SANFILIPPO JOHN B & SON INC (JBSS) FY 2023 MD&A

Item 7 — Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements. Our fiscal year ends on the final Thursday of June each year, and typically consists of fifty-two weeks (four thirteen-week quarters). However, the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022 consisted of fifty-three weeks with our fourth quarter containing fourteen weeks. Additional information on the comparability of the periods presented is as follows:

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References herein to fiscal 2024 are to the fiscal year ending June 27, 2024.

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References herein to fiscal 2023, fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2021 are to the fiscal years ended June 29, 2023, June 30, 2022 and June 24, 2021, respectively.

As used herein, unless the context otherwise indicates, the terms “we”, “us”, “our” or “Company” collectively refer to John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. and our wholly-owned subsidiary, JBSS Ventures, LLC.

We are one of the leading processors and distributors of peanuts, pecans, cashews, walnuts, almonds and other nuts in the United States. These nuts are sold under our Fisher, Orchard Valley Harvest, Squirrel Brand and Southern Style Nuts brand names and under a variety of private brands. We also market and distribute, and in most cases, manufacture or process, a diverse product line of food and snack products, including peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, candy and confections, snack and trail mixes, nutrition bars, snack bites, sunflower kernels, dried fruit, corn snacks, chickpea snacks, sesame sticks and other sesame snack products under our brand names and under private brands. In addition, with our December 2022 acquisition of the Just the Cheese brand (the “Acquisition”), we have expanded our product offerings to include baked cheese snack products on a branded and private label basis. We distribute our products in the consumer, commercial ingredients and contract packaging distribution channels.

During fiscal 2022, we created a Long-Range Plan to define our future growth priorities. Our Long-Range Plan focuses on growing our non-branded business across key customers, as well as transforming Fisher, Orchard Valley Harvest and Squirrel Brand into leading brands while increasing distribution and diversifying our portfolio into high growth snacking segments. We will execute on our Long-Range Plan by providing non-branded customer value-added solutions based on our extensive industry and consumer expertise with innovative products such as our newly developed product line of private brand nutrition bars which were introduced during the third quarter of fiscal 2023. We will grow our branded business by reaching new consumers via product expansion and packaging innovation, expanding distribution across current and alternative channels, diversifying our product offerings and focusing on new ways for consumers to buy our products, including sales via e-commerce platforms. This Long-Range Plan also contemplates increasing our sales through product innovation and targeted, opportunistic acquisitions, such as the acquisition of the Just the Cheese brand.

We will continue to focus our promotional and advertising activity to invest in our brands to achieve growth. We intend to execute an omnichannel approach to win in key categories including recipe nuts, snack nuts, trail mix and other snacking categories. We continue to see e-commerce growth across our branded portfolio and anticipate taking various actions with the goal of accelerating that growth across a variety of established and emerging platforms. We will continue to face the ongoing challenges specific to our business, such as food safety and regulatory issues and the maintenance and growth of our customer base for branded and private label products.

We face a number of challenges in the future, which include the impacts of ongoing inflation in food and other input prices, rising interest rates that reduce economic growth, potential for economic downturn in the markets in which we operate and continued supply chain challenges. We have also experienced a tightening in the labor market for those employed at our production facilities, which has led to increased labor costs.

Inflation and Consumer Trends

We face changing industry trends as consumers' purchasing preferences evolve. Due to significant inflation, we have seen higher selling prices at retail. With higher prices across our categories and the broader food market, and also due to any actual or potential economic downturn, consumers may purchase fewer snack products. We have seen this through the decline in the recipe and snack nut categories during the 2023 fiscal year, as consumers shift their preferences to private brands or lower priced nuts or purchase snack products outside the nut and trail mix category. With the inflationary environment, we are also seeing signs of consumers shifting to more value-focused retailers, such as mass merchandising retailers, club stores and dollar stores, not all of which we distribute or sell to.

