Velarion · Company Intelligence
Compensation Brief
Fiscal year 2026 · Filings through 2026-08-05

Universal (UVV)

Fiscal year 2026 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.

$3,796,603
Airton Hentschke total, FY2026
Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officerhighest-paid officer; CEO Preston Wigner: $3,179,995
1st
CEO (Preston Wigner) pay percentile vs peers
995:1
CEO-to-median pay ratio
98.5%
Say-on-pay support, latest vote
Companies that benchmark against UVV
4 companies name UVV as a compensation peer

Each company listed discloses UVV 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 UVV in an earlier year and no longer does, and one whose own most recent disclosure is older than the last two seasons.

01

Summary Compensation Table — fiscal year 2026

Named executive officerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension / NQDCAll otherTotal
Airton Hentschke$730,200$0$2,663,536$0$158,500$226,549$17,818$3,796,603
Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Preston Wigner828,80001,849,5320215,900262,95522,8083,179,995
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
Johan Kroner555,10001,453,9750111,200206,82922,7412,349,845
Former Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Catherine Claiborne424,8000414,718069,100233,48422,4351,164,537
Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary
J. Patrick O'Keefe419,2000409,253065,100103,78617,4671,014,806
Senior Vice President, Universal Ingredients, Inc.

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.

Three-year trend — total compensation per named executive

Named executive officerFY2026 totalFY2025 totalFY2024 totalΔ FY20252026
Airton Hentschke$3,796,603$3,110,141$2,684,703+686,462
Preston Wigner3,179,9954,433,5441,554,763−1,253,549
Johan Kroner2,349,8452,173,0891,976,899+176,756
Catherine Claiborne1,164,5371,434,2591,434,259−269,722
J. Patrick O'Keefe1,014,8061,211,8611,040,260−197,055

Prior-year totals as disclosed in the corresponding proxy; deltas are computed values with the derivation shown in the register.

02

Equity transactions since the proxy statement was filed

No insider equity transactions reported since the proxy statement.

03

Grants of plan-based awards — fiscal year 2026

ExecutiveAwardGrant dateThresholdTargetGrantedMaximumGrant-date fair value
Patrick O Keefe2025-05-300261,900$523,800
Johan KronerOPTION2025-05-306,670436,151
Patrick O KeefeOPTION2025-05-305,055188,889
Johan KronerOPTION2025-07-1111,025643,970
Catherine ClaiborneOPTION2025-05-303,415223,307
Preston WignerOPTION2025-05-3022,845853,642
Catherine ClaiborneOPTION2025-05-305,123191,411
Patrick O KeefeOPTION2025-05-303,370220,364
Airton HentschkeOPTION2025-05-3015,090563,863
Johan KronerOPTION2025-05-3010,005373,854
Preston WignerOPTION2025-05-3015,230995,890
Airton HentschkeOPTION2025-05-3032,1102,099,673
03b

Vehicle mix — grant-date fair value by award type

Named executive officerTime-vested (RSU)Performance-vested (PSU)Options / SARs% performance-vested
Patrick O Keefe$0$0$409,2530.0%
Johan Kroner001,453,9750.0%
Catherine Claiborne00414,7180.0%
Preston Wigner001,849,5320.0%
Airton Hentschke002,663,5360.0%

% performance-vested = PSU grant-date fair value ÷ (RSU + PSU + Options), a computed value with the derivation shown in the register.

04

Outstanding equity awards at fiscal year-end 2026

ExecutiveAwardShares unvestedExercise priceMarket value unvested
Johan KronerPSU6,670$351,509
Catherine ClaibornePSU3,250171,275
Johan KronerPSU7,740407,898
Preston WignerPSU15,230802,621
Preston WignerPSU27,8121,465,692
Johan KronerPSU11,536607,947
Airton HentschkePSU9,725512,507
Johan KronerPSU7,618401,469
Johan KronerPSU6,979367,793
Johan KronerPSU6,450339,915
Preston WignerPSU5,374283,210
Preston WignerPSU4,900258,230
Preston WignerPSU4,550239,785
Catherine ClaibornePSU3,565187,876
Catherine ClaibornePSU2,475130,433
Catherine ClaibornePSU3,908205,952
Airton HentschkePSU11,485605,260
Airton HentschkePSU11,675615,273
Airton HentschkePSU33,5991,770,667
Preston WignerPSU15,937839,880
Airton HentschkePSU10,060530,162
Airton HentschkePSU10,500553,350
Preston WignerPSU5,449287,162
Johan KronerPSU6,960366,792
Catherine ClaibornePSU3,573188,297
Catherine ClaibornePSU3,526185,820
Catherine ClaibornePSU3,837202,210
Catherine ClaibornePSU3,964208,903
Catherine ClaibornePSU3,515185,241
Catherine ClaibornePSU3,415179,971
Catherine ClaibornePSU3,370177,599
Catherine ClaibornePSU2,923154,042
05

