Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions). Our first question comes from George Staphos with Banc of America Securities. Please go ahead.
George Staphos - Bank of America/Merrill Lynch
Thanks, hi guys, good morning, thanks for the detail. The two questions here. First off, Bill, as we look at the first quarter performance and the guidance for the year, is the simple take that price mix, which you did a very good job on in the quarter, sequentially declined and is offset by the continued ramp and the (ph) operational costs, GMS, restructuring savings? And the second question is are you seeing any intensifying in competition at all, whether it's in Protective Packaging or even in the fresh case in recent weeks or recent quarters? Thanks.
William Hickey
Let me come back, let's start with your first question, George, on trend of price mix versus the other cost savings coming through. I think that's a reasonably good way to look at it. Price mix was good in the first quarter. You get the delta as you go through the year because price increases begin to lapse. And obviously, in a competitive market like there is today, you probably can see some of that over the ensuing quarters. But as we say, one of the things, Sealed Air has done extremely well is to manage the downside of the cycle to more than offset the cost on the upside of the cycle. And there is no reason why we are not going to do that again.
As far as your second question on competitive landscape, there has primarily been a pickup on the Protective side of the business. I think that's because you have a fixed amount of capacity competing for kind of a fewer amount (ph) of demand.
George Staphos - Bank of America/Merrill Lynch
Right.
William Hickey
And unfortunately, market share has been a primary focus of some of our competitors. However, I am not convinced how sustainable that strategy is in lieu of the debt levels and some of the covenants that a number of our competitors have on the Protective side of the business. So it doesn't change our game plan; it just keeps us sharper on our feet. On the food side, competition has remained relatively steady.
George Staphos - Bank of America/Merrill Lynch
Okay. Thanks Bill.
Operator
Our next question comes from Rosemarie Morbelli with Ingalls & Snyder.
Rosemarie Morbelli - Ingalls & Snyder LLC
- To read the full transcript on Seeking Alpha, click here »
