What changed in this filing

/stocks — the workspaceLOADING

Item 1. Business

2024-02-26 compared with 2023-02-27 · 74 added, 82 removed, 307 unchanged (34% of the section changed)

1 unchanged sentence

We are culinary forward and relentlessly focused on hospitality.

We currently own and operate 318 restaurants throughout the United States and Canada under brands including The Cheesecake Factory ® , North Italia ® and a collection within our Fox Restaurant Concepts (“FRC) business.

We currently own and operate 334 restaurants throughout the United States and Canada under brands including The Cheesecake Factory ® (216 locations), North Italia ® (37 locations), Flower Child ® (32 locations) and additional brands within our Fox Restaurant Concepts (“FRC”) portfolio (41 locations).

Internationally, 33 The Cheesecake Factory ® restaurants operate under licensing agreements.

4 unchanged sentences

Our executive offices are located at 26901 Malibu Hills Road, Calabasas Hills, California 91301, and our telephone number is (818) 871-3000.

We maintain a general website at www.thecheesecakefactory.com, as well as websites for our bakery and other subsidiaries, including www.northitalia.com and www.foxrc.com.

We maintain a general website at www.thecheesecakefactory.com, as well as websites for our bakery and other subsidiaries, including www.northitalia.com , www.iamaflowerchild.com and www.foxrc.com.

Our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, all amendments to those reports and our proxy statements are available on our general website at no charge, as soon as reasonably practicable after these materials are filed with or furnished to the SEC.

2 unchanged sentences

We utilize a 52/53-week fiscal year ending on the Tuesday closest to December 31 for financial reporting purposes.

Fiscal year 2022 consisted of 53 weeks.

Fiscal years 2023 and 2021 each consisted of 52 weeks.

Fiscal year 2022 consisted of 53 weeks.

Fiscal year 2024 will consist of 52 weeks.

COVID-19 Pandemic, Geopolitical and Other Macroeconomic Impacts to our Operating Environment

We have experienced significant disruptions to our business as federal, state and local restrictions have fluctuated over time to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

While most of our restaurants operated with no restrictions on indoor dining during fiscal years 2021 and 2022, our revenues were negatively impacted during periods of accelerating case counts during which we incurred increased restaurant staff absenteeism and temporary shifts in consumer behavior, such as changes in customer traffic or the mix between on-premise and off-premise channels.

We have incurred and may continue to incur additional costs to address government regulations and the safety of our staff members and customers.

In addition, we experienced labor shortfalls relative to our sales levels in certain parts of our workforce and/or geographies as we reopened our dining rooms after the lifting of mandatory social-distancing regulations related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During fiscal 2021, we also began to experience certain supply shortages and transportation delays largely attributable to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

These shortages continued in fiscal 2022 and were exacerbated by geopolitical unrest.

The aggregate impact of these and other geopolitical and macroeconomic factors contributed to significantly increased commodity and wage inflation and other increased costs.

We have also encountered delays in opening new restaurants due to supply chain challenges, as well as to longer lead times in obtaining licenses and permits and in the timeline required to complete the overall leasing process with landlords.

The ongoing effects of COVID-19 and its variants, along with other geopolitical and macroeconomic events could lead to further government mandates, including but not limited to capacity restrictions, shifts in consumer behavior, wage inflation, staffing challenges, product and services cost inflation, disruptions in the supply chain and delay in new restaurant openings.

If these factors significantly impact our cash flow in the future, we may again implement mitigation actions such as suspending share repurchases, not declaring future dividends, increasing borrowings under our credit facility or modifying our operating strategies.

Any of these measures may have an adverse impact on our business and materially adversely affect our financial performance.

Geopolitical and Other Macroeconomic Impacts to our Operating Environment

During fiscal 2021 and 2022, the COVID-19 pandemic continued to affect our business during periods of accelerated case counts in which we experienced increased restaurant staff absenteeism and temporary shifts in consumer behavior, such as changes in customer traffic or the mix between on-premise and off-premise channels.

Along with the COVID-19 pandemic, our operating results were impacted by geopolitical and macroeconomic events, causing supply chain challenges and significantly increased commodity and wage inflation.

Some of these factors continued to impact our operating results in fiscal 2023, contributing to significantly increased commodity and other costs.

