Item 1. Business

Overview

Brown-Forman Corporation (the “Company,” “Brown-Forman,” “we,” “us,” or “our” below) was incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware in 1933, successor to a business founded in 1870 as a partnership and later incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1901. We primarily manufacture, bottle, import, export, market, and sell a wide variety of alcoholic beverages under recognized brands. We employ over 4,600 people on six continents, including about 1,300 people in Louisville, Kentucky, USA, home of our world headquarters. We are the largest American-owned spirits and wine company with global reach. We are a “controlled company” under New York Stock Exchange rules, and the Brown family owns a majority of our voting stock.

For a discussion of recent developments, see “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Executive Summary – Overview.”

Brands

Beginning in 1870 with Old Forester Bourbon Whisky – our founding brand – and spanning the generations since, we have built a portfolio of more than 40 spirit, wine, and ready-to-drink cocktail (RTD) brands that includes some of the best-known and most-loved trademarks in our industry. The most important brand in our portfolio is Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, which is the fourth-largest spirits brand of any kind and the largest American whiskey brand in the world, according to Impact Databank’s “Top 100 Premium Spirits Brands Worldwide” list.1 In its third year on the list, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey is the second-largest-selling flavored whiskey on the Worldwide Impact list, selling over 1.5 million nine-liter cases in calendar year 2015, up 13% from the prior calendar year.1 Additionally, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Fire was designated as an Impact “Hot Brand”1 in its first full calendar year (2015). Our other leading global brands on the Worldwide Impact list are Finlandia, the ninth-largest-selling vodka; Canadian Mist, the fourth-largest-selling Canadian whisky; and el Jimador, which is the fourth-largest-selling tequila and designated as an Impact “Hot Brand”.1

Principal Brands
Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey		Woodford Reserve Kentucky Bourbons
Jack Daniel’s RTDs		el Jimador Tequilas
Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey		el Jimador New Mix RTDs
Gentleman Jack Rare Tennessee Whiskey		Herradura Tequilas
Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Fire		Canadian Mist Canadian Whisky
Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Collection2		Sonoma-Cutrer California Wines
Jack Daniel’s Sinatra Select		Early Times Kentucky Whisky and Bourbon
Jack Daniel’s Winter Jack		Chambord Liqueur
Jack Daniel’s No. 27 Gold Tennessee Whiskey		Old Forester Kentucky Bourbon
Finlandia Vodkas		Antiguo Tequila
Finlandia RTDs		Pepe Lopez Tequila
Korbel California Champagnes3		Santa Dose Cachaça
Korbel California Brandy3		Collingwood Canadian Whisky

See “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Results of Operations – Fiscal 2015 Brand Highlights” for details on the performance of our brands.

1Impact Databank, a well-known U.S. trade publication, published these industry statistics in March 2016.
2The Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Collection includes Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Select, Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Barrel Proof, Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Rye, and Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel 100 Proof.
3While Korbel is not an owned brand, we sell Korbel products under contract in the United States and other select markets.

Our vision in marketing is to “be the best brand builders in the industry.” We build our brands by investing in programs that we believe create enduring connections with our consumers. These programs cover a wide spectrum of activities, including media (TV, radio, print, outdoor, and, increasingly, digital and social media), consumer and trade promotions, sponsorships, and visitor center programs at our distilleries and our winery. We expect to grow our sales and profits by consistently delivering creative, responsible marketing programs that drive brand recognition, brand trial, brand loyalty, and, ultimately, consumer demand around the world.

Markets

We sell our products in approximately 160 countries around the world. The United States, our largest, most important market, accounted for 46% of our net sales in fiscal 2016. Our largest international markets include the United Kingdom, Australia, Mexico, Germany, Poland, France, Turkey, Russia, Canada, and Brazil. Over the last 10 years, we have greatly expanded our international footprint. In fiscal 2016, we generated 54% of our net sales outside the United States compared to 41% ten years ago. The U.S. proportion of net sales has grown from fiscal 2014 to fiscal 2016, mainly due to the negative impact of foreign exchange on our international business. We present the percentage of total net sales by geographic area for our most recent three fiscal years and, to provide historical context, fiscal 2006, below:

Percentage of Total Net Sales by Geographic Area
	Year ended April 30
2006		...	2014		2015		2016
United States	59	%	...	41	%	43	%	46	%
International:			...
Europe			...	32	%	31	%	31	%
Australia			...	12	%	11	%	9	%
Other			...	15	%	15	%	14	%
Total International*	41	%	...	59	%	57	%	54	%
TOTAL	100	%		100	%	100	%	100	%
Note: Totals may differ due to rounding

For details about net sales in our largest markets, refer to “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Fiscal 2016 Market Highlights.” For details about our reportable segment and for additional geographic information about net sales and long-lived assets, refer to Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.” For details on risks related to our global operations, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors.”

