Item 1A. Risk Factors

The following are some of the risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those presented in our forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face but do represent those risks and uncertainties that we believe are material to us. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also harm our business. All forward-looking statements in this document are based on information available to us as of the date hereof, and we assume no obligations to update any such forward-looking statements.

Summary of Material Risk Factors

● We have a history of operating losses. Our estimates regarding the sufficiency of our cash resource and capital requirements and needs for additional financing raises substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.

● We require additional financing to support our working capital and execute our operating plans for fiscal 2022, which may not be available or may be costly and dilutive.

● The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic could continue to harm our business and results of operations.

● Disruption within our supply chain, contract manufacturing or distribution channels could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

● Increased market spending may not drive volume growth.

● Increases in costs of packaging, ingredients, fuel, and contract manufacturing tolling fees may have an adverse impact on our gross margin.

● If we do not adequately manage our inventory levels, our operating results could be adversely affected.

● It is difficult to predict the timing and amount of our sales because our distributors are not required to place minimum orders with us.

● We will be subject to delisting if we do not meet the Nasdaq bid price rule by August 15, 2022.

Risk Factors Relating to Our Business

The COVID-19 pandemic and related ongoing impacts may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

During the year ended December 31, 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our operating results and the Company anticipates a continued impact for the balance of the year. In addition, the pandemic may cause reduced demand for our products if, for example, the pandemic results in a recessionary economic environment which negatively effects the consumers who purchase our products. Based on the recent increase in demand for our products, we believe that over the long term, there will continue to be strong demand for our products.

Through December 31, 2021, the Company has experienced higher transportation expenses as the capacity in the freight market has not kept up with demand. The Company believes that costs will continue to increase throughout the year. In addition, the Company experienced increases in the pricing of several of its raw materials and delays in procuring several of these items. However, mitigation plans are being implemented to manage this risk. Additionally, the Company was negatively impacted by supply chain challenges impacting our ability to benefit from strong demand for and increased sales of our product. The disruption caused by labor shortages, significant raw material cost inflation, logistics issues and increased freight costs, and ongoing port congestion, resulted in suppressed margins and net income. The Company anticipates a continued impact throughout 2022.

Our ability to operate without significant incremental negative operational impact from the COVID-19 pandemic will in part depend on our ability to protect our employees and our supply chain. The Company has endeavored to follow the recommended actions of government and health authorities to protect our employees. Since the inception of the COVID-19 pandemic and through December 31, 2021, we maintained the consistency of our operations during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We will continue to innovate in managing our business, coordinating with our employees and suppliers to do our part in the infection prevention and remain flexible in responding to our customers and suppliers. However, the uncertainty resulting from the pandemic could result in an unforeseen disruption to our workforce and supply chain (for example an inability of a key supplier or transportation supplier to source and transport materials) that could negatively impact our operations.

In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic may exacerbate other risks related to our business, including risks related to changes in the retail landscape, fluctuations in input costs, inflation rates, and foreign currency exchange rates; and the ability of third-party service providers and business partners to fulfill their respective commitments and responsibilities to us in a timely manner and in accordance with the agreed-upon terms. The continuing evolution of the pandemic may also present risks not currently known to us.

There is Substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.

Our financial statements as of December 31, 2021 were prepared under the assumption that we will continue as a going concern for the next twelve months from the date of issuance of these financial statements. In addition the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm, in their report on the Company’s December 31, 2021, audited financial statements, raised substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Our ability to continue as a going concern is dependent upon our ability to obtain additional financing, drive further operating efficiencies, reduce expenditures and ultimately, create profitable operations. We may not be able to obtain additional capital on reasonable terms. Our financial statements do not include adjustments that would result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

We have significant obligations under payables and debt obligations. Our ability to operate as a going concern are contingent upon successfully obtaining additional financing. Failure to do so would adversely affect our ability to continue operations.

If capital is not available, we may then need to scale back or freeze our organic growth plans, sell our business under unfavorable terms, abd reduce expenses to manage our liquidity and capital resources. We may not be able extend or repay our current obligations, which could impact our ability to continue to operate as a going concern.

We have a history of operating losses, which raises substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.

The accompanying financial statements have been prepared under the assumption that the Company will continue as a going concern for the next 12 months. Such assumption contemplates the realization of assets and satisfaction of liabilities in the normal course of business. For the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company recorded a net loss of $16,402 and used cash in operations of $17,589. As of December 31, 2021, we had a cash balance of $49 with borrowing capacity of $109, stockholders’ equity of $4,203 and a working capital of $2,981. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

During the year ended December 31, 2021 the Company engaged in one transaction to raise capital in 2021 receiving net proceeds of $7,327 from an underwritten offering of common stock.

On March 11, 2022, the Company raised gross proceeds, before deducting placement agent fees and other offering expenses, are approximately $5.4 million, in a private placement of common stock and warrants.

In the event that management proceeds with sale assets rather than continuing to hold and operate all its assets long term, management’s assessment of the fair value, and ultimate recoverability, of goodwill, intangibles, and other long-lived assets would be impacted and the Company could incur significant noncash charges and cash exit costs in future periods.

In the event that additional working capital is not available, we may be forced to scale back or freeze our growth plans, sell assets on less than favorable terms, reduce expenses, and/or curtail future plans to manage our liquidity and capital resources. In the event that management elects to proceed with asset sales in the future rather than continue to hold and operate all its assets long term, management’s assessment of the fair value, and ultimate recoverability, of goodwill, intangibles, and other long-lived assets would be impacted and the Company could incur significant noncash charges and cash exit costs in future periods.

We may not be able to extend or repay our indebtedness owed to our secured lenders, which would have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and ability to continue as a going concern.