We also encountered delays in opening new restaurants primarily due to delays in permitting and landlord readiness, as well as supply chain challenges.

The ongoing impact of geopolitical and macroeconomic events could lead to further shifts in consumer behavior, wage inflation, staffing challenges, product and services cost inflation, disruptions in the supply chain and delay in new restaurant openings.

Any of these factors may have an adverse impact on our business and materially adversely affect our financial performance.

The Cheesecake Factory

29 unchanged sentences

We also regularly introduce new and innovative cheesecakes and other baked desserts.

In 2022, we launched the Classic Basque Cheesecake in conjunction with National Cheesecake Day.

In 2023, we launched the Cookie Dough Lover’s Cheesecake with Pecans in conjunction with National Cheesecake Day.

We generally update The Cheesecake Factory menus twice each year, and our philosophy is to use price increases to help offset key operating cost increases in a manner that balances supporting both our margin objectives and customer traffic levels.

We have historically targeted menu price increases of approximately 2% to 3% annually, utilizing a market-based strategy to help mitigate cost pressure in higher-wage geographies.

Due to the inflationary cost pressures we experienced in fiscal 2022, we implemented price increases above our historical levels to support our longer-term restaurant-level margin objectives.

Future near-term pricing actions are likely to be at levels above historical norms to keep pace with any significant cost increases.

We will continue to consider the cost environment and consumer price sensitivity when evaluating future menu price increases.

Prior to fiscal 2022, we targeted menu price increases of approximately 2% to 3% annually, utilizing a market-based strategy to help mitigate cost pressure in higher-wage geographies.

In fiscal years 2022 and 2023, we implemented price increases above our historical levels, including an incremental price increase in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022, to help offset significant inflationary cost pressures.

Current and future near-term pricing actions may also be at levels above historical norms to keep pace with any significant cost increases.

In addition, on a regular basis, we carefully consider opportunities to adjust our menu offerings or ingredients to help manage product availability and cost.

7 unchanged sentences

By providing extensive training, our goal is to encourage our staff members to develop a sense of personal commitment to our core values and culture of excellence.

(See “Restaurant Operations, Development and Training” below.) Our commitment to people-focused programs and creating a great workplace for all of our staff and managers contributed to The Cheesecake Factory being named to Fortune magazine’s list of “100 Best Companies to Work For ® ” in 2022, for the ninth consecutive year.

High-Quality, High-Profile Restaurant Locations and Flexible Site Layouts.

28 unchanged sentences

The development and opening process usually ranges from six to eighteen months, depending largely on the type and availability of the leased space we intend to occupy, as well as our ability to obtain goods, materials, permits and adequate staffing, and is subject to delays either due to factors outside of our control or to our selective timing of restaurant openings.

In recent years, we have encountered delays in opening new restaurants due to supply chain challenges, as well as to longer lead times in obtaining licenses and permits.

In recent years, we have encountered delays in opening new restaurants primarily due to delays in permitting and landlord readiness, as well as supply chain challenges.

Unit Economics

1 unchanged sentence

This popularity is reflected in our average sales per restaurant and per square foot, which are among the highest of any publicly-held restaurant company.

Average sales per location for The Cheesecake Factory restaurants open for the full year were approximately $12.1 million and $11.8 million on a 53-week and 52-week basis, respectively, for fiscal 2022.

Average sales per location for The Cheesecake Factory restaurants open for the full year were approximately $12.2 million for fiscal 2023.

Since each of our restaurants has a customized layout and differs in size, an effective method to measure the unit economics of our sites is by square foot.

Average sales per productive square foot (defined as all interior square footage plus seasonally adjusted exterior patio square footage) for restaurants open for the full year were approximately $1,116 and $1,089 on a 53-week and 52-week basis, respectively, for fiscal 2022.

Fluctuations in both average sales per location and average sales per productive square foot generally track with comparable restaurant sales trends.

12 unchanged sentences

We believe that the high average sales volumes and popularity of our restaurants allow us to attract and retain high-quality, experienced restaurant-level management and other operational personnel.

Each restaurant is generally staffed with one General Manager (“GM”), one Executive Kitchen Manager (“EKM”), and an average of six to ten additional kitchen and front-of-the-house managers and approximately 170 hourly staff members, both depending on the size and sales volume of each restaurant.

