Good morning, and welcome to the MGP Ingredients Second Quarter Earnings Call. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Amit Sharma, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to MGP's Second Quarter Earnings Conference Call. I'm Amit Sharma, Vice President of Investor Relations. And this morning, I'm joined on the call by Julie Francis, our new Chief Executive Officer and President, who will introduce herself and make some initial observations; Brandon Gall, our Chief Financial Officer; and Mark Davidson, our VP, Corporate Controller and Head of Treasury. They will provide an overview of our quarterly results and outlook. As customary, we will begin the call with management's prepared remarks before opening the call to analyst questions. Before we begin, this call may involve certain forward-looking statements. The company's actual results could differ materially from any forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including the risk factors described in the company's quarterly and Annual Reports filed with the SEC. The company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made during the call, except as required by law. Additionally, this call will contain references to certain non-GAAP measures, which we believe are useful in evaluating the company's performance. A reconciliation of these measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures is included in today's earnings release, which was issued this morning before the market opened and is available on our website.

Thank you, Amit. Good morning, everyone. As we announced last week, after a thorough search, our Board of Directors appointed Julie Francis as our next President and CEO. I strongly believe that Julie is the right person to lead us forward during this important time for the company. She brings a strong strategic lens, deep commercial expertise, and a proven ability to build and lead teams. Her fresh perspectives and track record of success at global industry-leading CPG companies, particularly in the beverage segment, will be critical as we advance our long-term vision of becoming a premier branded spirits company. Julie has taken the reins during a challenging time for our industry, and she's wasting no time diving into all aspects of our business. There is no doubt she's the right person for the job, and I look forward to partnering with her during this next chapter. Julie, welcome aboard.

Thanks, Brandon, and hello, everyone. I'm thrilled to be joining the MGP team. Let me first thank Brandon and the executive team and our entire MGP family for their hard work, collaboration, and dedication in delivering solid second quarter results. I've had the opportunity to attend our leadership and business meetings and to also meet individually with our broader teams last week. And what I've learned has only reinforced what drew me to this opportunity. First and foremost, MGP's culture. There's something unique about working in a culture where everyone is deeply passionate and takes great pride in our business, in their teams and our people. MGP has an integrated partnership approach to customers and suppliers, as well as a deep commitment to the communities we serve. There is a certain responsibility we have when we are part of these teams, and I really like and thrive in that type of culture. Second, a growth mindset. MGP's unique capabilities, impeccable reputation, and product offerings give us the right to win in each of the industries in which we compete. More importantly, I believe that all three businesses have a significant growth runway, which can be unlocked as we operate with clarity, operational and executional excellence with integrity, tough-mindedness, and agility across all of our platforms and functions. I'm energized by the opportunity ahead, confident in our ability to build on our progress, and look forward to working with all of you in the investor community. With that, I will turn the call back to Brandon for the business update.