Distribution Network and Customers

Our distribution network, which we sometimes refer to as our “route-to-consumer” (RTC), takes a variety of forms, depending on (a) a market’s laws and regulatory framework for trade in beverage alcohol, (b) our assessment of a market’s long-term attractiveness and competitive dynamics, (c) the relative profitability of distribution options available to us, (d) the structure of the retail and wholesale trade in a market, and (e) our portfolio’s development stage in a market. As these factors change, we evaluate our RTC strategy and, from time to time, adapt our model.

In the United States, which generally prohibits wine and spirits manufacturers from selling their products directly to consumers, we sell our brands either to distributors or (in states that directly control alcohol sales) to state governments that then sell to retail customers and consumers.

Outside the United States, we use a variety of RTC models. We own and operate distribution companies in 13 markets: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong, South Korea, Mexico, Poland, Thailand, and Turkey. In these markets, and in a large portion of the travel retail channel, we sell our products directly to retailers, to wholesalers, or, in Canada, to provincial governments. In fiscal 2017, we plan to establish a new distribution company in Spain, which we expect to begin operating in fiscal 2018. In the United Kingdom, we partner in a cost-sharing arrangement with another supplier, Bacardi Limited, to sell a portfolio of both companies’ brands. In many other markets, including Italy, Japan, Russia, and South Africa, we rely on others to distribute our brands, generally under fixed-term distribution contracts.

We believe that our customer relationships are good. We believe our exposure to concentrations of credit risk is limited due to the diverse geographic areas covered by our operations.

Seasonality

Holiday buying makes the fourth calendar quarter the peak season for our business. For the fiscal years ended April 30, 2014, 2015, and 2016, approximately 32% of our net sales were in the fourth calendar quarter.

Competition

Trade information indicates that we are one of the largest global suppliers of premium spirits and wine. According to International Wine & Spirit Research (the IWSR), for calendar year 2015, the ten largest global spirits companies controlled less than 20% of the total global market for spirits (on a volume basis). While we believe that the overall market environment offers considerable growth opportunities for us, our industry is now, and will remain, highly competitive. We compete against many global, regional, and local brands in a variety of categories of beverage alcohol, but most of our brands compete primarily in the industry’s premium-and-higher price categories. Our competitors include major global wine and spirits companies, such as Bacardi Limited, Beam Suntory Inc., Davide Campari-Milano S.p.A., Diageo PLC, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, Pernod Ricard SA, and Rémy Cointreau SA. In addition, particularly in the United States, we increasingly compete with (a) national companies, and (b) entrepreneurs, many of whom are recent entrants to the industry – typically with small-batch or craft spirit brands.

Brand recognition, brand provenance, quality of product and packaging, availability, taste, and price affect consumers’ choices among competing brands in our industry. Several factors influence consumers’ buying decisions, including: advertising; promotions; merchandising in bars, restaurants, and shops; expert or celebrity endorsement; social media and word-of-mouth; and the timing and relevance of new product introductions. Although some competitors have substantially greater resources than we do, we believe that our competitive position is strong, particularly as it relates to brand recognition, quality, availability, and relevance of new product introductions.

Ingredients and Other Supplies

The principal raw materials used in manufacturing and packaging our distilled spirits are water, corn, rye, malted barley, agave, sugar, glass, cartons, PET (polyethylene terephthalate, a polymer used in non-glass containers), labels, and wood for barrels (used for storing whiskey and some tequilas). The principal raw materials used in liqueurs are neutral spirits, sugar, and wine, while the principal raw materials used in our RTD products are sugar, flavorings, neutral spirits, whiskey, tequila, and malt. The principal raw materials used in producing wines are grapes, packaging materials, and wood barrels. Our grape supply comes from a combination of our California vineyards and contracts with independent growers. We believe that our relationships with our growers are good. Currently, none of these raw materials is in short supply, but shortages could occur. From time to time, our agricultural ingredients (corn, rye, malted barley, agave, and grapes) could be adversely affected by weather and other forces that might constrain supply.

