Higher Product Prices Overcome Lower Margins at Flowers Foods

Nov. 17, 2022

Good results for the third quarter come despite labor and material costs cutting into profits.

In what is becoming a familiar theme, Flowers Foods saw improved numbers for its most recent quarter despite lower volume, thanks to product price increases.

Sales for the maker of the Wonder and Dave’s Killer bread brands were $1.16 billion, up 13% over the same quarter last year, reaching a new company record for the third fiscal quarter. Net income was $40.5 million, a 4.3% increase. Branded and private-label sales were both up.

A big driver behind the good performance was higher product prices. Volume was down 5.1% in the quarter, but price/mix was up 18%. Even so, margins were down, standing at 10.4% for the quarter, compared with 11.5% last year.

“Our performance reflects strong results from our No. 1 brands, which continue to resonate with consumers despite the impact of inflation on purchasing decisions,” CEO Ryan McMullian said in a statement. “And we are successfully mitigating this inflationary impact with initiatives to enhance sales and margins.”

About the Author

Pan Demetrakakes | Senior Editor

Pan has written about the food and beverage industry for more than 25 years. His areas of coverage have included formulations, processing, packaging, marketing and retailing. Pan worked for Food Processing Magazine for six years in the 1990s, where he was operations editor (his current role), touring dozens of food plants of every description. He has also worked for Packaging and Food & Beverage Packaging magazines, the latter as chief editor, during which he won three ASBPE awards. He is a graduate of Stanford University with a BA in communications.