Hormel Foods Corporation

Thank you. ¶¶ Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. © transcript Emily Beynon Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. © transcript Emily Beynon

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Hormel Foods Corporation first quarter earnings conference call. At this time, all lines are in listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session. If at any time during this call you require immediate assistance, please press star zero for the operator. This call is being recorded on Thursday, February 26, 2026. I would now like to and the conference over to Florence McOpel.

Good morning. Welcome to the Hormel Foods conference call for the first quarter of fiscal 2026. We released results this morning before the market opened. If you did not receive a copy of the release, you can find it on our website, HormelFoods.com, under the investor section, along with supplemental slide materials. On our call today is Jeff Ettinger, interim chief executive officer, John Gingo, president, and Paul Keeneman, interim chief financial officer and controller. Jeff, John, and Paul will review the company's fiscal 2026 first quarter results and provide a perspective on the remainder of the year. We will conclude with a Q&A portion of the call. The line will be open for questions following the prepared remarks. As a courtesy to the other participants, please limit yourself to one question with one follow-up. If you have additional questions, you are welcome to get back into the queue. At the conclusion of this morning's call, a webcast replay will be posted to the investor section of our website and archived for one year. Before we get started this morning, I'd like to reference our safe harbor statements. Some of the comments we make today will be forward-looking, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the statements we will be making. Please refer to our most recent annual report, Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, which can be accessed on our website under the Investors section. Additionally, please note we will be discussing certain non-GAAP financial measures this morning. Management believes that doing so provides investors with a better understanding of the company's underlying operating performance. The presentation of this information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information presented in accordance with GAAP. Further information about our non-GAAP financial measures, including comparability items and reconciliations, are detailed in our press release, which can be accessed on our website. I will now turn the call over to Jeff Ettinger.