UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
Form | |||||
(Mark One)
| ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 | |||||
For the fiscal year ended June 30 , 2022
or
| TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 | |||||
For the transition period from to
Commission file number 000-04065
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) | ||||||||
| (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) | ||||||||||
| (Address of principal executive offices) | (Zip Code) | ||||||||||
| (Registrant’s telephone number, including area code) | |||||
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| Title of each class | Trading Symbol | Name of each exchange on which registered | ||||||
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| ☒ | Accelerated filer | ☐ | ||||||||||||
| Non-accelerated filer | ☐ | Smaller reporting company | ||||||||||||
| Emerging growth company | ||||||||||||||
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ☒
The aggregate market value of Common Stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant computed by reference to the price at which such Common Stock was last sold as of December 31, 2021 was $3,191.5 million.
As of August 1, 2022, there were approximately 27,520,000 shares of Common Stock, without par value, outstanding.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
LANCASTER COLONY CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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PART I
Item 1. Business
GENERAL DEVELOPMENT OF BUSINESS
Company Overview
Lancaster Colony Corporation, an Ohio corporation, is a manufacturer and marketer of specialty food products for the retail and foodservice channels. Our principal executive offices are located at 380 Polaris Parkway, Suite 400, Westerville, Ohio 43082 and our telephone number is 614-224-7141.
Our vision is to be The Better Food Company – better people, driven by purpose, making better food, in a better more collaborative culture, working in unison to make the world around us a little bit better place, every day – while fulfilling our corporate purpose To Nourish Growth With All That We Do.
Our company goals are to bring delicious food to the table and to deliver top quartile financial performance and top quartile product quality, safety and customer satisfaction while attracting, retaining and rewarding top quartile people. To achieve these goals, we are focused on the three pillars of our strategic growth plan:
1.Accelerate our base business growth;
2.Simplify our supply chain to reduce our costs and grow our margins; and
3.Expand our core business with our Retail licensing program and complementary mergers and acquisitions.
As used in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and except as the context otherwise may require, the terms “we,” “us,” “our,” “registrant,” or “the Company” mean Lancaster Colony Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries, except where it is clear that the term only means the parent company. Unless otherwise noted, references to “year” pertain to our fiscal year which ends on June 30; for example, 2022 refers to fiscal 2022, which is the period from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022.
Available Information
Our Internet website address is http://www.lancastercolony.com. Our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 are available free of charge through our website as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with, or furnished to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The information contained on our website or connected to it is not incorporated into this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
The SEC also maintains a website, http://www.sec.gov, that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC.
DESCRIPTION OF AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION ABOUT BUSINESS SEGMENTS
Our financial results are presented as two reportable segments: Retail and Foodservice. Costs that are directly attributable to either Retail or Foodservice are charged directly to the appropriate segment. Costs that are deemed to be indirect, excluding corporate expenses and other unusual significant transactions, are allocated to the two reportable segments using a reasonable methodology that is consistently applied. In 2021, our Chief Operating Decision Maker (“CODM”), in order to drive enhanced accountability and transparency throughout our organization, initiated a review of functional costs that had historically been part of the indirect costs allocated to our two reportable segments. This review was completed as part of our preparation for our enterprise resource planning system implementation. As a result of this review, our CODM identified certain support functions that were more appropriately presented within corporate expenses to facilitate the management of the business, including assessing segment performance and allocating resources. These changes were effective in 2021, and all historical information was retroactively conformed to the current presentation. These changes had no effect on previously reported consolidated net sales, gross profit, operating income, net income or earnings per share. The financial information relating to our business segments for the three years ended June 30, 2022, 2021 and 2020 is included in Note 9 to the consolidated financial statements, and located in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Further description of each business segment within which we operate is provided below.
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Retail Segment
The following table presents the primary Retail products we manufacture and sell under our brand names:
| Products | Brand Names | |||||||
| Frozen Breads | ||||||||
| Frozen garlic breads | New York BRAND Bakery | |||||||
| Frozen Parkerhouse style yeast rolls and dinner rolls | Sister Schubert’s | |||||||
| Refrigerated Dressings and Dips | ||||||||
| Salad dressings | Marzetti, Simply Dressed | |||||||
| Vegetable dips and fruit dips | Marzetti | |||||||
| Shelf-Stable Dressings and Croutons | ||||||||
| Salad dressings | Marzetti, Cardini’s, Girard’s | |||||||
| Croutons and salad toppings | New York BRAND Bakery, Chatham Village, Marzetti | |||||||
We also manufacture and sell other shelf-stable products pursuant to brand license agreements including Olive Garden® dressings, Buffalo Wild Wings® sauces and Chick-fil-A® sauces. Additionally, a small portion of our Retail sales are products sold under private label to retailers.
The vast majority of the products we sell in the Retail segment are sold through sales personnel, food brokers and distributors in the United States. We have placement of products in grocery produce departments through our refrigerated salad dressings, vegetable dips and fruit dips. We also have products typically marketed in the shelf-stable section of the grocery store, which include salad dressings, slaw dressing, sauces and croutons. Within the frozen food section of the grocery store, we sell yeast rolls and garlic breads.
Our top five Retail customers accounted for 57%, 55% and 56% of this segment’s total net sales in 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
We continue to rely upon our strong retail brands, innovation expertise, geographic and channel expansion and customer relationships for future growth. Our category-leading retail brands and commitment to new product development help drive increased consumer demand in our Retail segment. We have also expanded Retail segment growth by leveraging our strong Foodservice customer relationships to establish exclusive licensing agreements for the retail channel. Strategic acquisitions are also part of our future growth plans, with a focus on fit and value.
Our quarterly Retail sales are affected by seasonal fluctuations, primarily in the fiscal second quarter and the Easter holiday season when sales of certain frozen retail products tend to be most pronounced. Our quarterly Retail sales can also be affected by the timing of seasonal shipments of certain fruit dips between the first and second quarters. The resulting impacts on working capital are not significant. We do not utilize any franchises or concessions. In addition to the owned and licensed trademarked brands discussed above, we also own and operate under innumerable other intellectual property rights, including patents, copyrights, formulas, proprietary trade secrets, technologies, know-how processes and other unregistered rights. We consider our owned and licensed intellectual property rights to be essential to our Retail business.
Foodservice Segment
The majority of our Foodservice sales are products sold under private label to restaurants. We also manufacture and sell various branded Foodservice products to distributors.
The following table presents the primary Foodservice products we manufacture and sell under our brand names:
| Products | Brand Names | |||||||
| Dressings and Sauces | ||||||||
| Salad dressings | Marzetti, Simply Dressed | |||||||
| Frozen Breads and Other | ||||||||
| Frozen garlic breads | New York BRAND Bakery | |||||||
| Frozen Parkerhouse style yeast rolls and dinner rolls | Sister Schubert’s | |||||||
| Frozen pasta | Marzetti Frozen Pasta | |||||||
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The vast majority of the products we sell in the Foodservice segment are sold through sales personnel, food brokers and distributors in the United States. Most of the products we sell in the Foodservice segment are custom-formulated and include salad dressings, sandwich and dipping sauces, frozen breads and yeast rolls. Finally, within this segment, we sold other roll products under a temporary supply agreement resulting from the November 2018 acquisition of Omni Baking Company LLC. The temporary supply agreement was terminated effective October 31, 2020.
Our top five Foodservice direct customers accounted for 58%, 61% and 59% of this segment’s total net sales in 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Within our Foodservice segment, typically our largest direct customers are distributors that distribute our products primarily to foodservice national chain restaurant accounts.
In the Foodservice segment, sales growth results from general volume gains or geographic expansion of our established customer base, and we also grow our business with existing and new customers by leveraging our culinary skills and experience to support the development of new products and menu offerings. Strategic acquisitions are also part of our future growth plans, with a focus on fit and value.
The operations of this segment are not affected to any material extent by seasonal fluctuations. We do not utilize any franchises or concessions. We own and operate under innumerable intellectual property rights, including patents, copyrights, formulas, proprietary trade secrets, technologies, know-how processes and other unregistered rights. We consider our owned intellectual property rights to be essential to our Foodservice business.
NET SALES ATTRIBUTED TO SIGNIFICANT CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS
Net sales attributed to Walmart Inc. (“Walmart”) totaled 18% of consolidated net sales for 2022, 2021 and 2020. Net sales attributed to McLane Company, Inc. (“McLane”), a wholesale distribution subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., totaled 11%, 13% and 13% of consolidated net sales for 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively. McLane is a large, national distributor that sells and distributes our products to several of our foodservice national chain restaurant accounts, principally in the quick service, fast casual and casual dining channels. In general, these national chain restaurants have direct relationships with us for culinary research and development, menu development and production needs, but choose to buy our products through McLane, who acts as their distributor. McLane orders our products on behalf of these national chain restaurants, and we invoice McLane for these sales.
Chick-fil-A, Inc. (“Chick-fil-A”), one of our national chain restaurant accounts, also represents a significant portion of our consolidated net sales. We supply Chick-fil-A indirectly through distributors, including McLane. In addition, Chick-fil-A is a growing contributor to our Retail sales since we began selling their sauces to grocery retailers under an exclusive license agreement beginning in March 2020 with a regional pilot test. Retail sales of Chick-fil-A sauces have grown through geographic expansion, ultimately reaching national distribution in April 2021. Net sales attributed to Chick-fil-A, including the Retail sales resulting from the exclusive license agreement and the indirect Foodservice sales, totaled 24%, 21% and 16% of consolidated net sales for 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
NET SALES BY CLASS OF PRODUCTS
The following table sets forth business segment information with respect to the percentage of net sales contributed by our primary classes of similar products:
| 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | |||||||||||||||
| Retail Segment: | |||||||||||||||||
| Shelf-stable dressings, sauces and croutons | 22% | 21% | 16% | ||||||||||||||
| Frozen breads | 20% | 21% | 22% | ||||||||||||||
| Refrigerated dressings, dips and other | 13% | 15% | 16% | ||||||||||||||
| Foodservice Segment: | |||||||||||||||||
| Dressings and sauces | 34% | 32% | 33% | ||||||||||||||
| Frozen breads and other | 11% | 11% | 12% | ||||||||||||||
MANUFACTURING
As of June 30, 2022, the majority of our products were manufactured and packaged at our 15 food plants located throughout the United States. Most of these plants produce products for both the Retail and Foodservice segments. Efficient and cost-effective production remains a key focus as evidenced by our lean six sigma initiative. Certain items are also manufactured and packaged by third parties located in the United States, Canada and Europe.
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COMPETITION
All of the markets in which we sell food products are highly competitive in the areas of price, quality and customer service. We face competition from a number of manufacturers of various sizes and capabilities. Our ability to compete depends upon a variety of factors, including the position of our branded goods within various categories, product quality, product innovation, promotional and marketing activity, pricing and our ability to service customers.
GOVERNMENT REGULATION
Our business operations are subject to regulation by various federal, state and local government entities and agencies. As a producer of food products for human consumption, our operations are subject to stringent production, packaging, quality, labeling and distribution standards, including regulations promulgated under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and the Food Safety Modernization Act. We are also subject to various federal, state and local environmental protection laws. Based upon available information, compliance with these laws and regulations did not have a material effect upon the level of capital expenditures, earnings or our competitive position in 2022 and is not expected to have a material impact in 2023.
HUMAN CAPITAL
As of June 30, 2022, we had 3,200 employees. Of those employees, 24% are represented under various collective bargaining contracts and 6% are represented under a collective bargaining contract that will expire within one year.
Our people are essential to our vision to be The Better Food Company — better people, driven by purpose, making better food, in a better more collaborative culture, working in unison to make the world around us a little bit better place, every day. The honesty, integrity and sound judgment of our people in following our Code of Business Ethics are what enable us to be successful and live our company’s purpose To Nourish Growth With All That We Do.
Consistent with this purpose, our human capital management strategy emphasizes six key areas of focus: Health and Safety; Talent Acquisition; Compensation and Benefits; Employee Engagement; Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (“DEI”); and Community Engagement. Our Board of Directors oversees this strategy and dedicates one Board meeting each year to a full review of talent.
Health and Safety
The health and well-being of our employees is paramount to the success of our business, and we are proud to be leaders in our industry with respect to our safety record and safety initiatives. Our approach to occupational health and safety centers around three elements: training, response, and tracking. We maintain a rigorous safety training program that ensures employees throughout the organization are regularly trained in every aspect of workplace safety. Management personnel with direct responsibility for safety oversight also receive comprehensive professional training and the opportunity for certification.
Talent Acquisition
We strive to attract and retain talented people by providing a great place to work. We have built a collaborative and purpose-driven culture that attracts people who share our vision to be The Better Food Company. In addition, we are committed to nourishing the growth of our employees by providing training and development opportunities to pursue their career paths and to ensure compliance with our policies. Our focus on our employees also extends beyond the workplace – we genuinely want to help our people to thrive both personally and professionally through a healthy work-life balance.
