 2024 outlook.

我們的產品組合執行良好，並繼續看到進一步成長和改進的重大機會。還記得我上個季度提到的，我們可以了解客戶的計畫和管道，這讓我們對需求產生引擎充滿信心，並有信心提高 2024 年的前景。

Let me provide a few data points to give you some perspective on the depth of our growth. We again drove double-digit revenue growth from each of our top three customers. Our top five customers posted 23% average year-over-year revenue growth.

讓我提供一些數據點，讓您對我們的成長深度有一些看法。我們再次推動三大客戶的營收達到兩位數成長。我們的前五名客戶的平均收入年增 23%。

Our fruit snacks business grew by over 24% and continued a streak of 16 consecutive quarters with at least double-digit growth. Our foodservice segment revenue again increased at a double-digit rate, and every major go-to market channel and product category grew during the quarter.

我們的水果零食業務成長超過24%，並延續了連續16個季度至少兩位數成長的勢頭。我們的餐飲服務部門收入再次以兩位數的速度成長，每個主要的市場通路和產品類別在本季都有所成長。

We continue to see plant-based beverages increasingly featured across new menu items and on menu boards in foodservice. Volume continues to be the primary driver of growth. Unit volume growth is the most significant confirmation of our continued and differentiated value proposition in the commercial market.

我們繼續看到植物性飲料越來越多地出現在新菜單項目和餐飲服務菜單板上。銷量仍然是成長的主要驅動力。單位銷售量的成長是我們在商業市場上持續且差異化價值主張的最重要確認。

When customers want more of our support, products and innovation and want them at a faster rate than the overall market is growing, we know we have a sustainable competitive advantage. Our volume growth is coming from several areas. We are winning with winning customers as a solution provider and an innovation partner.

當客戶需要我們更多的支援、產品和創新，並且希望它們的成長速度快於整體市場的成長速度時，我們知道我們擁有可持續的競爭優勢。我們的銷售成長來自多個領域。作為解決方案提供者和創新合作夥伴，我們正在贏得客戶的青睞。

Specifically, the brands we support are winning and outperforming the categories where they play. Over the last 13-week measurement period, the majority of the brands we support have exceeded category volume performance by over 700 basis points.

具體來說，我們支持的品牌正在贏得勝利並超越其所在類別。在過去 13 週的衡量期間，我們支持的大多數品牌的銷售表現超出了 700 個基點以上。

Secondly, we're gaining incremental business from new and existing customers as they seek to leverage our service capabilities, our capacity and our innovation talent to launch new products as well as support growth in their established offerings.

其次，我們正在從新客戶和現有客戶那裡獲得增量業務，因為他們尋求利用我們的服務能力、產能和創新人才來推出新產品並支持其現有產品的成長。

And thirdly, we are also benefiting from our TAM expansion into protein shakes and other plant-based beverage innovations in foodservice. The addressable markets in which we participate are also large and growing. For 2024, we estimate the US shelf-stable plant-based milks market continues to grow in the mid-single digits in the aggregate across all channels, tracked and untracked.

第三，我們也受惠於 TAM 擴展到蛋白質奶昔和餐飲服務領域其他植物性飲料創新領域。我們參與的潛在市場也很大且不斷成長。到 2024 年，我們估計美國耐儲存植物奶市場在所有管道（追蹤和未追蹤）的總體上將繼續以中個位數成長。

Remember that much of our volume is derived from untracked segments, and we continue to see growth in foodservice and club channels. Protein shakes continues to be one of the fastest-growing categories in CPGs, with track channel volume up approximately 18% over the past 13 weeks, and over 60% of the performance nutrition category is comprised of the 330 ml format, like we produce in Midlothian, Texas.

請記住，我們的大部分銷量來自未追蹤的細分市場，並且我們繼續看到餐飲服務和俱樂部管道的成長。蛋白質奶昔仍然是 CPG 中成長最快的類別之一，過去 13 週內通路銷量成長了約 18%，超過 60% 的功能性營養品類別由 330 毫升規格組成，就像我們在德克薩斯州中洛錫安市。

In fruit snacks, consumer and customer demand remain very strong. The better-for-you segment is the fastest-growing subset within the fruit snacks category, up over 30% over the past 52 weeks, with our customers commanding well over 75% of the segment share. As you can see, we have significant tailwinds supporting our revenue line.

在水果零食方面，消費者和顧客的需求仍然非常強勁。「有益健康」細分市場是水果零食類別中成長最快的子集，在過去 52 週內成長了 30% 以上，我們的客戶佔據了該細分市場 75% 以上的份額。正如您所看到的，我們有巨大的推動力來支持我們的收入線。

Let me transition to our operational performance. In addition to the revenue growth we guided in 2Q, we also committed to improving the effectiveness of our supply chain, which, as you know, has been a major area of focus for me and the organization over the past two quarters.

讓我談談我們的營運績效。除了我們在第二季度指導的收入成長之外，我們還致力於提高供應鏈的效率，正如您所知，這一直是我和組織在過去兩個季度關注的主要領域。

As you've heard me describe many times, this is a journey of a thousand steps. We are making progress every day, and we always strive to be better. I am both pleased with our progress during the quarter and also energized by our prospects for substantial improvement in the future.

正如你多次聽到我描述的那樣，這是一個千步之遙的旅程。我們每天都在進步，我們總是努力變得更好。我對我們在本季度取得的進展感到高興，也對我們未來大幅改善的前景感到鼓舞。

From an output perspective, during the second quarter, we increased unit output in our aseptic facilities by over 24% versus the prior year, and output in our fruit snacks facilities increased by more than 33%. Importantly, these increases were driven by both greater efficiency from our established lines as well as new capacity. If you exclude new capacity, we increased unit output of those assets by greater than 10% versus the year-ago quarter, which is the equivalent of adding roughly an entire manufacturing line to the network.

從產量角度來看，第二季度，我們無菌設施的單位產量比去年同期增加了 24% 以上，水果零食設施的產量增加了 33% 以上。重要的是，這些成長是由我們現有生產線的更高效率以及新產能所推動的。如果排除新增產能，這些資產的單位產量與去年同期相比增加了 10% 以上，相當於在網路中增加了大約整條生產線。

Our team is making significant progress on creating capacity via operating improvements. Our extraction expansion in Modesto came online during the quarter, as many of you know, and we are both aggressively ramping volume as well as selling future capacity.

我們的團隊正在透過改進營運來創造產能方面取得重大進展。正如許多人所知，我們在莫德斯託的開採擴張在本季上線，我們正在積極增加產量並出售未來產能。

In Midlothian, we are progressing various efficiencies throughout the plan. Our third line started producing commercially sellable product at the end of Q1 '24, is ramping as anticipated, and is expected to make a solid contribution to our second half '24 results. Output in Midlothian is increasing, and we see opportunities to drive further improvement with targeted investments now to accelerate sustainable growth and margin achievement later this year and into 2025.

