Maple Leaf Foods Inc.

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Good morning everyone. Welcome to Maple Leaf Foods first quarter 2026 financial results conference call. As a reminder, this conference call is being webcast and recorded. Please note that there will be a question and answer session following the formal remarks. Instructions for participating in the Q&A will be provided following the conclusion of the formal presentation. I would now like to turn the conference over to Omar Javed, Vice President of Investor Relations at Maple Leaf Foods. Please go ahead, Mr. Javed.

Thank you and good morning, everyone. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that some statements made on today's call may constitute forward-looking information and our future results may differ materially from what we discussed. Please refer to our first quarter 2026 MD&A and financial statements and other information on our website for a broader description of operations and risk factors that could affect the company's performance. We've also uploaded our first quarter 2026 investor presentation to our website. As always, the investor relations team will be available after the call for any follow-up questions you may have. With that, I'll turn the call over to our President and CEO, Curtis Frank. Okay, thank you, Omar, and good morning, everyone.

Joining me on our call today is our Chief Financial Officer, David Smales. I will begin with a strategic and operational update. Dave will walk you through the financial results in more detail, and then I will return with a few closing thoughts before we open the line to questions. The headline for today is that we delivered a solid first quarter, and we are firmly on track to deliver our 2026 outlook. Sales in Q1 were $963 million, up just over 6% year-over-year, driven by our proven and resilient growth platforms. WholeTree delivered double-digit growth, supported by improved panel mix and strong consumer demand across both the retail and food service channels. And Prepared Foods also delivered sales growth, supported by pricing and mix. Adjusted EBITDA was approximately $122 million, up nearly 6% year-over-year, and our adjusted EBITDA margin was 12.7%. Margin improved sequentially by 90 basis points, as we expected, supported by the inflation-based pass-through pricing we implemented in the quarter. Productivity initiatives and efficiency improvements, including our Fuel for Growth program and Better Sales Mix, are contributing to EBITDA growth and supporting continued margin resilience. This disciplined execution reflects the benefits of the separation of our pork operations, which has sharpened our focus as a purpose-driven, protein-focused, and brand-led CPG company, and has strengthened our ability to accelerate profitable growth and generate free cash flow. Earlier this year at our Investor Day, we introduced our 2030 financial ambitions and the strategic blueprint that will guide us to achieving them. That ambition is supported by a clear value creation framework. First, scaling the core business through our proven growth platforms, leading in sustainable meats, building a portfolio of loved brands, accelerating impactful innovation, expanding our reach into the U.S., new channels and new categories, and aligning more deeply with our customer strategies. Second, expanding structural margins through improved commercial mix, disciplined revenue management, and a productivity-driven operating model supported by the continued benefits of our Fuel for Growth program. And third, allocating capital with discipline, maintaining a strong balance sheet, investing to support growth and efficiency, and returning capital to shareholders in a balanced and consistent way. By executing against this framework, we are targeting approximately $5 billion in revenue, approximately 750 million in adjusted EBITDA, and cumulative free cash flow of approximately 1.7 to 1.8 billion by 2030, while maintaining an investment-grade leverage below three times net debt to adjusted EBITDA. Our 2026 outlook demonstrates progress toward these ambitions. In January, we introduced 2026 guidance, calling for mid-single-digit revenue growth, adjusted EBITDA in the range of approximately $520 to $540 million, and continued discipline in capital allocation, including dividend growth, capital investments of approximately $160 to $180 million, and maintaining leverage below three times. Today, we are reaffirming that outlook. I do, however, want to offer some context with respect to how we see the balance of the year playing out. First, despite the noise of the external market, our focus remains on executing our strategic blueprint. We have an experienced and highly capable team, proven growth strategies, and a productivity playbook that is active across the business. We are also maintaining a disciplined, shareholder-friendly approach to capital allocation. Second, food inflation remains an active area of management focus. Geopolitical developments, including the conflict involving Iran, are affecting energy markets and increasing transportation costs in the near term. We are monitoring these pressures closely, and we are responding with speed and with discipline. In addition to the inflation-based pricing actions implemented in February, we have introduced a temporary fuel surcharge as a direct pass-through tied to higher transportation costs. This provides transparency around the underlying drivers of those increases and will be removed if or as fuel markets normalize. With the pricing actions we have taken to date, along with the optimization of our ongoing promotional programs and the discipline we are showing in managing our costs, we are confident we are well positioned today to mitigate these inflationary impacts. Of course, should additional inflation justify pricing become necessary, we will act as quickly as possible, respecting the normal lag time required for our CPG industry. And finally, we've been examining the seasonality patterns of the new maple leaf foods and our business profile following the spinoff of Canada Packers. As we noted in our MD&A, revenue is typically the lowest in the first quarter, and then remains relatively consistent throughout the balance of the year, while raw material input costs are often higher in the second half. This can create some variability in margins from quarter to quarter, as we've seen in recent years, particularly in the third quarter, reflecting our typical business mix and input cost profile at that time of year. You can see this clearly in our supporting slides. which illustrates this pattern in 2024 and 2025. Importantly, this is a matter of phasing and does not impact our full year expectations. As we look ahead, we remain confident in the trajectory of the business and confident in delivering our full year outlook. Protein continues to be one of the most attractive and resilient segments in food, with demand supported by strong consumer fundamentals and long-term structural growth. We have a clear strategic blueprint, a portfolio of leading brands, a focused operating model, and a team that is executing with precision and with discipline. Our focus is set squarely on staying close to the consumer, responding to changing needs, demonstrating excellence in revenue management, protecting service and quality, and continuing to drive cost efficiency across our business. The fundamentals of the business are strong, and our priorities are clear. With that, I will now turn it over to Dave to walk through the financial results in more detail. Dave?