Compensation and Benefits
We offer our employees competitive fixed and/or variable pay along with a Total Rewards package which typically includes medical, prescription, dental and life insurance benefits, paid parental leave, adoption assistance, disability coverage, a 401(k) plan, and various employee assistance programs.
We continue to work to expand our Total Rewards program to strengthen our focus on work/life effectiveness and holistic well-being, which includes physical, financial, emotional, and social well-being. We have undertaken external benchmarking to ensure our compensation and benefits packages remain competitive.
Employee Engagement
To keep our employees engaged and fulfilled in their roles, we have sought to establish a continuous feedback loop between our employees and company leadership. We communicate consistently with our people via a range of channels, including town hall meetings, regular updates, and key announcements. Each year, we invite our employees to respond to our annual employee engagement survey and share their views on a range of workplace questions. Based on feedback from the survey, management develops and implements plans to address the primary areas of opportunity that have been identified by employees.
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Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
We foster a collaborative working environment where all our employees can thrive and feel they belong. We believe our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging enhances our ability to attract and retain a high-performing and diverse team. We monitor the diversity of our organization to identify areas of improvement, advance our DEI strategy and measure the effectiveness of our efforts. Our goal is to establish a continuous improvement trend. In 2022, our workforce was 35% female and 46% of our employees represented minority races or ethnicities.
In 2020, we adopted our Diversity Hiring Statement, which sets out our pledge to include women and minority candidates in the pool of candidates for new leadership positions. We have already seen a positive impact, with 27% of our leadership team representing diverse backgrounds in 2022, up from 15% in 2019 before we implemented the policy.
To unlock opportunities for high school students from diverse backgrounds, we have committed to a work-study program that provides tuition support and work-study mentorship to high school students from low-income families.
We also encourage employee-led initiatives to promote diversity within the organization. Several employee resource groups have been established in the last few years. These affinity-based groups provide a support network for colleagues from diverse backgrounds and help to raise awareness of DEI topics. We have also identified Diversity & Inclusion Champions on our leadership team to ensure top-down accountability for our DEI initiatives.
Community Engagement
Our volunteering and philanthropic efforts align with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, with a particular focus on reducing poverty and food insecurity while promoting good health and quality education for all. In 2022, our teams mobilized to support Pelotonia, Toys for Tots, and the United Way. We regularly donate funds and volunteer time to a range of other community organizations and foundations as well, including the Children’s Hunger Alliance, Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, Jobs for America’s Graduates, and local food banks.
RAW MATERIALS
During 2022, we experienced some disruptions to our sourcing of raw materials and packaging. We secured additional second-sourcing options to help limit the risk of supply disruptions. We rely on a variety of raw materials and packaging for the day-to-day production of our products, including soybean oil, various sweeteners, eggs, dairy-related products, flour, various films and plastic and paper packaging materials.
We purchase the majority of these materials on the open market to meet current requirements, but we also have some fixed-price contracts with terms generally one year or less. See further discussion in the “Risk Factors” section below and the “Financial Condition” section of our Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”). Although the availability and price of certain of these materials are influenced by weather, disease and the level of global demand, we anticipate that future sources of supply for 2023 will generally be available and adequate for our needs.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
An investment in our common stock is subject to certain risks inherent in our business. Before making an investment decision, investors should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information included or incorporated by reference in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
If any of the following risks occur, our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected. These described risks are not the only risks facing us. Additional risks and uncertainties not known to us or that we deem to be immaterial also may materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. If any of these risks were to materialize, the value of our common stock could decline significantly.
RISKS RELATED TO HEALTH AND FOOD SAFETY
We may be subject to business disruptions, product recalls or other claims for real or perceived safety issues regarding our food products.
We have been, and in the future may be, impacted by both real and unfounded claims regarding the safety of our operations, or concerns regarding mislabeled, adulterated, contaminated or spoiled food products. Any of these circumstances could necessitate a voluntary or mandatory recall due to a substantial product hazard, a need to change a product’s labeling or other consumer safety concerns. A pervasive product recall may result in significant loss due to the costs of a recall, related legal claims, including claims arising from bodily injury or illness caused by our products, the destruction of product inventory, or lost sales due to product unavailability. A highly publicized product recall, whether involving us or any related products made by third parties, also could result in a loss of customers or an unfavorable change in consumer sentiment regarding our products or any category in which we operate. In addition, an allegation of noncompliance with federal or state food laws and
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regulations could force us to cease production, stop selling our products or create significant adverse publicity that could harm our credibility and decrease market acceptance of our products. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Any potential claim under our insurance policies may exceed our insurance coverage, may be subject to certain exceptions or may not be honored fully, in a timely manner, or at all.
We may be subject to a loss of sales or increased costs due to adverse publicity or consumer concern regarding the safety, quality or healthfulness of food products, whether with our products, competing products or other related food products.
We are highly dependent upon consumers’ perception of the safety, quality and possible dietary attributes of our products. As a result, substantial negative publicity concerning one or more of our products, or other foods similar to or in the same food group as our products, could lead to lower demand for our products and/or reduced prices and lost sales. Substantial negative publicity, even when false or unfounded, could also hurt the image of our brands or cause consumers to choose other products or avoid categories in which we operate. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Certain negative publicity regarding the food industry or our products could also increase our cost of operations. The food industry has been subject to negative publicity concerning the health implications of genetically modified organisms, added sugars, trans fat, salt, artificial growth hormones, ingredients sourced from foreign suppliers and other supply chain concerns. Consumers may increasingly require that our products and processes meet stricter standards than are required by applicable governmental agencies, thereby increasing the cost of manufacturing our products. If we fail to adequately respond to any such consumer concerns, we could suffer lost sales and damage our brand image or our reputation. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR OPERATIONS
Increases in the costs, from inflation or otherwise, or limitations in the availability of raw materials, packaging and freight used to produce, package and deliver our products could adversely affect our business by increasing our costs to produce goods.
Our principal raw materials include soybean oil, packaging materials, flour, various sweeteners, dairy-related products and eggs. Our ability to manufacture and/or sell our products may be impaired by damage or disruption to our manufacturing or distribution capabilities, or to the capabilities of our suppliers or contract manufacturers, due to factors that are hard to predict or beyond our control, such as adverse weather conditions, natural disasters, fire, terrorism, pandemics, including COVID-19, strikes, geopolitical events such as the recent conflict between Russia and Ukraine, or other events. Production of the agricultural commodities used in our business may also be adversely affected by drought, water scarcity, temperature extremes, scarcity of suitable agricultural land, worldwide demand, changes in international trade arrangements, livestock disease (for example, avian influenza), crop disease and/or crop pests.
We purchase a majority of our key raw materials on the open market. Our ability to avoid the adverse effects of a pronounced, sustained price increase in our raw materials is limited. We have observed increased volatility in the costs of many of these raw materials in recent years. During fiscal 2023 and possibly beyond, we expect to face continued industry-wide inflation for various inputs, including commodities, ingredients, packaging materials, transportation and labor. Similarly, fluctuating petroleum prices and transportation capacity have, from time to time, impacted our costs of resin-based packaging and our costs of inbound freight on all purchased materials.
We try to limit our exposure to price fluctuations for raw materials by periodically entering into longer-term, fixed-price contracts for certain raw materials, but we cannot ensure success in limiting our exposure. During fiscal 2022, the overall global economy experienced significant inflation in packaging materials, fuel, energy, and commodities. We may experience further increases in the costs of raw materials, and we may try to offset such cost increases with higher prices or other measures. However, we may be unable to successfully implement offsetting measures or unable to do so in a timely manner.
Inflation has and may continue to adversely affect us by increasing our costs of raw materials, packaging and freight, as well as wage and benefit costs. Furthermore, consumer spending patterns, which may be difficult to predict in an inflationary environment, may adversely affect demand for our products. In an inflationary environment, depending on broad market conditions and the expected increase in interest rates by the United States Federal Reserve, we may be unable to raise the prices of our products enough to keep up with the rate of inflation.
These factors, as well as an inability to effectively implement additional measures to offset higher costs, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
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A disruption of production at certain manufacturing facilities could result in an inability to meet customer demand for certain of our products, which could also negatively impact our ability to maintain adequate levels of product placement with our customers on a long-term basis.
Because we source certain products from single manufacturing sites and use third-party manufacturers for significant portions of our production needs for certain products, it is possible that we could experience a production disruption that results in a reduction or elimination of the availability of some of our products. If we are not able to obtain alternate production capability in a timely manner, or on favorable terms, it could have a negative impact on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows, including the potential for long-term loss of product placement with various customers.
We are also subject to risks of other business disruptions associated with our dependence on production facilities and distribution systems. Pandemics, including COVID-19, natural disasters, terrorist activity, cyber attacks, or other unforeseen events could interrupt production or distribution and have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows, including the potential for long-term loss of product placement with our customers.
Labor shortages, increased labor costs, and increased labor turnover could adversely impact our business, results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows.
We have recently experienced labor shortages, increased labor costs and increased employee turnover, which were exacerbated by the current inflationary market as well as the COVID-19 pandemic and the related policies and mandates. In this increasingly tight and competitive labor market, a sustained labor shortage or increased turnover rates within our workforce, or the workforce of any of our significant vendors, suppliers and other parties with which we do business, could lead to production or shipping delays and increased costs, including increased wages to attract and retain employees and increased overtime to meet demand. In addition, our ability to recruit and retain a highly skilled and diverse workforce at our corporate offices, manufacturing facilities and other work locations could be adversely impacted if we fail to respond adequately to rapidly changing employee expectations regarding fair compensation, an inclusive and diverse workplace, flexible working arrangements or other matters. These factors could have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
The availability and cost of transportation for our products is vital to our success, and the loss of availability or increase in the cost of transportation could have an unfavorable impact on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Our ability to obtain adequate and reasonably priced methods of transportation to distribute our products, including refrigerated trailers for many of our products, is a key factor to our success. Delays in transportation, including weather-related delays, could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. Further, higher fuel costs and increased line haul costs due to industry capacity constraints, customer delivery requirements and a more restrictive regulatory environment could continue to negatively impact our financial results. We are often required to pay fuel surcharges that fluctuate with the price of diesel fuel to third-party transporters of our products, and such surcharges can be substantial. Any sudden or dramatic increases in the price of diesel fuel would serve to increase our fuel surcharges and our cost of goods sold. If we were unable to pass higher freight costs to our customers in the form of price increases, those higher costs could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Increases in energy-related costs could negatively affect our business by increasing our costs to produce goods.
We are subject to volatility in energy-related costs that affect the cost of producing and distributing our products, including our petroleum-derived packaging materials. For example, the conflict in the Ukraine has resulted in and may continue to cause market disruptions, including significant volatility in the price and availability of energy. Furthermore, any sudden and dramatic increases in electricity or natural gas costs could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
We limit our exposure to price fluctuations in energy-related costs by periodically entering into longer-term, fixed-price contracts for natural gas and electricity supply to some of our manufacturing facilities. However, due to the inherent variability of contractual terms and end dates, in addition to the extent to which the energy markets in which we operate have been deregulated to allow for contracted supply, we will retain some level of exposure to future price fluctuations for our energy-related costs.
Epidemics, pandemics or similar widespread public health concerns and disease outbreaks, such as COVID-19, have disrupted and may cause future disruptions to consumption, supply chains, management, operations and production processes, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Epidemics, pandemics or similar widespread health concerns and disease outbreaks, such as COVID-19, as well as related government mandates, including the avoidance of gatherings, self-quarantine and the closure of a variety of businesses
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and restaurants, have negatively affected and may in the future negatively affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. These effects may include, but are not limited to:
•significant reductions or volatility in consumer demand for our products as quarantines, stay-at-home orders, travel restrictions, restrictions on gatherings, actual disease outbreaks, customer fears, financial hardship of customers and economic downturns (local, regional, national and/or global) may inhibit consumption or shift demand from discretionary or higher-priced products to lower-priced products and restrict the business operations of our retail and foodservice customers, which could negatively impact our retail and/or foodservice business;
•a shutdown of one or more of our manufacturing, warehousing or distribution facilities as a result of illness, government restrictions or other workforce disruptions, including interference in our supply chain, or absenteeism, or reductions in utilization levels, could result in us incurring additional direct costs and experiencing lost revenue;
•forced or temporary curtailment of business operations, including the closure of restaurants and restaurant chains or limitations on restaurants to offer only take-out or delivery sales, resulting in a significant reduction in demand for our foodservice products;
•failure of third parties on which we rely, including our customers, distributors, suppliers, contract manufacturers, and other partners to meet their obligations to us, or significant disruptions in their ability to do so, which may be caused by their own financial or operational difficulties;
•inability to meet our customers’ needs and achieve cost targets due to disruption in our manufacturing and supply arrangements caused by the loss or disruption of essential manufacturing and supply elements such as raw materials or other finished product components, transportation, workforce, or other manufacturing and distribution capability;
•incurrence of additional labor and operating costs, including costs associated with increased compensation to certain employees in our factories and distribution network, along with the provision of additional cleaning, disinfectants and sanitation materials to help keep our employees safe and to protect the communities that we serve;
•disruption in operations if a significant percentage of our workforce is unable to work due to illness, travel or other government restrictions, or other reasons in connection with epidemics, pandemics or disease outbreaks; and
•other increased administrative costs, including insurance costs.
