Cash and Cash Equivalents. The Partnership considers all highly liquid instruments purchased with an original maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents. The carrying amount approximates fair value because of the short-term maturity of these instruments.

Commodity Price Risk. Given the retail nature of its operations, the Partnership maintains a certain level of priced physical inventory to help ensure its field operations have adequate supply commensurate with the time of year. The Partnership’s strategy is to keep its physical inventory priced relatively close to market for its field operations. The Partnership enters into a combination of exchange-traded futures and option contracts and, in certain instances, over-the-counter options and swap contracts (collectively, “derivative instruments”) to hedge price risk associated with propane and fuel oil physical inventories, as well as future purchases of propane or fuel oil used in its operations, and to help ensure adequate supply during periods of high demand. In addition, the Partnership sells propane and fuel oil to customers at fixed prices, and enters into derivative instruments to hedge a portion of its exposure to fluctuations in commodity prices as a result of selling the fixed price contracts. Under this risk management strategy, realized gains or losses on derivative instruments will typically offset losses or gains on the physical inventory once the product is sold or delivered as it pertains to fixed price contracts. All of the Partnership’s derivative instruments are reported on the condensed consolidated balance sheet at their fair values. In addition, in the course of normal operations, the Partnership routinely enters into contracts such as forward priced physical contracts for the purchase or sale of propane and fuel oil that qualify for and are designated as normal purchase or normal sale contracts. Such contracts are exempted from the fair value accounting requirements and are accounted for at the time product is purchased or sold under the related contract. The Partnership does not use derivative instruments for speculative trading purposes. Market risks associated with derivative instruments are monitored daily for compliance with the Partnership’s Hedging and Risk Management Policy which includes volume limits for open positions. Priced on-hand inventory is also reviewed and managed daily as to exposures to changing market prices.

On the date that derivative instruments are entered into, other than those designated as normal purchases or normal sales, the Partnership makes a determination as to whether the derivative instrument qualifies for designation as a hedge. Changes in the fair value of derivative instruments are recorded each period in current period earnings or other comprehensive income (“OCI”), depending on whether the

derivative instrument is designated as a hedge and, if so, the type of hedge. For derivative instruments designated as cash flow hedges, the Partnership formally assesses, both at the hedge contract’s inception and on an ongoing basis, whether the hedge contract is highly effective in offsetting changes in cash flows of hedged items. Changes in the fair value of derivative instruments designated as cash flow hedges are reported in OCI to the extent effective and reclassified into earnings during the same period in which the hedged item affects earnings. The mark-to-market gains or losses on ineffective portions of cash flow hedges are recognized in earnings immediately. Changes in the fair value of derivative instruments that are not designated as cash flow hedges, and that do not meet the normal purchase and normal sale exemption, are recorded within earnings as they occur. Cash flows associated with derivative instruments are reported as operating activities within the condensed consolidated statement of cash flows.

Interest Rate Risk. A portion of the Partnership’s borrowings bear interest at prevailing interest rates based upon, at the Operating Partnership’s option, LIBOR plus an applicable margin or the base rate, defined as the higher of the Federal Funds Rate plus ½ of 1% or the agent bank’s prime rate, or LIBOR plus 1%, plus the applicable margin. The applicable margin is dependent on the level of the Partnership’s total leverage (the ratio of total debt to income before deducting interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”)). Therefore, the Partnership is subject to interest rate risk on the variable component of the interest rate. From time to time, the Partnership manages part of its variable interest rate risk by entering into interest rate swap agreements. The Partnership did not enter into any interest rate swap agreements during the first nine months of fiscal 2022 or in fiscal 2021.

Valuation of Derivative Instruments. The Partnership measures the fair value of its exchange-traded options and futures contracts using quoted market prices found on the New York Mercantile Exchange (the “NYMEX”) (Level 1 inputs); the fair value of its swap contracts using quoted forward prices, and the fair value of its interest rate swaps using model-derived valuations driven by observable projected movements of the 3-month LIBOR (Level 2 inputs); and the fair value of its over-the-counter options contracts using Level 3 inputs. The Partnership’s over-the-counter options contracts are valued based on an internal option model. The inputs utilized in the model are based on publicly available information as well as broker quotes. The significant unobservable inputs used in the fair value measurements of the Partnership’s over-the-counter options contracts are interest rate and market volatility.

