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, distill, bottle, import, export, market, and sell a wide variety of beverage alcohol products under recognized brands. We employ approximately 5,600 people (excluding individuals who work on a part-time or temporary basis) on six continents, including approximately 2,700 people in the United States (approximately 14% of whom are represented by a union) and 1,200 people in Louisville, Kentucky, USA, home of our world headquarters. According to International Wine & Spirit Research (IWSR), we are the largest American-owned spirits and wine company with global reach. We are a “controlled company” under New York Stock Exchange rules because the Brown family owns more than 50% of our voting stock. Taking into account ownership of shares of our non-voting stock, the Brown family also controls more than 50% of the economic ownership in Brown-Forman.

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

Brands

Beginning in 1870 with Old Forester Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky – our founding brand – and spanning the generations since, we have built a portfolio of more than 40 spirit, ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktail, and wine brands that includes some of the best-known and most loved trademarks in our industry. The most important and iconic brand in our portfolio is Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, the #1 selling American whiskey in the world.1 Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey was recently named the most valuable spirits brand in the world in the 2022 Interbrand “Best Global Brands” rankings, and the newly released Jack Daniel's Bonded Tennessee Whiskey was named the "2022 Whisky of the Year" by Whisky Advocate. Our premium bourbons, Woodford Reserve and Old Forester, were once again selected for the Impact “Hot Brands”2 list, marking ten and five consecutive years on the list, respectively, as were Jack Daniel's RTDs. Our super premium tequila, Herradura, received two Gold medals at the San Francisco World Spirits competition in 2023, one for Reposado and the one for Legend, as well as three Gold medals for the brand's core expressions at the Tequila and Mezcal Masters competition from The Spirits Business.

Principal Brands
Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey						el Jimador Tequilas5
Jack Daniel's RTD3						el Jimador New Mix RTD
Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey						Herradura Tequilas6
Gentleman Jack Rare Tennessee Whiskey						Korbel California Champagnes7
Jack Daniel's Tennessee Fire						Korbel California Brandy7
Jack Daniel's Tennessee Apple						Finlandia Vodkas
Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Collection4						Sonoma-Cutrer California Wines
Jack Daniel's Bonded Tennessee Whiskey						Old Forester Whiskey Row Series
Jack Daniel's Sinatra Select						Old Forester Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky
Jack Daniel's Tennessee Rye						Old Forester Kentucky Straight Rye Whisky
Jack Daniel’s Winter Jack						GlenDronach Single Malt Scotch Whiskies8
Jack Daniel's Bottled-in-Bond						Benriach Single Malt Scotch Whiskies9
Jack Daniel's Triple Mash Blended Straight Whiskey						Glenglassaugh Single Malt Scotch Whiskies10
Jack Daniel's No. 27 Gold Tennessee Whiskey						Chambord Liqueur
Jack Daniel’s 10 Year Old						Gin Mare
Jack Daniel’s 12 Year Old						Gin Mare Capri
Woodford Reserve Kentucky Bourbon						Diplomático Rums11
Woodford Reserve Double Oaked						Fords Gin
Woodford Reserve Kentucky Rye Whiskey						Slane Irish Whiskey
Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Wheat Whiskey						Coopers' Craft Kentucky Bourbon
Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Malt Whiskey						Part Time Rangers RTDs

1IWSR, 2023.
2Impact Databank, March 2023.
3Jack Daniel's RTD includes Jack Daniel's & Cola, Jack Daniel's Country Cocktails, Jack Daniel's Double Jack, Jack Daniel’s & Coca-Cola RTD, and other malt- and spirit-based Jack Daniel’s RTDs.
4The 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, Jack Daniel's Single Barrel 100 Proof, and other Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel special-release expressions.
5el Jimador Tequilas comprise all full-strength expressions of el Jimador.
6Herradura Tequilas comprise all expressions of Herradura.
7Korbel is not an owned brand. We sell Korbel products under contract in the United States and other select markets.
8GlenDronach Single Malt Scotch Whiskies comprise all expressions of GlenDronach.
9Benriach Single Malt Scotch Whiskies comprise all expressions of Benriach.
10Glenglassaugh Single Malt Scotch Whiskies comprise all expressions of Glenglassaugh.
11Diplomático Rums comprise all expressions of Diplomático.