在中洛錫安，我們正在整個計劃中提高各種效率。我們的第三條生產線於 24 年第一季末開始生產可商業銷售的產品，正在按預期增加，預計將為我們 24 年下半年的業績做出堅實的貢獻。中洛錫安的產量正在增加，我們看到了透過現在有針對性的投資進一步推動改善的機會，以加速今年晚些時候和 2025 年的可持續增長和利潤率實現。

As I look at the progress we've made in our supply chain throughout the quarter, the increase in output was satisfying, but ultimately uncovered and highlighted further areas for improvement and investment. As we continue identifying opportunities for operational efficiency, we are taking advantage of exceptional revenue growth to accelerate short-term investments, which in turn will accelerate sustainable process improvements.

當我審視整個季度我們在供應鏈中取得的進展時，產量的成長令人滿意，但最終發現並強調了需要進一步改進和投資的領域。隨著我們不斷尋找提高營運效率的機會，我們正在利用出色的收入成長來加速短期投資，這反過來又將加速可持續的流程改善。

Our supply chain initiatives are detailed by plant, by product line and by hour of the day. Each of these projects are making progress, and the pace of the progress varies by project and location. In some lines and/or functions, we may need to take a step back to take two steps forward.

我們的供應鏈計劃按工廠、產品線和一天中的時間進行詳細說明。每個專案都在取得進展，並且進展速度因專案和地點而異。在某些行和/或功能中，我們可能需要後退一步才能前進兩步。

In 2Q, we had the benefit of incremental growth, so we purposely invested to either shore up project plans or accelerate sustainable results. The quantum and magnitude of improvement plans we have in place across our network help to fuel our 27% volume growth in Q2.

在第二季度，我們受益於增量成長，因此我們有目的地投資以支持專案計劃或加速永續成果。我們在整個網路中實施的改進計劃的數量和規模有助於推動第二季度 27% 的銷售成長。

Rarely are increases in output not simultaneously accompanied by some growing pain. In the quarter, we discovered areas for short-term investment which will continue into the third quarter. However, we see significant opportunity for sustainable margin improvement commencing in Q4 and carrying us through 2025.

產出的增加很少不同時伴隨著一些成長的痛苦。在本季度，我們發現了短期投資領域，這些領域將持續到第三季。然而，我們看到從第四季度開始並持續到 2025 年可持續利潤率改善的重大機會。

Once again, I'm proud of our quarterly results and I continue to be excited about our long-term revenue and profit growth outlook. Our expectations for the future continue to be based on what we see, not on what we hope, and we are confident in raising our 2024 revenue outlook for the second time this year.

我再次為我們的季度業績感到自豪，並且繼續對我們的長期收入和利潤成長前景感到興奮。我們對未來的期望仍然基於我們所看到的，而不是我們所希望的，我們有信心今年第二次提高 2024 年的收入預期。

Our priorities, actions and initiatives to deliver against these expectations remain the same. First, grow volume through expanding our current customer relationships, acquiring new customers and expanding our TAM. Our co-development and innovation network on behalf of our customers provides great excitement about the demand side of our business.

我們實現這些期望的優先事項、行動和舉措保持不變。首先，透過擴大現有客戶關係、獲取新客戶和擴大 TAM 來增加銷售量。我們代表客戶的共同開發和創新網絡為我們業務的需求方面帶來了極大的興奮。

Most importantly, it fills our capacity with products and categories that significantly over-index towards growth. Secondly, we want to drive operational improvements to both increase output and expand sustainable margins.

最重要的是，它用顯著超額增長指數的產品和類別填充了我們的能力。其次，我們希望推動營運改進，以增加產量並擴大永續利潤。

We have multiple efficiency projects at each facility and are gaining momentum every day. We increased output by 27% in the second quarter and our newest capacity is still ramping up in the second half. With the support of our short-term investments, we expect to see sustainable margin expansion starting in the fourth quarter through better fixed cost absorption as well as variable cost reduction.

我們在每個工廠都有多個效率項目，並且每天都在增強動力。第二季我們的產量增加了 27%，下半年我們的最新產能仍在增加。在我們的短期投資的支持下，我們預計透過更好的固定成本吸收和可變成本削減，從第四季度開始將實現可持續的利潤率擴張。

Lastly, we will maintain our disciplined financial approach and continue deleveraging to under 3 times EBITDA, our stated goal, by the end of this year. Every aspect of our business is closely linked and through our disciplined, relentless focus on operational execution, we continue delivering strong results.

最後，我們將保持嚴格的財務方針，並繼續去槓桿化，到今年年底將 EBITDA 降至我們既定目標的 3 倍以下。我們業務的各個方面都緊密相連，透過我們嚴格的、不懈的關注營運執行，我們不斷取得強勁的成果。

We are a growth company operating in growing categories with growing customers. As a private label and co-manufacturing solutions provider, we solve problems and create wins for our customers. As we create wins and solve problems for our customers, we grow share in revenue. We also grow share in revenue by improving operational efficiency.

我們是一家成長型公司，業務範圍不斷擴大，客戶不斷成長。作為自有品牌和聯合製造解決方案提供商，我們為客戶解決問題並創造雙贏。當我們為客戶創造勝利並解決問題時，我們的收入份額就會增加。我們也透過提高營運效率來增加收入份額。

As we increase output through efficiency gains, we extend the capacity of our deployed investments and deferred growth CapEx, which leads to higher returns on invested capital and drives incremental value for shareholders.

當我們透過提高效率來增加產出時，我們擴大了已部署投資和遞延成長資本支出的能力，從而帶來更高的投資資本回報並為股東帶來增量價值。

In summary, we delivered strong results in the first half and believe we are well positioned for the balance of 2024 and beyond. We are delivering top-line growth rates that are several times faster than peer averages and propelled by robust volume gain. We're demonstrating the necessary operational resilience of business needs, the service growth, while simultaneously overcoming challenges and improving our operational efficiency.

總而言之，我們在上半年取得了強勁的業績，並相信我們已為 2024 年及以後的剩餘時間做好了準備。在強勁的銷售成長的推動下，我們的營收成長率比同業平均快幾倍。我們正在展示業務需求和服務成長所必需的營運彈性，同時克服挑戰並提高營運效率。

As a result, we are poised for higher sustainable margins and improving profitability as our supply chain initiatives gain traction and accelerate, all of which helps to drive free cash flow. I'm confident in the direction of our business and increased revenue outlook for 2024, along with our significant potential for driving growth, cash flow and shareholder value over the longer term.

因此，隨著我們的供應鏈計畫獲得牽引力和加速，我們準備好實現更高的可持續利潤並提高獲利能力，所有這些都有助於推動自由現金流。我對我們的業務方向和 2024 年營收成長前景充滿信心，同時也對我們在長期推動成長、現金流和股東價值方面的巨大潛力充滿信心。

Now, I'll turn the call over to Greg to cover the second-quarter and full-year outlook in more detail.

