The Company. MGP Ingredients, Inc. ("Company") is a Kansas corporation headquartered in Atchison, Kansas and is a leading producer and supplier of premium distilled spirits and specialty wheat protein and starch food ingredients. Distilled spirits include premium bourbon and rye whiskeys and grain neutral spirits, including vodka and gin. MGP is also a top producer of high quality industrial alcohol for use in both food and non-food applications. The Company's protein and starch food ingredients provide a host of functional, nutritional, and sensory benefits for a wide range of food products to serve the packaged goods industry. The Company's distillery products are derived from corn and other grains (including rye, barley, wheat, barley malt, and milo), and its ingredient products are derived from wheat flour. The majority of the Company’s sales are made directly, or through distributors, to manufacturers and processors of finished packaged goods or to bakeries.

Principles of Consolidation. The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. Certain amounts in the 2017 and 2018 consolidated financial statements have been reclassified to conform to the 2019 presentation.

Use of Estimates. The financial reporting policies of the Company conform to accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP"). The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. The application of certain of these policies places demands on management's judgment, with financial reporting results relying on estimation about the effects of matters that are inherently uncertain. For all of these policies, management cautions that future events rarely develop as forecast, and estimates routinely require adjustment and may require material adjustment.

Inventory. Inventory includes finished goods, raw materials in the form of agricultural commodities used in the production process, and certain maintenance and repair items. Bourbons and whiskeys are normally aged in barrels for several years, following industry practice; all barreled bourbon and whiskey is classified as a current asset. The Company includes warehousing, insurance, and other carrying charges applicable to barreled whiskey in inventory costs.

Properties, Depreciation, and Amortization. Property, plant, and equipment are typically stated at cost. Additions, including those that increase the life or utility of an asset, are capitalized and all properties are depreciated over their estimated remaining useful lives. Depreciation and amortization are computed using the straight line method over the following estimated useful lives:

Maintenance costs are expensed as incurred. The cost of property, plant, and equipment sold, retired, or otherwise disposed of, as well as related accumulated depreciation and amortization, are eliminated from the property accounts with related gains and losses reflected in the Consolidated Statements of Income. The Company capitalizes interest costs associated with significant construction projects. Total interest incurred for 2019, 2018, and 2017 is noted below:

Revenue Recognition. As a result of the adoption of Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers and related amendments (Topic 606) on January 1, 2018, the Company changed its accounting policy for revenue recognition (see Note 3). Revenue is recognized when control of the promised goods or services, through performance obligations by the Company, is transferred to the customer in an amount that reflects the consideration it expects to be entitled to in exchange for the performance obligations. The term between invoicing and when payment is due is not significant and the period between when the entity transfers the promised good or service to the customer and when the customer pays for that good or service is one year or less.

Excise taxes that are both imposed on and concurrent with a specific revenue-producing transaction, that are collected by the Company from a customer are excluded from revenue. Revenue is recognized for the sale of products at the point in time finished products are delivered to the customer in accordance with shipping terms. This is a faithful depiction of the satisfaction of the performance obligation because, at that point control passes to the customer, the customer has legal title and the risk and rewards of ownership have transferred, and the customer has present obligation to pay.

The Company’s Distillery Products segment routinely enters into bill and hold arrangements, whereby the Company produces and sells unaged distillate to customers, and the product is subsequently barreled at the customer’s request and warehoused at a Company location for an extended period of time in accordance with directions received from the Company’s customers. Even though the unaged distillate remains in the Company’s possession, a sale is recognized at the point in time when the customer obtains control of the product. Control is transferred to the customer in bill and hold transactions when: customer acceptance specifications have been met, legal title has transferred, the customer has a present obligation to pay for the product and the risk and rewards of ownership have transferred to the customer. Additionally all the following bill and hold criteria have been met in order for control to be transferred to the customer: the customer has requested the product be warehoused, the product has been identified as separately belonging to the customer, the product is currently ready for physical transfer to the customer, and the Company does not have the ability to use the product or direct it to another customer.

Warehouse service revenue is recognized over the time that warehouse services are rendered and as they are rendered. This is a faithful depiction of the satisfaction of the performance obligation because control of the aging products has already passed to the customer and there are no additional performance activities required by the Company, except as requested by the customer. The performance of the service activities, as requested, is invoiced as satisfied and revenue is concurrently recognized.

