TreeHouse Foods, Inc. (NYSE:THS) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

Steven Oakland: Yeah the only thing I would add to that — I would just one thing, we talk a lot about the transformation we did that it put us in higher growth, higher margin categories. But the other side of that transformation is it improved our balance sheet and it put us in a position where we can invest and we can target investment in our business. We do have some locations where labor is tight and those are the places where we’re using automation. We’re using cobots and automated forklifts and those kinds of things to supplement our labor, and to put our workforce in higher value, more rewarding positions. I think the other side of our transformation really put us in a place where we can manage the challenges that labor we think will bring over the future, not just the current ones, but the future ones.

Jim Salera : That’s helpful. Maybe if I can ask a follow-up on that. You talked about you know your OEE was ahead of your internal target in 1Q. How much of that is just better visibility in the plants and some of the automation versus maybe lower labor turnover just that you have employees that have worked on the lines for long enough and they don’t make mistakes that somebody who just started might make, and just have better overall grasp of the manufacturing process.

Steven Oakland: I think it’s probably a couple of things Jim. We took some time last year, if you’ll recall to invest in our plants both from a team-ops and ensuring we’re operating consistently across our plants. I think that’s some of the team-ops investment in terms of the ways we work. Then I would say it’s also some of the maintenance activities that we’ve invested in over the years to get our equipment running more reliably. We’ve tried to make sure we could deliver the season and the places where we know that’s important. I think it’s a combination of both our investment in people as well as the investment in equipment that we’ve made over the last year.

Jim Salera : Great, thanks guys.

Operator: This concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Steve Oakland for closing remarks.

Steven Oakland: Yes, I’d like to thank you all for being with us today. And Pat and I look forward to speaking with you individually and to next quarter. Have a great day.

Operator: This concludes today’s conference call. You may now disconnect.