Thanks, Julie. Our second quarter 2025 performance demonstrated the strength of the foundation Julie mentioned as all three of our segments showed sequential improvements relative to the first quarter of 2025. Overall, second quarter results came in largely as expected, driven by the continued strength in our premium plus Branded Spirits portfolio and improved year-over-year performance in Ingredient Solutions. Distilling Solutions also progressed in line with our expectations with improving stability and visibility. At a high level, we believe all three business segments are on a solid trajectory. We're seeing progress against the priorities we laid out earlier in the year, and I'm excited to build on that momentum as we move into the second half of the year. Specifically for the second quarter of 2025, as expected, consolidated sales and adjusted EBITDA decreased 24% and 38%, respectively, from the prior year period, primarily due to the anticipated decline in Distilling Solutions performance. Branded Spirits segment sales declined by 5%, but our premium plus portfolio posted positive growth. Adjusted earnings per common share declined to $0.97 per share, while year-to-date operating cash flows increased to $56.4 million versus $29.6 million in the same period last year. With another quarter of solid execution, we remain on track to achieve our full year 2025 sales and adjusted earnings guidance. Mark will provide greater detail on our quarterly results shortly. Let me take the next few minutes to highlight the current operating environment and the progress we're making against each of our key initiatives. The external environment remains challenging and fluid. Overall economic uncertainty, persistent inflation, and higher interest rates continue to weigh on consumer sentiment, which fell to a multiyear low during the quarter. While sentiment improved a bit last month, consumer confidence in this backdrop continues to pressure discretionary spending, leading to more cautious purchasing behaviors. Despite this environment, we continue to execute with discipline and make progress on our key initiatives. Starting with the Branded Spirits segment. Our key initiative for the Branded Spirits segment is focus. We believe our decision to focus on fewer but more attractive growth opportunities is working as our premium plus portfolio again outperformed the broader category with 1% growth for the second quarter compared to the year-ago period. Our key brands, Penelope, El Mayor, and Rebel 100 are particularly well positioned to benefit from our focus initiative as we continue to prioritize investments behind these brands. For the full year, we expect a healthy double-digit percentage increase in A&P spending for these brands collectively, even as our overall A&P spend will be down, as we've mentioned on the last calls. While our focus brands delivered positive dollar sales growth in the latest 13-week period ending on July 12, as reported by Nielsen, let me briefly talk about the terrific growth trajectory of Penelope, the key driver of our continued premium plus performance. Penelope is our flagship premium plus offering in the American Whiskey category with a brand identity that's built on innovation, craftsmanship, authenticity, and accessible price points, attributes that resonate strongly with today's bourbon drinkers. Penelope Wheated is expanding the brand's strong foundation by capitalizing on consumer demand for more approachable bourbon with a softer, smoother taste profile. Penelope Wheated continues to build on its strong start with continued expansion into new markets. Penelope is also expanding its ready-to-pour offerings to tap into the faster-growing cocktail segment. Penelope Peach Old Fashioned is already among the top 15, 750 milliliter premium plus RTP offerings in Nielsen, and we plan to further expand Penelope's RTP offerings with the introduction of Penelope Black Walnut Old Fashioned in the third quarter. This continued momentum has made Penelope one of the fastest-growing premium plus American Whiskey brands. Based on the retail dollar sales growth reported by Nielsen for the past 4, 13, and 52-week periods ending on July 12, Penelope has been the second fastest growing of the top 30 premium plus American Whiskey brands. With a full pipeline of planned innovation, we expect this broad-based momentum to continue through the rest of the year. Given year-to-date trends, we now expect our premium plus segment to grow by low single-digits for the full year compared to 2024, an improvement from our initial projections. At the same time, as expected, sales of our mid and value tier brands remained softer in the second quarter due to heightened price competition in select pockets. As I mentioned last quarter, we are taking appropriate actions, including greater price support to make these offerings more appealing. Although the rate of decline for sales in these price tiers improved sequentially in the second quarter, we believe the impact of these actions on shipments is still taking effect. While we remain encouraged, we now expect the mid and value price tier to be down low double-digits for 2025 compared to 2024 versus our initial expectations of mid to high single-digit declines. Earlier this week, we announced our decision to partner with Breakthru Beverage Group for distribution of our products in California. Breakthru is one of the leading beverage distributors in the country, and their proven track record and deep expertise in the premium plus categories made them the ideal choice to drive growth for us in this market. RNDC continues to be our distributor in many states, and they remain a valuable partner. We're currently working with both companies in an effort to minimize any potential disruptions during the transition and do not expect this transition to have a material financial impact on our 2025 results.

