Mission Produce, Inc.

Good afternoon and welcome to the Mission Produce fiscal second quarter 2023 conference call. All participants will be in a listen-only mode. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Please also note today's event is being recorded. At this time, I'd like to turn the conference call over to Jeff Sonick, Investor Relations at ICR.

Sir, please go ahead. Thank you and good afternoon. Today's presentation will be hosted by Steve Barnard, Chief Executive Officer, and Brian Giles, Chief Financial Officer. The comments during today's call and the accompanying presentation contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical facts are considered forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs as well as a number of assumptions concerning future events. Such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Some of these risks and uncertainties are identified and discussed in the company's filings with the SEC. We'll also refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures today. Please refer to the tables included in the earnings release, which can be found on our investor relations website, investors.missionproduce.com, for reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP measures. With that, I'd now like to turn the call over to Steve Barnard, CEO. Steve, go ahead.

Thank you for joining us for our fiscal 2023 second quarter's earnings call. We delivered a solid second quarter with revenue of $221.1 million and adjusted EBITDA of $7.6 million, driven by a 19% increase in sales volumes. These metrics also demonstrate a sequential improvement in both volumes and per unit margins relative to fiscal first quarter. We realized increased market stability in the second quarter, which was a continuation of the conditions that returned to the industry in the first quarter earlier this fiscal year. We saw fairly consistent pricing through the Mexican season, and those conditions have continued into our current fiscal third quarter as well. Notably, this is a departure from the prior year, where low industry volumes and inconsistent harvest timing led to significant price volatility. This prompted a swift and disproportionate increase in pricing to record levels, which in turn led to per box margins that were toward the high end of our normal historic ranges. While this year's stable market environment doesn't afford us the same opportunity to drive per-unit margins in the short term, the more rational pricing environment is advantageous for long-term consumption growth and allows Mission to leverage our global distribution footprint to penetrate new growth markets. As we celebrate our 40th anniversary this year, we continue to demonstrate how our world-class vertically integrated model of sourcing, producing, and distributing Hass avocados and other produce differentiates us from the competitors. Our focus remains on driving consumption growth globally by bringing consistent, year-round diversified sourcing capabilities to new growth markets. On that note, we are excited about the opening of our Forward Distribution Center in the UK in April. This facility is strategically located, with direct access to major international ports and transportation networks, and will strengthen its mission expanding international footprint and optimize product distribution to our growing European customer base with direct access to our global source network. We are very excited about this facility, and although it is still early, we are pleased with the progress we are making in the UK and are committed to further developing our efficient and cost-effective model in this important long-term growth region. Our ability to support these global growth markets is bolstered by the vertical integration of our own farming operations in Peru. As we enter the Peruvian season and our own production comes online in the second half of the fiscal year, mission is very well positioned. Despite the lower pricing, the combination of easing inflationary pressures relative to prior year and higher distribution volumes born from our own production provides us the basis to continue improving our per unit margins on a sequential basis and support the seasonal step up in adjusted EBITDA in the second half of the fiscal year. With that, I'll pass the call over to our CFO, Brian Giles, for his financial commentary.