Q3 2025 Chefs' Warehouse Inc Earnings Call
[Analyst]: Sa.
Christopher Pappas: Sam.
[Analyst]: Sa.
Speaker #1: Greetings and welcome to the Chefs' Warehouse third Quarter 2020 Earnings Conference call . As a reminder , this conference is being recorded . I would now like to turn the conference over to your host , Alex Aldous .
Operator: Greetings and welcome to the Chefs' Warehouse third quarter 2025 earnings conference call. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Alex Aldous, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary, and Chief Government Relations Officer. Please go ahead, sir.
Speaker #1: General Counsel, Corporate Secretary, and Chief Government Relations Officer. Please go ahead, sir.
Speaker #2: Thank you . Operator . Good morning , everyone . With me on today's call are Chris Pappas , founder , chairman and CEO .
Alex Aldous: Thank you. Operator, good morning everyone. With me on today's call are Chris Pappas, Founder, Chairman and CEO, and Jim Leddy, our CFO. By now you should have access to our third quarter 2025 earnings press release. It can also be found at www.chefswarehouse.com under the Investor Relations section. Throughout this conference call we will be presenting non-GAAP financial measures including, among others, historical and estimated EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA, as well as historical adjusted net income, adjusted earnings per share, adjusted operating expenses, adjusted operating expenses as a percentage of net sales and as a percentage of gross profit, net debt, net debt leverage, and free cash flow. These measures are not calculated in accordance with GAAP and may be calculated differently in similarly titled non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies.
Speaker #2: And Jim Leddy , our CFO . By now , you should have access to our third quarter 2020 earnings press release . It can also be found at Chefs' Warehouse .
Speaker #2: Under the Investor Relations section . Throughout this conference call , we will be presenting non-GAAP Financial measures , including , among others , historical and estimated EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA , as well as historical adjusted net income , adjusted earnings per share , adjusted operating expenses , adjusted operating expenses as a percentage of net sales , and as a percentage of gross profit .
Speaker #2: Net debt , net debt leverage and free cash flow . These measures are not calculated in accordance with GAAP and may be calculated differently in similarly titled non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies .
Speaker #2: Quantitative reconciliations of our non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures appear in today's press release and third quarter 2020 earnings presentation .
Alex Aldous: Quantitative reconciliations of our non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures appear in today's press release and third quarter 2025 earnings presentation. Before we begin our formal remarks, I need to remind everyone that part of our discussion today will include forward-looking statements, including statements regarding our estimated financial performance. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and therefore you should not put undue reliance on them. These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from what we expect. Some of these risks are mentioned in today's release. Others are discussed in our annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, which are available on the SEC website. Today we are going to provide a business update and go over our third quarter results in detail.
Speaker #2: Before we begin our formal remarks , I need to remind everyone that part of our discussion today will include forward looking statements , including statements regarding our estimated financial performance , such forward looking statements are not guarantees of future performance , and therefore you should not put undue reliance on them .
Speaker #2: These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from what we expect . Some of these risks are mentioned in today's release , others are discussed in our annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on form 10-q , which are available on the SEC website .
Speaker #2: Today we are going to provide a business update and go over our third-quarter results in detail. For a portion of our discussion this morning, we will refer to a few slides posted on the Chefs' Warehouse website under the Investor Relations section titled "Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Presentation."
Alex Aldous: For a portion of our discussion this morning we will refer to a few slides posted on The Chefs' Warehouse Inc. website under Investor Relations section titled Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Presentation. Please note that these slides are disclosed at this time for illustration purposes only. We will open up the call for questions. With that I will turn the call over to Chris Pappas.
Speaker #2: Please note that these slides are disclosed at this time for illustration purposes only. Then we will open up the call for questions.
Speaker #2: With that , I will turn the call over to Chris Pappas . Chris .
[Company Representative]: Chris, thank you, Alex, and thank you all for joining our third quarter 2025 earnings call. Business and demand trends improved sequentially through the third quarter, and momentum in demand and market share gains continued into October. Our operating divisions across domestic and international markets delivered strong growth in revenue and gross profit dollars, as well as continued progress, increasing relevance with our customer base with strong year-over-year growth and unique item placements. As we head into the busy holiday season, I would like to thank all our Chefs' Warehouse teams, from sales and procurement operations to all the supporting functions, for their dedication and commitment to delivering our diverse and high-quality product service in partnership with our suppliers and customers and the communities we serve. As a reminder, earlier in 2025 we eliminated two non-corp programs in Texas that came with the acquisition of Hardee's in 2023.
Speaker #3: Thank you . Alex , and thank you all for joining our third quarter 2020 earnings call . Business and demand trends improved sequentially through the third quarter and momentum in demand and market share gains continued into October .
Speaker #3: Our operating divisions across domestic and international markets delivered strong growth in revenue and gross profit dollars , as well as continued progress increasing relevance with our customer base .
Speaker #3: With strong year over year growth in unique item placements as we head into the busy holiday season , I would like to thank all our Chefs' Warehouse teams from sales and procurement operations to all the supporting functions for their dedication and commitment to delivering our diverse and high quality product , service and partnership with our suppliers and customers and the communities we serve .
Speaker #3: As a reminder , earlier in 2025 , we eliminated two non-core programs in Texas that came with the acquisition of Hardee's in 2023 .
Speaker #3: These programs , won Protein program focused on high volume , low dollar poultry and another produce processing and packaging program . Together only represented approximately 1% of our revenue .
[Company Representative]: These programs, one protein program focused on high-volume, low-dollar poultry, and another produce processing and packaging program, together only represented approximately 1% of our revenue. As such, until we lap this attrition in the second quarter of 2026, we will present price and volume metrics as reported and also excluding the impact of these changes to present more representative year-over-year price inflation and volume changes for our business overall. With that, please refer to Slide 3 of the presentation. A few highlights from the third quarter include 9.6% growth in net sales. Specialty sales were up 7.7% over prior year, which was driven primarily by unique placement growth of 5.3%, reported specialty case growth of 3.2%, and price inflation. Excluding the elimination of the Texas Produce Processing and Packaging program, specialty case growth was 5.4% versus the prior year quarter. Unique customer growth was 2.6% year over year.
Speaker #3: As such , until we lap this attrition in the second quarter of 2026 , we will present price and volume metrics as reported , and also excluding the impact of these changes to present more representative year over year price inflation and volume changes for our business overall .
Speaker #3: With that, please refer to slide three of the presentation. A few highlights from the third quarter include 9.6% growth in net sales.
Speaker #3: Specialty sales were up 7.7% over prior year , which was driven primarily by unique placement growth of 5.3% , reported specialty case growth of 3.2% , and price inflation excluding the elimination of the Texas Produce Processing and Packaging Program .
Speaker #3: Specialty case growth was 5.4% versus the prior year quarter. Unique customer growth was 2.6% year over year. Reported unique customer growth was impacted by the Texas Commodity Poultry attrition and the temporary impact of the heightened conflict in the East during the summer months.