Thank you, Brandon. For the second quarter of 2025, consolidated sales decreased 24% to $145.5 million compared to the year-ago period. Within our segments, Branded Spirits sales decreased by 5% due to the expected double-digit decline in our mid and value-priced brands, driven by lower volumes of certain tequila, liqueur, and cordial brands. Our premium plus sales increased by 1%, reflecting continued momentum in our focus brands, in particular, Penelope. Distilling Solutions segment sales declined by 46%, primarily driven by a 54% decline in brown goods sales. Second quarter warehouse service sales decreased by 5%, while white goods sales declined by 27% due to the phasing out of a number of white goods customer contracts in the wake of the Atchison distillery closure as well as reduced production volumes of co-products, primarily dried distillers grain. Ingredient Solutions sales increased by 5% during the second quarter, driven by a strong rebound in our specialty wheat protein sales. Following a 26% decline in the first quarter, specialty protein sales increased by 13% in the second quarter as we successfully commercialized new customers for these product offerings. Our Fibersym branded specialty starch sales declined 4% below year-ago levels. Consolidated gross profit decreased 30% to $58.4 million, primarily due to lower gross profits in the Distilling Solutions and Branded Spirits segments. Gross margin declined by 350 basis points to 40.1%. First quarter SG&A expenses increased 2% compared to the prior year period. However, excluding the impact of a higher incentive compensation accrual in 2025 as we rebuild incentives, SG&A expense decreased by 8%, driven primarily by our cost savings initiatives. Advertising and promotion expenses declined 41% compared to the prior year as we lapped elevated spend for certain advertising campaigns during the year-ago quarter as well as continued realignment of our spend behind our most attractive growth opportunities. Although, we continue to expect Branded Spirits A&P spend to be approximately 12% of segment sales for the full year 2025, it represented 10% of Branded Spirits sales in the second quarter, largely due to the timing of certain advertising campaigns within the year. Second quarter adjusted EBITDA decreased 38% to $35.9 million due primarily to lower gross profits as previously discussed. Net income for the second quarter declined to $14.4 million, primarily due to lower operating performance and an $8 million increase in the fair value of the contingent consideration liability related to the continued improved performance of the Penelope brand. On an adjusted basis, net income decreased 45% to $20.9 million. Basic earnings per common share decreased to $0.67 per share, while adjusted basic EPS decreased 43% to $0.97 per share. We continue to prioritize strong cash generation by managing our working capital and reducing our barrel inventory put away. Our year-to-date cash flow from operations was $56.4 million, up $26.8 million compared to the prior year period, driven primarily by favorable working capital changes. Our year-to-date net barrel inventory put away of $14.7 million was down 28% versus the prior year period, and we continue to expect net put away of $15 million to $20 million for the full year. Capital expenditures were $10.6 million during the second quarter and $18.7 million year-to-date. We now expect full year 2025 capital expenditures of approximately $32.5 million, a reduction of more than 50% compared to 2024 and down from our previous expectations of $36 million due to decreased investment in certain barrel warehouse projects to better align our warehouse investment with customer demand. Our balance sheet remains healthy, and we remain well capitalized with debt totaling $297.1 million as of the end of the second quarter, leaving us with more than $600 million in availability under our debt facilities. We ended the quarter with a cash position of $17.3 million, and our net debt leverage ratio remained largely stable at approximately 1.8x as of June 30, 2025. With that, let me hand it over to Brandon before opening for questions.

To close, given the sequential improved results in the second quarter, we remain on track to deliver our full year outlook. Our teams are executing with purposeful focus, agility, and a targeted approach, leading to continued momentum across key branded segments, improved execution in the Ingredients business, and greater visibility and stability in the Distilling Solutions business. We are excited to have Julie on the team to lead us forward on our journey in becoming a premier Branded Spirits company. That concludes our prepared remarks. Operator, we're ready to begin the question-and-answer portion of the call.

And our first question comes from Bill Chappell from Truist Securities.

Welcome, Julie. Welcome aboard. I just wanted to, I guess, first, talk a little bit more about the new distillate contracts and kind of where we are and visibility from that standpoint. I mean, I guess, question one, are you now through all or a high majority of the contract kind of negotiations, discussions? Two, can you see, assuming that they hold in place kind of where we will hit a low watermark in terms of revenue over the next few quarters? And three, what's your sense that these are conservative enough or overly conservative in terms of kind of what they're ordering? I mean, historically, brands are overly conservative until they run out and then they add more. So I'm just trying to understand maybe a little more color on that whole process.

