Whole Earth Brands Q4 2022 Earnings Report

Whole Earth Brands EPS Results

• Actual EPS: -$1.44
• Consensus EPS: $0.01
• Beat/Miss: Missed by -$1.45
• One Year Ago EPS: $0.10

Whole Earth Brands Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $138.90 million
• Expected Revenue: $139.59 million
• Beat/Miss: Missed by -$690.00 thousand
• YoY Revenue Growth: N/A

Whole Earth Brands Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q4 2022
• Date: 3/13/2023
• Time: Before Market Opens
• Conference Call Date: Monday, March 13, 2023
• Conference Call Time: 8:30AM ET

Whole Earth Brands (NASDAQ:FREE) operates as a food company worldwide. The company operates through Branded CPG and Flavors & Ingredients segments. The Branded CPG segment focuses on building a branded portfolio serving consumers seeking zero-calorie, low-calorie, organic, non-GMO, no-sugar added, and plant-based, and Fair Trade spaces in zero/low calorie sweeteners, honey, agave, baking mix, and baking chocolate products. It sells products under the Whole Earth, Pure Via, Wholesome, Swerve, Canderel, and Equal brands. This segment offers various sweetener formulations under each brand to address local consumer preferences and price points. The Flavors & Ingredients segment provides functional ingredients with flavoring enhancement, flavor/aftertaste masking, moisturizing, product mouth feel modification, and skin soothing characteristics. This segment also offers licorice-derived products for use in confectionary, food, beverage, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, personal care, and tobacco products applications. Whole Earth Brands, Inc. was incorporated in 2020 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Whole Earth Brands Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Leadership transition: Michael Franklin was appointed interim CEO, foregoing cash salary until the business stabilizes and focusing on operational efficiencies and long‐term value creation.
• Q4 2022 gross profit fell to $28.3 M (20.4% margin) from $38.7 M (29.2%) a year ago, driven by cost inflation, supply‐chain reinvention costs, and the absence of a $2.5 M prior‐year amortization benefit.
• A non‐cash goodwill impairment charge of $46.5 M in Q4 resulted in a consolidated operating loss of $46.2 M, compared to operating income of $6.4 M in the prior year period.
• Flavors & Ingredients segment achieved its fifth consecutive quarter of double‐digit constant‐currency growth, with Q4 revenue up 11% to $29.5 M, led by increased licorice extract and peer‐to‐peer oil volumes.
• 2023 outlook calls for product revenue of $550–565 M (2–5% growth), adjusted EBITDA of $76–78 M, approximately $9 M in capex, and mid‐single‐digit million free cash flow, with Q1 as the lowest margin quarter.

Presentation

[Operator]

Good morning. Welcome to the Whole Earth Brands Fourth Quarter and Full Year Fiscal 2022 Results Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in listen only mode. After today's presentation, there'll be an opportunity to ask questions. Please also note today's event is being recorded. At this time, I'd like to turn the conference over to Jeff Sonnek, Investor Relations and ICR. Sir, please go ahead.

[Jeff Sonnek, Managing Director of Investor Relations at ICR]

Thank you and good morning. Today's presentation will be hosted by Irwin Simon, Executive Chairman, Michael Franklin, Interim Chief Executive Officer, and Duane Portwood, Chief Financial Officer. The comments during today's call and the accompanying presentation contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical facts are considered forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions concerning future events. Such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements.

[Jeff Sonnek, Managing Director of Investor Relations at ICR]

Some of these risks and uncertainties are identified and discussed in the Company's filings with the SEC. We'll also refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures today. Please refer to the tables included in the earnings release, which can be found on the investor relations website, investor.wholeearthbrands.com, for reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP measures. Additionally, we've provided a supplemental earnings presentation on the investor relations website that may be useful in your analysis of the company's performance. With that, I'd now like to turn the call over to Irwin Simon, Executive Chairman. Irwin.

[Irwin Simon, Executive Chairman at Whole Earth Brands]

Good morning, everyone, and thank you, Jeff. Thanks to everyone for joining the call. I'm happy to be here today to introduce our Interim CEO, Michael Franklin. On December twelfth, we announced a CEO transition plan where Michael took on the Interim CEO role in addition to a seat on our Board of Directors. Since Michael's appointment to the Board, he has immersed himself in the business and has made excellent contributions. Already, Michael has demonstrated to the team why he's the right guy for the job. The Board and the team has been impressed by his early contributions. We continue to be excited for what is to come.

[Irwin Simon, Executive Chairman at Whole Earth Brands]

His objective approach and experience working with organizations to enhance operational efficiencies and focus on long-term value creation makes him the ideal candidate for the CEO position. Michael has been extremely busy over the last 90 days, and I look forward to our continued partnership in the coming years. We feel great about the opportunities that lie ahead for Whole Earth with our leading portfolio of Better for You brands and innovation that we are bringing to the market. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Michael for his remarks. Michael.

[Michael Franklin, Interim CEO at Whole Earth Brands]

Thank you for that introduction, Irwin. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for taking the time to join the call. As you know, in August 2022, I joined the Whole Earth Brands Board of Directors. I joined the board because of my belief in the business and my desire to add value and help the team achieve its full potential. Since becoming Interim CEO, my belief in the long-term opportunity for the business has only been reinforced. This is a business with great people, great brands, and immense potential to create significant value for shareholders. With that said, 2022 was a challenging year, a year where the company fell short of its forecasts and expectations, hence the need for positive change. Improvements are being made, strategies updated, and action plans are being implemented.

