Fiscal year 2025 executive and director compensation, incentive-plan design, equity activity, and governance — every figure in this brief is traceable to its exact location in the company’s SEC filing — the document, the section, the page, and the table, linked directly.
Each company listed discloses UTZ in its own benchmarking peer group, as disclosed in each company's most recent proxy statement within the last two proxy seasons. Two companies are therefore absent by design: one that named UTZ in an earlier year and no longer does, and one whose own most recent disclosure is older than the last two seasons.
| Named executive officer | Salary | Bonus | Stock awards | Option awards | Non-equity incentive | Pension / NQDC | All other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Howard Friedman | $968,289 | $0 | $2,699,044 | $0 | $609,936 | $0 | $114,000 | $4,391,269 |
| Chief Executive Officer | ||||||||
| Ajay Kataria | 246,633 | 0 | 827,090 | 0 | 98,124 | 0 | 595,191 | 1,767,038 |
| Former Executive Vice President, Chief Financial and Accounting Officer | ||||||||
| William Kelley Jr. | 380,385 | 50,000 | 870,419 | 0 | 285,200 | 0 | 0 | 1,586,004 |
| Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer | ||||||||
| Theresa Shea | 505,539 | 0 | 549,794 | 0 | 199,989 | 0 | 14,000 | 1,269,322 |
| Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary | ||||||||
| Mitchell Arends | 503,943 | 0 | 423,673 | 0 | 229,408 | 0 | 14,000 | 1,171,024 |
| Executive Vice President, Chief Integrated Supply Chain Officer | ||||||||
| Jennifer Bentz | 489,179 | 0 | 411,187 | 0 | 183,959 | 0 | 14,000 | 1,098,325 |
| Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer | ||||||||
A dash means the company reported no figure in that column; 0 means it reported zero. Figures are as printed in the filing, without adjustment.
| Named executive officer | FY2025 total | FY2024 total | FY2023 total | Δ FY2024→2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Howard Friedman | $4,391,269 | $4,907,657 | $4,113,444 | −516,388 |
| Ajay Kataria | 1,767,038 | 1,808,155 | 1,359,129 | −41,117 |
| William Kelley Jr. | 1,586,004 | — | — | — |
| Theresa Shea | 1,269,322 | 1,325,187 | 1,146,807 | −55,865 |
| Mitchell Arends | 1,171,024 | 1,439,565 | — | −268,541 |
| Jennifer Bentz | 1,098,325 | — | — | — |
Prior-year totals as disclosed in the corresponding proxy; deltas are computed values with the derivation shown in the register.
No insider equity transactions reported since the proxy statement.
| Meeting year | Meeting date | For | Against | Abstain | Support | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2026-04-23 | 122,546,516 | 2,608,560 | 281,113 | 97.92% | Passed |
| 2025 | 2025-04-24 | 120,914,366 | 7,273,870 | 66,970 | 94.33% | Passed |
| 2024 | 2024-04-25 | 130,221,751 | 482,503 | 51,938 | 99.63% | Passed |
| 2023 | 2023-05-04 | 128,887,975 | 389,170 | 54,397 | 99.7% | Passed |
| 2022 | 2022-05-05 | 125,915,432 | 747,358 | 123,234 | 99.41% | Passed |
Rows are labeled by annual-meeting year, with the meeting date beside each; the vote held in a given year acts on the prior fiscal year's compensation.
| Meeting year | Meeting date | Approval — company's computation |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2026-04-23 | 97.92%a |
| 2025 | 2025-04-24 | 94.33%b |
| 2024 | 2024-04-25 | 99.63%c |
a. Voting standard not stated in the filing.
b. Voting standard not stated in the filing.
c. Voting standard not stated in the filing.
Approval percentages are the company's own reported computations under its own stated standard, not recomputed by Velarion. Where a company does not state a standard, none is assumed.
Most recent fiscal-year chief executive compensation at each disclosed peer, taken from that company's own proxy statement.
| Rank | Company | FY | Chief executive | Salary | Stock awards | Option awards | Non-equity incentive | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Utz Brands | 2025 | Howard Friedman | $968,289 | $2,699,044 | $0 | $609,936 | $4,391,269 |
Each peer's compensation is from its most recently filed proxy; fiscal years differ by company. Each peer's figures come from its own filings; the subject company is highlighted. Peers whose chief executive compensation is outside our coverage universe are stated as such, never left blank.
Each figure's location is given both for the eye (section · page · table · row · column) and for a script (table/row/column index and exact character span in the filed document). Any figure can be independently confirmed against the source.
| # | Supports | Document | Filed | Accession | Location in document |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Section 01, Howard Friedman | DEF 14A | 2026-03-12 | 0001193125-26-103020 | Section “Fiscal Year 2025 Summary Compensation Table” · page 47. As printed: 4,391,269. Filing ↗machine: r5 · c22 · span 1911475–1911484 |
| 2 | Section 01, Ajay Kataria | DEF 14A | 2026-03-12 | 0001193125-26-103020 | Section “Fiscal Year 2025 Summary Compensation Table” · page 47. As printed: 1,767,038. Filing ↗machine: span 2056886–2056895 |
| 3 | Section 01, William Kelley Jr. | DEF 14A | 2026-03-12 | 0001193125-26-103020 | Section “Fiscal Year 2025 Summary Compensation Table” · page 47. As printed: 1,586,004. Filing ↗machine: r8 · c22 · span 1940820–1940829 |
| 4 | Section 01, Theresa Shea | DEF 14A | 2026-03-12 | 0001193125-26-103020 | Section “Fiscal Year 2025 Summary Compensation Table” · page 47. As printed: 1,269,322. Filing ↗machine: r17 · c22 · span 2027643–2027652 |
| 5 | Section 01, Mitchell Arends | DEF 14A | 2026-03-12 | 0001193125-26-103020 | Section “Fiscal Year 2025 Summary Compensation Table” · page 47. As printed: 1,171,024. Filing ↗machine: r11 · c22 · span 1969740–1969749 |
| 6 | Section 01, Jennifer Bentz | DEF 14A | 2026-03-12 | 0001193125-26-103020 | Section “Fiscal Year 2025 Summary Compensation Table” · page 47. As printed: 1,098,325. Filing ↗machine: r14 · c22 · span 1998760–1998769 |
| 7 | Section 06, 2026 vote | Form 8-K | 2026-04-27 | 0001628280-26-027526 | Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 97.92% (votes for as printed: 122,546,516). Filing ↗ |
| 8 | Section 06, 2025 vote | Form 8-K | 2025-04-28 | 0001739566-25-000101 | Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 94.33% (votes for as printed: 120,914,366). Filing ↗ |
| 9 | Section 06, 2024 vote | Form 8-K | 2024-04-26 | 0001739566-24-000083 | Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 99.63% (votes for as printed: 130,221,751). Filing ↗ |
| 10 | Section 01 trend, Δ column (computed) | Computed | — | computed | Δ = current-FY total − prior-FY total per named officer.machine: formula: Δ = FY(n) − FY(n−1) |
| 11 | Utz Brands (subject), Section 10b CEO total | DEF 14A | 2026-03-12 | 0001193125-26-103020 | CEO total compensation as printed in Utz Brands's own proxy. As printed: 4,391,269. Filing ↗machine: r5 · c22 · span 1911475–1911484 |