See “Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Results of Operations – Fiscal 2023 Brand Highlights” for brand performance details.

Our vision in marketing is to be the best brand-builder in the industry. We build our brands by investing in platforms that we believe create enduring connections with our consumers. These platforms cover a wide spectrum of activities, including media advertising (TV, radio, print, outdoor, digital, and social), consumer and trade promotions, sponsorships, and visitors' 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 over 170 countries around the world. The United States, our most important market, accounted for 47% of our net sales in fiscal 2023 and the other 53% were outside of the United States. The table below shows the percentage of total net sales for our top markets in our three most recent fiscal years:

Percentage of Total Net Sales by Geographic Area
									Year ended April 30
						2021			2022			2023
United States									50		%	49		%	47		%
Mexico									4		%	5		%	6		%
Germany									6		%	6		%	6		%
Australia									6		%	6		%	5		%
United Kingdom									6		%	6		%	5		%
Other									28		%	28		%	31		%
TOTAL									100		%	100		%	100		%
Note: Totals may differ due to rounding

For details about net sales in our top markets, see “Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Results of Operations – Fiscal 2023 Market Highlights.” For details about our reportable segment and for additional geographic information about net sales and long-lived assets, see Note 17 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, or our “route to consumer” (RTC), varies depending on (a) the laws and regulatory framework for trade in beverage alcohol by market, (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 spirits and wine manufacturers from selling their products directly to consumers, we sell our brands either to distributors or to state governments (in states that directly control alcohol sales) that then sell to retail customers and consumers.

Outside the United States, we use a variety of RTC models, which can be grouped into three categories: owned distribution, partner, and government-controlled markets. We own and operate distribution companies for Australia, Belgium and Luxembourg, Brazil, Czechia, France, Germany, Korea, Mexico, Poland, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Türkiye, and the United Kingdom. In these owned-distribution markets, and in a large portion of the Travel Retail channel, we sell our products directly to retailers or wholesalers. In many other markets, including Italy and South Africa, we rely on third parties to distribute our brands, generally under fixed-term distribution contracts. In Canada, we sell our products to provincial governments.

We believe that our customer relationships are good and that our exposure to concentrations of credit risk is limited due to the diverse geographic areas covered by our operations and our thorough evaluation of each customer. In fiscal 2023, our two largest customers accounted for approximately 14% and 12% of consolidated net sales, respectively. No other customer accounted for 10% or more of our consolidated net sales in fiscal 2023.

Seasonality

Holiday buying makes the fourth calendar quarter the peak season for our business. Approximately 31%, 29%, and 27% of our reported net sales for fiscal 2021, fiscal 2022, and fiscal 2023, respectively, were in the fourth calendar quarter.

Competition

Trade information indicates that we are one of the largest global suppliers of premium spirits. According to IWSR, for calendar year 2022, the ten largest global spirits companies controlled over 20% of the total spirits volume sold around the world. While we believe that the overall market environment offers considerable growth opportunities for us, our industry is, and will remain, highly competitive. We compete against many global, regional, and local brands in a variety of categories of beverage alcohol, but our brands compete primarily in the industry's premium-and-above price points. Our competitors include major global spirits and wine companies, such as Bacardi Limited, Beam Suntory Inc., Becle S.A.B. de C.V., Davide Campari-Milano N.V., Diageo PLC, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, Pernod Ricard SA, and Rémy Cointreau. In addition, particularly in the United States, we compete with national companies and craft spirit brands, many of which entered the market in the last few years.

Brand recognition, brand provenance, quality of product and packaging, availability, flavor profile, and price affect consumers' choices among competing brands in our industry. Other factors also influence consumers, including advertising, promotions, merchandising at the point of sale, 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 awareness, quality, availability, and relevance of new product introductions.