[Company Representative]: Reported unique customer growth was impacted by the Texas Commodity Poultry attrition and the temporary impact of the heightened conflict in the Middle East during the summer months. Despite the temporary summer impact, our Chefs' Warehouse Middle East business continued to grow and exceed our expectations. Excluding these impacts, third quarter year-over-year unique customer growth was approximately 5.8%. Pounds in center-of-the-plate products were approximately 1.1% lower than the prior year. Third quarter, excluding the attrition related to the Texas Commodity Poultry Program, center-of-the-plate pounds growth was 9.6% higher than prior year. Third quarter gross profit margins increased approximately 7 basis points. Gross margins in the specialty category increased approximately 59 basis points as compared to the third quarter of 2024, while gross margin in the center-of-the-plate category decreased approximately 49 basis points year over year. Jim will provide more detail on gross profit and margins in a few moments.
Speaker #3: Despite the temporary summer impact , our chefs Middle East business continued to grow and exceed our expectations . Excluding these impacts , third quarter year over year , unique customer growth was approximately 5.8% pounds and center of the plate were approximately 1.1% lower than the prior year .
Speaker #3: Third quarter . Excluding the attrition related to the Texas Commodity Poultry Program Center of the plate pounds growth was 9.6% , 9.6% higher than prior year .
Speaker #3: Third quarter gross profit margins increased approximately seven basis points . Gross margins in the specialty category increased approximately 59 basis points as compared to the third quarter of 2024 , while gross margin in the center of the plate category decreased approximately 49 basis points year over year .
Speaker #3: Jim will provide more Middle profit and margins in a few moments . Please refer to slide four for an update on certain of our operating metric improvements .
[Company Representative]: Please refer to Slide 4 for an update on certain of our operating metric improvements. In summary, Chart 1 shows continued improvement in gross profit dollars per route. Third quarter 2025 trailing twelve month was 4% higher versus full year 2024 and 37.8% higher than 2019. Chart 2 shows third quarter 2025 trailing twelve month adjusted EBITDA per employee increased 9% versus full year 2024 and 28% versus 2019. Third quarter 2025 trailing twelve month adjusted operating expense as a percentage of gross profit dollars improved by 114 basis points versus full year 2024 and 206 basis points versus 2019. Subsequent to the close of our fiscal third quarter on October 1, 2025, we completed the acquisition of Italco Food Products, a small specialty food and ingredient distributor located in Denver, Colorado. We are excited for the Italco team to join The Chefs' Warehouse family of companies and brands.
Speaker #3: In summary , chart one shows continued improvement in gross profit dollars per route . Third quarter 2025 trailing 12 months was 4% higher versus full year 2024 and 37.8% higher than 2019 .
Speaker #3: Chart two shows third quarter 2025 trailing 12 month adjusted EBITDA per employee . Increased 9% versus full year 2024 , and 28% versus 2019 .
Speaker #3: Third quarter 2025 trailing 12 month adjusted operating expense as a percentage of gross profit , dollars improvement by 114 basis points versus full year 2024 and 206 basis points versus 2019 .
Speaker #3: Subsequent to the close of our fiscal third quarter on October 1st , 2025 , we completed the acquisition of Italia Food Products , a small specialty food and ingredient distributor located in Denver , Colorado .
Speaker #3: We are excited for the team to join the Chefs' Warehouse family of companies and brands . We look forward to leveraging our unique go to market and supply chain model as we grow into the dynamic , urban and resort markets in the Centennial State .
[Company Representative]: We look forward to leveraging our unique CW go-to-market and supply chain model as we grow into the dynamic urban and resort markets in the Centennial State. With that, I'll turn it over to Jim to discuss more detailed financial information for the quarter and an update on our liquidity.
Speaker #3: With that , I'll turn it over to Jim to discuss more detailed financial for the quarter and an update on our liquidity . Jim .
James Leddy: Jim, thank you, Chris, and good morning, everyone. I'll now provide a comparison of our current quarter operating results versus the prior year quarter and provide an update on our balance sheet and liquidity. Please refer to slide number five. Our net sales for the quarter ended September 26, 2025, increased approximately 9.6% to $1.021 billion from $931.5 million in the third quarter of 2024. Net inflation was 7.4% in the third quarter, consisting of 4.4% inflation in our specialty category and 12.3% inflation in our center-of-the-plate category versus the prior year quarter. Reported inflation was impacted by two primary factors in the third quarter versus the prior year quarter. Center-of-the-plate inflation was impacted by the commodity poultry program attrition in 2025. Excluding this attrition impact, net inflation in the center-of-the-plate category was 5% versus the reported 12.3%.
Speaker #4: Thank you . Chris , and good morning , everyone . I'll now provide a comparison of our current quarter operating results versus the prior year quarter .
Speaker #4: And provide an update on our balance sheet and liquidity . Please refer to slide number five . Our net sales for the quarter ended September 26th , 2025 .
Speaker #4: Increased approximately 9.6% to 1.021 billion from 931.5 million in the third quarter of 2024 . Net inflation was 7.4% in the third quarter , consisting of 4.4% inflation in our specialty category and 12.3% inflation in our center of the plate category versus the prior year quarter .
Speaker #4: Reported inflation was impacted by two primary factors in the third quarter versus the prior year quarter . Center of the plate inflation was impacted by the commodity Poultry program .
Speaker #4: Attrition in 2025, excluding this attrition impact, net inflation in the center of the plate category was 5% versus the reported 12.3%.
Speaker #4: Continued growth in specialty cross-sell . As we further integrate C.W. and Hardee's results in elevated reported specialty third quarter inflation . Excluding this impact , specialty inflation was approximately 2.1% , and overall inflation for the company was approximately 3.3% versus the prior year quarter .
James Leddy: Continued growth in specialty cross-sell as we further integrate CW and Hardee's results in elevated reported specialty third quarter inflation. Excluding this impact, specialty inflation was approximately 2.1% and overall inflation for the company was approximately 3.3% versus the prior year quarter. Gross profit increased 10% to $247.2 million for the third quarter of 2025 versus $224.7 million for the third quarter of 2024. Gross profit margins increased approximately 7 basis points to 24.2%. Selling, general, and administrative expenses increased approximately 7.9% to $208.1 million for the third quarter of 2025 from $192.9 million for the third quarter of 2024. The increase was primarily due to higher costs associated with compensation and benefits to support sales growth, higher depreciation driven by facility and fleet investments, and higher self-insurance related costs.
Speaker #4: Gross profit increased 10% to 247.2 million for the third quarter of 2020 . Five , versus 224.7 million for the third quarter of 2024 .
Speaker #4: Gross profit margins increased approximately seven basis points to 24.2% , selling , general and administrative expenses increased approximately 7.9% to 208.1 million for the third quarter of 2025 , from 192.9 million for the third quarter of 2020 .
Speaker #4: For the increase was primarily due to higher costs associated with compensation and benefits to support sales growth . Higher depreciation , driven by facility and fleet investments , and higher self-insurance related costs .
Speaker #4: Adjusted operating expenses increased 7% versus the prior year . Third quarter , and as a percentage of net sales . Adjusted operating expenses were 17.8% for the third quarter of 2025 .
James Leddy: Adjusted operating expenses increased 7% versus the prior year third quarter, and as a percentage of net sales, adjusted operating expenses were 17% for the third quarter of 2025. Operating income for the third quarter of 2025 was $38.9 million compared to $31.9 million for the third quarter of 2024. The increase in operating income was driven primarily by higher gross profit, partially offset by higher selling, general, and administrative expenses versus the prior year quarter. Our GAAP net income was $19.1 million or $0.44 per diluted share for the third quarter of 2025 compared to net income of $14.1 million or $0.34 per diluted share for the third quarter of 2024. On a non-GAAP basis, we had adjusted EBITDA of $65.1 million for the third quarter of 2025 compared to $54.5 million for the prior year third quarter.
