Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Grupo Herdez Q3 2023 earnings conference call. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that this call is being recorded, and the information discussed today may include forward-looking statements regarding the company's financial and operating performance. All projections are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially. Please refer to the detailed note in the company's press release regarding forward-looking statements. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Andrea Amozurrutia, Head of Finance and Sustainability. Ms. Amozurrutia, please go ahead.
Thank you, Brenda. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us on today's call. As you saw in our earnings release, net sales increased by 13.3% for the quarter and 16 year-to-date. This growth is primarily driven by pricing actions taken over the past year, while our volume performance has surpassed the previously mentioned slowdown and is now stable and in line with our expectations. In the preserved segment, we saw a 10.5% growth in the quarter. Categories like vegetables, mayo, tomato puree, spices, mole, and home-style salsas performed exceptionally well. Supermarkets and price clubs maintained their leading position in channel performance. For the year, net sales increased by 16.8%, of which Mediterráneo contributed 2.2 percentage points to the segment's growth.
In the impulse segment, the top line shows ongoing traffic recovery in stores, primarily driven by changes in the pricing strategy at Nutrisa. Cielito coffee shops experienced the most significant recovery during the quarter, while Don Miguel saw continued growth in DSD performance, with Mega as the top performing product of the portfolio. Net sales for the quarter recorded an increase of 23% and 19% for the full year. In exports, net sales for the quarter rose by 26.8, primarily driven by the catch-up on sales that were delayed in the Q2 due to distribution challenges. Year to date, they increased by 4.4%. In dollar terms, net sales increased by 15 for the quarter and almost 19% for the full year.
Consolidated gross margins for the quarter expanded near to seven percentage points, reaching 40.7%, making our highest margin since the Q3 of 2019, before the disruptions caused by COVID-19 began. This growth was primarily driven by the preserved segment, which finally experienced a relief in raw material prices. Year to date, our consolidated gross margin increased by 3.3 percentage points to 38.3. For the quarter, EBIT and EBITDA increased by 50.1% and 36.8%, with margin expansions of 3.5 and 3.1 percentage points, respectively. On a cumulative basis, EBIT and EBITDA increased 37% and 29%, while the margin expansions were two and 1.6 percentage points. These results are attributed to the recovery of gross margin in the preserved segment and reduced operating losses in Helados.
During the quarter, the income from unconsolidated companies reached MXN 139 million, a 50% increase compared to the previous year. This growth was primarily driven by lower avocado costs and the effects of normalized logistics. Over the past nine months, income from this segment reached MXN 668 million, which is 2.6x the income earned during the same period in 2022, where we had a very low base. Consolidated net income for the quarter was MXN 830 million, a 76.8 increase compared to the previous year, with a margin expansion of 3.3 percentage points, reaching 9.2. This improvement was driven by the recovery of MegaMex and gross margin. For the full year, consolidated net income growth by 75.4% to MXN 2.3 billion.
We maintain a solid financial position. We've accumulated MXN 3.5 billion in cash as part of our strategy to pay down debt of MXN 1 billion that matures next month. This debt is associated with our MXN 2 billion Herdez 17 bond. Our interest-bearing liabilities remain stable at MXN 10.5 billion, and in the quarter, we generated a free cash flow of MXN 1.8 million, billion, sorry. With that, I will now turn the call over to Gerardo.
Thank you, Andrea. Following Andrea's comment, our top-line growth has normalized after a soft Q2, and we are upbeat about future performance in line with our own expectations. Mexico growth has recently been revised upward due to the resilience of private consumption, which can be attributed to a combination of factors, including historical low unemployment and government policies that have increased disposable income. With the disinflation process underway and the restrictive stance in monetary policies, we are tactically shifting our focus towards demand creation through market investments. We are very pleased with the performance of our portfolio as our market share held steady across the board on the back of strong brand equity. In the impulse segment, Helados Nestlé continues to be the outlier due to consistent, great execution, operating discipline and an extraordinary product portfolio.
MegaMex continues its recovery trend, primarily due to lower avocado prices, reduced freight expenses, and Don Miguel improved performance after an in-depth review of the company's operation. Finally, we want to raise our guidance for the full year, except for the top-line growth, which will be in the low teens against the mid-teens. Gross margin should increase in Preserves 350 basis points and Impulse, 250 basis points, where Exports will be flat. EBIT should grow in the high 20s, while EBITDA will increase in the low 20s. Finally, consolidated and majority net income are expected to grow 40% and 70%, respectively. That concludes our prepared remarks, and we're ready for your questions. Brenda, please go ahead.
Thank you. We'll now begin the question-and-answer session. To join the question queue, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. You'll hear a tone acknowledging your request. If you're using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing any keys. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. We'll pause for a moment as callers join the queue. The first question comes from Álvaro García from BTG. Please go ahead.
Hi, Gerardo, Andrea. Thanks for the thanks for the space for questions. My, my question is on. Two questions. My, my, my first question is on contribution margin, your gross margin in preserves in Mexico, very high level, obviously reflective, I, I think of, of reflective of, of a stronger peso and lower raw materials. I was wondering if there were any specific one-offs in the quarter, maybe the way maybe certain categories were delivered this quarter relative to last, or, or if it was a clean, clean number?
Good morning, Álvaro. No, they're not. This is the Q1 where we saw our cost per ton down versus last year. You'll recall that we were experiencing higher costs every quarter and remember that we have an easy comp because last year was a very, very low gross margin. It was a combination of factors, combination of the pricing policy, and finally, cost per ton has come down from a year ago.
Would it be fair to assume that, you know, if things stay where they are, that these gross margin levels?
I think, no, I think I would take one or two percentage points. I think that we can assume that the gross margin for the whole year, not for the quarter, that it's in the 40s, would be sustainable. Because going forward, even though inflation is coming down from percentage basis, but inputs are gonna stay high, and we will return to experience input-specific issues. For example, next year, we're gonna have a challenge for vegetables because of the hot weather, the climate, so we're gonna experience higher input costs in those categories. Considering the market dynamics, we are not expecting to have pricing actions across the board. Probably, we're gonna do very little segmented required pricing actions, but it's not gonna be significant. We're gonna return more to category specifics.
I think that assuming that the full-year gross margin could be sustainable, plus minus 1.
That was very helpful, claro. You actually answered my second question on pricing in Mexico. You know, maybe the second question would be pricing in the U.S. You know, we've heard a lot of chatter from sort of CPG companies in the U.S. that might even see some pressure on the way down in pricing. Obviously, that's not the case in Mexico, but do you see scope for maybe pricing pressure on the way down from retailers, given how some raw materials have corrected, or is that not the case for your portfolio in the U.S.? Thank you.
No, no, it's not the case. We believe it's the same environment. We are not expecting off the board, portfolio, going to be flexible regarding the category. In terms of overall consumption, the environment, depending on the categories, but the environment is still low. People, consumers switch to more affordable items, and from a volume perspective, we are expecting stabilization or normalization for the next month in the U.S.
Great. Okay. Thank you very much.
Once again, if you have a question, please press star then one. This concludes the question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Gerardo Canavati for any closing remarks.
Well, thank you very much for joining us in our earnings call. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact us. Thank you, Brenda. Have all a good day.
This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines. Thank you for participating, and have a pleasant day.