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Supply Chain and Transportation

In the 2023 fiscal year, we have faced supply chain challenges related to material shortages, extended lead-times, supplier capacity constraints and inflationary pressures for freight, shipping pallets, packaging, vegetable oils and grains. While we do not have direct exposure to suppliers in Russia or Ukraine, our operations have been negatively impacted by increased inflation, energy and fuel prices. The conflict could continue to result in volatile commodity markets, supply chain disruptions and increased costs. Global supply chain pressures have eased, but we continue to see negative impacts related to macro-economics, geo-political unrest, growing political instability and climate-related events. Overall packaging and ingredient inflation appears to be leveling off but is expected to remain above historical levels. We anticipate pricing relief in some areas in the coming fiscal year, if and as shortages decrease and supply chains improve; however, we expect that some costs may remaining above historical levels or unpredictable for a longer period.

We have seen stabilization in truckload capacity and volume at U.S. ports and improvements with driver hiring, there are still warehouse and dock staff shortages and fuel and energy concerns due to continued unrest abroad coupled with persistent inflation. Instability and prices in the transportation industry may increase in fiscal 2024 due to the bankruptcy of a major U.S.-based trucking company. Fuel prices that were at record highs during spring and summer 2022 have begun to decrease, yet still remain volatile. While there are indicators of transportation cost improvement, and despite our mitigation of some of the transportation shortages and maintaining high service levels, we may continue to face an unpredictable transportation environment. There is no guarantee that our mitigation strategies will continue to be effective, that any transportation capacity easing will continue or that transportation prices will return to more normalized levels.

We have remained agile by proactively identifying risks, modifying inventory plans and diversifying our supplier base to mitigate risk of customer order shortages. We will continue to proactively manage our business in response to the evolving global economic environment and related uncertainty. We continue to prioritize and take steps to mitigate impacts to our supply chain. If these supply chain pressures continue, or we cannot obtain the transportation and labor services needed to fulfill customer orders, such shortages and supply chain issues could have an unfavorable impact on net sales and our operations during in fiscal 2024. Additionally, as costs increase due to these issues or due to overall inflationary pressures, there is an additional risk of not being able to pass (in part or in full) such potential cost increases onto our customers or in a timely manner. If we cannot align costs with prices for our products, our operating performance could be adversely impacted.

Climate Change Impacts

Similar to other commodity dependent businesses, extreme weather events from climate change can have an unfavorable impact on our business. Floods, hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, blizzards, droughts, mudslides, poor air quality and extreme temperatures can affect our ability to obtain adequate (or acceptable quality) input fruit and nut material and manufacture products in our facilities. These extreme weather events can also have an adverse impact on the transportation industry and supply chains upon which we rely. Climate change can also result in unfavorable impacts that are unique to our business, especially for normal crop development. Below are some examples of essential weather conditions that must be present for normal development of the crops from which we derive the major raw materials we use in our products.

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Almonds, pecans and walnuts require a minimum of approximately 200, 250 and 700 chilling hours, respectively, during the winter to allow for an adequate amount of dormancy time so the tress can rest.

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Peanuts require adequate rainfall or access to water for irrigation for the period starting about 7 weeks after planting and ending about 15 weeks after planting.

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Cashews require a minimum of approximately 2,000 hours of sunlight per year. Sunlight is especially critical during the flowering period.

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Almonds require bees for pollination. For bees to pollinate effectively during the bloom period, temperatures cannot be less than about 55 degrees Fahrenheit, winds cannot exceed about 15 MPH, and there must be little or no rainfall during that period.

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Cranberries require adequate snow and ice coverage during the winter to protect vines from freezing.

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Raisins require hot days (about 93 – 100 degrees Fahrenheit) and cool nights (about 55 – 65 degrees Fahrenheit) during the growing season for optimum quality and sugar levels.

The non-occurrence of these weather conditions and other essential weather conditions can result in smaller crops, crop failures, or quality failures, which can lead to increased acquisition costs and supply shortages. Should climate changes significantly alter weather patterns, some of these needed input products may not be available at all, which would have a material adverse impact on our business.

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Annual Highlights

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Our net sales for fiscal 2023 increased $43.8 million, or 4.6%, to $999.7 million compared to fiscal 2022.