Whiskeys, certain tequilas, and other distilled spirits must be aged. Because we must schedule production to meet demand for these products years in the future, our inventories of them may be larger in relation to sales and total assets than in many other businesses.

For details on risks related to the availability of raw materials and the uncertainty inherent in forecasting supply and demand, refer to “Item 1A. Risk Factors.”

Intellectual Property

Our intellectual property rights include trademarks, copyrights, proprietary packaging and trade dress, proprietary manufacturing technologies, know-how, and patents. Our intellectual property, especially our trademarks, is essential to our business. We register our trademarks broadly – some of them in every country where registration is possible. We register others where we sell or expect to sell our products. We protect our intellectual property rights vigorously but fairly. We have licensed some of our trademarks to third parties for use with services or on products other than alcoholic beverages, which we believe enhances the awareness and protection of our brands.

For details on risks related to the protection of our intellectual property, refer to “Item 1A. Risk Factors.” For details on our most important brands, refer to “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Results of Operations – Fiscal 2016 Brand Highlights.”

Regulatory Environment

Federal, state, local, and foreign authorities regulate the production, storage, transportation, distribution, and sale of our products. Some countries and local jurisdictions prohibit or restrict the marketing or sale of distilled spirits in whole or in part.

In the United States, at the federal level, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury regulates the wine and spirits industry with respect to the production, blending, bottling, labeling, sales, advertising, and transportation of beverage alcohol. Similar regulatory regimes exist at the state level and in most of the non-U.S. jurisdictions where we sell our products. In addition, distilled spirits products are subject to customs duties or excise taxation in many countries, including in the United States, at the federal, state, and local level.

Under U.S. federal regulations, bourbon and Tennessee whiskeys must be aged in new charred oak barrels for at least two years; we typically age our whiskeys three to six years. Federal regulations also require Canadian whisky to be manufactured in Canada in compliance with Canadian laws. Mexican authorities regulate the production and bottling of tequilas; they mandate minimum aging periods for extra anejo (three years), anejo (one year), and reposado (two months) tequilas. We comply with these regulations.

Our operations are subject to various environmental protection statutes and regulations, and our policy is to comply with them.

Strategy

Six years ago, we introduced our “Brown-Forman 150” long-term strategy, focused on driving sustainable growth toward our 150th anniversary in 2020. The B-F Arrow articulates our core principles: our purpose as well as the vision, values, and behaviors that we expect our employees to embrace and exhibit.

While these core principles are a constant and powerful means of connecting our stakeholders to a shared vision of “Building Forever”, we continue to refresh our strategies to reflect current realities. The strategic ambitions described below both demonstrate a sustained focus on several drivers of our recent growth, which we believe remain relevant, and acknowledge the new and changing opportunities of today.

We seek to build brands and businesses that can create shareholder value – ones that deliver strong growth, solid margins, and high returns. In addition, given our growing size and scale, we focus on building brands that can be meaningful for our company over time. Our first priority is to grow our premium spirits portfolio organically. But as opportunities arise, we will pursue innovation and consider acquisitions and partnerships that meet our rigorous quantitative and qualitative criteria.

The Jack Daniel’s family of brands, including Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, is our most valuable asset. We will always work to keep Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey strong, healthy, and relevant to consumers worldwide, and to take advantage of the abundant opportunities for growing the Jack Daniel’s family of brands across markets, price points, channels, and consumer groups. As product innovation has become increasingly important to the brand in recent years, we will continue to evaluate opportunities to grow the Jack Daniel’s family of brands through thoughtful new product introductions, such as our U.S. launch of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Fire and our recent introduction of Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Rye.

We are the global leader in American whiskey, and we will continue to pursue growth in the broader global, premium whiskey category. We believe that we can leverage our whiskey-making knowledge, production assets, trademarks, and brand- building skills to accomplish this objective. We will focus first on the global growth of our most important whiskey, Jack Daniel’s. In addition, we expect to generate excellent growth for our other whiskey brands around the world, particularly Woodford Reserve and Old Forester, which have both experienced rapid growth in recent years.

