Maple Leaf Foods Q1 2026 Earnings Report

Maple Leaf Foods EPS Results

• Actual EPS: C$0.34
• Consensus EPS: N/A
• Beat/Miss: N/A
• One Year Ago EPS: N/A

Maple Leaf Foods Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $962.85 million
• Expected Revenue: N/A
• Beat/Miss: N/A
• YoY Revenue Growth: N/A

Maple Leaf Foods Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q1 2026
• Date: 5/7/2026
• Time: Before Market Opens
• Conference Call Date: Thursday, May 7, 2026
• Conference Call Time: 8:00AM ET

Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) Inc is a consumer-packaged meats company. It produces prepared meats and meals, fresh pork, and poultry and turkey products. The company also has agribusiness operations. These operations supply livestock to the meat products business operations. Its main markets are Canada, the United States, Japan, and China. The key brands are Maple Leaf and Schneiders, Maple Leaf Prime Naturally, Shopsy, Mitchell's Gourmet Food, Larse, Parm, and Hygrade.

Maple Leaf Foods Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Positive Sentiment: Reaffirmed 2026 outlook — management expects mid-single-digit revenue growth and adjusted EBITDA of CAD 520–540M, with capex of CAD 160–180M and leverage maintained below 3x.
• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results showed CAD 963M in sales (up 6.2%) and adjusted EBITDA of CAD 122.4M (up 5.7%), with a sequential margin improvement of ~90 bps after implementing inflation-based pass-through pricing.
• Positive Sentiment: Poultry outperformance — Poultry sales grew ~11.7%, branded/RWA lines grew double digits, market share rose ~1.7 points, and the London plant still has runway and operational levers to support further volume growth.
• Negative Sentiment: Management flagged ongoing food and energy inflation risks (including geopolitical-driven fuel cost spikes), implemented a temporary fuel surcharge and cautioned that input cost pressures and seasonal raw-material swings (notably in Q3) could create margin variability.
• Positive Sentiment: Strong balance-sheet and capital allocation — Q1 free cash flow CAD 36.6M, net debt/adjusted EBITDA ~2.1x, a 10.5% dividend increase and NCIB repurchases, while M&A is strategic but not an immediate priority (focus on U.S. branded protein opportunities).

Presentation

[Operator]

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

[Omar Javed, VP of Investor Relations at Maple Leaf Foods]

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

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Okay, thank you, Omar, and good morning, everyone. Joining me on our call today is our Chief Financial Officer, David Smales. I will begin with a strategic and operational update, able to walk you through the financial results in more detail. Then I will return with a few closing thoughts before we open the line to questions. The headline for today is that we delivered a solid first quarter. We are firmly on track to deliver our 2026 outlook. Sales in Q1 were CAD 963 million, up just over 6% year-over-year, driven by our proven and resilient growth platforms. Poultry delivered double-digit growth, supported by improved channel mix and strong consumer demand across both the retail and food service channels. Prepared Foods also delivered sales growth, supported by pricing and mix.

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Adjusted EBITDA was approximately CAD 122 million, up nearly 6% year-over-year. Our adjusted EBITDA margin was 12.7%. Margin improved sequentially by 90 basis points, as we expected, supported by the inflation-based pass-through pricing we implemented in the quarter. Productivity initiatives and efficiency improvements, including our Fuel for Growth program and better sales mix, are contributing to EBITDA growth and supporting continued margin resilience. This disciplined execution reflects the benefits of the separation of our pork operations, which has sharpened our focus as a purpose-driven, protein-focused, and brand-led CPG company, and has strengthened our ability to accelerate profitable growth and generate free cash flow. Earlier this year at our Investor Day, we introduced our 2030 financial ambitions and the strategic blueprint that will guide us to achieving them.

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

That ambition is supported by a clear value creation framework: first, scaling the core business through our proven growth platforms, leading in Sustainable Meats, building a portfolio of loved brands, accelerating impactful innovation, expanding our reach into the U.S., new channels and new categories, and aligning more deeply with our customer strategies. Second, expanding structural margins through improved commercial mix, disciplined revenue management, and a productivity-driven operating model supported by the continued benefits of our Fuel for Growth program. Third, allocating capital with discipline, maintaining a strong balance sheet, investing to support growth and efficiency, and returning capital to shareholders in a balanced and consistent way. By executing against this framework, we are targeting approximately CAD 5 billion in revenue, approximately CAD 750 million in adjusted EBITDA, and cumulative free cash flow of approximately CAD 1.7 billion-CAD 1.8 billion by 2030, while maintaining an investment-grade leverage below 3x net debt to adjusted EBITDA.

