Hello and welcome to the annual meeting of shareholders of The Campbell's Company. Please note that today's meeting is being recorded. During the meeting, we will have two question-and-answer sessions. The first will address questions related to the formal agenda items, and the second will address questions related to the operations of the company. Shareholders who signed in with their 15-digit control number may submit questions or comments at any time by clicking on the Q&A icon on the top of your screen. It is now my pleasure to turn today's meeting over to Keith McLoughlin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company. Mr. McLoughlin, the floor is yours.
Thank you, Operator. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Keith McLoughlin, Chair of the Board of Directors. On behalf of The Campbell's Company, welcome to the 2025 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. I'm pleased to convene the meeting. I would like to introduce those with me today: Mick Beekhuizen, President and Chief Executive Officer; Charlie Brawley, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary; and Todd Kuhn, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. All of the incumbent directors who were nominated for re-election by The Campbell's Board are participating today via electronic means. In addition to myself, please allow me to introduce the director nominees by name: Fabiola Arredondo, Howard Averill, Mick Beekhuizen, Bennett Dorrance Jr., Grant Hill, Tessa Hilado , Sarah Hofstetter , Marc Lautenbach , Mary Alice Malone Jr., Kurt Schmidt, and Archie van Beuren . Information about all of the nominees can be found in the proxy statement.
Adela Forsythe, an employee of Computershare, is serving as Inspector of Election, and Charlie Brawley, Executive Vice President, 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. Gray Lamb and Timothy McGrath of PricewaterhouseCoopers are present today. Although they have declined to make a statement, they will be available to answer questions regarding the fiscal 2025 audit during the general session, question and answer session later this morning. The Inspector of Election has in her possession an affidavit of mailing attesting 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, a quorum is present and the meeting is in order to proceed. Let me give a brief overview of how we plan to conduct the meeting. Proposals will be presented in order outlined in our notice of meeting and proxy statement. We have three management proposals and two shareholder proposals. The proposals are: one, the election of 12 directors; two, the ratification of the independent registered public accounting firm for fiscal 2026; three, an advisory vote on fiscal 2025 executive compensation known as Say on Pay; four, a shareholder proposal regarding simple majority voting; and five, a shareholder proposal regarding a report on the effectiveness of our Regenerative Agriculture Program, including pesticide reduction outcomes. Following consideration of the formal agenda items, we will answer any questions submitted online regarding the formal agenda items. We will then report the results of the vote.
After we adjourn the formal part of the meeting, as time permits, we will answer questions submitted online regarding the operations of The Campbell's Company. Shareholders who sign in with a 15-digit control number may submit questions by clicking on the Q&A icon at the top of the annual meeting website at any time during the meeting. If you wish to submit a question online regarding the formal agenda items, please note the proposal number to which it relates. 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 of the meeting are also posted on the annual meeting website. It is our experience that your adherence to these rules will enhance the overall effectiveness of the meeting.
The minutes of the 2024 annual meeting are available for inspection by shareholders upon request. Accordingly, may I have a motion to waive the reading of those minutes and approve them as presented?
Mr. Chair, shall I move? Second.
All those in favor? Any opposed? The motion is passed. The minutes are duly approved. Thank you. Now I'll introduce the items of business to be brought before the meeting. Polls for voting are open on the annual meeting website. You may vote by clicking on the icon at the top of your screen on the annual meeting website entitled "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 one-year term. The names of such persons have been placed in nomination. 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 2026. The Board of Directors unanimously recommends that shareholders vote for this proposal. The third item on the agenda is the advisory vote on fiscal 2025 executive compensation. The S E C requires that shareholders be given the opportunity to cast an 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 year. The Board of Directors unanimously recommends that shareholders vote for this proposal. This brings us to the shareholder proposals. The fourth item on the agenda is a shareholder proposal submitted by Accountability Board, Inc. regarding simple majority voting.
We will now connect with Matthew Prescott, a Representative of the Accountability Board, Inc., to present a proposal. Out of respect for other shareholders in attendance and to allow time for Q&A, we ask that you, Mr. Prescott, limit your comments to a period of three minutes and restrict your comments to the proposal before the meeting. I will now ask the Operator to unmute the line to allow Mr. Prescott to present his proposal.
Mr. Prescott, your line is now open.