Speaker #4: Operating income for the third quarter of 2025 was 38.9 million , compared to 31.9 million for the third quarter of 2020 . For the increase in operating income was driven primarily by higher gross profit offset by higher , higher selling , general and administrative expenses versus the prior year quarter .
Speaker #4: Our GAAP net income was 19.1 million , or $0.44 per diluted share , for the third quarter of 2025 , compared to net income of 14.1 million , or $0.34 per diluted share , for the third quarter of 2020 .
Speaker #4: On a non-GAAP basis, we had adjusted EBITDA of $65.1 million for the third quarter of 2025, compared to $54.5 million for the prior year.
Speaker #4: Third quarter adjusted net income was 21.5 million , or $0.50 per diluted share , for the third quarter of 2025 , compared to 15.4 million , or $0.36 per diluted share , for the prior year .
James Leddy: Adjusted net income was $21.5 million or $0.50 per diluted share for the third quarter of 2025 compared to $15.4 million or $0.36 per diluted share for the prior year third quarter. Turning to the balance sheet and an update on our liquidity, please refer to slide number 6. At the end of the third quarter, we had total liquidity of $224.6 million comprised of $65.1 million in cash and $159.5 million in availability under our ABL facility. As of September 26, 2025, total net debt was approximately $575.2 million inclusive of all cash and cash equivalents, and net debt to adjusted EBITDA was approximately 2.3 times. Turning to our full year guidance for 2025, based on the current trends in the business, we are updating and raising our full year financial guidance as follows.
Speaker #4: Third quarter . Turning to the balance sheet in an update on our liquidity , please refer to slide number six at the end of the third quarter , we had total liquidity of $224.6 million , comprised of 65.1 million in cash and 159.5 million in availability .
Speaker #4: Under our ABL facility . As of September 26th , 2025 , total net debt was approximately 575.2 million , inclusive of all cash and cash equivalents and net debt to adjusted EBITDA was approximately 2.3 times , turning to our full year guidance for 2025 , based on the current trends in the business , we are updating and raising our full year financial guidance as follows .
Speaker #4: We estimate that net sales for the full year of 2025 will be in the range of 4.085 billion to 4.115 billion . Gross profit to be between 987 million and 995 million , and adjusted EBITDA to be between 247 million and 253 million .
James Leddy: We estimate that net sales for the full year of 2025 will be in the range of $4.085 billion to $4.115 billion, gross profit to be between $987 million and $995 million, and adjusted EBITDA to be between $247 million and $253 million. Please note, for the full year 2025 we expect the convertible notes maturing in 2028 to be dilutive and therefore we expect the fully dilutive share count to be approximately 46 million shares. Thank you. At this point, we will open it up to questions. Operator.
Speaker #4: Please note for the full year 2025 , we expect the convertible notes maturing in 2028 to be diluted , and therefore we expect the fully diluted share count to be approximately 46 million shares .
Speaker #4: Thank you . And at this point , we will open it up to questions . Operator .
Speaker #1: Thank you . Ladies and gentlemen , we will now begin the question and answer session . If you would like to ask a question , please press star and one on your telephone keypad .
Operator: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. We will now begin the question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press Star and one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press Star and two if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while we poll for questions. The first question comes from the line of Alex Slagle from Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Speaker #1: A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue . You may press star and two . If you would like to remove your question from the queue for participants using speaker equipment , it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star key .
Speaker #1: Ladies and gentlemen , we will wait for a moment while we poll for questions . The first question comes from the line of Alex Slagle from Jefferies .
Speaker #1: Please go ahead .
Speaker #5: Thanks . Good morning .
[Analyst]: Thanks. Good morning.
Speaker #4: Good morning .
James Leddy: Good morning.
Speaker #5: It sounds like case growth trends and backdrop improved sequentially through the three Q and just given some of the choppiness we've heard elsewhere and industry .
[Analyst]: It sounds like case growth trends and backdrop improved sequentially through the Q3.
Operator: And.
[Analyst]: Given some of the choppiness we've heard elsewhere in history, I know you're also lapping some tougher results. I'm just kind of curious if you could expand on these trends.
Speaker #5: And I know you're also lapping some tougher results . So just kind of curious if you could expand on these trends . You saw .
Speaker #4: Yeah , sure . I mean , I think from a Q3 standpoint , you know , the last couple of years , you know , we've mentioned that July and August were a little weaker than we expected , given all the international travel .
James Leddy: Yeah, sure. I mean, I think from a Q3 standpoint, the last couple of years, we've mentioned that July and August were a little weaker than we expected, given all the international travel. I think we didn't really see that impact this year. While July and August are seasonally some of the weaker months in the food distribution industry in general, we actually saw very good summer results, and September was strong. As we mentioned in our prepared remarks, trends continued into October. The fourth quarter is looking pretty good at this point.
Speaker #4: I think we didn't really see that impact . This year . So while July and August are seasonally , some of the weaker months in the food distribution industry in general .
Speaker #4: We actually saw a very good summer results . And then September was strong . And as we mentioned in our prepared remarks , trends continued into October .
Speaker #4: So the fourth quarter is looking pretty good at this point .
Speaker #5: Any thoughts like the potential impact of the government shutdown ? As you look ahead and . You mentioned the Middle East . Maybe you can kind of give an update on .
[Analyst]: Any thoughts like the potential impact of the government shutdown as you look ahead?
Operator: And.
[Analyst]: You mentioned the Middle East, maybe you can kind of give an update on.
Speaker #5: Yeah .
Speaker #3: You're breaking up a little bit , Alex . But you know , right now where we sit , you know , we're always cautiously optimistic .
Christopher Pappas: You're breaking up a little bit, Alex. Right now where we sit, we're always cautiously optimistic. The fourth quarter, we think it's going to perform pretty well. The Middle East is performing. I think Qatar took a little hit, but the Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Oman, I think our business is really strong. Our major markets are all performing well. I think a lot comes down to we got way ahead of it a long time ago, started to invest in the facilities for capacity and invest in the sales force, invest in the technology. I just think that whatever headwinds are out there, the team is just doing a phenomenal job of gaining market share and winning in a lot of categories. I think that's why you see such great numbers.
Speaker #3: You know , the fourth quarter , you know , we think it's going to we think it's going to , you know , perform pretty well .
Speaker #3: You know the the Middle East is performing . You know I think Qatar took a little hit . But you know the the Dubai and Abu Dhabi , you know Oman I think our business is is really strong .
Speaker #3: You know our major markets are all performing well and I think a lot again , it comes down to , you know we got way ahead of it a long time ago .
Speaker #3: You know , started to invest in the facilities for capacity and invest in the sales force , invest in the technology . And I just think that , you know , whatever , you know , whatever headwinds are out there , the team is just doing a phenomenal job of gaining market share and and and winning in a lot of a lot of categories .
Speaker #3: And I think that's why you see such great numbers .
Speaker #5: Great . Thanks . And yeah , the first part of the question was on the government shutdown in the US . And just whether .
[Analyst]: Great, thanks. The first part of the question was on the government shutdown.
Christopher Pappas: U.S. and just whether I think there might be a little effect maybe in D.C. or something. You know, our customer base is, you know, is skewed to obviously, you know, a lot of business meals and, you know, upper casual to high end. We've lived through a bunch of government shutdowns. We never saw a real big impact.