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Our 2026 outlook demonstrates progress toward these ambitions. In January, we introduced 2026 guidance, calling for mid-single-digit revenue growth, adjusted EBITDA in the range of approximately CAD 520 million-CAD 540 million, and continued discipline in capital allocation, including dividend growth, capital investments of approximately CAD 160 million-CAD 180 million, and maintaining leverage below 3x. Today, we are reaffirming that outlook. I do, however, want to offer some context with respect to how we see the balance of the year playing out. First, despite the noise of the external market, our focus remains on executing our strategic blueprint. We have an experienced and highly capable team, proven growth strategies, and a productivity playbook that is active across the business. We are also maintaining a disciplined, shareholder-friendly approach to capital allocation. Second, food inflation remains an active area of management focus.

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Geopolitical developments, including the conflict involving Iran, are affecting energy markets and increasing transportation costs in the near term. We are monitoring these pressures closely, and we are responding with speed and with discipline. In addition to the inflation-based pricing actions implemented in February, we have introduced a temporary fuel surcharge as a direct pass-through tied to higher transportation costs. This provides transparency around the underlying drivers of those increases and will be removed if or as fuel markets normalize. With the pricing actions we have taken to date, along with the optimization of our ongoing promotional programs and the discipline we are showing in managing our costs, we are confident we are well positioned today to mitigate these inflationary impacts. Of course, should additional inflation-justified pricing become necessary, we will act as quickly as possible, respecting the normal lag time required for our CPG industry.

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Finally, we've been examining the seasonality patterns of the new Maple Leaf Foods and our business profile following the spinoff of Canada Packers. As we noted in our MD&A, revenue is typically the lowest in the first quarter and then remains relatively consistent throughout the balance of the year, while raw material input costs are often higher in the second half. This can create some variability in margins from quarter-to-quarter, as we've seen in recent years, particularly in the third quarter, reflecting our typical business mix and input cost profile at that time of year. You can see this clearly in our supporting slides, which illustrates this pattern in 2024 and 2025. Importantly, this is a matter of phasing and does not impact our full year expectations. As we look ahead, we remain confident in the trajectory of the business and confident in delivering our full year outlook.

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Protein continues to be one of the most attractive and resilient segments in food, with demand supported by strong consumer fundamentals and long-term structural growth. We have a clear strategic blueprint, a portfolio of leading brands, a focused operating model, and a team that is executing with precision and with discipline. Our focus is set squarely on staying close to the consumer, responding to changing needs, demonstrating excellence in revenue management, protecting service and quality, and continuing to drive cost efficiency across our business. The fundamentals of the business are strong, and our priorities are clear. With that, I will now turn it over to Dave to walk through the financial results in more detail. Dave?

[David Smales, CFO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Thank you, Curtis, and good morning, everyone. Today, I'll comment on results for the first quarter before turning to the balance sheet and outlook for 2026. Sales in the quarter were CAD 963 million, an increase of 6.2% compared to last year. This robust growth was driven by both Poultry and Prepared Foods, which grew by 11.7% and 2.3%, respectively. In Poultry, sales increased compared to the same quarter a year ago due to improved channel mix, with growth in both retail and food service volume, as well as pricing impacts. Prepared Foods sales growth was driven by improved mix, related party revenue, and pricing impacts, which were partially offset by lower volume tied to timing of promotional activity and lower industrial sales, as well as unfavorable foreign exchange translation on U.S. sales.

[David Smales, CFO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Adjusted EBITDA of CAD 122.4 million increased by 5.7% versus the first quarter of last year, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 12.7% compared to 12.8% last year. Improved profitability was mainly driven by advances in operating efficiency, inclusive of the benefits from our productivity playbook and Fuel for Growth program, and favorable poultry channel mix tied to retail and food service volume growth. These factors were partially offset by the impact of non-recurring items, which were a benefit in the first quarter of last year, as well as increased trade promotion spending this year. Adjusted EBITDA margin of 12.7% was comparable to last year, despite the impact of non-recurring items that were a benefit in the first quarter a year ago.