Thanks so much. I can keep these comments pretty brief just for the sake of everybody's time this morning. I've read and shareholders will have seen the Board's statement opposing this pretty straightforward proposal to eliminate supermajority voting requirements. We think the proposal speaks for itself, and we would refer folks to the proxy statement for more information. I just want to emphasize that in 2021, the last time this topic came up for a vote at Campbell's, over 70% of the vote went in support of eliminating supermajority requirements if you exclude shares controlled by officers and directors. Yet Campbell's opposition statement seems to focus on the claim that somehow supermajority voting requirements prevent single shareholder groups from acting unilaterally and result in important changes needing to be supported by a large number of shareholders.
This 2021 proposal that got over 70% of the outside vote is a great example of how Campbell's supermajority voting requirements actually do the exact opposite. Campbell's officers and directors controlled enough of the vote to unilaterally reject the proposal, even though it was supported by 70% of the vote amongst other shareholders. It would have passed in a landslide had those shares not been concentrated in that way. We'll leave it there. Again, we think the proposal speaks for itself. We encourage shareholders to vote in favor of it. Thank you.
Mr. Prescott, your line is now muted.
Thank you, Mr. Prescott. After careful consideration, the Board has determined that adopting this proposal is not in the best interest of the Company or its shareholders. The Board believes that the current supermajority voting standard, which is limited to a small number of critical matters, helps preserve and maximize long-term shareholder value. Supermajority thresholds prevent any single shareholder group from acting unilaterally, while also ensuring that temporary coalitions or activist investors cannot affect lasting structural changes without Board and inclusive consensus. This balance provides stability, protects the interests of all shareholders, and reinforces long-term value creation. For more information regarding the Board's position on this proposal, please see the Board's full statement in opposition, which is available on pages 79 and 80 of the Company's proxy statement. The Board unanimously recommends a vote against this proposal.
The fifth item on the agenda is a shareholder proposal submitted by As You Sow on behalf of the Pleiades Trust and Sarah Gurovich regarding a report on the effectiveness of our regenerative agriculture program, including pesticide reduction outcomes. We will now connect with Cailin Dendas , a representative of As You Sow, to present the proposal. Out of respect for other shareholders in attendance and to allow time for Q&A, we ask that you, Ms. Dendas, limit your comments to a period of three minutes and restrict your comments to the proposal before the meeting. I will now ask the Operator to unmute the line to allow Ms. Dendas to present her proposal.
Ms. Dendos, your line is now open.
Good morning, Mr. Beekhuizen and members of the Board. My name is Cailin Dendas , Senior Coordinator at As You Sow. Thank you so much for the opportunity to present proposal number five on the proxy on behalf of the Pleiades Trust. This proposal asks The Campbell's Company to disclose the success of its regenerative agriculture program by reporting its outcomes, including but not limited to pesticide reduction. By touting the benefits of its program without measuring or disclosing outcomes, the Company is susceptible to reputational and litigation risks, including claims of greenwashing. A fundamental principle of regenerative agriculture is soil health, the cornerstone of natural capital. Pesticide use, which degrades healthy soil, can harm farm and supply chain resilience, in turn raising commodity prices and raising long-term viability concerns for our Company.
Pesticide use can also result in the poisoning of farm workers, and pesticide drift can reach nearby communities and elementary schools, causing serious health conditions like asthma and cancer. Biodiversity, pollinator health, and air and water quality also suffer as a result of pesticide use. While our Company claims its regenerative agriculture initiative focuses on advancing core regenerative principles with the goal of scaling soil health, it fails to include pesticide reduction as a key component. Campbell's also fails to measure and report pesticide use reduction by its suppliers, leaving shareholders unable to determine whether the Company's program is successful in regenerating soil health and in reducing harms to humans and the environment. Meanwhile, Campbell's competitors, Conagra and Lamb Weston, are publicly reporting the amount of pesticides used or avoided to demonstrate the success of their regenerative agriculture program.
As a leading food manufacturer, Campbell's has the ability to engage its suppliers and collect and disclose pesticide data. Disclosing such data could demonstrate the success of its program, the resilience of its supply chain, and the avoidance of risks associated with harmful pesticide use. We look to the Company to provide investors with this key information so they can make informed investment decisions. We urge a yes vote on this resolution. Thank you.
Ms. Dendas, your line is now muted.
