Velarion · Company Intelligence
Compensation Brief
Fiscal year 2025 · Filings through 2026-07-08

Vital Farms (VITL)

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.

$3,616,512
Russell Diez-Canseco total, FY2025
33rd
CEO pay percentile vs peers
44:1
CEO-to-median pay ratio
91.85%
Say-on-pay support, latest vote
Companies that benchmark against VITL
2 companies name VITL as a compensation peer

Each company listed discloses VITL 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 VITL 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 2025

Named executive officerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension / NQDCAll otherTotal
Russell Diez-Canseco$749,808$0$2,149,975$0$697,500$0$19,230$3,616,512
President, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Chairperson
Thilo Wrede454,8080924,9830253,890013,7101,647,391
Chief Financial Officer
Peter Pappas429,7690649,9930239,940021,5101,341,212
Chief Sales Officer and President, Eggs
Joanne Bal415,8770499,9730232,128011,7101,159,688
Chief Legal Officer, Corporate Secretary & Head of Impact
Joseph Holland415,8770499,9730232,128010,5801,158,558
Chief Supply Chain 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.

Three-year trend — total compensation per named executive

Named executive officerFY2025 totalFY2024 totalFY2023 totalΔ FY20242025
Russell Diez-Canseco$3,616,512$5,999,349$3,155,173−2,382,837
Thilo Wrede1,647,3911,786,758−139,367
Peter Pappas1,341,212
Joanne Bal1,159,6881,613,365−453,677
Joseph Holland1,158,558

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 2025

ExecutiveAwardGrant dateThresholdTargetGrantedMaximumGrant-date fair value
Joanne BalRSU2025-03-037,924$250,002
Peter PappasPSU2025-03-035,15110,30120,602324,997
Peter PappasRSU2025-03-0310,301
Joanne BalPSU2025-03-033,9627,92315,848249,971
Russell Diez-CansecoPSU2025-03-0317,03634,07268,1441,074,972
Russell Diez-CansecoRSU2025-03-0334,0731,075,003
Joseph HollandRSU2025-03-037,924250,002
Joseph HollandPSU2025-03-033,9627,92315,848249,971
Thilo WredeRSU2025-03-0314,659
Thilo WredePSU2025-03-037,33014,65929,318462,491
03b

Vehicle mix — grant-date fair value by award type

Named executive officerTime-vested (RSU)Performance-vested (PSU)Options / SARs% performance-vested
Joanne Bal$250,002$249,971$050.0%
Peter Pappas0324,9970100.0%
Russell Diez-Canseco1,075,0031,074,972050.0%
Joseph Holland250,002249,971050.0%
Thilo Wrede0462,4910100.0%

% 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 2025

ExecutiveAwardShares unvestedExercise priceMarket value unvested
Russell Diez-CansecoPSU95,283$3,023,330
Russell Diez-CansecoRSU63,5222,015,553
Russell Diez-CansecoPSU34,0731,081,136
Thilo WredePSU21,438680,228
Joanne BalPSU19,533619,782
Peter PappasPSU17,270547,977
Thilo WredeRSU14,659465,130
Thilo WredePSU14,659465,130
Thilo WredeRSU14,292453,485
Joanne BalRSU13,022413,188
Russell Diez-CansecoRSU12,192386,852
Peter PappasRSU11,513365,307
Peter PappasRSU10,301326,851
Peter PappasPSU10,301326,851
Thilo WredeRSU10,184323,138
Joanne BalRSU7,924251,429
Joseph HollandRSU7,924251,429
Joseph HollandPSU7,924251,429
Joanne BalPSU7,923251,397
Joanne BalRSU4,354138,152
Joseph HollandPSU3,939124,984
Peter PappasRSU3,810120,891
Joseph HollandRSU2,62683,323
Peter PappasRSU66321,037
Russell Diez-CansecoOption6,5315.33
Russell Diez-CansecoOption18,75022
Russell Diez-CansecoOption71,56425.78
Russell Diez-CansecoOption18,94212.81
Russell Diez-CansecoOption44,93015.31
Joanne BalOption56,49325.56
Thilo WredeOption29,06813.91
Peter PappasOption91,97234.09
Peter PappasOption28,62525.78
Peter PappasOption4,19015.31
Peter PappasOption1,74412.58
Joanne BalOption12,25215.31
05

Incentive-plan design — the Compensation Discussion & Analysis

Vital Farms designs its compensation program to attract high-performing executives and align their incentives with the short-term and long-term interests of stockholders, with a core philosophy of 'pay for performance' that rewards executives when the company achieves its financial and strategic goals. The program balances short-term and long-term interests through a mix of variable cash incentives and equity-based awards, while also aligning with the company's purpose and mission to bring ethical food to the table.