Despite our efforts to manage and remedy these impacts, their ultimate significance depends on factors beyond our knowledge or control, including the duration and severity of any such outbreak as well as third-party actions taken to contain the spread and mitigate public health effects.
Our business has been negatively impacted and could be further negatively impacted over the intermediate to longer term if ongoing disruptions related to COVID-19 and the spread of variant strains continue. For example, changes in consumer demand, combined with other COVID-19-related issues, have unfavorably impacted the operating results of both our segments as a result of higher hourly wage rates, increased costs for personal protective equipment, higher expenditures attributed to incremental co-manufacturing volumes, increased complexity and uncertainty in production planning and forecasting, and overall lower levels of efficiency in our production and distribution network. In addition, supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, and rising commodity and other input costs have been, and in the future may continue to be, exacerbated by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. If we are perceived as having responded improperly to the pandemic, we could suffer damage to our reputation and our brands. The items above and other impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic could have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, such as those relating to our reputation, product sales, results of operations or financial condition. The severity, magnitude and duration of the current COVID-19 pandemic are uncertain and depend on events beyond our knowledge or control. We might not be able to anticipate or respond to all impacts on a timely basis to prevent near- or long-term adverse impacts to our results. As a result, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Cyber attacks, data breaches or other breaches of our information security systems have had and in the future could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Cyber attacks, data breaches or other breaches of our information security systems, as well as those of our third-party service providers and other third parties with which we do business, may cause equipment failures or disruptions to our operations. Our inability to operate our networks and information security systems as a result of such events, even for a limited period of time, may result in significant expenses. Cyber attacks, which include the use of malware, ransomware, computer viruses and other means for disruption or unauthorized access, have increased in frequency, scope and potential harm in recent years and may remain undetected for an extended period. Hardware, software or applications we utilize may contain defects in design or manufacture or other problems that could unexpectedly compromise information security, potentially resulting in the unauthorized disclosure and misappropriation of sensitive data, including intellectual property, proprietary business
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information, and personal data. Furthermore, our increased use of mobile and cloud technologies, including as a result of our transition to our new enterprise resource planning system, has heightened these cybersecurity and privacy risks. In addition, techniques used to obtain unauthorized access to information or to sabotage information technology systems change frequently. We have seen, and will likely continue to see, industry-wide vulnerabilities which could affect our systems or those of our third-party service providers or other third parties with which we do business.
While we have been subject to cyber attacks, none of these events has been material to our operations or financial condition. Our efforts to protect the security of our information relative to our perceived risks may be insufficient to defend against a significant cyber attack in the future. The costs associated with a significant cyber attack could include increased expenditures on cyber security measures, lost revenues from business interruption, litigation, regulatory fines and penalties and substantial damage to our reputation, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
The cost and efforts expended in our attempts to prevent cyber security attacks and data breaches may continue to be significant, and our efforts to prevent these attacks may not be successful. New data security laws and regulations are being implemented rapidly, are evolving, and may not be compatible with our current processes. Changing our processes could be time consuming and expensive. Further, we may not be able to timely implement required changes, and failure to do so could subject us to liability for non-compliance. If we fail to prevent the theft of valuable information such as financial data, sensitive information about the Company and intellectual property, or if we fail to protect the privacy of customers’, consumers’ and employees’ confidential data against breaches of network or information technology security, it could result in substantial damage to our reputation and an impairment of business partner confidences and brand image, which could adversely impact our employee, customer and investor relations. Any of these occurrences could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Any potential claim under our insurance policies relating to cyber events may be subject to certain exceptions or may not be honored fully, in a timely manner, or at all. We may not have purchased sufficient insurance to cover all material costs and losses, and in the future, we may not be able to obtain adequate liability insurance on commercially desirable or reasonable terms or at all.
We may experience difficulties in implementing our new enterprise resource planning system.
We are in the midst of a multi-year implementation of a new enterprise resource planning system (“ERP”), which will replace our existing financial and operating systems. The implementation of this ERP requires an investment of significant personnel and financial resources, including substantial expenditures for outside consultants, system hardware and software in addition to other expenses in connection with the transformation of our organizational structure and financial and operating processes. We have experienced delays in the implementation of this ERP primarily due to the impacts of COVID-19. As we complete the implementation phase of this ERP, we may experience additional delays, increased costs and other difficulties, including potential design defects, miscalculations, testing requirements, re-work due to changes in business plans or reporting standards, and the diversion of management’s attention from day-to-day business operations. Additional extended delays could also introduce operational risk, including cyber security risks, and other complications. If we are unable to implement this ERP as planned, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting could be adversely affected, our ability to assess those controls adequately could be delayed, and our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be negatively impacted.
Our inability to successfully renegotiate collective bargaining contracts and any prolonged work stoppages could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
We believe that our labor relations with employees under collective bargaining contracts are satisfactory, but our inability to negotiate the renewal of any collective bargaining agreements, including the agreement at our Vineland, New Jersey facility, which is currently scheduled to expire in December 2022, or any prolonged work stoppages could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
The loss of the services of one or more members of our senior management team could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Our operations and prospects depend in large part on the performance of our senior management team, several of which are long-serving employees with significant knowledge of our business model and operations. Should we not be able to find qualified replacements or successors for any of these individuals if their services were no longer available due to retirement, resignation or otherwise, our ability to manage our operations or successfully execute our business strategy may be materially and adversely affected.
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Manufacturing capacity constraints may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Our current manufacturing resources may be inadequate to meet significantly increased demand for some of our food products. Our ability to increase our manufacturing capacity to satisfy demand depends on many factors, including the availability of capital, construction lead-times and delays, equipment availability and delivery lead-times, successful installation and start up, the availability of adequate skilled and unskilled labor, regulatory permitting and other regulatory requirements. Increasing capacity through the use of third-party manufacturers depends on our ability to develop and maintain such relationships and the ability of such third parties to devote additional capacity to fill our orders.
A lack of sufficient manufacturing capacity to meet demand could cause our customer service levels to decrease, which may negatively affect customer demand for our products and customer relations generally, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. In addition, operating facilities at or near capacity may also increase production and distribution costs and negatively affect relations with our employees or contractors, which could result in disruptions in our operations.
We may require significant capital expenditures to maintain, improve or replace aging infrastructure and facilities, which could adversely affect our cash flows.
Some of our infrastructure and facilities have been in service for many years, which may result in a higher level of future maintenance costs and unscheduled repairs. Further, a portion of our infrastructure and facilities may need to be improved or replaced to maintain or increase operational efficiency, sustain production capacity, or meet changing regulatory requirements. A significant increase in maintenance costs and capital expenditures could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. In addition, a failure to operate our facilities optimally could result in declining customer service capabilities, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
We may not be able to successfully consummate proposed acquisitions or divestitures, and integrating acquired businesses may present financial, managerial and operational challenges.
We continually evaluate the acquisition of other businesses that would strategically fit within our operations. If we are unable to consummate, successfully integrate and grow these acquisitions or realize contemplated revenue growth, synergies and cost savings, our financial results could be adversely affected. In addition, we may, from time to time, divest or seek to divest businesses, product lines or other operations that are less of a strategic fit within our portfolio or do not meet our growth or profitability targets, particularly as customer demands evolve in the face of inflationary and other broader market factors. We may not be able to consummate any such divestitures on favorable terms or at all, in which case we may determine to exit the business, product line or other operations. As a result, our profitability may be adversely affected by losses on the sales of divested assets or lost operating income or cash flows from those businesses. We may also incur asset impairment or restructuring charges related to acquired or divested assets, which may reduce our profitability and cash flows.
These potential acquisitions or divestitures present financial, managerial and operational challenges, including diversion of management attention from ongoing businesses, difficulty with integrating or separating personnel and financial and other systems, increased expenses, assumption of unknown liabilities, indemnities and potential disputes with the buyers or sellers.
Climate change, including drought, and increasingly stringent legal and market measures to address climate change may present challenges to our business and adversely affect our business, reputation, operations and supply chain.
The effects of climate change expose us to physical, financial and operational risks, both directly and indirectly. Climate change may have a negative effect on agricultural productivity and subject us to decreased availability or less favorable pricing for certain raw materials that are necessary for our products, including, but not limited to, soybean oil, corn and corn syrup, sugar, and wheat (including durum wheat). In addition, we may be subject to decreased availability or less favorable pricing of soybean oil as a result of increased demand for soybean oil in the production of alternative fuels, such as biodiesel.
Increases in the frequency and severity of extreme weather and natural disasters, such as drought, may continue to result in material damage and disruptions to our manufacturing operations and distribution channels or our third-party manufacturers’ operations, particularly where a product is primarily sourced from a single location impacted by a climate event. This may require us to make additional unplanned capital expenditures, increase the prices of our raw materials due to sourcing from other locations, increase our cost of transporting and storing raw materials, or disrupt our production schedules.
Also, drought or other climate events may cause unpredictable water availability or exacerbate water scarcity. Water is critical to our business, including the operations of the suppliers on whom we depend, and the lack of available water of acceptable quality may lead to, among other things, adverse effects on our operations.
The increasing concern over climate change and related environmental sustainability matters also has and is likely to continue to result in more federal, state, and local legal and regulatory requirements, including requirements affecting key
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energy inputs in the manufacturing and distribution of our products, such as natural gas, diesel fuel, and electricity. These laws and regulations may include requirements to conserve water or mitigate the effects of greenhouse gas emissions. Depending on the nature of such legal requirements, we may experience significant increases in our compliance costs, capital expenditures, and other financial obligations to adapt our business and operations to meet new laws and regulations, which could materially affect our profitability.
Further, our businesses could be adversely affected if we are unable to effectively address increased concerns from the media, shareholders, customers, and other stakeholders on climate change and related environmental sustainability and governance matters.
RISKS RELATED TO THE BRANDS WE SELL AND CUSTOMER DEMAND FOR OUR PRODUCTS
We rely on the value of the brands we sell, and the failure to maintain and enhance these brands could adversely affect our business.
We rely on the success of our well-recognized brand names. Maintaining and enhancing our brand image and recognition is essential to our long-term success, and maintaining license agreements under which we market and sell certain brands is important to our business. The failure to do either could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We seek to maintain and enhance our brands through a variety of efforts, including the delivery of quality products, extending our brands into new markets and new products and investing in marketing and advertising. The costs of maintaining and enhancing our brands, including maintaining our rights to brands under license agreements, may increase. These increased costs could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
We also manufacture and sell numerous products pursuant to brand license agreements including Olive Garden® dressings, Buffalo Wild Wings® sauces and Chick-fil-A® sauces. Our brand license agreements are typically for a fixed term, ranging from three to five years, with no automatic renewal options or provisions. We cannot ensure that we will maintain good relationships with our brand licensors or that we will be able to renew any of our license agreements upon expiration. Our key brand license agreements can be terminated or not renewed at the option of the licensor upon short notice to us. The termination of our brand license agreements, the failure to renew our brand license agreements or to renew them on terms favorable to us, adverse changes in the economic health or reputation of our brand licensors, or the impairment of our relationships with our brand licensors could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
In addition, we increasingly rely on electronic marketing, such as social media platforms and the use of online marketing strategies, to support and enhance our brands. This “e-commerce” marketplace is growing and evolving quickly and allows for the rapid dissemination of information regarding our brands by us and consumers. We may not be able to successfully adapt our marketing efforts to this rapidly changing marketplace, which could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Further, negative opinions or commentary posted online regarding our brands, regardless of their underlying merits or accuracy, could diminish the value of our brands and have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Competitive conditions within our Retail and Foodservice markets could impact our sales volumes and operating profits.
Competition within all of our markets is expected to remain intense. Numerous competitors exist, many of which are larger than us in size. These competitive conditions could lead to significant downward pressure on the prices of our products, which could have a material adverse effect on our sales and profitability.
