The Marzetti Company

Good morning. My name is Kathy, and I'll be your conference call facilitator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Marzetti Company's fiscal year 2026 first quarter conference call. Conducting today's call will be Dave Szczesinski, President and CEO, and Tom Pickett, CFO. All lines have been placed on mute. to prevent any background noise. After the speakers have completed their prepared remarks, there will be a question and answer period. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star 11 on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star 11 again. Thank you. And now, to begin the conference call, here is Dale Gnabczyk, Vice President of Corporate Finance and Investor Relations for the Marzetti Company. Please go ahead.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today for the Marzetti Company's Fiscal Year 2026 First Quarter Conference Call. Our discussion this morning may include forward-looking statements which are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act 1995. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, and the company undertakes no obligation to update these statements based upon subsequent events. A detailed discussion of these risks and uncertainties is contained in the company's filings with the SEC. Also note that an audio replay of this call will be available on our website, investors.marzetticompany.com, later today. For today's call, Dave Straczynski, our President and CEO, will begin with a business update and highlights for the quarter. Tom Piggott, our CFO, will then provide an overview of the financial results. Dave will then share some comments regarding our current strategy and outlook. At the conclusion of our prepared remarks, we'll be happy to answer any of your questions. Once again, we appreciate your participation this morning. I'll now turn the call over to Marsetti Company's President and CEO, Dave Favinsky. Dave?

Thanks, Dale, and good morning, everyone. It's a pleasure to be here with you today as we review our first quarter results for fiscal year 2026. In our fiscal first quarter, which ended September 30th, consolidated net sales increased 5.8% to a record $493 million. Excluding non-core sales attributed to a temporary supply agreement, or TSA, adjusted net sales increased 3.5% to $483 million. I'm also happy to report that we achieved first quarter records for gross profit, which reached $119 million, and operating income, which grew to $59 million. In our retail segment, net sales increased 3.5%. This was led by our category-leading New York Bakery frozen garlic bread products, including notable contributions from the delicious gluten-free Texas toast that we launched last fall. Volume gains for our successful licensing program also contributed to the increase in retail segment sales, driven by Chick-fil-A sauces, Buffalo Wild Wing sauces, and Olive Garden dressings. Circona scanner data for the quarter ending September 30th showed strong performance for several of our core brands and licensed items. In the frozen dinner roll category, our own Sister Schubert's brand and our licensed Texas Roadhouse brand combined to grow 27.4%, resulting in a market share increase of 650 basis points to a category-leading 66.5%. In the frozen garlic bread category, our New York bakery brand grew sales 8.6%, adding 350 basis points of market share for a category-leading share of 44.1%. In the produce dips category, sales of Marsetti brand increased 4.1%, adding 220 basis points of market share for a category-leading 82.1%. In the shelf-stable sauces and condiments category, sales of Chick-fil-A sauces grew 9.6%, well ahead of the category's 0.2% growth rate, resulting in 17 basis points of share growth. Chick-fil-A sales benefited from both expanded distribution into the club channel that began during our fiscal fourth quarter and increased sales of the iconic sauces with traditional retailers. In the food service segment, excluding the non-core PSA sales, adjusted net sales grew 3.5%, while volume measured in pound shifts increased 0.5%. In addition to the benefit of inflationary pricing, the increase in food service segment sales reflects increased demand from several of our core national account customers. During the period, we were pleased to report a 7.2% increase in gross profit to a first quarter record of 119 million. Our focus on supply chain productivity, value engineering, and revenue management all remain core elements to further improve our margins and financial performance. I'll now turn the call over to Tom Peggett, our CFO, for his commentary on our first quarter results. Tom?