Income Taxes. The Company accounts for income taxes using an asset and liability method which requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax basis. A valuation allowance is recognized if it is "more likely than not" that at least some portion of the deferred tax asset will not be realized.

EPS. Basic and diluted EPS is computed using the two class method, which is an earnings allocation formula that determines net income per share for each class of Common Stock and participating security according to dividends declared and participation rights in undistributed earnings. Per share amounts are computed by dividing net income attributable to common shareholders by the weighted average shares outstanding during each year or period.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments. The Company determines the fair values of its financial instruments based on a fair value hierarchy, which requires an entity to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value. The hierarchy is broken down into three levels based upon the observability of inputs. Fair values determined by Level 1 inputs utilize quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the Company has the ability to access. Level 2 inputs include quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets and inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the asset or liability. Level 3 inputs are unobservable inputs for the asset or liability, and include situations where there is little, if any, market activity for the asset or liability. In certain cases, the inputs used to measure fair value may fall into different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In such cases, the level in the fair value hierarchy within which the fair value measurement in its entirety falls has been determined based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement in its entirety. The Company’s assessment of the significance of a particular input to the fair value in its entirety requires judgment and considers factors specific to the asset or liability.

The Company’s short-term financial instruments include cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable and accounts payable. The carrying value of the short-term financial instruments approximates the fair value due to their short-term nature. These financial instruments have no stated maturities or the financial instruments have short-term maturities that approximate market.

The fair value of the Company’s debt is estimated based on current market interest rates for debt with similar maturities and credit quality. The fair value of the Company’s debt was $42,534 and $32,018 at December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. The financial statement carrying value (including unamortized loan fees) was $41,060 and $32,014 at December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. These fair values are considered Level 2 under the fair value hierarchy.

Derivative Instruments. Certain commodities the Company uses in its production process, or input costs, exposes it to market price risk due to volatility in the prices for those commodities. Through the Company’s grain supply contracts for its Atchison and Lawrenceburg facilities, its wheat flour supply contract for the Atchison facility, and its natural gas contracts for both facilities, it purchases grain, wheat flour, and natural gas, respectively, for delivery from one to 24 months into the future at negotiated prices. The Company has determined that the firm commitments to purchase grain, wheat flour, and natural gas under the terms of its supply contracts meets the normal purchases and sales exception as defined under ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging, because the quantities involved are for amounts to be consumed within the normal expected production process.

Recently Adopted Accounting Standard Updates. The Company adopted ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842) and subsequent updates, as of January 1, 2019, using the modified retrospective approach (See Note 8). The modified retrospective approach provides a method for recording existing leases at adoption and using the effective date as the date of application (the “effective date method”). Under the effective date method, the comparative period reporting is unchanged. Comparative reporting periods are presented in accordance with Topic 840 (previous lease guidance), while periods subsequent to the effective date are presented in accordance with Topic 842. In addition, the Company elected the available practical expedients and implemented internal controls to enable the preparation of financial information on adoption. Adoption of the new standard resulted in the Company recording Operating lease right-of-use assets and Operating lease liabilities in its Consolidated Balance Sheet of $6,598 and $6,952, respectively, as of January 1, 2019. The standard did not impact the Company’s consolidated net earnings and also had no impact on its cash flows.

In February 2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued ASU 2018-02, Reclassification of Certain Tax Effects from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income, which allows a reclassification from accumulated other comprehensive income to retained earnings for stranded tax effects resulting from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”). The Company adopted this guidance on January 1, 2019. We elected to reclassify the income tax effects of the Tax Act from accumulated other comprehensive income to retained earnings which resulted in an immaterial effect on its consolidated financial results and disclosures.

In June 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-07, Improvements to Nonemployee Share-Based Payment Accounting, which more closely aligns the accounting for employee and nonemployee share-based payments. The Company adopted this guidance on January 1, 2019, and it had no impact on its consolidated financial results and disclosures.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncement. In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments and subsequent updates. The accounting standard changes the methodology for measuring credit losses on financial instruments and the timing when such losses are recorded. ASU 2016-13 is effective for public companies in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019. The guidance is to be adopted using the modified retrospective approach. The Company is still evaluating the effect that ASU 2016-13 will have on the Company, however we do not expect this to have a material impact to the consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.