Yes. Thanks, Bill. So as we shared in the prepared remarks, well, firstly, we just couldn't be any more proud of our Distilling Solutions team. Their outreach and partnership-first approach is really resonating with our customers and with our business. And as of today, no contracts that we have with customers in February have been canceled. In fact, substantially all have been either confirmed or amended. The little we have remaining are progressing well. And maybe the holdup, if you want to describe it as that, may have to do with possibly extending the agreement in some cases. So very, very encouraged by the team's progress there. As far as the visibility goes, this gives us really, really great visibility for the remainder of 2025. We can talk about this more in a moment. But the back half is going to be relatively lighter than the first half due to some contracts that were reset. But even with that, that was expected and that was contemplated in our guide at the beginning of the year and in our current guide. So we feel that things are coming in as we had projected and in some cases, slightly better. So that's through 2025. We've also stated consistently that this dynamic is going to persist into '26. And while some of our customers are taking temporary pauses in their purchasing as they want to balance out and work down their inventory, we're confident that we're going to remain their long-term partner and supplier. We just don't know exactly when that's going to resume and at what type of volumes. So we need a little bit more time there in this dynamic environment to work that out with them. And then as far as conservatism goes, Bill, the quarter came in really pretty much in line with our expectations. Again, some of the renegotiations that we've had have come in slightly better collectively. And we've had a little bit better performance in aged than expected at the beginning of the year. But other than that, things are playing out as we had thought. We still continue to expect Distilling Solutions sales, excuse me, to be down 50% on the year. And we earlier stated that gross profit dollars for the segment are going to be down 65%. That latter number may come in a little bit better for the reasons we described. But other than that, we feel like we're right down the middle in terms of our projections, and we're very, very confident in the way things have come in and are playing out so far.

To clarify your original expectations regarding aged sales this year, which were anticipated to be minimal, could you elaborate on why the situation appears more positive than expected? Specifically, where are you observing increased orders? Additionally, how are you handling the possibility of discounts for products in the latter part of the year? Are you refraining from offering discounts because you believe the products will maintain their value and not become unsellable?

Yes, that's a great question. We're noticing improvements in a few areas. Firstly, our partnership approach and increased outreach to craft and regional customers is proving to be effective. These customers prefer to work directly with MGP and our team rather than going through a broker. Many of them are already using our liquid, so having direct access has strengthened our relationships. That's one reason for the improvement we've seen this year. Additionally, some customers are entering the market for the first time and looking to purchase aged products, viewing this as a long-term strategy. They also need a supplier that can provide new distillate. As we've mentioned before, we offer both options in terms of variety and scale, and we're beginning to see progress in that area as well.

The next question comes from Marc Torrente from Wells Fargo.

Julie, congratulations. We look forward to working with you. Yes. First question, Branded margins stood out, I think, highest GMs and EBITDA since the acquisition. Any additional color on gross margin phasing from here? And then advertising came down materially, perhaps some timing, but we know the strategy for this year is to be more targeted around central brands. There seems to be success. What's been working? What else do you need to adjust? And any other changes in Branded to consider with price positioning or distribution as we go forward?

All right. I think I got most of them, Marc. You may have to help me fill out some pieces I missed. But yes, Branded Spirits margins were very strong in the quarter. That's really reflective of our performance of our premium plus portfolio and the proportionate mix we're seeing over time there. We do think in the back half of the year, our margins may be relatively lighter than that as we expect value to continue to be under pressure and the gross profit dollars associated with that are going to continue to be a bit of a headwind. A&P was down quite a bit in the quarter, but it sticks out more only because Q2 of last year was very high due to some programming we did around college basketball that we didn't redo again this year. We're still expecting for the year A&P for our Branded Spirits to be roughly 12% of net sales, which is down from the roughly 15% we've been seeing. However, when you take that A&P investment and do it as a percentage of our premium plus brands, which is where all that money is going, that number is actually closer to 25%, which is, as we all know, well above the industry averages. So what's working? Focus. The key initiative here is focus. We've got a lot of great brands. And sometimes, we don't know where to begin and where to focus. So we've really tried to improve that this year in both our sales and our marketing execution. And Penelope, El Mayor, and Rebel are all reacting to that in a positive way. And so that's what we're seeing. That's what's working. As far as further pricing in mid and value, I think was your last question, Marc. Look, value especially is somewhere that's getting increasingly competitive, whether it's in promotions, taking down line pricing, or even rebates. It seems like everything is on the table. And there are just so many things we can or want to do there. And so we'd rather use our marketing dollars in support for the higher-margin premium plus brands in our portfolio. But we aren't afraid to adjust our line pricing to adjust to our competitive set and what they're doing.