[David Smales, CFO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Importantly, the implementation of path-through price increases in mid-February, following the inflation we saw in the second half of 2025, contributed to a sequential margin improvement of 90 basis points from the fourth quarter. SG&A expenses were CAD 101.9 million in the quarter, broadly consistent with CAD 103.1 million last year, while SG&A's percentage of sales improved by 80 basis points. Earnings from continuing operations were CAD 46.1 million for the quarter, or CAD 0.37 per basic share, compared to CAD 16 million or CAD 0.13 per share last year. The increase in earnings was driven by strong operating performance, reduced interest expense due to lower debt levels, and changes in unrealized net gains on commodity futures contracts, which were partially offset by the impact of non-recurring items that benefited the first quarter of last year. Capital expenditures were CAD 21.3 million in the quarter, compared to CAD 25.1 million in the same period last year.

[David Smales, CFO at Maple Leaf Foods]

The decrease was driven by approximately CAD 8 million of prior-year capital expenditures related to discontinued operations, partially offset by increased spending in the first quarter of this year on maintenance projects. Looking ahead and consistent with our 2026 guidance, we still expect capital investments for the full year to be in the range of CAD 160 million-CAD 180 million, with spend focused on maintenance and productivity enhancements initiatives. We generated CAD 36.6 million in free cash flow in the quarter, an increase of CAD 50.2 million compared to the same period last year. The improvement was driven by a lower level of investment in working capital, improved cash earnings from continuing operations, and lower interest payments, which were partially offset by prior-year cash earnings generated by discontinued operations.

[David Smales, CFO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Consistent with our stated capital allocation priorities, our leverage ratio remains well within an investment-grade range, with a net debt-to-trailing 12-months adjusted EBITDA ratio of 2.1x at the end of the quarter, in line with leverage at the end of the fourth quarter and down from 2.6x a year ago. Strong free cash flow generation and an investment-grade balance sheet provide flexibility to execute a more balanced approach to capital allocation. In the first quarter, we returned CAD 36 million in capital to shareholders through a combination of our first-quarter dividend, which increased by 10.5% from the prior-year, and the repurchase of approximately 0.3 million shares under the NCIB. We intend to remain active with the NCIB to, at a minimum, offset the impact of dilution.

[David Smales, CFO at Maple Leaf Foods]

As Curtis mentioned in his remarks, we are reaffirming our 2026 guidance and, as such, expect to deliver mid-single-digit revenue growth and adjusted EBITDA in the range of approximately CAD 520 million-CAD 540 million while executing a balanced approach to capital allocation. I will now turn the call back to Curtis.

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Okay. Thank you, Dave. Let me close with a few key messages which closely mirror those of our recent Investor Day. First, the transformation of Maple Leaf Foods is complete. Over the past decade, we have reshaped the business through major capital investment, portfolio simplification, and strategic focus. That work and the capital associated with it is now firmly behind us. Second, we now operate with stronger structural advantage as a purpose-driven, protein-focused, and brand-led CPG company. These advantages are showing through in our performance relative to our peers and the broader CPG market. Third, we are firmly in our delivery and return phase. Our focus is on growth, margin expansion, cash generation, and improving returns on invested capital. Our 2025 results and our first quarter of 2026 performance reflect the benefits of that focus. Fourth, our strategic blueprint is future-ready.

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Our strategy, our assets, and our team are aligned to deliver long-term value with a clear line of sight to our 2030 financial ambitions. Finally, we are reaffirming our 2026 outlook today. As I close here this morning, I want to recognize the Maple Leaf team. You continue to live our values and deliver outstanding results in a demanding operating environment while, at the same time, advancing our bold vision to be the most sustainable protein company on Earth. Thank you. Operator, we can now open the line to questions, please.