Ingredients and Other Supplies

The principal raw materials used in manufacturing and packaging our distilled spirits, liqueurs, RTD products, and wines are shown in the table below.

Principal Raw Materials
Distilled Spirits						Liqueurs						RTD Products						Wines						Packaging
Agave						Flavorings						Carbon dioxide						Grapes						Aluminum cans
Barley						Neutral spirits						Flavorings						Wood						Cartons
Corn						Sugar						Malt												Closures
Malted barley						Water						Neutral spirits												Glass bottles
Molasses						Whiskey						Sugar												Labels
Rye						Wine						Tequila												PET1 bottles
Sugar												Water
Water												Whiskey
Wood

1Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a polymer used in non-glass containers.

None of these raw materials are in short supply, but shortages could occur in the future. From time to time, our agricultural ingredients (agave, barley, corn, grapes, malted barley, molasses, rye, sugar, and wood) could be adversely affected by weather and other forces out of our control that might constrain supply or reduce our inventory below desired levels for optimum production.

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

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

Intellectual Property

Our intellectual property includes 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 around the world, focusing primarily on 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 enhances the awareness and protection of our brands. Depending on the jurisdiction, trademarks are valid as long as they are in use and/or their registrations are properly maintained. We also have various licenses and distribution agreements for the production, sale, and marketing of our products, and for the sale and marketing of products of others. These licenses and distribution agreements have varying terms and durations.

For details on risks related to the protection of our intellectual property, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors.” For details on our most important brands, see “Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Results of Operations – Fiscal 2023 Brand Highlights.”

Regulatory Environment

Federal, state, local, and foreign authorities regulate how we produce, store, transport, distribute, market, and sell 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 spirits and wine industry with respect to the production, blending, bottling, labeling, advertising, sales, and transportation of beverage alcohol. Similar regulatory regimes exist at the state level and in most non-U.S. jurisdictions where we sell our products. In addition, beverage alcohol products are subject to customs duties, excise taxes, and/or sales taxes in many countries, including taxation at the federal, state, and local level in the United States.

Many countries set their own distilling and maturation requirements. For example, under U.S. federal and state regulations, bourbon and Tennessee whiskeys must be aged in new, charred oak barrels; we typically age our whiskeys at least three years. Mexican authorities regulate the production and bottling of tequilas; they mandate minimum aging periods for extra añejo (three years), añejo (one year), and reposado (two months). Irish whiskey must be matured at least three years in a wood cask, such as oak, on the island of Ireland. Scotch whisky must be matured in oak casks for at least three years in Scotland. We comply with all of the applicable laws and regulations.

Our operations are also subject to various environmental protection statutes and regulations, and our policy is to comply with them. Complying with these statutes and regulations has not materially impacted our capital expenditures, earnings or competitive position, and is not expected to have a material impact during fiscal 2024.

Integrated Strategy and Performance

For more than 150 years, Brown-Forman and the Brown family have been committed to driving sustainable growth and preserving Brown-Forman as a thriving, family-controlled, independent company. The image on the left illustrates our core purpose, “Enriching Life,” and our highest ambition, “Nothing Better in the Market,” surrounded by the values that have guided us for decades: integrity, respect, trust, teamwork, and excellence. In addition to these guiding principles, our success depends on several strategic priorities, as illustrated in the image on the right: the quality of our brands within our portfolio, our geographic reach, the talent and diversity of our people, and the return on our investments. Moreover, taking an integrated approach means that many aspects of our company contribute to this value creation and are fundamental to our strategy, including our commitment to environmental sustainability, alcohol and marketing responsibility, diversity and inclusion, and to building communities in which we live and work.

Over the past three fiscal years, we faced a challenging, volatile environment, including supply chain disruptions and a global pandemic. Our employees' unique mix of agility, resilience, energy, and collaboration enabled us to succeed despite these challenges. Our values drive decisions, and our core purpose and our highest ambition continue to guide us as we move forward to a reimagined future with a renewed sense of opportunity for what lies ahead. We believe we are well positioned to navigate the ever-changing landscape. We will make bold moves with a commitment to improve continuously as we work together to deliver sustained long-term growth.