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Gross profit increased $12.0 million, while our gross profit margin, as a percentage of net sales, increased to 21.2% in fiscal 2023 from 20.9% in fiscal 2022.

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Total operating expenses for fiscal 2023 increased $9.2 million, or 8.2%, to $121.4 million. Operating expenses, as a percentage of net sales, increased to 12.1% compared to 11.7% of net sales in fiscal 2022.

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Diluted earnings per share increased approximately 1.3% compared to last fiscal year.

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Our strong financial position allowed us to pay cash dividends totaling $54.9 million during fiscal 2023.

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The total value of inventories on hand at the end of fiscal 2023 decreased $31.9 million, or 15.6%, in comparison to the total value of inventories on hand at the end of fiscal 2022. We have seen acquisition costs for all major tree nuts decrease and acquisition costs for peanuts increase modestly in the 2022 crop year (which falls into our 2023 fiscal year).

Results of Operations

The following table sets forth the percentage relationship of certain items to net sales for the periods indicated and the percentage increase or decrease of such items from fiscal 2023 to fiscal 2022 and from fiscal 2022 to fiscal 2021.

Fiscal 2023 Compared to Fiscal 2022

Net Sales

Our net sales increased 4.6% to $999.7 million for fiscal 2023 from $955.9 million for fiscal 2022. The increase in net sales was primarily due to a 6.5% increase in the weighted average selling price per pound, slightly offset by a 1.8% decrease in sales volume, which is defined as pounds sold to customers. The increase in the weighted average selling price resulted from higher commodity acquisition costs for pecans, cashews, peanuts and dried fruit that were procured in the 2021 crop year. The decrease in sales volume resulted primarily from to the fourth quarter of the prior year containing an extra week.

The following table summarizes sales by product type as a percentage of total gross sales. The information is based upon gross sales, rather than net sales, because certain adjustments from gross sales to net sales, such as promotional discounts, are not allocable to product type.

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The following table shows a comparison of net sales by distribution channel (dollars in thousands):

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Sales of branded products were approximately 21% and 22% of total consumer channel sales during fiscal 2023 and 2022, respectively. Fisher branded products were approximately 64% and 62% of branded sales during fiscal 2023 and 2022, respectively, with Orchard Valley Harvest branded products accounting for the majority of the remaining branded product sales.

Net sales in the consumer distribution channel increased $35.8 million, or 4.8%, and sales volume decreased 1.9% in fiscal 2023 compared to fiscal 2022. The increase in net sales was primarily due to a 6.8% increase in weighted average sales price per pound. The sales volume decrease was primarily due to the fourth quarter of the prior year containing an extra week and lost private brand distribution at a grocery store retailer that occurred in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022. Sales volume for Fisher snack nuts decreased 18.2% primarily due to decreased display activity and the negative impact on consumption resulting from increased sale prices at a major customer. Sales volume of Orchard Valley Harvest products increased 4.5% primarily driven by increased trade and promotional activity at a major customer in the non-food sector. Sales volume of Southern Style Nuts decreased 7.9% due to decreased promotional activity at a current club customer.

Net sales in the commercial ingredients distribution channel increased 2.1% in dollars and sales volume decreased 0.1% in fiscal 2023 compared to fiscal 2022.

Net sales in the contract packaging distribution channel increased 6.5% in dollars and sales volume decreased 3.2% in fiscal 2023 compared to fiscal 2022. The decrease in sales volume was primarily due to the fourth quarter of the prior year containing an extra week and decreased sales volume of peanut products to an existing major customer.

Gross Profit

Gross profit increased 6.0% to $211.6 million in fiscal 2023 from $199.6 million in fiscal 2022. The increase in gross profit was mainly due to a higher net sales base. Our gross profit margin, as a percentage of sales, increased to 21.2% for fiscal 2023 from 20.9% for fiscal 2022.

Operating Expenses

Total operating expenses for fiscal 2023 increased $9.2 million to $121.4 million. Operating expenses as a percent of net sales were 12.1% for fiscal 2023 compared to 11.7% for fiscal 2022.