Each restaurant is generally staffed with one General Manager (“GM”), one Executive Kitchen Manager (“EKM”), and an average of six to eleven additional kitchen and front-of-the-house managers and approximately 150 hourly staff members, both depending on the size and sales volume of each restaurant.

Our GMs and EKMs possess an average of more than ten years of experience with the Company.

31 unchanged sentences

(2) This licensee, or its affiliates, also has the right to develop restaurants in Chile, with the opportunity to expand the agreement to include Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Peru.

(3) This licensee, or its affiliates, also has the right to develop restaurants in Thailand and Taiwan, with the opportunity to expand the agreement to include Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore.

We are actively working to extend and expand the agreements with our current licensees in their primary geographies and are also exploring potential opportunities to expand our licensing business into Western Europe.

(3) This licensee, or its affiliates, also has the right to develop restaurants in Taiwan, with the opportunity to expand the agreement to include Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore.

We are actively working to extend and expand the agreements with our current licensees in their primary geographies and are also exploring potential opportunities to expand our licensing business.

Our corporate infrastructure includes a dedicated global development team that works with our international licensees and coordinates the initial training, ongoing quality control, product specifications and brand oversight at our licensed locations.

5 unchanged sentences

Consumer Packaged Goods

Given the strong affinity for The Cheesecake Factory ® brand, we leverage opportunities in the consumer packaged goods channel by partnering with third-party manufacturers to offer a variety of products marketed under The Cheesecake Factory At Home ® mark, including our Famous “Brown Bread,” refrigerated puddings and ice cream available in select retail stores nationwide.

Given the strong affinity for The Cheesecake Factory ® brand, we leverage opportunities in the consumer packaged goods channel by partnering with various third-party manufacturers to offer a variety of products marketed under The Cheesecake Factory At Home ® mark, including our Famous “Brown Bread,” which is available in select retail stores nationwide.

We continue to evaluate other synergistic, on-brand licensing opportunities to add incremental revenue streams to our business.

8 unchanged sentences

With Italian cuisine the number one ethnic food category in the United States, coupled with strong national reception of the North Italia concept to-date, we believe there is potential for 200 domestic locations over time, which supports our plan for approximately 20% average annual unit growth.

Average sales per mature location, defined as open prior to 2020 and adjusted to exclude impaired locations, for North Italia restaurants were approximately $8.0 million for fiscal 2022, or approximately $1,300 per productive square foot on a 53-week basis.

Average sales per location open for the full year for North Italia restaurants were approximately $7.8 million for fiscal 2023, or approximately $1,200 per productive square foot.

We target an average North Italia unit size of 6,000 to 7,000 square feet, and total construction costs average approximately $800 per interior square foot.

Restaurant-level preopening costs for a typical location in an established market average approximately $0.6 million to $0.8 million and include all costs to relocate and compensate restaurant management staff members during the preopening period, costs to recruit and train hourly restaurant staff members, and wages, travel and lodging costs for our opening training team and other support staff members.

Fox Restaurant Concepts

FRC operates as an independent subsidiary in Phoenix, Arizona and serves as an incubation engine, innovating new food, dining and hospitality experiences to create fresh, exciting concepts for the future.

Flower Child and Fox Restaurant Concepts

Flower Child operates in the fast casual dining segment, offering a customizable menu, made fresh from scratch, featuring locally-sourced, all-natural and organic ingredients.

Flower Child provides us an opportunity to diversify our portfolio in a strong and growing niche.

Currently, we operate 32 Flower Child locations and target approximately 15% to 20% average annual unit growth for this concept.

Average sales per location open for the full year for the Flower Child restaurants were approximately $4.1 million for fiscal 2023, or approximately $1,100 per interior square foot.

We target an average Flower Child unit size of 3,000 to 4,000 square feet, and total construction costs average approximately $700 per interior square foot.

FRC operates as an independent subsidiary in Phoenix, Arizona and serves as an incubation engine, innovating new food, dining and hospitality experiences to create fresh, exciting concepts.

With over a dozen evolving restaurant brands launched to-date, its concepts are diverse in industry segment, occasions, square footage and geography.

