regarding short-term and long-term executive compensation incentive programs. The Compensation Committee received an updated analysis regarding compensation for non-employee directors and executive officers in October 2022 and incorporated certain data from the updated analysis into non-employee director and executive compensation plans for fiscal year 2023.
Pursuant to applicable SEC and NASDAQ rules, the Compensation Committee assessed the independence of Korn Ferry and determined that it is an independent compensation consultant.
The Compensation Committee analyzed whether Korn Ferry has any conflict of interest, taking into consideration the following factors: (i) the provision of other services to Calavo by Korn Ferry; (ii) the amount of fees paid by Calavo to Korn Ferry as a percentage of the firm’s total revenue; (iii) Korn Ferry’s policies and procedures that are designed to prevent conflicts of interest; (iv) any business or personal relationship of Korn Ferry or the individual compensation advisors employed by the firm with an executive officer of Calavo; (v) any business or personal relationship of the individual compensation advisors with any member of the Compensation Committee; and (vi) any stock of Calavo owned by Korn Ferry or the individual compensation advisors employed by the firm. The Compensation Committee has determined, based on its analysis of the above factors, that the work of Korn Ferry and the individual compensation advisors employed by Korn Ferry as compensation consultants to Calavo has not created any conflict of interest.
The Compensation Committee does not believe that the compensation of our named executive officers should be established solely by reference to the compensation programs of other companies or that the compensation of our named executive officers should be set as a specified percentage of the average compensation that is paid to executive officers of other companies. However, the Compensation Committee believes that collecting and reviewing this compensation survey information is a useful resource in providing information about current compensation practices and in confirming that Calavo’s executive compensation program remains competitive.
Base Salaries
We provide our named executive officers with base salaries that we believe enable us to hire and retain individuals in a competitive environment and to reward individual performance and contribution to our overall business goals, while taking into account the unique circumstances of our company. We review base salaries for our named executive officers annually, and increases are based on Company as well as individual performance.
On September 9, 2021, James E. Gibson retired from his position as Chief Executive Officer. Steven Hollister, a member of Calavo’s Board, was appointed to serve as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Calavo on an interim basis. From September 9, 2021 through January 31, 2022, Mr. Hollister was paid $50,000 per month for his services as interim Chief Executive Officer and interim Chief Financial Officer and he also continued to earn compensation for his services as a non-employee director.
On October 11, 2021, Graciela Montgomery was appointed to Chief Human Resources Officer, with an initial annual base salary of $350,000. On November 21, 2022, Ms. Montgomery’s annual base salary increased to $360,000.
On December 20, 2021, Brian Kocher and Calavo entered into an employment agreement, and he was appointed to serve as Chief Executive Officer of Calavo, with such service commencing on February 1, 2022. Mr. Kocher’s initial annual base salary was $800,000.
On June 10, 2022, Shawn Munsell and Calavo entered into an employment agreement, and he was appointed to serve as Chief Financial Officer of Calavo, with such service commencing on June 20, 2022. Mr. Munsell’s initial annual base salary was $415,000.
On July 11, 2022, Danny Dumas began serving as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Calavo Grown and on June 7, 2022, Mr. Dumas and Calavo entered into an employment agreement, and he was appointed to serve as Senior