[Operator]

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

[Michael Van Aelst, Analyst at TD Cowen]

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

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Good morning, Mike. Thank you. Before I answer your question, which I will, I understand that today is most likely your last call with us given your retirement. I wanted to first congratulate you and, second, thank you for your coverage and support of Maple Leaf Foods over the past many number of years. You've been with us on a lengthy journey, and I and we all at Maple Leaf certainly appreciate that. Thank you and congratulations.

[Michael Van Aelst, Analyst at TD Cowen]

Thank you.

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

On the topic of Poultry and trade down, which I think was predominantly your question and a little bit around the consumer environment, we've been saying consistently for a relatively lengthy period of time here that things are stable, that still means the consumer is under stress. We continue, as David mentioned in his comments, to be investing in promotional allowances that are right-sized to the consumer environment today. That intensity hasn't changed, I don't think, in any material way quarter-to-quarter. On the Poultry side, I think there's some important clarification for our own portfolio. We had a very successful first quarter in the Poultry business, which you saw in our top-line results. Sales grew at a little over 11% in the Poultry business for us in Q1, which was, again, a very strong quarter.

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Underneath that, the Prime brand in particular, which is our premium brand positioned in the RWA segment, grew at around the same pace in a double-digit range. Our Sustainable Meats Fresh Poultry business grew at double digits. We actually picked up a little more than 1.7 points of market share gains in the first quarter. Overall, it was a pretty successful first quarter in the Poultry business for us. We're optimistic that will continue over the balance of the year. I think all things positive on the Poultry front.

[Michael Van Aelst, Analyst at TD Cowen]

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

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

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

[Michael Van Aelst, Analyst at TD Cowen]

Perfect. Thank you. I'll get back in the queue. I appreciate your kind comments.

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Thank you.

[Operator]

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

[Irene Nattel, Analyst at RBC Capital Markets]

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

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Oh. Hi, Irene. Good morning. Yeah, thanks. We, as you know, implemented in February kind of our broader-based inflationary view of the year and the costs associated with the increases we took early in the year. Those are in the market and have been implemented. You see the sequential benefits of that pricing taking place from Q4 to Q1 and the cost recovery we've had. On fuel specifically, we are working today alongside our customers to implement a very targeted and hopefully, what's temporary, although that's certainly lots to play out, but hopefully, what's temporary, a fuel surcharge in the market to reflect what was essentially in the range of a 50% cost increase in fuel throughout the month of April, as an example. We see that as a justified increase.

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

We took the learning of moving a little slower than we would have liked to have in the last part of last year and moved with certainly more pace this year. We feel like we're well-positioned from a fuel recovery perspective. The longer-term implications of the conflict in Iran are kind of yet to play out. They come in areas that you're referencing in packaging and plastics in particular as a secondary impact. To date, those impacts are certainly manageable. We're monitoring them closely, just like we did fuel. We feel like we're really well-positioned today. Should anything change, I think we're monitoring things closely and are prepared to act quickly should we need to. We're hopeful that won't be the case, but we're well-prepared in the event we need to.

[Irene Nattel, Analyst at RBC Capital Markets]

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

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

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

[Irene Nattel, Analyst at RBC Capital Markets]

That's great. Thank you.

[Operator]

Your next question comes from the line of George [Doumat] from Ventum Financial. Please go ahead.

[George Doumat, Analyst at Ventum Financial]

Hey. Good morning. I just wanted to follow up on the seasonal information you guys provided for the quarter. I think you mentioned Q3 is the more seasonal quarter, a weakness, I guess, based on the commodity pricing and all that kind of stuff. Can you talk a little bit about any other factors that we should be cognizant that might get in the way of us attaining kind of those low 30% EBITDA margins next quarter, as early as next quarter, I guess, those levels attained earlier last year? Thanks.

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Hi, George. Good morning. Well, I'm not going to give precise quarterly guidance. I think what we offered in our commentary is entirely appropriate. I'll recap that a little bit with some maybe color around it. The first and I think most important news is we had a very strong Q1. The key message today is that positions us to deliver our outlook for the year. We're entirely confident in that. That's the headline overall. We did put a little bit of color around that. I mean, Q2, logically, is all about the pricing impact on volume, keeping in mind that we took pricing in February. The response has been relatively normal so far, but we're paying careful attention to that. The inflation from an energy perspective, which, as I just said, I feel like we're positioned really well for.