Selling expenses for fiscal 2023 were $76.8 million, an decrease of $0.1 million, or 0.1%, over the amount recorded for fiscal 2022. The decrease was driven by a $4.0 million decrease in freight expense due to a decreasing freight rates and fewer shipped sales pounds compared to fiscal 2022, and was largely offset by a $2.7 million increase in compensation expense, a $0.6 increase in sales broker commission expense and a $0.5 million increase in sample expense related to a new product line.

Administrative expenses for fiscal 2023 were $44.6 million, an increase of $6.9 million, or 18.4%, from the amount recorded for fiscal 2022. The increase was due to a $4.8 million increase in compensation expense, primarily incentive compensation, a $1.0 million loss on an equity investment, a $0.6 million increase in charitable food donations, and a $0.5 million increase in audit and legal expenses primarily for Acquisition-related costs.

The $2.3 million gain on sale of facility in fiscal 2022 was the result of the sale of our Garysburg, North Carolina facility.

Income from Operations

Due to the factors discussed above, income from operations was $90.2 million, or 9.0% of net sales, for fiscal 2023, compared to $87.4 million, or 9.1% of net sales, for fiscal 2022.

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Interest Expense

Interest expense was $2.2 million for fiscal 2023 compared to $1.9 million for fiscal 2022. The increase in interest expense was due to higher weighted average interest rates.

Rental and Miscellaneous Expense, Net

Net rental and miscellaneous expense was $1.3 million for both fiscal 2023 and fiscal 2022.

Pension Expense (Excluding Service Costs)

Pension expense (excluding service costs) was $1.4 million for fiscal 2023 compared to $2.5 million for fiscal 2022 primarily due to a reduction in the amortization of unrecognized net loss, due to the change in discount rate.

Income Tax Expense

Income tax expense was $22.5 million, or 26.4% of income before income taxes (the "Effective Tax Rate"), for fiscal 2023 compared to $19.9 million, or 24.4% of income before income taxes, for fiscal 2022. Our fiscal 2023 Effective Tax Rate is greater than fiscal 2022 due to an increase in state income tax expense related to both the settlement of a State of Illinois audit of fiscal 2019 and fiscal 2020 and the remeasurement of our state deferred tax assets due to a change in the blended state tax rate.

Net Income

Net income was $62.9 million, or $5.43 per common share basic and $5.40 per common share diluted, for fiscal 2023, compared to $61.8 million, or $5.36 per common share basic and $5.33 per common share diluted, for fiscal 2022, due to the factors discussed above.

Fiscal 2022 Compared to Fiscal 2021

The discussion of our results of operations for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022 compared to the fiscal year ended June 24, 2021 can be found in Part II, Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2022 and such discussion is incorporated by reference herein.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

General

The primary uses of cash are to fund our current operations, fulfill contractual obligations, pursue our Long-Range Plan through growing our branded and private label programs, return cash to our stockholders through dividends, repay indebtedness and pay amounts owed under the SERP (as defined below). Also, various uncertainties, including cost uncertainties, could result in additional uses of cash. The primary sources of cash are results of operations and availability under our Credit Facility. We anticipate that expected net cash flow generated from operations and amounts available pursuant to the Credit Facility will be sufficient to fund our operations for the next twelve months. Our available credit under our Credit Facility has allowed us to devote more funds to promote our products, increase consumer insight capabilities and promotional efforts, reinvest in the Company through capital expenditures, develop new products, pay cash dividends, consummate strategic investments and business acquisitions, such as the Acquisition, and explore other growth strategies outlined in our Long-Range Plan.

Cash flows from operating activities have historically been driven by net income but are also significantly influenced by inventory requirements, which can change based upon fluctuations in both quantities and market prices of the various nuts and nut products we buy and sell. Current market trends in nut prices and crop estimates also impact nut procurement.

