HRL
#Yes.
Sure.
<UNK>, this is <UNK>.
Again, from a sales perspective or brand perspective, clearly very pleased with the work the team did on continuing to grow the SPAM franchise.
The SKIPPY business, the introduction of SKIPPY P.
B.
bites continues to go well.
Our Mexican foods portfolio also continues to perform well.
As we mentioned, we did have some increased advertising cost, but that's, from our perspective, a positive to support the ongoing and future brand growth.
And there's no doubt, we have a couple areas in the unit that are work in process.
The chunk meats category, which it's not a huge part of the portfolio, but that's become competitive and our team's working on really taking a different approach with the product offerings that we have there.
Again, we talked about Compleats being down, and we're working very strategically to expand the availability of some of the value tier offerings and really increasing the sales or unit rates.
And so for them, it was a mixed bag.
But I think we still feel very positive on the outlook for Grocery Products going forward.
I think one other thing to consider for this quarter, it would be more of a product mix issue.
Some of the canned items are not typically high sellers at this time of year.
But overall, feel very positive about the transformation of the portfolio and where GP's headed.
And I would just add to <UNK>'s comment that we saw quite a run-up in trim, which is an input on a lot of the Grocery Products items.
So while they experienced favorable cost of goods in a lot of areas, that was one area that did negatively impact them.
Thank you.
<UNK>, good morning.
This is <UNK>.
I think just as a reminder, when we took over the Applegate business, clearly we knew that there were some raw material or supply issues in terms of supporting that business, and then those were compounded with the outbreak of avian influenza.
So in the short term, the team has worked really hard to get raw material supply back in place and we feel good about where we are today.
So that certainly made the volume growth a battle for the team, and so we the had to regain some lost distribution.
But the growth, we've seen some growth, we've seen some increased distribution.
From our perspective, we love the brand, we love what the future holds for the brand.
And again, on a short-term basis, it's clearly on target to deliver what we said it would deliver at the time of acquisition.
He's saying for all of Refrigerated Foods.
Oh, well, I think, again, as we think about the different parts of the Refrigerated Foods portfolios, our meat products team continues to be focused on the value-added items and they're doing a nice job.
Our food service business continues to outperform the industry and we expect that to continue.
The Applegate business will continue to show growth, now that we've got returns of supply.
So overall, we feel good about that portfolio, as well.
And I would just add that as we transition, particularly when you look at an Applegate that is more of a sales driven business than a volume driven, and as we continue to value add the portfolio, volumes become a little less meaningful as you compare it to prior quarters or years that may have had more of a commodity element.
Are you talking about any particular part of the grocery store or our business or ---+.
I think, <UNK>, our position on that is clearly we're focused on the effectiveness and our ability to not only deliver a return for us, but for the retail partner.
And so we continue to look at categories individually and where there's opportunity to be effective with additional spending, we certainly will take advantage of that.
But can't tell you today that there's a significant specific plan in any one given category.
Really, we look at our share repurchase being an opportunity to offset stock option exercises.
We still believe that using that as a compensation element is appropriate to drive our business.
So we're constrained because of the ownership of the Hormel Foundation at about 48% to 49% these days.
So we've agreed that they should be under 50%.
So that would be the biggest constraint.
Obviously, took advantage of some pressure on our of stock this past quarter to be in the market and acquire some of those shares.
Thank you, Savannah.
This is <UNK> <UNK>.
I'll go ahead and conclude the call for us.
As some of you may have heard, we actually celebrated our Company's 125th anniversary recently here in July.
This provided us a unique opportunity to bring many of our Company's employees together to celebrate the occasion.
After visiting with these employees from across the Company, I've never been more optimistic about our Company's future and our ability to deliver growth.
I'm very proud of our team's performance this quarter and I look forward to continued excellent results going forward.
I want to thank you all for joining us today.