Competitive considerations in the various product categories in which we sell are numerous and include price, product innovation, product quality, brand recognition and loyalty, effectiveness of marketing, promotional activity and the ability to remain relevant to consumer preferences and trends. In order to maintain our existing market share or capture increased market share among our retail and foodservice channels, we may decide to increase our spending on marketing and promotional costs, advertising and new product innovation. The success of marketing, advertising and new product innovation is subject to risks, including uncertainties about trade and consumer acceptance. As a result, any such increased expenditures may not maintain or enhance our market share and could result in lower profitability.
Walmart is our largest Retail customer. The loss of, or a significant reduction in, Walmart’s business, or an adverse change in the financial condition of Walmart, could result in a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Our net sales to Walmart represented 18% of consolidated net sales for each of the years ended June 30, 2022 and 2021. Our accounts receivable balance from Walmart as of June 30, 2022 was $33.1 million. We may not be able to maintain our relationship with Walmart, and Walmart is not contractually obligated to purchase from us. In addition, changes in Walmart’s general business model, such as reducing the shelf space devoted to the branded products we market, or devoting more shelf space to competing products, could adversely affect the profitability of our business with Walmart, even if we maintain a good
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relationship. The loss of, or a significant reduction in, this business could have a material adverse effect on our sales and profitability. Unfavorable changes in Walmart’s financial condition or other disruptions to Walmart’s business, such as decreased consumer demand or stronger competition, could also have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Chick-fil-A represents a significant portion of our Foodservice segment sales. The loss of, or a significant reduction in, this national chain restaurant’s business, or an adverse change in Chick-fil-A’s financial condition, could result in a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Sales to Chick-fil-A in our Foodservice segment, which are made indirectly through several foodservice distributors including McLane, represented 18% and 17% of consolidated net sales for the years ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. We cannot ensure that we will be able to maintain good relationships with key national chain restaurant accounts in the future. We do not have any long-term purchase commitments, and we may be unable to continue to sell our products in the same quantities or on the same terms as in the past. The loss of, or a significant reduction in, this business could have a material adverse effect on our sales and profitability. Further, unfavorable changes in Chick-fil-A’s financial condition or other disruptions to its business, such as decreased consumer demand or stronger competition, could also have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
McLane is our largest Foodservice customer. An adverse change in the financial condition of McLane could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Our net sales to McLane represented 11% and 13% of consolidated net sales for the years ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. Our accounts receivable balance from McLane as of June 30, 2022 was $14.4 million. McLane is a large, national distributor that sells and distributes our products to several of our foodservice national chain restaurant accounts, principally in the quick service, fast casual and casual dining channels. In general, these national chain restaurants have direct relationships with us for culinary research and development, menu development and production needs, but choose to buy our products through McLane, who acts as their distributor. McLane orders our products on behalf of these national chain restaurants, and we invoice McLane for these sales. Thus, unfavorable changes in the financial condition of McLane could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. In addition, the loss of, or a significant reduction in, our business with the underlying national chain restaurants, or other disruptions, such as decreased consumer demand or stronger competition, could also have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. We cannot ensure that we will be able to maintain good relationships with McLane and the underlying national chain restaurants. McLane and the underlying national chain restaurants are not typically committed to long-term contractual obligations with us, and they may switch to other suppliers that offer lower prices, differentiated products or customer service that McLane and/or the underlying national chain restaurants perceive to be more favorable. In addition, changes in the general business model of McLane, or the underlying national chain restaurants, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
We rely on the performance of major retailers, mass merchants, wholesalers, food brokers, distributors and foodservice customers for the success of our business and, should they perform poorly or give higher priority to other brands or products, our business could be adversely affected.
Within our Retail and Foodservice segments, we sell our products principally to retail and foodservice channels, including traditional supermarkets, mass merchants, warehouse clubs, specialty food distributors, foodservice distributors and national chain restaurants. Poor performance by our customers, or our inability to collect accounts receivable from our customers, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
In addition, our future growth and profitability may be unfavorably impacted by recent changes in the competitive landscape for our Retail segment customers. As consolidation in the retail grocery industry continues and our retail customers also grow larger and become more sophisticated, they may demand improved efficiency, lower pricing, increased promotional programs, or specifically tailored products. Further, these customers are reducing their inventories and increasing their emphasis on private label products and other products holding top market positions. Traditional retail grocers are also being pressured by the growing presence of deep discount retailers that emphasize private label product offerings and lower price points. If we fail to use our sales and marketing expertise to maintain our category leadership positions to respond to these trends, or if we lower our prices or increase promotional support of our products and are unable to increase the volume of our products sold, our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be adversely affected.
Furthermore, within our Retail segment, many of our customers offer competitor branded products and their own store branded products that compete directly with our products for shelf space and consumer purchases. Accordingly, there is a risk that these customers give higher priority or promotional support to their store branded products or to our competitors’ products or discontinue the use of our products in favor of their store branded products or other competing products. Likewise, our foodservice distributors often offer their own branded products that compete directly with our products. Failure to maintain our
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retail shelf space or priority with these customers and foodservice distributors could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Emerging channels such as online retailers and home meal kit delivery services also continue to evolve and impact both the retail and foodservice industries. Our presence in these emerging channels is currently underdeveloped, and our ultimate success and the resulting impacts to our financial results are uncertain.
RISKS RELATED TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Technology failures could disrupt our operations and negatively impact our business.
We increasingly rely on information technology systems to conduct and manage our business operations, including the processing, transmitting, and storing of electronic information. For example, our sales group and our production and distribution facilities utilize information technology to increase efficiencies and limit costs. Furthermore, a significant portion of the communications between our personnel, customers, and suppliers depends on information technology and an uninterrupted and functioning infrastructure, including telecommunications. Our information technology systems may be vulnerable to a variety of interruptions due to events beyond our control, including, but not limited to, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, telecommunications failures, cyber attacks and other security issues. Our information technology systems could also be adversely affected by changes that result from COVID-19, including for example, remote work arrangements for our employees. If we are unable to adequately protect against these vulnerabilities, our operations could be disrupted, or we may suffer financial damage or loss because of lost or misappropriated information.
For more information about risks related to cyber attacks and data privacy, see the “Risks Related To Our Operations” section above and the “Risks Related to Regulatory and Legal Matters” section below.
RISKS RELATED TO REGULATORY AND LEGAL MATTERS
We are subject to federal, state and local government regulations that could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
Our business operations are subject to regulation by various federal, state and local government entities and agencies. As a producer of food products for human consumption, our operations are subject to stringent production, packaging, quality, labeling and distribution standards, including regulations promulgated under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and the Food Safety Modernization Act. We cannot predict whether future regulation by various federal, state and local government entities and agencies would adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
In addition, our business operations and the past and present ownership and operation of our properties, including idle properties, are subject to extensive and changing federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations pertaining to the discharge of materials into the environment, the handling and disposition of wastes (including solid and hazardous wastes) or otherwise relating to protection of the environment. Although most of our properties have been subjected to periodic environmental assessments, these assessments may be limited in scope and may not include or identify all potential environmental liabilities or risks associated with any particular property. We cannot be certain that our environmental assessments have identified all potential environmental liabilities or that we will not incur material environmental liabilities in the future.
We cannot be certain that environmental issues relating to presently known matters or identified sites, or to other unknown matters or sites, will not require additional, currently unanticipated investigation, assessment or expenditures. If we do incur or discover any material environmental liabilities or potential environmental liabilities in the future, we may face significant remediation costs and find it difficult to sell or lease any affected properties.
Failure to comply with current or future federal, state and foreign laws and regulations and industry standards relating to privacy and data protection could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
We are subject to various privacy, information security, and data protection laws, rules and regulations that present an ever-evolving regulatory landscape across multiple jurisdictions and industry sections. Federal, state, and foreign legislators and regulators are increasingly adopting or revising privacy, information security, and data protection laws, rules and regulations that could have a significant impact on our current and planned privacy, data protection, and information security-related practices, including our collection, use, storing, sharing, retention, safeguarding and other processing of certain types of consumer or employee information, which could further increase our costs of compliance and business operations and could reduce income from certain business initiatives.
For example, we are subject to the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”) and will become subject to the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”), which has required us to modify our data processing practices and policies and incur compliance-related costs and expenses. The effects of the CCPA, the CPRA, and other laws, rules or regulations relating to
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privacy, data protection and information security that apply now or in the future, particularly any new or modified laws or regulations that require enhanced protection of certain types of data or new obligations with regard to data retention, transfer or disclosure, are significant, may require us to modify our data processing practices and policies, and could increase our costs, require significant changes to our operations, prevent us from providing certain offerings or cause us to incur potential liability in an effort to comply with such legislation.
Due to the uncertainty surrounding the interpretation and application of many privacy and data protection requirements, laws, regulations, and contractually imposed industry standards, it is possible that these requirements may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent with our existing data management practices or business activities. If so, in addition to the possibility of substantial fines, lawsuits and other claims and penalties, we could be required to make fundamental changes to our data management practices and business activities, which could have an adverse effect on our business. Failure to adequately address privacy and security concerns, even if unfounded, or comply with applicable privacy and data security laws, rules, regulations and policies could result in additional cost and liability to us, damage our reputation, inhibit growth, and otherwise adversely affect our business.
We may incur liabilities related to a multiemployer pension plan which could adversely affect our financial results.
We make periodic contributions to a multiemployer pension plan related to our facility in Milpitas, California under a collective bargaining contract. The multiemployer pension plan provides pension benefits to employees and retired employees participating in the plan. Our required contributions to this plan could increase; however, any increase would be dependent upon a number of factors, including our ability to renegotiate the collective bargaining contract successfully, current and future regulatory requirements, the performance of the pension plan’s investments, the number of participants who are entitled to receive benefits from the plan, the contribution base as a result of the insolvency or withdrawal of other companies that currently contribute to this plan, the inability or failure of withdrawing companies to pay their withdrawal liability, low interest rates and other funding deficiencies. We may also be required to pay a withdrawal liability if we exit from this plan. While we cannot determine whether and to what extent our contributions may increase or what our withdrawal liability may be, payments related to this plan could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
RISKS RELATED TO INVESTMENTS IN OUR COMMON STOCK
Mr. Gerlach, Executive Chairman of our Board of Directors, has a significant ownership interest in our Company.
As of June 30, 2022, Mr. Gerlach and the Gerlach family trusts owned or controlled approximately 28% of the outstanding shares of our common stock. Accordingly, Mr. Gerlach has significant influence on all matters submitted to a vote of the holders of our common stock, including the election of directors. Mr. Gerlach’s voting power may also have the effect of discouraging transactions involving an actual or a potential change of control of our Company, regardless of whether a premium is offered over then-current market prices.
The interests of Mr. Gerlach may conflict with the interests of other holders of our common stock. This conflict of interest may have an adverse effect on the price of our common stock.
Anti-takeover provisions could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us.
Certain provisions of our charter documents, including provisions limiting the ability of shareholders to raise matters at a meeting of shareholders without giving advance notice and provisions classifying our Board of Directors, may make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us or influence our Board of Directors. This may have the effect of delaying or preventing changes of control or management, which could have an adverse effect on the market price of our stock.
Additionally, Ohio corporate law contains certain provisions that could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control. The Ohio Control Share Acquisition Act found in Chapter 1701 of the Ohio Revised Code provides that certain notice and informational filings and a special shareholder meeting and voting procedures must be followed prior to consummation of a proposed “control share acquisition,” as defined in the Ohio Revised Code. Assuming compliance with the prescribed notice and information filings, a proposed control share acquisition may be accomplished only if, at a special meeting of shareholders, the acquisition is approved by both a majority of the voting power represented at the meeting and a majority of the voting power remaining after excluding the combined voting power of the “interested shares,” as defined in the Ohio Revised Code. The Interested Shareholder Transactions Act found in Chapter 1704 of the Ohio Revised Code generally prohibits certain transactions, including mergers, majority share acquisitions and certain other control transactions, with an “interested shareholder,” as defined in the Ohio Revised Code, for a three-year period after becoming an interested shareholder, unless our Board of Directors approved the initial acquisition. After the three-year waiting period, such a transaction may require additional approvals under this Act, including approval by two-thirds of our voting shares and a majority of our voting shares not owned by the interested shareholder. The application of these provisions of the Ohio Revised Code, or any similar anti-takeover law adopted in Ohio, could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control, which could have an adverse effect on the market price of our stock.
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Also, our Board of Directors has the authority to issue up to 1,150,000 shares of Class B Voting Preferred Stock and 1,150,000 shares of Class C Nonvoting Preferred Stock and to determine the price, rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions of those shares without any further vote or action by the shareholders. The rights of the holders of our common stock may be subject to, and may be adversely affected by, the rights of the holders of any Class B Voting Preferred Stock and Class C Nonvoting Preferred Stock that may be issued in the future. The Company could use these rights to put in place a shareholder rights plan, or “poison pill,” that could be used in connection with a bid or proposal of acquisition for an inadequate price.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
None.