If we are unable to service or repay these obligations at maturity and we are otherwise unable to extend the maturity dates or refinance these obligations, we would be in default. We cannot provide any assurances that we will be able to raise the necessary amount of capital to service these obligations. Upon a default, our secured lenders would have the right to exercise their rights and remedies to collect, which would include foreclosing on our assets. Accordingly, a default would have a material adverse effect on our business, and we would likely be forced to seek bankruptcy protection.

We are not in compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2), the bid price rule. If we are unable to cure the failure within the prescribed time period, our common stock will be subject to delisting. A delisting would materially reduce the liquidity of our common stock and have an adverse effect on our market price.

On August 16, 2021, the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Department notified us that, based on the previous 30 consecutive business days, the Company’s common stock no longer met the minimum $1 bid price per share requirement. Therefore, in accordance with the Nasdaq Listing Rules (the “Rules”), the Company was provided 180 calendar days, or until February 14, 2022, to regain compliance. The common stock did not regain compliance with the minimum $1 bid price per share requirement during this initial compliance period. However, the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Department determined that the Company is eligible for an additional 180 calendar day period, or until August 15, 2022, to regain compliance. Their determination is based on the Company meeting the continued listing requirement for market value of publicly held shares and all other applicable requirements for initial listing on the Capital Market with the exception of the bid price requirement, and the Company’s written notice of its intention to cure the deficiency during the second compliance period by effecting a reverse stock split, if necessary. If at any time during this additional time period the closing bid price of the Company’s security is at least $1 per share for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days, we will provide written confirmation of compliance and this matter will be closed. If we choose to implement a reverse stock split, it must complete the split no later than ten business days prior to the expiration date in order to timely regain compliance. Our board and stockholders authorized an up to one for five reverse split of our common stock to be implemented at the board’s discretion. There can be no assurance a one for five reverse split would cause our common stock to meet the bid price requirement.

A delisting would materially reduce the liquidity of our common stock and have an adverse effect on our market price. A delisting would also likely make it more difficult for us to obtain financing through the sale of our equity. Any such sale of equity would likely be more dilutive to our current stockholders than would be the case if our shares were listed.

We require additional financing to support our working capital and execute our operating plans for 2022, which may not be available or may be costly and dilutive.

We require additional financing to support our working capital needs and fund our operating plans for fiscal 2022. To alleviate these conditions, management is currently evaluating various funding alternatives and may seek to raise additional funds through the issuance of equity, mezzanine or debt securities, through arrangements with strategic partners or through obtaining credit from financial institutions. As we seek additional sources of financing, there can be no assurance that such financing would be available to us on favorable terms or at all. Our ability to obtain additional financing in the debt and equity capital markets is subject to several factors, including market and economic conditions, our performance and investor.

Additionally, these alternatives may require significant cash payments for interest and other costs or could be highly dilutive to our existing shareholders. Any such financing alternatives may not provide us with sufficient funds to meet our long-term capital requirements. 

Our indebtedness and liquidity needs could restrict our operations and make us more vulnerable to adverse economic conditions.

Our existing indebtedness may adversely affect our operations and limit our growth, and we may have difficulty making debt service payments on such indebtedness as payments become due. We may also experience the occurrence of events of default or breach of financial covenants. If market or other economic conditions deteriorate, our ability to comply with these covenants may be impaired. If we violate any of the restrictions or covenants, a significant portion of our indebtedness may become immediately due and payable, our lenders’ commitment to make further loans to us may terminate. We might not have, or be able to obtain, sufficient funds to make these accelerated payments.

The COVID-19 pandemic and mitigation measures has had an adverse impact on global economic conditions, including disruption of stock markets and may impact on our ability to obtain financing on terms acceptable to us, if at all.

In February and March 2020, the financial markets significantly declined as the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic came into focus. The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact our results will depend on future developments that are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted at this time, including new information that may emerge concerning the severity of the virus and its variants and the actions to contain its impact. Disruption of stock markets had an impact on the cost of capital in 2020 and may, in the future, impact on our ability to obtain financing on terms acceptable to us, if at all.

Disruption within our supply chain, contract manufacturing or distribution channels could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The prices of ingredients, other raw materials, packaging materials, aluminum cans and other containers fluctuate depending on market conditions, governmental actions, climate change and other factors beyond our control, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Substantial increases in the prices of our or ingredients, other raw materials, packaging materials, aluminum cans and other containers, to the extent they cannot be recouped through increases in the prices of finished beverage products, could increase our and our bottling partners’ operating costs and reduce our profitability. Increases in the prices of our finished products resulting from a higher cost of ingredients, other raw materials, packaging materials, aluminum cans and other containers could affect affordability in some markets and reduce our or our bottling partners’ sales. In addition, some of our ingredients as well as some packaging containers, such as aluminum cans, are available from a limited number of suppliers. We and our bottling partners may not be able to maintain favorable arrangements and relationships with these suppliers, and our contingency plans may not be effective in preventing disruptions that may arise from shortages of any ingredients that are available from a limited number of suppliers. Adverse weather conditions may affect the supply of other agricultural commodities from which key ingredients for our products are derived. An increase in the cost, a sustained interruption in the supply, or a shortage of some of these ingredients, other raw materials, packaging materials, aluminum cans and other containers that may be caused by changes in or the enactment of new laws and regulations; a deterioration of our or our bottling partners’ relationships with suppliers; supplier quality and reliability issues; trade disruptions; changes in supply chain; and increases in tariffs; or events such as natural disasters, widespread outbreaks of infectious diseases (such as the COVID-19 pandemic), power outages, labor strikes, political uncertainties or governmental instability, or the like could negatively impact our net operating revenues and profits.