Thank you, Curtis, and good morning, everyone. Today, I'll comment on results for the first quarter before turning to the balance sheet and outlook for 2026. Sales in the quarter were $963 million, an increase of 6.2% compared to last year. This robust growth was driven by both poultry and prepared foods, which grew by 11.7% and 2.3% respectively. In poultry, sales increased compared to the same quarter a year ago due to improved channel mix with growth in both retail and food service volume, as well as pricing impacts. Prepared food sales growth was driven by improved mix, related pie revenue, and pricing impacts, which were partially offset by lower volume tied to timing of promotional activity and lower industrial sales, as well as unfavorable foreign exchange translation on U.S. sales. Adjusted EBITDA of $122.4 million increased by 5.7% versus the first quarter of last year, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 12.7%, compared to 12.8% last year. Improved profitability was mainly driven by advances in operating efficiency, inclusive of the benefits from our productivity playbook and fuel for growth program, and favorable poultry channel mix tied to retail and food service volume growth. These factors were partially offset by the impact of non-recurring items which were a benefit in the first quarter of last year, as well as increased trade promotion spending this year. Adjusted EBITDA margin of 12.7% was comparable to last year, despite the impact of non-recurring items that were a benefit in the first quarter a year ago. Importantly, the implementation of pass-through price increases in mid-February following the inflation we saw in the second half of 2025, contributed to a sequential margin improvement of 90 basis points from the fourth quarter. SG&A expenses were 101.9 million in the quarter, broadly consistent with 103.1 million last year, while SG&A's percentage of sales improved by 80 basis points. Earnings from continuing operations were $46.1 million for the quarter, or $0.37 per basic share, compared to $16 million, or $0.13 per share, last year. The increase in earnings was driven by strong operating performance, reduced interest expense due to lower debt levels, and changes in unrealized net gains on commodity futures contracts which were partially offset by the impact of non-recurring items that benefited the first quarter of last year. Capital expenditures were $21.3 million in the quarter compared to $25.1 million in the same period last year. The decrease was driven by approximately $8 million of prior year capital expenditures related to discontinued operations. partially offset by increased spending in the first quarter of this year on maintenance projects. Looking ahead, and consistent with our 2026 guidance, we still expect capital investments for the full year to be in the range of $160 to $180 million, with spend focused on maintenance and productivity enhancement initiatives. We generated $36.6 million in free cash flow in the quarter. an increase of $50.2 million compared to the same period last year. The improvement was driven by a lower level of investment in working capital, improved cash earnings from continuing operations, and lower interest payments, which were partially offset by prior year cash earnings generated by discontinued operations. Consistent with our stated capital allocation priorities, our leverage ratio remains well within an investment grade range, with a net debt to trailing 12 months adjusted EBITDA ratio of 2.1 times at the end of the quarter, in line with leverage at the end of the fourth quarter and down from 2.6 times a year ago. Strong free cash flow generation and an investment grade balance sheet provide flexibility to execute a more balanced approach to capital allocation. In the first quarter, we returned $36 million in capital to shareholders through a combination of our first quarter dividend, which increased by 10.5% from the prior year, and the repurchase of approximately 0.3 million shares under the NCIB. We intend to remain active with the NCIB to, at a minimum, offset the impact of dilution. As Curtis mentioned in his remarks, we are reaffirming our 2026 guidance and as such expect to deliver mid-single-digit revenue growth and adjusted EBITDA in the range of approximately $520 to $540 million while executing a balanced approach to capital allocation. I will now turn the call back to Curtis.

