“So we're expecting a good volume mix performance right away in Q1 of next year.”

In context

“ct some results sooner as you leverage some of the commercial investments, it sounds like you made in the fourth quarter. Dirk Van De Put: Yes, I think you said it right at the end there. In the fourth quarter, if you think about it, on one hand, we had a good year, and we were coming with a price increase, which, by the way, has been agreed in the U.S. in the beginning of the year, so no need to push in volumes from our side. Then we had the Clif system integration changeover, and so we needed to bring our inventory down and manage it very tightly. And then we talked about the Give & Go holiday kits that we stopped selling because the margins were not interesting for us. So if I exclude those and look at the rest of the business, the volume mix performance in Q4 was, in fact, quite good. So we're expecting a good volume mix performance right away in Q1 of next year. It is really a one-off situation in Q4. So we don't really necessarily feel like there is a slowdown in North America. It's not going to be massive volume growth, but it's going to be positive volume growth in the beginning of the year. So that's where we are. It's not going to be a slow build-up. We will continue where we are without the exceptionals that we had in Q4. Steve Powers: Okay. Very good. Thanks, Dirk. I'll pass it on. Dirk Van De Put: Thanks. Luca Zaramella: Thank you. Operator: Our last question comes from Alexia Howard, Bernstein. Alexia Howard: Good evening, everyone. Dirk Van De Put: Hi, Alexia. Luca Zaramella: Hi. Alexia Howard: Hi. So, two questions. First of all, on innovation. I'm just wondering if you can give us a quick status update on whether the pace of innovatio”