Our reliance on distributors, retailers and brokers could affect our ability to efficiently and profitably distribute and market our products, maintain our existing markets and expand our business into other geographic markets.

Our ability to maintain and expand our existing markets for our products, and to establish markets in new geographic distribution areas, is dependent on our ability to establish and maintain successful relationships with reliable distributors, retailers and brokers strategically positioned to serve those areas. Most of our distributors, retailers and brokers sell and distribute competing products and our products may represent a small portion of their businesses. The success of this network will depend on the performance of the distributors, retailers and brokers of this network. There is a risk that the mentioned entities may not adequately perform their functions within the network by, without limitation, failing to distribute to sufficient retailers or positioning our products in localities that may not be receptive to our product. Our ability to incentivize and motivate distributors to manage and sell our products is affected by competition from other beverage companies who have greater resources than we do. To the extent that our distributors, retailers and brokers are distracted from selling our products or do not employ sufficient efforts in managing and selling our products, including re-stocking the retail shelves with our products, our sales and results of operations could be adversely affected. Furthermore, such third-parties’ financial position or market share may deteriorate, which could adversely affect our distribution, marketing and sales activities.

Our ability to maintain and expand our distribution network and attract additional distributors, retailers and brokers will depend on a number of factors, some of which are outside our control. Some of these factors include:

We may not be able to successfully manage all or any of these factors in any of our current or prospective geographic areas of distribution. Our inability to achieve success with regards to any of these factors in a geographic distribution area will have a material adverse effect on our relationships in that particular geographic area, thus limiting our ability to maintain or expand our market, which will likely adversely affect our revenues and financial results.

We incur significant time and expense in attracting and maintaining key distributors.

Our marketing and sales strategy depends in large part on the availability and performance of our independent distributors. We currently do not have, nor do we anticipate in the future that we will be able to establish, long-term contractual commitments from some of our distributors. We may not be able to maintain our current distribution relationships or establish and maintain successful relationships with distributors in new geographic distribution areas. Moreover, there is the additional possibility that we may have to incur additional expenditures to attract and maintain key distributors in one or more of our geographic distribution areas in order to profitably exploit our geographic markets.

If we lose any of our key distributors or national retail accounts, our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

We depend in large part on distributors to distribute our beverages and other products. Some of our outside distributors are not bound by written agreements with us and may discontinue their relationship with us on short notice. Some distributors handle a number of competitive products. In addition, our products are a small part of our distributors’ businesses.

We continually seek to expand distribution of our products by entering into distribution arrangements with regional bottlers or other direct store delivery distributors having established sales, marketing and distribution organizations. Many of our distributors are affiliated with and manufacture and/or distribute other soda and non-carbonated brands and other beverage products. In many cases, such products compete directly with our products.

The marketing efforts of our distributors are important for our success. If our brands prove to be less attractive to our existing distributors and/or if we fail to attract additional distributors, and/or our distributors do not market and promote our products above the products of our competitors, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

It is difficult to predict the timing and amount of our sales because our distributors are not required to place minimum orders with us.

Our independent distributors and national accounts are not required to place minimum monthly or annual orders for our products. In order to reduce their inventory costs, independent distributors typically order products from us on a “just in time” basis in quantities and at such times based on the demand for the products in a particular distribution area. Accordingly, we cannot predict the timing or quantity of purchases by any of our independent distributors or whether any of our distributors will continue to purchase products from us in the same frequencies and volumes as they may have done in the past. Additionally, our larger distributors and partners may make orders that are larger than we have historically been required to fill. Shortages in inventory levels, supply of raw materials or other key supplies could negatively affect us.

If we do not adequately manage our inventory levels, our operating results could be adversely affected.

We need to maintain adequate inventory levels to be able to deliver products to distributors on a timely basis. Our inventory supply depends on our ability to correctly estimate demand for our products. Our ability to estimate demand for our products is imprecise, particularly for new products, seasonal promotions and new markets. If we materially underestimate demand for our products or are unable to maintain sufficient inventory of raw materials, we might not be able to satisfy demand on a short-term basis. If we overestimate distributor or retailer demand for our products, we may end up with too much inventory, resulting in higher storage costs, increased trade spending and the risk of inventory spoilage. If we fail to manage our inventory to meet demand, we could damage our relationships with our distributors and retailers and could delay or lose sales opportunities, which would unfavorably impact our future sales and adversely affect our operating results. In addition, if the inventory of our products held by our distributors and retailers is too high, they will not place orders for additional products, which would also unfavorably impact our sales and adversely affect our operating results.

Our dependence on independent contract manufacturers could make management of our manufacturing and distribution efforts inefficient or unprofitable.

We are expected to arrange for our contract manufacturing needs sufficiently in advance of anticipated requirements, which is customary in the contract manufacturing industry for comparably sized companies. Based on the cost structure and forecasted demand for the particular geographic area where our contract manufacturers are located, we continually evaluate which of our contract manufacturers to use. To the extent demand for our products exceeds available inventory or the production capacity of our contract manufacturing arrangements, or orders are not submitted on a timely basis, we will be unable to fulfill distributor orders on demand. Conversely, we may produce more product inventory than warranted by the actual demand for it, resulting in higher storage costs and the potential risk of inventory spoilage. Our failure to accurately predict and manage our contract manufacturing requirements and our inventory levels may impair relationships with our independent distributors and key accounts, which, in turn, would likely have a material adverse effect on our ability to maintain effective relationships with those distributors and key accounts.

Increases in costs of packaging, ingredients and contract manufacturing tolling fees may have an adverse impact on our gross margin.