FRC's largest concept, Flower Child, operates in the fast casual dining segment, offering a customizable menu, made fresh from scratch, featuring locally-sourced, all-natural and organic ingredients.

Flower Child is a potential opportunity for us to diversify our portfolio in a strong and growing niche.

Other FRC potential growth concepts include Culinary Dropout and Blanco, which together with the other FRC brands, serve as an ecosystem for talent, menu and design development.

Currently, we operate 30 and 35 Flower Child and other FRC locations, respectively.

We target approximately 15% to 20% average annual unit growth for the aggregate FRC portfolio, driven primarily by the anticipated growth of Flower Child, complemented by additional market tests of the potential growth concepts.

Average sales per location open for the full year for the FRC restaurants were approximately $5.8 million for fiscal 2022, or approximately $1,000 per interior square foot.

FRC unit sizes range from approximately 3,500 to 15,000 square feet, and total construction costs average approximately $500 per interior square foot, depending on the concept.

Currently, we operate 41 Other FRC locations.

We target approximately 10% to 15% average annual unit growth for the aggregate Other FRC portfolio, complemented by additional market tests of the potential growth concepts.

Average sales per location open for the full year for the Other FRC restaurants were approximately $6.5 million for fiscal 2023, or approximately $1,100 per interior square foot.

We target an average FRC unit size of 3,500 to 15,000 square feet, and total construction costs average approximately $650 per interior square foot, depending on the concept.

Bakery Operations

1 unchanged sentence

Our facility in California accommodates both production operations and corporate support personnel, while our facility in North Carolina houses production operations and a distribution center.

In October 2023, we announced plans for a third bakery production facility in Charleston, Indiana.

We produce approximately 60 varieties of proprietary cheesecakes and other baked desserts using high-quality ingredients for The Cheesecake Factory restaurants and for international licensees and third-party customers.

4 unchanged sentences

Additionally, we currently sell a selection of our cakes online and in catalogs domestically through an agreement with an upscale retailer.

Items produced for outside accounts are marketed under The Cheesecake Factory At Home ® and The Cheesecake Factory Bakery ® marks, as well as private labels.

Items produced for outside

accounts are marketed under The Cheesecake Factory At Home ® and The Cheesecake Factory Bakery ® marks, as well as private labels.

We sell baked goods internationally in approximately 15 countries under The Cheesecake Factory At Home ® mark.

17 unchanged sentences

We are proud of the way our people nurture one another and extend that nurturing to our customers and communities.

We believe our efforts to build and maintain a strong culture have contributed to two notable recognitions in 2022.

We were named to the FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For ® list for a ninth consecutive year and the PEOPLE Companies that Care ® list for a second consecutive year.

We believe our efforts to build and maintain a strong culture have contributed to three notable recognitions in 2023.

We were named to the FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For ® list for a tenth consecutive year, the PEOPLE Companies that Care ® list for a third consecutive year and the Fortune Best Workplaces for Millennials List for a seventh year.

Development and Training

We invest significant resources to ensure our people receive, what we believe is industry-leading training in order to maximize their potential.

We strive to provide our staff with career advancement opportunities, and our fiscal 2023 internal management promotion rate at The Cheesecake Factory and North Italia concepts was 41%.

Our hourly staff members and managers receive a considerable amount of training through a combination of in-person learning and development and online coursework.

In addition to company-provided job training, we encourage the pursuit of educational opportunities at The Cheesecake Factory and North Italia restaurants for all hourly staff members through free high school equivalency and associate degree programs.

We also offer a limited education reimbursement to our staff seeking post-secondary education.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging

We strive to offer an atmosphere of inclusion and belonging for all.

We believe the cultural alignment we cultivate around respect and inclusion builds trust and promotes teamwork to achieve our common goals.

We believe the cultural alignment we seek to cultivate around respect and inclusion builds trust and promotes teamwork to achieve our common goals.

Furthermore, when our people feel valued and respected for their worth as individuals, they are better able to maximize their potential at work and more likely to share their perspectives, opinions and ideas, which contributes to our ability to innovate.

We created our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging working group to help provide focus, feedback and ideas in this important area.

We are committed to providing equal opportunities and seek to ensure there is equity in hiring, development and advancement.