Item 2. Properties
We use 2.5 million square feet of space for our operations. Of this space, 0.8 million square feet are leased. These amounts exclude facilities operated by third-party service providers.
The following table summarizes our principal manufacturing locations (including aggregation of multiple facilities):
| Location | Principal Products Produced | Business Segment(s) | Terms of Occupancy | |||||||||||||||||
| Altoona, IA | Frozen pasta | Retail and Foodservice | Owned | |||||||||||||||||
| Bedford Heights, OH | Frozen breads | Retail and Foodservice | Owned | |||||||||||||||||
| Columbus, OH | Sauces, dressings, dips | Retail and Foodservice | Owned | |||||||||||||||||
| Cudahy, WI | Sprouted grain bakery products | Retail | Owned | |||||||||||||||||
| Horse Cave, KY | Sauces, dressings, frozen rolls | Retail and Foodservice | Owned | |||||||||||||||||
| Luverne, AL | Frozen rolls | Retail and Foodservice | Owned | |||||||||||||||||
| Milpitas, CA | Sauces and dressings | Retail and Foodservice | Owned | |||||||||||||||||
| Saline, MI | Flatbread products | Retail and Foodservice | Owned | |||||||||||||||||
| Vineland, NJ | Frozen breads | Retail and Foodservice | Owned | |||||||||||||||||
Wareham, MA (1) | Croutons | Retail and Foodservice | Leased | |||||||||||||||||
(1)Fully leased for term expiring in fiscal 2024.
The following table summarizes our principal warehouses (including aggregation of multiple facilities), which are used to distribute products to our customers:
| Location | Business Segment(s) | Terms of Occupancy | ||||||||||||
Altoona, IA (1) | Retail and Foodservice | Leased | ||||||||||||
Columbus, OH (2) | Retail and Foodservice | Leased | ||||||||||||
| Grove City, OH | Retail and Foodservice | Owned | ||||||||||||
| Horse Cave, KY | Retail and Foodservice | Owned | ||||||||||||
| McDonough, GA | Retail and Foodservice | Third-party service | ||||||||||||
| Shepherdsville, KY | Foodservice | Third-party service | ||||||||||||
| Tracy, CA | Retail and Foodservice | Third-party service | ||||||||||||
(1)Fully leased for term expiring in fiscal 2026.
(2)Fully leased for terms expiring in fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2027.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings
From time to time we are a party to various legal proceedings. While we believe that the ultimate outcome of these various proceedings, individually and in the aggregate, is not expected to have a material effect on our consolidated financial statements, litigation is always subject to inherent uncertainties, and unfavorable rulings could occur. An unfavorable ruling could include monetary damages or an injunction prohibiting us from manufacturing or selling one or more products or could lead to us altering the manner in which we manufacture or sell one or more products, which could have a material impact on net income for the period in which the ruling occurs and future periods.
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We are required to disclose certain environmental matters when a governmental authority is a party to the proceedings and such proceedings involve potential monetary sanctions that we reasonably believe will be in excess of an applied threshold not to exceed $1 million. We are using a threshold of $1 million as we believe this amount is reasonably designed to result in disclosure of such proceedings that are material to our business or financial condition. Applying this threshold, there are no environmental matters to disclose in this Form 10-K.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
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PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Our common stock trades on The NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol LANC.
The number of shareholders of record as of August 1, 2022 was approximately 680. This is not the actual number of beneficial owners of our common stock, as shares are held in “street name” by brokers and others on behalf of individual owners.
We have increased our regular cash dividends for 59 consecutive years. Future dividends will depend on our earnings, financial condition and other factors.
The information regarding compensation plans under which equity securities are authorized for issuance is incorporated by reference to the information contained in our definitive proxy statement for our November 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be filed with the SEC pursuant to Regulation 14A promulgated under the Exchange Act.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
In November 2010, our Board of Directors approved a share repurchase authorization of 2,000,000 common shares, of which 1,225,545 common shares remained authorized for future repurchases at June 30, 2022. This share repurchase authorization does not have a stated expiration date. In the fourth quarter, we made the following repurchases of our common stock:
| Period | Total Number of Shares Purchased | Average Price Paid Per Share | Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans | Maximum Number of Shares that May Yet be Purchased Under the Plans | |||||||||||||||||||
April 1-30, 2022 (1) | 450 | $ | 155.14 | 450 | 1,225,646 | ||||||||||||||||||
May 1-31, 2022 (1) | 68 | $ | 121.72 | 68 | 1,225,578 | ||||||||||||||||||
June 1-30, 2022 (1) | 33 | $ | 128.78 | 33 | 1,225,545 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 551 | $ | 149.44 | 551 | 1,225,545 | ||||||||||||||||||
(1)Represents shares that were repurchased in satisfaction of tax withholding obligations arising from the vesting of restricted stock granted to employees under the Lancaster Colony Corporation 2015 Omnibus Incentive Plan.
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PERFORMANCE GRAPH
COMPARISON OF FIVE-YEAR CUMULATIVE TOTAL SHAREHOLDER RETURN
OF LANCASTER COLONY CORPORATION, THE S&P MIDCAP 400 INDEX
AND THE DOW JONES U.S. FOOD PRODUCERS INDEX
The graph set forth below compares the five-year cumulative total return from investing $100 on June 30, 2017 in each of our Common Stock, the S&P Midcap 400 Index and the Dow Jones U.S. Food Producers Index. The total return calculation assumes that all dividends are reinvested, including any special dividends.
| Cumulative Total Return (Dollars) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6/17 | 6/18 | 6/19 | 6/20 | 6/21 | 6/22 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lancaster Colony Corporation | 100.00 | 115.02 | 125.49 | 133.22 | 169.06 | 114.95 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| S&P Midcap 400 | 100.00 | 113.50 | 115.05 | 107.35 | 164.49 | 140.41 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dow Jones U.S. Food Producers | 100.00 | 97.97 | 101.62 | 104.00 | 129.68 | 134.23 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
There can be no assurance that our stock performance will continue into the future with the same or similar trends depicted in the above graph.
Item 6. [Reserved]
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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
Our fiscal year begins on July 1 and ends on June 30. Unless otherwise noted, references to “year” pertain to our fiscal year; for example, 2022 refers to fiscal 2022, which is the period from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022.
The following discussion should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The forward-looking statements in this section and other parts of this report involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, including statements regarding our plans, objectives, goals, strategies, and financial performance. Our actual results could differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of factors set forth under the caption “Forward-Looking Statements” and those set forth in Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Our discussion of results for 2022 compared to 2021 is included herein. For discussion of results for 2021 compared to 2020, see our 2021 Annual Report on Form 10-K.
OVERVIEW
Business Overview
Lancaster Colony Corporation is a manufacturer and marketer of specialty food products for the retail and foodservice channels.
Our financial results are presented as two reportable segments: Retail and Foodservice. Costs that are directly attributable to either Retail or Foodservice are charged directly to the appropriate segment. Costs that are deemed to be indirect, excluding corporate expenses and other unusual significant transactions, are allocated to the two reportable segments using a reasonable methodology that is consistently applied. In 2021, our Chief Operating Decision Maker (“CODM”), in order to drive enhanced accountability and transparency throughout our organization, initiated a review of functional costs that had historically been part of the indirect costs allocated to our two reportable segments. This review was completed as part of our preparation for our enterprise resource planning system (“ERP”) implementation. As a result of this review, our CODM identified certain support functions that were more appropriately presented within corporate expenses to facilitate the management of the business, including assessing segment performance and allocating resources. These changes were effective in 2021, and all historical information was retroactively conformed to the current presentation. These changes had no effect on previously reported consolidated net sales, gross profit, operating income, net income or earnings per share.
Over 95% of our products are sold in the United States. Foreign operations and export sales have not been significant in the past and are not expected to be significant in the future based upon existing operations. We do not have any fixed assets located outside of the United States.
Our business has the potential to achieve future growth in sales and profitability due to attributes such as:
•leading Retail market positions in several product categories with a high-quality perception;
•recognized innovation in Retail products;
•a broad customer base in both Retail and Foodservice accounts;
•well-regarded culinary expertise among Foodservice customers;
•recognized leadership in Foodservice product development;
•experience in integrating complementary business acquisitions; and
•historically strong cash flow generation that supports growth opportunities.
Our goal is to grow both Retail and Foodservice segment sales over time by:
•introducing new products and expanding distribution;
•leveraging the strength of our Retail brands to increase current product sales;
•expanding Retail growth through strategic licensing agreements;
•continuing to rely upon the strength of our reputation in Foodservice product development and quality; and
•acquiring complementary businesses.
With respect to long-term growth, we continually evaluate the future opportunities and needs for our business specific to our plant infrastructure, IT platforms and other initiatives to support and strengthen our operations. Recent examples of resulting investments include:
•a significant capacity expansion project for our Marzetti dressing and sauce facility in Horse Cave, Kentucky that we expect to complete in the first half of fiscal 2023;
•a capacity expansion project for one of our Marzetti dressing and sauce facilities in Columbus, Ohio that was completed in January 2022;
•a significant infrastructure improvement and capacity expansion project for our frozen pasta facility in Altoona, Iowa that was completed in March 2022;
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•a significant capacity expansion project for our Sister Schubert’s frozen dinner roll facility in Horse Cave, Kentucky that was completed in January 2020; and
•the establishment of a Transformation Program Office in 2019 that serves to coordinate our various capital and integration efforts, including our ERP project and related initiatives, Project Ascent, that is currently underway.
Project Ascent commenced in late 2019 and entails the replacement of our primary customer and manufacturing transactional systems, warehousing systems, and financial systems with an integrated SAP S/4HANA system. Implementation of this system began in July 2022 and will continue throughout fiscal 2023. Customer fulfillment levels remained strong before and after the system cutover with no unplanned disruptions in receiving orders, producing products or shipping orders. We anticipate full deployment throughout our organization in the next 12-18 months.
Post implementation, Project Ascent will evolve into an on-going Center of Excellence (“COE”) that will provide oversight for all future upgrades of the S/4HANA environment, evaluation of future software needs to support the business, acquisition integration support and master data standards. Most of the on-going COE costs are expected to consist of annual software maintenance and support, consulting and professional fees and wages and benefits.
BUSINESS TRENDS
Dating back to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the effects of COVID-19 on consumer behavior have impacted the relative demand for our Retail and Foodservice products. More specifically, beginning in March 2020, there has been an overall shift in consumer demand towards increased at-home food consumption and away from in-restaurant dining. While this shift in demand has been inconsistent and volatile, on balance it has positively impacted our Retail segment sales and negatively impacted our Foodservice segment sales. From an operations standpoint, the shift in demand, combined with other COVID-19-related issues, has unfavorably impacted the operating results of both our segments. These issues include higher hourly wage rates paid to our front-line employees, increased costs for personal protective equipment, higher expenditures attributed to incremental co-manufacturing volumes, increased complexity and uncertainty in production planning and forecasting, and overall lower levels of efficiency in our production and distribution network.
The inflationary cost environment we experienced during 2022 resulted in significantly higher input costs for our business. During 2022, we endured unprecedented inflationary costs for commodities, particularly soybean oil and flour, in addition to notably higher costs for packaging, freight and warehousing, and labor. This cost inflation was attributed to numerous factors such as the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in the Ukraine, climate and weather conditions, supply chain disruptions, including some raw material and packaging shortages, a tight labor market, and government-directed fiscal stimulus actions.
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RESULTS OF CONSOLIDATED OPERATIONS
(Dollars in thousands, except per share data) | Years Ended June 30, | Change | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2022 vs. 2021 | 2021 vs. 2020 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net Sales | $ | 1,676,390 | $ | 1,467,067 | $ | 1,334,388 | $ | 209,323 | 14 | % | $ | 132,679 | 10 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cost of Sales | 1,320,671 | 1,080,344 | 976,352 | 240,327 | 22 | % | 103,992 | 11 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gross Profit | 355,719 | 386,723 | 358,036 | (31,004) | (8) | % | 28,687 | 8 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gross Margin | 21.2 | % | 26.4 | % | 26.8 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Selling, General and Administrative Expenses | 212,098 | 205,363 | 180,945 | 6,735 | 3 | % | 24,418 | 13 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Change in Contingent Consideration | (3,470) | (5,687) | 257 | 2,217 | (39) | % | (5,944) | N/M | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Restructuring and Impairment Charges | 35,180 | 1,195 | 886 | 33,985 | N/M | 309 | 35 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating Income | 111,911 | 185,852 | 175,948 | (73,941) | (40) | % | 9,904 | 6 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating Margin | 6.7 | % | 12.7 | % | 13.2 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other, Net | 477 | (107) | 3,129 | 584 | 546 | % | (3,236) | (103) | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Income Before Income Taxes | 112,388 | 185,745 | 179,077 | (73,357) | (39) | % | 6,668 | 4 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxes Based on Income | 22,802 | 43,413 | 42,094 | (20,611) | (47) | % | 1,319 | 3 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Effective Tax Rate | 20.3 | % | 23.4 | % | 23.5 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net Income | $ | 89,586 | $ | 142,332 | $ | 136,983 | $ | (52,746) | (37) | % | $ | 5,349 | 4 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Diluted Net Income Per Common Share | $ | 3.25 | $ | 5.16 | $ | 4.97 | $ | (1.91) | (37) | % | $ | 0.19 | 4 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net Sales
Consolidated net sales for the year ended June 30, 2022 increased 14% to a new record of $1,676 million from the prior-year record total of $1,467 million. This growth was driven by higher net sales for both the Retail and Foodservice segments, including the favorable impact of pricing actions. Consolidated sales volumes, measured in pounds shipped, increased 2% in 2022. In the prior year, consolidated sales volumes increased 3%.
