Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (NASDAQ:KDP) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Robert Gamgort : Yes. So, on the first one on the exit of some private label partners, that really began in Q2. I mean, the best way for you to size it is you can take a look at the track data for the most part and just see KDP manufactured share and it’s going to show you we’re unlicensed versus licensed private level is. And I don’t think that that’s — it’s not — it’s definitely not a driver of profitability. And it’s a minor contributor to revenue, but it’s the right thing to do over the long term. We offer significant value to our partners. And we’re also the driver and the player who invest in brewer innovation, brewer launches, which is the catalyst for the entire industry. And from time to time, in these negotiations, we find partners on the other side who don’t want to pay for the value added.

And we — there’s a point in which we don’t drop price because we know that we add that value. And I would also point out that in almost every circumstance, both partners have come back to us over the long term because they miss with they have from KDP. So, you’ll see it in the tracked channels, and I don’t think it’s a big deal. Second part of the question was about the — you asked a bit about inventory, and that’s really a question about the gap between shipments and consumption. The best way to characterize that is that if we tell you that the category rebound is going in the right direction, but not at the pace that any of us expected, when I say any of us, anybody who operates in the coffee industry and develop markets globally, then there’s always going to be a disconnect between shipments and consumption.

And there may be some shipments ahead of consumption based on those expectations. That happened. That’s normalizing. Expect that gap to narrow further in Q4. So, to me, that’s a lagging indicator. It’s a contributor to the shipment piece, which is worthy for a conversation in this quarter. But over the long term, the pieces to really watch our, how’s the at-home coffee category performing because that really drives everything. How is our share being total single-serve and total KDP share of at-home coffee, that continues to expand? And then the last part of it is our margin against that volume, which also is very high and improving. The combination of those three really does create value. But again, it’s created some short-term disruption as we get out of this got of this — still the after-effects of the rebound from the pandemic piece.

Operator: Our final question will come from Chris Carey with Wells Fargo Securities. You may now go ahead.

Chris Carey : I know you’re not going to specify what drove the margin improvement in the quarter specifically. But can you maybe frame the relative contribution of pricing, of productivity, of easing commodity inflation, maybe it was even a benefit? And also, you’ve been quite adamant that the mix impact of your own portfolio underperforming is not as great as what is sometimes debated. And so, I wonder how that impacted the quarter as well, and you’re clearly looking for an acceleration in margins in Q4. And I think really what I’m trying to do is get some confidence that while pod volumes could be volatile within your portfolio, they could be volatile. But as you go into next year, here’s why we’re going to continue to have visibility on margins even if shipments or otherwise are a bit different than maybe what we would expect one quarter or two quarters out, right? So really trying to help frame the Q3 margins and to kind of get some help on the go forward.