Whole Earth Brands, Inc.

Good morning and welcome to the Hogwarts Brand Second Quarter 2023 Results 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 Jack Sonic, Investor Relations at ICR. Sir, please go ahead.

Thank you and good morning. Today's presentation will be hosted by Erwin Simon, the company's Executive Chairman, Rajneesh Ohri and Jeffrey Robinson, the company's recently appointed Interim Co-Chief Executive Officers, and Bernardo Fio, Chief Financial Officer. Nigel Willeton, President and COO of Branded CPG North America Region, will be available for Q&A. The comments during today's call and the accompanying presentation contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the say 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, investor.wholeearthbrands.com, for reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP measures. Additionally, We've provided a supplemental earnings presentation on the investor relations website that may be useful in your analysis of the company's performance. With that, I'd now like to turn the call over to Mr. Simon. Go ahead, Erwin.

Thank you, Jeff, and thank you all for joining our call today. We produced second quarter revenue of $132.9 million and generated $18.2 million of adjusted EBITDA. We continue to demonstrate meaningful progress with our margin improvement initiatives in the second quarter, along with a top-line performance that was consistent with the prior year quarter on a constant currency basis. And ahead of last year, when taking into account our strategic decisions to decrease wholesome bulk sugar sales to avoid incremental tariffs. On a consolidated basis, our second quarter adjusted gross profit margin was 30.4%, which was 50 basis point improvement, sequentially and marked our second consecutive quarter of margin improvement. Our adjusted gross profit margin has improved approximately 150 basis points as compared to our fourth quarter of 2022. The entire global team remains laser focused on stabilizing, streamlining and evolving our operations to drive enhanced productivity, sustainable margin improvement. Our supply chain reinvention is on track and will play a critical role in right-sizing our cost basis, freezing up additional dollars for growth investments in support of our diverse portfolio of global brands. I want to emphasize our confidence in the future of our business. Full Earth Brands, is a global leader in better-for-you sweeteners and reduced sugar categories. Our product assortment is well-positioned with a portfolio of brands that address unique consumer preferences and offer entry-level price points for consumers that are feeling the effects of the ongoing macroeconomic headwinds. We also have strategic sourcing relationships across both our businesses that represent competitive moats and provide surely a supply for all our key accounts with approximately three and four consumers aiming to limit or avoid refined sugar our portfolio of great brands and products are increasingly relevant in today's marketplace our mission to help consumers achieve a healthier lifestyle positions us for success and we continue to have our sights set on disrupting the massive 100 billion dollar total addressable refined sugar market, which is being displaced by fast-growing organic and natural sweeteners. With that, I'll shift to some corporate matters that I recognize are top of mind for the investment community. The board and the special committee are continuing their work on evaluating the unsolicited non-binding take-private proposal from Sababa Holdings, free LLC. Suffice it is to say, we have shareholders' best interests in mind are methodically working through the evaluation of this offer, as well as potential strategic alternatives that are focused on maximizing value for all our stakeholders. When appropriate, we will update you on any and all developments. As recently announced in mid-July, we shared some further updates to our leadership structure to accommodate the strategic alternative process. The board appointed Rajnish Ori, who was our President and Chief Operating Officer of International Businesses for the branded CPG segment, and Jeff Robinson, who was our President of the Flavor and Ingredients segment, to act as our Interim Co-Chief Executive Officer, effective July 16th. Both are highly capable executives, bringing together more than 60 years of experience that will be value in ensuring continuity the near term as the board committee competes in special evaluation of potential strategic alternatives. Rajnish is a seasoned entrepreneur and an accomplished business operator with more than 30 years of experience in the CPG industry across various geographies and cultures. He has demonstrated his ability to drive growth in underdeveloped markets and achieving outstanding results. He is a dynamic leader. and we are pleased to have him represent our branded CPG segment as an interim co-CEO. Complimenting Raj's is Jeff Robinson, who is leading our flavor and ingredients segment and is interim co-CEO. Under his leadership, the business has been executing extremely well, most notably with the acceleration of growth that we experienced over the past two years. We're excited to build on this success and reinvest in new applications for our ingredient business to continue to further diversify our sales channel. Both Rajesh and Jeff have made important contributions and are tasked with carrying forward our efforts to streamline our operations as a means to reinvigorate global growth and enhance our margin profile. As you may know, I'm a big hockey fan, and to quote the venerable, the 1980 U.S. Olympic gold team coach, Herb Brooks, who famously said, Great moments are born from great opportunities. This feels especially appropriate today. We are energized by the opportunities that lie ahead for our businesses. We believe we're aligned with extremely powerful health and wellness trends. And especially of our operating team, it is excellent with this group of Rajnish Jeth, combined with the depth of Nigel Willerton's experience as founder and former CEO of our largest business, Wholesome Sweeteners, is absolutely huge for us. I'm as excited today as I was when we bought these businesses. At CPG, we're making great progress at operational improvements, which have resulted in improved service and in flavors and ingredients. The opportunities we saw three years ago are being realized through the team's extremely tactical approach to identifying new opportunities. We are fortunate to have an excellent group of leaders across both our operating segments, And I look forward to working alongside with the team to support the long-term growth of this business. With that, I'll pass the call over to Rajnish and Jeff for some summary remarks on their respective business units. Rajnish?