The relative proportion of sales contributed by each of our business segments can impact a year-to-year comparison of the consolidated statements of income. The following table summarizes the sales mix over each of the last three years:
| 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | |||||||||||||||
| Segment Sales Mix: | |||||||||||||||||
| Retail | 55% | 57% | 54% | ||||||||||||||
| Foodservice | 45% | 43% | 46% | ||||||||||||||
See discussion of net sales by segment following the discussion of “Earnings Per Share” below.
Gross Profit
Consolidated gross profit decreased 8% to $355.7 million in 2022 compared to $386.7 million in 2021 as we endured unprecedented inflationary costs for commodities, packaging, freight and warehousing, and labor. We also incurred incremental expenditures attributed to our increased reliance upon co-manufacturers to help satisfy demand. While our pricing actions helped to offset the impacts of inflation, the gross profit decline reflects an extremely challenging operating environment that, beyond inflation, includes the unfavorable effects of supply chain disruptions, demand volatility and uncertainty, suboptimal capacity utilization, and overall lower productivity resulting in substantially higher costs to produce our products and service our customers.
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Selling, General and Administrative Expenses
| Year Ended June 30, | Change | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Dollars in thousands) | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2022 vs. 2021 | 2021 vs. 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SG&A Expenses - Excluding Project Ascent | $ | 172,771 | $ | 167,480 | $ | 162,910 | $ | 5,291 | 3 | % | $ | 4,570 | 3 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Project Ascent Expenses | 39,327 | 37,883 | 18,035 | 1,444 | 4 | % | 19,848 | 110 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total SG&A Expenses | $ | 212,098 | $ | 205,363 | $ | 180,945 | $ | 6,735 | 3 | % | $ | 24,418 | 13 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Selling, general and administrative (“SG&A”) expenses increased 3% to $212.1 million in 2022 as expenditures for Project Ascent increased $1.4 million to $39.3 million. Excluding Project Ascent, SG&A expenses were higher than the prior year reflecting investments in a supply chain optimization study and IT investments, as well as higher brokerage costs attributed to the increased sales.
Project Ascent expenses are included within Corporate Expenses. A portion of the costs that have been classified as Project Ascent expenses represent ongoing costs that will continue subsequent to the ERP implementation.
Change in Contingent Consideration
In 2022, the change in contingent consideration resulted in a benefit of $3.5 million. This benefit reflected a reduction in the fair value of the contingent consideration liability for Bantam Bagels, LLC (“Bantam”) based on our 2022 fair value measurements. The resulting fair value adjustments were due to changes in Bantam’s forecasted adjusted EBITDA for the twelve months ending December 31, 2023, as well as refinements to the estimated probabilities applied to our forecast scenarios. We recorded $2.6 million in our Foodservice segment and $0.9 million in our Retail segment. In May 2022, our Board of Directors approved a plan to exit the Bantam business. There was no liability recorded for Bantam’s contingent consideration at June 30, 2022.
In 2021, the change in contingent consideration resulted in a benefit of $5.7 million. This benefit reflected a reduction in the fair value of the contingent consideration liability for Bantam based on our 2021 fair value measurements. As the fair value adjustment resulted from the impact of a SKU rationalization by a Foodservice customer, the entire adjustment related to Bantam’s contingent consideration was reflected within the Foodservice segment.
See further discussion in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements.
Restructuring and Impairment Charges
In 2022, we recorded restructuring and impairment charges totaling $35.2 million related to the following items:
•our decision to explore strategic alternatives and ultimately exit the Bantam business;
•the impact of a revision to the forecasted cash flows of Bantam on the intangible assets of this business;
•the impact of a revision to the forecasted branded sales of Angelic Bakehouse, Inc. (“Angelic”) on the intangible assets of this business; and
•the closure of our frozen garlic bread facility in Baldwin Park, California.
Based on our decision to explore strategic alternatives for the Bantam business, impairment testing was triggered for the related long-lived assets of the asset group. The related restructuring and impairment charges of $24.8 million included impairment charges for intangible assets, fixed assets and an operating lease right-of-use asset, as well as other closure-related costs. Due to their unusual nature, these restructuring and impairment charges were not allocated to our two reportable segments. As noted above, in May 2022, our Board of Directors approved a plan to exit the Bantam business. The operations of this business have not been classified as discontinued operations as the closure does not represent a strategic shift that would have a major effect on our operations or financial results.
In 2022, prior to our decision to explore strategic alternatives for the Bantam business, we also recorded an impairment charge of $0.9 million related to Bantam’s Retail customer relationships intangible asset, which reflected lower projected cash flows for Bantam’s Retail business. This impairment charge was reflected in our Retail segment.
In 2022, we also recorded an impairment charge of $8.8 million related to the tradename intangible asset of Angelic, which reflected the impact of lower projected sales for Angelic’s branded Retail business. This impairment charge was reflected in our Retail segment.
In 2022, we committed to a plan to close our frozen garlic bread facility in Baldwin Park, California in support of our ongoing efforts to better optimize our manufacturing network. Production at the facility ceased in January 2022, and the Mamma Bella® brand frozen garlic bread product line was discontinued based on its small size and low profitability. The operations of this facility have not been classified as discontinued operations as the closure does not represent a strategic shift that would have a major effect on our operations or financial results. We recorded restructuring and impairment charges of
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$0.7 million, which consisted of one-time termination benefits and impairment charges for fixed assets and the operating lease right-of-use asset, and were not allocated to our two reportable segments due to their unusual nature.
We recorded impairment charges of $1.2 million in 2021 related to certain tradename and technology / know-how intangible assets for Bantam as a result of the impact of a SKU rationalization by a Foodservice customer. These impairment charges were reflected in our Foodservice segment.
Operating Income
Operating income decreased 40% to $111.9 million in 2022, including the unfavorable impacts of the $25.7 million in restructuring and impairment charges for the Bantam business and the $8.8 million impairment charge for the Angelic tradename intangible asset. Beyond those charges, operating results were negatively affected by significant inflationary costs for commodities, packaging, freight and warehousing, and labor in addition to increased co-manufacturing costs. We also experienced the unfavorable impacts of an extremely challenging operating environment characterized by supply chain disruptions, demand volatility and uncertainty, and reduced operating efficiencies. Our pricing actions helped to offset the inflationary costs. The decline in operating income also reflected the higher level of SG&A expenditures. Incremental sales attributed to advance customer orders near the end of 2022 ahead of our ERP go-live added an estimated $5 million to consolidated operating income.
See discussion of operating results by segment following the discussion of “Earnings Per Share” below.
Taxes Based on Income
Our effective tax rate was 20.3% and 23.4% in 2022 and 2021, respectively. See Note 8 to the consolidated financial statements for a reconciliation of the statutory rate to the effective rate.
We include the tax consequences related to stock-based compensation within the computation of income tax expense. We may experience increased volatility to our income tax expense and resulting net income dependent upon, among other variables, the price of our common stock and the timing and volume of share-based payment award activity such as employee exercises of stock-settled stock appreciation rights and vesting of restricted stock awards. For 2022 and 2021, the impact of net windfall tax benefits from stock-based compensation reduced our effective tax rate by 0.1% and 0.6%, respectively.
Earnings Per Share
As influenced by the factors discussed above, diluted net income per share totaled $3.25 in 2022, a decrease from the 2021 total of $5.16 per diluted share. Diluted weighted average common shares outstanding for each of the years ended June 30, 2022 and 2021 have remained relatively stable.
In 2022 and 2021, expenditures for Project Ascent reduced diluted earnings per share by $1.09 and $1.05, respectively; restructuring and impairment charges reduced diluted earnings per share by $0.98 and $0.03, respectively; and the adjustments to Bantam’s contingent consideration increased diluted earnings per share by $0.10 and $0.16, respectively.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS - SEGMENTS
Retail Segment
| Year Ended June 30, | Change | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Dollars in thousands) | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2022 vs. 2021 | 2021 vs. 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net Sales | $ | 915,210 | $ | 828,963 | $ | 714,127 | $ | 86,247 | 10 | % | $ | 114,836 | 16 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating Income | $ | 151,627 | $ | 188,403 | $ | 161,487 | $ | (36,776) | (20) | % | $ | 26,916 | 17 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating Margin | 16.6 | % | 22.7 | % | 22.6 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In 2022, net sales for the Retail segment reached a record $915.2 million, a 10% increase from the prior-year total of $829.0 million. In addition to the benefit of pricing actions, the increase in Retail sales was driven by volume gains for Chick-fil-A® sauces and Buffalo Wild Wings® sauces, both of which are sold under exclusive licensing agreements. Volume gains for our New York BRAND Bakery® frozen garlic bread and Sister Schubert’s® frozen dinner rolls also contributed to sales growth. Retail segment sales volumes, measured in pounds shipped, increased 2% in the current year compared to an increase of 11% last year. Note that Retail segment sales volumes benefited from advance ordering by our customers near the end of the fiscal fourth quarter ahead of our ERP go-live, and the resulting incremental Retail sales were estimated to be $11 million. In addition, Retail segment sales volumes were unfavorably impacted by our decision to exit certain product lines during 2022 including some private label dips and Mamma Bella® frozen garlic bread. Excluding the advance ordering and the product line rationalizations, Retail sales volumes increased 6%.
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In 2022, Retail segment operating income decreased 20% to $151.6 million, including the unfavorable impact of impairment charges totaling $9.7 million as referenced in the “Restructuring and Impairment Charges” section above. The decline in operating income was driven by the unfavorable impacts of increased commodity and packaging costs, significantly higher freight and warehousing costs, increased co-manufacturing costs, higher labor costs and broad-based supply chain challenges. The net impact of our pricing actions lagged the extraordinary levels of cost inflation.
Foodservice Segment
| Year Ended June 30, | Change | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Dollars in thousands) | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2022 vs. 2021 | 2021 vs. 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net Sales | $ | 761,180 | $ | 638,104 | $ | 620,261 | $ | 123,076 | 19 | % | $ | 17,843 | 3 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating Income | $ | 82,745 | $ | 89,048 | $ | 80,475 | $ | (6,303) | (7) | % | $ | 8,573 | 11 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating Margin | 10.9 | % | 14.0 | % | 13.0 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In 2022, Foodservice segment net sales increased 19% to a record $761.2 million from the 2021 total of $638.1 million driven by inflationary pricing along with the benefit of volume gains for our branded Foodservice products and select customers within our mix of national chain restaurant accounts. Note that Foodservice segment sales volumes benefited from advance ordering by our customers near the end of the fiscal fourth quarter ahead of our ERP go-live, and the resulting incremental Foodservice sales were estimated to be $14 million. Foodservice sales volumes, measured in pounds shipped, increased 2% compared to a decline of 1% last year. Excluding the benefit of advance ordering and also excluding 2021 sales attributed to a temporary supply agreement resulting from the November 2018 acquisition of Omni Baking Company LLC (“Omni”) that was terminated effective October 31, 2020, Foodservice sales volumes increased 1% in 2022.
In 2022, Foodservice segment operating income decreased 7% to $82.7 million, reflecting increased commodity and packaging costs, higher freight and warehousing expenses, higher labor costs and the unfavorable impacts of broad-based supply chain challenges as partially offset by the benefit of pricing actions.
Corporate Expenses
The 2022 corporate expenses totaled $97.0 million as compared to $91.6 million in 2021. This increase reflects increased IT investments and professional fees as well as higher expenditures for Project Ascent, which totaled $39.3 million in 2022 as compared to $37.9 million in 2021. In 2022 and 2021, we also capitalized an additional $1.6 million and $3.5 million, respectively, of ERP-related expenditures for application development stage activities.