Over the past few years, costs of organic and natural ingredients have increased due to increased demand and required the Company to obtain these ingredients from a wider population of qualified vendors. Packaging costs such as paper and aluminum cans have experienced industry wide price increases in the past and there is always the risk that the company’s co-packers increase their toll rates based on increases in their fixed and variable costs. If the Company is unable to pass on these costs, the gross margin will be significantly impacted.

Increased market spending may not drive volume growth

The Company’s marketing efforts in the past have been limited. The current increase in marketing spending may not generate an increase in sales volume resulting in a net decrease in gross revenue.

Increases in costs of energy and freight may have an adverse impact on our gross and operating margins.

An increase in the price, disruption of supply or shortage of fuel and other energy sources in markets where our bottlers operate, which may be caused by increasing demand, by events such as natural disasters, power outages and extreme weather, or by government regulations, taxes, policies or programs designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to address climate change, could increase our operating costs and negatively impact our profitability. An increase in the price, disruption of supply or shortage of fuel and other energy sources in any of the markets in which our independent bottling partners operate could increase the affected independent bottling partners’ operating costs and thus could indirectly negatively impact our results of operations.

Over the past few years, volatility in the global oil markets has resulted in high fuel prices, which many shipping companies have passed on to their customers by way of higher base pricing and increased fuel surcharges. With recent declines in fuel prices, some companies have been slow to pass on decreases in their fuel surcharges. If fuel prices increase again, we expect to experience higher shipping rates and fuel surcharges, as well as energy surcharges on our raw materials. It is hard to predict what will happen in the fuel markets in 2021. Due to the price sensitivity of our products, we may not be able to pass such increases on to our customers.

If we are unable to attract and retain key personnel, our efficiency and operations would be adversely affected.

Our success depends on our ability to attract and retain highly qualified employees in such areas as sales, marketing, product development, supply chain, finance and accounting. In general, we compete to hire new employees, and, in some cases, must train them and develop their skills and competencies. Our operating results could be adversely affected by increased costs due to increased competition for employees, higher employee turnover or increased employee benefit costs. Any unplanned turnover, particularly involving our key personnel, could negatively impact our operations, financial condition and employee morale.

If we fail to protect our trademarks and trade secrets, we may be unable to successfully market our products and compete effectively.

We rely on a combination of trademark and trade secrecy laws, confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions to protect our intellectual property rights. Failure to protect our intellectual property could harm our brand and our reputation, and adversely affect our ability to compete effectively. Further, enforcing or defending our intellectual property rights, including our trademarks, copyrights, licenses and trade secrets, could result in the expenditure of significant financial and managerial resources. We regard our intellectual property, particularly our trademarks and trade secrets, to be of considerable value and importance to our business and our success, and we actively pursue the registration of our trademarks in the United States and internationally. However, the steps taken by us to protect these proprietary rights may not be adequate and may not prevent third parties from infringing or misappropriating our trademarks, trade secrets or similar proprietary rights. In addition, other parties may seek to assert infringement claims against us, and we may have to pursue litigation against other parties to assert our rights. Any such claim or litigation could be costly. In addition, any event that would jeopardize our proprietary rights or any claims of infringement by third parties could have a material adverse effect on our ability to market or sell our brands, profitably exploit our products or recoup our associated research and development costs.

Litigation or legal proceedings could expose us to significant liabilities and damage our reputation.

We may become party to litigation claims and legal proceedings. Litigation involves significant risks, uncertainties and costs, including distraction of management attention away from our business operations. We evaluate litigation claims and legal proceedings to assess the likelihood of unfavorable outcomes and to estimate, if possible, the amount of potential losses. Based on these assessments and estimates, we establish reserves and disclose the relevant litigation claims or legal proceedings, as appropriate. These assessments and estimates are based on the information available to management at the time and involve a significant amount of management judgment. Actual outcomes or losses may differ materially from those envisioned by our current assessments and estimates. Our policies and procedures require strict compliance by our employees and agents with all U.S. and local laws and regulations applicable to our business operations, including those prohibiting improper payments to government officials. Nonetheless, our policies and procedures may not ensure full compliance by our employees and agents with all applicable legal requirements. Improper conduct by our employees or agents could damage our reputation or lead to litigation or legal proceedings that could result in civil or criminal penalties, including substantial monetary fines, as well as disgorgement of profits.

We are subject to risks inherent in sales of products in international markets.

Our operations outside of the United States contribute to our revenue and profitability, and we believe that developing and emerging markets present important future growth opportunities for us. However, there can be no assurance that existing or new products that we manufacture, distribute or sell will be accepted or be successful in any particular foreign market, due to local or global competition, product price, cultural differences, consumer preferences or otherwise. Here are many factors that could adversely affect demand for our products in foreign markets, including our inability to attract and maintain key distributors in these markets; volatility in the economic growth of certain of these markets; changes in economic, political or social conditions, imposition of new or increased labeling, product or production requirements, or other legal restrictions; restrictions on the import or export of our products or ingredients or substances used in our products; inflationary currency, devaluation or fluctuation; increased costs of doing business due to compliance with complex foreign and U.S. laws and regulations. If we are unable to effectively operate or manage the risks associated with operating in international markets, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be adversely affected.

Changes in accounting standards and subjective assumptions, estimates and judgments by management related to complex accounting matters could significantly affect our financial results.

The United States generally accepted accounting principles and related pronouncements, implementation guidelines and interpretations with regard to a wide variety of matters that are relevant to our business, such as, but not limited to, stock-based compensation, trade spend and promotions, and income taxes are highly complex and involve many subjective assumptions, estimates and judgments by our management. Changes to these rules or their interpretation or changes in underlying assumptions, estimates or judgments by our management could significantly change our reported results.

If we are unable to build and sustain proper information technology infrastructure, our business could suffer.