[Michael Franklin, Interim CEO at Whole Earth Brands]

Our plan is to provide the investment community with a detailed presentation on our strategic action plan and long-term financial goals in the third quarter of this year. Our CFO Duane Portwood will review the fourth quarter full year 2022 results and introduce our 2023 guidance. Before passing the call to Duane, I'd like to briefly share some of my initial observations as well as some areas of immediate focus that we are uniting around to maximize our competitive strengths while optimizing our operations to achieve our goal of generating stable and sustainable long-term profitable growth. Since joining the board and assuming my leadership position, I've traveled extensively, meeting with our teams across the world in locations including Alabama, Chicago, Czech Republic, Dubai, Houston, London, Mexico, and Paris.

[Michael Franklin, Interim CEO at Whole Earth Brands]

My approach has been to be an active listener, understand both the positive and negative influences of our corporate culture, and to challenge the status quo. I want to make sure that as we evolve our strategy to drive top line growth, improve operational effectiveness, and increase margins and cash flow, I understand the specific challenges and opportunities faced by our operating management teams. I believe that this investment in meeting people face to face was an important first step in developing our plan for the future. In my travels, I was incredibly impressed by the depth and quality of our team, as well as the great deal of enthusiasm from our people at the operating level. The board and I have high expectations for the future of this business. Building this strategy together is essential to making sure the company meets or exceeds expectations in the future.

[Michael Franklin, Interim CEO at Whole Earth Brands]

As you will see in our guidance, while we believe the path forward is full of opportunities, 2023 will be a building year for our longer-term financial goals. Accordingly, we anticipate 2023 will be similar to 2022 in terms of financial results. This year, we will be focusing on improving our operations and creating a foundation from which we can deliver sustained, profitable growth. Today, our business has unnecessary complexities that we are starting to simplify. While we have both short and long-term opportunities, we anticipate it will take 24 months to capture the full benefit of many of our initiatives. As I said at the beginning of my remark, I believe Whole Earth has significant opportunities for success.

[Michael Franklin, Interim CEO at Whole Earth Brands]

To demonstrate my belief and commitment, I have asked that until the business has stabilized, I receive no cash salary for my role and that I only receive equity-intensive compensation as I deeply believe in the value creation opportunities for all stakeholders. Globally, our CPG product assortment is well-positioned in the current environment with a host of brands that support and drive unique consumer preferences while also offering entry-level price points for consumers that are feeling the effects of high inflation. The branded portfolio is supported by our private label and ingredients businesses, which helps us to develop stronger and broader customer relationships as well as significant purchasing scale. Our diversification extends to channel presence, product assortment, and geographical reach. This is a strength that continues to drive the underlying growth of our entire branded CPG segment.

[Michael Franklin, Interim CEO at Whole Earth Brands]

Our flavors and ingredients segment is a dominant market leader with high barriers to entry, a strong free cash flow generator, and a global leadership position that will support our broader growth initiatives as we further diversify and grow Whole Earth Brands. This diversification in both revenue and cash flow is particularly valuable in a public company environment. Strategically, improving our operational execution is an area of the business that we can continue to push forward. As has been discussed over the past several quarters, our manufacturing inconsistency at the Alabama facility cost us dearly in 2022. We still have important work to complete in 2023 with respect to optimizing our network and returning the business to an asset-light state. This will assist us in controlling costs, delivering margin, managing working capital, and ensuring that we are delivering on our commitments to customers.

[Michael Franklin, Interim CEO at Whole Earth Brands]

Further reflecting on 2022, as I alluded to earlier, it was a year of challenges. Some of these were brought about by the pandemic and macroeconomic forces. Variables such as shifting consumer spending and preferences, labor complexities, rampant inflation, interest rates, and foreign exchange movements. It must be said some of our challenges were operational defaults that are far along in being resolved. Taken together, our margins were under pressure despite our pricing, SKU rationalization, and productivity strategies. We see 2023 as a year of stability and evolution. Our manufacturing footprint optimization will play a critical role in our strategy to rightsize our cost base, and we will continue to thoughtfully execute our SKU rationalization efforts. We also intend to start reinvesting in our strong portfolio of brands.

[Michael Franklin, Interim CEO at Whole Earth Brands]

This was an area that was negatively impacted by the operating environment over the past couple years, is a core tenet of effective brand building and growing household penetration. You can expect us to commit more dollars to areas such as trade spend and marketing in the year ahead. Our near-term focus is to draw the best out of our culture while making sure that corporate function is there to serve the business rather than the other way around. We are already in the process to reframe our structure to be more efficient. We carry too many costs for a business this size, this is being addressed in real time. Our leverage is also higher than our long-term goal of net debt to EBITDA of 3x, which will be one of our financial targets we outline at our Investor Day.

[Michael Franklin, Interim CEO at Whole Earth Brands]

We will achieve this through free cash flow generation for debt reduction and EBITDA growth. In summary, I am confident that our outlook is positive, but I also believe that it's necessary to make some select reinvestments in our organization, including our greatest asset, our people. We will take our strong foundation and reinforce it for the long term. It is imperative that we repair our margin profile as it is the primary means by which we will generate higher growth of operating cash flows. In turn, this will allow us to de-lever the business and position the company to take advantage of the multitude of consolidation opportunities that we see in the marketplace today. Before passing the call over to Duane, I wanted to address the recent press that many of you may have seen regarding erythritol.