Okay, thank you, Dave. Let me close with a few key messages which closely mirror those of our recent investor day. First, the transformation of Maple Leaf Foods is complete. Over the past decade, we have reshaped the business through major capital investment, portfolio simplification, and strategic focus. That work and the capital associated with it is now firmly behind us. Second, we now operate with stronger structural advantage as a purpose-driven, protein-focused and brand-led CPG company. These advantages are showing through in our performance relative to our peers and the broader CPG market. Third, we are firmly in our delivery and return phase. Our focus is on growth, margin expansion, cash generation and improving returns on invested capital. Our 2025 results and our first quarter of 2026 performance reflect the benefits of that focus fourth our strategic blueprint is future ready our strategy our assets and our team are aligned to deliver long-term value with a clear line of sight to our 2030 financial ambitions and finally we are reaffirming our 2026 outlook today as i close here this morning i want to recognize the maple leaf team You continue to live our values and deliver outstanding results in a demanding operating environment, while at the same time advancing our bold vision to be the most sustainable protein company on earth. Thank you.

Operator, we can now open the line to questions, please.

Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer session. If you'd like to ask a question, just press star one on your touchstone phone. And if you would like to withdraw your question, just press star two. Our first question comes from the line of Michael Van Isles from TD Cohen. Please go ahead.

Hi, good morning. I want to start off with some questions around the consumer because there was some commentary on a conference call yesterday that talked about trade down, particularly and actually mentioned poultry trading down from, I guess, a private label RWA product down to entry-level price points at a double-digit pace. I'm wondering if you're seeing the same things, given that you've had some pretty strong momentum in your branded items at retail in recent quarters and whether that's changed.

Good morning, Mike. Thank you. Before I answer your question, which I will, I understand that today is most likely your last call with us given your retirement. So I wanted to first congratulate you, and second, thank you for your coverage and support of Maple Leaf Foods over the past many number of years. And you've been with us on a lengthy journey, and I and we all at Maple Leaf certainly appreciate that. So thank you and congratulations. Thank you. On the topic of poultry and trade down, which I think was predominantly your question and a little bit around the consumer environment, the consumer environment we've been saying consistently and for a relatively lengthy period of time here that things are stable, but that still means the consumer is under stress. We continue, as David mentioned in his comments, to be investing in promotional allowances that are right-sized to the consumer environment today. You know, that intensity hasn't changed, I don't think, in any material way quarter to quarter. But on the poultry side, I think there's some important clarification for our own portfolio. We had a very successful first quarter in the poultry business, which you saw in our top line results. Sales grew at a little over 11% in the poultry business for us in Q1, which was, again, a very strong quarter. But underneath that, you know, the prime brand in particular, which is our premium brand positioned in the RWA segment grew at around the same pace in a double digit range. Our sustainable meats, fresh poultry business grew at double digits. And we actually picked up a little more than 1.7 points of market share gains in the first quarter. So, you know, overall, it was a pretty successful first quarter in the poultry business for us. So, you know, we're optimistic that will continue over the balance of the year. But I think all things positive on the poultry front.

Did you see any change recently, at least in the last month or so, as fuel prices have spiked?

Not materially. I think not materially in terms of change. I would point to the fact, Mike, that our prepared foods business revenue growth in the quarter was around 2.3%, predominantly driven by mix in pricing. and we had a small volume decline in the prepared foods business, small, between 1% and 2%. That's not atypical in the period following price adjustments. As you know, we took our prices up in February, and that would be in line with kind of the normal consumer behavior following a price change like that. So I would say nothing abnormal or atypical from the environment that's existed pretty consistently here.

Perfect. Thank you. I'll get back in the queue. Thank you. Thank you.