We aim to grow Finlandia, el Jimador, and Herradura. We plan to focus primarily on growing Finlandia in Poland and Eastern Europe. We will work to expand the reach of Herradura tequila to new consumers, emphasizing Mexico, the United States, and other high-potential markets. We have taken steps to reposition el Jimador tequila as a more premium brand in Mexico, its largest market by volume. As a result, volumes have declined over the past couple of years in Mexico, though we expect the brand’s overall performance to improve there over time. In the United States and select international markets, we continue to experience solid growth with el Jimador, and we believe in this brand’s long-term potential.

We recently announced the launch of Coopers’ Craft, our first new bourbon trademark in more than 20 years, which we will begin selling in select United States markets in July 2016. We are in the development stage of our Slane Irish Whiskey brand, which we anticipate launching in the spring of 2017. Lastly, on June 1, 2016, we acquired The BenRiach Distillery Company Limited. This purchase added three single malt Scotch whisky brands into our growing whiskey portfolio: The GlenDronach, BenRiach, and Glenglassaugh. We believe that super- and ultra-premium whiskeys are attractive long-term businesses for us, and we will continue to pursue global growth in these categories.

In fiscal 2016, as part of our evolving portfolio strategy and our efforts to focus resources on our highest strategic priorities, we sold our Southern Comfort and Tuaca brands. This decision reflects our continuing efforts to reshape our portfolio by developing, divesting, and acquiring brands to create value and improve growth.

The United States remains our largest market, and continuing to grow in this market is important to our long-term success. We expect to foster this growth by emphasizing fast-growing spirits categories such as super-premium whiskies and tequila, continued product and packaging innovation, continued route-to-consumer proficiency, and brand building within growing consumer segments (with increasing emphasis on multicultural marketing).

Over the last two decades, our business outside the United States has grown more quickly than our business within it. Although the past two years have been an exception to this trend, as our net sales in the United States grew faster than our international business, we expect the longer-term trend to resume. Our ability to achieve our long-term growth objectives requires further development of our business globally, especially in emerging markets. We expect to grow our business in developed markets such as France, Germany, Australia, and the United Kingdom, as well as in emerging markets such as Mexico, Poland, and Turkey. Over time, we expect increasingly significant contributions to our growth from other emerging markets such as Brazil, China, Russia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe. We will continue to pursue RTC strategies that will expand our access to and understanding of consumers in these diverse markets.

We believe that having a long-term-focused, committed, engaged shareholder base, including the Brown family, gives us an important strategic advantage, particularly in a business with aged products and multi-generational brands.

Recognizing the strong cash-generating capacity and the capital efficiency of our business, we will continue to pursue what we believe to be well-balanced capital deployment strategies aimed at perpetuating Brown-Forman’s strength and independence.

Corporate Responsibility

In pursuing the objectives described above, we will strive to be responsible in everything we do. Our history of responsibility began in 1870, when our founder, George Garvin Brown, first sold medicinal whiskey in glass bottles to ensure quality and safety – an innovative idea back when whiskey was usually sold by the barrel. Today, achieving our stated business purpose, to “enrich the experience of life,” is possible only within a context of corporate responsibility. This means promoting responsible consumer enjoyment of our brands; working to reduce alcohol abuse and misuse; protecting the environment; providing a healthy, safe, and inclusive workplace; and contributing to the communities where we operate around the globe.

Alcohol Responsibility. We promote responsible consumption of our products, as we believe this will enhance our relationships with consumers, business partners, stakeholders, and society at large. It is also essential for the long-term prosperity of our company and our industry. When abused or misused, alcohol can contribute to significant harm to both individuals and the community. We appreciate the need for governments to regulate our industry appropriately and effectively, taking into account national circumstances and local cultures. Acting in partnership with others, we want to be part of the solution to real, complex problems such as underage drinking, drunk driving, and overconsumption.

As a significant player in the global beverage alcohol industry, we foster collective action with our peers. Working together with other producers, we are able to leverage our views on a scale that can create change. For example, we are working with 13 other industry leaders that signed the Beer, Wine, and Spirits Producers’ Commitments to Reduce Harmful Drinking. The group made significant progress in 2015, resulting from the collaboration among all signatories and with stakeholders where we do business. By engaging non-governmental organizations, we reached more people across a broader geographic footprint with underage drinking programs. Drunk driving prevention pilot programs expanded to another four countries, with two more planned

for 2016. With our retail business partners, we developed and launched responsible retailing principles that are increasing the number of retail programs focused on enforcing legal purchase age and responsible beverage service. Our collective progress on these commitments will be reported annually, and more information can be found at www.producerscommitments.org.