And then I guess more on Distilling, sales and earnings were a bit better than at least we were thinking, but seem more in line with your own expectations. Maybe just any more on how you're thinking about the phasing front half versus back half in the context of the full year. I guess, any upside in the front half could seem to imply more or a deeper impact into the back half and perhaps even in the front half of '26. So if margins were to hold in better than expected as they seem to be, is that coming from more cost control? Is that where just pricing is falling in on these contract resets? Is it mix or a combination of all of the above?

Yes, Mark, I'll start with that one. Yes, as we've mentioned, there is some phasing of contracts. And as a result, with the 50% decline in sales for the full year, that would imply a big decrease in H2 from H1. On the gross profit standpoint, as Brandon mentioned, we expect that 65% decline that we previously guided to, to be a little bit better. And where we're seeing that benefit is in pricing. Pricing negotiations have gone well. And so we've seen some favorability there, again, as we've been able to successfully partner with our Distilling Solutions customers. And so we're encouraged by that. We see that show through in pricing, and that's where we see that margin and gross profit benefit coming through in the back half.

Yes. The only thing I'd add to that is, just due to the lower sales and lower production volume in the second half, the team is doing a phenomenal job in doing what they can to mitigate costs and especially fixed cost absorption levels. But we do expect some margin pressure, gross margin pressure in the back half. And as such, we're still expecting roughly 30% margins for the segment, which would imply that the back half is going to be probably closer to the mid-20s levels.

The next question comes from Robert Moskow from TD Cowen.

This is Seamus Cassidy on for Rob Moskow. Welcome, Julie as well. So my question is on Distilling Solutions. You cited the TTB data, which shows pretty notable production cuts. In light of that, could you sort of help frame where we are in terms of inventory rationalization at the industry level? And then secondly, would you describe the competitive environment as sensible still, especially in the context of your proactive engagement on pricing negotiations?

Yes. So on the TTB, yes, very encouraging signs. And from an overall inventory dynamic perspective, we still have a ways to go, Seamus. This is not going to be an overnight fix. However, as we said, this is going to go into 2026, and we still feel that way. But what we are seeing is in tough environments like these, we keep coming back to it, but partnerships matter. Customers and suppliers want to line up with those that they see a long-term relationship with. The commitment that the team is showing out in the market is demonstrating that commitment. And I feel that our customers are responding, both current customers and new. We are actually adding customers in this environment. And so we're very encouraged by all that. So definitely, this dynamic is going to persist. But we do feel that as a leading contract distiller for American Whiskey, we are positioned well coming into this. And we feel like we're doing all the right things, and we're controlling the controllables to be better positioned coming out of it.

And the next question comes from Sean McGowan from ROTH Capital Partners.

My question is on could you give us some color on the difference in your mind between a paused purchase and a canceled contract? Like how solid are those contracts if they've been paused? And is that pause like indefinite?

Yes. Their purchasing has been paused as the contract has come to an end. Typically, these contracts are up for renewal and are negotiated, like all contracts. However, we sensed at the beginning of the year that there might be a pause on the horizon. We can observe inventory and pull rates from our customers with barrels in our warehouse, which allowed for open dialogue. As I mentioned, we're dealing with very large multinational customers who have well-established brands. Historically, there is minimal customer churn in such cases. Our relationships with these customers often span many years. The uniqueness of our product and its taste profile is a strong asset for representing their brand to their consumers. We see this as a temporary pause and are confident it will resume. When it does, it may not be at the same volumes as before, but that's acceptable, and we will work back into it with them. In the meantime, we plan to explore different partnership opportunities, whether through other product offerings like gin and GNS for vodka, or assisting them in finding homes for their inventory, or providing other creative solutions to support their business.

And one little other clarification question. On the SG&A in the quarter, I think you mentioned that there were some items in there related to incentive comp that if you exclude that, the SG&A was down a little bit more. Should we expect that elevated level of incentive comp to continue in the subsequent quarters? Or was that kind of a one-time thing?