This Integrated Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2023, presents not only our financial performance but also our environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) strategies, commitments, and results. It provides a more holistic view of Brown-Forman, our culture, our strategic approach to our business, and how we achieve results.

Portfolio and Responsibility

We seek to build brands and create stockholder value responsibly by delivering strong, sustainable growth, solid margins, and high returns on invested capital. We focus on building brands that can be meaningful for our company and our consumers over the longer term. We aim to grow our premium spirits portfolio both organically and through innovation. Opportunistically and thoughtfully, we also consider acquisitions and partnerships that will enhance our capacity to deliver meaningful growth, improve margins, and increase stockholder returns.

We strive to grow our brands and enhance consumers' experience with them. Even as we do so, we remain committed to marketing our brands responsibly and promoting responsible drinking. Regulation of our industry is not new, and external interest from the World Health Organization and other health bodies has grown over time. We uphold high standards of self-regulation by adhering to industry guidelines on responsible marketing and advertising. We promote alcohol responsibility both independently and with industry organizations, such as the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking, the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility (responsibility.org) in the United States, The Portman Group in the United Kingdom, DrinkWise in Australia, and FISAC in Mexico.

The Jack Daniel's family of brands, led by Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey (JDTW), is our most valuable asset – the engine of our overall financial performance and the foundation of our leadership position in the American whiskey category.1 We strive to strengthen the brand's leadership position continually, and will work steadfastly to keep JDTW relevant to consumers worldwide. We will also pursue opportunities to grow the Jack Daniel's family of brands across markets, premium-and-above price points, channels, and consumer groups. Product innovation continues to contribute meaningfully to our performance. Different Jack Daniel's expressions have brought new consumers to the franchise, including Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey (2011), Jack Daniel's Tennessee Fire (2015), Jack Daniel's Tennessee Rye (2017), Jack Daniel's Tennessee Apple (2019), and our most recent launches, Jack Daniel's Bonded Tennessee Whiskey and Triple Mash Blended Straight Whiskey (2022), which individually and collectively add great value to the company and to our consumers the world over.

In addition to the leadership of our Jack Daniel's family of brands, we expect strong worldwide growth from our other whiskey brands, particularly Woodford Reserve and Old Forester. Woodford Reserve is the leading super-premium American whiskey globally,1 growing volumes at a strong double-digit compound annual growth rate since the brand was introduced over 25 years ago. Woodford Reserve surpassed 1.7 million nine-liter cases of annual volume as of April 30, 2023. We believe the brand is poised for continued growth as the bourbon category continues to grow around the world. Old Forester has continued its return to prominence in the United States and in select international markets. Innovation has played an important role in the premiumization of both of these brands, including the success of high-end expressions such as Woodford Reserve Double Oaked, and the Old Forester Whiskey Row Series.

Outside of our American whiskey brands, we believe our portfolio remains well positioned in other high-growth categories, with meaningful premium brands and a focus on accelerating our super-premium portfolio. Our tequila portfolio is led by two brands steeped in Mexican heritage, Herradura and el Jimador. Despite the cyclical cost pressures resulting from the unprecedented cost of agave, we remain committed to the growth of our tequila business in the United States and the long-term growth prospects of this business globally. We believe that our Scotch whiskies GlenDronach, Benriach, and Glenglassaugh, and our Irish whiskey Slane, are well-positioned in their respective categories. We expect them all to become meaningful contributors over the longer term. Lastly, the recent acquisitions of Gin Mare (2022) and Diplomático (2023) provide us with leadership positions in the super-premium-and-above gin and rum categories, respectively, and we look to grow these brands globally.

Fiscal 2023 was another year of growth for our ready-to-drink (RTD) portfolio. Jack Daniel's RTDs are now more than 14 million nine-liter cases globally. In Mexico, our el Jimador tequila-based RTD, New Mix, grew to nearly 10 million nine-liter cases. In June 2022, we jointly announced a global relationship with The Coca-Cola Company to introduce the iconic Jack & Coke cocktail as a branded, ready-to-drink pre-mixed cocktail. Since the announcement, we have launched the product in Mexico, the United States, Japan, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, Poland, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Ireland with more markets to follow. Jack Daniel's Country Cocktails in the United States continues to be sold and distributed under our relationship with the Pabst Brewing Company.