Speaker #3: I mean , I think there's there might be a there might be a little effect maybe in , in D.C. or something , but , you know , I mean , our , our customers , customer base is , you know , is skewed to obviously , you know , a lot of business meals and , you know , upper casual to high end .
Speaker #3: We've lived through a bunch of government shutdowns . We never saw a real big impact .
Speaker #4: We haven't seen a material impact to date . Alex .
James Leddy: We haven't seen a material impact to date, Alex.
Speaker #5: Okay . Thanks . Congrats .
[Analyst]: Okay, thanks. Congrats.
Speaker #6: Thank you .
James Leddy: Thank you.
Speaker #1: Thank you . We take the next question from the line of Mark Cardin from UBS . Please go ahead .
Operator: Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Mark Carlin from UBS. Please go ahead.
Speaker #7: Good morning . Thanks so much for taking the questions . So to start just building on the for Q commentary a bit . So the midpoint of your updated guidance , it implies a notable slowdown in adjusted EBITDA growth and little to no margin expansion .
[Analyst]: Good morning. Thanks so much for taking the questions. To start, just building on the Q4 commentary a bit. The midpoint of your updated guidance implies a notable slowdown in adjusted EBITDA growth and little to no margin expansion. Just curious if this reflects some conservatism. I know the compare is a bit tougher, but is there anything else that we should be keeping in mind there?
Speaker #7: Just curious if this reflects some conservatism . I know the compares a bit tougher , but is there anything else that we should be keeping in mind ?
Speaker #7: There ?
Speaker #4: No . Mark , I don't think so . I think , you know , we raised we raised the full year revenue guidance by 50 to 70 million from the midpoint to the higher end .
James Leddy: No, Mark, I don't think so. I think, you know, we raised the full year revenue guidance by $50 to $70 million from the midpoint to the higher end. I think we feel pretty good about the mid to higher end of the guidance at this point given what we've seen in October, as you know, we're always a little bit on the conservative side in terms of guidance. We raised adjusted EBITDA by $5 to $7 million from the higher points. It implies a pretty healthy 7% to 7.5% year over year Q4 revenue growth and full year, you know, kind of 8% to 8.5%, which would be slightly lower than what we've seen year to date. I think it implies a really healthy 10% flow through on that revenue growth to adjusted EBITDA. Yeah, I think that's where we, you know, where we ended up.
Speaker #4: I think we feel pretty good about the mid to higher end of guidance at this point . Given what we've seen in October .
Speaker #4: As you know , we're always a little bit on the conservative side in terms of guidance . And we raised adjusted EBITDA by 5 to 7 million from the mid to higher points .
Speaker #4: So you know , it implies a pretty healthy 7 to 7.5% year over year . Q4 revenue growth . And full year . You know , kind of 8 to 8.5% , which would be slightly lower than what we've seen year to date .
Speaker #4: But I think it implies a really a really healthy 10% flow through on that , on that revenue growth to adjusted EBITDA . And the so , yeah , I think that's where we , you know , where we ended up .
Speaker #7: Okay , great . And then you guys talked about the acquisition of telco and Colorado . I know the Rockies are a growth geography geography for you guys .
[Analyst]: Okay, great. You guys talked about the acquisition of Italco in Colorado. I know the Rockies are a growth geography for you guys. Does this solve a lot of your capacity desires there? Would you need to do more, and just more broadly with some of the economic uncertainty that's out there, have you noticed any shifts in M&A backdrop?
Speaker #7: Does this solve a lot of your capacity desires there . Would you need to do more and then just more broadly with some of the economic uncertainty that's out there , have you noticed any any shifts in M&A backdrop ?
Speaker #3: Yeah . Well , I mean , again , listen , 100% agree the Rockies is a great is going to be a great market for us .
Christopher Pappas: Yeah, I mean, 100% agree the Rockies is a great, is going to be a great market for us. You know, you have all the resorts and you know, Denver's a dynamic town and you know, good population growth from, I'd say from the higher end. Obviously, Aspen's always been pretty higher end. We've been talking with this, the company that we just acquired for many, many years. We were very familiar with very similar product catalog. Obviously, it's a small business, but we think it's going to be a great, great market for us. The M&A market, I mean, it's pretty frothy. It's been like that for a while. We've been really, really, you know, conservative because we just have so much, you know, positive momentum going on with all the facilities that we've just opened and all the people we've hired the last five years.
Speaker #3: You know , you have all the resorts and you know Denver's a dynamic town . And you know they've had good population growth from you know I'd say from the higher end obviously Aspen's always been pretty higher end .
Speaker #3: But we've we've been talking with this the company that we just acquired for many , many years , we were very familiar with them .
Speaker #3: You know , very similar . You know , product catalog obviously . You know , it's a small business , but we think we think it's going to be a great , great market for us .
Speaker #3: And you know , the the M&A market I mean , it's pretty frothy . It's been like that for a while . We've been really , really you know conservative because we just have so much , you know , positive momentum going on in with all the facilities that we've just opened and all the people we've hired .
Speaker #3: The last five years . So we've just been really , really picky and careful and , you know , just pick spots that really make sense for us because I just think we have so much momentum , you know , in , in the organic growth and it's just it's a good time to , to be able to sit back and just be really picky .
Christopher Pappas: We've just been really, really picky and careful and you know, just pick spots that really make sense for us because I just think we have so much momentum in the organic growth and it's just a good time to be able to sit back and just be really picky.
Speaker #7: Great . Thanks so much and good luck , guys .
Operator: Great.
[Analyst]: Thanks so much. Good luck, guys.
Speaker #6: Thank you .
Christopher Pappas: Thank you.
Speaker #1: Thank you . We take the next question from the line of Brian Haber from Morgan Stanley . Please go ahead .
Operator: Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Brian Harbour from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Speaker #8: Hey good morning guys . I was curious . You know , have you actually seen accelerating share gains perhaps recently . Or could you talk about , you know , how your market share has trended lately ?
[Analyst]: Hey, good morning guys. I was curious, you know, have you actually seen accelerating share gains perhaps recently? Could you talk about, you know, how your market share has sort of trended lately?
Speaker #4: Well , Brian , we have you know , given the investments that we've made , you know , coming out of Covid , the last couple of years and capacity expansion in markets like , you know , the Middle East and Northwest and Florida and Southern California and even in the the New York kind of metro area , you know , we have a number of markets that are growing at different phases .
James Leddy: Brian, given the investments that we've made coming out of COVID the last couple years in capacity expansion in markets like the Middle East and Northwest and Florida and Southern California and even in the New York kind of metro area, we have a number of markets that are growing at different phases.
Speaker #4: We have , you know , our high growth markets are growing . You know , low double digits to , you know , anywhere between 10 and 20% .
Christopher Pappas: We have our high growth.
James Leddy: Markets are growing, you know, low double digits to, you know, anywhere between 10% and 20%. We have our mature markets still growing very healthily. As we add categories in those high growth markets that are maybe underpenetrated in terms of the opportunity, we're obviously taking market share, growing penetration, and adding a lot of new customers, then doing things the same but maybe on a slightly smaller scale in our more mature markets as we continue to add categories and grow. It's different in every region, but that's part of our model, is to grow that way.