現在，我將把電話轉給格雷格，更詳細地介紹第二季和全年展望。

Thank you, Brian, and good afternoon, everyone. We had another strong quarter. Revenue of $171 million was up 21% compared to last year, driven by exceptional volume growth. As Brian highlighted, this growth was across the board. Gross profit increased $3.2 million, or 17% to $21.8 million in the quarter and reported gross margin with 12.8%.

謝謝你，布萊恩，大家下午好。我們又經歷了一個強勁的季度。受銷售異常成長的推動，營收達到 1.71 億美元，比去年成長 21%。正如布萊恩所強調的，這種成長是全面的。本季毛利增加 320 萬美元，或 17%，達到 2,180 萬美元，毛利率為 12.8%。

Adjusted gross margin was 16.2% and reflects increased volume and better plant utilization, offset by short-term discretionary investments in future sustainable supply chain efficiencies, some manufacturing inefficiencies and incremental depreciation for newly launched production assets. Operating income more than doubled to $2.6 million in the second quarter as profitable volume growth was partially offset by higher variable and incentive compensation.

調整後的毛利率為16.2%，反映了產量的增加和工廠利用率的提高，但被對未來可持續供應鏈效率的短期可自由支配投資、一些製造效率低下以及新推出的生產資產的增量折舊所抵銷。第二季營業收入成長了一倍多，達到 260 萬美元，因為獲利量的成長被較高的可變薪酬和激勵薪酬所部分抵消。

Loss from continuing operations was $3.8 million compared to a loss of $11.7 million in the prior year period. This improvement was driven by incremental operating income in addition to reduced income tax expense. Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations increased 12% to $20.6 million compared to $18.4 million last year.

持續經營業務虧損 380 萬美元，而上年同期虧損 1,170 萬美元。這一改善是由於營業收入增加以及所得稅費用減少所致。來自持續經營業務的調整後 EBITDA 成長了 12%，達到 2,060 萬美元，而去年為 1,840 萬美元。

Turning to the balance sheet. At the end of the second-quarter debt was $303 million. Remember, an increase in debt was expected in the quarter due to our oat extraction capacity expansion in Modesto coming online. Net leverage was 3.5 times and we fully expect to achieve our target of being under 3 times levered by the end of the year. Year-to-date cash provided by operating activities of continuing operations was $2 million, and year-to-date cash used in investing activities of continuing operations was $13.9 million.

轉向資產負債表。第二季末債務為 3.03 億美元。請記住，由於我們在莫德斯託的燕麥提取能力擴張上線，預計本季債務將會增加。淨槓桿率為3.5倍，我們完全預期在年底前達到槓桿率低於3倍的目標。年初至今持續經營業務營運活動提供的現金為 200 萬美元，年初至今持續經營投資活動使用的現金為 1,390 萬美元。

Now turning to our full-year outlook. We are raising our 2024 revenue outlook for the second time this year to reflect the strong performance in Q2 and higher growth expectations in the second half. We now expect revenue in the range of $710 million to $730 million, which represents growth of 13% to 16%.

現在轉向我們的全年展望。我們今年第二次上調 2024 年營收預期，以反映第二季的強勁表現和下半年更高的成長預期。我們目前預計營收在 7.1 億美元至 7.3 億美元之間，成長 13% 至 16%。

From a profit perspective, with the short-term investments we are making in the supply chain and the natural challenges that result when you are growing a business 3x the category run rate, we are maintaining our outlook for adjusted EBITDA of $88 million to $92 million which represents growth of 12% to 17%. From a second-half pacing standpoint, we expect the third quarter to look similar to the second quarter with slight improvement and both revenue and adjusted EBITDA increasing in the fourth quarter.

從利潤角度來看，考慮到我們在供應鏈中進行的短期投資以及當您將業務發展到類別運行速度3 倍時所帶來的自然挑戰，我們維持調整後EBITDA 為8800 萬至9200 萬美元的預期這意味著增長 12% 至 17%。從下半年節奏的​​角度來看，我們預計第三季與第二季相似，略有改善，第四季營收和調整後 EBITDA 均有所成長。

As Brian discussed, we are delivering exceptional top-line growth rates and are accelerating our investments in supply chain initiatives that are expected to deliver higher, sustainable margins and improve profitability in the fourth quarter, provide great momentum entering 2025 and deliver significant shareholder value over the longer term.

正如Brian 所討論的，我們正在實現卓越的營收成長率，並正在加快對供應鏈計劃的投資，這些計劃預計將在第四季度實現更高的可持續利潤率和盈利能力，為進入2025 年提供強勁動力，並在2025 年實現顯著的股東價值。

Before opening the call for questions, just a reminder that for competitive reasons we do not provide detailed commentary regarding customer or SKU level activity.

在開始提問之前，請注意，出於競爭原因，我們不提供有關客戶或 SKU 級別活動的詳細評論。

And with that, operator, please open the call for questions.

那麼，接線員，請打開電話提問。

(Operator Instructions) Jon Andersen, William Blair.

（操作員說明）Jon Andersen、William Blair。

Hey. Good afternoon, everybody. Thanks for the question.

嘿。大家下午好。謝謝你的提問。

Hi Jon, how are you?

嗨，喬恩，你好嗎？

I'm good, thank you. Hope you are, too. So the sales were, as you pointed out, very strong in the quarter and volume-driven. I'm wondering if you could talk a little bit more about the upside. Presumably, the sales exceeded your own expectations. They clearly exceeded the street's expectations in the quarter. But I'd like to get a little better sense for, was that more in the existing customer base? Was it new additions ramping more quickly? Or was it the TAM part of the growth story that drove that?

我很好，謝謝。希望你也是。因此，正如您所指出的，本季的銷售非常強勁，而且是由銷售驅動的。我想知道您是否可以多談談好處。想必，銷量超出了你自己的預期。他們在本季的表現顯然超出了華爾街的預期。但我想更了解一下，現有客戶群是否更多？新增加的速度是否更快？或者是成長故事中 TAM 的一部分推動了這一發展？

Jon, thanks a lot for the question. I really appreciate it. I think we were really excited this quarter by the fact that it was a little bit of everything. If we had some new product launches that came out and did well in the second quarter on behalf of our customers, certainly we saw growth of our TAM expansion initiatives with either protein shakes and some of our plant-based beverage initiatives. We also continue to see a category that overall, and when you include untracked channels, is growing.

喬恩，非常感謝你的提問。我真的很感激。我認為本季我們真的很興奮，因為它是一切的一部分。如果我們在第二季推出了一些新產品並代表我們的客戶表現良好，那麼我們當然會看到我們的 TAM 擴張計劃（包括蛋白質奶昔和一些植物性飲料計劃）的成長。我們也繼續看到一個總體（如果包括未追蹤的頻道）正在成長的類別。

And I think one of the more important things is the brands that we support are winning. As a co-manufacturer and a private label provider, solutions provider, we work with brands and they are every day out there trying to grow their own brand. If you look at the brands we support, they are all performing better than the category at whole.

