Lassonde Industries Inc.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. © transcript Emily Beynon ¶¶ Thank you. We'll be right back. © transcript Emily Beynon ¶¶ We'll be right back. Thank you. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

Welcome to Lesson d'Industrie's 2026 First Quarter Earnings Conference Call. The corporation's press release reporting its financial results was published yesterday after market close. It can be found on its website at Lassonde.com, along with the MDNA and financial statements. These documents are available on Cedar Plus as well. A presentation supporting this conference call was also posted on the website. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session. Instructions will be provided at that time for you to queue up for questions. If anyone has any difficulties hearing the conference, please press star followed by zero for operator assistance at any time. Before turning to management's pre-recorded remarks, please be advised that this conference call will contain statements that are forward-looking within the meeting of Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information is based on management's current expectations and assumptions. and is subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. For discussion of key assumptions and risk factors, please refer to the forward-looking statement section of the MD&A. Also note that all figures expressed on today's call are in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise stated, and that most amounts have been routed to ease the presentation. This call will also include certain non-IFRS financial measures and ratios that are not standardized under IFRS and may not be comparable to similar measures used by other issuers. Reconciliations to the most directly comparable IFRS measures and related definitions are provided in the appendix to the presentation and in the corporation's MD&A. I would like to remind everyone that this conference call is being recorded on Friday, May 8, 2026. I will now turn the conference over to Vince Timpano, Chief Executive Officer.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'm here with Eric Gemm, our Chief Financial Officer. We appreciate your time today as we review our results for the first quarter ended March 28, 2026. Please turn to slide four. Lassonde delivered solid profit growth in the first quarter of 2026 as disciplined pricing strategies and stabilization of input costs resulted in better cost-to-price alignment. Operating profit increased by 22%. This improvement was accomplished notwithstanding a decrease in sales, which resulted from a combination of market and supply chain factors, as well as specific choices made concerning our product portfolio. That said, our portfolio once again proved its strength, as our national brands gained market share in both Canada and the United States. Now let's turn to slide five for a closer look at operations, beginning with our beverage activities. In the U.S., we are pleased with our performance amidst category volume decline in measured channels. Our private label business slightly underperformed the category as we faced distribution losses following certain supply constraints and lower velocity for specific SKUs due to changes in customer promotional strategies. We expect to regain loss distribution for several products later in the year. We also cycled a strong prior year comparison. As a reminder, in the first quarter of last year, we achieved volume growth even as the category was declining, which was attributable to increased production capacity alongside gains in market share. In this first quarter, we remained disciplined in pricing execution balancing inflation-driven adjustments with promotions, while being mindful of demand elasticity. In this challenging macroeconomic environment, with consumers under ongoing inflationary pressures, our private label offerings remain well-positioned to meet value-driven purchasing, whether in mass or discount store channels or for pantry stocking needs. During the first quarter, our U.S.-branded business demonstrated resilience, highlighted by Apple and Eve's exceptional performance. Recognized for its strong reputation amongst both parents and children, the brand continued to expand its market share in single-serve and juice box formats, supported by strategic investments in these platforms at our North Carolina facility. As for our new facility in New Jersey, the pace of construction continues to progress on schedule, with most equipment now delivered on site. We remain on track to gradually begin transferring existing production activities from the current facility by late 2026 and complete this phase in early 2027. It is important to remember that this project serves as a strategic basis for optimizing cost. The primary aim at the initial stage is to improve efficiency and reliability, thereby lowering our overall cost structure rather than pursuing immediate volume expansion. Turning to slide six for Canadian beverage activities. While category volumes declined slightly above mid-single digits, we continued to gain market share. Lausanne's national brand significantly outpaced the category, supported by solid gains in shelf-stable products and strong growth across single-serve formats. These gains are even more meaningful in a context where quarter one 2026 marked the cycling of the Buy Canadian sentiment's initial impulse. Meanwhile, private label volume was softer and shelf-stable, in part from unforeseen changes in a large customer's go-to-market strategies within the quarter. This segment was also impacted by targeted portfolio optimization actions, including the discontinuation of selected product lines. As with U.S. activities, we focused on executing disciplined revenue management strategies implementing pricing adjustments that align broadly with inflationary trends, while selectively deploying promotional activity where elasticity supported sustainable velocity. We also sustained our innovation efforts by developing new product formulas and formats tailored to meet consumer needs throughout the day. By centering our growth strategy on established and emerging beverage segments, such as Oasis HealthBreak, Smoothies, and Del Monte Nectars, We reduce our dependence to commodities and enhance profitability. Moving on to food service on slide seven. Food service activities continue to perform well this quarter, supported by increased volumes with broad line distributors in the United States and enhanced national account penetration in Canada. Our ongoing deployment of the bag in a box of septic packaging line has resulted in the addition of a prominent Canadian based QSR chain, for which we are supplying tailored beverages aligned with its menu offerings. Furthermore, we remain actively engaged in negotiations and competitive bidding processes with both national and regional partners throughout North America. Now let's turn to specialty food on slide eight. Summer Garden grew volume for its own brands driven by distribution gains for GQs in the U.S. as well as third-party brands in the premium, super-premium pasta sauce category. We also gained distribution for GQs with a mass merchant in Canada beginning in April. Meanwhile, Canadian operations delivered a solid performance, growing third-party brand volume, mainly through significant distribution gains for pasta sauces in Western Canada. In the first quarter, we established our new North America Specialty Food Division, advancing our ambition to strengthen our capabilities and expand our presence in the specialty food market across the continent. With new leadership in place, we can double down on building our brand marketing capabilities, sharpen the positioning of our branded products, and execute plans to strengthen consumer awareness and loyalty while continuing to pursue innovation. I now turn the call over to Eric for a review of quarter one results.