AUSTIN, MINN. — The Hormel Foods Corp.’s Planters nut business is recovering from an “unplanned production interruption” at its processing plant in Suffolk, Va. Jacinth Smiley, chief financial officer, said during a Dec. 4 conference call to discuss fiscal 2024 results that the company expects to benefit from the recaptured momentum in Planters starting during the second quarter of fiscal 2025.

During the company’s fiscal 2024 third quarter, Hormel reported declines in its Retail segment net sales, volume and profit due in part to the production disruption, which depressed sales of its Planters brand snack nut products. The company also revised its fiscal-year outlook down to an impact of 6¢ per share related to the disruption, which occurred in May after the company recalled two Planters products manufactured at its Suffolk plant for potential Listeria contamination. The facility was closed for five weeks.

“This quarter, the first quarter is largely refilling retailer shelves, replenishing retailer inventories replenishing our own inventory, essentially refilling all of those gaps that were created in the back half of last year as we dealt with the supply disruption,” said John Ghingo, executive vice president of Retail. “By the end of the first quarter, we will be in a position to fully meet retailer demand across the entire Planters portfolio.

“In the meantime, we are seeing some progress in our scanner data. So, our baseline trends are improving sequentially over the past two-, four-week periods, meaning baseline declines are lessening versus prior year.”

He added that during the second quarter the business will begin accelerating promotions to attract consumers back to the brand.

During the fourth quarter ended Oct. 27, Hormel Foods earned $220 million, equal to 40¢ per share on the common stock, up slightly from the same period of the previous year when the company earned $196 million, or 36¢ per share.

Quarterly sales fell to $3.1 billion from $3.2 billion the year before.

In the Retail segment, volume fell 6% and net sales fell 4% during the quarter, with some of the declines attributable to the company’s snacking and entertaining business.

For the year, Hormel Foods earned $805 million, equal to $1.47 per share, and up from the year before when the company earned $794 million, or $1.45 per share.