Your next question comes from the line of Irene Mattel from RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Thanks, and good morning, everyone. Wanted to unpack a little bit the cost side of the equation. Very much appreciated your commentary around the introduction of fuel charges. Pardon me, but I'm wondering about what you're hearing from your suppliers, say, you know, packaging is an example. with respect to price increases. What your outlook is for your operating costs as we move through 2026?

Oh, hi, Irene. Good morning. Yeah, thanks. We, as you know, implemented in February kind of our broader-based inflationary view of the year and the costs associated with the increases we took early in the year. Those are in the market and have been implemented. And you see the sequential benefits of that pricing taking place from Q4 to Q1 and the cost recovery we've had. On fuel specifically, we are working today alongside our customers to implement a very targeted and hopefully what's temporary, although certainly lots to play out, but hopefully what's temporary, a fuel surcharge in the market to reflect what was essentially in the range of a 50% cost increase in fuel throughout the month of April, as an example. You know, we see that as a justified increase and we took the learning of moving a little slower than we would have liked to have in the last part of last year and moved with certainly more pace this year. So we feel like we're well positioned from a fuel recovery perspective. The longer term implications of the conflict in Iran are kind of yet to play out. They come in areas that you're referencing in, you know, packaging and plastics in particular as a secondary impact. To date, those impacts are certainly manageable. We're monitoring them closely, just like we did fuel. But we feel like we're really well positioned today. And should anything change, I think we're monitoring things closely and are prepared to act quickly should we need to. We're hopeful that won't be the case, but we're well prepared in the event we need to.

Thanks. That's very helpful. And then just a follow-up question, if I may. In the release, you talked about the timing of promotional activity in the prepared meets segment and sort of that having a negative impact on volumes as well. Can you talk us through how we should think about that? Does the promotion happen more in Q2? Can you just walk us through that and your thinking around volumes as we move through the year?

Yeah, it's just a commentary that was more reflective of the change in a couple of key promotional activities with customers that we had in Q1 last year and we expect are going to take place into Q2 and Q3 next year. So just the phasing of our annual plans and some seasonality attached to that, the timing of seasonal events and things like that. So I don't think there's anything material to our year. And, you know, we continue to reaffirm our outlook for the year, which I think is a good indication of the fact that we don't expect the timing of those events to significantly impact the results we deliver in the year, just the timing quarter to quarter.

That's great. Thank you.

Your next question comes from the line of George Dume from Ventum Financial. Please go ahead.

Good morning. I just wanted to follow up on the seasonal information you guys provided for the quarter. I think you mentioned Q3, the more seasonal quarter, a weakness, I guess, based on the commodity pricing and all that kind of stuff. But can you talk a little bit about any of the factors that we should be cognizant that might get in the way of us attaining those low 30% EBITDA margins

uh next quarter um as early as next quarter i guess those levels attained um earlier last year thanks hi george good morning um well i'm not going to give uh precise quarterly guidance i think what we offered in our our commentary is um is entirely appropriate but i'll recap that a little bit with some maybe color around it the the first and i think most important news is we had a very strong q1 and the key message today is that positions us to deliver our outlook for the year and and we're entirely confident in that so that that's the headline overall uh we did put a little bit of color around that i mean q2 uh logically is all around is all um about the pricing impact on volume keeping in mind that we took you know pricing in february the response has been relatively normal so far but we're paying careful attention to that and the inflation from an energy perspective which as i just said i feel like we're positioned really well for um q3 we wanted to give a little bit more commentary More because of the composition of the new Maple Leaf Foods. We've been studying the seasonality of the new business after the separation of pork, obviously quite closely. We did put in our supplementary materials. If you look at the continuing operations section, you see kind of the quarterly progression of margins over the last couple of years. And Q3 tends to be because of higher meat costs in the second half and an escalation in things like bellies, as an example, in Q3. Q3 tends to be a little lower margin than the balance of the year. And we thought it was important to be transparent about that and call that to your attention. And then I would say no new news for Q4. So it all leads to very confident in delivering our year with some extra context and color around how we see it playing out. And of course, if things change, we'll continue to update you along the way.

Great. And one last question for me, Curtis. Given what the balance sheet is today, can you talk a little bit about M&A? How should we think about the nice to have versus the really sought out targets out there?

