Geoff Tanner: Yes, it’s a really good question. Shaun and I discuss this almost every day. Because we see the long-term growth of the category in the multi-year runway. We believe that that creates the opportunity for investment to take full advantage of it. I think it was Alexia’s question where she asked about where are we investing to capitalize on that runway of growth? We have increased our investment in marketing, it’s now just a little bit over 9%. We’ve increased our investment in innovation and we’ve increased our innovation in category management, because we think and we see the potential for those investments to pay off over the long term. To your question on Quest versus Atkins, we have to invest in both. Both brands are critical.
They play a critical role in the category. As I mentioned, I’ve been on the road a lot over the last three months talking to consumers about the category and the role that Atkins and Quest play to a retailer. They’re committed to supporting both brands. Each brand plays a different role. And so we need to invest in both businesses. The investment obviously is a little different. The levels we pull are a little different. The brand’s — where they are in their life stages is a little different. So that’s why the plans are different. But the commitment to investing in both is there. And all of this is because we see the long term growth potential of this category. And we’re going to get after it.
Shaun Mara: Yes, and I think over — it is a great question. It’s something we talk about pretty much all the time. And I think it’s something that we balance as we go through each, really, I’d say, month, quarter review as we think of where we are overall and getting ahead of the investment and the return on those things. It goes back to a lot of the kind of pillars that Goeff set up when we started this discussion last quarter and really throwing gasoline on fire for Quest, revitalizing Atkins, category management, and then using the fuel to fund that to be related to the, I’ll say, commodity and cost savings that we have, as well as some of the cost savings productivity we have on the supply chain. So it’s a discussion we have all the time, and we balance all those things and try to make sure that we support both brands, because as Goeff said, retailers expect that. And on top of that, build for this year and for future years.
Geoff Tanner: That’s really it. It’s about delivering the quarterly commitments we’re making, but also ensuring we’re set up for sustained long-term growth.
Matt Smith: Got it. Thank you for your perspective, and I’ll pass it on.
Geoff Tanner: Thanks, Matt.
Shaun Mara: Thanks.
Operator: Our last question is from Jon Andersen from William Blair. Please proceed. Q – Jon Andersen Good morning, everybody, and thanks for the question.
Geoff Tanner: Good morning.
Jon Andersen: I want to take a different angle on Atkins and potential outcome of the revitalization plan. You know, it seems that some of the Atkins innovation outside the core, so outside of bars and shakes, let’s say, chips is an example, it has not had the same uptake as Quest has seen outside its core. Do you think Atkins has less permission or rationale to travel? And if so, is the intent, at least in the near to medium term to focus Atkins innovation, focus Atkins retail assortment on core bars and shakes, rather than to try and further extend the brand into other categories? Thanks.
Geoff Tanner: Yes, it’s a [indiscernible] question. I guess the short answer is, yes. We have — I mentioned on the last call, I was disappointed — I’ve been disappointed with the lack of innovation on Atkins, particularly in the bars segment. And that certainly has contributed to some of the trends we’ve seen on the business. When I came, it was a big focus on jump starting that pipeline, getting products out now, but also building a robust innovation pipeline for the future so we’re never short again. Some of the more recent products we’ve brought out have performed pretty well. The bake bar, for example, is turning really well. The break bar is turning very well. But those are some of the early products from the pipeline that I think that are now a lot more robust.
To your question on chips and your comparison to Quest, I think the question there is more around, why did it work on Quest versus why did it not work on Atkins? There’s very, very few brands, you can probably count them on one hand, who’ve been able to extend out of the core. Quest is one of those brands and as I mentioned earlier, that is because the Quest consumer is demanding that Quest comes into snacking categories and flips the macros. On Atkins, what we’ve focused on is strengthening our core, strengthening our bar business and strengthening our shakes business as part of an overarching revitalization plan. So on Quest, it is about pushing beyond where we are today. On Atkins right now, it is about focusing on the core and strengthening the core and revitalizing the brand.