We appreciate the power of our brands to enrich the experience of life, and we believe it is our duty to ensure that our products are marketed with deep respect for our consumers. Our mission for alcohol responsibility is to empower mindful choices around beverage alcohol. We launched the Pause campaign in 2019. Pause is Brown-Forman’s driving effort to encourage mindful choices. In 2022, we launched our 2030 Alcohol Responsibility strategy to prioritize strategic programs and partnerships, in-market tools and resources, and to continue empowering our employees and business partners. We execute our 2030 Alcohol Responsibility strategy through the lens of our Pause campaign to showcase the importance of alcohol responsibility and inspire action among our consumers, colleagues, and business partners.

Geography

The United States remains our largest market, and continued growth there is important to our long-term success. We expect to foster this growth by emphasizing fast-growing spirits categories, continued product and packaging innovation, and brand building within growing consumer segments. This includes increasing emphasis on inclusive, digital, and integrated marketing and the growth of our e-commerce capabilities to better connect and engage with consumers where they are.

Outside the United States, we continue to increase our competitiveness through improved routes to consumers. In fiscal 2022, we established our owned-distribution organizations for Belgium and Luxembourg and Taiwan. More direct connection with customers and consumers enabled through owned distribution is an important part of our strategic growth.

1 IWSR, 2023

People, Diversity & Inclusion, and Ethics & Compliance

As we work to increase our brands' relevance and appeal to diverse consumer groups around the world, we believe a diversity of experiences and mindsets within our own workforce is essential. In the summer of 2019, we unveiled Many Spirits, One Brown-Forman: Gender and Race Edition, our 2030 Diversity & Inclusion Strategy aimed at creating a foundation for building a more diverse workforce and inclusive culture. In the summer of 2020, we developed and published commitments to be better and do better – commitments that amplified our initiatives in the areas of representation, development, and accountability. We also extended our commitment more deeply in our communities, especially our hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. We believe these actions will help us continue to build an inclusive culture at Brown-Forman.

Our vision is to create an environment where leveraging diversity and inclusion occurs naturally, giving us a sustainable marketplace advantage. We have set race and gender ambitions to have at least 50% women in professional- and leader-level roles globally, 40% women in senior leadership positions globally, and 25% people of color in our United States workforce by 2030. In June 2022, we published the Many Spirits, One Brown-Forman LGBTQ+ edition and set a 2030 ambition of 6% self-identified LGBTQ+ employees in our United States workforce. We have also set a goal to reach 16% of our supplier spend in locations such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, with businesses that are woman- or minority-owned by 2030. For more than a decade, we have earned a perfect score in the Corporate Equality Index, a national benchmarking survey and report on corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ workplace equality administered by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.

One of the main drivers of our inclusive culture is the continued growth and leadership of our nine Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). We believe ERGs are instrumental in enriching our company's culture, and our employees experience this by supporting development and engagement of our diverse workforce, driving cultural awareness and competency across the organization, and enabling authentic engagement with our consumers. Our ERGs also create spaces for our employees and their allies to connect with, support, and advocate for one another.

Our core values of integrity, respect, trust, teamwork, and excellence form the foundation of our ethics and compliance program. “Values Drive Decisions” is the key theme of this program, and we use it to teach our employees to rely on our values when faced with a difficult decision and to “speak up” if they believe they, a colleague, or a business partner may have violated the law, our Code of Conduct, or company policy. In 45 countries, we offer a third-party service to employees and others who choose to “speak up” anonymously. We deliver training to managers reinforcing our commitment to non-retaliation and maintaining a “speak up” culture.