我認為更重要的事情之一是我們支持的品牌正在獲勝。作為聯合製造商、自有品牌提供者、解決方案提供商，我們與品牌合作，他們每天都在努力發展自己的品牌。如果您查看我們支持的品牌，您會發現它們的整體表現都優於該類別。

And so, as you think about all the areas we can grow, it was really across all of the areas that we provided strength and we were very happy with the volume growth in particular. That's always a great sign.

因此，當你考慮到我們可以成長的所有領域時，我們確實在所有領域提供了優勢，尤其是對銷售成長感到非常滿意。這總是一個好兆頭。

Absolutely. So you have a large customer -- I mean, many customers, but there is a large customer, and there's been some noise around broadly traffic trends in foodservice establishments. But what can you tell us about your business that makes it perhaps different? Because it sounds like that hasn't put any material pressure on your business to date, and you don't expect it to on a full-year basis, obviously, as you lift your overall revenue outlook for the year?

絕對地。所以你有一個大客戶——我的意思是，很多客戶，但是有一個大客戶，並且圍繞餐飲服務機構的整體交通趨勢存在一些噪音。但您能告訴我們您的業務有哪些可能與眾不同的地方嗎？因為聽起來這到目前為止還沒有給您的業務帶來任何實質壓力，而且您顯然不希望在全年的基礎上出現這種壓力，因為您提高了今年的整體收入前景？

Well, I think there's a couple of things to remember with respect to our customer base. We have diversity of channels. So we've got foodservice channel, we have club channel, we have retail support in both private label and co-manufacturing, so there's a lot of diversity there. Again, I think if you think about the growth, it was broad-based. Our top three customers grew double-digits, our foodservice customers in the aggregate grew double-digits, our top five customers grew 23%.

嗯，我認為關於我們的客戶群，有幾件事需要記住。我們有多元化的管道。所以我們有餐飲服務管道，我們有俱樂部管道，我們有自有品牌和聯合製造的零售支持，所以那裡有很多多樣性。再說一次，我認為如果你考慮成長，你會發現它是廣泛的。我們的前三位客戶成長了兩位數，我們的餐飲服務客戶總數增加了兩位數，我們的前五位客戶成長了 23%。

Now, that comes with some where the category is growing, some where TAM expansion is happening, some where innovation and development is happening. I think we talked a little bit about this last quarter. The opportunity that we have to work with our customers on either innovation or co-development really gives us a unique position to potentially participate in limited time offers in menu items and things of that nature. And those often grow at an index that is different than the overall revenue stream of some of the channels or some of the categories. And that's probably the best way to describe it.

現在，有些領域正在成長，有些領域正在 TAM 擴張，有些領域正在創新和發展。我想我們在上個季度對此進行了一些討論。我們與客戶合作創新或共同開發的機會確實使我們擁有獨特的地位，並有可能參與菜單項目和此類性質的限時優惠。這些成長的指數通常與某些管道或某些類別的整體收入流不同。這可能是描述它的最好方式。

Makes sense. I'm going to squeeze a third one in if I can. I know I'll get a lot of questions. So volumes were extremely strong. You're ramping production in Midlothian. The fruit snacks business is on fire and volumes are strong there.

有道理。如果可以的話我會再擠第三個。我知道我會收到很多問題。因此成交量非常強勁。您正在提高中洛錫安的產量。那裡的水果零食生意火爆，銷售也很強勁。

And yet we saw some gross margin degradation year over year. Could you just explain a little bit more, talk a little bit more about some of these short-term investments that you're making, maybe some of the inefficiencies that you surfaced? And how to get us confident that, that inflection that you're pointing to in the fourth quarter is, your visibility is really good in terms of delivering on that? Thank you.

然而，我們看到毛利率逐年下降。您能否多解釋一下，多談談您正在進行的一些短期投資，也許是您發現的一些低效率問題？如何讓我們相信，您在第四季度指出的轉折點是，您在實現這一目標方面的知名度確實很好？謝謝。

No problem, Jon. Look, love the question. Couple of things to think about. Let's talk about it in terms of gross margin and the outlook for gross margin. First of all, there is all good news in this story.

沒問題，喬恩。看，喜歡這個問題。有幾點要考慮。我們先從毛利率以及毛利率前景的角度來談談。首先，這個故事裡面有好消息。

Our gross margin story starts with volume. We posted a quarter with big volume growth, and when that big volume growth came in, our network supplied it. I mean, that's one very positive thing that happened in here. We took share, and you take share when it's available, not when it's convenient. So the first bit of good news that's in that margin story, I would tell you, is that we had to produce the volume to deliver the volume growth, and we did it.

我們的毛利率故事始於銷量。我們發布了一個季度的銷量大幅增長，當銷量大幅增長時，我們的網路提供了它。我的意思是，這是這裡發生的一件非常積極的事情。我們分享了，你有機會的時候分享，而不是在方便的時候分享。因此，我想告訴你的是，利潤率故事中的第一個好消息是，我們必須生產銷量才能實現銷量成長，我們做到了。

In fact, on some of our existing assets -- let's exclude Midlothian and some of the newer capacity we put in place. In our existing assets, we increased output enough to be the equivalent of a full manufacturing line, essentially out of sweat equity and ingenuity, a full manufacturing line. So we were really excited about that.

事實上，在我們現有的一些資產上，我們排除了中洛錫安和我們投入的一些新產能。在我們現有的資產中，我們增加的產量足以相當於一條完整的生產線，基本上是出於汗水資產和獨創性，一條完整的生產線。所以我們對此感到非常興奮。

The second bit of good news, and I'm going to call this good news, is volume growth like this routinely and expectedly test your supply chain. And when you grow as fast as we're growing, and you take some share when it's available as opposed to convenient, you certainly identify opportunities in your supply chain where you could be more efficient.

第二個好消息，我將稱之為好消息，是像這樣的銷售成長，定期且預期地測試您的供應鏈。當您的成長速度與我們的成長速度一樣快，並且您在可用而不是方便時獲得一些份額時，您肯定會在供應鏈中發現可以提高效率的機會。

The good news is we're identifying that now as opposed to two quarters from now or three quarters from now. So we're investing in areas -- to just give you some specificity, we're investing in areas around downline efficiencies. Why is that important? Because if we can pack out more, we can run systems more fluidly and continuously. We're investing in equipment maintenance uptime.

好消息是我們現在就確定了這一點，而不是從現在起兩個季度或從現在起四個季度後。因此，我們正在投資一些領域——為了給您一些具體訊息，我們正在投資於圍繞下線效率的領域。為什麼這很重要？因為如果我們可以打包更多，我們就可以更流暢、更連續地運行系統。我們正在投資設備維護正常運作時間。

We're investing in these short-term areas in labor and labor management. We're investing in our procurement and inventory management processes to see all -- to make this flow together from beginning to end of the supply chain.