CEO STI target (% of salary)
CEO LTI target (% of salary)
Independent consultantFrederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.
Clawback policytrue
Anti-hedgingtrue
Anti-pledgingtrue
06

Say-on-pay — recent advisory votes

Meeting yearMeeting dateForAgainstAbstainSupportOutcome
20262026-06-1025,303,7582,246,660298,21891.85%Passed
20252025-06-1134,318,4702,248,282297,30293.85%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
20262026-06-1091.85%a
20252025-06-1193.85%b

a. Voting standard not stated in the filing.

b. 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.

07

CEO pay ratio

Ratio (CEO : median employee)44 : 1
CEO total compensation
Median employee compensation$81,259
08

Director compensation — fiscal year 2025

DirectorCash feesStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentiveAll otherTotal
Kelly J. KennedyIndependent · AUDIT COMMITTEE (Chair)$87,500$109,981$197,481
Karl KhouryIndependent · Compensation · Nominating and Corporate Governance87,500109,981197,481
Gisel RuizIndependent · COMPENSATION COMMITTEE (Chair)80,000109,981189,981
Denny Marie PostIndependent · Lead Independent Director80,000109,981189,981
Kofi Amoo-GottfriedIndependent · NOMINATING AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE (Chair)70,000109,981179,981
Glenda FlanaganIndependent · Audit70,000109,981179,981
William CyrIndependent · Audit35,000119,994154,994
Russell Diez-CansecoEmployee director · Board Chair0
09

Board fee structure and ownership guideline

Annual cash retainer$60,000
Annual equity retainer$110,000
Per board meeting fee
Committee chair fees (audit / comp / nom-gov)20,000 / 7,500 / 5,000
Stock ownership guideline
09b

Total cost of the board

ComponentFY2025
Cash retainers and fees$510,000
Equity awards (grant-date value)$779,880
All other compensation$0
Total cost of the board$1,289,880

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

10

Disclosed peer group — fiscal year 2025

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

CELH Celsius Holdings, Inc.BROS Dutch Bros Inc.COCO The Vita Coco Company, Inc.NAPA The Duckhorn Portfolio, Inc.SMPL The Simply Good Foods CompanyELF e.l.f. Beauty, Inc.BYND Beyond Meat, Inc.LMNR Limoneira CompanyNATR Nature’s Sunshine Products, Inc.FRPT Freshpet, Inc.STKL SunOpta Inc.AVO Misson Produce, Inc.PETS PetMed Express, Inc.MGPI MGP Ingredients, Inc.
10a

Peer reciprocity

Of the companies Vital Farms 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.

Celsius Holdings, Inc. (CELH)37 Dutch Bros Inc. (BROS) The Vita Coco Company, Inc. (COCO)38 The Duckhorn Portfolio, Inc. (NAPA) The Simply Good Foods Company (SMPL) e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (ELF)39 Beyond Meat, Inc. (BYND) Limoneira Company (LMNR)40 Nature’s Sunshine Products, Inc. (NATR) Freshpet, Inc. (FRPT) SunOpta Inc. (STKL) Misson Produce, Inc. (AVO)41 PetMed Express, Inc. (PETS) MGP Ingredients, Inc. (MGPI)42

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 Vital Farms.

