US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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Dirk Locascio: Sure. Hi Kelly, this is Dirk. I think when we think about the guidance for the year similar to last year we always will look internally how we compare to the market. But just since there still is some macro uncertainty out there that’s really why we focused on this growth relative to the market. I think when we focus on the external data that our third-party is calling for it’s low single-digits of growth and we would expect to be sort of again above that. And I think what you should expect to see is that stronger case growth come from the good momentum we’ve built in our target customer types and then just remembering that we continue to have tailwinds in the health care and hospitality space. So, that’s not exactly an answer but that’s really where we expect to see continued growth.

And I think the — to your second part about the second half yes we do — did embed some sort of modest or mild slowdown so think of it as in past recessions you’re talking about call it a few point reduction in sort of overall growth rates. So, we looked at a few ranges and how we thought about that. But — so it’s very modest out there and I think the important part is we have the team internally focusing on what we can control and that’s the part that if the environment stays stable, we are focusing on delivering sort of at the high end of that range.

Andrew Iacobucci: Yes. And just to piggyback on that I think and Dirk has said this a couple of times we are 100% focused on the things that we can control and regardless of the macro, I have a lot of confidence we will continue to take share in those targeted segments just like we did last year.

Kelly Bania: Thank you. And maybe just a follow-up — and I may have missed this are you able to share any figures or metrics on where you are in terms of staffing, turnover over time, any figures you can share with us to kind of measure that progress? And maybe just broadly when you expect that to get back to normalized levels?

Dirk Locascio: Sure. So, Kelly, this is Dirk again. From a staffing perspective we’ve been sort of largely staffed for a number of quarters. So, that really isn’t the challenge. There’s always going to be a market or two here and there where you have sort of a staffing challenge. But we’ve been in good shape there. If I compare — although we haven’t shared specific numbers when we think about sort of delivery driver turnover that is call it up about one and a half times to where it was sort of in 2019 at its worse. And we’ve gotten much closer as Andrew said now to 2019. So, significant progress there. On the warehouse, we were at almost 2x and we’ve closed almost half of that gap. So, good progress. We continue to make progress there.

And I think some of the things that you’ve heard Dave and Andrew talk about give us continued confidence that we’ll get there. I think that the part that we can’t control as much as the macro still remains a relatively tight labor environment. But I use flexible spending that Dave talked about we think is a key unlock where it’s a help for our associates and a help for the business. And those are the things we love when it really either helps both the customer and the business or the associate on the business.

Kelly Bania: Thank you.

Operator: Your next question is from Brian Harbour of Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead, your line is open.

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