[Michael Franklin, Interim CEO at Whole Earth Brands]

Since 1991 in the U.S., the FDA has approved erythritol for use in foods and drinks and has certified it as generally recognized as safe. Similarly, erythritol has been approved for use in more than 60 countries, including the European Union, Canada, Argentina, Australia, Japan, among others. The recently released report is contrary to decades of proven scientific research. Like any food product we sell, we will continue to monitor and work with local authorities and industry experts to ensure that we are delivering the highest quality products to our loyal customers. With that, I'll pass the call over to Duane to go over Q4 results and 2023 guidance. Duane?

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

Thank you and good morning to everyone. As a reminder, please refer to our non-GAAP reconciliations at the end of the press release for additional detail, and I encourage you to view the supplemental earnings presentation on our investor relations website. For the fourth quarter ended 31st December 2022, consolidated product revenue grew 4.7% to $138.9 million versus the prior year quarter. On a constant currency basis, product revenues increased 7.0% versus the prior year fourth quarter. The increase was driven by increased pricing. Reported gross profit was $28.3 million compared to $38.7 million in the prior year fourth quarter.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

The decrease was largely driven by cost inflation, costs associated with the supply chain reinvention project, and $2.5 million of headwind from favorable non-cash amortization of purchase accounting adjustments related to inventory revaluations in the prior year period that did not recur this year. These were only partially offset by the benefits of our pricing actions. Adjusted gross profit was $40.1 million compared to $45.2 million in the prior year period. Reported gross profit margin was 20.4% in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to 29.2% in the prior year period. Adjusted gross profit margin was 28.9% compared to 34.0% in the prior year. The majority of this decline was primarily a function of higher cost of goods sold due to cost inflation and increased prices.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

This resulted in higher sales to protect year-over-year gross profit dollars, but on a percentage basis results in a lower gross profit margin. In addition, the decrease was due to cost inflation above these price increases, including increased sugar tariffs, as demand for our organic sugar continues to be strong. During the quarter, we recorded a non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $46.5 million. Most of this charge related to our North America branded CPG reporting unit and was driven by a number of factors, including rising costs, supply chain investments, and increased discount rates. Consolidated operating loss was $46.2 million, including the $46.5 million non-cash goodwill impairment charge, compared to operating income of $6.4 million in the prior year fourth quarter.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

Consolidated net loss similarly reflects the impact of the impairment charge and was $60.3 million compared to a net loss of $0.4 million in the prior year period. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA was $20.2 million compared to $20.6 million in the prior year fourth quarter. The decrease was primarily due to unfavorable foreign currency impact of $0.9 million due to the strengthening US dollar. Excluding the foreign currency impact, consolidated adjusted EBITDA increased 2.4%. Shifting to the segment results for Q4. Branded CPG segment product revenue increased $3.8 million, or 3.6% to $109.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to $105.6 million for the same period in the prior year.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

On a constant currency basis, segment product revenue increased 6.0% compared to the prior year, driven primarily by pricing actions. Overall, volume was down 2.4% due to the discontinuance of certain private label SKUs at the beginning of 2022. Excluding the impact of the SKU rationalization, branded CPG volume was essentially flat versus the prior year quarter. Operating loss for the branded CPG segment was $47.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to operating income of $4.4 million for the same period in the prior year. The decrease was primarily driven by the aforementioned non-cash goodwill impairment charge that falls within the branded CPG segment.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

To a lesser extent, operating loss was also impacted by costs associated with our supply chain reinvention project, the impact of cost inflation, and an unfavorable impact from the stronger US dollar, partially offset by pricing actions. Our flavors and ingredients segment continues to perform well, with product revenue up 8.6% to $29.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to $27.1 million for the same period in the prior year. On a constant currency basis, segment product revenue increased 11.0%, primarily due to strong volume growth of 5.6%, driven by growth in licorice extracts and Pure Derivatives resulting from the company's commercial expansion and innovation efforts. Pricing was also a significant contributor, increasing 5.4% versus prior year.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

This was the fifth consecutive quarter of double-digit top-line constant currency growth for the flavors and ingredients segment. Operating income for the flavors ingredients segment was $8.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to operating income of $7.6 million in the prior year period. The increase was primarily driven by revenue gains, partially offset by $2.5 million of headwind that I noted previously, associated with the favorable amortization of purchase accounting adjustments in the prior year period related to inventory revaluations that did not reoccur in the current quarter. Operating expenses for corporate for the fourth quarter of 2022 were $6.9 million compared to $5.7 million in the prior year period. I will briefly cover our full year results. As a reminder, we acquired Wholesome on 5 February 2021.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

I will speak to reported results which include Wholesome for the full year of 2022. Additionally, we will provide some select pro forma results as if we owned Wholesome for the entirety of 2021 to assist in your analysis of the organic growth of the combined portfolio. For the year ended 31 December 2022, consolidated product revenues grew 9.0% on a reported basis to $538.3 million versus the prior year. On a pro forma basis, organic constant currency product revenue increased 7.1% compared to the prior year.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

Consolidated operating loss was $24.6 million compared to operating income of $22.8 million in the prior year. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA decreased 3.7% to $79.2 million, which included $3.9 million of unfavorable foreign currency. Excluding the impact of foreign currency, consolidated adjusted EBITDA increased 1.1% for the full year. Moving to cash flow and the balance sheet. Cash used in operating activities was $5.8 million and capital expenditures were $8.9 million for the year ended 31 December 2022.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