The following table sets forth certain cash flow information for the last two fiscal years (dollars in thousands):

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Operating Activities. Net cash provided by operating activities was $124.7 million in fiscal 2023, an increase of $105.1 million compared to fiscal 2022. The increase in operating cash flow was primarily due to a decreased use of working capital for inventory compared to fiscal 2022 as a result of decreasing commodity acquisition costs. Inventories decreased $31.9 million in fiscal 2023 compared to a $56.9 million increase in inventories in fiscal 2022, which resulted in a favorable change in cash of $88.8 million.

Total inventories were $172.9 million at June 29, 2023, an decrease of $31.9 million, or 15.6%, from the inventory balance at June 30, 2022. The decrease was primarily due to lower commodity acquisition costs for all major tree nuts and dried fruit input stocks and lower quantities of almonds on hand, which was partially offset by higher quantities of peanuts on hand at year end.

Raw nut and dried fruit input stocks, some of which are classified as work in process, increased 4.9 million pounds, or 11.1%, at June 29, 2023 compared to June 30, 2022. The weighted average cost per pound of raw nut and dried fruit input stocks on hand at the end of fiscal 2023 decreased by 24.3% compared to the end of fiscal 2022, primarily due to lower commodity acquisition costs for all major tree nuts and dried fruit input stocks.

As of June 29, 2023, there are known purchase obligations of $355.7 million which are expected to be settled during fiscal 2024. These purchase obligations primarily represent inventory purchase commitments; however, these amounts exclude purchase commitments under walnut purchase agreements due to the uncertainty of pricing and quantity.

Additional contractual cash obligations include amounts owed for lease commitments and the payments to former officers under our Supplemental Employee Retirement Plan (“SERP”). We believe cash on hand, combined with cash provided by operations and borrowings available under the Credit Facility, will be sufficient to meet the cash requirements for all contractual cash obligations. See Note 4 — “Leases” and Note 15 — “Retirement Plan” of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information and future maturities.

Investing Activities. Cash used in investing activities was $24.3 million in fiscal 2023. Capital expenditures accounted for a $20.7 million use of cash in fiscal 2023. The $3.5 million purchase price for the acquisition of the Just the Cheese brand also contributed to the increase in cash used for investing activities.

Cash used in investing activities was $11.4 million in fiscal 2022. Capital expenditures accounted for a $17.8 million use of cash in fiscal 2022, which was offset in part by $4.0 million of net proceeds received from the disposition of the Garysburg, North Carolina facility and the $3.2 million of cash proceeds resulting from the Sanfilippo family's exercise of their contractual purchase option and our resulting sale of certain life insurance policies to the Sanfilippo family.

We expect total capital expenditures for equipment purchases and upgrades, facility maintenance and food safety enhancements for fiscal 2024 to be approximately $22.0 million. Absent any material acquisitions or other significant investments, we believe that cash on hand, combined with cash provided by operations and borrowings available under the Credit Facility, will be sufficient to meet the cash requirements for capital expenditures.

Financing Activities. Cash used in financing activities was $98.8 million during fiscal 2023. We paid dividends totaling $54.9 million in fiscal 2023. We repaid $3.2 million of long-term debt during fiscal 2023, $2.5 million of which was related to the Mortgage Facility (as defined below). There was a net decrease in borrowings outstanding under our Credit Facility of $40.4 million during fiscal 2023 primarily due to decreasing commodity acquisition costs and improved operating cash flows. See Note 7 — “Revolving Credit Facility” and Note 8 — “Long-Term Debt” of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information and future maturities.

Cash used in financing activities was $8.5 million during fiscal 2022. We paid dividends totaling $34.5 million in fiscal 2022. We repaid $3.8 million of long-term debt during fiscal 2022, $3.3 million of which was related to the Mortgage Facility. There was a net increase in borrowings outstanding under our Credit Facility of $31.8 million during fiscal 2022 primarily due to increasing commodity acquisition costs.