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Q3, we wanted to give a little bit more commentary, more because of the composition of the new Maple Leaf Foods. We've been studying the seasonality of the new business after the separation of pork, obviously, quite closely. We did put in our supplementary materials, if you look at the continuing operations section, you see kind of the quarterly progression of margins over the last couple of years. Q3 tends to be, because of higher meat costs in the second half and an escalation in things like bellies, as an example, in Q3 tends to be a little lower margin than the balance of the year. We thought it was important to be transparent about that and call that to your attention. Then I would say no new news for Q4.

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

It all leads to very confident in delivering our year with some extra context and color around how we see it playing out. Of course, if things change, we'll continue to update you along the way.

[George Doumat, Analyst at Ventum Financial]

Great. One last one from me, Curtis. Given what the balance sheet is today, can you talk a little bit about M&A? How should we think about kind of the nice-to-haves versus the really sought-out targets out there? Thanks.

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

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

[David Smales, CFO at Maple Leaf Foods]

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

[George Doumat, Analyst at Ventum Financial]

Appreciate it. Thanks.

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Thank you.

[Operator]

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

[Vishal Shreedhar, Analyst at National Bank]

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

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

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

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Poultry, as I noted earlier, was really strong. Typically, a quarter or two of consumer adjustment from a volumetric point of view, and then kind of right back to normal.

[Vishal Shreedhar, Analyst at National Bank]

Okay. With respect to how trends are playing out intra-quarter, are you seeing any acceleration in Prepared Foods, and are you seeing any change to the Poultry trends?

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Is your question between Q1 and Q2, Vishal?

[Vishal Shreedhar, Analyst at National Bank]

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

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

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

[Vishal Shreedhar, Analyst at National Bank]

Thank you.

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Thanks.

[Operator]

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

[Mark Petrie, Analyst at CIBC Capital Markets]

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

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Yeah. Great question. Thanks, Mark. We continue to be encouraged by the Poultry business, starting with consumer demand. I mean, we're seeing very, very strong consumer demand. That's translating into strength in both the retail and the food service channel, which is great news for us. Most importantly, it's leading to allocation growth from a supply management point of view. We're getting volumetric support on the backs of strong and growing consumer demand in the Canadian market for Poultry. You continue to see relative affordability as compared to competing proteins like beef, and consumer preferences for chicken and Poultry continue to increase. That's positive structurally for the category, and we're seeing the benefits of that. The best thing we could have done in this situation is have built a plant like London Poultry with the capacity and capability to support that level of growth.

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

We feel like we're uniquely positioned in the Canadian market to capitalize on that growing consumer demand. You're seeing the benefits of that, obviously, in the quarter from London. There's still runway. To be clear, there's still runway for growth in the Poultry business supported by the benefits at London. The team's just doing a fantastic job there. They continue to operate the plant in a world-class way, both from a cost efficiency point of view, but also a throughput point of view to continue to support growth. I think we've got lots more to squeeze out of that asset, and it's going exceptionally well at the same time.

[Mark Petrie, Analyst at CIBC Capital Markets]

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

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

I don't know yet. I mean, we watch shelf prices. Our measure for that is kind of auditing shelf prices and watching carefully. I think it's too soon to know what the follow-on effect is. I mean, the order of magnitude's really important here too, Mark, right? The February increase was important, the fact that we were able to recover sequentially in the way that we did was critical. I mean, the order of magnitude in the fuel increase, I think, has to be kept in perspective as well. It's around CAD 0.11 a kilo. I think this became public information, which is about CAD 0.04 a package for an average 375g pack of hot dogs or bacon.

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

That, between the fuel surcharge actions we've taken, the cost reduction playbook we have in place, and the work we're doing from a revenue management perspective to optimize our promotions to the consumer, again, I feel like we're really well positioned.

[Mark Petrie, Analyst at CIBC Capital Markets]

Yeah. Okay. Thanks. Just last one. I'm curious, in terms of the cadence with regards to the volume pullback in prepared meats, I understand it was a modest volume deceleration. Do you think any of that was sort of lapping maybe the Buy Canadian surge that happened in the latter part of Q1 last year? Is that what you're referring to with regards to the promotional activity, or is that something else?