Although free cash flow in 2022 was a negative $14.7 million due to increased working capital investment and approximately $22 million in cash add backs, primarily related to the supply chain reinvention, we did achieve our goal of generating positive free cash flow in the fourth quarter, generating approximately $9.5 million, driven by lower working capital, which reversed a portion of the build we had seen in the first three quarters. With respect to 2023, we anticipate free cash flow in the positive mid-single digit millions as lower working capital requirements and significantly reduced cash add backs will largely be offset by increased interest costs. As of 31 December 2022, we have cash and cash equivalents of $28.7 million and $432.2 million of long-term debt, net of unamortized debt issuance costs.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

Our long-term debt increased from year-end 2021 by approximately $49 million, primarily due to $51 million of draws on the revolving credit facility. These proceeds were used to fund a portion of the Wholesome earn-out payments in the first quarter and to fund increased net working capital levels, primarily related to higher levels of inventory resulting from increased costs and to improve customer service as well as timing. At 31 December 2022, there was $76 million drawn on our $125 million revolving credit facility. Reducing leverage over the intermediate term is a top corporate priority. For 2023, however, we expect our leverage ratio to remain at current levels. Before I cover our outlook for 2023, I'd note that we've initiated actions to close our Decatur, Alabama, production facility.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

We took control of the facility in the summer of 2021 as a result of financial difficulties that the co-packer was experiencing. Subsequently, we experienced supply difficulties resulting from labor force availability challenges due to the pandemic. During 2022, we worked hard to improve manufacturing production and the store customer service levels that suffered as a result of the supply difficulties. While I'm pleased to say that we were successful in that regard, it is clear that the costs associated with that facility are structurally too high, which was the basis for the decision to shut down this operation. Our team is already shifting this production to other co-packers across our network who have the advantage of greater scale so that we can lower our per unit cost to levels that are more appropriate.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

You can expect some one-time expenses associated with these actions in 2023. Shifting to our full year 2023 outlook. As a reminder, our outlook is presented on a reported basis, which includes the impact of foreign currency translation, and our expectations for growth are presented on an organic basis. For 2023, we expect consolidated product revenue to be in the range of $550 million to $565 million, representing growth of 2%-5%. We expect consolidated Adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $76 million to $78 million. While we are not providing quarterly guidance, we do expect the first quarter to be the lowest quarter in terms of overall Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin. We expect total capital expenditures to be approximately $9 million. That concludes our prepared remarks. Operator, now back to you. Please open the call for questions-and-answers.

[Operator]

Thank you. We'll now be conducting a question and answer session. If you'd like to ask a question today, please press star one from your telephone keypad and a confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you'd like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. One moment please while we poll for questions. Thank you. Our first question comes from the line of Brian Holland with TD Cowen. Please proceed with your questions.

[Brian Holland, Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at TD Cowen]

Yeah, thanks. Good morning. If I could start with the erythritol, where Michael, you made comments toward the end of your prepared remarks. Maybe just a couple questions there. One, can you give us a sense of how much exposure your portfolio has to that specific sugar replacement? Then appreciate your points about kind of the long-term research or, you know, that's been done around erythritol. Obviously, that, you know, is going to. I don't know how much of an impact that's going to have with respect to, you know, whatever the consumer response will be to the Cleveland Clinic report. Any sense yet from retailers or customers or consumers, excuse me, how they feel about what's coming out of the Cleveland Clinic and how they might respond?

[Michael Franklin, Interim CEO at Whole Earth Brands]

Yep. Hey, thanks, Brian. I'm happy to take that. With regards to erythritol, you know, similar to what I shared in our prepared remarks, you know, we'll continue to monitor, you know, the situation closely. For us, you know, like any ingredient, any product that we sell, you know, we don't disclose what amount of that product, you know, accounts for what % of sales. We won't be doing that on this call. With respect to customers, retailers and partners that we have, look, for us, you know, we're working with our customers, we're working with our retailers.

[Michael Franklin, Interim CEO at Whole Earth Brands]

We're making sure that obviously we want to deliver, you know, the best products to the, you know, to our loyal customer base you know, we continue to see, you know, obviously consumers continuing to purchase, you know, these products and, you know, for us, making sure that we're reacting on the forefront and adjusting accordingly. You know, we'll continue to monitor that over the coming months and the existing reactions.

[Brian Holland, Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at TD Cowen]

Okay. As we think about the 2023 outlook, I'm just curious, if there's any assumption for adverse impact to your products that do have exposure to erythritol, if you made any assumptions for, you know, any decline in consumption as with respect to that?

[Michael Franklin, Interim CEO at Whole Earth Brands]

Yeah, I mean, we obviously, you know, when we're putting together, you know, our 2023 plans, you know, we included that in terms of what we could see, you know, from a consumer perspective. The truth is, you know, we continue to see demand for our products, you know, continue to be strong. We're working through it now. You know, that is reflected for, you know, our 2023.

[Brian Holland, Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at TD Cowen]

Yeah.

[Irwin Simon, Executive Chairman at Whole Earth Brands]

Hey. Good morning, Mike and Brian. Mike, Mikey.

[Brian Holland, Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at TD Cowen]

Over.

[Irwin Simon, Executive Chairman at Whole Earth Brands]

Just let me say something on erythritol. I think, guys, you know, again, I think every week there's a study that comes out in regards to an ingredient in a product and, you know, I've been through it many, many times. I think as we're governed by the FDA and we're governed by, you know, a lot of regulatory, you know, we're gonna ensure for safety and health of our, you know, consumers. I think, you know, ultimately out there's a lot of products out there besides Whole Earth, and there's a lot of products out there that contain erythritol. Actually, erythritol has been one of the highest ingredients increase because of corn and that coming from Ukraine.

[Irwin Simon, Executive Chairman at Whole Earth Brands]

I hear you on that, and I think, you know, we're gonna keep an eye on it, and if there's an ingredient to substitute, we will do that. It's not the whole thing that makes up our business. That's not what it is. We're not just an erythritol business. So far, as Mikey said, we're not seeing, you know, major impact from it. We'll absolutely keep an eye on it. I think we're used to this, that, you know, where the Cleveland Clinic or the different associations come out with a finding, and this is something that's been going on for seven years, and I'm not sure all the science behind it too. Mikey.

[Brian Holland, Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at TD Cowen]

Yeah. Okay, thanks. Last one from me. Michael, you talked about, I think, you know, providing a long-term outlook later this year. I think what the company has spoken to in the past as far as long-term targets are mid-single digit organic growth, mid to high single digit adjusted EBITDA growth. Can you just, certainly when there's a CEO transition, obviously the time that those guides were given, the environment has been very dynamic ever since then. Has anything from your perspective changed such that it should structurally alter the outlook that was out there, you know, prior to your arrival? Are those goals generally still attainable, or is something structurally altered such that, you know, any of that wouldn't be attainable down the road?

[Michael Franklin, Interim CEO at Whole Earth Brands]

Yeah. Look, we're excited to provide, you know, a more full swing presentation of our long-term goals and how we plan on getting there, you know, in the third quarter of this year at, you know, what we look forward to, you know, hosting an Investor Day to do that. No, I think in terms of our long growth algorithm, you know, I think that's it's relatively consistent, you know, looking to, you know, grow our revenue base by mid to high single digits and EBITDA concurrently. You know, we'll have a relentless focus on cash flow this year. You know, in the third quarter, you know, we'll share on that long growth and some of our financial targets.

[Brian Holland, Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at TD Cowen]

I'll leave it there. Thanks. Best of luck.

[Michael Franklin, Interim CEO at Whole Earth Brands]

Thanks, Brian.

[Operator]

Our next question is from the line of Rob Dickerson with Jefferies. Please proceed with your questions.

[Rob Dickerson, Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at Jefferies]

Great. Thank you so much. You know, look, I mean, I guess I'll just ask kind of upfront, you know, just given this is the first time, as Brian was saying, you know, we have access to you, Mikey, and also maybe for Irwin. You know, a lot of the commentary is about kind of all the opportunities ahead, right? Still see a lot of opportunity, could still grow nicely on the go forward. You know, just I guess given since you kinda got there in August, Mikey, and you said you know, you travel, you know, a decent amount. I'm sure you've been speaking with the board frequently.

[Rob Dickerson, Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at Jefferies]

maybe just kind of spend a minute kind of talking about, you know, maybe, you know, where you saw certain opportunities not captured that were already available to you. You know, maybe kinda like what some of the low-hanging fruit is, you know, mostly on the top line, I guess. You know, and then just, you know, kind of as you set course now, like we'll hear more in Q3, but like, what are you doing now? Like, what's different?

[Michael Franklin, Interim CEO at Whole Earth Brands]

Look, I'd say when I initially joined the board, the operating board back in August, I think what, you know, from my initial impressions were this is, you know, a really strong business, you know, a healthy underlying business with tremendous opportunity for growth that, you know, on the CPG in the brand and CPG segment, you know, there's we're in the early innings for, you know, where we can take this business. You know, I'd say above all else, I think I was incredibly encouraged by the depth and quality of our team at the operating level. I think the more time that I spent with the team, the more conviction that I gained in the business. In terms of low-hanging fruit and opportunities that we're excited about, you know, I think, you know, our.

[Michael Franklin, Interim CEO at Whole Earth Brands]

one of the first opportunities we identified was our manufacturing footprint. How do we, how do we simplify and return our business to an asset-light state? You know, that's something that is of, you know, increased focus for us, right? How do we, how do we get the product to customers in one truck, you know, across, you know, many of our brands? Understanding, you know, we have a great strong international business. How do we reinvest in that business? How do we provide, you know, our teams abroad with the adequate resources to grow materially?

[Michael Franklin, Interim CEO at Whole Earth Brands]

In North America, I think a lot of the frustration and challenges that we've had, you know, in 2022 largely stemmed from, look, the operating macro environment wasn't easy. You know, our primary focus is making sure that, you know, we deliver, you know, the highest customer service levels. you know, putting our customers first, making sure we put our like, you know, products to our customers, making sure that we're reinvesting in marketing trade and innovation. you know, all that taken together, hopefully, you know, we're continuing to be excited about what's in store for 2023 and beyond.

[Rob Dickerson, Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at Jefferies]

All right. Got it. I mean, it basically sounds like, you know, a little bit more operational kind of, you know, headwind that you felt, hope to kind of dig out of that through your own efficiency plan. When you think about the investment side, right, when you said, you know, there are areas to kind of reinvest, which I guess would imply kinda SG&A goes up a little bit. Maybe there's some more trade going in. You kinda just mentioned international. I mean, do you, do you kind of view it as some of the U.S. brands have been underinvested then?

[Rob Dickerson, Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at Jefferies]

'Cause I mean, I feel like there's decent innovation coming out of that side of the business. We haven't really heard as much about the international side of the business, even though that was kinda part of the plan up front, right? It was like Equal can crush it in emerging markets, but really didn't hear much about Equal in emerging markets. Maybe just kinda spend a second on kinda where you think some of the investment could go. I have a quick follow-up.

[Michael Franklin, Interim CEO at Whole Earth Brands]

Yeah. Happy to answer that. Look, our international views somewhere, you know, we're incredibly excited about. You know, any opportunities that we can grow from a distribution perspective, especially in our international segments, you know, is incredibly important for us, right? If you look at India, for example, you know, that business from, you know, 21 to 22 nearly tripled. No different is what we're seeing in, you know, material growth in China with that business growing over 50% year-over-year. I think it's for us, it's identifying high growth regions and making sure that we're supplying product in those regions and making sure that we're delivering it, you know, catered towards those local preferences. You know, when it comes to international, we'll touch more about this obviously at our Investor Day. Yes, international continues to be, you know, an important area for us.

[Rob Dickerson, Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at Jefferies]

Yeah.

[Irwin Simon, Executive Chairman at Whole Earth Brands]

Rob, we have Canderel, which is a tremendous well-known brand that is really strong, you know, in France, really strong, you know, in the U.K. and Belgium. There's so many opportunities for expansion there. Like, like Mikey said, I mean, and you said international was to be a big part of this. I think, you know, listen, we'll go back and can blame a lot on Covid, but, you know, there's certain things, whether it's currency and other things that we happened that hurt us. International has tremendous opportunity, and we have some strong brands over there. I mean, you mentioned Canderel, the brand awareness. Basically, we're only in a few countries today in Europe with tremendous expansion. Mikey said before, what we've done, you know, in, you know, Middle East, India, and China is tremendous in a short period of time. He has lots of opportunities there, Mikey.

[Rob Dickerson, Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at Jefferies]

All right. Great. Thanks, guys. Then just quickly, just on gross margin for the year. I mean, obviously gross margins kind of continued to decelerate as little price cost dynamic. You called out Q1 being more pressured quarter of the year, the most pressured quarter of the year on an EBITDA side. I'm just curious, you know, as you think about, you know, the plan for 23 trade spend, price cost relationship, et cetera, are you thinking kinda more of like a flattish gross margin-ish year-over-year and then maybe a little higher SG&A, which maybe puts a little pressure on EBITDA margin in the near term? Or just any color on the gross margin side would be great. That's all. Thanks so much.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

Hey, Rob, this is Duane. I appreciate the question. Good morning. Yeah, from a full year perspective, we do expect adjusted gross margins to be pretty consistent overall with 2022. The order of events is going to be a little different in the sense that, like I mentioned, the first quarter, both from a gross margin perspective and an EBITDA margin perspective will be the smallest of the quarter. Both dollars and margin rates are expected to improve as the year goes on. At the end, we expect to finish fairly consistent. On the SG&A side, yeah, there's investments going on there. We're increasing our marketing spend by around 25% year-on-year to make sure that we're supporting our launches, supporting the initiatives around the globe with a little bit of emphasis towards North America. That's where a lot of the SG&A investment will come from.

[Bobby Burleson, Managing Director at Canaccord Genuity]

Perfect. Thank you.

[Operator]

Our next question is from the line of Bobby Burleson with Canaccord. Please proceed with your questions.

[Bobby Burleson, Managing Director at Canaccord Genuity]

Yeah, good morning. just curious on the top line guidance, kind of parsing out the full year benefit of price increases versus kind of volume expectations, you know, what are you what's implied in terms of volume, you know, directionally versus 2022 from a growth perspective?

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

Hey, Bobby. Hey, Mike. We expect growth to be, I guess I'll call it more balanced than we saw in 2022. From a branded CPG perspective, you know, most of the growth was price. I would say 2023 most will be price. It just won't be as acute. One of the things we do have in our expectation set is a little bit more SKU rationalization, particularly as it relates to our ingredient business on Wholesome. That business may decline just a little bit. That's by choice, given where sugar prices are and what our sugar quota is. You know, absent that dynamic, we expect more volume growth than we saw in 2022.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

We've got, you know, a little bit of price to go, full year effect plus some pricing that we're actually actioning on now. Expect volume growth to be, you know, maybe 2-ish times what we saw in 2022. Flavors and ingredients, a little different dynamic there. Great volume growth, obviously in 2022. We do expect both positive price and positive volume in our flavors and ingredients, but that'll be slightly more weighted towards price in 2023.

[Bobby Burleson, Managing Director at Canaccord Genuity]

Okay, great. Just on the erythritol, you know, I understand there's some, you know, SKUs you guys have out there that kind of highlight erythritol, not just as an ingredient in the back, but really, you know, emblazoned on the front of the package. Curious kind of what the costs might be or, you know, timing around repackaging if that's necessary, like whether or not customers or partners are interested in, you know, maybe a different way of presenting those products, you know, that don't highlight erythritol on the front. Just curious what the operational impact might be in terms of any costs or timing there of making those changes, if in fact there's interest in doing that.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

Yeah. Thanks, Bobby. Look, I think for us, right, I think we'll continue to monitor, you know, how the recent press, you know, translates to consumer demand. I think for us, what we see is, you know, it's not any different than any product that we sell, right? Any press you receive about any products that anyone sells. You know, for us, it's making sure that, you know, we have the action plans in place to make the changes that we need. If we need to reformulate our products, you know, we're working obviously to make sure that we can do that and we'll have, you know, the backups in place and repackaging if that's what we ultimately, you know, we'll really need.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

The truth is today, where we are, you know, we continue to, you know, have strong conviction in our products and, you know, there's nothing that's happening or changing overnight. You know, like any business, when you're managing risk, you're making sure that you have the plans in place. No, you know, for us, we can do this relatively quickly with any of our products. We go through this with all of our SKUs, not just ones that have erythritol in them.

[Bobby Burleson, Managing Director at Canaccord Genuity]

Okay, fantastic. Thank you.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

Thanks, Bobby.

[Operator]

Our next question has come from the line of Scott Mushkin with R5 Capital. Please proceed with your questions.

[Scott Mushkin, Founder and CEO at R5 Capital]

Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my questions. It seems, and I know Michael, you're still filed as the Interim CEO, but the way you kind of addressed the call, it seems like it's more permanent. How are we viewing that?

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

Hey, Scott, thanks for the question. Look, from my perspective, right, I, when I had the opportunity, obviously, as we talked about, to join the board in August and ultimately join in a, you know, full-time role, obviously at the beginning of January.

[Michael Franklin, Interim CEO at Whole Earth Brands]

I think for me, you know, when I had stepped into this role, the idea was, you know, asking for the interim title was to reserve, you know, the ability to make sure that, you know, I was the right person. I wanted to make sure that the team, you know, felt like I was the right person and that the board felt similarly, to make sure, you know, that I was the right person to lead this, to lead the company. I think from, you know, initially from out of the gate, I took the role knowing that I might be doing this, that I plan on doing this, you know, full time.

[Michael Franklin, Interim CEO at Whole Earth Brands]

That the interim title, you know, was only temporary. You know, my full intention is to be here for the long term. The more time, like I said, I spend with the team, the more excited I am about what the future holds, and I'm looking forward to being part of the team on that journey. You know, for me, it's I'm here for the long term, and I'm excited about, you know, the future prospects of this business.

[Scott Mushkin, Founder and CEO at R5 Capital]

Great. Then this question is actually, I think, probably more for Duane. You know, when we look at and you laid out the first quarter being low EBITDA, if we look at the other side of the ledger, you know, the cash needs of the business, how, you know, how should we think about that? You know, same way, and, you know, how significant do you think they'll be in the first quarter, and then you lay out the year?

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

Scott, really appreciate the question. Good morning. No, I think My first year with the company was obviously a very dynamic year. Lots going on operationally, lots going on, organizationally and the like, and operationally as well. I would say this from a, you know, from a cash needs perspective and a net working capital perspective, I don't, you know, I don't expect working capital to be a source of funds for the full year. You know, I think where we're at as we exited 22, we're actually in a pretty healthy position, both in terms of inventory. We made good strides in Q4 in bringing some of that down.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

Kind of what remains in inventory at the end of 2022 is more the cost impact that we saw throughout the year. You know, based on what we know about cost right now, I think most of that has been kind of woven its way into the balance sheet. That shouldn't have as dramatic of an impact. We're very healthy from a vendor perspective and our relations there and our payable balances and our receivables are in a good spot. You know, I would say we're starting 2023 probably not as hungry as we were in 2022 from a net working capital perspective. As we you know, it will be lumpy as we go through the year. I actually don't see Q1.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

and takes, but I don't expect huge movements in working capital in Q1. Q2 and Q3, there might be a little bit more of an appetite, just given timing on some sugar type purchases and the like. Then as we finish the year, again, I would expect this, you know, a kind of single digit millions use of cash overall and net working capital given our growth. But, you know, I don't expect the amount of kind of fluctuations that we saw in 2022 overall as the year progresses.

[Scott Mushkin, Founder and CEO at R5 Capital]

Perfect. Then my final question would be as you look at your EBITDA guidance, you know, kind of walk us through the idea of, you know, what could take you above that, and what could maybe take you below it and kind of as you guys look at the year.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

Yeah, I think so. You know, right now currency year-on-year isn't too much of an impact. Probably a little bit of a pressure in Q1. You know, if current spot rates hold, then that should kind of level out as the year progresses. That could probably be either a help or a hurt at this stage. You know, volume, I think we think we have a good plan, good budget, good operating budget in terms of volumes that we're going after and how we're supporting them. We are anticipating some, like I said, some decrease in our ingredients business.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

If we were to get, you know, better quota and the like, then we could more aggressively go after that business and do a little bit better from an EBITDA perspective. You know, we have good execution plans in place and are kind of on track with what we're doing in the Decatur. Again, I think we're pretty balanced in how we're approaching that. If we can execute a little quicker, that might be a little bit better from an EBITDA perspective. Vice versa if it, you know, if we don't execute it like we want. Again, I think it's a pretty balanced portfolio. Really, you know, probably the big driver will be volume growth. There is certainly opportunity to beat the numbers that we have out there and beat the budget if that can come to fruition.

[Scott Mushkin, Founder and CEO at R5 Capital]

Perfect. Thanks for taking my questions. Appreciate all the color.

[Operator]

Our next question is from the line of Ryan Meyers, Lake Street Capital Markets. Please proceed with your questions.