In 2022, we continued our inclusive leadership training for above-restaurant leadership and restaurant managers and reviewed our interview processes for key above-restaurant leadership to enhance opportunity and development for candidates at The Cheesecake Factory and North Italia concepts.

We also sponsored developmental support groups, such as The Cheesecake Factory Women’s Network Group, with the goal of advancing women into senior-level positions.

Our Female Kitchen Leader’s Program paired new female managers with an advisor to provide extra support with navigating kitchen environments, which tend to be predominantly male.

The Leaders of Color Program provided networking and development opportunities for managers from diverse racial or ethnic groups.

As of January 3, 2023, approximately 47% of The Cheesecake Factory and North Italia staff members were women and approximately 72% of our The Cheesecake Factory and North Italia staff members were racially or ethnically diverse.

Further details on representation can be found in the CSR Report (see “Corporate Social Responsibility” below).

To enhance opportunity and development for participants in these groups, we reinstated certain programs in 2022 that had been paused during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as in-person conferences.

We are committed to conducting pay analyses among our The Cheesecake Factory and North Italia restaurants, as well as our bakery and corporate teams, to help ensure that we are paying fairly and equitably.

In 2021, we retained a third-party consulting firm to conduct an independent pay equity analysis of our area managers, restaurant managers, corporate field and corporate support center staff to identify risks and determine if there were unexplained base pay gaps in our organization by gender or race.

To help ensure that we are paying fairly and equitably, we are committed to conducting both internal reviews and external third-party audits and verification.

We conduct inclusive leadership training for above-restaurant leadership and restaurant managers and regularly review our interview processes for key above-restaurant leadership to enhance opportunity and development for candidates at The Cheesecake Factory and North Italia concepts.

We also offer support groups such as The Cheesecake Factory Women’s Network Group and the Female Kitchen Leader’s Program, that provides qualified high potential managers with programing and events to spend time with each other to network and also meet organizational leaders.

Another example is the Diverse Leaders Program, which provides networking and development opportunities for managers from diverse racial or ethnic groups.

As of January 2, 2024, approximately

47% of The Cheesecake Factory and North Italia staff members were women and approximately 73% of The Cheesecake Factory and North Italia staff members were racially or ethnically diverse.

Further details on representation can be found in our most recent CSR Report (see “Corporate Social Responsibility” below).

We are committed to conducting pay analyses among our The Cheesecake Factory and North Italia restaurants, as well as our bakery and corporate teams, to help evaluate that we are paying fairly and equitably.

We are committed to conducting both internal reviews and external third-party audits and verification to inform this evaluation.

We have also trained our recruiters to help enable them to identify and address pay equity issues during the hiring process utilizing internal reporting and partnership with the compensation team.

Development and Training

We invest significant resources to ensure our people receive, what we believe is industry-leading training in order to maximize their potential.

Our hourly staff members and managers receive a considerable amount of training through a combination of in-person learning and development and online coursework.

In addition to company-provided job training, we encourage the pursuit of educational opportunities at The Cheesecake Factory and North Italia restaurants through free high school equivalency and associate degree programs.

In 2022, we expanded availability of these programs to include all hourly staff members (previously, only kitchen staff were eligible).

We also strive to provide our staff with career advancement opportunities, and our fiscal 2022 internal management promotion rate at The Cheesecake Factory and North Italia concepts was 53%.

Benefits and Wellness

2 unchanged sentences

The Cheesecake Factory and North Italia staff, as well as our bakery and corporate teams, have paid sick time available to them starting at hire and are eligible to earn vacation time.

Our continued management of human capital related to the COVID-19 pandemic during fiscal 2022 focused on keeping our teams and customers safe, adhering to local requirements and providing paid time off for our hourly staff and managers to care for their health.

In fiscal 2022, we also sought to provide staff with additional benefit through implementation of an earned wage access program that allows staff who qualify to receive up to 50% of their earned wages the day after they work a shift.

Employee Engagement

6 unchanged sentences

Our staff members are not covered by any collective bargaining agreements, and we consider our staff member relations to be good.

A significant part of our employee engagement strategy involves staff appreciation and recognition efforts.

After pausing them during the pandemic, we reinstated key cultural events such as our week-long team appreciation celebrations, manager recognitions, Commitment to Excellence staff member awards and new menu rollout all-staff meetings.

