The Marzetti Company

Good morning. My name is Siobhan, and I will be your conference call facilitator today. At this time, I would like to welcome you to the Marzetti Company's fiscal year 2026 second quarter conference call. Conducting today's call will be Dave Senske, President and CEO, and Tom Piggott, 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 1-1 on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, please press star 1-1 again. And now to begin the conference call, here is Dale Gnabczyk, Vice President of Corporate Finance and Investor Relations for the Marzetti Company.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today for the Marzetti Company's fiscal year 2026 second 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 of 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 the audio replay of this call will be archived and available on our website, investors.marzetticompany.com, later today. For today's call, Dave Sosinski, 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 respond to any of your questions. Once again, we appreciate your participation this morning. I'll now turn the call over to the Marzetti Company's president and CEO, Dave Susinski. Dave?

Thanks, Dale, and good morning, everyone. It's a big day here for the Marzetti Company because in addition to reporting our Q2 results for fiscal year 2026, We are thrilled to announce that the Marzetti Company has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Boshan, the authentic, great tasting, and rapidly growing Japanese American barbecue sauce brand. I will have more details to share on the acquisition later in the call, following the review of our second quarter results. In our fiscal second quarter, which ended December 31st, consolidated net sales increased 1.7%. to $518 million. Excluding non-core sales attributed to a temporary supply agreement or TSA, adjusted net sales increased one-tenth of 1% to $510 million. Gross profit grew 3.4% to a second quarter record $137 million. In our retail segment, The 1.1% decline in net sales compares to a strong prior year quarter of 6.3% and reflects softer demand during the timeframe of the U.S. government shutdown. Retail segment sales highlights include continued growth from our category-leading York Bakery frozen garlic bread products and expanding distribution for our Texas Roadhouse dinner rolls. CERCONA scanner data for the quarter ending December 31st showed solid performance for several of our core brands and licensed items, with overall scan sales up 2.3% for the 13-week period. In the frozen garlic bread category, our New York bakery brand grew sales 8.4%, adding 300 basis points of market share for a category leading 44.6%. In the frozen dinner roll category, our Sister Schuber's brand and our licensed Texas Roadhouse brand combined to grow 7.1%, resulting in a market share increase of 40 basis points to a category-leading 60.8%. In the shelf-stable sauces and condiments category, sales of our licensed Chick-fil-A sauces grew 6.7%, resulting in 13 basis points of share growth. Chick-fil-A sauce has benefited from expanded distribution into the club channel that began during our fiscal fourth quarter, which ended June 30th. In the produce dips category, sales of our Marzetti brand increased three-tenths of 1%, adding 130 basis points of market share for a category leading 75.5%. In the food service segment, excluding the non-core TSA sales, adjusted net sales grew 1.6%, while volume measured in pound shift declined four-tenths of 1%. In addition to the benefits of inflationary pricing, the increase in food service segment sales reflects increased demand for several of our core national account customers and higher sales for branded food service products. During the period, we were pleased to report a 3.4% increase in gross profit to a second quarter record of $137 million, with reported gross margin of 40 basis points. 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 Piggott, our CFO, for his commentary on our second quarter results. Tom?