Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT) held its 2026 annual meeting of shareholders at 10:30 a.m., with Chairman Bill Brown presiding and Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary Apur Patel serving as secretary of the meeting. Chief Executive Officer Niko Lahanas and Chief Financial Officer Brad Smith also attended.
Directors and auditor introduced
Lahanas said the company’s board of directors was in attendance for the meeting. In addition to Brown and Lahanas, he introduced directors Courtnee Chun, Brendan Dougher, Randal Lewis, Chris Metz, Brooks Pennington, John Ranelli, and Mary Beth Springer, the company’s lead independent director.
He reminded shareholders that the investors page of the company’s website, central.com, includes the latest information about the company, including its most recent annual report and its recent first-quarter earnings release and quarterly report.
Quorum confirmed and meeting procedures outlined
Patel reviewed procedural details, noting that rules of procedure were posted on the virtual annual meeting website and that shareholders could submit questions at any time during the meeting through the online interface. He said a question-and-answer session would take place after the meeting was adjourned, and that the company intended to make every effort to answer all questions, summarizing responses when multiple questions were submitted on the same topic.
Patel reported that shareholders representing at least 8,880,142 shares of common stock (out of 9,650,221 shares entitled to vote) and at least 1,600,459 shares of Class B stock (out of 1,602,374 shares entitled to vote) were present in person or by proxy. Based on that participation, he declared a quorum was present and the meeting was ready for business. He appointed Brett Cooper as inspector of election to tabulate votes and determine results.
Shareholders vote on directors, auditor ratification, and executive pay
The meeting proceeded with three matters submitted for shareholder action:
- Election of nine directors
- Ratification of Deloitte & Touche as the company’s independent registered public accounting firm for fiscal 2026
- Advisory vote to approve compensation of the company’s named executive officers
To expedite the proceedings, stockholder Howard Machek was asked to nominate the director slate and to move the related voting items. Machek nominated the nine director candidates listed in the proxy statement: William E. Brown, Courtnee Chun, Brendan P. Dougher, Nicholas Lahanas, Randal D. Lewis, Christopher T. Metz, Brooks M. Pennington III, John R. Ranelli, and Mary Beth Springer. No additional nominations were made, and nominations were closed.
Patel noted that only holders of record of common stock or Class B stock as of Dec. 15, 2025, or those holding a duly executed proxy, were eligible to vote. He also reminded shareholders that most had already submitted proxies and that voting needed to be completed through the virtual meeting website before the polls closed.
Voting results announced
At 10:37 a.m., Patel closed the polls and reported preliminary results received from the inspector of elections. According to those results:
- Each director nominee received not less than 10,771,155 votes, and all nine nominees were elected.
- The proposal to ratify Deloitte & Touche received 17,177,566 votes in favor and was adopted.
- The advisory proposal on named executive officer compensation received not less than 16,346,943 votes in favor and was approved.
Patel said the original proxies, ballots, and the inspector of election’s report would be filed as part of the meeting minutes.
Meeting adjourned with no shareholder questions
After asking whether any other business needed to come before the meeting, Patel adjourned the formal portion. The company then opened the floor for questions, but no questions were submitted. Brown thanked shareholders for attending and said the company looked forward to speaking with them again next year, concluding the meeting.
About Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ:CENT)
Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ: CENT) is a leading North American specialty retailer, manufacturer and distributor serving the lawn and garden and pet supplies markets. The company operates through two primary segments: Pet and Garden. In the Pet segment, Central Garden & Pet offers a comprehensive range of products including pet food, treats, accessories, training products and habitat solutions for dogs, cats, birds, fish and small animals. The Garden segment encompasses a wide array of lawn, garden and outdoor living products, such as soils, fertilizers, planters, pest control solutions, landscape lighting and watering equipment.
Central Garden & Pet’s product portfolio includes both proprietary and branded offerings.
