Vital Farms, Inc.
Insider Trading Policy
Policy Principles
•Employees, directors and designated consultants (each a “Covered Person,” and collectively, “Covered Persons”) of Vital Farms, Inc. and its subsidiaries (together, the “Company”) are responsible for understanding the obligations that come with having access to material nonpublic information and wanting to transact in the Company’s securities.
•Covered Persons who are aware of material nonpublic information relating to the Company may not engage in transactions in the Company’s securities except as permitted by this Insider Trading Policy (this “Policy”) and applicable law.
•Covered Persons may not disclose material nonpublic information outside of the Company unless the disclosure is made in accordance with a specific Company policy that authorizes such disclosure.
•Covered Persons may not disclose material nonpublic information to persons within the Company whose jobs do not require them to have that information.
•Covered Persons may not recommend the purchase or sale of any Company’s securities.
•Changes to this Policy require approval by the Company’s Board of Directors or a duly appointed committee of the Board of Directors.
Policy Q&A
Policy Scope and Purpose
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Why do we have an insider trading policy? |
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During the course of your relationship with the Company, you may receive material information that is not yet publicly available (“material nonpublic information”) about the Company or other publicly traded companies with which the Company has business relationships. Material nonpublic information may give you, or someone to whom you pass that information, a leg up over others when deciding whether to buy, sell or otherwise transact in the Company’s securities or the securities of another publicly traded company. This Policy sets forth guidelines with respect to transactions in Company securities by persons subject to this Policy. |
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Who is subject to this Policy? |
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This Policy applies to you and all other Covered Persons. This Policy also applies to members of your immediate family, persons with whom you share a household, persons who are your economic dependents, and, unless otherwise determined by the Company, any other individuals or entities whose transactions in securities you influence, direct, or control (including, e.g., a venture or other investment fund, if you influence, direct, or control transactions by the fund). However, this Policy does not apply to any entity that invests in securities in the ordinary course of its business (e.g., a venture or other investment fund) if (and only if) such entity has established its own insider trading controls and procedures in compliance with applicable securities laws with respect to trading in the Company’s securities. The foregoing persons who are deemed subject to this Policy are referred toin this Policy as “Related Persons.” You are responsible for making sure that your Related |
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Persons comply with this Policy. In addition, if you are an officer or director of the Company, or an employee or designated consultant of the Company described on Appendix A (“Specified Persons”), you and your Related Persons are subject to the quarterly trading blackout periods described below. In addition, from time to time, the Company may engage in transactions in Company securities. Although not subject to this Policy, it is the Company's policy to comply with all applicable laws and regulations relating to insider trading. |
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Whose responsibility is it to comply with this Policy? |
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Covered Persons subject to this Policy have ethical and legal obligations to maintain the confidentiality of information about the Company and to not engage in transactions in the Company’s securities while aware of material nonpublic information. Each individual is responsible for making sure that he or she and his or her Related Persons comply with this Policy. In all cases, the responsibility for determining whether an individual is aware of material nonpublic information rests with that individual, and any action on the part of the Company or any Covered Persons pursuant to this Policy (or otherwise) does not in any way constitute legal advice or insulate an individual from liability under applicable securities laws. You could be subject to severe legal penalties and disciplinary action by the Company for any conduct prohibited by this Policy or applicable securities laws. |
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What transactions are subject to this Policy? |
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This Policy applies to all transactions in securities issued by the Company, as well as derivative securities that are not issued by the Company, such as exchange-traded put or call options or swaps relating to the Company’s securities. Accordingly, for purposes of this policy, the terms “trade,” “trading,” and “transactions” include not only purchases and sales of the Company’s common stock in the public market but also any other purchases, sales, transfers, gifts, or other acquisitions and dispositions of common or preferred equity, options, warrants and other securities (including debt securities) and other arrangements or transactions that affect economic exposure to changes in the prices of these securities. |
Insider Trading and Material Nonpublic Information
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What is insider trading? |
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Generally speaking, insider trading is the buying or selling of stocks, bonds, futures or other securities by someone who possesses or is otherwise aware of material nonpublic information about the securities or the issuer of the securities. Insider trading also includes trading in derivatives (such as put or call options) where the price is linked to the underlying price of a company’s stock. It does not matter whether the decision to buy or sell was influenced by the material nonpublic information, how many shares you buy or sell, or whether it has an effect on the stock price. Bottom line: If you are aware of material nonpublic information about the Company or another publicly traded company that the Company has business relationships with and you trade in the Company’s or such other company’s securities, you have broken the law. |