We depend on information technology as an enabler to improve the effectiveness of our operations and to interface with our customers, as well as to maintain financial accuracy and efficiency. If we do not allocate and effectively manage the resources necessary to build and sustain the proper technology infrastructure, we could be subject to transaction errors, processing inefficiencies, the loss of customers, business disruptions, or the loss of or damage to intellectual property through security breaches.

We could be subject to cybersecurity attacks.

Cybersecurity attacks are evolving and include malicious software, attempts to gain unauthorized access to data, and other electronic security breaches that could lead to disruptions in business processes, unauthorized release of confidential or otherwise protected information and corruption of data. Such unauthorized access could subject us to operational interruption, damage to our brand image and private data exposure, and harm our business.

Risks Factors Relating to Our Industry

The current aluminum shortage can harm our ability to meet consumer demand.

As a craft beverage company, we do not meet volume requirements to have a contract in place with our aluminum can supplier. Craft beverage companies such as us are facing an aluminum can shortage. We anticipate we will continue to see supply issues with all sizes of aluminum cans. This aluminum can shortage could harm our ability to timely produce enough product to meet consumer demand.

We may experience a reduced demand for some of our products due to health concerns (including obesity) and legislative initiatives against sweetened beverages.

Consumers are concerned about health and wellness; public health officials and government officials are increasingly vocal about obesity and its consequences. There has been a trend among some public health advocates and dietary guidelines to recommend a reduction in sweetened beverages, as well as increased public scrutiny, potential new taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages, and additional governmental regulations concerning the marketing and labeling/packing of the beverage industry. Additional or revised regulatory requirements, whether labeling, tax or otherwise, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Further, increasing public concern with respect to sweetened beverages could reduce demand for our beverages and increase desire for more low-calorie soft drinks, water, enhanced water, coffee-flavored beverages, tea, and beverages with natural sweeteners. We are continuously working to launch new products that round out our diversified portfolio.

Legislative or regulatory changes that affect our products could reduce demand for products or increase our costs.

Taxes imposed on the sale of certain of our products by federal, state and local governments in the United States, Canada or other countries in which we operate could cause consumers to shift away from purchasing our beverages. Several municipalities in the United States have implemented or are considering implementing taxes on the sale of certain “sugared” beverages, including non-diet soft drinks, fruit drinks, teas and flavored waters to help fund various initiatives. These taxes could materially affect our business and financial results.

Additional taxes levied on us could harm our financial results.

Recent legislative proposals to reform U.S. taxation of non-U.S. earnings could have a material adverse effect on our financial results by subjecting a significant portion of our non-U.S. earnings to incremental U.S. taxation and/or by delaying or permanently deferring certain deductions otherwise allowed in calculating our U.S. tax liabilities.

We compete in an industry that is brand-conscious, so brand name recognition and acceptance of our products are critical to our success.

Our business is substantially dependent upon awareness and market acceptance of our products and brands by our targeted consumers. In addition, our business depends on acceptance by our independent distributors of our brands as beverage brands that have the potential to provide incremental sales growth rather than reduce distributors’ existing beverage sales. Although we believe that we have been relatively successful towards establishing our brands as recognizable brands in the natural “better for you” beverage industry, it may be too early in the product life cycle of these brands to determine whether our products and brands will achieve and maintain satisfactory levels of acceptance by independent distributors, retail customers and consumers. We believe that the success of our brands will also be substantially dependent upon acceptance of our product name brands. Accordingly, any failure of our brands to maintain or increase acceptance or market penetration would likely have a material adverse effect on our revenues and financial results.

Competition from traditional non-alcoholic beverage manufacturers may adversely affect our distribution relationships and may hinder development of our existing markets, as well as prevent us from expanding our markets.

We target a niche in the estimated $25 billion carbonated soft drink market in the US, Canada and international markets. Our brands are generally regarded as premium and natural, with upscale packaging and are loosely defined as the artisanal (craft), premium bottled carbonated soft drink category. The soft drink industry is highly fragmented, and the craft soft drink category consists of such competitors as IBC, Stewart’s, Zevia, Henry Weinhard’s, Izze, Boylan and Jones Soda, to name a few. These brands have the advantage of being seen widely in the national market and being commonly known for years through well-funded ad campaigns. Our products have a relatively high price for an artisanal premium beverage product, minimal mass media advertising to date and a small but growing presence in the mainstream market compared to some of our larger competitors.

The beverage industry is highly competitive. We compete with other beverage companies not only for consumer acceptance but also for shelf space in retail outlets and for marketing focus by our distributors, all of which also distribute other beverage brands. Our products compete with a wide range of drinks produced by a relatively large number of manufacturers, most of which have substantially greater financial, marketing and distribution resources than ours. Some of these competitors are placing pressure on independent distributors not to carry competitive sparkling brands such as ours. We also compete with regional beverage producers and “private label” soft drink suppliers.

Increased competitor consolidations, market-place competition, particularly among branded beverage products, and competitive product and pricing pressures could impact our earnings, market share and volume growth. If, due to such pressure or other competitive threats, we are unable to sufficiently maintain or develop our distribution channels, we may be unable to achieve our current revenue and financial targets. As a means of maintaining and expanding our distribution network, we intend to introduce new, innovative products and packages. We may not be successful in doing this and other companies may be more successful in this regard over the long term. Competition, particularly from companies with greater financial and marketing resources than ours, could have a material adverse effect on our existing markets, as well as on our ability to expand the market for our products.

We compete in an industry characterized by rapid changes in consumer preferences and public perception, so our ability to continue developing new products to satisfy our consumers’ changing preferences will determine our long-term success.