Speaker #4: And we have our mature markets still growing very healthily . And we add categories in those , you know , high growth markets that are maybe under-penetrated from in terms of the opportunity , we're obviously taking , you know , market share , growing penetration and adding a lot of new customers .
Speaker #4: And then , you know , doing doing things the same , maybe on a slightly smaller scale in our more mature markets as we continue to add categories and and grow .
Speaker #4: So it's different in every region . But you know , that's as you know , that's that's part of our model is to is to grow that way .
Speaker #8: Okay . Thanks . And could you maybe talk a little bit more just by types of customers that you serve ? If you're seeing this acceleration here , is that true with Non-restaurant customers ?
[Analyst]: Okay, thanks. Could you maybe talk a little bit more just by types of customers that you serve? Are you seeing this acceleration here? Is that true with non-restaurant customers? Is it true with the different types of restaurants that you serve? Could you just dig into that a bit?
Speaker #8: Is it true with the different types of restaurants that you serve ? Could you just dig into that a bit ?
Speaker #3: Yeah . Well , I mean , again , we are you know , we're obviously the smallest of of the public companies . And you know , I always say we're we're really a marketing company that also distributes .
Christopher Pappas: Yeah, I mean, again, we are, you know, we're obviously the smallest of the public companies and, you know, I always say we're really a marketing company that also distributes. We're really very differentiated from, you know, the big three public broadliners. I think it is a little confusing, you know, when you really look at who Chefs' Warehouse is. You know, we are servicing, obviously there's overlap. You know, we always have competition. Our motto is, anybody that has a truck is a competitor. You know, we have that competitive nature, but we really do beat to a different drum. It's a much more complicated logistical business that we've put together over 40 years. The way we go to market and the customer base, it's very diverse, purposely that way, because I've lived through all the past recessions and things that can go wrong, obviously. Covid.
Speaker #3: So we're really very differentiated from , you know , the , the big three broad liners , public broad liners . So I think it is a little confusing .
Speaker #3: You know , when when you really look at , you know , who Chefs' Warehouse is , you know , we are we are servicing obviously there's overlap .
Speaker #3: You know , you know , we always have competition , you know , our motto is anybody that has a truck is , is a competitor .
Speaker #3: So , you know , we have that competitive nature . But we really do beat to a different drum . It's a much more complicated logistical business that we've put together over 40 years .
Speaker #3: And the way we go to market and the customer base , it's very diverse . You know , purposely that way because I've lived through all the past recessions and things that can go wrong .
Speaker #3: Obviously , Covid . So it's it's pretty diverse . And it was strategically created that way . So we do have a balance and you know , no one no one is immune to , you know , a big a big headwind .
Christopher Pappas: It's pretty diverse, and it was strategically created that way. We do have a balance and no one is immune to a big headwind. We like the position where we're positioned in the market, and we're cautiously optimistic that our customer base is more resilient than the overall food away from home market.
Speaker #3: But you know , we like the position where we're where we're positioned in the market . And , you know , we're cautiously optimistic that , you know , our customer base is , is is more resilient than the overall , you know , food away from home market .
Speaker #1: Blind . Does that answer your questions .
Operator: Brian, does that answer your questions?
Speaker #8: Yes . Thank you .
[Analyst]: Yes.
[Analyst]: Thank you.
Speaker #1: Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Peter Saleh from BTIG. Please go ahead.
Operator: Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Peter Saleh from BTIG. Please go ahead.
Speaker #9: Great . Good morning . Congrats on a great quarter . Maybe I just wanted to ask on inflation and beef costs . You know , there's been a lot of discussion .
[Analyst]: Great. Good morning. Congrats on a great quarter. Maybe I just wanted to ask on inflation and beef costs, there's been a lot of discussion. There's been a lot of inflation in beef. What are you guys seeing? It doesn't seem like it's impacting your margins, at least not in the third quarter. Any thoughts on the go forward and the overall beef market and the impact on financials?
Speaker #9: There's been a lot of inflation in that in beef . What are you guys seeing . It doesn't seem like it's impacting your margins , at least not in the third quarter .
Speaker #9: Any thoughts on the go forward . And and the overall beef market and the impact on financials ?
Speaker #4: Yeah , I think , you know , what you saw in the third quarter , Pete , was you know , an elevated level of inflation year over year .
James Leddy: Yeah, I think what you saw in the third quarter, Pete, was an elevated level of inflation year over year. I think protein prices have been pretty firm the entire year. Some of it is the year over year comparisons. When you exclude the Texas transition, it's around 5% year over year. Definitely elevated. Our year over year protein margins were down versus prior year. We got really good gross profit dollar growth because when you have that level of inflation, you're not going to pass all of it on to your customer and you're going to get it back over time as you hold prices a little bit and drag them down a little slower when the market comes down. I think our team has done a good job of managing through this inflationary environment in terms of securing the supply chain.
Speaker #4: I think protein prices have been pretty pretty firm . The entire year . So some of it is the year over year comparisons .
Speaker #4: But when you exclude the , you know , the Texas transition , you know , it's around 5% year over year . So definitely elevated our year over year protein margins were , you were down versus prior year .
Speaker #4: But we got a really good gross profit . Dollar growth . Because you know when you have that level of inflation , you're not going to pass all of it on to your customer and you're going to you're going to get it back over time as you as you hold prices a little bit and drag them down a little slower .
Speaker #4: When the market comes down . So I think our team has done a good job of managing through this . This inflationary environment in terms of securing the supply chain .
Speaker #4: You know , we sell the highest quality proteins in the industry to the to the best restaurants and steakhouses . So I think they've done a good job of navigating this inflationary environment .
James Leddy: We sell the highest quality proteins in the industry to the best restaurants and steakhouses. I think they've done a good job of navigating this inflationary environment.
Speaker #9: Great . And then just on the chef Middle East business , I think you mentioned there was a maybe a little bit of a a step back , which was kind of which which makes sense , has that started to recover again in as we head into the fourth quarter here ?
[Analyst]: Great. Just on the Chefs' Warehouse Middle East business, I think you mentioned there was maybe a little bit of a step back, which makes sense. Has that started to recover again as we head into the fourth quarter here? Just curious as to the trajectory on that business.
Speaker #9: Just curious as to the trajectory on that business.
Speaker #4: Yeah , we we just highlighted , you know , that our a unique customer growth , which is usually in the kind of mid to high mid-single digit kind of year over year type of growth , consistent with our placement , growth and volume growth .
James Leddy: Yes, we just highlighted that our unique customer growth, which is usually in the kind of mid to high, mid single digit kind of year over year type of growth, consistent with our placement growth and volume growth. It was impacted by the obviously the attrition in Texas, the Texas transition of those low margin customers. In the Middle East during the summer when you had the Qatar conflict, we had some customers shut down for a couple of months, but they started to come back online and those two things impacted our unique customer growth. We really just highlighted the Chefs' Middle East just for that kind of temporary impact. Overall, the business continues to grow really nicely. As you know, we've expanded not only our Dubai facility, but we've also recently expanded our facility in Qatar and we're pretty close to finishing our facility in Oman.
Speaker #4: It was impacted by the obviously the the the attrition in Texas , the Texas transition of those low margin customers . And then in the Middle East , you know , during the summer when you had the Qatar conflict , we had some customers shut down for a couple of months , but they've started to come back online and that those two things impacted our unique customer growth .