Since 2009, we have hosted an open forum to share our point of view and encourage engagement of others at www.OurThinkingAboutDrinking.com. In the United States, we support The Ad Council’s “Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving” campaigns, designated-driver services such as BeMyDD, and the Responsible Retailing Forum, which brings together diverse stakeholders seeking to reduce underage sales, among other initiatives. In our consumer relationships, we seek to communicate through responsible advertising content and placement, relying on our comprehensive internal marketing code and adhering to industry marketing and advertising guidelines. As part of our commitment to responsible marketing, and to enable consumers to make more informed decisions, we will be adding nutritional information to our brand websites later this year. We also are founding members of, and contribute significant resources to, the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility, an organization created by spirits producers to combat harmful use of alcohol. While this is a U.S. organization, we participate actively in similar organizations in other markets, such as DrinkWise in Australia, BSI in Germany, The Portman Group in the United Kingdom, and FISAC in Mexico. In the European Union, we helped form the Responsible Marketing Pact with seven other major beverage alcohol manufacturers to develop industry-led standards for responsible advertising and marketing. The standards focus on decreasing exposure of those under legal drinking age to alcohol-related advertisements. We also recognize that some individuals can’t or shouldn’t drink beverage alcohol and respect the choice of those who don’t drink for whatever reason. To this end, we have an internal employee resource group (ERGs), SPIRIT, that supports an environment where all employees and guests feel welcome, regardless of whether they choose to drink.

Environmental Sustainability. Our vision – Building Forever – is inherently linked to environmental sustainability. A key component of our environmental sustainability strategy is reducing our energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In fiscal 2014, we set new, more ambitious environmental sustainability goals, focused on reducing our absolute GHG emissions by 15% by 2023, sending zero waste to landfill, and reducing our water use and wastewater discharges per unit of product by 30% by 2023 (versus 2012 baseline year). These goals support our ambition to be a sustainability leader within our industry, and extend programs beyond our operational borders into the supply chain. We report on our progress toward these goals in our biennial Corporate Responsibility Reports, available online. In 2016, Newsweek magazine named Brown-Forman the third “greenest” U.S. beverage company, and number 52 among the 500 largest publicly traded companies in the United States. Rankings are based on eight measures of corporate sustainability and environmental performance. In addition, we have been identified as a global leader for our actions and strategies in response to climate change and have been awarded a position on The Climate “A” List by CDP, an international not-for-profit organization that produces the list at the request of 822 investors who represent more than a third of the world’s invested capital.

Diversity, Inclusion, and Human Rights. We believe that having a diverse and inclusive workforce is central to our success. As we work to increase our brands’ relevance and appeal to diverse consumer groups, we need a diversity of experiences and outlooks within our own workforce. We also want employees to feel comfortable in contributing their whole selves and different perspectives to their work. Over the past year, we’ve made progress with diverse representation at the senior level. Three women and one African American serve on our Board of Directors. Four members of our 15-member Executive Leadership Team are women and two are minorities. In 2016, we once again earned a perfect score of 100% in the Corporate Equality Index by the Human Rights Campaign, a civil rights organization promoting equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans. This makes us one of the “Best Places to Work for LGBT equality”1 in the United States for the sixth consecutive year. Our ERGs have been the core of our diversity culture by supporting employees’ growth while enhancing their contributions. Our eight ERGs foster a diverse and inclusive environment that drives our high-commitment, high-performance organization and encourages employees to bring their individuality to work.

In the marketplace, we focus on promoting fair and ethical business practices. We remain committed to the guidelines set forth in our Global Human Rights Statement, defining our commitment to respecting the fundamental rights of all human beings. We share our human rights policies and practices with our suppliers through our Suppliers Guiding Principles on Human Rights. Our work in this area will help inform our response to the U.K.’s recent passage of the Modern Slavery Act.

1Human Rights Campaign 2016 Corporate Equity Index at www.hrc.org/resources/best-places-to-work-2016.

Community Involvement. Our approach to philanthropy reflects our values as a corporate citizen. Our civic engagement supports non-profit organizations that improve the lives of individuals and the vitality of our communities. We believe, as a responsible and caring corporate citizen, it is vital that we give back to the communities that support both our employees and our business. Through our contributions, we work to create communities that ensure basic living standards, support healthy and sustainable living, and enhance intellectual and cultural living. While we focus on our hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, our civic engagement activities extend to the communities around the globe where our employees live, work, and raise their families.