Failure to introduce new products or product extensions into the marketplace as current ones mature and to meet our consumers’ changing preferences could prevent us from gaining market share and achieving long-term profitability. Product lifecycles can vary, and consumers’ preferences and loyalties change over time. Although we try to anticipate these shifts and innovate new products to introduce to our consumers, we may not succeed. Customer preferences also are affected by factors other than taste, such as health and nutrition considerations and obesity concerns, shifting consumer needs, changes in consumer lifestyles, increased consumer information and competitive product and pricing pressures. Sales of our products may be adversely affected by the negative publicity associated with these issues. If we do not adequately anticipate or adjust to respond to these and other changes in customer preferences, we may not be able to maintain and grow our brand image and our sales may be adversely affected.

Global economic conditions may continue to adversely impact our business and results of operations.

The beverage industry, and particularly those companies selling premium beverages, can be affected by macro-economic factors, including changes in national, regional, and local economic conditions, unemployment levels and consumer spending patterns, which together may impact the willingness of consumers to purchase our products as they adjust their discretionary spending. Adverse economic conditions may negatively impact the ability of our distributors to obtain the credit necessary to fund their working capital needs, which could negatively impact their ability or desire to continue to purchase products from us in the same frequencies and volumes as they have done in the past. If we experience adverse economic conditions in the future, sales of our products could be adversely affected, collectability of accounts receivable may be compromised, and we may face obsolescence issues with our inventory, any of which could have a material adverse impact on our operating results and financial condition.

If we encounter product recalls or other product quality issues, our business may suffer.

Product quality issues, real or imagined, or allegations of product contamination, even when false or unfounded, could tarnish our image and could cause consumers to choose other products. In addition, because of changing government regulations or implementation thereof, or allegations of product contamination, we may be required from time to time to recall products entirely or from specific markets. Product recalls could affect our profitability and could negatively affect brand image.

We could be exposed to product liability claims.

Although we have product liability and basic recall insurance, insurance coverage may not be sufficient to cover all product liability claims that may arise. To the extent our product liability coverage is insufficient, a product liability claim would likely have a material adverse effect upon our financial condition. In addition, any product liability claim brought against us may materially damage the reputation and brand image of our products and business.

Our business is subject to many regulations and noncompliance is costly.

The production, marketing and sale of our beverages, including contents, labels, caps and containers, are subject to the rules and regulations of various federal, provincial, state and local health agencies. If a regulatory authority finds that a current or future product or production run is not in compliance with any of these regulations, we may be fined, or production may be stopped, which would adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. Similarly, any adverse publicity associated with any noncompliance may damage our reputation and our ability to successfully market our products. Furthermore, the rules and regulations are subject to change from time to time and while we closely monitor developments in this area, we cannot anticipate whether changes in these rules and regulations will impact our business adversely. Additional or revised regulatory requirements, whether labeling, environmental, tax or otherwise, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Significant additional labeling or warning requirements may inhibit sales of affected products.

Various jurisdictions may seek to adopt significant additional product labeling or warning requirements relating to the chemical content or perceived adverse health consequences of certain of our products. These types of requirements, if they become applicable to one or more of our products under current or future environmental or health laws or regulations, may inhibit sales of such products. In California, a law requires that a specific warning appear on any product that contains a component listed by the state as having been found to cause cancer or birth defects. This law recognizes no generally applicable quantitative thresholds below which a warning is not required. If a component found in one of our products is added to the list, or if the increasing sensitivity of detection methodology that may become available under this law and related regulations as they currently exist, or as they may be amended, results in the detection of an infinitesimal quantity of a listed substance in one of our beverages produced for sale in California, the resulting warning requirements or adverse publicity could affect our sales.

We may not be able to develop successful new beverage products, which are important to our growth.

An important part of our strategy is to increase our sales through the development of new beverage products. We cannot provide assurance that we will be able to continue to develop, market and distribute future beverage products that will enjoy market acceptance. The failure to continue to develop new beverage products that gain market acceptance could have an adverse impact on our growth and materially adversely affect our financial condition. We may have higher obsolescent product expense if new products fail to perform as expected due to the need to write off excess inventory of the new products.

Our results of operations may be impacted in various ways by the introduction of new products, even if they are successful, including the following:

The growth of our revenues is dependent on acceptance of our products by mainstream consumers.

We have dedicated significant resources to introduce our products to the mainstream consumer. As such, we have increased our sales force and executed agreements with distributors who, in turn, distribute to mainstream consumers at grocery stores and other retailers. If our products are not accepted by the mainstream consumer, our business could suffer.

Our failure to accurately estimate demand for our products could adversely affect our business and financial results.

We may not correctly estimate demand for our products. Our ability to estimate demand for our products is imprecise, particularly with new products, and may be less precise during periods of rapid growth, particularly in new markets. If we materially underestimate demand for our products or are unable to secure sufficient ingredients or raw materials including, but not limited to, glass, cans, cartons, labels, flavors or packing arrangements, we might not be able to satisfy demand on a short-term basis. Furthermore, industry-wide shortages of certain juice concentrates and sweeteners have been and could, from time to time in the future, be experienced, which could interfere with and/or delay production of certain of our products and could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial results. We do not use hedging agreements or alternative instruments to manage this risk.

The loss of our largest customers would substantially reduce revenues.

Our customers are material to our success. If we are unable to maintain good relationships with our existing customers, our business could suffer.

During the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company had two broker/distributors that accounted for approximately 19% and 11% of its sales, respectively; and during the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company had two broker/distributors that accounted for 25% and 12% of its sales, respectively. These two broker/distributors serve hundreds if not thousands of various retail chains and end customers.

No other customer exceeded 10% of sales for either period.

