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

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Phil Ng: Okay. That’s super helpful, Steve. And then on the Bell acquisition, the margins are quite impressive for just a fun caring player. I guess first question is, I assume these assets are pretty well capitalized. Any color on that front? And you called out 95,000 tons of paperboard being consumed from Bell. Any color on the split between the grades? Were they buying from you in size? And then as – and do they have any ongoing agreements that take a little time for that to flip over where they could buy from you more fully going forward?

Mike Doss: Yes. So, we have known the Graham family for a long time. They built a wonderful business over the last 40 years, and we are thrilled to be able to have the opportunity to have them join our company here. And relative to the overall tonnage, Phil, it’s 95,000 tons is predominantly CRB, that’s the vast majority of what they do. So, it really fits well into our investments in Kalamazoo and Waco. And relative to agreements, we are not going to comment on those right now that would be premature to do so just given we have got to go through the regulatory process, and we will get to all that in a new time.

Phil Ng: Okay. Thanks for the great color.

Operator: We will now turn to Anthony Pettinari with Citi. Your line is open.

Unidentified Analyst: Good morning Mr. Doss and Mr. Scherger. This is Greg on for Anthony.

Mike Doss: Good morning.

Unidentified Analyst: I just have a question about your CRB products broadly – good morning. I have a question about your CRB products broadly. And then one follow-up on specifically the mailers and the new paper cups. So first, I mean you have talked about the quality premium of your CRB versus the market. And my question is, what actions can you take internally to further translate that quality premium into earnings? Whether that entails decoupling from benchmarks, re-prices, gaining share of wallet with existing customers or something else? And then relatedly, would you flag any mix shifts trade-up or trade-down you have seen in 2Q and then here in July?

Mike Doss: Yes. So, like I mentioned earlier, the neat thing about how we position the business is we have got unique ability in Kalamazoo to make a sheet that’s got superior quality and specifically, the smoothness and the brightness, the appearance, if you will, of that sheet that’s going to allow us to target different categories, both open market customers, things like health and beauty, pharmaceutical, as Steve talked about in his prepared comments and ultimately, some of our food applications as well. So, yes, we are using – we have talked about Kalamazoo being a cost reduction project. In fact, it was and been able to grow on that. But in the back of our minds all along, we felt we would have the ability to make a grade of paperboard that was unique out of 100% recycled fibers.

And that’s playing out as we speak with the trials that we are running here in Q3 and we believe we will actually have some sales yet this year and good momentum as we go into next year. So, that’s our overall strategy there.

Unidentified Analyst: Thanks. That’s very helpful. And then I guess shifting gears to the specific CRB products. First question, how did Chick-fil-A the cup. And I guess, relatedly, I can imagine other quick-serve restaurants have noticed products maybe have tried it themselves. Have you seen a response from Chick-fil-A’s competitors interested in the cup maybe trialing it from you guys, whether that – whether they are an existing GPK customer or not? And then one follow-up on paper mailers, do you have any thoughts on the current market size for CRB mailers? And what’s the conversion opportunity there?

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