Yeah, Dave could maybe add some color from an M&A perspective. What I would say is it's not our immediate priority, although our focus from a management perspective is certainly shifting there strategically. There's nothing imminent happening in the moment. Our focus has been on returning capital to shareholders, which, as David mentioned in his comments, Q1 was around $36 million of capital returned to shareholders and over a 10% increase in our annual dividends. Given the health of the balance sheet, obviously, you know, we'll turn our attention to strategic alternatives in M&A, but it's not urgent for us. We're focused on proving out the earnings. I think Q1 was a good reflection of that, and we'll continue down that path. You know, there's nothing urgent in the moment, but Dave, maybe any other color you'd like to add?

Yeah, I mean, just in terms of M&A, I pointed to the materials from Investor Day where we kind of laid out the strategic priorities as well as the financial framework we would look at in terms of assessing opportunities, you know, which from a high level, you know, branded protein in core categories with, you a focus on North America and in particular the opportunity to build out a platform in the US. So nothing's changed in terms of how we're thinking about that. And as Curtis mentioned, timing is not urgent.

Appreciate it, guys. Thank you.

Your next question comes from the line of Vishal Sridhar from National Bank. Please go ahead.

Hi, thanks for taking my questions. With respect to prepared foods and the slowdown in growth that you noted sequentially, which you said it was in part a response to pricing, how long does it take for that pricing response to normalize such that the consumer would go back to the volume growth that you expect in that segment?

Good morning, Michel. In consumer packaged goods, our typical experience, and I think for us, not just for us, but for all CPGs, is as kind of the category leader, we tend to move first and quickly, I think, as we should from a leadership position in times of inflation. The consequence of that is typically a little bit of volume trade-off in the near term. That typically plays out for a quarter or two, maybe at the most. before normalizing. I was really encouraged last quarter actually by the market share performance. I mean, the volume was down very slightly, which again is typical, but the market share performance in both prepared meats and in the poultry business was relatively strong. We picked up a small amount of share in prepared meats, which is good on the back of a price increase. And poultry, as I noted earlier, was really strong. So typically a quarter or two of consumer adjustment from a volumetric point of view, and then kind of right back to normal.

Okay. And with respect to how trends are playing out inter-quarter, are you seeing any acceleration in prepared foods, and are you seeing any change to the poultry trends?

Is your question between Q1 and Q2, Rochelle?

Yeah, like if there's any material changes intra-quarter associated with either the pricing actions and consumers' ability to respond and or the, I know you said the impact of fuel wasn't that large, but are you seeing any incremental changes on the margin with respect to trend quarter over quarter, intra-quarter?

No, not materially. I mean, 12% was a pretty strong quarter in poultry this past quarter. I mean, I think, you know, I would point you to our annual guidance of mid-single digits. And I think through the combination of prepared foods and poultry, Again, we expect to deliver that this year, remain entirely confident in it. However, I don't know that we'll have double-digit growth every quarter in poultry. I think that was a relatively strong quarter. But, no, I don't think anything has changed materially.

Thank you. Thanks.

Next question comes from the line of Mark Pitry from CIBC Capital Markets. Go ahead.

Yeah, thanks. Good morning. I actually wanted to follow up on a couple of the topics you just touched on. So first, with regards to the poultry growth, you know, putting aside any shifts in consumer tastes or preferences, it seems fair to assume that once you start lapping, you know, the double digit growth in second half of or from second half of last year, you're going to see some deceleration. I think that's what you just sort of called out. But I'm wondering if you could just specifically talk about the potential tailwind still to come from London. I understand that a big part of the growth has been driven by the tray pack capacity and leveraging that. Where are you with regards to actually utilizing that capacity and is it still a growth driver?

Yeah, great question. Thanks, Mark. We continue to be encouraged by the poultry business, starting with consumer demand. I mean, we're seeing very, very strong consumer demand. That's translating into strength in both the retail and the food service channel, which is great news for us. But most importantly, it's leading to allocation growth from a supply management point of view. So we're getting volumetric support on the backs of strong and growing consumer demand in the Canadian market for poultry. You continue to see relative affordability as compared to competing proteins like beef, and consumer preferences for chicken and poultry continue to increase. So that's positive structurally for the category and we're seeing the benefits of that. The best thing we could have done in this situation is have a plant, have built a plant like London Poultry with the capacity and capability to support that level of growth. We feel like we're uniquely positioned in the Canadian market to capitalize on that growing consumer demand. You're seeing the benefits of that obviously in the quarter from london but there's still runway to be clear there's still runway for growth in the poultry business supported by the benefits at london the team's just doing a fantastic job there they continue to operate the plant in a world-class way both from a cost efficiency point of view but also a throughput point of view to to continue to support growth so i i think we're we got lots more to squeeze out of that asset and it's going exceptionally well at the same time

Yeah, okay. Thanks for that. And then just on the pricing dynamic, what's your sense of sort of how the competitive set followed your price increase? Is it fair to say that that was sort of universally adopted or some of the gaps still adjusting after you took your price increase? How did that play out versus your competitors?