A significant part of our employee engagement strategy involves staff appreciation and recognition efforts.We hold key cultural events such as our week-long team appreciation celebrations, manager recognitions, Commitment to Excellence staff member awards and new menu rollout all-staff meetings.

Another key aspect of our culture is giving back to the communities where our staff live and work, as well as uniting our staff members around charitable causes personal to them.

7 unchanged sentences

The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee of our Board is responsible for reviewing the Company’s sustainability and CSR policies.

For more information, please review our CSR report on the Corporate Social Responsibility page on our website at www.thecheesecakefactory.com .

The contents of the CSR report and our website are not incorporated by reference into this Form 10-K.

For more information, please review our most recent CSR report on the Corporate Social Responsibility page on our website at www.thecheesecakefactory.com .

The contents of the CSR report and our website are expressly not incorporated by reference into this Form 10-K.

Purchasing and Distribution

5 unchanged sentences

Independent foodservice distributors, including the largest foodservice distributor in North America, deliver most items multiple times per week to our restaurants.

The cost of products and services used in our operations are subject to volatility due to the relative availability of labor and distribution, weather, natural disasters, inventory levels and other supply and/or demand impacting events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical events, economic conditions or other unforeseen circumstances.

The cost of products and services used in our operations are subject to volatility due to the relative availability of labor and distribution, weather, natural disasters, inventory levels and other supply and/or demand impacting events such as pandemics, geopolitical events, economic conditions or other unforeseen circumstances.

Climate change may further exacerbate a number of these factors.

2 unchanged sentences

The aggregate impact of these and other factors contributed to significant cost inflation.

While we have seen improvements in many of these areas, the absolute level of commodity costs has remained elevated contributing to ongoing inflation above historic levels.

We attempt to negotiate short-term and long-term agreements for some of our principal commodity, supply and equipment requirements, such as certain dairy products and poultry, depending on market conditions and expected demand.

1 unchanged sentence

We continue to evaluate the possibility of entering into similar arrangements for other commodities and periodically evaluate hedging vehicles, such as direct financial instruments, to assist us in managing risk and variability associated with such commodities.

As of the end of fiscal 2022, we had no hedging contracts in place.

As of the end of fiscal 2023, we had no financial hedging contracts in place.

Information Technology

7 unchanged sentences

Guest payment data is of the utmost importance, and we employ measures to help ensure every payment is secured and encrypted.

Information and data security is a priority for us and is led by our information technology department in conjunction with an interdepartmental information security council representing our key functional areas.

We employ a multi-discipline security approach to recognize, manage and resolve cybersecurity threats, and require cybersecurity awareness training for all staff members with access to our cyber systems.

This approach includes continuous monitoring and detection programs, network security precautions, encryption of critical data, and in-depth security assessment of vendors and incident response guidelines.

Information and cybersecurity is a priority for us and is led by a multi-disciplinary security team, overseen by our interdepartmental Information Security Council representing our key functional areas.

We have developed and implemented a cybersecurity risk management program intended to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of our critical systems and information.

We continue to invest and innovate around the areas of protection of systems, sensitive data, technology, and processes using third-party and in-house tools and resources.

We remain focused on protecting against new and emerging risks utilizing our tools and security teams and continue to review and make strategic investments in our systems to help keep the Company’s, our guests’, and our team members’ data secure.

We maintain a disaster recovery plan and protect against business interruption by backing up our major systems.

In addition, we periodically scan our environment for any vulnerability, perform penetration testing and engage third parties to assess the effectiveness of our data security practices.

A third party conducts regular network security reviews, scans, and audits.

The Audit Committee of the Board of Directors reviews with management steps the Company has taken to monitor or mitigate significant cybersecurity risk and the effectiveness of these practices.

We remain focused on protecting against new and emerging risks utilizing our tools and security teams and continue to review and make strategic investments in our systems intended to help keep the Company’s, our guests’, and our team members’ data secure.

(See Item 1C – Cybersecurity of this report for further discussion on our cybersecurity.)

Marketing and Advertising

4 unchanged sentences

We refreshed our website in 2022, including our online ordering capabilities.

We also are currently testing a guest rewards program pilot for potential national rollout in 2023.