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
1Celsius Holdings, Inc.2025John Fieldly$1,016,500$6,648,396$0$1,899,240$9,607,616
2e.l.f. Beauty, Inc.2026Tarang Amin475,0007,399,8670950,0008,834,367
3MGP Ingredients, Inc.2025Julie Francis398,0772,300,0081,655,571384,1644,980,533
4The Vita Coco Company, Inc.2025Martin Roper625,0001,879,998920,0021,114,3754,549,875
5Vital Farms2025Russell Diez-Canseco749,8082,149,9750697,5003,616,512
6Misson Produce, Inc.2025Stephen Barnard825,8501,157,89101,010,8803,050,746
7Limoneira Company2025Harold Edwards719,250499,997001,277,951
Dutch Bros Inc.not in coverage universe
The Duckhorn Portfolio, Inc.not in coverage universe
The Simply Good Foods Companynot in coverage universe
Beyond Meat, Inc.not in coverage universe
Nature’s Sunshine Products, Inc.not in coverage universe
Freshpet, Inc.not in coverage universe
SunOpta Inc.not in coverage universe
PetMed Express, 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
Vital Farmsnot disclosedPSU 50 · RSU 50not disclosedFrederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.
Beyond Meat, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
Celsius Holdings, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosedFarient Advisors LLC
Dutch Bros Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
e.l.f. Beauty, Inc.200%PSU 50 · RSU 50NoAon (Aon's Human Capital Solutions practice, a division of Aon plc.)
Freshpet, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
Limoneira Companynot disclosedPSU 50 · RSU 50NoPearl Meyer
MGP Ingredients, Inc.95%%PSUs 75 · RSUs 25NoFW Cook
Misson Produce, Inc.not disclosedPSU 50 · RSU 50not disclosedPearl Meyer
Nature’s Sunshine Products, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
PetMed Express, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
SunOpta Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
The Duckhorn Portfolio, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
The Simply Good Foods Companynot disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
The Vita Coco Company, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosedPearl Meyer & Partners, LLC