Speaker #4: We really just highlighted the chefs Middle East just for that kind of temporary impact . Overall , the business continues to grow really nicely .
Speaker #4: As you know , we've expanded not only our Dubai facility , but we've also recently expanded our facility in in Qatar . And then we're pretty close to finishing our facility in Oman .
Speaker #4: So we're expanding our capacity in all three of those markets . And we're seeing really nice double digit growth . And they continue to improve a good amount of our of our elevated protein volume growth in the quarter , year over year was driven by our nascent but really , well , growing protein program that , you know , that we've kind of started to enhance in in the region .
James Leddy: We are expanding our capacity in all three of those markets and we're seeing really nice double digit growth and they continue to improve. A good amount of our elevated protein volume growth in the quarter year over year was driven by our nascent but really well growing protein program that we've kind of started to enhance in the region.
Speaker #9: Great . Thank you very much . Thanks .
[Analyst]: Great, thank you very much.
James Leddy: Thanks Pete.
Speaker #1: Thank you . We take the next question from the line of Kelly Bania from BMO Capital Markets . Please go ahead .
Operator: Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Kelly Bania from BMO Capital Markets. Please go ahead.
Speaker #10: Thanks . Good morning , Chris and Jim . I wanted to just go back a little bit to the acceleration in the past couple of months .
Kelly Bania: Thanks. Good morning. Chris and Jim, wanted to just go back a little bit to the acceleration in the past couple months. Just curious if you can talk about that a little bit more in terms of how that played out between your mature markets and maybe your higher growth markets, if that's more broad based or if there's any particular categories or regions that are standing out in terms of how that played out through the quarter in terms of the growth rates.
Speaker #10: Just curious if that you can talk about that a little bit more in terms of how that played out between your mature markets and maybe your higher growth markets , if that's more broad based or if there's any particular categories or regions that you know are standing out in terms of how that played out through the quarter , in terms of the growth rates ?
Speaker #3: Yeah , I , I think you got to look at it , Kelly , that obviously , you know , the the bigger markets , you know , have have more impact on our numbers and they're they're doing great .
Christopher Pappas: Yes, I think you got to look at it, Kelly, that obviously the bigger markets have more impact on our numbers and they're doing great. The smaller markets, obviously their % growth is higher, but it's for a smaller number. I think that, you know, I know it's hard to look at, you know, from your seat. It's so diverse now, Chefs' Warehouse that we're pretty much, I mean, there's a few exceptions, you know, and they're minor, you know, in the total volume. We're accelerating growth in so many different categories and in smaller markets that it's hard to really give you a total, you know, a total picture. From my desk, you know, obviously I look at categories, I look at subcategories, I look at the major territories out of territories.
Speaker #3: The smaller markets obviously they're they're percentage growth is higher . But it's you know from a for for a smaller number . So I think that , you know I know it's hard you know to look at you know from your seat it's so diverse now .
Speaker #3: Chefs' Warehouse that we , we , we're pretty much I mean there's there's a few exceptions , you know , and they're and they're minor , you know , in the total volume .
Speaker #3: But you know , we're , we're accelerating growth in , in so many different categories . And , and in smaller markets that it's hard to really give you a total , you know , a total picture .
Speaker #3: But you know , from my desk , you know , obviously I look at categories , I look at subcategories , I look at the major territories , outer territories , and I just think the team has done such a great job .
Christopher Pappas: I just think the team has done such a great job, you know, executing, you know, the vision, you know, that, you know, we want to be the, you know, the partner of, you know, of the chef in that, you know, mid to high casual all the way up to super fine dining. I just think they're really executing and, you know, they're taking, obviously they're taking market share and they're also, you know, winning on a lot of what's opening. Right. Which is really important for us because just our natural attrition, you know, is they say 7 to 10%. It's so important for us to keep growing, growing, you know, the account base and the category base, especially when, you know, you have negative news all over the news, you know, that some customer accounts are done.
Speaker #3: You know , executing , you know , the vision , you know , that we you know , we want to be the , you know , the partner of , you know , of the chef in that , you know , mid , mid , mid to high casual all the way up to super fine dining .
Speaker #3: And I just think they're really executing and you know , they're taking obviously they're taking market share and they're also you know winning on a lot of what's opening .
Speaker #3: really important for us because just our natural attrition , you know , is say , say 7 to 10% . So it's so important for us to keep growing , you know , the account base and the category base , especially when you know , you have negative news all over the news .
Speaker #3: You know that some customer accounts are done . I just think our customer base . Again , we're small , you know , compared to if you're going to put us in the distribution world , you know , we're really boutique and we like and we like being boutique and we like where we are .
Christopher Pappas: I just think our customer base, again, we're small, you know, compared to if you're going to put us in the distribution world, you know, we're really boutique, and we like. We like being boutique and we like where we are. I just think it's hard to compare us to everything else than all the noise that's out there.
Speaker #3: And I just think it's hard to compare us to everything else in all the all the noise that's out there .
Speaker #10: Just just to follow up on on that and then wanted to ask about the acquisition , but how much do you , Chris , attribute this to ?
Kelly Bania: Just to follow up on that, I wanted to ask about the acquisition, but how much do Chris attribute this to just the training that you've been investing in with the sales force and some of the education and tools that you're giving the sales force?
Speaker #10: Just the training that you've been investing in with the sales force and some of the education and tools that you're giving to sales force ?
Speaker #3: Yeah , I think a lot , you know , again , you know , we're celebrating , you know , our 40th year and I've been looking at these numbers for probably 42 years , even while we were trying to to get going .
Christopher Pappas: Yeah, I think a lot. You know, again, we're celebrating our 40th year, and I've been looking at these numbers for probably 42 years, even while we were trying to get going. It takes so much to train a team, especially to sell the premium products that we sell. It's not an overnight thing, you have to invest way ahead of time. I just think the team is doing such a fabulous job executing, and you have to be at this level. Our digital team, our IT team, we're giving them all the tools that you need today. Everyone talks about AI. Of course, we're using AI and investing in AI. I think everybody is going to have good AI. I don't think that's going to be the differentiator.
Speaker #3: So it's it takes so much to train , you know , to train a team to , to especially , you know , to sell the premium products that we sell .
Speaker #3: It's not an overnight , you know , you got to invest way ahead of time . And I just think the team is is doing a , you know , such a fabulous job .
Speaker #3: You know executing and you have to be at , at this level . And you know , our digital team , you know , it team .
Speaker #3: You know we're giving them all the all the tools . You know , all the all the tools that you need today . And you know , everyone talks about AI .
Speaker #3: Of course we're using AI and investing in I and I think everybody is going to have good AI . I don't think that's going to be the differentiator .
Speaker #3: At the end of the day . You have to have it . But you know , the customer , the customer needs to want to do business with you .
Christopher Pappas: At the end of the day, you have to have it, but the customer needs to want to do business with you. We always say Chefs' Warehouse is not for everyone and of course we want to sell more and more products, but we're really disciplined on who we are and we're not for everyone. I think the AI tools are making us better. I think we're right there, world class with everybody else in where we're investing and we're getting a great return on those tools. At the end of the day, you still have to satisfy the customer in every way. You have to have the service and you have to be likable. I think our laser focus on our customer base and who we are and not trying to be someone else, that's what I see. I think you're seeing the results from that.
Speaker #3: You know , we always say chef's not for everyone . And of course we want to sell , you know , more and more products .
