Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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Mike Doss: Yes. I’ll take that one, Adam. So from that standpoint, as you correctly point out, with the exception of the CUK that we ship over to Europe to run in our own facilities there for our beverage customers, we do buy the paperboard for the rest of the sales that we have. So if the price goes down, it’s pass through. So it doesn’t help us one way or the other, up or down. And what I’m really pleased about is our overall volumes have held up quite well in the European market relative to some of the other comps that we’ve seen kind of come out. And I think it’s really all a function again and the focus that we’ve got on innovation, new product development and the investments that we’re making into our European platform. So our strategy there is actually working quite well.

Adam Samuelson: Okay, it’s all very helpful color. I will pass it on. Thanks.

Operator: Our next question comes from Cleve Rueckert with UBS. Your line is open.

Cleve Rueckert: Hi, good morning, everybody. Thanks for taking my questions. I think most of the questions have been asked and answered at this point. But Mike, I’m just curious, I think you said to George, you sized the SBS side of your production that goes into cups. Just be curious if you could remind us of that $12.5 billion total addressable market, how much of that is cups? And maybe you could just remind us what the what the stats are behind cups? We talked about it a lot earlier this year, but I think it was an opportunity to get into replacing more foam with paper. So, how much of that TAM is really skewed towards cups really is the question?

Steve Scherger: Yes, Cleve, it’s Steve. I will take a cut at that and then Mike can add some additional perspective. But of our $12.5 billion addressable market, roughly $11 billion of that falls into the category of plastic or foam-type replacement. So, it’s the majority. And then when you look at the categories underneath that in round figures, I mean kind of what you characterize as cups and bowls and trays, those kind of categories, which would fall into a lot of your QSRs and a lot of those transitions, it’s a couple of billion plus. So, it’s a sizable part of the addressable market as we look at that. And as Mike had in his prepared remarks, I mean we see real momentum on the cup side, which is why our confidence in SBS as a platform remains high.

We are obviously adding our capacity elsewhere on the CRB side, the highest quality, lowest cost there, but our ability to mix enhance our SBS platform with cup and other growth that falls heavily on the foodservice markets as an example. It’s quite high and the testing we are doing and conversions we are doing are successful today.

Mike Doss: It’s a really good follow-on question, Cleve, because if you look at kind of the momentum and assuming we are successful and Chick-fil-A dots then come [ph] on a more national level. That’s over 100,000 tons once it’s converted in there. And for us, what that really does then is 400,000 now becomes 500,000 tons of uncoated, which is not in the lane that everybody else is trying to compete and it’s certainly not in the lane where some of these conversions are taking place. So, we are trying to pick our spots and really be thoughtful about where we compete, where we invest, where we can create competitive advantage and provide a differentiated experience for our customers.

Cleve Rueckert: Got it. Thanks for that. That’s pretty clear. And just one quick follow-up. Is that – I think you said a couple of billion dollars plus of addressable market. Is that skewed towards the U.S., or is there opportunity in Europe as well?

Mike Doss: Yes. There is some opportunity in Europe, but it’s definitely more skewed towards the U.S. There is virtually no foam in Europe that we compete against.

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