Jeff Siemon: Max, this is Jeff Siemon. I just add a point on the — you mentioned you know net sales on wet food were up and that we didn’t include that in our prepared remarks. That was true. They’re up modestly. There’s some inventory differences as you look at the individual sublines. So retail sales on wet food are still down. They’re moving. They’re better, but we still have some work to do to get them all the way to bright. But you were right that from a net sales standpoint, they were up slightly in the quarter.
Max Gumport: Yes, I think I saw that in the slide deck. And then one follow-up would be just given the clean balance sheet and the continued emphasis on portfolio reshaping, I think it’s safe to assume you’re actively looking at acquisitions. I think past commentary would suggest you’re focused on snacking and pet food categories and also businesses that play in your eight-core geographies? That said, I’m just curious, given some of the recent industry news, how you might view Ice Cream, especially knowing that it is one of your global platforms? Thanks, I’ll leave it there.
Jeffrey Harmening: No, sure, thanks for — I appreciate the question. Yes, on portfolio shaping, we really haven’t changed our approach to portfolio shaping. We were pleased with what we have done and the 20% change we’ve made so far. We also know there’s more to do both in terms of acquisitions and divestiture to get back to the growth levels that we’re looking for. But we’ve been looking for a while, and you know, it’s important to note that we have been and will be very disciplined when it comes to looking at acquisitions. And you know, we’re only going to do things that make sense for the shareholders, not just to chase a growth goal. And we remain disciplined over that over the years. And the place that we’re looking at things that will be growth-accretive.
And certainly, you know, Pet is a place that we like, you mentioned snacks. There are some meal categories we like as well. And so there are a number of places where we could go that would be either in categories we’re in or tangential to categories and geographies where we feel like we’ve got some competitive advantages. I’m not going to talk about the recent announcements in Ice Cream specifically, I’ll leave that to our competitors. I don’t talk about M&A and particular deals. We like our Ice Cream business. I mean, Haagen-Dazs is a great brand and that’s a super-premium brand and it’s growing nicely. It’s good in Europe, it’s really good in Asia, and so we, you know, it’s one of our five global platforms, so we obviously like the category, but particularly we like Haagen-Dazs.
And that is a super-premium brand that’s playing in growth spaces and we feel very good about that brand.
Operator: Next, we’ll go to Chris Carey at Wells Fargo.
Chris Carey: Hey, good morning. So, just one follow-up and another question. Jeff, you mentioned in response to Andrew’s question that fiscal Q4 revenue should look similar to Q3. Were you referring to the consumption or actual organic sales growth in the quarter?
Jeffrey Harmening: I was referring to the consumption growth, because as we look at it, because of the timing of some of our expense phasing, there were probably about a 3 point headwind on what we report. But I was — what I was referring to was the consumption, which is really the most important piece. The others, not that it’s not important, but it’s an accounting catch-up and mechanical in nature, as Andrew suggested. So what I was referring to was the sales out, if you will.
Chris Carey: Yes, perfect. Okay. That’s what I thought. And Kofi, just on, you know, clearly sales were better-than-expected. Gross margins, I think were a bit light relative to street expectations, namely given positive pricing, easing inflation, strong productivity. Can you just expand a bit on maybe some of the key factors in the quarter that offset some of those positives? I think, you know, inventory work down, the volume deleverage relative to the year ago growth? Just any context on those items and how durable they might be into your Q4 and potentially a bit more medium term? Thanks.
Kofi Bruce: Yes, sure. I appreciate the question and I think you’ve got the plot on the key drivers. The only thing I think would be helpful to add, just to give you some additional perspective, is that the inventory absorption, which was frankly one of the side benefits of supply chain stabilization as we’ve been able to take down our levels of inventory we’re carrying and while that was a benefit to working capital and cash flow it was about a 70 basis point headwind on gross margin, which I think would probably close most of the gap that you’re referring to.
Chris Carey: Okay, perfect. I’ll leave it there. Thank you.
Jeffrey Harmening: You bet.
Operator: Next is Rob Dickerson with Jefferies.
Rob Dickerson: Great, thanks so much. So this might be just kind of a broader question. You know, I know within NAR, I guess, kind of calling out a little bit more pressure, let’s say, in meals and baking and snacks. Then maybe there’s a little bit more strength in other areas. So I’m just kind of curious, like broadly speaking, right? Now that we’ve kind of gone through what we would all consider a fairly material pricing phase. Have you seen any kind of, like general shifts, let’s say, in this category consumption? You know, like consumers seem to be, kind of, consuming more — a little bit more here than they used to relative to other areas? I’m just trying to kind of consider any types of shifts and kind of the value proposition, some of your brands, and also just the category positioning? Thanks.