Incentive-plan design — the Compensation Discussion & Analysis

The goal of our executive compensation program is to attract, motivate, reward, and retain the management talent required to achieve our business objectives, at compensation levels that are fair, equitable and competitive with those of comparable companies. This goal is furthered by the Committee's policy of linking compensation to individual and corporate performance and by encouraging significant stock ownership by senior management in order to support our business strategy and align the financial interests of management with those of the shareholders.

CEO STI target (% of salary)100%
CEO LTI target (% of salary)
Independent consultantMeridian Compensation Partners
Clawback policyTrue
Anti-hedgingTrue
Anti-pledgingTrue
06

Say-on-pay — recent advisory votes

Meeting yearMeeting dateForAgainstAbstainSupportOutcome
20262026-08-0417,015,988259,56593,52398.5%Passed
20252025-08-0518,108,615394,023107,88897.87%Passed
20242024-08-0618,558,554310,78588,20398.35%Passed
20242024-08-0618,558,554310,78588,20398.35%Passed
20232023-08-0118,844,407415,08386,71197.84%Passed
20222022-08-0218,844,777387,94685,53097.98%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.

Say-on-pay — history, company's computation

Meeting yearMeeting dateApproval — company's computation
20262026-08-0498.5%a
20252025-08-0597.87%b
20242024-08-0698.35%c

a. Voting standard not stated in the filing.

b. Voting standard not stated in the filing.

c. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “With respect to the approval of the non-binding advisory resolution approving the compensation of our named executive officers, abstentions and broker non-votes will have no effect on the proposal and will not count either in favor of, or against, the non-binding proposal.”.

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.

07

CEO pay ratio

Ratio (CEO : median employee)995 : 1
CEO total compensation$3,179,995
Median employee compensation$3,197
08

Director compensation — fiscal year 2026

DirectorCash feesStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentiveAll otherTotal
Thomas H. JohnsonIndependent$139,750$123,637$0$0$700$264,087
Diana F. CantorIndependent118,000123,63700241,637
Lennart R. FreemanIndependent106,750123,637005,000235,387
Robert C. SleddIndependent111,750123,63700235,387
Jacqueline T. WilliamsIndependent106,250123,63700229,887
Fotini E. ManoliosIndependent67,583144,58300212,166
Gregory A. TrojanIndependent26,8750026,875
09

Board fee structure and ownership guideline

Annual cash retainer$80,000
Annual equity retainer$123,637
Per board meeting fee
Committee chair fees (audit / comp / nom-gov)18,000 / 18,000 / 15,000
Stock ownership guideline
09b

Total cost of the board

ComponentFY2026
Cash retainers and fees$676,958
Equity awards (grant-date value)$762,768
All other compensation$5,700
Total cost of the board$1,445,426

Computed as the sum of the director compensation table rows above; inputs and formula shown in the register.

10

Disclosed peer group — fiscal year 2026

The compensation peer group as the company disclosed it in its own proxy — the reference set behind the percentile above.

BGS B&G Foods, Inc.HAIN Hain Celestial Group, Inc.SENEA Seneca Foods CorporationDAR Darling Ingredients, Inc.CALM Cal-Maine Foods, Inc.PYYX Pyxus International, Inc.LANC The Marzetti CompanyJJSF J&J Snack Foods Corp.FDP Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc.FLO Flowers Foods, Inc.JBSS John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc.THS TreeHouse Foods, Inc.
10a

Peer reciprocity

Of the companies Universal names as compensation peers, which name it back in their own disclosed peer groups. A peer set the market reciprocates reads differently from one selected in a single direction.

B&G Foods, Inc. (BGS) Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (HAIN)37 Seneca Foods Corporation (SENEA) Darling Ingredients, Inc. (DAR) Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (CALM) Pyxus International, Inc. (PYYX) The Marzetti Company (LANC) J&J Snack Foods Corp. (JJSF) Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. (FDP)38 Flowers Foods, Inc. (FLO)39 John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. (JBSS) TreeHouse Foods, Inc. (THS)

Reciprocity shown where the peer's own current proxy has been read — each mark is cited in the register to that peer's filing. A dash means the peer's current proxy was read and names no reciprocal group including Universal.

10b

Chief executive pay against the peer group

Most recent fiscal-year chief executive compensation at each disclosed peer, taken from that company's own proxy statement.