In fiscal 2016, we donated more than $10.8 million in cash, logged approximately 16,000 volunteer hours, and had over 132 employees serve on boards of directors of 192 non-profit organizations.

Our Corporate Responsibility reports are available at www.brown-forman.com/responsibility.

Employees and Executive Officers

As of April 30, 2016, we employed approximately 4,600 people, including about 200 employed on a part-time or temporary basis. We employ about 2,800 people in the United States, approximately 17% represented by a union. We believe our employee relations are good.

The following persons serve as executive officers as of June 15, 2016:

Name	Age	Principal Occupation and Business Experience
Paul C. Varga	52	Company Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since 2007. Chief Executive Officer since 2005.
Jane C. Morreau	57	Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since 2014. Senior Vice President, Chief Production Officer, and Head of Information Technology from 2013 to 2014. Senior Vice President and Director of Financial Management, Accounting and Technology from 2008 to 2013.
Matthew E. Hamel	56	Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary since 2007.
Jill Ackerman Jones	50	Executive Vice President and President for North America, CCSA, IMEA, and Global Travel Retail since February 2015. Executive Vice President and President for North America and Latin America Regions from 2013 to 2015. Executive Vice President and Chief Production Officer from 2007 to 2012.
Mark I. McCallum	61	Executive Vice President and President of Jack Daniel’s Brands since February 2015. Executive Vice President and President for Europe, Africa, Middle East, Asia Pacific, and Travel Retail from 2013 to 2015. Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer from 2009 to 2013. Executive Vice President and Chief Brands Officer from 2006 to 2009.
Lawson E. Whiting	47	Executive Vice President and Chief Brands and Strategy Officer since February 2015. Senior Vice President and Chief Brands Officer from 2013 to 2015. Senior Vice President and Managing Director for Western Europe from 2011 to 2013. Vice President and Finance Director for Western Europe from 2010 to 2011. Vice President and Finance Director for North America from 2009 to 2010.
Alejandro “Alex” Alvarez	48	Senior Vice President and Chief Production Officer since 2014. Vice President and General Manager for Brown-Forman Tequila Mexico Operations from 2008 to 2014.
Ralph De Chabert	69	Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer since 2007.
Brian P. Fitzgerald	43	Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer since 2013. Vice President and Finance Director for Greater Europe and Africa from 2009 to 2013.
Kirsten M. Hawley	46	Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer since February 2015. Senior Vice President and Director of HR Business Partnerships from 2013 to 2015. Vice President and Director of Organization and Leader Development 2011 to 2013. Assistant Vice President and Director of Employee Engagement from 2009 to 2011.
Thomas Hinrichs	54	Senior Vice President and President for Europe, North Asia, and ANZSEA since February 2015. Senior Vice President and Managing Director for Europe from 2013 to 2015. Senior Vice President and Managing Director for Greater Europe and Africa from 2006 to 2013.
Lisa P. Steiner	56	Senior Vice President, Chief of Staff, and Director of Global Corporate Communications and Services since February 2015. Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer from 2009 to 2015. Senior Vice President and Director of Global Human Resources from 2007 to 2009.

Available Information

You can read and copy any materials that we file with the SEC in its Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 20549. Information on the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. In addition, the SEC maintains a website that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file with the SEC at www.sec.gov.

Our website address is www.brown-forman.com. Our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments to these reports are available free of charge on our website as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file those reports with the SEC. The information provided on our website is not part of this report, and is therefore not incorporated by reference, unless that information is otherwise specifically referenced elsewhere in this report.

On our website, we have posted our Corporate Governance Guidelines, our Code of Conduct that applies to all directors and employees, and our Code of Ethics that applies specifically to our senior financial officers. If we amend or waive any of the provisions of our Code of Conduct or our Code of Ethics applicable to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer, or controller that relates to any element of the definition of “code of ethics” enumerated in Item 406(b) of Regulation S-K under the Securities Act of 1934 Act, we intend to disclose these actions on our website. We have also posted on our website our Corporate Governance Guidelines and the charters of our Audit Committee, Compensation Committee, Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee, and Executive Committee of our Board of Directors. Copies of these materials are also available free of charge by writing to our Secretary, Matthew E. Hamel, 850 Dixie Highway, Louisville, Kentucky 40210 or emailing him at Secretary@b-f.com.