The following summarizes the fair value of the Partnership’s derivative instruments and their location in the condensed consolidated balance sheets as of June 25, 2022 and September 25, 2021, respectively:


	As of June 25, 2022			As of September 25, 2021
Asset Derivatives	Location	Fair Value		Location	Fair Value
Derivatives not designated as hedging instruments:
Commodity-related derivatives	Other current assets	$	49,993	Other current assets	$	53,019
	Other assets		3,095	Other assets		1,813
		$	53,088		$	54,832

Liability Derivatives	Location	Fair Value		Location	Fair Value
Derivatives not designated as hedging instruments:
Commodity-related derivatives	Other current liabilities	$	11,163	Other current liabilities	$	8,715
	Other liabilities		1,487	Other liabilities		1,632
		$	12,650		$	10,347

The following summarizes the reconciliation of the beginning and ending balances of assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis using significant unobservable inputs:


	Fair Value Measurement Using Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)
	Nine Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
	June 25, 2022						June 26, 2021
	Assets			Liabilities			Assets		Liabilities
Beginning balance of over-the-counter options	$	4,626		$	451		$	—	$	—
Beginning balance realized during the period		(4,626	)		(78	)		—		—
Contracts purchased during the period		654			2,378			2,675		182
Change in the fair value of outstanding contracts		—			(280	)		—		—
Ending balance of over-the-counter options	$	654		$	2,471		$	2,675	$	182

As of June 25, 2022 and September 25, 2021, the Partnership’s outstanding commodity-related derivatives had a weighted average maturity of approximately nine and four months, respectively.

The effect of the Partnership’s derivative instruments on the condensed consolidated statements of operations for the three and nine months ended June 25, 2022 and June 26, 2021 are as follows:

Three Months Ended June 25, 2022

Three Months Ended June 26, 2021

Derivatives Not Designated 
as Hedging Instruments

Unrealized Gains (Losses)
 Recognized in Income

Unrealized Gains (Losses) 
Recognized in Income

Location

Amount

Location

Amount

Commodity-related derivatives

Cost of products sold

(921

)

Cost of products sold

11,139

Nine Months Ended June 25, 2022

Nine Months Ended June 26, 2021

Derivatives Not Designated 
as Hedging Instruments

Unrealized Gains (Losses)
Recognized in Income

Unrealized Gains (Losses)
Recognized in Income

Location

Amount

Location

Amount

Commodity-related derivatives

Cost of products sold

(1,442

)

Cost of products sold

17,632

The following table presents the fair value of the Partnership’s recognized derivative assets and liabilities on a gross basis and amounts offset on the condensed consolidated balance sheets subject to enforceable master netting arrangements or similar agreements:


	As of June 25, 2022							As of September 25, 2021
						Net amounts							Net amounts
						presented in the							presented in the
	Gross amounts		Effects of netting			balance sheet		Gross amounts		Effects of netting			balance sheet
Asset Derivatives
Commodity-related derivatives	$	88,867	$	(35,779	)	$	53,088	$	76,508	$	(21,676	)	$	54,832
Liability Derivatives
Commodity-related derivatives	$	48,429	$	(35,779	)	$	12,650	$	32,023	$	(21,676	)	$	10,347

The Partnership had $-0- posted cash collateral as of June 25, 2022 and September 25, 2021 with its brokers for outstanding commodity-related derivatives.

Bank Debt and Senior Notes. The fair value of the borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility (defined below in Note 10) approximates the carrying value since the interest rates are adjusted quarterly to reflect market conditions. Based upon quoted market prices (a Level 1 input), the fair value of the Senior Notes (also defined below in Note 10) of the Partnership are as follows:


	As of
	June 25,		September 25,
	2022		2021
5.875% senior notes due March 1, 2027		330,925		367,063
5.0% senior notes due June 1, 2031		560,625		676,000
	$	891,550	$	1,043,063