Company: TR
Filing Date: 2025-03-27
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0001558370-25-003853
Chunk: 14

Company: TOOTSIE ROLL INDUSTRIES INC
Filing Date: 2025-03-27
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 14
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 the fiscal year when exercising discretion to adjust annual compensation. The Board of Directors believes that this program will lead to increased shareholder value on a long-term basis and serves to mitigate risk taking activities that are inconsistent with the Company’s long-term shareholder interests.

#### Competitiveness Assessment
The Board periodically reviews compensation levels for similarly situated executives of a group of industry peers. With the assistance of Compensation Strategies, Inc., a compensation consulting firm, statistical analysis is used to adjust all market compensation data to reflect the current annual revenues and market capitalization of the Company given the variation in size of the companies from which compensation data is collected. Each element of compensation as well as total compensation is quantified and reviewed to determine the Company’s competitiveness compared to the market. In late 2023, Compensation Strategies, Inc. determined that the total compensation (base salary, annual bonus and long-term incentives) for the Company’s executive officers was at median for its peer group companies (as discussed below) after adjusting for market capitalization. The Company does not target any specific level of compensation in comparison to the peer group, such as the 50% percentile of peer companies. In determining appropriate individual compensation levels for the named executive officers, the Board considers competitive market compensation data from the peer group, as well as the individual’s experience, internal equity among the executive officers, as well as individual and Company performance. Compensation levels for all named executive officers, except the Chief Executive Officer, were approved by the Board (and in the case of the Management Incentive Plan, by the Compensation Committee) based on the recommendation of, and performance evaluation by the Chief Executive Officer. In the case of the Chief Executive Officer, the independent members of the Board reviewed and approved compensation levels after conducting an evaluation of the prior-year performance.

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Peer Group The group of peer companies used in the review of total compensation levels consists of 18 publicly traded companies in the snack, confectionary and specialty food and beverage industries with annual revenues ranging from $341 million to $19.9 billion and market capitalizations ranging from $64 million to $33.8 billion at February 28, 2025. The Board reviews the make-up of the group on an ongoing basis. Each company included in the group is shown below.

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