Luca Zaramella
Analyst · Goldman Sachs
Yes. I'm Luca. If you really look at percentages, I think on a year-to-date basis, we are under about 40%. I think we closed last year at 40.2%. So if we really want to dissect to the decimal points, yes, we are few decimal points behind. I don't think, Jason, there is anything structural besides Brazil. And Brazil again, as I dissect the issue, there is part of it that is going to persist to a certain extent into next year, and it is the powder beverage part of it. On supply chain, we should be fixed. I think as you look at all the components of the gross profit delivery, volume leverage is there. I think when you look at the volume mix that is 2%, that is a good number, I think that provides material leverage both into the GP line and the overhead line, and I think we see it coming into fruition.In terms of pricing, last year, we announced a couple of ways of pricing in the U.S. market, and I think as you look at the biscuit market specifically, you see volume and value going up. In that context, we are gaining share. I think in emerging markets, we clearly have the pricing discipline that is required. And quite frankly, it is a little bit more sophisticated than going out and announcing big price increases. It is leveraging the full array of pricing tools that we have, including previous optimization, promo intensity, price spec architecture, and as I answered before, if I look at the composition of the commodity and ForEx inflation, and the pricing, we have taken business unit by business unit, I think we did a good job in both emerging and developed markets. And productivity, it is a little bit lower than in the past years, not because gross productivity isn't there, it is there, but we are facing a little bit more inflation on the labor front and the logistics costs.So, as I dissect the gross margin components, and I take myself in a context where I say, "Okay, Brazil is a little bit of an outlier. Do I see us having material issues on price net of commodities, productivity, volume leverage?" The simple answer is "No." I think the one point is mostly attributable to Brazil, it is attributable to the fact that in Q3 last year, the number was higher than the rest of the year, 40% with Brazil embedded into the number, I don't think it is for us something that we should worry structurally about. I think, having said that, we need to continue working well on delivering volume on getting the productivities and pricing in line with inflation we see in the marketplace.