RankCompanyFYChief executiveSalaryStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentiveTotal
1Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc.2025Mohammad Abu-Ghazaleh$1,200,068$4,295,978$0$4,601,700$10,144,565
2Darling Ingredients, Inc.2025Randall Stuewe1,284,2316,681,03001,328,1129,402,554
3Flowers Foods, Inc.2025A. Ryals McMullian1,041,7305,735,8420733,5247,776,698
4Hain Celestial Group, Inc.2025Wendy Davidson789,8083,530,682004,546,417
5Universal2026Preston Wigner828,8001,849,5320215,9003,179,995
B&G Foods, Inc.not in coverage universe
Seneca Foods Corporationnot in coverage universe
Cal-Maine Foods, Inc.not in coverage universe
Pyxus International, Inc.not in coverage universe
The Marzetti Companynot in coverage universe
J&J Snack Foods Corp.not in coverage universe
John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc.not in coverage universe
TreeHouse Foods, Inc.not in coverage universe

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.

10c

Incentive design against the same peers

CompanyAnnual incentive payoutLong-term vehicle mixPSU measures include TSRCompensation consultant
Universal26%PSU 50 · RSU 50NoMeridian Compensation Partners
B&G Foods, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
Cal-Maine Foods, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
Darling Ingredients, Inc.70%PSU 60 · RSU 40Yes — Total Shareholder Return (TSR)Meridian Compensation Partners, LLC
Flowers Foods, Inc.56.3%PSU 70 · RSU 30Yes — TSR vs. Peer GroupMeridian
Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc.277.8%PSU 50 · RSU 50NoWillis Towers Watson (WTW)
Hain Celestial Group, Inc.not disclosedRSU 50 · PSU 50Yes — Relative TSR versus the S&P Food & Beverage Select Industry IndexClearBridge Compensation Group, LLC
J&J Snack Foods Corp.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
Pyxus International, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
Seneca Foods Corporationnot disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
The Marzetti Companynot disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
TreeHouse Foods, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed

Read from each company's Compensation Discussion and Analysis: annual incentive payout as a percentage of target, the disclosed long-term vehicle mix, whether performance-share measures include a total shareholder return component, and the retained compensation consultant. “Not disclosed” appears only where the company's filing does not state the item.

11

Source register

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.