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Why is insider trading illegal? |
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If company insiders are able to use their confidential knowledge to their financial advantage, other investors would not have confidence in the fairness and integrity of the market. This |
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provisions of this Policy whether or not for the purpose of generating the cash needed to pay the exercise price or pay taxes. |
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Are mutual funds holding the Company common stock subject to the trading blackout periods? |
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No. You may trade in mutual funds holding the Company stock at any time. |
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What are the rules that apply to 10b5-1 Automatic Trading Programs? |
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Under Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (“Exchange Act”), any person may establish a trading plan under which a broker is instructed to buy and sell Company securities based on pre-determined criteria (a “Trading Plan”). So long as a Trading Plan is properly established and not as part of a plan or scheme to avoid the prohibitions of Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act, purchases and sales of Company securities pursuant to that Trading Plan are not subject to this Policy. To be properly established, a person’s Trading Plan must be established in compliance with the requirements of Rule 10b5-1 of the Exchange Act and any applicable 10b5-1 trading plan guidelines of the Company at a time when they were unaware of any material nonpublic information relating to the Company and when you were not otherwise subject to a trading blackout period. Moreover, all Trading Plans to be adopted by officers, directors, Specified Personnel and their Related Persons must be reviewed and approved by the Company before being established to confirm that the Trading Plan complies with all pertinent company policies and applicable securities laws. See “Pre-Clearance of Transactions in the Company Stock” below. |
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Can I gift stock while I possess material nonpublic information or during a trading blackout period? |
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No. A gift of stock could subject you to insider trading liability if you are aware of material nonpublic information at the time of the gift and knew or were reckless in not knowing that the recipient would sell the securities prior to the disclosure of such information. Therefore, gifts may only be made when you are not in possession of material nonpublic information and not subject to a trading blackout period. |
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Are purchases of the Company stock in a 401(k) plan allowed by this Policy? |
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This Policy does not apply to purchases of the Company’s securities in the Company’s 401(k) plan resulting from your periodic contribution of money to the plan pursuant to your payroll deduction election. This Policy does apply, however, to certain elections you may make under the 401(k) plan, including: (a) an election to increase or decrease the percentage of your periodic contributions that will be allocated to the Company stock fund; (b) an election to make an intra-plan transfer of an existing account balance into or out of the Company stock fund; (c) an election to borrow money against your 401(k) plan account if the loan will result in a liquidation of some or all of your Company stock fund balance; and (d) an election to pre-pay a plan loan if the pre-payment will result in allocation of loan proceeds to the Company stock fund. |
Margin Accounts, Pledging Shares, Hedging and Other Speculation in Company Stock
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Can I purchase Company securities on margin? |
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“Short selling” is profiting when you expect the price of the stock to decline, and includes transactions in which you borrow stock from a broker, sell it, and eventually buy it back on the market to return the borrowed shares to the broker. Profit is realized if the stock price decreases during the period of borrowing. |
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Why does the Company prohibit trading in derivative securities and short selling? |
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Many companies with volatile stock prices have adopted similar policies because of the temptation it represents to try to benefit from a relatively low-cost method of trading on short-term swings in stock prices, without actually holding the underlying common stock, and encourages speculative trading. The Company is dedicated to building stockholder value; short selling the Company’s common stock conflicts with its values and would not be well-received by its stockholders. |
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What if I purchased publicly traded options or other derivative securities before I became subject to this Policy? |
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The same rules apply as for employee stock options. You may exercise the publicly traded options at any time, but you may not sell the securities during a trading blackout period or at any time that you are aware of material nonpublic information. |
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What are the concerns about standing and limit orders? |
