Dole plc (NYSE:DOLE) Q3 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Rory Byrne: Yeah. I mean, obviously, with the year that we had, Ben, a huge and overwhelming focus of the entire management team is to try and get the Veg division turned around and we keep an eye on what’s happening in the M&A world. We know who the interesting companies are in the different segments, whether that’s berries or bananas or distribution or avocados, so we have got a very good database. And I think one of the interesting things about M&A is, if you look at the three divisions being Fresh Fruit, our Diversified in Americas and Diversified in Europe, very much all of our competitor companies are performing similarly well. So I am not see any fundamental change in the value of those companies. So we are not seeing any decline in sales or anything, any great opportunities to buy any companies cheaply, because the sector is actually doing well and it’s a little bit unfortunate for us, we have got the one division that we have got more work to do to fix.

But we are keeping our eyes on the opportunities that are out there. Short-term, we have got probably some different priorities in terms of just getting more confidence with investors, delivering the numbers, getting the business back on track and we have ongoing discussions with our M&A pipeline and at appropriate time, we think we can add in interesting pieces to the Group.

Ben Bienvenu: Okay. Great. Thanks so much.

Rory Byrne: Thank you, Ben.

Operator: Our next question comes from Christopher Barnes from Deutsche Bank. Your line is open.

Christopher Barnes: Hi. Thanks for the question. Rory, I just wanted to pick up on a line that you just mentioned on the consumer. So with the recession risk still palpable, inflation is still high in absolute terms, are you noticing any like shifts in consumer behavior, whether that’s trading down, shifting the shopping channels that they are in. I think you mentioned that there’s still a propensity to consume, which is great. But has there been any shift whether in North America and Europe that’s concerning you from a consumer behavior perspective?

Rory Byrne: I mean, obviously, all of the points you make, Christopher, are absolutely right. I mean inflation nervousness, lack of disposable income. I mean, thankfully, fruit and veg tend to be low down the list of discretionary items that people stop buying them. I mean we have seen it’s actually difficult to measure it. But, I mean, we haven’t seen any material change in consumer behavior. Now some of the higher priced categories that I mentioned might be under a little more pressure, that it’s not a material shift in demand where consumers are not continuing to buy things like mango and papayas that might be a little bit higher price per kilo. So we don’t — we look back, some of the businesses have been around long enough, we have seen periods of difficult economies in the past.

You go back to the European financial crisis back in end of the 2000. It’s a short-term dips and some demand from consumers, maybe some of the discounters who offer a narrower range and not to go to — the people do think about them a little bit more in this period. But we are not really concerned that there’s any kind of fundamental shift in consumer behavior towards Fresh Fruit and Vegetable consumption.

Christopher Barnes: Okay. Thanks. That’s helpful. And then, I just wanted to — I know you are not guiding for 2023, just given where we are, but like just since — it’s since mid-November, like, is there anything you can share on performance like quarter-to-date across the divisions, like, it sounds like Fresh Vegetables is going to be a little bit weaker than you anticipated. But how — like how should we think about the other businesses just into 4Q

Rory Byrne: Yeah.

Christopher Barnes: considering the range that you have guided?