#SupportsDocumentFiledAccessionLocation in document
1Section 01, Airton HentschkeDEF 14A2026-07-010001628280-26-046310Section “SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE”. As printed: 3,796,603. Filing ↗machine: r12 · c48 · span 637314–637323
2Section 01, Preston WignerDEF 14A2026-07-010001628280-26-046310Section “SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE”. As printed: 3,179,995. Filing ↗machine: t40 · r4 · c16 · span 621641–621650
3Section 01, Johan KronerDEF 14A2026-07-010001628280-26-046310Section “SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE”. As printed: 2,349,845. Filing ↗machine: r8 · c48 · span 629673–629682
4Section 01, Catherine ClaiborneDEF 14A2026-07-010001628280-26-046310Section “SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE”. As printed: 1,164,537. Filing ↗machine: r16 · c48 · span 645350–645359
5Section 01, J. Patrick O'KeefeDEF 14A2026-07-010001628280-26-046310Section “SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE”. As printed: 1,014,806. Filing ↗machine: t40 · r20 · c16 · span 651590–651599
6Section 03, Patrick O Keefe DEF 14A2026-07-010001628280-26-046310Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t42 · r24 · c8 · span 741273–741280
7Section 03, Johan Kroner OPTIONDEF 14A2026-07-010001628280-26-046310Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t42 · r13 · c24 · span 716871–716878
8Section 03, Patrick O Keefe OPTIONDEF 14A2026-07-010001628280-26-046310Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t42 · r25 · c26 · span 745342–745349
9Section 03, Johan Kroner OPTIONDEF 14A2026-07-010001628280-26-046310Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t42 · r14 · c24 · span 719363–719370
10Section 03, Catherine Claiborne OPTIONDEF 14A2026-07-010001628280-26-046310Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t42 · r22 · c24 · span 738269–738276
11Section 03, Preston Wigner OPTIONDEF 14A2026-07-010001628280-26-046310Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t42 · r8 · c25 · span 704934–704941
12Section 03, Catherine Claiborne OPTIONDEF 14A2026-07-010001628280-26-046310Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t42 · r21 · c25 · span 735778–735785
13Section 03, Patrick O Keefe OPTIONDEF 14A2026-07-010001628280-26-046310Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t42 · r26 · c24 · span 747833–747840
14Section 03, Airton Hentschke OPTIONDEF 14A2026-07-010001628280-26-046310Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t42 · r17 · c26 · span 726435–726442
15Section 03, Johan Kroner OPTIONDEF 14A2026-07-010001628280-26-046310Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t42 · r12 · c26 · span 714380–714387
16Section 03, Preston Wigner OPTIONDEF 14A2026-07-010001628280-26-046310Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t42 · r9 · c23 · span 707315–707322
17Section 03, Airton Hentschke OPTIONDEF 14A2026-07-010001628280-26-046310Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t42 · r18 · c24 · span 728927–728936
18Section 07, pay ratioDEF 14A2026-07-010001628280-26-046310Section “CEO Pay Ratio”. As printed: 995 : 1. Filing ↗machine: span 1200890–1200893
19Section 08, Thomas H. JohnsonDEF 14A2026-07-010001628280-26-046310Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 264,087. Filing ↗machine: t62 · r6 · c20 · span 1368271–1368278
20Section 08, Diana F. CantorDEF 14A2026-07-010001628280-26-046310Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 241,637. Filing ↗machine: t62 · r4 · c20 · span 1362046–1362053
21Section 08, Lennart R. FreemanDEF 14A2026-07-010001628280-26-046310Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 235,387. Filing ↗machine: t62 · r5 · c20 · span 1365160–1365167
22Section 08, Robert C. SleddDEF 14A2026-07-010001628280-26-046310Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 235,387. Filing ↗machine: t62 · r9 · c20 · span 1377614–1377621
23Section 08, Jacqueline T. WilliamsDEF 14A2026-07-010001628280-26-046310Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 229,887. Filing ↗machine: t62 · r12 · c20 · span 1386969–1386976
24Section 08, Fotini E. ManoliosDEF 14A2026-07-010001628280-26-046310Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 212,166. Filing ↗machine: t62 · r7 · c20 · span 1371386–1371393
25Section 08, Gregory A. TrojanDEF 14A2026-07-010001628280-26-046310Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 26,875. Filing ↗machine: t62 · r10 · c2 · span 1378275–1378281
26Section 06, 2026 voteForm 8-K2026-08-050001628280-26-053392Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 98.5% (votes for as printed: 17,015,988). Filing ↗
27Section 06, 2025 voteForm 8-K2025-08-060000102037-25-000052Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 97.87% (votes for as printed: 18,108,615). Filing ↗
28Section 06, 2024 voteForm 8-K2024-08-070000102037-24-000030Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 98.35%. Filing ↗
29Section 01 trend, Δ column (computed)ComputedcomputedΔ = current-FY total − prior-FY total per named officer.machine: formula: Δ = FY(n) − FY(n−1)
30Section 03b vehicle mix (computed)ComputedcomputedRSU / PSU / Options grant-date fair values summed per officer from the grants table; % performance-vested = PSU ÷ (RSU+PSU+Options).machine: formula: sums + PSU ratio
31Section 09b board cost (computed)ComputedcomputedCash 676,958 + equity 762,768 + all other 5,700 = 1,445,426, summed across the director compensation table rows.machine: formula: Σ = 1,445,426
32Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-04-240001193125-26-175837CEO total compensation as printed in Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 10,144,565. Filing ↗machine: r5 · c25 · span 1802544–1802554
33Darling Ingredients, Inc., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-03-190001193125-26-116042CEO total compensation as printed in Darling Ingredients, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 9,402,554. Filing ↗machine: t222 · r3 · c27 · span 972629–972638
34Flowers Foods, Inc., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-04-140001104659-26-043025CEO total compensation as printed in Flowers Foods, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 7,776,698. Filing ↗machine: r1 · c48 · span 1362376–1362385
35Hain Celestial Group, Inc., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2025-09-180001193125-25-207370CEO total compensation as printed in Hain Celestial Group, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 4,546,417. Filing ↗machine: t83 · r14 · c38 · span 1813238–1813247
36Universal (subject), Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-07-010001628280-26-046310CEO total compensation as printed in Universal's own proxy. As printed: 3,179,995. Filing ↗machine: t40 · r4 · c16 · span 621641–621650
37Section 10a, Hain Celestial Group, Inc. reciprocityDEF 14A0001193125-25-207370Hain Celestial Group, Inc.'s most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include Universal. Filing ↗
38Section 10a, Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. reciprocityDEF 14A0001193125-26-175837Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc.'s most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include Universal. Filing ↗
39Section 10a, Flowers Foods, Inc. reciprocityDEF 14A0001104659-24-045106Flowers Foods, Inc.'s most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include Universal. Filing ↗