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Standing and limit orders (except standing and limit orders under approved Trading Plans, as discussed above) create heightened risks for insider trading violations similar to the use of margin accounts. There is no control over the timing of purchases or sales that result from standing instructions to a broker, and as a result the broker could execute a transaction when a Covered Person is in possession of material nonpublic information. The Company therefore discourages placing standing or limit orders on the Company’s securities. If a person subject to this Policy determines that they must use a standing order or limit order (other than under an approved Trading Plan as discussed above), the order should be limited to short duration and the person using such standing order or limit order is required to cancel such instructions immediately in the event restrictions are imposed on their ability to trade pursuant to the “Quarterly Trading Blackouts” and “Event-Specific Trading Blackouts” provisions above. |
Pre-Clearance of Transactions in Company Stock
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Who is required to pre-clear and provide advance notice of transactions? |
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In addition to the requirements above, officers, directors and other applicable members of management who have been notified that they are subject to pre-clearance requirements face a further restriction: Even during an open trading window, they may not engage in any transaction in the Company’s securities involving a market transaction without first obtaining pre-clearance of the transaction from the Compliance Coordinator (as identified in the Company’s Section 16 Compliance Program) at least two (2) business days in advance of the proposed transaction. The Compliance Coordinator will then determine whether the transaction may proceed and, if so, will or will direct his or her designee to help comply with any required reporting requirements under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act. Pre-cleared transactions (other than gifts) not completed within two (2) business days will require new pre-clearance; pre-cleared gifts that are not completed with five (5) business days will require new pre-clearance. The Compliance Coordinator (or, in the case of a transaction by the Compliance Coordinator, |
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another executive officer designated by the Compliance Coordinator) may shorten the required pre-clearance period and/or the period of time in which a pre- cleared transaction must be completed. Exercise-and-hold transactions in which there is no market transaction and the exercise price and, if applicable, taxes are funded in cash do not require pre- clearance; however, the advanced notice requirement discussed below applies to such transactions. |
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Are individuals subject to pre-clearance required to provide advanced notice of stock option exercises? |
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Yes. Persons subject to pre-clearance must also give advance notice of their plans to exercise an outstanding stock option to the Compliance Coordinator. Once any transaction takes place, the officer, director or applicable member of management must immediately notify the Compliance Coordinator so that the Company may assist in any Section 16 reporting obligations. |
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What additional requirements apply to individuals subject to Section 16? |
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Officers and directors, who are subject to the reporting obligations under Section 16 of the Exchange Act, should take care to avoid short-swing transactions (within the meaning of Section 16(b) of the Exchange Act) and the restrictions on sales by control persons (Rule 144 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended), and should file all appropriate Section 16(a) reports (Forms 3, 4, and 5), which are described in the Company’s Section 16 Compliance Program, and any notices of sale required by Rule 144. |
Sanctions and Other Information
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What happens if I violate this Policy? |
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Violating the Company’s policies may result in disciplinary action, which may include termination of your employment or other relationship with the Company. |
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What are the sanctions if I trade on material nonpublic information or tip off someone else? |
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In addition to disciplinary action by the Company—which may include termination of employment—you may be liable for civil sanctions for trading on material nonpublic information. The sanctions may include return of any profit made or loss avoided as well as penalties of up to three times any profit made or any loss avoided. Persons found liable for tipping material nonpublic information, even if they did not trade themselves, may be liable for the amount of any profit gained or loss avoided by everyone in the chain of tippees as well as a penalty of up to three times that amount. In addition, anyone convicted of criminal insider trading could face prison and additional fines. |
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What is “loss avoided”? |
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If you sell common stock or a related derivative security before negative news is publicly announced, and as a result of the announcement the stock price declines, you have avoided the loss caused by the negative news. |
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Who should I contact if I have questions about this Policy or specific trades? |
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You should email the Company’s Compliance Officer at itpquestions@vitalfarms.com. |
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Do changes to this Policy require approval by the Company’s Board of Directors? |
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Yes. Changes to this Policy require approval by the Company’s Board of Directors or a duly appointed committee of the Board of Directors. |
Adopted by the Board of Directors: July 8, 2020
Effective: July 30, 2020
Amended: November 14, 2023
Amended: February 20, 2025
Appendix A
Specified Personnel
(Non-Officer Employees and Designated Consultants Subject to Quarterly Trading Blackout Periods)
All employees who are Vice Presidents, Senior Vice Presidents, or Executive Vice Presidents of the Company.
Any other employees identified by the Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel as Specified Persons hereunder.