[Ryan Meyers, Senior Research Analyst at Lake Street Capital Markets]

Good morning, guys. Thanks for taking my questions. First one for me, just wondering if you can talk about what you're seeing from a demand perspective across the different product categories and maybe the different channels.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

Yeah. From, you know, as we finished Q4, it was a, you know, a bit of a microcosm for the full year 2022 in terms of, you know, as we think about North America, the non-major channels continued to grow nicely. The major channels, you know, we continue to work through and make sure we're servicing our customers in those channels appropriately. As we enter 2023, you know, the areas of focus remain the same. You know, right now I think feel pretty good about the demand and the marketing and trade investments that we're putting behind the demand in North America.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

From an international perspective, we gained share in almost every market throughout last year. Those were in markets where we already have, you know, pretty high share to begin with. The teams continue to, you know, again, operate well, stock shelves well, the like. You know, the demand is there even in Europe where the, you know, kind of different macroeconomic environment going on, share is very healthy and actually growing.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

Again, as, you know, demand isn't, is not really the issue as far as that goes. Then from a flavors and ingredients perspective, as Mike remarks and kind of on some other questions. You know, the team has done a great job of opening up new avenues for the licorice extract. That continues to grow and continue to de-emphasize tobacco and the like. Product demand is pretty healthy across the board. In North America, we've just got to help that out with good execution.

[Ryan Meyers, Senior Research Analyst at Lake Street Capital Markets]

That's good to know. The price increases that you guys have implemented, what kind of feedback have you gotten from your larger customers? Maybe how receptive have they been to these price increases?

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

I think, I guess that Mikey can correct me where I'm wrong, you know, more than half of the price impact for 2023 is the full year impact of price increases that have already been implemented, executed throughout 2022. You know, new price increases, it's a customer by customer, SKU by SKU battle. I would say I guess I'd characterize it as those conversations aren't getting easier. They're getting more difficult.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

You know, some of the conversations are successful as far as getting what we ask for. Some of them are less successful at getting, you know, maybe a little bit less than we ask for. You know, I wouldn't say we're still living in interesting times. Maybe, you know, three, four years ago, talking about price increases, we just, you know, the people wouldn't even get past the first five or six syllables, whereas now the conversation continues to be fulsome, but they're not, they're not easy conversations.

[Ryan Meyers, Senior Research Analyst at Lake Street Capital Markets]

Great. Thanks for taking my questions.

[Operator]

Thank you. Our final question comes from the line of Alex Arnold with Odeon Capital. Please proceed with your questions.

[Alex Arnold, Managing Director at Odeon Capital Group]

Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my questions. A bunch of it's been covered. A couple sort of housekeeping ones. Is there any thought about costs in your guidance related to the Alabama shutdown, or is that something that we'll find out as it comes?

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

We do have. As I mentioned before, the 2022, you know, the challenges and opportunities that we had with Decatur, Alabama, were, you know, kind of front and center and obviously a big use of cash as we completed 2022. The cost, you know, the cost to fully exit and then get our co-packers set up like they need to be set up is, you know, it's incorporated in the adjusted EBITDA guidance. I, you know, I am adjusting those costs out to put a finer pinpoint to it, is that, you know, we had around $22 and that, you know, $22 and change million of cash outbacks related to Decatur in 2022.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

In 2023, I expect that to drop in half, with about 50% of those costs being borne in the 1st quarter of this year. I expect dramatic improvement actually in the cash costs of what we're doing from a supply chain perspective. A big majority of that'll be finished, or I should say about half of that'll be finished in Q1. Then through, as we look at Q2, Q3 and Q4, kind of even spend there given the timing of what we wanna do with Decatur. That's how I see the year progressing then.

[Alex Arnold, Managing Director at Odeon Capital Group]

Okay, great. In terms of cost of goods, are you seeing any abatement in your supply chain?

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

We are seeing, you know, I would say last year it was. Cost inflation was pervasive. You know, it didn't matter whether it was raw materials, whether it's packaging, wages, logistics, so on and so forth. This year as we finish 2022 and are living in 2023 now, there are places where we're seeing cost decreases, transportation, logistics to a certain extent. There's places where we continue to see, you know, some inflation, whether that's raw materials like dextrose.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

This year, you know, we are seeing inflation in our Wholesome business, whether it's sugar prices, whether it's honey prices, whether it's agave prices, all of those are under pressure right now you know, it's a mixed bag in terms of what's kind of going up and what's coming down. The nice thing is it's not pervasive, and we are seeing opportunities for decreased costs in pockets, but it's select pockets and there's other pockets where, you know, we continue to work through cost increases.

[Alex Arnold, Managing Director at Odeon Capital Group]

Great. All right. Thanks a lot, guys.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

Good.

[Operator]

Thank you. At this time, we've reached the end of our question-and-answer session. I'll now turn the floor back to management for closing comments.

[Michael Franklin, Interim CEO at Whole Earth Brands]

Nothing to add from our end.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

Yep. No operator, we appreciate it.

[Michael Franklin, Interim CEO at Whole Earth Brands]

Okay.

[Duane Portwood, CFO at Whole Earth Brands]

Close and thank you for all. Thank you to everyone for joining the call.

[Operator]

This will conclude today's conference. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect your lines at this time.

Participants

Executives

• Duane Portwood, CFO
• Irwin Simon, Executive Chairman
• Michael Franklin, Interim CEO

Analysts

• Alex Arnold, Managing Director at Odeon Capital Group
• Bobby Burleson, Managing Director at Canaccord Genuity
• Brian Holland, Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at TD Cowen
• Jeff Sonnek, Managing Director of Investor Relations at ICR
• Rob Dickerson, Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at Jefferies
• Ryan Meyers, Senior Research Analyst at Lake Street Capital Markets
• Scott Mushkin, Founder and CEO at R5 Capital