Yes. No, we expect SG&A as a percentage of sales in Q2 to persist in the back half of the year. And additionally, yes, this is a reinstatement of the incentive comp, so it is year-over-year going to stick out a little bit more. But the important thing there is going back to controlling what we can control. Our cost savings initiatives and productivity initiatives at the beginning of the year. If you peel that out, is actually showing an 8% decline in adjusted SG&A. So very proud of the team for coming together and driving those savings. And yes, we look forward to finding more as the year goes on.

And the next question comes from Mitch Pinheiro from Sturdivant & Co.

Welcome, Julie. I have a couple of questions for you. You've mentioned having good visibility from talking to your customers. However, it seems we might experience significant downward pressure in sales on the distilling side for some time. How does that visibility benefit you? Are we able to maintain a 30% gross margin thanks to this visibility, or do you think it could be even more beneficial and help improve margins from current levels?

Yes. So what the visibility gives us more than anything is confidence. We can see the proverbial bottom of the pool a little bit more clearly. And what it also allows us to do is set ourselves up for operational success. So we know how many shifts to run. We know what campaigns run product-wise. We know how many operators we need on site and so on. So it's visibility in the numbers, but also the visibility in being able to operate efficiently. And this pullback in the overall market happened pretty fast, and the team has done a very, very nice job of reacting. But to your gross margin question, if we're going to be in the mid-20s in the back half of 2025. We're doing what we can to chip away at that and get those numbers up and whether it's through finding greater efficiencies or doing what makes us unique. So one of those examples is we're one of the only contract distillers of American Whiskey that can also distill GNS and premium gin for our customers. And while it's not necessarily as high a price as brown goods, it's an excellent way to gain efficiencies and scale in our facility. And also, it's an excellent way to further partner with our customers in these hard times. So there's even proactive commercial activities that can actually improve the margin profile. So we're hopeful, Mitch, to answer your question in a long way, that we're going to keep chipping away, and we're going to get those margins up over time.

I think I heard you say that you expect net put away for 2025 to be in the $15 million to $20 million range. Is that correct?

That's right.

That's correct.

So I mean, how does that foot with just the overall slowdown? Is this $15 million to $20 million of net put away sort of specific juice for certain customers that you need to do and there's a chunk of your inventory that's sitting there sort of just unaccounted for?

Yes. Most of our put away is for our own brands, such as Penelope and Rebel. This is where the majority of the $15 million to $20 million is allocated. The additional put away for Distilling Solutions relates to long-term agreements for supplying aged products to both potential and current customers. We also have the unique ability to identify valuable market opportunities each month or quarter. We have a good understanding of market value, and if we find unique and rare barrels that we can monetize effectively, we will purchase them from the open market and either resell them or bottle them under our own brands. This consideration also contributes to the $15 million to $20 million figure, providing context for our strategy.

And then with the ready-to-drink segment significantly benefiting the spirits industry in terms of volume, are you participating in any of that growth through third-party brands?

Yes, absolutely. And we've participated in that in white goods and GNS too, but also, to your point, in American Whiskey. So a lot of that tends to go out the door. It's not always aged for very long, if at all. But yes, no, you can imagine that a lot of our customers who buy traditional bourbon for traditional brands would also lean on us for that capability as well.

Finally, regarding the Branded Spirits, Penelope has seen an increase in SKUs and distribution. How is the rest of the portfolio performing? If Penelope is doing well, does that suggest any weaknesses elsewhere? Are there specific brands that have underperformed or any others that are excelling, aside from the ones you've mentioned like Rebel and El Mayor in the tequila category? Is there anything within the premium plus segment that is not performing as expected?

Yes. So Penelope, like you said, is continuing just with tremendous momentum. The lifeblood of that brand is innovation and coming out with offerings and items that resonate with consumers and meet them exactly where they are. Penelope Wheated is a great example of that, but even our recently introduced ready-to-serve line, a ready-to-pour line of Penelope Peach Old Fashioned and Black Walnut Old Fashioned are great examples of doing exactly that. So very, very proud and pleased with the progress of Penelope. El Mayor too, strong volumes in the quarter. We came out with new packaging and some new size offerings. So we're excited for that. And Rebel too, showed sales growth in the quarter. But there are offsets, Mitch, primarily in a couple of larger volume American Whiskey brands. And those are actually declines that we've been dealing with in recent quarters as well. But we're not just sitting on our hands there. We are making adjustments, whether it's with line pricing to better position it with their respective competitive sets, but also with innovation as well. And so there's additional ready-to-serve products coming out possibly across other parts of our portfolio, albeit at different price points than Penelope. So that may round out our premium plus price for you a better Mitch.