我們正在勞動力和勞動力管理的這些短期領域進行投資。我們正在對採購和庫存管理流程進行投資，以實現供應鏈從頭到尾的所有流程。

Again, I think the good news for us is we've got the volume and we've got the output. Remember, we can never make efficient the volume that we don't take. So we took the volume, we've got opportunities to make it in investments.

再說一遍，我認為對我們來說好消息是我們已經有了數量和產量。請記住，我們永遠無法提高我們不使用的體積的效率。所以我們獲得了這個數量，我們有機會進行投資。

Think of these investments as temporary investments in labor, potentially some surge resources to help us on efficiency initiatives, maybe a small investment here or there in terms of shop floor metric systems and reporting and escalation systems.

將這些投資視為對勞動力的臨時投資，可能是一些激增的資源來幫助我們實施效率舉措，也許是在車間指標系統以及報告和升級系統方面的少量投資。

So we're really confident, A, that we can produce the volume, B, as we produce the volume, we can get better at it. And just a few data points, if I look at overall cost per unit produced and overall labor unit produced, those were better than the second quarter of '23. Now, we have some other areas that suffered some challenges, but I'm excited about what we're doing in the supply chain and our opportunities to grow.

所以我們非常有信心，A，我們可以生產這個數量，B，當我們生產這個數量時，我們可以做得更好。僅舉幾個數據點，如果我看一下每單位生產的總成本和總勞動單位，這些數據都比 20 年第二季好。現在，我們的其他一些領域也遇到了一些挑戰，但我對我們在供應鏈中所做的事情以及我們的成長機會感到興奮。

Thanks a lot, Brian.

非常感謝，布萊恩。

Jim Salera, Stephens.

吉姆·薩萊拉，史蒂芬斯。

Yes. Good afternoon. Thanks for taking my questions. Brian, I really wanted to drill down on the sustainability of what seems to be pretty meaningful gains in the share among your customers, because -- I can appreciate the untracked channels and the foodservice channels represent a much larger piece of the business, especially for your customers and maybe some other categories. But your outperformance relative to what is visible in the tracked channels, it continues to be very stark.

是的。午安.感謝您回答我的問題。布萊恩，我真的很想深入研究您的客戶份額中似乎相當有意義的收益的可持續性，因為——我可以欣賞未跟踪的渠道，而餐飲服務渠道代表了更大的業務部分，特別是對於您的客戶，也許還有其他一些類別。但相對於追蹤管道中可見的內容，您的表現仍然非常明顯。

And so, should we expect to see some of the strength in these untracked channels eventually filter into tracked channels? Or is it just that the way that the end market's structured, investors really shouldn't worry about track channels and it's really all about the growth that's unseen, so to speak?

那麼，我們是否應該期望看到這些未追蹤管道的一些優勢最終會滲透到追蹤管道中？或者只是因為終端市場的結構方式，投資人真的不應該擔心軌道管道，而這實際上都是關於看不見的成長，可以這麼說？

Okay. A couple of themes in there, Jim, and let me try to break those apart. First of all, I think it's important to remember from our perspective, tracked channels is less than one-fifth of the market that we serve. So of course, we pay attention to it. But when you look at foodservice, when you look at club, that's the opportunity -- and on other untracked channels, that's the opportunity that we really address and certainly is more meaningful to us. So that is one thing.

好的。吉姆，其中有幾個主題，讓我試著將它們分開。首先，我認為從我們的角度來看，重要的是要記住，追蹤管道不到我們服務的市場的五分之一。所以我們當然會關注它。但當你看餐飲服務、當你看俱樂部時，這就是機會——而在其他未追蹤的管道上，這就是我們真正關注的機會，而且對我們來說當然更有意義。所以這是一回事。

On the tracked channel side, we actually are starting to see a little bit of turn, or let's call it a deceleration of the softness in shelf stable. So we're starting to see some of that. But I will get back to our, let's call it philosophy on guidance and expectation setting.

在追蹤通道方面，我們實際上開始看到一點轉變，或者讓我們稱之為貨架穩定的柔軟性減速。所以我們開始看到其中的一些。但我會回到我們的，讓我們稱之為指導和期望設定的哲學。

We communicate what we see, where we understand and work with our customers every week, every month on their innovation efforts. I think innovation is also an area that the investment community can't see in tracked channels because it happens in foodservice and in clubs.

我們每週、每月都會傳達我們所看到的、我們所了解的情況，並與客戶合作，共同進行他們的創新工作。我認為創新也是投資界在追蹤管道中看不到的領域，因為它發生在餐飲服務和俱樂部。

So there's another area which it might be a very positive divergence from the tracked channel data that's publicly available. All of those things go in and factor into the performance. So I would never say it's inconsequential, but our world is absolutely more heavily weighted to solving opportunities and challenges for our customer and growing share that way. Both volumes.

因此，在另一個領域，它可能與公開的追蹤管道數據有非常積極的差異。所有這些因素都會影響到表演。所以我永遠不會說這是無關緊要的，但我們的世界絕對更重視為我們的客戶解決機會和挑戰，並以這種方式增加份額。兩卷。

Yeah. Yeah. That's helpful. On the foodservice side in particular, I guess I'm obviously positively surprised by the strength you guys continue to see there, given the overall consumer softness that we see in foodservice. And so I wonder if you could just give us some color on what's driving your sub-segment in foodservice, that it sees such a higher degree of success relative to the broader slowdown that we see in foodservice?

是的。是的。這很有幫助。特別是在餐飲服務方面，考慮到我們在餐飲服務中看到的整體消費者疲軟，我想我顯然對你們繼續看到的實力感到驚訝。因此，我想知道您能否向我們介紹一下是什麼推動了您的餐飲服務細分市場，相對於我們在餐飲服務領域看到的更廣泛的放緩，它取得瞭如此高的成功程度？

There are two things that I would say really contribute to that. Remember, we're wired in tight with our customers. Our top 15 customers, we're in their supply planning meetings, we're talking to their innovation team, and that's happening on a weekly and a monthly basis. So there's two things that I would say, think about that.

我想說有兩件事確實對此做出了貢獻。請記住，我們與客戶關係密切。我們的前 15 位客戶，我們正在參加他們的供應計劃會議，我們正在與他們的創新團隊交談，這種情況每周和每月都會發生。所以我要說兩件事，想想。

One, just as I mentioned with tracked channels, the brands that we support are outperforming the overall category. Think of the menu items that you see in foodservice and where plant-based or the products that we support are either over-indexed or ingredients in promotional items, limited time offers, real volume growth or focus points for our customers.

第一，正如我在追蹤管道中提到的那樣，我們支持的品牌表現優於整個類別。想想您在餐飲服務中看到的菜單項，以及我們支持的植物性或產品要么過度索引，要么促銷品、限時優惠、實際銷量增長或客戶關注點中的成分。

You can see that. And so it can be true that our products grow at potentially a faster pace than the rest of the product portfolio or are over-indexed versus the rest of the product portfolio of some of our foodservice customers. That can be true.