I don't know yet. I mean, we watch shelf prices. Our measure for that is kind of auditing shelf prices and watching carefully. I think it's too soon to know what the follow-on effect is. I mean, the order of magnitude is really important here too, Mark. The February increase was important, and the fact that we were able to recover sequentially in the way that we did was critical. I mean, the order of magnitude and the fuel increase, I think it has to be kept in perspective as well. It's around 11 cents a kilo. I think this became public information, which is about 4 cents a package for an average, you know, 375 gram pack of hot dogs or bacon. And that, you know, between the fuel surcharge actions we've taken, the cost reduction playbook we have in place, and the work we're doing from a revenue management perspective to optimize our promotions to the consumer, Again, I feel like we're really well positioned.

Yeah, okay, thanks. And then just last one. I'm curious, in terms of the cadence with regards to the volume pullback in prepared meets, I understand it was a modest volume deceleration, but do you think any of that was sort of lapping maybe the bi-Canadian surge that happened in the latter part of Q1 last year? And is that what you're referring to with regards to the promotional activity, or is that something else?

No, that's what I was referring to on the promotional side is more customer-specific activations. You know, that's possible, Mark, although I would say that that bi-Canadian movement had a bit of an impact on the momentum. Although I would point out that we also had the positive benefits in this year of the Olympic partnership that we had with Team Canada. And I think the amazing promotional support that our marketing team put behind that and You know, I'd like to think the two balance. There's no perfect data science behind that, but I'd like to think the two balanced each other out on a reasonable basis. But yeah, it's possible we saw a small impact of the deceleration of the bike Canadian momentum in the market. I've always said it's hard to tease the data out precisely around that. And I think it would be fair to point out, but we also had the positive benefits of the Olympic partnership as well.

Yeah, understood. Okay. I appreciate all the comments and all the best. Thank you.

Your next question comes from the line of Martin Landry from Stifel Financial. Please go ahead.

Hi, good morning. In your prepared remarks, you called out productivity initiatives. as a um you know a margin growth driver and um you know i was wondering if you could give a little bit more color around that maybe share a few examples that uh that have led to uh to margin uh margin expansion yeah yeah thank you uh remember for your question the combination of the work we're doing in our fuel for growth initiative um which is driving structural costs

advantage and in our continuous productivity playbook have both been supportive of the profitability of the business. That ranges from everything we do in our SG&A management, which I think if you look at Q1 specifically, was managed quite well from a cost control perspective in Q1 to the work we continuously do in our procurement function and so on from a continuous productivity point of view. From a fuel for growth perspectives. We saw the benefits in the quarter of standardized organizational structures in the plants, which we implemented late last year, and that benefited us in the quarter. And we're also lapping the benefits of the, or continuing to see the benefits of the Brantford plant retirement, which happened in Q2 last year. So, you know, the combination of the structural ongoing components that I think are just good hygiene in the business, good cost management by good cost managers, combined with the strategic work in the Fuel for Growth platform is really what's supportive overall from a productivity perspective.

Okay, and then on your Fuel for Growth initiatives, is there a timing or a completion of that project, or is that ongoing?

It's ongoing. It'll span multiple years. It started with the SG&A work that I mentioned earlier. the retirement of the Brantford facility. We've pivoted to making targeted investments with high returns in technology and automation in the manufacturing facilities, which are yielding great results and will continue to over the next number of years as technology obviously continues to evolve. Our operations team is in the process right now of implementing a standardized operational excellence system across the business that we know is going to generate benefits on the shop floor. And then outside of this year, I think would be the way I would describe it, in 2027 plus, we still believe we have some network optimization work to do that will continue to benefit us as we kind of march towards our 2030 financial objectives that we laid out at Investor Day.

Okay. Thank you for the call. That's helpful. Best of luck. Thank you.

Your next question comes from the line of John Sempero from Scotiabank. Go ahead.