And the next question comes from Ben Klieve from Lake Street Capital Markets.

Julie, congratulations on the new role. A couple of questions on the Ingredient segment. It's great to see year-over-year growth, both on the top line and on earnings here. I have 2 questions. First one is, Brandon, I'm wondering if you can give us an update on the challenges in the export market specific to this segment and both on a kind of sequential basis and year-over-year basis, what that impact was in the second quarter? And then kind of if you have any insights regarding the export opportunity in the back half of the year?

Yes. Regarding exports with Ingredient Solutions, we are specifically referring to our specialty protein product line, particularly the Arise specialty protein. For a long time, most of this has been sold through a long-term partner into Japan. As we mentioned last year, they started to significantly reduce their purchases, which was unexpected. However, the team has done an excellent job of reintroducing the Arise line in North America with both new and existing customers. While demand from Japan is not at the historical levels, it is still present. Interestingly, as we look ahead to next year, they may consider increasing their orders. Importantly, we have managed to find a market for that product, although not at the previous pricing levels, but still at a profitable rate. I am very proud of the team for their ability to adapt to the international changes.

And just to add to that, Ben, to that point, that's the key component of the driver of the increase versus Q2 of last year. Specialty protein sales increased 13% due to our ability to replace that export volume with domestic customers. And then you mentioned sequential increase, the Ingredients segment increased significantly sequentially from Q1, sales are up 32%. The biggest driver of that increase is our specialty wheat protein offerings, which increased $5.3 million versus Q1 due to our ability to commercialize that lost export business domestically as we messaged earlier this year.

I have a second question regarding this segment. There are many positive developments happening. The biofuel plants are starting to come online, leading to some cost savings. The pressure from exports seems to be easing as you mentioned, and new customers are onboarding. You expect the second half to perform better in terms of both revenue and profit compared to the first half. Can you clarify the contribution from these new customers? You mentioned a few new customers were expected to come online during the second quarter. Did they come online to the extent you anticipated? Also, how do their current revenue contributions compare to your expectations for their future run rates in the upcoming quarters?

Yes. So a lot of the new customers that we've been getting, as Mark just said, has been on the specialty protein Arise front in North America. And any new customer, especially in this business, there can be a load-in and then some choppiness, and we've seen some of that. In fact, Q1 was choppy as a result of this. Q2 was where we expected it to be. We expect Q3 to be strong as well for specialty protein, maybe not quite as strong as in Q2, but then we expect a strong Q4. So it's going to be maybe a slight step down in Q3, but the choppiness is reducing in its size, which is great to see and what you would expect. Where the opportunity really is on the new customer front is in our ProTerra extruded protein facility that came online last April. And like I said, in this business, it can take anywhere from 8 to 12 to 24 months to commercialize a new customer. It's a lot of work. It's a lot of commitment. And the team is making a lot of progress there. This is a great facility up to 10 million pounds of production capability. And I shared earlier in the year that we had two large customers that we've been working with that we were hoping to come on in the back half of the year. I had a discussion about that just recently with the team, as you'd imagine, that is still looking good in both cases. It could be more Q4, but the point is that we're making progress. Additionally, something we're doing to increase our customer pipeline and funnel is we're expanding our capabilities and our offerings at our ProTerra facility. We are now working with soy as an example. And the result of that has been a complete inbound of new customers and new opportunities. So because this facility is located separately from our overall ingredients facility, we're able to experiment with different grains such as this. So that's really where our runway is for growth in terms of new customer acquisition, Ben, and that's what the team is focused on making a lot of progress. Perfect. Thank you, Ben.

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Julie Francis for any closing remarks.

Thank you. I'd like to thank everyone for joining our quarterly earnings call today. I look forward to engaging with all of you in the very near future and playing a much more active role in the next earnings call. So good luck, everyone. We'll talk soon. Cheers.

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.