你可以看到這一點。因此，我們的產品成長速度可能比其他產品組合更快，或與我們一些餐飲服務客戶的其他產品組合相比指數過高。這可能是真的。

The other thing is, remember, we innovate. So we have several new product launches that we co-developed and launched with our customers, and that is also showing up in the foodservice channel.

另一件事是，請記住，我們創新。因此，我們與客戶共同開發和推出了幾款新產品，這些產品也出現在餐飲服務管道中。

Okay. Great. I appreciate all the color. I'll hop back in the queue.

好的。偉大的。我欣賞所有的顏色。我會跳回到隊列中。

Brian Holland, D.A. Davidson.

布萊恩·霍蘭德，D.A.戴維森。

Yeah. Thanks. Good afternoon. So I just wanted to ask about some of the supply chain of investments. Maybe in the context of rolling this forward, if I've got it right, and I know there's a lot of moving parts with the divestitures and portfolio reshaping, but last I have it, it's like a 20% gross margin target, you can correct me -- long-term. You can correct me if I'm wrong there.

是的。謝謝。午安.所以我只是想問一下供應鏈的一些投資情況。也許在向前推進的背景下，如果我做對了，而且我知道資產剝離和投資組合重塑有很多變化，但最後我得到了它，這就像 20% 的毛利率目標，你可以糾正我——長期的。如果我錯了，你可以糾正我。

But I guess maybe another way of asking this supply chain question would be, is, what you're discovering that it's more expensive to get to that 20% gross margin or with the volume that's coming through your network, are these investments maybe intended to ultimately drive upside to that target? If it would be possible to address it in that way, that would be great to hear.

但我想也許問這個供應鏈問題的另一種方式是，你發現達到 20% 的毛利率或通過你的網絡的數量會更昂貴，這些投資可能是為了最終推動上行至該目標？如果能夠以這種方式解決這個問題，那就太好了。

Yeah, Brian, absolutely would not characterize them as simply costing more. Think of it this way. We're growing faster than we had outlined previously. I mean, heck, this is the second quarter in a row that we're raising guidance. So we are growing faster.

是的，布萊恩，絕對不會將它們簡單地描述為成本更高。這樣想吧。我們的成長速度比之前概述的要快。我的意思是，哎呀，這是我們連續第二個季度提高指引。所以我們成長得更快。

When you grow faster, you also test your supply chain a little bit, and we're identifying some of these areas that we would have identified in the next quarter or the following quarter or three quarters from now. We're identifying them sooner.

當您成長更快時，您也會對您的供應鏈進行一些測試，我們正在確定其中一些領域，這些領域我們將在下一個季度或下一個季度或從現在起的三個季度中確定。我們正在更快地識別他們。

So we're addressing them sooner, which has the opportunity, we believe to accelerate our margin enhancement. We make some short-term investments, and then we drive to that 20% long-term target for -- mid-term target for margin. I think Greg and I have both been very public in saying the 20% margin was derived from the last time our network was full.

因此，我們正在盡快解決這些問題，我們相信這有機會加速我們的利潤率提高。我們進行一些短期投資，然後我們努力實現 20% 的長期目標——中期利潤目標。我認為 Greg 和我都非常公開地表示 20% 的利潤來自上次我們的網路滿載時的情況。

If we look at the next time our network will be full or close to full and thinking about that margin, that 20% is achievable. However, with some of the investments we make, I think we would be -- we really want to hold ourselves and push ourselves to get something north of 20%. But that would be upside, I think, right now.

如果我們考慮下一次我們的網路將滿載或接近滿載的時間，並考慮該裕度，那麼 20% 是可以實現的。然而，透過我們所做的一些投資，我認為我們真的想控制自己並推動自己獲得 20% 以上的回報。但我認為，現在這將是有利的。

Understood. That's great color. And then the other question, if we think in Midlothian about the opportunity for expansion, I think, like, lines four out to potentially eight, as it was outlined 18 or so months ago. I suspect we're getting close, if we're not already at the point where we need to decide what those lines are going to be allocated for or dedicated to.

明白了。那顏色真棒。然後是另一個問題，如果我們考慮中洛錫安的擴張機會，我想，就像 18 個月前概述的那樣，從第四行到潛在的第八行。我懷疑我們已經接近了，如果我們還沒有到達需要決定這些線路將被分配或專用於什麼的地步。

So I'm curious if you can provide any assessment there? Because certainly we've talked a lot about the plant-based beverage and shelf-stable category, but obviously, as well now, you have the 330 milliliter capability and you obviously have discussed what we're seeing on the protein shake category.

所以我很好奇你是否可以在那裡提供任何評估？因為當然我們已經討論了很多關於植物性飲料和耐儲存類別的問題，但顯然，現在您也擁有 330 毫升的容量，並且您顯然已經討論了我們在蛋白質奶昔類別中看到的情況。

So just maybe a sense of how that capacity or that infrastructure gets filled out at a category level as we look out over the next, I don't know, 12, 24 months?

因此，當我們展望未來（我不知道）12 個月、24 個月時，也許會感覺到該容量或基礎設施如何在類別層級上填充？

So as you recall, we just had our third line at Midlothian come online in Q2, right? So we're seeing quite a bit of run rate at Midlothian for future growth. We've said before, and we still believe, by the end of 2025, early '26, and when we see our network to be full, but our first priority continues to be to deleverage, right?

您還記得嗎，我們剛剛在 Midlothian 的第三條生產線在第二季度上線，對吧？因此，我們看到中洛錫安未來成長的運作率相當高。我們之前說過，而且我們仍然相信，到 2025 年底、26 年初，當我們看到我們的網路已滿時，但我們的首要任務仍然是去槓桿化，對嗎？

So our goal is to be under 3 times levered. We fully expect to be there by the end of this year, and that will be our focus here in the short-term.

所以我們的目標是槓桿率低於 3 倍。我們完全期望在今年年底前實現這一目標，這將是我們短期內的重點。

Fair enough.

很公平。

Hey, Brian, just one other item. I don't want to gloss over the fact that by increasing output you create non-CapEx capacity. Effectively, we created out of thin air the equivalent of an additional manufacturing line. Now, that was spread out through our network, but you get the feeling. You understand the analogy.

嘿，布萊恩，還有另一件事。我不想掩蓋這樣一個事實：增加產出，你可以創造非資本支出能力。實際上，我們憑空創造了相當於一條額外的生產線。現在，這已經透過我們的網路傳播開來，但你已經感受到了。你明白這個比喻。

There is tremendous opportunity for us to continue improving efficiency and output and creating non-CapEx capital. And that's where our focus is on the short-term.

我們有巨大的機會繼續提高效率和產出並創造非資本支出資本。這就是我們關注短期的地方。

Andrew Strelzik, BMO Capital Markets.

