EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Retirement Benefits [Abstract]

EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

401(k) Plans.  The Company has established 401(k) plans covering all employees after certain eligibility requirements are met.  Amounts charged to operations for employer contributions related to the plans totaled $1,826, $1,733, and $1,603 for 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively.

Post-Employment Benefits.  The Company sponsors life insurance coverage as well as medical benefits, including prescription drug coverage, to certain retired employees and their spouses.  In 2014, the Company made a change to the plan to terminate post-employment health care and life insurance benefits for retirees and employees except for a specified grandfathered group. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, total current benefit obligation recorded in Accrued expense on the Consolidated Balance Sheets was $232 and $266, respectively. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, total noncurrent benefit obligation was $1,159 and $1,476, which was recorded in Other noncurrent liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets, respectively.

Share-Based Compensation Plans.  As of December 31, 2021, the Company was authorized to issue 40,000,000 shares of Common Stock and had a treasury share balance of 1,160,852 at December 31, 2021.

The Company currently has two active share-based compensation plans: the Employee Equity Incentive Plan of 2014 (the “2014 Plan”) and the Non-Employee Director Equity Incentive Plan (the “Directors’ Plan”). The plans were approved by shareholders at the Company’s annual meeting in May 2014. Detail of activities in both plans follows below.

The Company’s share-based compensation plans provide for the awarding of stock options, stock appreciation rights, and shares of restricted stock and RSUs for senior executives and salaried employees, as well as for outside directors.  

Compensation expense related to restricted stock awards is based on the market price of the stock on the date the Board of Directors communicates the approved award and is amortized over the vesting period of the restricted stock award. The Consolidated Statements of Income for 2021, 2020, and 2019 reflect total share-based compensation costs and director fees for awarded grants of $2,346, $2,723, $2,424, respectively, related to these plans.

For long-term incentive awards to be granted in the form of RSUs in 2022 based on 2021 results, the Human Resources and Compensation Committee (“HRCC”) determined that the grants would have performance conditions that would be based on the same performance metrics as the Short-Term Incentive Plan (the “STI Plan”). The performance metrics are operating income, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (“EBITDA”), and EPS. Because management determined at the beginning of 2021 that the performance metrics would most likely be met, amortization of the estimated dollar pool of RSUs to be awarded based on 2021 results was started in the first quarter over an estimated 48 month period, including 12 months to the grant date and an additional 36 months to the vesting date. The Consolidated Statements of Income for 2021, 2020, and 2019 reflects share-based compensation costs for grants to be awarded of $960, $2,566, and $123, respectively.

2014 Plan. The 2014 Plan, with 1,500,000 shares registered for future grants, provides that vesting occurs pursuant to the time period specified in the particular award agreement approved for that issuance of RSUs, which is to be not less than three years unless vesting is accelerated due to the occurrence of certain events. As of December 31, 2021, 516,861 RSUs had been granted of the 1,500,000 shares approved for under the 2014 Plan.

Directors’ Plan. The Director’s Plan, with 300,000 shares registered for future grants, provides that vesting occurs pursuant to the time period specified in the particular award agreement approved for that issuance of equity.  As of December 31, 2021, 122,279 shares were granted of the 300,000 shares approved for grants under the Directors’ Plan and all 122,279 shares were vested.

RSUs.  Summary of unvested RSUs under the Company’s share-based compensation plans for 2021, 2020, and 2019:

 

	Year Ended December 31,
	2021			2020			2019
	Units	Weighted Average  Grant-Date Fair Value		Units	Weighted Average  Grant-Date Fair Value		Units	Weighted Average  Grant-Date Fair Value
Unvested balance at beginning of year	118,855	$	60.56	116,855	$	65.73	329,205	$	25.42
Granted	95,113	65.66		38,700	31.93		45,993	77.78
Forfeited	(7,915)	62.77		(5,278)	63.17		(22,934)	57.27
Vested	(38,059)	70.60		(31,422)	44.06		(235,409)	12.54
Unvested balance at end of year	167,994	$	61.07	118,855	$	60.56	116,855	$	65.73

During 2021, 2020, and 2019, the total grant date fair value of RSU awards vested was $2,687, $1,384, and $2,951, respectively. As of December 31, 2021 there was $3,004 of total estimated unrecognized compensation costs (net of estimated forfeitures) related to granted RSU awards.  These costs are expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of approximately 0.8 years.

Upon their vesting, the Company purchased restricted stock and RSUs from employees to cover associated withholding taxes. Total treasury stock purchases added 11,887 shares for $767 in 2021; 10,437 shares for $358 in 2020; and 77,481 shares for $5,489 in 2019.

Annual Cash Incentive Plan. The STI Plan was amended and restated as of January 1, 2019. Pursuant to the STI Plan, short-term incentive compensation is dependent on the achievement of certain performance metrics by the Company, established by the Board of Directors. Each performance metric is calculated in accordance with the rules approved by the HRCC, which may adjust the results to eliminate unusual items. For 2021, 2020, and 2019, the performance metrics were operating income, EBITDA, and EPS. Operating income for the performance metric was defined as reported GAAP operating income adjusted for certain discretionary items as determined by the Company’s management, if applicable (“adjusted operating income”). The HRCC determines the officers and employees eligible to participate under the STI Plan for the plan year as well as the target annual incentive compensation for each participant for each plan year. For 2021, the Branded Spirits segment incentive plan was based on performance metrics of number of depleted cases and gross margin.

Amounts expensed under the STI Plan totaled $11,155, $9,732, and $461 for 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively.

Deferred Compensation Plan. The Company established an unfunded Executive Deferred Compensation Plan (“EDC Plan”) effective as of June 30, 2018, with a purpose to attract and retain highly-compensated key employees by providing participants with an opportunity to defer receipt of a portion of their salary, bonus, and other specified compensation. The Company's obligations under this plan will change in conjunction with the performance of the participants’ investments, along with contributions to and withdrawals from the plan. Realized and unrealized gains (losses) on deferred compensation plan investments were insignificant and were included as a component of Operating income in the Company’s Consolidated Statements of Income, because the Company’s deferred compensation investments consist of mutual funds that are considered trading securities.

Plan investments are classified as Level 1 in the fair value hierarchy since the investments trade with sufficient frequency and volume to enable the Company to obtain pricing information on an ongoing basis. The current portion of deferred compensation plan deferrals is comprised of estimated amounts to be paid within one year depending on timing of planned disbursements. At December 31, 2021 and 2020, the EDC Plan investments were $3,072 and $2,007, respectively, which were recorded in Other assets on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheet. The EDC Plan current liabilities were $617 at December 31, 2021 and were included in Accrued expenses and other on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheet. The EDC Plan non-current liabilities were $2,981 and $3,140 as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, which were recorded in Other non-current liabilities on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheet.