Pet food, up 13%, leads Smucker growth Q1 FY23

Smucker CEO believes the company is positioned for the current macroeconomic environment, as the pet performed well during recessionary periods.

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Photo by shymar27, Bigstock.com
Photo by shymar27, Bigstock.com

Pet food sales reached US$729 million for J.M. Smucker in the first quarter of fiscal year 2023. Sales increased 13% year over year. Smucker’s pet food segment profit was $US120.3 million, a 51% year-over-year change. Pet segment profit marge was 16.5%.

Growth was led by our pet business, along with coffee and snacks, Mark Smucker, CEO and president of J.M. Smucker, said in prepared remarks.

“These platforms continue to be key enablers of future growth and reflect strong execution against our strategy of leading in the attractive categories of pet, coffee and snacking…” he said. “Additionally, we are well positioned for the current macroeconomic environment, as the pet and coffee categories have performed well during recessionary periods. Both categories grew faster during the 2008 recession than the average of the subsequent ten years.”

Smucker pet food sales growth

“In pet foods, results exceeded expectations with comparable net sales increasing 17% over the prior year, driven by growth across all categories,” Smucker said. “In cat food, net sales increased 24% led by the Meow Mix brand, which grew sales 25% and benefited from higher pricing and increased volume/mix. In dry cat, Meow Mix gained over two points of share in the quarter, and grew nearly four-times the dollar share of any other brand in the category. Meow Mix is the number one dry cat food brand, and is growing both household penetration and brand loyalty. Our growth was aided by some consumers shifting purchases from wet to dry cat food based on the value proposition.”

“In dog snacks, net sales increased 14% led by the Milk-Bone brand, which grew sales 27% benefiting from higher price realization and increased volume/mix,” he said. “The Milk-Bone brand continues to drive growth through core offerings and premium positioned innovation for our market-leading dog snacks business and the category overall. Milk-Bone gained over 1 point of dollar share in the quarter and grew over 2x the category rate. And in dog food, net sales increased 18%, led by the Nutrish and Kibbles ‘N Bits brands. Our dog food offerings saw accelerated growth in the quarter, with consumer take away up 15%, as we continue efforts to stabilize our dog food portfolio. Our results are supported by our strong execution as supply chain challenges continue to impact the dog food category. We are well positioned to benefit from some shifting within the category, as our brands provide offerings across the value spectrum including premium, mainstream and value products.”

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