NYSE: TR

The domestic confectionery business is highly competitive. The Company competes primarily with other manufacturers of confectionery products sold to the above mentioned customers. Although accurate statistics are not available, the Company believes it is among the ten largest domestic manufacturers in this industry. In the markets in which the Company competes, the main forms of competition comprise brand recognition, as well as competition for retail shelf space and a fair price for the Company’s products at various retail price points.

The Company’s backlog of orders as of December 31, 2025 was approximately $7 million and is generally consistent with the prior year.

The Company has historically hedged certain of its future sugar needs with derivatives at such times that it believes that the forward markets are favorable. The Company’s decision to hedge its major ingredient requirements is dependent on the Company’s evaluation of forward commodity markets and their comparison to vendor quotations, if

available, and/or historical costs. The Company has generally entered into commodity futures contracts before the commencement of the next calendar year to better manage product pricing changes or product weight decline (indirect price change) adjustments to its product sales portfolio and ingredient costs. The Company will generally purchase forward derivative contracts (i.e., “long” position) in selected future months that correspond to the Company’s estimated procurement and usage needs of the respective commodity in the respective forward periods.

The Company has historically increased its sales prices to recover higher input costs, primarily ingredients, packaging materials, labor and benefits, manufacturing maintenance, supplies and services, and freight and delivery. The Company may also change the size and weight of certain of its products in response to significant changes in ingredient and other input costs.

The Company does not hold any material patents, licenses, franchises or concessions. The Company’s major trademarks are registered in the United States, Canada, Mexico and in many other countries. Continued trademark protection is of material importance to the Company’s business as a whole.

Although the Company does research and develops new products and product line extensions for existing brands, it also improves the quality of existing products, improves and modernizes production processes, and develops and implements new technologies to improve quality and efficiencies. The Company does not expend material amounts of money on research or development activities.

The manufacture and sale of consumer food products is highly regulated. In the United States, the Company’s activities are subject to regulation by various government agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Agriculture, the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Commerce and the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as various state and local agencies. Similar agencies also regulate the businesses outside of the United States. The Company maintains quality assurance, food safety and other programs to help ensure that all products the Company manufactures and distributes are safe, of high quality, and comply with all applicable laws and regulations.

The Company’s compliance with federal, state and local regulations which have been enacted to regulate the protection of the environment, has not had a material effect on the capital expenditures, earnings or competitive position of the Company nor does the Company anticipate any such material effects from presently enacted or adopted regulations. See also Risk Factors in Section 1-A regarding certain risks that relate to our regulatory environment.

The Company employs approximately 2,100 full-time persons at all locations. Our business has seasonality which results in bringing on some additional employees to meet seasonal production demands principally in advance of the Halloween selling season. The Company experiences a relatively consistent sales level throughout the year except for an increase in the third quarter which reflects pre-Halloween and back-to-school sales. In anticipation of this seasonal sales period, the Company generally begins building inventories, and its seasonal workforce, in the second and third quarter of each year. Although Halloween is the most significant season in sales and related production, other seasons, including Christmas, Valentines, and Easter also have some impact on workforce levels. The Company’s union labor agreement at its Chicago plant was negotiated and executed in 2023 and expires in September 2027. The Company’s union labor agreement at its Canadian plant was executed the first quarter of 2024 and expires in January 2029.

We believe our employees are among our most important resources and are critical to our continued success. We focus significant attention on attracting and retaining talented and experienced individuals to manage and support our operations. We pay our employees competitively and offer a broad range of company-paid benefits, which we believe are competitive with others in our industry. Our management teams and all of our employees are expected to exhibit and promote honest, ethical and respectful conduct in the workplace. All of our employees must adhere to a Code of Conduct that sets standards for appropriate behavior. A copy of our Code of Conduct can be found on our website, www.tootsie.com.

Our net product sales from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (“Wal-Mart”) aggregated approximately 22.0%, 23.2%, and 22.2% of net product sales during the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Our net sales from Dollar Tree, Inc. (“Dollar Tree”, which includes net sales from Family Dollar which is owned by Dollar Tree)

aggregated approximately 13.1%, 12.6%, and 14.2% of net product sales during the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Some of the aforementioned sales to Wal-Mart and Dollar Tree were sold to McLane Company (“McLane”), a large national grocery wholesaler, which services and delivers certain of the Company’s products to Wal-Mart, Dollar Tree and other retailers in the U.S.A. Net product sales revenues from McLane, which includes these Wal-Mart and Dollar Tree sales as well as sales and deliveries to other Company customers, were 19.7% in 2025 and 20.7% in 2024 and 20.1% in 2023. At December 31, 2025 and 2024, the Company’s three largest customers discussed above accounted for approximately 37.8% and 41.9% of total accounts receivable, respectively. Although no customer, other than McLane, Wal-Mart and Dollar Tree, accounted for more than 10% of net product sales, the loss of one or more significant customers could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business.

For a summary of sales and long-lived assets of the Company by geographic area see Note 8 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements which is incorporated herein by reference.

Information regarding the Company’s Form 10-K, Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments to these reports, will be made available, free of charge, upon written request to Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc., 7401 South Cicero Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60629, Attention: Barry Bowen, Treasurer and Assistant Secretary. The Company does not make all such reports available on its website at www.tootsie.com because it believes that they are readily available from the Securities Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov, and because the Company provides them free of charge upon request. The information on our website is not incorporated into this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Interested parties, including shareholders, may communicate to the Board of Directors or any individual director in writing, by regular mail, addressed to the Board of Directors or an individual director, in care of Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc., 7401 South Cicero Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60629, Attention: Ellen R. Gordon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. If an interested party wishes to communicate directly with the Company’s non-employee directors, it should be noted on the cover of the communication.