Thank you. Good morning. I wanted to follow up on the topic of higher inflation or the prospects for higher inflation later this year throughout the supply chain and specific to feed costs. I wonder at this point, I know there's a lot of moving parts, but I wonder at this point when that might be felt by MFI and what magnitude do you think that could be at the moment?

I don't know. It would be delayed for certain on the feed component side. I mean, the new crop is just really being planted in North America now. And a lot of that, John, is dependent on multiple factors beyond just the inflationary impacts of, say, fuel and fertilizer and some of the things we're familiar with, even weather to a certain extent and crop yields and how the fall crop conditions materialize, I think will probably play the most material role. And obviously, the duration of the conflict in Iran, I think, matters a lot here, too. And I wish I had a crystal ball on that one. And by the news this morning, I'm hopeful there'll be perhaps an abrupt end, but I'm not so certain in that area. So I think there's lots to play out. We watch this weekly, if not daily, the impacts. And as I said earlier, we're prepared to to respond quickly should we need to. But at this stage, we feel like we're really well positioned.

Okay, understood. And then my second question is on beef prices. And given where they are and the fact that they're continuing to show inflation, it would be helpful to get your expectation on how that impacts MSI. And I know you're not going to guide on volume growth for poultry or prepared meats, but I wonder just generally, would you agree that this is positive for volume growth for MFI?

Yeah, I would. Beef's a small part of our portfolio, like if you kind of start there. So I think that's to our benefit, just kind of the pricing and inflation you've seen in beef. It's part of our portfolio, but a smaller part of our portfolio. The benefits to the poultry business, um you know i think are more structural than they are beef induced to be to be honest the changing face of demographics in canada the strength of demand for poultry uh the composition of the bird that's consumed by canadian consumers today is very very favorable so i wouldn't you know said differently if beef prices came down a little bit i wouldn't necessarily say that's negative for chicken so i'm reluctant to take credit for the positive impact you know higher beef prices are having today But undoubtedly, the affordability of poultry relative to beef as a competing protein is positive for us.

Okay, understood. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Your next question comes from the line of Etienne Ricard from BMO Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Thank you and good morning. Given the continued outperformance of poultry, where do you think the mix between poultry and prepared food ultimately settles a few years from now? If you could help quantify the margin impact, that would be helpful.

I'm assuming you mean as a percentage of our total portfolio. I think the best answer I could give you is to point you to our Investor Day materials and the targets we've established for 2030. I mean, both poultry and prepared foods play a meaningful role in our growth story for the future. The five core growth platforms we have are certainly focused on both businesses, poultry and prepared foods. And truthfully, we've seen over the last you know, number of quarters strength in both areas. We're getting outperformance in poultry today, again, based on the consumer fundamentals that I talked about, but also the quality of the London poultry asset. But our, you know, I should also note that our leadership in sustainable meats, the work we've done from a brand development perspective, the innovation platform that we put out into the market last year, And our growth in the U.S. have all been, you know, if you look at a little bit longer term, last number of quarters have all been positive and constructive. And we think that will be the same in the future. So, you know, I expect over the next five years balanced growth between prepared foods and poultry. There was an M&A question earlier. I think some of that will be dependent on how the portfolio is shaped over the long term. But again, we really love both businesses today and the growth strategies that are attached to both the poultry business and the prepared foods business and remain entirely confident, not just in our outlook for the year, but for our 2030 aspirations as well.

Thank you. And on the US market, what initiatives from a distribution standpoint are you focused on for this year?

Distribution is exactly the right word. We continue to be focused on scaling up the number of items that we have distributed or listed at every US retailer. I've commented in the past that in the Canadian market, we're fortunate to have distribution in an average Canadian grocery store of well over 100 items on the shelf. In the US market, we have in the vicinity of about 14 in the meat protein and plant protein business combined. And the lucrative financial opportunity for us, if you will, is really to take that 14 items to a broader distribution of items at every retailer. Now that we've established a supply chain, we have a sales and marketing team on the ground in Chicago and are deepening our customer relationships in the US. So it's really about growing distribution. The Greenfield Natural Meat Company brand has been a beachhead for that. We continue to grow our distribution. That brand had double digit growth or our brands in the U.S. had double-digit growth last quarter in the meat business, and we continue to see a lot of runway for growth, obviously, in the U.S. So you're right to point to distribution. There's an innovation component of that. There's a customer alignment component of that, and the consumer demand continues to be strong as well. So I think that's the U.S.

priority for the moment. Thank you very much. Your next question.