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, Russell Diez-CansecoDEF 14A2026-04-270001193125-26-182023Section “Executive Compensation”. As printed: 3,616,512. Filing ↗machine: r4 · c38 · span 770826–770835
2Section 01, Thilo WredeDEF 14A2026-04-270001193125-26-182023Section “Executive Compensation”. As printed: 1,647,391. Filing ↗machine: r8 · c38 · span 785477–785486
3Section 01, Peter PappasDEF 14A2026-04-270001193125-26-182023Section “Executive Compensation”. As printed: 1,341,212. Filing ↗machine: r13 · c38 · span 800957–800966
4Section 01, Joanne BalDEF 14A2026-04-270001193125-26-182023Section “Executive Compensation”. As printed: 1,159,688. Filing ↗machine: r15 · c38 · span 806261–806270
5Section 01, Joseph HollandDEF 14A2026-04-270001193125-26-182023Section “Executive Compensation”. As printed: 1,158,558. Filing ↗machine: r18 · c38 · span 816657–816666
6Section 03, Joanne Bal RSUDEF 14A2026-04-270001193125-26-182023Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: span 894774–894781
7Section 03, Peter Pappas PSUDEF 14A2026-04-270001193125-26-182023Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: span 875059–875066
8Section 03, Peter Pappas RSUDEF 14A2026-04-270001193125-26-182023Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: span 879398–879404
9Section 03, Joanne Bal PSUDEF 14A2026-04-270001193125-26-182023Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: span 889928–889935
10Section 03, Russell Diez-Canseco PSUDEF 14A2026-04-270001193125-26-182023Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: span 845306–845315
11Section 03, Russell Diez-Canseco RSUDEF 14A2026-04-270001193125-26-182023Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: span 850180–850189
12Section 03, Joseph Holland RSUDEF 14A2026-04-270001193125-26-182023Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: span 909676–909683
13Section 03, Joseph Holland PSUDEF 14A2026-04-270001193125-26-182023Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: span 904805–904812
14Section 03, Thilo Wrede RSUDEF 14A2026-04-270001193125-26-182023Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: span 864496–864502
15Section 03, Thilo Wrede PSUDEF 14A2026-04-270001193125-26-182023Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: span 860182–860189
16Section 07, pay ratioDEF 14A2026-04-270001193125-26-182023Section “CEO Pay Ratio”. As printed: 44 : 1. Filing ↗
17Section 08, Kelly J. KennedyDEF 14A2026-04-270001193125-26-182023Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 197,481. Filing ↗
18Section 08, Karl KhouryDEF 14A2026-04-270001193125-26-182023Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 197,481. Filing ↗
19Section 08, Gisel RuizDEF 14A2026-04-270001193125-26-182023Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 189,981. Filing ↗
20Section 08, Denny Marie PostDEF 14A2026-04-270001193125-26-182023Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 189,981. Filing ↗
21Section 08, Kofi Amoo-GottfriedDEF 14A2026-04-270001193125-26-182023Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 179,981. Filing ↗
22Section 08, Glenda FlanaganDEF 14A2026-04-270001193125-26-182023Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 179,981. Filing ↗
23Section 08, William CyrDEF 14A2026-04-270001193125-26-182023Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 154,994. Filing ↗
24Section 08, Russell Diez-CansecoDEF 14A2026-04-270001193125-26-182023Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. Filing ↗
25Section 06, 2026 voteForm 8-K2026-06-160001193125-26-271829Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 91.85% (votes for as printed: 25,303,758). Filing ↗
26Section 06, 2025 voteForm 8-K2025-06-170000950170-25-087370Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 93.85% (votes for as printed: 34,318,470). Filing ↗
27Section 01 trend, Δ column (computed)ComputedcomputedΔ = current-FY total − prior-FY total per named officer.machine: formula: Δ = FY(n) − FY(n−1)
28Section 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
29Section 09b board cost (computed)ComputedcomputedCash 510,000 + equity 779,880 + all other 0 = 1,289,880, summed across the director compensation table rows.machine: formula: Σ = 1,289,880
30Celsius Holdings, Inc., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-04-140001193125-26-154918CEO total compensation as printed in Celsius Holdings, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 9,607,616. Filing ↗machine: r4 · c39 · span 882165–882175
31e.l.f. Beauty, Inc., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-07-080001600033-26-000030CEO total compensation as printed in e.l.f. Beauty, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 8,834,367. Filing ↗machine: r2 · c36 · span 1742102–1742112
32MGP Ingredients, Inc., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-04-090000835011-26-000058CEO total compensation as printed in MGP Ingredients, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 4,980,533. Filing ↗machine: r2 · c48 · span 440917–440926
33The Vita Coco Company, Inc., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-04-220001482981-26-000107CEO total compensation as printed in The Vita Coco Company, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 4,549,875. Filing ↗machine: r6 · c24 · span 599122–599131
34Vital Farms (subject), Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-04-270001193125-26-182023CEO total compensation as printed in Vital Farms's own proxy. As printed: 3,616,512. Filing ↗machine: r4 · c38 · span 770826–770835
35Misson Produce, Inc., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-02-240001140361-26-006551CEO total compensation as printed in Misson Produce, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 3,050,746. Filing ↗machine: r2 · c22 · span 881187–881196
36Limoneira Company, Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-02-180001174947-26-000188CEO total compensation as printed in Limoneira Company's own proxy. As printed: 1,277,951. Filing ↗machine: r1 · c6 · span 771090–771099
37Section 10a, Celsius Holdings, Inc. reciprocityDEF 14A0001193125-26-154918Celsius Holdings, Inc.'s most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include Vital Farms. Filing ↗
38Section 10a, The Vita Coco Company, Inc. reciprocityDEF 14A0001482981-26-000107The Vita Coco Company, Inc. names Vital Farms in its own disclosed peer group (read from its most recent proxy). Filing ↗
39Section 10a, e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. reciprocityDEF 14A0001600033-26-000030e.l.f. Beauty, Inc.'s most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include Vital Farms. Filing ↗
40Section 10a, Limoneira Company reciprocityDEF 14A0001174947-26-000188Limoneira Company names Vital Farms in its own disclosed peer group (read from its most recent proxy). Filing ↗
41Section 10a, Misson Produce, Inc. reciprocityDEF 14A0001140361-26-006551Misson Produce, Inc.'s most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include Vital Farms. Filing ↗
42Section 10a, MGP Ingredients, Inc. reciprocityDEF 14A0000835011-26-000058MGP Ingredients, Inc.'s most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include Vital Farms. Filing ↗