Speaker #3: But you know , we're really disciplined on who we are . And you know , we're not for everyone . So I think the AI tools are are making us better .
Speaker #3: I think our , you know , I think we're right there world class with everybody else . And where we're investing and we're getting a great return on those tools .
Speaker #3: But at the end of the day , you still have to satisfy the customer . And in every way you have to have the service and you have to be likable .
Speaker #3: And I think , you know , our laser focus on our customer base and who we are and not trying to be someone else .
Speaker #3: I think that's what I see . I think you're seeing the results from that .
Speaker #10: Thank you . That's helpful . Can I just ask one more about about the acquisition ? I think it's just maybe what stood out about that acquisition .
Kelly Bania: Thank you. That's helpful. Can I just ask one more about the acquisition? I think Italco, maybe what stood out about that acquisition? It's been a while. I'm sure there's a lot of potential targets on your desk. What stood out? Why does this make sense for Chefs' Warehouse now? Can you just talk a little bit about the margin structure and the quality of their book of business and how much it aligns with Chefs' philosophy on the quality customer?
Speaker #10: It's been a while . I'm sure there's a lot of potential targets on your desk . What stood out ? Why ? Why does this make sense for chef ?
Speaker #10: Now ? And can you just talk a little bit about the margin structure and the quality of of their book of business and how much it aligns with chef's philosophy on the quality customer .
Speaker #3: Sure . Great , great question . And again , it is a small acquisition . It's really , you know , super high quality company .
Christopher Pappas: Sure. Great question. It is a small acquisition. It's really super high quality company. Great people. We've known them for years and years and years. We just were so busy with so many other markets and all the facilities that we're putting up, getting going and all the categories we've invested in that thank God they were very patient and waited for us because it's one of the, I would say one of the last, I call really pure specialty businesses. We bought a bunch of these early on when we went public and we were getting our foot into all the states, right. We said we're going to be in just about every, in every NFL city except maybe Green Bay. They were really one of the last small boutique companies that, you know, for us it was like a no brainer.
Speaker #3: Great people . We've known them for years and years and years . We just were so busy with so many other markets and all these all the facilities that we're putting up , you know , getting , getting going .
Christopher Pappas: You know, they have a similar category catalog of high end products. They service a ton of customers. Their offerings are much more narrow than us. That's why we're really excited about this because, you know, with Chefs' Warehouse catalogs and all our teams, you know, going in there doing training, hiring, you know, we're going to hire a lot of salespeople throughout Colorado and, you know, obviously boutique places like New Mexico and they're going to all the mountains and resorts. We just really excited that, you know, this is going to be a great Chefs' Warehouse over the next 10 years.
Kelly Bania: Thank you.
James Leddy: Thanks.
Operator: Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Margaret May Binstock from Wolfe Research. Please go ahead.
Kelly Bania: Hi, guys. Thanks for taking my question. I just wanted to ask if you guys continue to see progress with digital penetration, trying to get towards your long-term goal through the quarter, and if there's anything to call out in terms of how digital penetration is helping you guys gain relevance with your existing customers. Thank you.
Christopher Pappas: The digital team has done a great job and it's making the sales force more and more efficient. I think the whole goal of this is to be able to do more with less. I think we're having great success. We continue to really rely on our tremendous sales force really to push, push, push penetration. I think the digital tools are great support and it's giving us that last extra, you know, I always say it gives you that last extra yard getting into the score, a touchdown. We continue to invest in it. It continues to give us a great ROI. It's just part of what I call the go to sales strategy of Chefs' Warehouse.
James Leddy: Margaret, on adoption, we didn't have it in the presentation this quarter, but we're a little bit over 60%, so it continues. Adoption on the specialty side, we continue to drive adoption.
Kelly Bania: Awesome. Thank you. Just one more. Anything to call out in terms of business related travel? Are you seeing any weakness there?
Christopher Pappas: I mean, we hear a lot of complaints. We hear complaints, especially like in Las Vegas, the Canadians aren't coming. We hear that in Florida as well. In so many of our major cities, there's someone eating all this food. I think there's lots of domestic tourism still, and in the Middle East they continue to have great, great tourism. We hear noise, but we look at our results and we're really happy with them. It'd be great if there was a big boom again with our friendly neighbors. I think that would obviously juice the returns even more. We hear a lot, but we see the numbers and we say, someone's traveling.
I mean, we hear a lot of complaints, you know, we hear complaints, um, you know, especially like, in in Las Vegas. Uh, you know, the, the the Canadians aren't coming. We hear that in Florida as well, but uh, you know, in so many of our major cities, um, you know, there's there's there's someone eating all this food, so, um, I think there's lots of domestic tourism still and um, you know, in the Middle East there, they continue to have great, uh, great tourism. So, you know, we hear noise, but you know, we look at our results and uh, you know, we're really happy with them. So, you know it, it'd be great if there was a a big boom, again, you know, with, uh, our our friendly neighbors. Um, I think that would, uh, obviously juice the, uh, returns even even more. But, um,
Kelly Bania: Thanks, Chris. Thanks, Jim.
James Leddy: Thank you.
Thanks Chris. Thanks Jim.
Thank you.
Operator: Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Todd Brooks from The Benchmark Company. Please go ahead.
Thank you.
We take the next question from the line of Todd. Brooks from The Benchmark Company. Please go ahead.
Todd Brooks: Hey, good morning to you both. Couple questions first. Jim, you talked about when you were thinking about the updated guidance and being comfortable with the mid to upper end of the revenue guidance. Chris, you've been doing this a long time. When you're through October and you're talking to your customers now, what's the sense of kind of trend being locked in for a good holiday season based on the momentum that you've seen build across September and October?
hey, good morning to you, both, uh, couple questions first and Jim, you talked about when you were thinking about the updated guidance and being comfortable with the
The mid to Upper end of the revenue guidance and and Chris, you've been doing this a long time when you're, when you're through October, and you're talking to your customers now.
What's what's the sense of kind of trend being locked in for for a good holiday season? Based on the momentum that you've seen build across September and October?
Christopher Pappas: Always cautiously optimistic. We just had a bunch of big shows in a lot of our markets. I was fortunate enough to get out and attend and speak to a lot of customers. It can always change. We live in really interesting times. A few tweets and sentiment changes, but we're hearing good holiday bookings. I was really enthused to hear that a lot of the holiday bookings are pretty strong. We're really cautiously optimistic. It's going to be a good quarter.
We, we just did. Um, we just had a bunch of big shows, you know, and a lot of our markets. So, um, I was fortunate enough to get out and attend and speak to a lot of customers and, you know, uh, it can always change, you know, we live in, uh, we live in. You know, really interesting times. Uh, you know, a few tweets and, uh, sentiment changes. But we're hearing in good holiday, bookings. So, um, I was, um, I was really, uh, enthused, you know, to, to hear, you know, that a lot of the holiday bookings are are pretty strong. So, uh, we're really cautiously optimistic. Uh, it's going to be a good quarter.
Todd Brooks: Okay, great. My last question. You've seen a lot, Chris, you've been doing this for over 40 years, like you said. I get a lot of incoming calls about, if performance in U.S. Foods get together isn't that bad for Chefs' Warehouse. Can you talk about just historically, when you've seen big consolidations in the industry, what it's meant for Chefs' Warehouse as far as maybe customers to be had, salesforce talent to be had? I think that might clear up some of the maybe trepidation that some people think about the combination potentially happening.
