Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of MGP Ingredients. I am Martin Roper, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company. In accordance with the company's bylaws, I will be presiding over this meeting. This meeting is being held virtually by webcast. We plan to conduct the formal business portion of the meeting according to the agenda. Then we will proceed with a question and answer period for questions relative to the company's business. The agenda and rules of conduct are available on the virtual meeting website. We are grateful to have each of you with us today. At this time, I will call the annual meeting of stockholders to order. I want to begin by acknowledging certain individuals in attendance. The following members of the company's board of directors are in attendance. Myself, Martin Roper, Julie Francis, Tom Gerke, Jerry Lopez, Jennifer Lowry, Don Lux, Laurie Mingus, and Todd Sawak. Also in attendance is Mercedes Romero, who is standing for election as a director at On behalf of the entire board, I would also like to extend a special thank you to Kevin Rockman, who has served on our board since 2021, is not standing in re-election this year, and to Karen Seaborg, who retired from our board in December after 15 years of service on our board, which included serving as our chairman of the board for 10 years. We are grateful for their contributions and service to the company. I will now give the floor to our president and chief executive officer, Julie Francis, who will continue with introductions and announcements.

Thank you, Martin, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Continuing with introductions, we also have in attendance Stephen Penn, Bryce Esfeld, and Tyler Brown of KPMG LLP, the independent auditors of the company. This meeting is open to stockholders of the company as of the record date, March 16, 2026, or the holders of such persons' proxies. A representative of American Election Services is acting as the inspector of election for today's meeting and has signed an oath to act as inspector, which will be filed with the minutes of this meeting. Zoe Vanzos, the company's assistant corporate secretary, is in attendance and will act as the secretary of the meeting. I will next cover the rules of conduct and the other items of business. The rules of conduct may be assessed via the virtual stockholder meeting site. In order to conduct an orderly meeting, we ask that all present follow these rules. Recording the annual meeting is prohibited. A replay of the meeting will be posted on our Investor Relations website for at least 30 days after the meeting concludes. As noted in the notice and proxy statement previously given to you, the record date for voting at this meeting is the close of business on March 16, 2026. A list of stockholders on the record date is available for review on the virtual meeting site. Agents of the company have delivered an affidavit of mailing to show that notice of this meeting was given. Copies of both the notice and the affidavit are available for inspection by any stockholder and will be incorporated into the minutes. Because there is a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock and the majority of the outstanding shares of the preferred stock present here today in person or by proxy, we have a quorum for this meeting. Thus, the meeting is lawfully convened and business may be transacted here today. As described in the company's proxy statement, stockholders are being asked to consider four items of business proposed by the company and any other business as may properly come before the meeting. Most stockholders have voted in advance of the meeting by proxy, but we will now open the poll to receive those votes and allow anyone wishing to vote at this meeting the opportunity to do so. At this time, I declare the polls open. If you have provided your proxy, your shares will be voted accordingly, and you do not need to vote at the meeting. However, if you have not voted or wish to change your vote, please vote now. I will now briefly introduce each proposal. The first item to be voted on today is the election of the nine directors name in the proxy statement distributed to stockholders. Julie Francis, Tom Gerke, Jerry Lopez, Jennifer Lowry, Don Lux, Lori Mingus, Martin Roper, Mercedes Romero, and Todd Suek have each been nominated for election as a director to hold office for a one-year term and until their respective successors are duly elected and qualified or until their earlier death, resignation, or removal. Ms. Francis, Mr. Gerke, Mr. Lux, and Mr. Siwa are nominees for election as Group A Directors and will be voted on solely by the holders of common stock. Mr. Lopez, Ms. Lowry, Ms. Mingus, Ms. Romero, and Mr. Roper are nominees for election as Group B Directors and will be voted on solely by the holders of the preferred stock. The second item to be voted on today is to ratify on an advisory basis the appointment of KPMG LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for 2026. The third item to be voted on today is to approve on an advisory basis the compensation of our named executive officers as presented in our proxy statement for this meeting. The fourth item to be voted on today is to approve the MGP ingredients Inc amended and restated 2024 equity incentive plans as presented in our proxy statement for this meeting the board recommends voting for each of the board nominees on proposal one for proposal two for proposal three and for proposal four there are no further items of business to be brought before this meeting so that completes the items to be voted on at this meeting. Most stockholders have voted in advance of this meeting, so please finalize your vote and submit your ballot now. We will close the polls shortly. I declare the polls now closed and ask the Inspector of Elections to record the votes received. I will now report the preliminary voting results. On the basis of the proxies held prior to voting at this annual meeting, all nine director nominees under Proposal 1 have been elected. In addition, the appointment of KPMG LLP has been ratified as our independent registered public accounting firm for 2026. The compensation of our named executive officers has been approved on an advisory basis. Finally, the MGP Ingredients, Inc. amended and restated 2024 Equity Incentive Plan has been approved. We expect to report our final voting results on a current report on Form 8K to be filed with the SEC within four business days. I will now turn the meeting back to our Chair.

This concludes the formal portion of the meeting. The formal business portion of this meeting is adjourned.

Thanks, Martin. We will now turn to the question and answer portion of this meeting. Before we begin taking questions, I would like to remind everyone that the company's remarks may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance and by their nature are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including those described from time to time in the company's filings with the SEC. The company assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Zoe, do we have any questions from stockholders appropriate for the meeting at this time?

Julie, we have not received any questions to address at this time. Thank you.

I will now turn the meeting back to our chair.

Thank you all for attending today's meeting and for your continuing support of the company. This meeting is now adjourned and will now end.