Andrew Strelzik，BMO 資本市場。

Hey. Good afternoon. Thanks for taking the questions. My first one -- and I want to I guess, revisit the answer to a prior question. I'm trying to think about the implications of faster revenue growth, and you're talking about accelerating the margin improvements and what that means for the EBITDA you've pointed to, run rate exiting '25 into '26.

嘿。午安.感謝您提出問題。我的第一個問題──我想，重新檢視之前問題的答案。我正在嘗試思考更快的收入成長的影響，而你正在談論加速利潤率的提高，以及這對你所指出的 EBITDA 意味著什麼，運行率從 25 年退出到 26 年。

Is the timeline -- should we think about the timeline around that changing at all, given those dynamics, or is the net with the investments that the timeline stays the same? I guess it feels like it's pulling forward, but I guess I was just a little unclear based on the answer.

考慮到這些動態，我們是否應該考慮圍繞該變化的時間表，或者時間表是否與投資網絡保持不變？我想感覺就像是向前推進，但我想根據答案我有點不清楚。

Yeah, Andrew, I'll be blatant and bluntly clear with you. We're really focused on communicating what we can see and not what we hope right now. We can see through the end of the year. We can see the short-term investments that we need to make and want to make in the supply chain. We can see the opportunity for margin expansion.

是的，安德魯，我會公然、直率地向你澄清。我們真正專注於傳達我們所看到的，而不是我們現在所希望的。我們可以看到年底。我們可以看到我們需要和想要在供應鏈中進行的短期投資。我們可以看到利潤率擴張的機會。

We're excited about our demand generation engine, and we have more confidence -- I think the best way to say it is we have more confidence in that midterm guidance now than we did this time last quarter, which was more confident than the quarter before. So each time we have revenue acceleration or potentially capacity creation, I would look at that as giving us more confidence in that midterm target than worrying about changing a timing or magnitude.

我們對我們的需求產生引擎感到興奮，我們更有信心- 我認為最好的說法是我們現在對中期指導更有信心，比上個季度的這個時候更有信心，上個季度比上個季度更有信心前。因此，每次我們的收入加速或潛在的產能創造時，我都會認為這讓我們對中期目標更有信心，而不是擔心改變時間或幅度。

Okay. Okay. That makes sense. And then my other question, obviously there's a lot of concern about the consumer environment. We've seen slowdowns across food and beverage categories in a number of places, none of which you're really seeing for a variety of reasons.

好的。好的。這是有道理的。然後是我的另一個問題，顯然人們對消費環境有很多擔憂。我們在許多地方都看到食品和飲料類別的銷售放緩，但由於各種原因，您實際上沒有看到任何放緩。

But I guess I'm just curious about the tone of your customer conversations broadly? Are you sensing any change in the way that they're approaching their businesses? Are they getting more aggressive or less aggressive in this environment? Just curious under the hood how those conversations are progressing. Thanks.

但我想我只是對你們的客戶談話的語氣感到好奇？您是否感覺到他們處理業務的方式發生了任何變化？在這種環境下，他們的攻擊性是變得更強還是變得更弱？只是好奇這些對話的進展如何。謝謝。

No problem, Andrew. But let's break down the categories in which we play. Shelf-stable, plant-based beverages, we believe is growing in the mid-single digits, across tracked and untracked, all right? So those are our customers that we're talking with, that we understand, that we see have visibility to. We believe that, that category is growing in the mid-single digits.

沒問題，安德魯。但讓我們來分解一下我們所玩的類別。我們相信，貨架穩定的植物性飲料在追蹤和未追蹤的情況下都在以中個位數增長，好嗎？這些就是我們正在與之交談、我們了解、我們看到的客戶。我們相信，該類別正在以中個位數成長。

Ready-to-drink protein shakes, growing. Fruit snacks, growing. Heck, even our less mainstream products, broth and tea, growing, so the categories in which we service, and in particular the ones in which we're helping our customers win, those are all growing. And I think that's one thing to keep in mind as we think about how you look at the consumer in the category. Now, we are also helping customers grow with innovation.

即飲蛋白奶昔，正在成長。水果零食，成長中。哎呀，即使是我們不太主流的產品，肉湯和茶，也在成長，所以我們服務的類別，特別是我們幫助客戶獲勝的類別，都在成長。我認為，當我們思考如何看待該類別的消費者時，需要記住這一點。現在，我們也正在幫助客戶創新成長。

Not always is that innovation a new flavor or product or unit size. It could be a new pack size. It could be a more efficient configuration. It could be a better transportation methodology or mode. So those are things that all go into solutions providing and innovating for customers when you're a solutions provider.

創新並不總是新的口味、產品或單位尺寸。它可能是一個新的包裝尺寸。這可能是一種更有效的配置。這可能是一種更好的運輸方法或模式。因此，當您作為解決方案提供者時，這些都是為客戶提供和創新解決方案的全部內容。

So I think it's a little narrow, at least as you look at our revenue stream, to just say, hey, there's some pressure on the consumer, therefore the categories aren't growing. Every category we play in is growing. And I would remember that as you think about our prospects for growth.

所以我認為這有點狹窄，至少當你看看我們的收入來源時，只是說，嘿，消費者面臨一些壓力，因此類別沒有成長。我們參與的每個類別都在成長。當你思考我們的成長前景時，我會記住這一點。

Great. Thank you very much.

偉大的。非常感謝。

Ryan Meyers, Lake Street Capital Markets.

瑞安·邁耶斯（Ryan Meyers），湖街資本市場。

Hey, guys. Just one question for me. Just curious how we should think about the potential for adding any new business into the pipeline? I mean, I know you talk about really communicating what you guys have visibility to. But as we think about potential areas for upside or additional opportunities that could come in, maybe how should we be thinking about that for this year, and then maybe the potential for next year as well?

嘿，夥計們。只是問我一個問題。只是好奇我們應該如何考慮將任何新業務添加到管道中的潛力？我的意思是，我知道你談論的是真正傳達您所看到的內容。但當我們思考潛在的上升空間或可能出現的額外機會時，也許我們應該如何思考今年的問題，以及明年的潛力？

Ryan, I hate to give you an incredibly boring answer, but I'm going to continue to tell you, look, we communicate what we see, not what we hope for. Don't let that be confused with. We don't work on anything else.

瑞安，我不想給你一個極其無聊的答案，但我會繼續告訴你，看，我們傳達的是我們所看到的，而不是我們希望的。不要讓它與混淆。我們不做其他事情。

If -- you don't grow a business 21% this quarter, 18% the quarter before, 14% the quarter before, without focusing on a lot of different initiatives and opportunities. So we're going to continue working on a wide range of initiatives from growing share with customers to acquiring new customers to innovating with hope.

如果—您的業務本季成長 21%，上一季成長 18%，上一季成長 14%，而不關注許多不同的舉措和機會。因此，我們將繼續致力於一系列廣泛的舉措，從增加與客戶的份額到獲取新客戶，再到充滿希望的創新。

Got it. Makes sense to me. Thanks for taking my questions

知道了。對我來說很有意義。感謝您回答我的問題

Alex Fuhrman, Craig-Hallum Capital Group.