Financing Arrangements

On February 7, 2008, we entered into the Former Credit Agreement (as defined below) with a bank group (the “Bank Lenders”) providing a $117.5 million revolving loan commitment and letter of credit subfacility. Also on February 7, 2008, we entered into a Loan Agreement with an insurance company providing us with two term loans for an aggregate amount of $45.0 million (as amended, the “Mortgage Facility”). The Mortgage Facility was repaid in full in the third quarter of fiscal 2023 and the related mortgages on our owned real property located in Elgin, Illinois and Gustine, California have been released.

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Credit Facility

On March 5, 2020, we entered into an Amended and Restated Credit Agreement (the “Amended and Restated Credit Agreement”) which amended and restated our Credit Agreement dated as of February 7, 2008 (the “Former Credit Agreement”). The Amended and Restated Credit Agreement provides for a $117.5 million senior secured revolving credit facility with the same borrowing capacity, interest rates and applicable margin as the Former Credit Agreement and extends the term of the Former Credit Agreement from July 7, 2021 to March 5, 2025.

The Amended and Restated Credit Facility is secured by substantially all of our assets other than machinery and equipment, real property and fixtures and matures on March 5, 2025.

On May 8, 2023, we entered into the First Amendment to our Credit Facility (the "First Amendment") which replaced the London interbank offered rate (LIBOR) interest rate option with the Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("SOFR"). The First Amendment updated the accrued interest rate to a rate based on SOFR plus an applicable margin based upon the borrowing base calculation, ranging from 1.35% to 1.85%.

At our election, borrowings under the Credit Facility currently accrue interest at either (i) a rate determined pursuant to the administrative agent’s prime rate plus an applicable margin determined by reference to the amount of loans which may be advanced under the borrowing base calculation, ranging from 0.25% to 0.75% or (ii) a rate based upon SOFR plus an applicable margin.

The terms of the Credit Facility contain covenants that, among other things, require us to restrict investments, indebtedness, acquisitions and certain sales of assets and limit annual cash dividends or distributions, transactions with affiliates, redemptions of capital stock and prepayment of indebtedness (if such prepayment, among other things, is of a subordinate debt). If loan availability under the borrowing base calculation falls below $25.0 million, we will be required to maintain a specified fixed charge coverage ratio, tested on a monthly basis, until loan availability equals or exceeds $25.0 million for three consecutive months. All cash received from customers is required to be applied against the Credit Facility. The Bank Lenders have the option to accelerate and demand immediate repayment of our obligations under the Credit Facility in the event of default on the payments required under the Credit Facility, a change in control in the ownership of the Company, non-compliance with the financial covenant or upon the occurrence of other defaults by us under the Credit Facility. As of June 29, 2023, we were in compliance with all covenants under the Credit Facility, and we currently expect to be in compliance with the financial covenant in the Credit Facility for the foreseeable future. At June 29, 2023, we had $113.3 million of available credit under the Credit Facility. If this entire amount were borrowed at June 29, 2023, we would still be in compliance with all restrictive covenants under the Credit Facility.

Selma Property

In September 2006, we sold our Selma, Texas properties (the “Selma Properties”) to two related party partnerships for $14.3 million and are leasing them back. The selling price was determined by an independent appraiser to be the fair market value which also approximated our carrying value. The lease for the Selma Properties has a ten-year term at a fair market value rent with three five-year renewal options. In September 2015, we exercised two of the five-year renewal options which extended the lease term to September 2026. The lease extension also reduced the monthly lease payment on the Selma Properties, beginning in September 2016, to reflect then current market conditions. At the end of each five-year renewal option, the base monthly lease amounts are reassessed, and the monthly payments increased to $114 beginning in September 2021. One five-year renewal option remains. Also, we have an option to purchase the Selma Properties from the owner at 95% (100% in certain circumstances) of the then fair market value, but not less than the original $14.3 million purchase price. The provisions of the arrangement are not eligible for sale-leaseback accounting and the $14.3 million was recorded as a debt obligation. No gain or loss was recorded on the Selma Properties transaction. As of June 29, 2023, $7.8 million of the debt obligation was outstanding.

