Good morning. I'm Scott Ford, Co-Founder and CEO of Westrock Coffee Company. On behalf of the company's board of directors and management, I'd like to welcome you to the 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. I'm going to serve as Chairman of the Annual Meeting. I now call the meeting to order and ask Bob McKinney, our Corporate Secretary, to record the minutes. We will address the business of this meeting in accordance with the agenda set out in the Proxy Statement. It is now 8:00 A.M., and the voting polls are open on each of the proposals to be presented at the meeting. Please note that we will close the polls momentarily, so if you have not voted, you should do so now via the Annual Meeting web portal. Stockholders who have previously voted and do not wish to change their vote are not required to take further action.
While any final votes are submitted, I would like to introduce the other members of our Board of Directors, Joe Ford, Co-founder and Chairman, Mark Edmunds, Jeffrey Fox, Patrick Kruczek, Hugh McColl, Ken Parent, Leslie Starr, Wellford Tabor, and Toyin Umesiri. I'd also like to introduce the following executive officers of the company, Chris Pledger, the CFO and Chief Administrative Officer, Sam Ford, Chief Trade and Risk Officer, William Ford, Chief Operating Officer, Kyle Newkirk, Chief Commercial Officer, Bob McKinney, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, and Blake Schuhmacher, Chief Accounting Officer. In addition, the following representatives from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, our independent auditor, are in attendance, and I think it's just Megan Rossi today. Lastly, John Merva of American Election Services has been appointed as the Inspector of Election for our meeting today.
He will determine the presence of a quorum and serve as inspector on all matters requiring a vote at this meeting. I now ask the Inspector of Election to state whether a quorum is, in fact, present.
Mr. Chairman, we have over 105 million shares present at this meeting, in person or by proxy, which represents approximately 87% of the shares outstanding and entitled to vote. Accordingly, under the company's bylaws, a quorum is present.
The Corporate Secretary now certify that all voting stockholders were notified of the meeting today.
Mr. Chairman, I certify that a written notice of this meeting, containing instructions regarding how to access Westrock's 2025 Annual Report and 2026 Proxy Statement and how to vote, was distributed beginning on April 23rd, 2026, to all stockholders entitled to vote. The notice and proxy materials will be entered into the minutes of this meeting.
Thank you, Bob. We'll now turn to the business of today's meeting. Now, it is approximately 8:05 A.M., and all stockholders of record have had an opportunity to vote, and I declare the polls closed. I request that the Inspector of Election tally any additional votes submitted during the meeting today to include in this final report on the voting results. There are two items of business at this year's meeting. The first item of business is the election of four directors, Mark Edmunds, Joe Ford, Ken Parent, and Toyin Umesiri. The second item of business is ratification of PricewaterhouseCoopers as independent auditors for the current fiscal year. Would the Inspector of Election please announce the preliminary results of the voting?
Mr. Chairman, each of the nominees for director has received the affirmative vote of over 94% of the shares present and entitled to vote at the meeting, and the ratification of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, as independent auditors for the current fiscal year received an affirmative vote of over 97% of the shares present and entitled to vote at the meeting.
Thank you. All the nominees have been elected as directors of the company to serve until the 2027 Annual Stockholders' Meeting or until their successors are elected and qualified, and the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers as independent auditors for the current fiscal year has been ratified by the stockholders. This concludes all of the business to be addressed at today's meeting. We will file a Form 8-K within four business days that will include the certified results from the inspector. I ask the Inspector of Election to present to the Corporate Secretary following this meeting a certification of the number of shares represented at the meeting and the count of all votes and ballots, and that this certificate be filed with the minutes of this meeting. Say that fast. I now ask the Corporate Secretary if there are any questions from stockholders that we or PricewaterhouseCoopers should address at this time.
Mr. Chairman, having received no questions, we will conclude the question portion of the meeting.
All right. Thank you, Bob. As we wrap up the meeting, I'd like to express my appreciation to each of you who attended today. I encourage stockholders to reach out to our investor relations team if you have questions. Contact information for the team is listed on the Investor Relations tab of our website. We're certainly happy to address any questions you may have, and we'll take any leads that you've got for sales. There being no further business to come before this meeting, I declare the meeting adjourned. Thank you all for attending.
Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's meeting. Thank you for joining. You may now disconnect.