We’ve talked about it already that allows us to do those things, but we’re not going to overpay for anything either. So we evaluate everything that comes up in the space, and we kind of assess whether that’s the right move for our shareholders.
Unidentified Analyst: Got it, thank you.
Operator: Our next question comes from John Baumgartner from Mizuho Securities. Please proceed.
John Baumgartner: Good morning. Thanks for the question.
Geoff Tanner: Good morning, John.
John Baumgartner: I wanted to ask about Quest and specifically the snacks business. The distribution growth has remained strong in measured channels. It’s been strong sequentially since the shelf reset exiting summer, but the resilience and velocities at the same time has been pretty surprising. And I’m wondering, Goeff, can you speak to anything different in the retail programming, the merchandising, even maybe the composition of the store doors when you’re gaining the TDPs, that sort of explains the velocity resilience there at a time when a number of categories are seeing softness in higher priced brands?
Geoff Tanner: Yes, I mean, the — you’re right. Distribution was the primary driver of Quest growth, certainly following the acquisition, which speaks to the strength of the selling organization at Simply. But more recently, we’ve seen growth be more balanced across not just distribution, as I mentioned, but also buy rate. And I think it just speaks to the underlying strength of this business. It is one of the most culturally relevant on-trend growth businesses I’ve seen. As we mentioned in the scripted remarks, it will cross $1 billion in retail sales this year. And what’s really interesting about Quest versus most other brands is it has not just permission to extend into other forms, but this is what Quest consumers expect and demand.
They look to Quest to come into snacking categories, flip the macros, and come out with a great tasting product that has high protein and low sugar. And this is what consumers want from the brand and we have an incredible R&D organization, best I’ve ever worked with in my career that has been able to develop wonderfully tasting products that deliver on these macros. Retail partners see it too. It’s why they continue to support the brand. It’s why they continue to give us great merchandising, support our innovation. We’re having the longer term space conversations as we show them the pipeline. But I think at the very heart of your question is the strength of the Quest brand and in particular the demand of Quest consumers for the brand to come into snacking categories and flip those macros and offer them snacking occasions for different day parts, different usage occasions, different products.
I think that is what, in my opinion, is unique about Quest versus almost any other brand I’ve seen in my career.
John Baumgartner: Thanks for that. And then just on Atkins, you’re looking back to [indiscernible] the non-programmatic portion of the consumer base has been the big growth on mock over the years and I’m curious as the GLP-1 awareness sort of takes hold, do you see the programmatic dieting consumer sort of also making a comeback? Shaking off some of the dormancy there on growth? Or, as you’re working through your five-point plan for recovery, are you still expecting the vast majority of growth to come from the non-programmatic segment?
Geoff Tanner: I would say that we would look to both segments as growth opportunities for the brand. I think that we do have those consumers who do look to Atkins as a regime. That’s why the buy rate on the brand is virtually double any other I’ve ever worked with. And we think that obviously those consumers are very critical to us. They’re front and center in our media planning. And I think they will be very open to Atkins on GLP-1. But we also think the opportunity for Atkins is to expand, continue to expand the funnel, bring in new users, introduce them to the brand, the benefits it offers. So if you look historically, programmatic has always been a smaller portion of the brand sales. It’s 10% to 15%. But as I mentioned, their buy rates are high, so they’re critical. We have to continue to talk to those consumers, but we also have to bring new consumers into the funnel. I think both groups are very — I see both groups having an opportunity for GLP-1.
Shaun Mara: Yes, and I think you’re also going to see the benefit of the category expansion that Goeff talked about in the growth there as we kind of — we’re in a growing category and it allows us to continue to grow with the category overall. We haven’t seen that recently with Atkins, but we’re going to — as we get through this plan, we’ll see more of that overall. So I think it’s all three of those things are going to drive the eventual return to the growth that we’re looking for Atkins.
John Baumgartner: Thanks, Goeff. Thanks, Shaun.
Geoff Tanner: Thank you.
Shaun Mara: See you, John.
Operator: Our next question comes from Matt Smith from Stifel. Please proceed.
Matt Smith: Hi, Goeff and Shaun. Thanks for taking another question here.
Geoff Tanner: Welcome back.
Matt Smith: In past years, when Simply has benefited from stronger consumption, the company has elected to increase its investments behind the business given the strong returns on those investments. Given the strong input cost favorability and the consumption trends today, I know it’s early days, but is it reasonable given what you’re seeing from investments you’re making now and then when you look at the business today, how do you balance investment behind Quest to maintain momentum and drive growth versus the ability to accelerate the Adkin stabilization plan to the extent you’re able to this year?