LOOKING FORWARD
For 2023, we anticipate our Retail sales volumes will continue to benefit from the growth of our licensing program, but will also face offsets from consumer demand elasticity and rationalization initiatives for some of our low-margin products. In Foodservice, we expect sales volumes to be led by growth from select quick-service restaurant customers in our mix of national chain restaurant accounts while the external factors of a slowing economy and changes in consumer sentiment may dampen demand. Both our Retail and Foodservice sales will also continue to benefit from our pricing actions. Note that our 2023 first quarter sales will be unfavorably impacted by the advance ordering that occurred ahead of our ERP go-live near the end of 2022.
From a cost standpoint, subject to future changes in the markets for our raw materials, we are currently forecasting a notable increase in our commodity costs in the coming year versus fiscal 2022 and higher costs for other items such as packaging, labor and freight that will pose a headwind to our financial results. To help mitigate these rising costs, we recently implemented another round of price increases for dressings and sauces sold through our Retail segment while our Foodservice segment will continue to realize offsets to increased commodity and freight costs through contractual-based inflationary pricing. Our cost savings programs and other net price realization efforts will also help to offset the unfavorable impacts of inflation in the year ahead.
The implementation phase for Project Ascent, our ERP initiative, will continue throughout fiscal 2023 as we integrate additional plants and warehouses into our new ERP network.
In addition to the above commentary specific to rising commodity costs, our exposure to volatile swings in food commodity costs will continue to be managed and mitigated through a strategic forward purchasing program for certain key materials such as soybean oil and flour. For a more-detailed discussion of the effect of commodity costs, see the “Impact of Inflation” section of this MD&A below. Changes in other notable recurring costs, such as marketing, transportation, production costs and introductory costs for new products, may also impact our overall results.
We will continue to periodically reassess our allocation of capital to ensure that we maintain adequate operating flexibility while providing appropriate levels of cash returns to our shareholders.
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FINANCIAL CONDITION
Liquidity and Capital Resources
We maintain sufficient flexibility in our capital structure to ensure our capitalization is adequate to support our future internal growth prospects, acquire food businesses consistent with our strategic goals, and maintain cash returns to our shareholders through cash dividends and opportunistic share repurchases. Our balance sheet maintained fundamental financial strength during 2022 as we ended the year with $60 million in cash and equivalents, along with shareholders’ equity of $845 million and no debt.
Under our unsecured revolving credit facility (“Facility”), we may borrow up to a maximum of $150 million at any one time. We had no borrowings outstanding under the Facility at June 30, 2022. At June 30, 2022, we had $2.8 million of standby letters of credit outstanding, which reduced the amount available for borrowing under the Facility. The Facility expires in March 2025, and all outstanding amounts are then due and payable. Interest is variable based upon formulas tied to LIBOR or an alternate base rate defined in the Facility. We must also pay facility fees that are tied to our then-applicable consolidated leverage ratio. Loans may be used for general corporate purposes. Due to the nature of its terms, when we have outstanding borrowings under the Facility, they will be classified as long-term debt.
The Facility contains certain restrictive covenants, including limitations on indebtedness, asset sales and acquisitions, and financial covenants relating to interest coverage and leverage. At June 30, 2022, we were in compliance with all applicable provisions and covenants of this facility, and we exceeded the requirements of the financial covenants by substantial margins. At June 30, 2022, there were no events that would constitute a default under this facility.
We currently expect to remain in compliance with the Facility’s covenants for the foreseeable future. However, a default under the Facility could accelerate the repayment of any then outstanding indebtedness and limit our access to $75 million of additional credit available under the Facility. Such an event could require a reduction in or curtailment of cash dividends or share repurchases, reduce or delay beneficial expansion or investment plans, or otherwise impact our ability to meet our obligations when due.
We believe that cash provided by operating activities and our existing balances in cash and equivalents, in addition to that available under the Facility, should be adequate to meet our liquidity needs over the next 12 months, including the projected levels of capital expenditures and dividend payments. If we were to borrow outside of the Facility under current market terms, our average interest rate may increase and have an adverse effect on our results of operations. Based on our current plans and expectations, we believe our capital expenditures for 2023 could total between $90 and $110 million, which includes approximately $50 million in expenditures attributed to a substantial investment for a capacity expansion project at our dressing and sauce facility in Horse Cave, Kentucky that we expect to complete in the first half of fiscal 2023.
Beyond the next 12 months, we expect that cash provided by operating activities will be the primary source of liquidity. This source, combined with our existing balances in cash and equivalents and amounts available under the Facility, is expected to be sufficient to meet our overall cash requirements.
We have various contractual and other obligations that are appropriately recorded as liabilities in our consolidated financial statements, including finance lease obligations, operating lease obligations, the underfunded defined benefit pension liability, other post-employment benefit obligations, tax liabilities, noncurrent workers compensation obligations, deferred compensation and interest on deferred compensation. See Note 4 to the consolidated financial statements for further information about our lease obligations, including the maturities of minimum lease payments. It is not certain when the liabilities for the underfunded defined benefit pension liability, other post-employment benefit obligations, tax liabilities, noncurrent workers compensation obligations, deferred compensation and interest on deferred compensation will become due. See Notes 8, 11 and 12 to the consolidated financial statements for further information about these liabilities.
Certain other contractual obligations are not recognized as liabilities in our consolidated financial statements. Examples of such obligations are commitments to purchase raw materials or packaging inventory that has not yet been received as of June 30, 2022, as well as purchase orders and longer-term purchase arrangements related to the procurement of services, including IT service agreements, and property, plant and equipment. The majority of these obligations is expected to be due within one year. See further discussion below of our obligation related to the capacity expansion project at our dressing and sauce facility in Horse Cave, Kentucky.
In November 2020, T. Marzetti Company (“T. Marzetti”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of ours, entered into a Design/Build Agreement (the “Agreement”) with Gray Construction, Inc. (“Gray”) under which Gray will design, coordinate and build additional dressing and sauce manufacturing and warehousing capacity for the T. Marzetti facility in Horse Cave, Kentucky (the “Project”). The Project will result in an expansion of the current facility footprint. Subject to certain conditions in the Agreement, T. Marzetti will pay Gray no more than the guaranteed maximum price of approximately $113 million for the Project. The Agreement contains other terms and conditions that are customary for this type of project. Expected to be completed in the first half of fiscal 2023, we have a remaining commitment of approximately $30 million for the Project.
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Cash Flows
| Year Ended June 30, | Change | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Dollars in thousands) | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2022 vs. 2021 | 2021 vs. 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Provided By Operating Activities | $ | 101,813 | $ | 174,189 | $ | 170,769 | $ | (72,376) | (42) | % | $ | 3,420 | 2 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Used In Investing Activities | $ | (132,240) | $ | (88,977) | $ | (83,265) | $ | (43,263) | (49) | % | $ | (5,712) | (7) | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Used In Financing Activities | $ | (97,345) | $ | (95,430) | $ | (85,519) | $ | (1,915) | (2) | % | $ | (9,911) | (12) | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cash provided by operating activities and our existing balances in cash and equivalents remain the primary sources for funding our investing and financing activities, as well as financing our organic growth initiatives.
Cash provided by operating activities in 2022 totaled $101.8 million, a decrease of 42% as compared with the 2021 total of $174.2 million. The 2022 decrease was primarily due to the year-over-year changes in net working capital, particularly accounts payable and accrued liabilities, as well as receivables. The favorable cash flow impact of higher accounts payable was more pronounced in the prior year due to fluctuations in production levels for the comparative periods. The changes in accrued liabilities were primarily related to current-year declines in the accruals for compensation and employee benefits. The larger current-year increase in receivables reflected higher sales, including advance ordering by our customers near the end of the fiscal fourth quarter ahead of our ERP go-live. Lower net income, which was impacted by significantly higher noncash restructuring and impairment charges in 2022, also contributed to the reduced level of cash provided by operating activities.
Cash used in investing activities totaled $132.2 million in 2022 as compared to $89.0 million in 2021. The 2022 increase primarily reflected a higher level of payments for property additions in the current year. Notable capital expenditures in 2022 included spending on: a capacity expansion project at our dressing and sauce facility in Horse Cave, Kentucky that we expect to complete in the first half of fiscal 2023; a capacity expansion project for one of our Marzetti dressing and sauce facilities in Columbus, Ohio that was completed in January 2022; and infrastructure improvements and capacity expansion investments at our frozen pasta facility in Altoona, Iowa that was completed in March 2022. Capital expenditures in 2021 included spending on the capacity expansion project at our dressing and sauce facility in Horse Cave, Kentucky and the infrastructure improvements and capacity expansion investments at our frozen pasta facility in Altoona, Iowa. Payments for property additions totaled $132.0 million in 2022 compared to $87.9 million in 2021.
Financing activities used net cash totaling $97.3 million and $95.4 million in 2022 and 2021, respectively. The vast majority of the cash used in financing activities is attributed to the payment of dividends, and the 2022 increase in cash used in financing activities was primarily due to higher dividend payments. The regular dividend payout rate for 2022 was $3.15 per share, as compared to $2.95 per share in 2021. This past fiscal year marked the 59th consecutive year of increased regular cash dividends.
The future levels of share repurchases and declared dividends are subject to the periodic review of our Board of Directors and are generally determined after an assessment is made of various factors, such as anticipated earnings levels, cash flow requirements and general business conditions.
Our ongoing business activities continue to be subject to compliance with various laws, rules and regulations as may be issued and enforced by various federal, state and local agencies. With respect to environmental matters, costs are incurred pertaining to regulatory compliance and, upon occasion, remediation. Such costs have not been, and are not anticipated to become, material.
We are contingently liable with respect to lawsuits, taxes and various other matters that routinely arise in the normal course of business. We do not have any related party transactions that materially affect our results of operations, cash flows or financial condition.
IMPACT OF INFLATION
Our business results can be influenced by significant changes in the costs of our raw materials, packaging and freight. We attempt to mitigate the impact of inflation on our raw-material costs via longer-term fixed-price contractual commitments for a portion of our most significant market-indexed commodities, most notably soybean oil and flour. We have also implemented a procurement strategy for a portion of our egg needs using grain-based pricing contracts to reduce our exposure to egg market spot prices. Specific to freight costs, our transportation network includes a mix of dedicated carriers, longer-term fixed-rate contracts and a small internal fleet that serve to reduce our exposure to spot freight rates. We also have a transportation management system in place to support our freight management processes and help us to secure more competitive freight rates. Nonetheless, we are subject to events and trends in the marketplace that will impact our costs for raw materials, packaging and freight. While we attempt to pass through sustained increases in these costs, any such price adjustments can lag the changes in the related input costs.
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Although typically less notable, we are also exposed to the unfavorable effects of general inflation beyond material and freight costs, especially in the areas of labor rates, including annual wage adjustments and benefit costs. Over time, we attempt to minimize the exposure to such cost increases through ongoing improvements and greater efficiencies throughout our manufacturing operations, including benefits gained through our lean six sigma program and strategic investments in plant equipment.
With regard to the impact of commodity and freight costs on Foodservice segment operating income, most of our supply contracts with national chain restaurant accounts incorporate pricing adjustments to account for changes in ingredient and freight costs. These supply contracts may vary by account specific to the time lapse between the actual change in ingredient and freight costs we incur and the effective date of the associated price increase or decrease. As a result, the reported operating margins of the Foodservice segment are subject to increased volatility during periods of rapidly rising or falling ingredient and/or freight costs because at least some portion of the change in ingredient and/or freight costs is reflected in the segment’s results prior to the impact of any associated change in pricing. In addition, the Foodservice segment has an inherently higher degree of margin volatility from changes in ingredient costs when compared to the Retail segment due to its overall lower margin profile and higher ratio of ingredient pounds to net sales. In Retail, there is an opportunity to offset the impact of inflationary costs through net price realization actions including list price increases, decreased trade spending and packaging size changes. Note that all these Retail cost-recovery options entail some inherent risks and uncertainties, and the implementation timeframe can lag the input cost changes. We also implement value engineering initiatives, such as the use of lower-cost packaging materials and alternative ingredients and/or recipes, to reduce Retail and Foodservice product costs to help offset inflation.
CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND ESTIMATES
This MD&A discusses our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires that we make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates and judgments, including, but not limited to, those related to accounts receivable allowances, distribution costs, asset impairments and self-insurance reserves. We base our estimates and judgments on historical experience and on various other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. Historically, the aggregate differences, if any, between our estimates and actual amounts in any year have not had a significant impact on our consolidated financial statements. While a summary of our significant accounting policies can be found in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, we believe the following critical accounting policies reflect those areas in which more significant judgments and estimates are used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements.