We convey our compliance expectations to employees via our Code of Conduct, and our employees certify annually that they will comply with the Code of Conduct and report potential violations. The Code of Conduct is a toolkit for employees, as it details expectations for 20 different risks, includes links to Q&A, policies, training, and the ability to contact a subject-matter expert. We refresh our Code of Conduct and certification annually and make them available in 13 languages.

Investment and Sustainability

For over a century and a half, we have learned that long-term success requires investment and a mindset of sustainability. We understand the need to invest in our brands, global supply chain facilities, homeplace and visitor centers, and aging inventory. For example, in May 2023, we announced a $200 million capital investment to expand our Casa Herradura tequila distillery to meet future consumer demand. Additionally, during fiscal 2023, we announced a £30 million expansion of our GlenDronach distillery to meet strong demand. We also understand the importance of investing in our people, communities, and the environment. We recognize that climate change is a business issue with risks and opportunities. As such, we are committed to actions that will ensure the long-term health of the planet and our business. In fiscal 2021, we established a new 2030 Sustainability Strategy to align our efforts with industry best practices and the most current climate science. Our goals broaden our focus beyond business operations to include our supply chain, where the majority of our environmental footprint resides. With this evolving strategy, we have a roadmap for continued progress over the next quarter-century.

Our continued investments in renewable energy and resource stewardship underscore our long-term focus:

• Renewable Electricity: In fiscal 2023, we installed a rooftop solar system at our Slane Castle distillery, and in fiscal 2024 we plan to install a rooftop solar system at our Newbridge bottling plant in Edinburgh, Scotland.

*•*Byproducts to Energy: Jack Daniel's announced a project to develop an anaerobic digester that will convert a portion of the distillery byproducts, also known as stillage, to renewable energy and fertilizer. The project broke ground in fiscal 2023.

*•*Water Stewardship: In fiscal 2023, we partnered with Waterplan to improve the measurement of water related risk at two of our facilities and to identify opportunities for water reuse at our Casa Herradura facility. We will expand this partnership in fiscal 2024 to further enhance our water stewardship program.

*•*Sustainable Forestry: In April 2023, we completed the third planting at the Old Forester Tree Nursery, a 15-year white oak genetic improvement project in partnership with the University of Kentucky. In June 2023, our Jack Daniel Seed Orchard will celebrate its 25th anniversary and our continued partnership with the University of Tennessee.

We believe we are well positioned to deliver exceptional, high-quality products to our consumers around the world. We have a highly capable and engaged workforce. We have developed brand-building capabilities by equipping our teams with the training and tools necessary for an increasingly data-driven digital global marketplace. Among other trends, the expansion of the digital economy accelerated significantly as consumers, businesses, and communities adapted to the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. To continue our success in how we market and sell our brands, we announced in fiscal 2021 an investment in a new Integrated Marketing Communications organization that we believe is further enhancing our ability to win in the digital economy.

Community

We are a responsible and caring corporate citizen and invest in the communities where employees live and work. We encourage employees to participate in philanthropic outreach efforts by giving their time and talents to support those non-profit organizations most meaningful to them. This civic engagement, as well as our corporate contributions, further promotes Brown-Forman’s caring culture and supports our purpose to enrich life.

We also continue to expand our civic engagement into Brown-Forman global office locations, allowing those employees closest to the needs of their communities to decide how to invest their charitable-giving resources. We leverage our key community relations partners to stay informed of collaborative opportunities in the communities where we work and live, and to shape our charitable-giving strategy to meet the essential needs of the communities that sustain us. We provide charitable donations and our employees volunteer throughout our communities, including approximately 120 serving on 200 nonprofit boards in the United States. We created the Brown-Forman Foundation (the Foundation) in fiscal 2018 to help fund our ongoing philanthropic endeavors. The Foundation's earnings provide a consistent source of revenue for charitable giving independent of our annual earnings. We work to partner with organizations that support our key focus areas: empowering responsible and sustainable living, ensuring essential living standards, and enhancing arts and cultural living. As part of our commitment to be better and do better as neighbors and as corporate citizens, the Brown-Forman Foundation made a 10-year, $50 million

commitment to five organizations in west Louisville in 2022, which is the largest investment in its history. Our partner organizations include AMPED, the Louisville Central Community Center, the Louisville Urban League, Simmons College of Kentucky, and the West End School. Together, these organizations will advance educational opportunities in west Louisville, from early childhood through adult learning.