Okay, great. And then, um, my last question. Um,
You've you've seen a lot Chris you've been doing this for over 40 years. Like you said, so
I get a lot of incoming calls about, well, if performance in U.S. Foods gets together, isn't that bad for Chef? Can you talk about, just historically, when you've seen big consolidations in the industry, what it's meant for Chef’s Warehouse as far as maybe customers to be had, Salesforce talent to be had? I think that might clear up some of the maybe trepidation that some people think about the combination potentially happening.
James Leddy: Sure.
Christopher Pappas: Great question. I could just go by, historically, what we've seen. Even when we do an acquisition, when we look at an acquisition, we're looking at it for long term, obviously, fold-ins. Very synergistic, right, because you may usually just take in the sales force and you get the efficiency on trucks and customer service and the back office and all that wonderful stuff. We always model going backwards in most acquisitions, not all. Colorado, we think it's really small, but we think, because it's so small, once we get everything squared out, it's just going to be an explosive market for us. Historically, we go backwards when we do an acquisition because customers usually want to hedge their bet. They're not sure, and all that wonderful stuff. When we've seen big acquisitions in territories, we usually get a nice uptick.
Um, sure, uh you know, great, great question. And you know, I could just go buy, you know, historically uh you know what we've seen and and even when we do an acquisition, I mean when we when we look at an acquisition, we're looking at it for long term you know obviously fold in you know, very synergistic, right? Because you may you know usually just taking the sales force and you get the efficiency on trucks and customer service and the back office and all that wonderful stuff. But we always model going backwards. Uh in most Acquisitions, you know, not all um, you know, like you know, Colorado we think it's uh, you know, it's it's really small but you know, we think, you know, because it's so small. You know, once we get uh every everything's squared out, it's just going to be a an explosive market for us but um, historically you know, we go backwards when we do an acquisition because customers, you know, usually want to hedge their bet. They're not sure, you know, and all that wonderful stuff. And when we've seen, uh, big
Christopher Pappas: A lot of it is customers want to hedge their bet or salespeople are nervous and there's a lot of integration and a lot going on. If this big deal goes through, we are cautiously optimistic that it could be really, really good for Chefs' Warehouse, just from the fact that customers are going to want to hedge their bet, and we'll pick up a lot of new business.
Acquisitions from, uh, you know, in territories, we usually, you know, get a nice uptick. And, uh, again, a lot of it is, uh, customers, you know, want to hedge their bet or there's, uh, you know, salespeople are nervous. And, uh, there's a lot of integration and a lot going on. So, um, you know, if this, uh, if this big deal goes through, uh, we are cautiously optimistic that, uh, it could be really, really good for.
For.
Uh, for CW, you know, just from you know the fact that customers are going to want to hedge their bet and uh, we'll pick up. We'll pick up a lot of new business.
Todd Brooks: That's great. Thanks, Chris.
That's great. Thank you. Thanks Chris
Christopher Pappas: Thank you.
Operator: Thank you. We take the next question from the line of Ben Klee from Lake Street Capital Markets. Please go ahead.
Thank you, bye. Thank you.
We take the next question from the line of Ben Khalif.
[Analyst]: All right, thanks for taking my questions and congratulations on a really good quarter here. I've got a question about your organic growth initiatives over the last year or two. They're really starting to, I would expect, fill in. I'm wondering if there's anything to call out operationally out of Texas, Florida, California that has maybe been a surprise or kind of an operational challenge as you go into the holiday season. Have those organic investments continued to kind of hum as expected, or has there been any issues to call out?
From Lake Street Capital Market, please go ahead.
All right, thanks for taking my questions and congratulations on a really good quarter here. Um, got a question about your organic, uh, growth initiatives over the last year or 2. They're really starting to I would expect to fill in um, and I'm wondering if there's anything to call out operationally out of, you know, out of taxes, Florida, California, um, that uh, you know, has maybe been a surprise uh uh or kind of an operational challenge. Um, as you go into the holiday season, have those organic Investments continue to kind of whom as expected? Or is there been any issues um, to call out?
Christopher Pappas: Yeah, I don't think I've woken up one day in 42 years where there is an issue.
James Leddy: Fair enough.
Christopher Pappas: It's the nature of a service company. Yeah, I mean, we have such a great team at this point. We're never satisfied. Obviously, every day we're trying to get better. Most markets, again, we're really cautiously optimistic. They're going to have a great fourth quarter and a great 2026. The biggest opportunities for us are places like Texas where we're just, we're really new. Even though we bought a company that's historically been in the market, but as Chefs' Warehouse, we're still in the first inning. We're just so excited about the opportunity for that growth over the next 10 years. Florida, we made the big investment. We're getting a great ROI. We got an incredible team, and we still think that we're in the first inning there. We're really excited. Louisiana's got a new facility and they're having great growth. We're really excited about that.
Yeah, um, I I don't think I've woken up 1 day and 42 years where there's no. There is an issue fair enough. The nature. It's the nature of, uh, you know, of a service company. Uh, but uh, yeah, I mean, we have such a great team at at this at this point. Um uh, you know, we never satisfied obviously every day. We're we're trying to get better. Um, you know, most markets again. Uh, we're really uh, cautious of the optimistic. Uh they're going to have a great
Christopher Pappas: We got our new protein facility up and running in Richmond and they're having a great year. We have great hopes for 2026 and beyond. I don't think there's a market that I have any complaints about and couldn't be more proud of what they're doing. The big opportunity in a market that we're just really new in, like Texas, I think is really exciting.
[Analyst]: Great, great. Very helpful. Congratulations again to both of you and the whole team on a good quarter and a good outlook here for the fourth quarter. Thanks for taking my questions. I'll get back in queue.
Facility and they're having great growth. Uh, so we're really excited about that. You know, we got our new protein, uh, facility up and running and enrichment. And they're having a, a great year and, you know, we have great hopes for, uh, 26 and Beyond. So, um, you know, I, I don't think there's a market that, um, I'm I'm not really, uh, I have any complaints about and couldn't be more proud of of what they're doing. But, um, uh, the big opportunity, you know, in a market that we're just really in you and like Texas I think is really exciting.
James Leddy: Thanks, Ben.
Great, great. Very helpful. Um, well, congratulations again to both of you and the whole team on a good quarter and a good outlook here for Q4. Uh, thanks for taking my questions. I'll get back to you.
Thanks Ben.
Operator: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, as there are no further questions, I will now hand the conference over to Chris Pappas for his closing comments.
Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, as there are no further questions, I will now have the conference over to Chris Pappas for his closing comments.
Christopher Pappas: I want to thank the team at Chefs' Warehouse. They've done a phenomenal job and really excited what they're going to do in 2026 and beyond. We thank all our investors and analysts for joining our call. We look forward to the next call. Thank you again for joining.
Yeah, well once again I want to thank the the team at uh at CW. Uh they've done a phenomenal job and uh really excited what they're going to do uh in 26 and and Beyond. And uh we we we thank all our investors and analysts for for joining our call and uh we look forward to uh, forward to the the next call. And um, thank you again for joining.
Operator: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, the conference of The Chefs' Warehouse Inc. has now concluded. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect your lines.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. The conference of the Chef Warehouse has now concluded. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect your lines.
[Company Representative]: It.
Operator: Sa.
[Company Representative]: Sam.