Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from Jonathan Feeney – Wachovia Securities.
Jonathan Feeney – Wachovia Securities
Do you have a cross company volume number excluding Lawry’s, excluding acquisitions and divestitures?
Gordon Stetz
The total company volume for the quarter ?x’ acquisitions and divestitures was down about 1%. That is a function of really the Industrial business. The Consumer business grew close to 3% and the Industrial business was down on volume.
Jonathan Feeney – Wachovia Securities
Could you give me a little bit more detail on the Industrial business about lower sales to restaurant customers? How powerful is that negative product mix between other industrial customers in food service, what sort of impact is that having and what’s it likely to mean in the quarters ahead?
Alan Wilson
It’s a continuation of the trends that we’ve seen at least in the North American markets where consumers are shifting more to at home eating. Our food service business it comprises both the sales that we make to fast food restaurants as well as our branded distribution business. We are seeing still good strength in our consumer food manufacturer business where we sell seasonings and value added flavors to people who process foods. We’re seeing some mixed results in that.
Keep in mind we’ve also exited some additional business in this quarter both in the US and Europe that would cause the sales to be a bit depressed.
Jonathan Feeney – Wachovia Securities
If you could, could you quantify what the impact of sales exits like I noticed ongoing sku rationalization had on that business?
Alan Wilson
It’s a fairly small amount. I don’t have those numbers in front of me.
Operator
Your next question comes from Eric Katzman – Deutsche Bank.
Eric Katzman – Deutsche Bank
Thank goodness you’re in spices and not chicken. I was kind of surprised when you announced you had put through additional pricing this late in the year given how much seasonality you have in your business. Companies like Campbell’s Soup, for example, have been reluctant to raise prices, been the heart of their season. Can you talk about how that decision came about, what the retailers reaction was to that and how that price increase is going in terms of implementation?
Alan Wilson
The increases were in our Zatarain’s business where we’ve seen continued escalation in rice prices and it was specifically only on the rice products. We also did it in Europe which has less of a holiday seasonality. We’ve not done that in the US market where our fourth quarter is such a critical period and we’ve said in the past that only under certain circumstances on major commodities would we try to do that in our US business. It’s a bit limited to those two areas, other than in the Industrial business where we have the normal pass through of commodity prices.
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