Del Monte Corporation

Good day everyone and welcome to Fresh Del Monte's produce third quarter 2024 earnings conference call. Today's call is being broadcast live over the internet and is also being recorded for playback purposes. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise and after the speaker's remarks there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question please press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. And if you'd like to withdraw that question, again, press star one. For opening remarks and introductions, I would like to introduce, I would like to turn today's call over to the Vice President, Investor Relations with Fresh Del Monte Produce, Ms. Christine Cannella. Please go ahead, Ms. Cannella.

Thank you, Krista. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our third quarter 2024 conference call. Joining me in today's discussion are Mr. Muhammad Abou-Ghazali, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Ms. Monica Vicente, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. I hope that you had a chance to review the press release that was issued earlier via Business Live. You may also visit the company's IR website at investorrelations.freshdomic.com to access today's earnings materials and to register for future distributions. This conference call is being webcast live on our website and will be available for replay after this call. Please note that our press release and our call today include non-GAAP measures. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures are set forth in the press release and earnings presentation. which is available on our website. I would like to remind you that much of the information we will be speaking to today, including the answers we give in response to your questions, may include forward-looking statements within the safe harbor provisions of the federal securities laws. In today's press release and in our SEC filing, we detail risks that may cause our future results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Our statements are as of today, October 31st, and we have no obligation to update any forward-looking statements we may make. During the call, we will provide a business update along with an overview of our third quarter 2024 financial results, followed by a question and answer session. With that, I will turn today's call over to Mr. Muhammad Abugazali. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Christine, and thank you for joining us for our third quarter 24 earnings results. As we reflect on the third quarter of 2024, I am pleased to report that we continue to see solid performance across key areas of our business. Despite certain challenges in the broader market, Fresh Del Monte has remained resilient and focused on delivering value to its shareholders. I would like to address the important update we shared earlier this week regarding man packing. As we have finalized the strategic path forward for our vegetable division. After a comprehensive review of our operations, which included exploring various potential avenues, we decided on a three pond approach to streamline man packing. This includes consolidating facilities, refining product offerings, and divesting excess assets. By becoming more efficient, we aim to improve profitability, elevate our business offerings, and deliver even greater value through innovation, reinforcing our commitment to future growth, operational excellence, and staying ahead of evolving customer and consumer demands. Having covered this important update, I would like to shift focus to our third quarter performance. Compared to the prior year period, gross profit was up by 26 percent, driven primarily by our fresh and value-added product segment. Net income attributable to Fresh Del Monte Produce was $42 million for the quarter, compared with $8 million in the same period last year, reflecting more than 400% increase. Starting with our fresh and value-added product segments, Fresh Del Monte continues to solidify its position as the global leader in pineapples. Our honey glow pineapples and pink glow pineapples are prime examples of the kind of innovation that drives our business. These varieties have become consumer favorites, contributing to strong demand and reinforcing our leadership in this space worldwide. In fact, demand for our pineapples continues to outpace supply We are actively exploring opportunity to expand production to meet this growing demand. Earlier this month, we opened the wait list for our Ruby Glow pineapple in Europe for 2025 delivery. Following the successful launch in China and the U.S. earlier this year, The early interest in this high-end luxury variety has been encouraging, further demonstrating our ability to innovate and meet global consumer preferences. We are continually exploring ways to add more pineapple innovations to our portfolio, ensuring we remain at the forefront of this category. Pineapple volumes and margins were up for the quarter, driven by strong demand for our popular remote equality innovations. Next, let's turn to the fresh-cut division of our fresh and value-added products, which continues to be a strong performer worldwide. In the U.S., we have built a solid foundation over the years. We continually seek ways to expand our reach with current and new customers and explore new product lines to meet evolving market demands. Furthermore, our proactive approach to the FESMA 204 rule positions us as a leader in regulatory compliance. We have assembled a dedicated team and established robust systems to meet the stringent requirements for enhanced disability of high-risk foods. This strategic investment strengthens our risk management framework, improves operational efficiency, and fosters greater consumer trust in our products and our supply chain resilience. Ultimately, Our commitment to FESNA 204 compliance creates a significant competitive advantage and drives long-term value creation for our stakeholders. In Asia, we officially completed consolidating our fresh cut facility, improving efficiency, reducing costs, and enhancing customer service. Our fresh capacity is excelling in the UK with increased profitability and further expansion plans. Our avocado program as a whole continues to be a key growth driver for us, particularly in North America. By leveraging our established sourcing network and brightening capabilities, we remain committed to growing demand and maintaining a solid competitive position in the market. Strengthening our leadership has been a top priority as we drive growth and innovation across our key categories. In quarter three, we were proud to announce several key leadership hires. Danny Dumas, he joined us as North American Senior Vice President of Sales, Marketing, and Product Management, bringing over 35 years of industry experience. We're happy to have him back. We also welcome Dr. Nizar Haddad and Dr. Emad Farhad, two globally recognized experts in their fields, leading our efforts in biomass optimization and developing higher margin value-added products. We see great potential in harnessing the full value of our biomass to unlock transformative opportunities across our portfolio. However, it's important to remember, the day you plant the seed is not the day you reap the fruit, just as our fresh-cut fruit success took time. This initiative is in its early stages, and we will share more as it evolves. Yet, we believe our vision, strategic approach, and proven track record position us to unlock nature's potential maximizing every part of the fruit to drive sustainability while creating higher margin profits. Two weeks ago, we released our 2023 sustainability report, which outlined significant progress across several key areas. Notably, we achieved our emissions reduction target seven years ahead of schedule. an accomplishment that underscores our unwavering commitment to sustainability. Building on this momentum, we are actively pursuing additional innovative opportunities to further reduce our carbon emissions and drive meaningful environmental impact. I encourage you to explore the full report now available on freshdarmountain.com to get further insight into our efforts and continued dedication to responsible business practices. Lastly, I'm proud to share that Fresno Mountain was recently recognized with two prestigious awards, Newsweek's World's Most Trustworthy Companies and the Humankind 100. These recognitions reflect the dedication, passion, and integrity of our 40,000, 41,000 global team members. I couldn't be prouder of our team, and these well-deserved accolades. With that, I will turn over to Monica to discuss our third order 2024 results in the chair.