If you would like to ask a question, just press star one on your touchstone phone. Again, if you would like to ask a question, just press star one on touchstone phone. Your next question comes from the line of Irene Natel from RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Yes. Hello again. Just a quick follow-up question, a point of clarification. Earlier on, when you were talking about poultry, did you say that you've actually had an increase in your quota allocation?

Our quota, our amount of quota hasn't changed in any material way, Irene, but the allocation process under supply management, which allocates the amount of poultry to be grown every eight weeks, is increasing along with consumer demand. So we and all other processors who own quota are getting more volume to sell and market.

Understood. Can you quantify for us the magnitude of that increase?

Yeah, that typically grows, I'll give you an average kind of on an annual basis, that typically grows in and around 2% to 3% a year, I think on a historical basis. And, you know, we're seeing... in the moment increases in the 4% to 5% range, which would be a little more outsized than we would have seen historically, which just speaks to the continued strength in consumer demand and the allocation process matching that consumer demand. And what we always want to see is balance in supply and demand, obviously. And I think we're seeing that in a pretty fruitful way right now, or a productive way right now for the industry.

Absolutely. And sorry, final question on this topic. Can you please remind us how much more volume you can put through the London poultry facility?

We had, when we completed the startup and the business case for poultry, we had protected for about a 10-year growth span, Irene, for, you know, those average kind of growth in the two to 3% range. We're running a little bit ahead of that right now. That's positive and good news, but we also see the potential for operational improvements to unlock more capacity beyond what we had originally contemplated. So I think to summarize two important takeaways, maybe three, we had space protected for growth for a decade. We are running ahead of that today, which on the surface is positive, but might be a concern. And we've already identified operational opportunities to improve beyond the current performance we have in the plant that we're confident will give us many years of growth out of London. So all to say, I think we're really well positioned.

That's great. Thank you.

The last question comes from the line of Mark Pitre from CIBC Capital Markets.

Let's go ahead. Mark Petrie, please go ahead.

Oh, sorry about that. It was just on mute. So I just wanted to follow up on the whole opportunity for broadening the SKU base in the US, because obviously there is a massive gap, but there's also a gap in the portfolio of brands that you have a presence in each market. So what would be the equivalent distribution of the 14 SKUs that you have in the US for the same brands in Canada?

Oh, it's a – that's our primary focus in the U.S. is the Greenfield Natural Meat Company brand. And that is an important question and distinction, Mark, because really that's what gives us a strategic point of difference and a beachhead into the U.S. We're not focused on kind of participating in the mainstream components of the category in the United States. Crossing the border as a Canadian supplier without a meaningful point of difference is – is a very difficult venture, and that's not our area of focus. We're focused on the sustainable meats business, I think in two areas, actually. On the sustainable meats business, the premium end of the category, where there's a large market to access, and we only need to access a small component of the category. So think about sustainable meats, raised without antibiotics, gestation, crate-free, made by a carbon neutral company. So the suite of those claims has been a fundamental to our entry into the United States, giving us a competitive point of difference. And then, you know, so at the top end of the category. And then we also have a strategy to participate in the U.S. market for capacity utilization purposes, wherever we have excess capacity in our manufacturing facilities in Canada and in the United States as a way to drive efficiency in the manufacturing plant. So those would be the two predominant areas. And that's purposeful and strategic in nature.

Yeah, understood. Okay, so, but just to clarify, so the 14 SKUs today versus the 100 that are distributed in Canada, those would be in the same brands that are existing in the U.S.

today?

No, that would just be... That would just be... the number of branded items we have in an average grocery store in Canada across all our brands, and the number of average items we have in the United States across all of our brands.

Yeah, yeah.

Okay, okay. Understood. Okay, thank you. There are no further questions.

I'll turn the call back over to Mr. Franklin.

Okay, great. Thank you. Appreciate your engagement and your questions today. I think I would close with just a couple of brief comments, which is we're obviously coming off a strong first quarter, over 6% growth, a sequential improvement in our margins as we had expected, and the return of $36 million of capital in the quarter. We are reaffirming our outlook for the year, I think is the key message for today, despite all the noise in the markets. And that's something we're entirely confident in. And we look forward to speaking with you at the end of Q2 to give you an update on our progress on the journey. So thank you again for your time today and look forward to talking to you again.

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.