Trade-Related Allowances
Our receivables balance is net of trade-related allowances, which consist of sales discounts, trade promotions and certain other sales incentives. We evaluate the adequacy of these allowances considering several factors including historical experience, specific trade programs and existing customer relationships. These allowances can fluctuate based on the level of sales and promotional programs as well as the timing of deductions.
Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets
Goodwill is not amortized. It is evaluated annually at April 30 by applying impairment testing procedures. Other intangible assets are amortized on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful lives to Selling, General and Administrative Expenses. We evaluate the future economic benefit of the recorded goodwill and other intangible assets when events or circumstances indicate potential recoverability concerns. Carrying amounts are adjusted appropriately when determined to have been impaired.
RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS
Recent accounting pronouncements and their impact on our consolidated financial statements are disclosed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements.
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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
We desire to take advantage of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “PSLRA”). This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains various “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the PSLRA and other applicable securities laws. Such statements can be identified by the use of the forward-looking words “anticipate,” “estimate,” “project,” “believe,” “intend,” “plan,” “expect,” “hope” or similar words. These statements discuss future expectations; contain projections regarding future developments, operations or financial conditions; or state other forward-looking information. Such statements are based upon assumptions and assessments made by us in light of our experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors we believe to be appropriate. These forward-looking statements involve various important risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ as a result of factors over which we have no, or limited, control including, without limitation, the specific influences outlined below, many of which could be amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. Management believes these forward-looking statements to be reasonable; however, one should not place undue reliance on such statements that are based on current expectations. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update such forward-looking statements, except as required by law.
Items which could impact these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those risk factors identified in Item 1A and:
•inflationary pressures resulting in higher input costs;
•efficiencies in plant operations and our overall supply chain network;
•adverse changes in freight, energy or other costs of producing, distributing or transporting our products;
•significant shifts in consumer demand and disruptions to our employees, communities, customers, supply chains, production planning, operations, and production processes resulting from the impacts of COVID-19 and other epidemics, pandemics or similar widespread public health concerns and disease outbreaks;
•the reaction of customers or consumers to pricing actions we take to offset inflationary costs;
•fluctuations in the cost and availability of ingredients and packaging;
•dependence on contract manufacturers, distributors and freight transporters, including their operational capacity and financial strength in continuing to support our business;
•the impact of customer store brands on our branded retail volumes;
•capacity constraints that may affect our ability to meet demand or may increase our costs;
•adequate supply of labor for our manufacturing facilities;
•cyber-security incidents, information technology disruptions, and data breaches;
•complexities related to the implementation of our new enterprise resource planning system;
•geopolitical events, such as Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine, that could create unforeseen business disruptions and impact the cost or availability of raw materials and energy;
•the potential for loss of larger programs, including licensing agreements, or key customer relationships;
•changes in demand for our products, which may result from loss of brand reputation or customer goodwill;
•price and product competition;
•the possible occurrence of product recalls or other defective or mislabeled product costs;
•the success and cost of new product development efforts;
•the lack of market acceptance of new products;
•the extent to which recent and future business acquisitions are completed and acceptably integrated;
•the ability to successfully grow recently acquired businesses;
•dependence on key personnel and changes in key personnel;
•the effect of consolidation of customers within key market channels;
•maintenance of competitive position with respect to other manufacturers;
•stability of labor relations;
•changes in estimates in critical accounting judgments;
•the impact of any regulatory matters affecting our food business, including any required labeling changes and their impact on consumer demand;
•the outcome of any litigation or arbitration;
•the impact of fluctuations in our pension plan asset values on funding levels, contributions required and benefit costs; and
•certain other risk factors, including those discussed in other filings we have submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
We have exposure to market risks primarily from changes in raw material prices. In recent years, due to the absence of any borrowings, we have not had exposure to changes in interest rates. We also have not had exposure to market risk associated with derivative financial instruments or derivative commodity instruments as we do not utilize any such instruments.
RAW MATERIAL PRICE RISK
We purchase a variety of commodities and other raw materials, such as soybean oil, flour, eggs and dairy-based materials, which we use as ingredients for our products. The market prices for these commodities are subject to fluctuation based upon a number of economic factors and may become volatile at times. While we do not use any derivative commodity instruments to hedge against commodity price risk, we do actively manage a portion of the risk through a structured forward purchasing program for certain key materials such as soybean oil and flour. In addition, we have implemented a procurement strategy for a portion of our egg needs through the use of grain-based pricing contracts to reduce our exposure to egg market spot prices. These programs, coupled with short-term fixed price arrangements on other significant raw materials, provide us more predictable input costs, which, in addition to the supply contracts with our foodservice customers that allow us to pass along price increases for commodities, help to reduce margin volatility during periods of significant volatility in the commodity markets.
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the shareholders and the Board of Directors of Lancaster Colony Corporation
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Lancaster Colony Corporation and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of June 30, 2022 and 2021, the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, shareholders’ equity, and cash flows, for each of the three years in the period ended June 30, 2022, and the related notes (collectively, referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of June 30, 2022 and 2021 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended June 30, 2022, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of June 30, 2022, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and our report dated August 25, 2022, expressed an unqualified opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Critical Audit Matter
The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current-period audit of the financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that (1) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.
Valuation of Long-Lived Assets and Other Intangible Assets - Refer to Notes 1 and 6 in the Financial Statements
Critical Audit Matter Description
The Company monitors the recoverability of the carrying value of its long-lived and other intangible assets by periodically considering whether indicators of impairment are present. Indicators of impairment may include, but are not limited to, factors such as adverse changes in the macroeconomic environment, adverse changes in the extent or manner an asset or group of assets are used by management, unfavorable events impacting current and projected operating results and cash flows, or decisions to explore strategic alternatives or exit individual businesses before the end of their expected useful life. If such indicators are present, the Company determines if the assets are recoverable by comparing the sum of the undiscounted cash flows to the assets’ carrying amounts. If the carrying amounts are greater, then the assets are not recoverable. The net other intangible asset balance was $32.3 million and $58.8 million at June 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The long-lived asset balances, comprised of net property, plant and equipment and operating lease right of use assets, totaled $479.5 million and $387.1 million at June 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
Given the subjectivity in determining qualitative and quantitative impairment indicators for an asset group, management exercises significant judgment in the identification of whether impairment indicators are present. Accordingly, auditing management's determination of whether impairment indicators exist for an asset group was challenging due to the judgment
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applied in both the identification of such factors, and the evaluation of whether the factors have an impact on the recovery of the carrying value of the asset group.
How the Critical Audit Matter Was Addressed in the Audit
Our audit procedures related to the Company’s identification of potential indicators of impairment of its long-lived and other intangible assets included the following, among others:
•We evaluated the design and tested the operating effectiveness of controls over management’s evaluation of impairment indicators.
•We evaluated the reasonableness of management’s assessment of impairment indicators by:
◦Evaluating management’s process for identifying qualitative and quantitative impairment indicators by asset group and whether management appropriately considered such indicators.
◦Conducting a completeness assessment to determine whether additional impairment indicators were present during the period that were not identified by management.
| /s/ Deloitte & Touche LLP | ||
August 25, 2022
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 1961.
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LANCASTER COLONY CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
| June 30, | |||||||||||
| (Amounts in thousands, except share data) | 2022 | 2021 | |||||||||
| ASSETS | |||||||||||
| Current Assets: | |||||||||||
| Cash and equivalents | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Receivables | |||||||||||
| Inventories: | |||||||||||
| Raw materials | |||||||||||
| Finished goods | |||||||||||
| Total inventories | |||||||||||
| Other current assets | |||||||||||
| Total current assets | |||||||||||
| Property, Plant and Equipment: | |||||||||||
| Land, buildings and improvements | |||||||||||
| Machinery and equipment | |||||||||||
| Total cost | |||||||||||
| Less accumulated depreciation | |||||||||||
| Property, plant and equipment-net | |||||||||||
| Other Assets: | |||||||||||
| Goodwill | |||||||||||
| Other intangible assets-net | |||||||||||
| Operating lease right-of-use assets | |||||||||||
| Other noncurrent assets | |||||||||||
| Total | $ | $ | |||||||||
| LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY | |||||||||||
| Current Liabilities: | |||||||||||
| Accounts payable | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Accrued liabilities | |||||||||||
| Total current liabilities | |||||||||||
| Noncurrent Operating Lease Liabilities | |||||||||||
| Other Noncurrent Liabilities | |||||||||||
| Deferred Income Taxes | |||||||||||
| Commitments and Contingencies | |||||||||||
| Shareholders’ Equity: | |||||||||||
Preferred stock-authorized | |||||||||||
Common stock-authorized | |||||||||||
| Retained earnings | |||||||||||
| Accumulated other comprehensive loss | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Common stock in treasury, at cost | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Total shareholders’ equity | |||||||||||
| Total | $ | $ | |||||||||
See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.
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LANCASTER COLONY CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME
| Years Ended June 30, | |||||||||||||||||
| (Amounts in thousands, except per share data) | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | ||||||||||||||
| Net Sales | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| Cost of Sales | |||||||||||||||||
| Gross Profit | |||||||||||||||||
| Selling, General and Administrative Expenses | |||||||||||||||||
| Change in Contingent Consideration | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||
| Restructuring and Impairment Charges | |||||||||||||||||
| Operating Income | |||||||||||||||||
| Other, Net | ( | ||||||||||||||||
| Income Before Income Taxes | |||||||||||||||||
| Taxes Based on Income | |||||||||||||||||
| Net Income | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| Net Income Per Common Share: | |||||||||||||||||
| Basic | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| Diluted | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| Weighted Average Common Shares Outstanding: | |||||||||||||||||
| Basic | |||||||||||||||||
| Diluted | |||||||||||||||||
See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.
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LANCASTER COLONY CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
| Years Ended June 30, | |||||||||||||||||
| (Amounts in thousands) | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | ||||||||||||||
| Net Income | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| Other Comprehensive (Loss) Income: | |||||||||||||||||
| Defined Benefit Pension and Postretirement Benefit Plans: | |||||||||||||||||
| Net (loss) gain arising during the period, before tax | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||
| Amortization of loss, before tax | |||||||||||||||||
| Amortization of prior service credit, before tax | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Total Other Comprehensive (Loss) Income, Before Tax | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||
| Tax Attributes of Items in Other Comprehensive (Loss) Income: | |||||||||||||||||
| Net (loss) gain arising during the period, tax | ( | ||||||||||||||||
| Amortization of loss, tax | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Amortization of prior service credit, tax | |||||||||||||||||
| Total Tax Benefit (Expense) | ( | ||||||||||||||||
| Other Comprehensive (Loss) Income, Net of Tax | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||
| Comprehensive Income | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.
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LANCASTER COLONY CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
| Years Ended June 30, | |||||||||||||||||
| (Amounts in thousands) | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | ||||||||||||||
| Cash Flows From Operating Activities: | |||||||||||||||||
| Net income | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities: | |||||||||||||||||
| Impacts of noncash items: | |||||||||||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | |||||||||||||||||
| Change in contingent consideration | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||
| Deferred income taxes and other changes | |||||||||||||||||
| Stock-based compensation expense | |||||||||||||||||
| Restructuring and impairment charges | ( | ||||||||||||||||
| (Gain) loss on sale of property | ( | ||||||||||||||||
| Pension plan activity | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | |||||||||||||||||
| Receivables | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Inventories | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||
| Other current assets | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||
| Accounts payable and accrued liabilities | ( | ||||||||||||||||
| Net cash provided by operating activities | |||||||||||||||||
| Cash Flows From Investing Activities: | |||||||||||||||||
| Payments for property additions | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Proceeds from sale of property | |||||||||||||||||
| Other-net | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Net cash used in investing activities | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Cash Flows From Financing Activities: | |||||||||||||||||
| Payment of dividends | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Purchase of treasury stock | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Tax withholdings for stock-based compensation | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Other-net | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Net cash used in financing activities | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Net change in cash and equivalents | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||
| Cash and equivalents at beginning of year | |||||||||||||||||
| Cash and equivalents at end of year | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.
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LANCASTER COLONY CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY
(Amounts in thousands, except per share data) | Common Stock Outstanding | Retained Earnings | Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss | Treasury Stock | Total Shareholders’ Equity | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shares | Amount | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance, June 30, 2019 | $ | $ | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net income | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net pension and postretirement benefit losses, net of $( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cash dividends - common stock ($ | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purchase of treasury stock | ( | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stock-based plans | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stock-based compensation expense | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance, June 30, 2020 | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net income | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net pension and postretirement benefit gains, net of $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cash dividends - common stock ($ | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purchase of treasury stock | ( | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stock-based plans | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stock-based compensation expense | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance, June 30, 2021 | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net income | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||