The loss of our largest vendors would substantially reduce revenues.

Our vendors are important to our success. If we are unable to maintain good relationships with our existing vendors, our business could suffer.

During the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company’s largest two vendors accounted for approximately 13%, and 10% of its purchases, respectively. During the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company’s largest two vendors accounted for approximately 12%, and 11% of its purchases, respectively.

As of December 31, 2021, no Company vendor accounted for more than 10% of the total accounts payable. As of December 31, 2020, the Company’s largest two vendors accounted for 12% and 10% of the total accounts payable, respectively.

No other account was more than 10% of the balance of accounts payable in either period.

The loss of our third-party distributors could impair our operations and substantially reduce our financial results.

We depend in large part on distributors to distribute our beverages and other products. Some of our outside distributors are not bound by written agreements with the Company and may discontinue their relationship with us on short notice. Some distributors handle a number of competitive products. In addition, our products are a small part of our distributors’ businesses.

We continually seek to expand distribution of our products by entering into distribution arrangements with regional bottlers or other direct store delivery distributors having established sales, marketing and distribution organizations. Many of our distributors are affiliated with and manufacture and/or distribute other soda and non-carbonated brands and other beverage products. In many cases, such products compete directly with our products.

The marketing efforts of our distributors are important for our success. If our brands prove to be less attractive to our existing distributors and/or if we fail to attract additional distributors, and/or our distributors do not market and promote our products above the products of our competitors, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Price fluctuations in, and unavailability of, raw materials and packaging that we use could adversely affect us.

We do not enter into hedging arrangements for raw materials. The prices of raw materials that we use have not increased significantly in recent years. Our results of operations would be adversely affected if the price of these raw materials were to rise, and we were unable to pass these costs on to our customers.

We depend upon an uninterrupted supply of the ingredients for our products, a significant portion of which we obtain overseas, principally from Peru, Fiji and Indonesia. Any decrease in the supply of these ingredients or increase in the prices of these ingredients as a result of any adverse weather conditions, pests, crop disease, interruptions of shipment or political considerations, among other reasons, could substantially increase our costs and adversely affect our financial performance.

We also depend upon an uninterrupted supply of packaging materials, such as glass, cans and paper items. We obtain bottles both domestically and internationally. Any decrease in supply of these materials or increase in the prices of the materials, as a result of decreased supply or increased demand, could substantially increase our costs and adversely affect our financial performance.

The loss of any of our co-packers could impair our operations and substantially reduce our financial results.

We rely on third parties, called co-packers in our industry, to produce our beverages.

During the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, the Company had utilized six separate US based co-packers for most its production needs. Although there are other packers that could produce the Company’s beverages, a change in packers may cause a delay in the production process, which could ultimately affect operating results.

Our co-packing arrangements with other companies are on a short-term basis and such co-packers may discontinue their relationship with us on short notice. Our co-packing arrangements expose us to various risks, including:

We believe that we have substantially reduced this risk by reducing our reliance upon any single co-packer. We are in discussion and negotiation with additional co-packers to ensure added capability for future production needs.

We compete in an industry characterized by rapid changes in consumer preferences and public perception, so our ability to continue to market our existing products and develop new products to satisfy our consumers’ changing preferences will determine our long-term success.

Consumers are seeking greater variety in their beverages. Our future success will depend, in part, upon our continued ability to develop and introduce different and innovative beverages. In order to retain and expand our market share, we must continue to develop and introduce different and innovative beverages and be competitive in the areas of quality and health, although there can be no assurance of our ability to do so. There is no assurance that consumers will continue to purchase our products in the future. Additionally, many of our products are considered premium products and to maintain market share during recessionary periods, we may have to reduce profit margins, which would adversely affect our results of operations. In addition, there is increasing awareness and concern for the health consequences of obesity. This may reduce demand for our non-diet beverages, which could affect our profitability. Product lifecycles for some beverage brands and/or products and/or packages may be limited to a few years before consumers’ preferences change. The beverages we currently market are in varying stages of their lifecycles and there can be no assurance that such beverages will become or remain profitable for us. The beverage industry is subject to changing consumer preferences and shifts in consumer preferences may adversely affect us if we misjudge such preferences. We may be unable to achieve volume growth through product and packaging initiatives. We also may be unable to penetrate new markets. If our revenues decline, our business, financial condition and results of operations will be materially and adversely affected.

Our quarterly operating results may fluctuate because of the seasonality of our business.

Our highest revenues occur during the summer and fall, the third and fourth quarters of each fiscal year. These seasonality issues may cause our financial performance to fluctuate. In addition, beverage sales can be adversely affected by sustained periods of bad weather.

Our manufacturing process is not patented.

None of the manufacturing processes used in producing our products are subject to a patent or similar intellectual property protection. Our only protection against a third party using our recipes and processes is confidentiality agreements with the companies that produce our beverages and with our employees who have knowledge of such processes. If our competitors develop substantially equivalent proprietary information or otherwise obtain access to our knowledge, we will have greater difficulty in competing with them for business, and our market share could decline.

If we are not able to retain the full-time services of our management team, it will be more difficult for us to manage our operations and our operating performance could suffer.

Our business is dependent, to a large extent, upon the services of our management team. We do have a written employment agreement with two of five members of our management team. In addition, we do not maintain key person life insurance on any of our management team. Therefore, in the event of the loss or unavailability of any member of the management team to us, there can be no assurance that we would be able to locate in a timely manner or employ qualified personnel to replace him or her. The loss of the services of any member of our management team or our failure to attract and retain other key personnel over time would jeopardize our ability to execute our business plan and could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

The price of our common stock may be volatile, and a shareholder’s investment in our common stock could suffer a decline in value.