We believe that having a long-term-focused, committed, and engaged stockholder base, anchored by the Brown Family, gives us a distinct strategic advantage, particularly in a business with multi-generational brands and products that must be aged. We are committed to continually improving our environmental, social, and governance performance and acting upon our deeply held values. Recognizing the strong cash-generating capacity and the capital efficiency of our business, we will continue to pursue top-tier stockholder return through stockholder-friendly capital allocation and socially and environmentally conscious investments to fuel long-term growth.

Human Capital Resources

Overview

We put our values at the forefront of all our decisions and actions, in an effort to make our employees feel respected, safe, and supported so they can make, market, and sell our products with the finest craftsmanship, quality, and care. What enables our success are the approximately 5,600 people (excluding individuals that work on a part-time or temporary basis) we employ in 47 countries around the world. This includes approximately 3,500 salaried employees and 2,100 hourly employees, with the largest percentage of our employees residing within the United States, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. We believe our employee relations are good and our turnover rate is low.

Total Rewards

It is our intent to pay our employees fairly and competitively. Over the last fiscal year, we completed a process to review the compensation for every salaried role both internally and externally, ensuring that every employee is paid fairly compared to each other and competitively against the market. All roles are priced based on compensation survey data for the market where the employee resides. We will continue to refresh our data and monitor pay equity annually.

Talent Development

We continually seek opportunities to develop our employees to ensure that we have the capabilities to grow our business. We do this through a combination of succession planning, planned learning, short-term assignments, international opportunities, and thoughtful talent management. Given our low turnover, we are particularly thoughtful about rotating employees through new roles, ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to grow and develop. We recently began tracking all internal movement and are comfortable that we are providing an appropriate level of growth and development for our employees.

Diversity & Inclusion

We are continuing to pursue our 2030 Diversity & Inclusion strategy, as outlined in Many Spirits, One Brown-Forman: Gender and Race Edition. This year, we continued to increase the number of women in senior leadership globally and people of color in the United States through both internal promotions and external hiring. We have also added an ambition to increase the number of LGBTQ+ salaried employees in the United States to 6% by 2030.

We track promotion and lateral movement by gender (globally) and ethnicity (in the United States) and, based on that data, we can confirm that our growth opportunities for women and people of color are proportional to our salaried employee population.

To support our culture of inclusion, all business leaders participated in our six-month Inclusive Leadership Program. This group completed the program at the end of the calendar year, and we have recently begun cascading it down to our front-line managers.

Workforce Stability

We must remain focused on winning the war for talent in a marketplace where opportunities abound and highly skilled knowledge workers can work from anywhere. While we have historically enjoyed low turnover among our salaried population, we have continued to track our departures carefully over the last fiscal year, given the acceleration of the job market over the last two years. We have analyzed our data quarterly by gender, ethnicity, function, location, age, management level, etc. in addition to qualitative exit interview data. Turnover related to retirements increased in fiscal 2023, which we believe was related to the impact of interest rate movement on some of our defined benefit pension plans. Excluding retirements, our

voluntary turnover among salaried employees remains consistent with our pre-pandemic levels. We will continue to monitor our data carefully.

Executive Officers

Information about Our Executive Officers

The following persons served as executive officers as of June 16, 2023:

Name			Age			Principal Occupation and Business Experience
Lawson E. Whiting			54			President and Chief Executive Officer since 2019. Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer from October 2017 to December 2018. Executive Vice President and Chief Brands and Strategy Officer from 2015 to 2017. Senior Vice President and Chief Brands Officer from 2013 to 2015.
Matias Bentel			48			Executive Vice President and Chief Brands Officer since March 2023. Senior Vice President and Chief Brands Officer from January 2020 to March 2023. Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Jack Daniel’s Family of Brands from August 2018 to January 2020. Vice President and General Manager of Mexico from January 2016 to August 2018. Vice President Latin America Marketing and Chief of Staff from October 2009 to January 2016.
Leanne D. Cunningham			53			Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since March 2023. Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from July 2021 to March 2023. Senior Vice President, Shareholder Relations Officer, Global Commercial Finance, and Financial Planning and Analysis from August 2020 to July 2021. Senior Vice President, Shareholder Relations Officer from August 2019 to July 2020. Senior Vice President, and General Manager - Brown-Forman Brands from May 2015 to July 2019. Vice President, Director of Finance Global Production from October 2013 to April 2015.
Marshall B. Farrer			52			Executive Vice President, Chief Strategic Growth Officer and President Europe since January 2023. Senior Vice President, President Europe from August 2020 to January 2023. Senior Vice President, Managing Director, Global Travel Retail and Developed APAC Region from August 2018 to July 2020. Senior Vice President, Managing Director, Global Travel Retail from July 2018 to May 2015. Vice President, Managing Director, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey from January 2014 to April 2015.
Matthew E. Hamel			63			Executive Vice President and General Counsel since 2021. Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary from 2007 to 2021.
Kirsten M. Hawley			53			Executive Vice President, Chief People, Places, and Communications Officer since March 2023. Senior Vice President, Chief People, Places, and Communications Officer from May 2021 to March 2023. Senior Vice President, Chief Human Resources and Corporate Communications Officer from March 2019 to April 2021. Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer from February 2015 to February 2019. Senior Vice President and Director of Human Resources Business Partnerships from 2013 to 2015.
Thomas W. Hinrichs			61			Executive Vice President, President Emerging International since March 2023. Senior Vice President, President Emerging International from August 2020 to March 2023. Senior Vice President, President, International Division from June 2018 to July 2020. Senior Vice President and President for Europe, North Asia, and ANZSEA from February 2015 to June 2018. Senior Vice President and Managing Director for Europe from 2013 to 2015.
Timothy M. Nall			52			Executive Vice President, Chief Global Supply Chain and Technology Officer since March 2023. Senior Vice President, Chief Global Supply Chain and Technology Officer from March 2022 to March 2023. Senior Vice President, Chief Information and Advanced Analytics Officer from January 2015 to February 2022. Vice President Director Technical Services from May 2013 to December 2014.
Crystal L. Peterson			52			Executive Vice President, Chief Inclusion and Global Community Relations Officer since March 2023. Senior Vice President, Chief Inclusion and Global Community Relations Officer from June 2022 to March 2023. Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer from February 2022 to June 2022. Vice President and Human Resources Director - Global Production, Diversity and Inclusion from March 2021 to January 2022. Vice President and Human Resources Director - Global Production from August 2017 to February 2021. Vice President and Human Resources Director - North America Region from May 2015 to July 2017. Human Resources Director - North America Region and Latin America Region from May 2013 to April 2015.

Name			Age			Principal Occupation and Business Experience
Jeremy J. Shepherd			48			Executive Vice President, President USA & Canada since March 2023. Senior Vice President, President USA & Canada from July 2022 to March 2023. Vice President, General Manager for the United Kingdom & Ireland from January 2018 to July 2022. Vice President Director Midwest Division from May 2015 to December 2017. Portfolio Integration Director from September 2014 to May 2015.
Kelli N. Brown			53			Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer since August 2018. Vice President and Director Finance (North America Region) from 2015 to August 2018. Director NAR Division Finance (North America Region) from 2013 to 2015.

Available Information

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 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The information provided on our website, and any other website referenced herein, is not part of this report, and is therefore not incorporated by reference into this report or any other filing we make with the SEC, unless that information is otherwise specifically incorporated by reference.

On our website, we have posted our Code of Conduct that applies to all our 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, or principal accounting officer that relates to any element of the definition of “code of ethics” enumerated in Item 406(b) of Regulation S-K under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Act, as amended, 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 at 850 Dixie Highway, Louisville, Kentucky 40210 or emailing Secretary@b-f.com.