Central Garden & Pet Company (CENT) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Welcome to the 2021 Annual Meeting for Central Garden and Pet Company. Our host for today's call is Bill Brown, Chairman of the company. [Operator Instructions] I will now turn the call over to your host, Mr. Brown, you may begin, sir.

Thank you for attending our 2021 Annual Meeting. We hope that today's virtual meeting format will be a onetime occurrence, and we look forward to returning to our usual in-person format next year. I am Bill Brown, and I will preside as Chairman of this meeting. George Yuhas, who is our Corporate Secretary, will act as Secretary of the meeting. I would now like to introduce the other directors of the company. Tim Cofer, our CEO; Beth Springer, our Lead Independent Director and Chairman of our Compensation Committee; Brendan Dougher, Chairman of the Audit; Mike Edwards, Mike Griffith, Chris Metz, Sonny Pennington, and John Ranelli. I would also like to introduce our 2 new Director nominees, Courtnee Chun and Daniel Myers. We look forward to Courtnee and Daniel joining the Board. Deloitte is our independent auditor, I would like to introduce James Bodner, a partner of Deloitte, who is on the call today, and will be able to respond to appropriate questions later in the meeting. Before we turn to the matter to be voted upon, I would like to take a moment to thank Tom Colligan for his service on the Board. Tom has chaired our Audit committee and provided invaluable advice to the Board, and we will miss his many contributions. And Tom, if you're on the call, a special reach out and thanks to you. George Yuhas will now conduct the formal portion of the meeting. George?

Rules of procedure are posted on the virtual annual meeting website, please review them. We ask that you adhere to these rules at all times. Stockholders will have an opportunity to ask questions during the question-and-answer session, which will take place after the annual meeting has been adjourned. However, please note that you may submit questions at any time during this annual meeting in the space provided on the virtual annual meeting screen. Please follow the instructions provided on the virtual annual meeting screen to submit questions. We intend to make every effort to answer all questions. However, if multiple questions are submitted on the same topic, we will summarize and respond collectively. There are present in this meeting in person or by proxy, stockholders representing not less than 10,151,877 shares of common stock out of a total of 11,336,358 shares entitled to vote at this meeting and not less than 1,600,459 shares of Class B stock out of a total of 1,612,374 shares entitled to vote at this meeting. A quorum is present. Since notice was duly given and a quorum is present, the meeting is ready for business. At this time, I will appoint Brett Cooper to act as Inspector of Election. After we have completed the voting, Mr. Cooper will tabulate the votes and determine the results of the voting. We will now proceed with the Election of Directors. No one except the holder of common stock or Class B stock of the company of record as of December 11, 2020, or a person holding a duly executed proxy of such a stockholder may vote. I will call for nominations for 11 directors. To save time and expedite the business of the meeting, I will ask Howard Machek, who is a stockholder of the company, to nominate the 11 directors and nominees listed in the proxy statement.

I nominate William E. Brown, Timothy P. Cofer, Courtnee Chun, Brendan P. Dougher; Michael J. Edwards; Michael J. Griffith, Christopher T. Metz, Daniel P. Myers, Brooks M. Pennington III; John R. Ranelli and Mary Beth Springer.

Thank you. Are there any further nominations? Since there are no further nominations, I declare that nominations are closed. Most of the holders of common stock and Class B stock have signed proxy cards. Stockholders who have already sent in their proxies need not vote in person. Is there anyone else who wishes to vote at the meeting and who has not yet submitted their vote? All votes should be submitted through the Internet using the virtual meeting website at this time because votes cannot be accepted after the polls are closed, which will happen momentarily. The last matter being submitted to stockholders for action is the ratification of Deloitte & Touche as the company's independent registered public accounting firm. To save time, I will ask Howard Machek to recommend the ratification of the appointment of Deloitte & Touche.