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

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

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

I think it would be fair to point out, but we also had the positive benefits of the Olympic partnership as well.

[Mark Petrie, Analyst at CIBC Capital Markets]

Yeah. Understood. Okay. Appreciate all the comments and all the best.

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Thank you.

[Operator]

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

[Martin Landry, Analyst at Stifel Financial]

Hi. Good morning. In your prepared remarks, you called out productivity initiatives as a margin growth driver. I was wondering if you could give a little bit more color around that, maybe share a few examples that have led to margin expansion?

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Yeah. Thank you, Martin, for your question. The combination of the work we're doing in our Fuel for Growth initiative, which is driving structural cost advantage, and in our continuous productivity playbook have both been supportive of the profitability of the business. That ranges from everything we do in our SG&A management, which I think, if you look at Q1 specifically, was managed quite well from a cost control perspective in Q1 to the work we continuously do in our procurement function and so on from a continuous productivity point of view. From a Fuel for Growth perspective, we saw the benefits in the quarter of standardized organizational structures in the plants, which we implemented late last year, and that benefited us in the quarter. We're also lapping the benefits of the or continuing to see the benefits of the Brantford plant retirement, which happened in Q2 last year.

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

The combination of the structural ongoing components that I think are just good hygiene in the business, good cost management by good cost managers, combined with the strategic work in the Fuel for Growth platform, is really what's supportive overall from a productivity perspective.

[Martin Landry, Analyst at Stifel Financial]

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

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

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

[Martin Landry, Analyst at Stifel Financial]

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

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Thank you.

[Operator]

Your next question comes from the line of John Zamparo from Scotiabank. Please go ahead.

[John Zamparo, Analyst at Scotiabank]

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

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

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

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

As I said earlier, we're prepared to respond quickly should we need to. At this stage, we feel like we're really well positioned.

[John Zamparo, Analyst at Scotiabank]

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

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Yeah. I would. Beef's a small part of our portfolio. If you kind of start there, I think that's to our benefit. Just kind of the pricing and inflation you've seen in beef, it's part of our portfolio, but a smaller part of our portfolio. The benefits to the Poultry business, I think, are more structural than they are beef-induced, to be honest. The changing face of demographics in Canada, the strength of demand for Poultry, the composition of the bird that's consumed by Canadian consumers today, very favorable. I wouldn't have said differently if beef prices came down a little bit. I wouldn't necessarily say that's negative for chicken. I'm reluctant to take credit for the positive impact higher beef prices are having today. Undoubtedly, the affordability of Poultry relative to beef as a competing protein is positive for us. Yeah.

[John Zamparo, Analyst at Scotiabank]

Okay. Understood. Thank you very much.

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Thank you.

[Operator]

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

[Étienne Ricard, Analyst at BMO Capital Markets]

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

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

I'm assuming you mean as a percentage of our total portfolio. I think the best answer I could give you is to point you to our Investor Day materials and the targets we've established for 2030. I mean, both Poultry and Prepared Foods play a meaningful role in our growth story for the future. The five core growth platforms we have are certainly focused on both businesses, Poultry and Prepared Foods. Truthfully, we've seen over the last number of quarters strength in both areas. We're getting outperformance in Poultry today, again, based on the consumer fundamentals that I talked about, but also the quality of the London Poultry asset.

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

I should also note that our leadership in Sustainable Meats, the work we've done from a brand development perspective, the innovation platform that we put out into the market last year, and our growth in the U.S. have all been if you look at a little bit longer term, last number of quarters, have all been positive and constructive. We think that will be the same in the future. I expect over the next five years, balanced growth between Prepared Foods and Poultry. There was an M&A question earlier. I think some of that will be dependent on how the portfolio is shaped over the long term.

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Again, we really love both businesses today and the growth strategies that are attached to both the Poultry business and the Prepared Foods business and remain entirely confident not just in our outlook for the year, but for our 2030 aspirations as well.

[Étienne Ricard, Analyst at BMO Capital Markets]

Thank you. On the U.S. market, what initiatives from a distribution standpoint are you focused on for this year?

