Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Mitchell Pinheiro: Okay, well, yes, thanks for the answers. I’ll pass it along. Thank you.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Connor Rattigan with Consumer Edge Research.

Connor Rattigan: Hey, guys. Good morning. Thanks for the question.

Ryals McMullian: Morning, Connor.

Connor Rattigan: Yes. So I guess, first things first on the business exits that you mentioned. I guess, I’m just a little bit confused as to why these were ahead with the full year guidance. I mean, were these not scheduled to occur until 2024, or was this maybe more of an opportunistic cost-savings decision in 2023?

Ryals McMullian: Yes. So, this one would have occurred probably either right towards the end of the year, in phases, or into 2024. So, the fact that it occurred when it did accounts for the impact that it had in the third quarter and for the rest of the year. But again, I just want to reiterate that wherever it fell, this was planned. It’s a smart exit, believe me, and we’ll be a lot better off for it. If you think about our portfolio strategy, and what we’re trying to do, just to reiterate is to either margin up to our targets or exit this low-margin food service business. And the good news is it’s working. We’ve been able to increase the profitability of our food service business even though we’ve made it smaller, and those efforts will continue.

Now, if we can, through price or distribution or otherwise get this business up to our target, then fine. We’re more than happy to keep it and grow with the customers. If not, then we’re also more than happy to exit it and help them transition to a new supplier.

Connor Rattigan: Got it. Makes sense. And then also, as far as the call out on the storm activity, as a headwind in 3Q. So as a Floridian, I can say, I’m very thankful for the limited storm activity this year. But as far as it relates to the business, I guess, I — more so typically thought of hurricane activity as more of like a demand pull forward rather than like the structural increase in demand like in any given year. I mean like, just kind of a line of thinking, right? like if you buy bread for a storm, you’re probably not eating all of it in a one to three-day span, I guess, am I thinking about that correctly?

Ryals McMullian: Yes, you are — Look, it’s a factor. Certainly not the factor. Obviously, storms are very hard to plan for. But just for — in terms of year-over-year comparisons, there was a lot of, I think there were like 13 name storms or something last year. I don’t think that many made landfall. But this year, significantly less activity than even the historical average would suggest. So, it was unusual to have this little storm activity in the third quarter. But again, that’s a very difficult thing to try to plan for, but it was a factor.

Connor Rattigan: Got it. 13 storms, too many. Thanks, Ryals, as always.

Ryals McMullian: Okay. Thanks, Connor.

Operator: Our next question will come from the line of Jim Salera with Stephens.

Jim Salera: Hi, guys. Good morning. Thanks for taking our question. Maybe as a quick follow-up to the last question on the storm activity. Is there any way you can size up the impact? I don’t know if you guys had, like an internal estimate based on what you might have thought or just to kind of give us a sense for how much of an impact that was in the quarter.

Ryals McMullian: Yes. I mean, we can. Internally, it’s not something that we typically disclose. I would just — I would say that if we hadn’t had the unexpected foodservice [indiscernible] and if we’d have had a more normal amount of storm activity at least that would have affected reasonably populated areas, we would have been a lot closer to where we got it.

Jim Salera: Okay, that’s fair. When you talked about unit share in the prepared remarks, I don’t think, DKB share gain is surprising, just given the strength that that brand has. But I was a little bit surprised that wonder gained while nature’s own lost. If anything, I probably would have thought it would be the inverse. So, can you just offer some color around the divergence between Wonder and Nature?