We launched our Cheesecake Rewards TM program nationally in 2023 with the objective to leverage data analytics and insights to engage more effectively with our guests and drive incremental sales while maintaining our restaurant level margins.

Public relations is another important aspect of our marketing approach, and we frequently appear on local and national television in connection with a variety of promotional opportunities, such as National Cheesecake Day, to perform cooking demonstrations and other brand-building exposure.

10 unchanged sentences

Seasonality and Quarterly Results

While seasonal fluctuations generally do not have a material impact on our quarterly results, year-over-year comparisons can be significantly impacted by factors such as significant differences in year-over-year inflation, the number and timing of new restaurant openings and associated preopening costs, the timing of holidays, inclement weather and the additional week in a 53-week fiscal year.

Therefore, our financial results for any quarter or fiscal year are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved for the full fiscal year or subsequent fiscal years.

11 unchanged sentences

We are also subject to various environmental regulations governing areas such as water usage, sanitation disposal and transportation mitigation.

Our international business exposes us to additional laws and regulations, including, without limitation, antitrust and tax requirements, anti-boycott legislation, import/export and customs regulations and other international trade regulations, privacy laws, anti-terrorism laws and anti-corruption laws.

privacy laws, anti-terrorism laws and anti-corruption laws.

As a provider of food products, we are subject to a comprehensive regulatory framework that governs the manufacture (including composition and ingredients), labeling, packaging and safety of food.

In order to serve alcoholic beverages in our restaurants or off-premise where permitted, we must comply with alcoholic beverage control regulations which require us to apply to a state or other governmental alcoholic beverage control authority for licenses and permits.

In order to serve alcoholic beverages in our restaurants or off-premise where permitted, we must comply with alcoholic beverage control regulations which require us to apply to a state and/or other governmental alcoholic beverage control authority for licenses and permits.

In addition, we are subject to dram shop statutes in most of the jurisdictions in which we operate, which generally provide a person injured by an intoxicated person the right to recover damages from an establishment that wrongfully served alcoholic beverages to the intoxicated person.

1 unchanged sentence

We attempt to mitigate this risk by carrying liquor liability insurance coverage.

Various federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations govern our operations as they relate to our staff members, including such matters as minimum wages, breaks, scheduling, exempt classifications, equal pay, overtime, tip credits, fringe benefits, leaves, safety, working conditions, provision of health insurance, the COVID-19 pandemic and citizenship or work authorization requirements.

Various federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations govern our operations as they relate to our staff members, including such matters as minimum wages, breaks, scheduling, exempt classifications, equal pay, overtime, tip credits, fringe benefits, leaves, safety, working conditions, provision of health insurance and citizenship or work authorization requirements.

We must also comply with local, state and federal laws and regulations protecting the right to equal employment opportunities and prohibiting discrimination and harassment in the workplace.

7 unchanged sentences

A significant number of our hourly restaurant staff members receive income from gratuities.

In the United States, many of our locations participate voluntarily in a Tip Reporting Alternative Commitment (“TRAC”) agreement with the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”).

By complying with the educational and other requirements of the TRAC agreement, we reduce the likelihood of potential employer-only FICA tax assessments for unreported tips.

In the United States, many of our locations currently participate in a Tip Reporting Alternative Commitment (“TRAC”) agreement with the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and we intend to apply to participate in any successor program to TRAC.

By complying with the educational and

other requirements of the TRAC agreement (or its successor), we reduce the likelihood of potential employer-only FICA tax assessments for unreported tips.

We are subject to laws and regulations relating to information security, privacy, cashless payments and consumer credit protection and fraud.

17 unchanged sentences

Clark held a number of finance positions of increasing responsibility at Groupe Danone, Kinko’s and The Walt Disney Company.

He is also an advisory director of our Foundation.

He is also a director of our Foundation.

Carango, age 62, serves as President of The Cheesecake Factory Bakery Incorporated, our bakery subsidiary.

8 unchanged sentences

Compared sentence by sentence after normalising whitespace, quotation marks, case and digits, so re-formatting and restated figures do not read as changed language. Wording changes appear as one removal and one addition. The current filing and the prior one are authoritative.

What changed 10-K

Item 1. Business