亞歷克斯·福爾曼，克雷格-哈勒姆資本集團。

Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my question and congratulations on another really strong quarter. Brian, I was hoping you could unpack something a little bit more that you talked about in your prepared remarks. It sounds like you said something to the effect of your customers growing faster than their categories by a pretty significant margin.

嘿，夥計們。感謝您提出我的問題，並祝賀又一個強勁的季度。布萊恩，我希望你能解開你在準備好的演講中談論的更多內容。聽起來您說了一些話，大意是您的客戶成長速度比其類別的成長速度要快得多。

What's been driving that? Is that just plant-based taking share from dairy, or your customers having more consistent access to supply and fewer stock outs? Would love to just get a sense of what that common theme has been there?

是什麼推動了這一點？這僅僅是植物性乳製品從乳製品中奪取份額，還是您的客戶擁有更一致的供應管道和更少的缺貨？想了解那裡的共同主題是什麼嗎？

Yeah. I think it's more traditional category management tools. Certainly, availability and consistency of supply is a piece of it. Innovation is a piece of it. The category is never equal for all participants. You have some winners and you have others that are not winning.

是的。我認為這是更傳統的品類管理工具。當然，供應的可用性和一致性是其中的一部分。創新是其中的一部分。對於所有參與者來說，這個類別從來都不是平等的。有一些贏家，也有一些沒有贏家。

And I think that's a component where we're helping our customers be successful. And again, I can't reiterate this enough. We're a solutions provider for our customers. They also have a team that is out there every day working to grow their brand. We support them, but we also benefit as they grow their brand.

我認為這是我們幫助客戶成功的一個組成部分。我再次重申這一點。我們是客戶的解決方案提供者。他們還有一個團隊每天都在努力發展他們的品牌。我們支持他們，但隨著他們品牌的發展，我們也受益。

That's terrific. Thank you very much.

太棒了。非常感謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Daniel Biolsi, Hedgeye Risk Management.

Daniel Biolsi，Hedgeye 風險管理。

Brian and Greg, it's really nice to see revenue expectations going higher. Your growth sounds very diversified by customer and channel. I was hoping you could share a little how it looks by type of plant-based milk? Are there any changes there in the market or is it still the same secular trends going?

Brian 和 Greg，很高興看到收入預期不斷提高。您的成長聽起來在客戶和通路方面非常多樣化。希望你能分享一下植物奶的外觀？市場是否有任何變化或仍然是相同的長期趨勢？

I would say they're the same secular trends that we've seen. Again, an advantage with SunOpta and our model is that we participate across the spectrum. And their usage occasions differ across the spectrum of plant-based beverages. So I'm excited to the fact that when you work with us as a solutions provider, you've got the full spectrum of plant-based beverages to deploy at your disposal.

我想說它們與我們所看到的長期趨勢相同。同樣，SunOpta 和我們的模型的優點在於我們可以跨領域參與。不同植物飲料的使用場合也有所不同。因此，令我感到興奮的是，當您作為解決方案提供者與我們合作時，您可以使用全系列的植物性飲料。

And so I have to follow up with the results you put today. When you hit 3 times leverage, how are you going to compare new CapEx investments with the share price being where it is?

所以我必須跟進你今天提出的結果。當您達到 3 倍槓桿時，您將如何將新的資本支出投資與當前股價進行比較？

Well, let's stay really focused. Right now, Daniel, we're worried about executing, growing with our customers, solving their problems and deleveraging, and getting that 3 times lever. When we do, I think there's a ton of evaluations to do. First and foremost, returning capital to shareholders. That's absolutely one that is first on our list.

好吧，讓我們保持真正的專注。現在，丹尼爾，我們擔心執行、與客戶一起成長、解決他們的問題和去槓桿化，以及獲得 3 倍的槓桿。當我們這樣做時，我認為有大量的評估要做。首先，也是最重要的，向股東返還資本。這絕對是我們名單上的第一名。

And then there's a whole host of other relative investments. But I don't want to put the cart before the horse. Let's focus on delivering the third quarter, then the fourth quarter, deleverage and then we've got a lot of opportunities after that.

然後還有大量其他相關投資。但我不想本末倒置。讓我們集中精力實現第三季度，然後是第四季度，去槓桿化，然後我們會有很多機會。

Sounds good.

聽起來不錯。

And that concludes our question-and-answer session. I will now turn the conference over to Brian Kocher for closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我現在將把會議轉交給布萊恩·科赫 (Brian Kocher) 致閉幕詞。

Thanks to everyone for joining us today. And we really appreciate the opportunity to explain our model and our results. If you take away only three things for this call, please remember these three things. At SunOpta, we are winning with winning customers across every significant channel and category in which we play. The best sign of a sustainable value proposition in the market is volume growth and we are growing volume with our largest customers across all channels and across all major product segments.

感謝大家今天加入我們。我們非常感謝有機會解釋我們的模型和結果。如果您在這次通話中只帶走三件事，請記住這三件事。在 SunOpta，我們在參與的每個重要管道和類別中贏得了客戶。市場上可持續價值主張的最佳標誌是銷售成長，我們在所有通路和所有主要產品領域與最大客戶的銷售量不斷成長。

So that's one thing. Secondly, our supply chain is up to the challenge of accelerated growth. We have increased output by over 25% year-to-date through a combination of new capacity, but also stretching our existing assets. I'm proud of the progress we made in the first half, and specifically during the second quarter. I'm proud, but not satisfied.

所以這是一回事。其次，我們的供應鏈能夠應對加速成長的挑戰。今年迄今為止，透過新產能的結合，我們的產量增加了 25% 以上，同時也擴大了我們的現有資產。我對我們上半年的進展感到自豪，特別是第二季。我很自豪，但並不滿足。

Our tremendous growth has identified and highlighted some areas where we can further invest in the short-term, and we will. And we're really excited about our demand generation, about the co-development opportunities with our customers that we have on the horizon, about our opportunities to grow share with existing customers and potentially acquire new customers. We're extremely excited about that. As a result of that confidence, we are again raising our revenue guidance. Remember, we guide to what we see, not what we hope.

我們的巨大成長已經確定並突出了一些我們可以在短期內進一步投資的領域，我們也會這樣做。我們對我們的需求產生、我們即將與客戶共同開發的機會、我們與現有客戶增加份額並有可能獲得新客戶的機會感到非常興奮。我們對此感到非常興奮。由於這種信心，我們再次提高了收入指引。請記住，我們引導的是我們所看到的，而不是我們所希望的。

And then we relentlessly work every opportunity we can find to deliver. Thank you again for participating today. We look forward to updating you during -- at the next quarter. And again, thanks so much for your support.

然後我們會堅持不懈地利用一切所能找到的機會來實現這一目標。再次感謝您今天的參與。我們期待在下個季度期間向您提供最新情況。再次非常感謝您的支持。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation and you may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與，您現在可以斷開連接。