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Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript August 11, 2023
Operator: Good day, and thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Flowers Foods Second Quarter 2023 Results Conference Call. Please be advised that today's event is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, J.T. Rieck, Executive Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.
J.T. Rieck: Thank you, Norma, and good morning, everyone. I hope you all have the opportunity to review our earnings release, listen to our prepared remarks and view the slide presentation that were all posted yesterday evening on our Investor Relations website. After today's Q&A session, we will also post an audio replay of this call. Please note that in this Q&A session, we may make forward-looking statements about the company's performance. Although we believe these statements to be reasonable, they are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. In addition to what you hear in these remarks, important factors relating to Flowers Foods business are fully detailed in our SEC filings.
We will also provide non-GAAP financial measures for which disclosures and reconciliations are provided in the earnings release and at the end of the slide presentation on our website. Joining me today are Ryals McMullian, Chairman, CEO and President; and Steve Kinsey, our CFO. Ryals, I'll turn it over to you.
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Ryals McMullian: Great. Thanks, J.T. Good morning, everybody. Thanks for joining the call today. I'm very pleased with the strong quarterly results. Our performance recovered after a slow start to the year, helped by the competitive strength of our leading brands, despite strategic pricing initiatives designed to mitigate inflationary pressures. Volume trends in our branded retail business did improve, and that may be an early indication that consumer demand is migrating back to pre-inflationary levels. That top-line strength translated into improved margins and earnings, which is reflected in our updated 2023 guidance. Private label products gained share, but that growth appears to be moderating. So, we remain confident that the trend towards premiumization, driven by our investments in innovation and marketing, will win out over the longer term.
I'm excited about our prospects, and I've really never been more confident in our ability to grow shareholder value over time. So, Norma, with that, we are ready to open up for questions.