Note 13 - Segment Information

12 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2024

Notes to Financial Statements

Segment Reporting Disclosure [Text Block]

13. Segment Information

The Company conducts its business almost entirely in food packaging with two reportable segments: Vegetable and Fruit/Snack. The reportable segments reflect how the Company's Chief Executive Officer, who is the Chief Operating Decision Maker (“CODM”), allocates resources and evaluates performance, and how the Company's internal management financial reporting is structured. The Company's CODM evaluates the performance of these reportable segments with a focus on earnings (loss) before income taxes as the measure of segment profit or loss.

The Other category consists of the Company's non-food operations including revenue derived from the sale of cans, ends, seed, outside revenue from the Company's trucking and aircraft operations, and certain corporate items. These ancillary activities do not qualify as an operating segment and are not eligible for aggregation with one of the identified operating segments; therefore they are combined and presented within the “Other” category.

During the Company’s fiscal year 2024 reassessment, the Company updated how its existing operating segments (Vegetable, Fruit, Snack) are reported. A primary factor of the reassessment was the Company's Vegetable operations which have become a larger strategic focus of the Company, as evidenced by the recent asset acquisition described in Note 17. Fruit was previously reported with Vegetable. The Fruit and Snack segments are now managed together as one reportable segment, leaving Vegetable as its own reportable segment. The update reflects the products offered within the segments and the manner in which the business is currently managed. The prior year amounts within the segment disclosure information have been recast to conform to the current year presentation.

Segment information is provided on a FIFO basis which is consistent with how financial information is prepared internally and provided to the CODM. The LIFO impact on earnings (loss) before income taxes and total assets is shown separately for purposes of reconciling to the GAAP financial statement measure shown on the Consolidated Statements of Net Earnings and Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Export sales represented 5.7%, 6.7% and 7.2% of total net sales in fiscal 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively. 

The following table summarizes certain financial data for the Company’s reportable segments (in thousands):

			Fruit and					Subtotal		LIFO
	Vegetable		Snack			Other		(FIFO basis)		Impact			Total
Fiscal Year 2024:
Net sales	$	1,325,618	$	100,835		$	32,150	$	1,458,603	$	-		$	1,458,603
Earnings (loss) before income taxes		92,852		3,264			9,225		105,341		(22,342	)		82,999
Interest expense, net of interest income		31,607		2,347			66		34,020		-			34,020
Capital expenditures		42,089		1,536			-		43,625		-			43,625
Depreciation and amortization		39,364		3,480			634		43,478		-			43,478
Total assets		1,604,449		100,627			3,703		1,708,779		(324,782	)		1,383,997
Fiscal Year 2023:
Net sales	$	1,374,468	$	104,156		$	30,728	$	1,509,352	$	-		$	1,509,352
Earnings (loss) before income taxes		137,555		(3,935	)		11,784		145,404		(131,611	)		13,793
Interest expense, net of interest income		12,684		1,180			461		14,325		-			14,325
Capital expenditures		57,593		13,406			806		71,805		-			71,805
Depreciation and amortization		37,359		3,024			558		40,941		-			40,941
Total assets		1,415,857		95,658			3,646		1,515,161		(302,440	)		1,212,721
Fiscal Year 2022:
Net sales	$	1,259,878	$	97,040		$	28,362	$	1,385,280	$	-		$	1,385,280
Earnings (loss) before income taxes		103,899		(7,623	)		5,776		102,052		(42,157	)		59,895
Interest expense, net of interest income		4,477		473			691		5,641		-			5,641
Capital expenditures		43,490		5,705			2,905		52,100		-			52,100
Depreciation and amortization		33,730		2,542			251		36,523		-			36,523
Total assets		1,025,840		84,087			3,176		1,113,103		(170,829	)		942,274