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Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Our financial statements are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. The accounting policies as disclosed in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements are applied in the preparation of our financial statements and accounting for the underlying transactions and balances. The policies discussed below are considered by our management to be critical for an understanding of our financial statements because the application of these policies places the most significant demands on management’s judgment, with financial reporting results relying on estimation regarding the effect of matters that are inherently uncertain. Specific risks, if applicable, for these critical accounting policies are described in the following paragraphs. For a detailed discussion on the application of these and other accounting policies, see Note 1 — “Significant Accounting Policies” of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

Preparation of this Annual Report on Form 10-K requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of our financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results may differ from those estimates. See “Forward-Looking Statements” below.

Revenue Recognition

The Company records revenue based on a five-step model in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 606. The core principle of the guidance is that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled to in exchange for the goods or services. We sell our products under some arrangements which include customer contracts that fix the sales price for periods, which typically can be up to one year for some commercial ingredient customers. We also sell our products through specific programs consisting of promotion allowances, volume and customer rebates and marketing allowances, among others, to consumer and some commercial ingredient users. We recognize revenue as performance obligations are fulfilled, which occurs when control passes to our customers. We report all amounts billed to a customer in a sale transaction as revenue, including those amounts related to shipping and handling. We reduce revenue for estimated promotion allowances, volume and customer rebates and marketing allowances, among others. These reductions in revenue are considered variable consideration and are recorded in the same period the related sales are recorded. Such estimates are calculated using historical averages adjusted for any expected changes due to current business conditions and experience. See Note 3 — “Revenue Recognition” below for additional information on revenue recognition.

Retirement Plan

In order to measure the annual expense and calculate the liability associated with our SERP, management must make a variety of estimates including, but not limited to, discount rates, compensation increases and anticipated mortality rates. The estimates used by management are based on our historical experience as well as current facts and circumstances. We use a third-party specialist to assist management in appropriately measuring the expense associated with this employment-related benefit. Different estimates used by management could result in us recognizing different amounts of expense over different periods of time.

We recognize net actuarial gains or losses in excess of 10% of the plan’s projected benefit obligation into current period expense over the average remaining expected service period of active participants.

The most significant assumption for pension plan accounting is the discount rate. We select a discount rate each year (as of our fiscal year end measurement date) for our plan based upon a hypothetical corporate bond portfolio for which the cash flows match the year-by-year projected benefit cash flows for our pension plan. The hypothetical bond portfolio is comprised of high-quality fixed income debt securities (usually Moody’s Aa3 or higher) available at the measurement date. Based on this information, the discount rate selected by us for determination of pension expense was 4.68% for fiscal 2023, 2.89% for fiscal 2022, and 2.69% for fiscal 2021. A 25-basis point increase or decrease in our discount rate assumption for fiscal 2023 would have resulted in an immaterial change in our pension expense for fiscal 2023. For our year end pension obligation determination, we selected discount rates of 5.12% and 4.68% for fiscal years 2023 and 2022, respectively.

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Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Refer to Note 1 — “Significant Accounting Policies” of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for a discussion of recently issued accounting pronouncements.

Forward-Looking Statements

The statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and in the Chief Executive Officer’s letter to stockholders accompanying the Annual Report on Form 10-K delivered to stockholders, that are not historical (including statements concerning our expectations regarding market risk) are “forward-looking statements.” These forward-looking statements may be followed (and therefore identified) by a cross reference to Part I, Item 1A — “Risk Factors” or may be otherwise identified by the use of forward-looking words and phrases such as “will”, “anticipates”, “intends”, “may”, “believes”, “should” and “expects”, and they are based on our current expectations or beliefs concerning future events and involve risks and uncertainties. We undertake no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or other factors that affect the subject of these statements, except where expressly required to do so by law. We caution that such statements are qualified by important factors, including the factors described in Part I, Item 1A — “Risk Factors” and other factors, risks and uncertainties that are beyond our control, that could cause results to differ materially from our current expectations and/or those in the forward-looking statements, as well as the timing and occurrence (or nonoccurrence) of transactions and other factors, risk, uncertainties and events which may be subject to circumstances beyond our control. Consequently, results actually achieved may differ materially from the expected results included in these statements.