Hello, and welcome to the annual meeting and shareholders of Campbell Soup Company. Please note that today's meeting is being recorded. During the meeting, we will have 2 question and answer session. The first will address questions related to the formal agenda items the second will address questions related to the operations of the company. Shareholders may submit questions or comments at any time by clicking on the message icon on the top of your screen.
It is now my pleasure to turn today's meeting over to Keith McLaughlin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company Mr. McLaughlin, the floor is yours.
Thank you, operator. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Keith McLaughlin, Chair of the Board of Directors. On behalf of Campbell Soup Company, welcome to the 2020 annual meeting of shareholders. I am pleased to convene the meeting.
I would like to introduce those with me today, Mark Clouse, President and Chief Executive Officer Adam Chungley, Executive Vice President And General Counsel and Mick B. Kaizen, Executive Vice President And Chief Financial Officer. All of the incumbent directors who were nominated for reelection by the Campbell Board are participating today via telephone. Let me introduce a Director nominees by name. Fabiola Arandondo, Howard Avril GP Bilbrey, Mark Clouse, Bennett Thorence, Tessa Gelato, Sarah Hofstetter, Mark Lautenbeck, Mary Alice Malone, Kirk Schmidt and Archie Van Buren, information about all the nominees can be found in the proxy statement.
Adela Foresight, and employee of Computershare is serving as Inspector of Election and Charlie Brawley, Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of the company will act as secretary of the meeting. The company's independent audit is performed and certified by the independent registered Public Accounting Firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Anthony Skamuffa and Mark Fiori, of PricewaterhouseCoopers are present today. Although they have declined to make a statement, they will be available to answer questions regarding the fiscal 2020 audit during the general question and answer session, later this morning. The Inspector Election has in her possession an affidavit of mailing and testing that notice of this meeting was duly given.
The Inspector of Election has also reported that more than the majority of shares required for a quorum as specified in the bylaws are present either in person or by proxy. Accordingly, our quorum is present and the meeting is in order to proceed. Let me give you a brief overview of how we plan to conduct a meeting. We will begin with the three items of business as set forth in our notice of meeting and proxy statement, which are: 1, the election of 12 directors 2nd, the ratification of the independent registered Public Accounting firm for fiscal 2021 and third, an advisory vote on fiscal 2020 executive compensation known as say on pay. Following consideration of the formal agenda items, we will report the results of the vote.
We will then answer questions submitted online regarding the formal agenda items. After we adjourn the formal part of the meeting, as time permits, who will answer questions submitted online regarding operations of Campbell Soup Company. Shareholders may submit on the meeting. Posted on the annual meeting website is an agenda that includes a list of the nominees for Director and the resolutions for the other agenda items. The rules for the conduct miss of the meeting.
The minutes of the 2019 annual meeting are available for inspection by shareholders upon request. Accordingly, may I have a motion to weigh the reading of those minutes and prove them as presented?
I second the motion.
All those in favor? The motion is passed. The minutes are duly approved. Now I will introduce the items of business to be brought before the meeting. The polls for voting are open on the annual meeting website.
You may vote by clicking the link on the annual meeting website entitled Cash Year Vote. Shareholders who have already voted by proxy do not need to submit electronic ballots unless you want to change your vote. The first proposal is the election of the 12 Director nominees. Directors are elected for a 1 year term. The names of such persons have been placed in nomination And because the secretary has not received any notice of shareholder nominees, I declare that the nominations are closed.
The Board of Directors unanimously recommends that shareholders vote for the 12 director nominees named in the proxy statement. The second item on the agenda is the ratification of the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the independent registered public accounting firm for fiscal 2021. The third item on the agenda is the advisory vote on fiscal 2020 executive compensation. The SEC requires that shareholders be given the opportunity to cast and advisory vote on executive compensation. As an advisory vote, the outcome is not binding, but it does give shareholders the opportunity to express their views on executive compensation during a given fiscal Since it appears that all those who desire to vote have done so, the polls are now closed.
I will ask the Secretary to report the final voting results.
Mr. Chair, the Inspector of Election has determined that based on the vote cast and received that each of the Director nominees set forth in the proxy statement has been elected for a 1 year term. And that the ratification of the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers and the advisory resolution on fiscal 2020 executive compensation have both been approved.