Thank you, Ms. Dendos. After careful consideration, the Board has determined that adopting this proposal is not in the best interest of the Company or its shareholders. The Board believes that producing a separate prescriptive report disclosing if and how the Company intends to measure and disclose the effectiveness of its regenerative agriculture program, including pesticide reduction outcomes, would be duplicative, add cost, and could divert energies and resources from where they matter most, building grower participation in our program and collaborating with them to advance the principles of regenerative agriculture. The Company already discloses meaningful information regarding responsible pesticide management and pesticide risk outcomes. Furthermore, the Company believes that adding a discrete pesticide reduction goal could undermine grower participation in its regenerative agriculture program.
For more information regarding the Board's position on this proposal, please see the Board's full statement in opposition, which is available on page 82 of the Company's proxy statement. The Board unanimously recommends a vote against this proposal. This completes the proposals. I will now open the meeting up to questions related to the formal agenda items. Seeing that no questions have been submitted regarding the formal agenda items, we will now proceed to voting. If you have not voted, please do so now. The Inspector of Election will now take charge of the polls. Since it appears that all those who desire to vote have done so, polls are now closed. I will now ask the Secretary to report the preliminary voting results.
Mr. Chair, I have received the preliminary voting results from the Inspector of Election. The Inspector has determined that based on the votes cast and received, each of the director nominees set forth in the proxy statement has been elected for a one-year term, and that the ratification of the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers and the advisory resolution on fiscal 2025 executive compensation have both been approved. The shareholder proposal regarding simple majority voting was not approved, and the shareholder proposal regarding a report on the effectiveness of our regenerative agriculture program, including pesticide reduction outcomes, was not approved. We'll be reporting final voting results in a Form 8-K file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission within four business days after this meeting.
Thank you, Charlie. There being no additional business to come before this meeting, I declare this meeting adjourned. Now I will ask Mick Beekhuizen, our President and Chief Executive Officer, to make a brief statement and will then respond to questions submitted relating to the business or operations of the Company. Please refer to the non-GAAP reconciliation document posted on the annual meeting website, Bond Reconciliations of the Non-GAAP Measures, that we may use when discussing the Company's financial results. Mick?
Thank you, Keith. Good morning, everyone. I'll begin with our financial performance. We delivered results in fiscal 2025 that were slightly ahead of our expectations, driven by our focus on execution in a dynamic operating environment. For the full year, net sales were $10.3 billion, an increase of 6% versus the prior year, primarily driven by the contribution of the Sovos Brands acquisition. Organic net sales decreased 1% versus the prior year, driven by modestly lower volume and unfavorable mix and net price investment. By division, organic net sales were flat in meals and beverages and decreased by 3% in snacks. In fiscal 2025, we delivered $145 million of enterprise cost savings under the $250 million cost savings program announced in September 2024.
Building on the progress achieved to date through our continued focus on efficiency, the Company increased its cost savings program by 50% to $375 million by the end of fiscal 2028. The Company intends to use these savings as one of several levers to help offset tariff headwinds. Our adjusted EBIT increased 2% compared to the prior year, driven by the contribution of the acquisition and the additional week in fiscal 2025, partially offset by lower adjusted EBIT in the base business. Our fiscal 2025 adjusted EPS decreased 4% to $2.97, primarily reflecting higher adjusted net interest expense, partially offset by the increased adjusted EBIT. In fiscal 2025, we continue to generate strong operating cash flow at $1.1 billion, slightly lower than the prior year, driven by changes in working capital, in part due to tariff mitigation strategies.
We remained focused on returning cash to shareholders with $459 million in dividends paid, including a 5% increase per share that we announced in the second quarter and $62 million in share repurchases. Fiscal 2025 capital expenditures were $426 million, an 18% decline compared to prior year. Looking ahead, we are focused on delivering today while we are building for tomorrow by leveraging our category leadership and innovation capabilities to keep our brands at the forefront of consumer trends. We will continue to invest in our brands while maintaining a clear focus on improving efficiency and effectiveness across the organization to drive sustainable long-term growth. With that, I'll close my remarks, and I would like to answer any questions that you may have. Since no questions have been asked, I will now turn the meeting back over to our Chairman.
Thank you, Mick. 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.
Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude the meeting. Thank you for your participation, and you may now disconnect.