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Distribution is exactly the right word. We continue to be focused on scaling up the number of items that we have distributed or listed at every U.S. retailer. I mean, I've commented in the past that in the Canadian market, we're fortunate to have distribution in an average Canadian grocery store of well over 100 items on the shelf. In the U.S. market, we have in the vicinity of about 14 in the meat protein and plant protein business combined. The lucrative financial opportunity for us, if you will, is really to take that 14 items to a broader distribution of items at every retailer. Now that we've established a supply chain, we have a sales and marketing team on the ground in Chicago, and are deepening our customer relationships in the U.S. It's really about growing distribution. The Greenfield Natural Meat Co.

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Brand has been a beachhead for that. We continue to grow our distribution. That brand had double-digit growth or our brands in the U.S. had double-digit growth last quarter in the meat business. We continue to see a lot of runway for growth, obviously, in the U.S. You're right to point to distribution. There's an innovation component of that. There's a customer alignment component of that. The consumer demand continues to be strong as well. I think that's the U.S. priority for the moment.

[Étienne Ricard, Analyst at BMO Capital Markets]

Thank you very much.

[Operator]

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

[Irene Nattel, Analyst at RBC Capital Markets]

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

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

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

[Irene Nattel, Analyst at RBC Capital Markets]

Understood. What can you quantify for us, the magnitude of that increase?

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

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

[Irene Nattel, Analyst at RBC Capital Markets]

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

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

When we completed the startup and the business case for Poultry, we had protected for about a 10-year growth span, Irene, for those average kind of growth in the 2%-3% range. We're running a little bit ahead of that right now. That's positive and good news. We also see the potential for operational improvements to unlock more capacity beyond what we had originally contemplated. I think, to summarize, two important takeaways, maybe three. We had space protected for growth for a decade. We are running ahead of that today, which on the surface is positive but might be a concern. We've already identified operational opportunities to improve beyond the current performance we have in the plant that we're confident will give us many years of growth out of London. All to say, I think we're really well positioned.

[Irene Nattel, Analyst at RBC Capital Markets]

That's great. Thank you.

[Operator]

Last question comes from the line of Mark Petrie from CIBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead. Mark Petrie, please go ahead.

[Mark Petrie, Analyst at CIBC Capital Markets]

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

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

Oh, that's our primary focus in the U.S. is the Greenfield Natural Meat Co. brand. That is an important question and distinction mark because really, that's what gives us a strategic point of difference and a beachhead into the U.S. We're not focused on kind of participating in the mainstream components of the category in the United States. Crossing the border as a Canadian supplier without a meaningful point of difference is a very difficult venture. That's not our area of focus. We're focused on the Sustainable Meats business, I think, in two areas, actually. On the Sustainable Meats business, the premium end of the category where there's a large market to access, and we only need to access a small component of the category. Think about Sustainable Meats, raised without antibiotics, gestation crate-free, made by a carbon-neutral company.

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

The suite of those claims has been fundamental to our entry into the United States, giving us a competitive point of difference at the top end of the category. We also have a strategy to participate in the U.S. market for capacity utilization purposes wherever we have excess capacity in our manufacturing facilities in Canada and in the United States as a way to drive efficiency in the manufacturing plant. Those would be the two predominant areas. That's purposeful and strategic in nature.

[Mark Petrie, Analyst at CIBC Capital Markets]

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

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

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

[Mark Petrie, Analyst at CIBC Capital Markets]

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Understood. Okay. Thank you.

[Operator]

There are no further questions. I'll turn the call back over to Mr. Frank.

[Curtis Frank, President and CEO at Maple Leaf Foods]

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

[Operator]

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

Participants

Executives

• Curtis Frank, President and CEO
• David Smales, CFO
• Omar Javed, VP of Investor Relations

Analysts

• George Doumat, Analyst at Ventum Financial
• Irene Nattel, Analyst at RBC Capital Markets
• John Zamparo, Analyst at Scotiabank
• Mark Petrie, Analyst at CIBC Capital Markets
• Martin Landry, Analyst at Stifel Financial
• Michael Van Aelst, Analyst at TD Cowen
• Vishal Shreedhar, Analyst at National Bank
• Étienne Ricard, Analyst at BMO Capital Markets