Thank you, Charlie. I will now open the meeting up to questions related to the formal agenda items.
Mr. Chair, there are no questions regarding the formal agenda items.
Thank you, Kealey. There being no additional business to come before this meeting. I declare this meeting adjourned. Now I will ask Mark Clouse, our President and Chief Executive Officer, to make a brief statement, and we will then respond to questions submitted relating to the business or operations of the company. Mark?
Strategic plan and a dynamic team as we delivered exceptional results amid the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-nineteen pandemic. Through the first two quarters, we made steady progress implementing our strategic plan and turned into solid performance. By early March, the world changed dramatically and While much of North America took steps to slow the spread of the virus, Campbell stepped up to produce and distribute food in quantities not seen in many years. To millions of consumers who sought comfort, quality convenience and value. The unwavering commitment and tremendous effort of our employees especially our frontline teams led to the exceptional financial results we delivered in fiscal 2020.
I am humbled by their resolve and resiliency. Throughout this time, taking care of our safety of our employees through rigorous protocols in the workplace. It also includes rewarding their enormous contributions through we implemented through the end of In support of the extended Campbell family and the communities in need in which we operate, we've contributed over $6,500,000 in food and financial support. With historic demand for our products, we significantly invested in our Campbell portfolio. Our brands garnered increased relevance, particularly with younger households, who represent incremental growth and we saw strong sustained repeat purchase rates.
We ended the year with a high level of confidence that regardless of the duration of the pandemic We'll be able to retain a sizable portion of these households, driven by sustained consumer behaviors such as quick scratch cooking and online food shopping. In fiscal 2020, we delivered growth in all key metrics and strong performance across both divisions Net sales from continuing operations were $8,690,000,000, an increase of 7% over last year. Our meals and beverages and snacks divisions delivered net sales growth of 9% 5%, respectively. We made significant progress in advancing our Snacks integration plans and our cost savings program, both of which remain on track. For the full year, over fiscal 2019 This performance was enabled by the extraordinary work of our team who remained agile and resilient in a challenging operating environment.
Reviewing these financial results, there is no doubt that the groundwork we established in first half of the fiscal year and the progress we made in our strategic plan served us well during the second half of the year. And accelerated our progress toward our long term financial goals. We also continued to advance key business metrics and strategic plan initiatives in fiscal 2020, including adjusted gross margin expansion supported by productivity improvements cost savings and favorable product mix. We continued to make strong progress against our cost savings target of $850,000,000 by the end of fiscal 20 delivering $165,000,000 of incremental savings this past fiscal year, bringing the program today total continuing operations to $725,000,000. We also strengthened our balance sheet in fiscal 2020, significantly reducing our long term This year, we also achieved notable wins in the areas of corporate responsibility and sustainability.
First, we launched 4 new sustainable packaging commitments, focused on packaging recyclability, recycled content, consumer education, and expanding access to recycling infrastructure. We advanced our farmer engagement work in our tomato, wheat and potato supply chains and reached our wheat fertilizer optimization goal 1 year ahead of schedule. Finally we reduced the environmental footprint of our operations and advanced traceability of priority raw materials along our supply chain. It's been a year of great accomplishments on many fronts In addition to all that I just mentioned, we added 2 President of Campbell Snacks. With over decades of experience in the snack food industry, her leadership is accelerating portfolio.
Camille Pierce joined as Vice President And Chief Culture Officer. Campbell recently introduced a comprehensive inclusion and diversity strategy focused on the standardization of key business processes and increased learning opportunities. Advocacy for allied networks and communities and transparency and accountability. Camille will lead this strategy by working a across the organization to build a winning team and culture and aligning our IND goals with business outcomes. Before I close my remarks, The work We are completely aligned against our strategic plan and excited about and I have you may have.
Okay. See that we have one shareholder meeting dotcom. Mr. Whitehead, thank you for the question. We chose this platform because computer share is also our transfer agent, which allowed a seamless transition from our record holders to the meeting, and a better method of ensuring that boats are properly accounted for.
We also performed due diligence and the platform Okay. With no other questions present, I will now conclude the Q And A. We will respond to
Thank you, Mark. And thank you to our shareholders and other guests for attending this year's annual meeting. With there being no additional business to discuss, the meeting is now concluded. Please stay safe, everyone, and thank you.
This concludes the meeting. You may now disconnect.