There has been significant volatility in the volume and market price of our common stock, and this volatility may continue in the future. In addition, factors such as quarterly variations in our operating results, litigation involving us, general trends relating to the beverage industry, actions by governmental agencies, national economic and stock market considerations as well as other events and circumstances beyond our control could have a significant impact on the future market price of our common stock and the relative volatility of such market price.

A prolonged decline in the price of our common stock could result in a reduction in the liquidity of our common stock and a reduction in our ability to raise capital. If we are unable to raise the funds required for all of our planned operations and key initiatives, we may be forced to allocate funds from other planned uses, which may negatively impact our business and operations, including our ability to develop new products and continue our current operations.

Many factors that are beyond our control may significantly affect the market price of our shares. These factors include:

Even if an active market for our common stock is established, stockholders may have to sell their shares at prices substantially lower than the price they paid for them or might otherwise receive than if a broad public market existed.

There has been a very limited public trading market for our securities and the market for our securities may continue to be limited and be sporadic and highly volatile.

There is currently a limited public market for our common stock. Holders of our common stock may, therefore, have difficulty selling their shares, should they decide to do so. In addition, there can be no assurances that such markets will continue or that any shares which may be purchased, may be sold without incurring a loss. Any such market price of our shares may not necessarily bear any relationship to our book value, assets, past operating results, financial condition or any other established criteria of value, and may not be indicative of the market price for the shares in the future.

Future financings could adversely affect common stock ownership interest and rights in comparison with those of other security holders.

Our board of directors has the power to issue additional shares of common or preferred stock up to the amounts authorized in our certificate of incorporation without stockholder approval, subject to restrictive covenants contained in the Company’s contracts. If additional funds are raised through the issuance of equity or convertible debt securities, the percentage ownership of our existing stockholders will be reduced, and these newly issued securities may have rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of existing stockholders. If we issue any additional common stock or securities convertible into common stock, such issuance will reduce the proportionate ownership and voting power of each other stockholder. In addition, such stock issuances might result in a reduction of the book value of our common stock. Any increase of the number of authorized shares of common stock or preferred stock would require board and shareholder approval and subsequent amendment to our certificate of incorporation.

Risk Factors Related to Distribution of Alcoholic Beverages

Demand for our products may be adversely affected by many factors, including changes in consumer preferences and trends.

Consumer preferences may shift due to a variety of factors including changes in demographic and social trends, public health initiatives, product innovations, changes in vacation or leisure activity patterns and a downturn in economic conditions, which may reduce consumers’ willingness to purchase distilled spirits or cause a shift in consumer preferences away from ginger beer based cocktails toward beer, wine or non-alcoholic beverages. Our success depends in part on fulfilling available opportunities to meet consumer needs and anticipating changes in consumer preferences with successful new products and product innovations. The competitive position of our brands could also be affected adversely by any failure to achieve consistent, reliable quality in the product or in service levels to customers.

We face substantial competition in our industry and many factors may prevent us from competing successfully.

We compete based on product taste and quality, brand image, price, service and ability to innovate in response to consumer preferences. The global spirits industry is highly competitive and is dominated by several large, well-funded international companies. It is possible that our competitors may either respond to industry conditions or consumer trends more rapidly or effectively or resort to price competition to sustain market share, which could adversely affect our sales and profitability.

Adverse public opinion about alcohol could reduce demand for our products.

Anti-alcohol groups have, in the past, advocated successfully for more stringent labeling requirements, higher taxes and other regulations designed to discourage alcohol consumption. More restrictive regulations, negative publicity regarding alcohol consumption and/or changes in consumer perceptions of the relative healthfulness or safety of beverage alcohol could decrease sales and consumption of alcohol and thus the demand for our products. This could, in turn, significantly decrease both our revenues and our revenue growth, causing a decline in our results of operations.

Class action or other litigation relating to alcohol abuse, or the misuse of alcohol could adversely affect our business.

Companies in the beverage alcohol industry are, from time to time, exposed to class action or other litigation relating to alcohol advertising, product liability, alcohol abuse problems or health consequences from the misuse of alcohol. It is also possible that governments could assert that the use of alcohol has significantly increased government funded health care costs. Litigation or assertions of this type have adversely affected companies in the tobacco industry, and it is possible that we, as well as our suppliers, could be named in litigation of this type.

Also, lawsuits have been brought in a number of states alleging that beverage alcohol manufacturers and marketers have improperly targeted underage consumers in their advertising. Plaintiffs in these cases allege that the defendants’ advertisements, marketing and promotions violate the consumer protection or deceptive trade practices statutes in each of these states and seek repayment of the family funds expended by the underage consumers. While we have not been named in these lawsuits, we could be named in similar lawsuits in the future. Any class action or other litigation asserted against us could be expensive and time-consuming to defend against, depleting our cash and diverting our personnel resources and, if the plaintiffs in such actions were to prevail, our business could be harmed significantly.

Regulatory decisions and legal, regulatory and tax changes could limit our business activities, increase our operating costs and reduce our margins.

Our business is subject to extensive regulation in all of the countries in which we operate. This may include regulations regarding production, distribution, marketing, advertising and labeling of beverage alcohol products. We are required to comply with these regulations and to maintain various permits and licenses. We are also required to conduct business only with holders of licenses to import, warehouse, transport, distribute and sell beverage alcohol products. We cannot assure you that these and other governmental regulations applicable to our industry will not change or become more stringent. Moreover, because these laws and regulations are subject to interpretation, we may not be able to predict when and to what extent liability may arise. Additionally, due to increasing public concern over alcohol-related societal problems, including driving while intoxicated, underage drinking, alcoholism and health consequences from the abuse of alcohol, various levels of government may seek to impose additional restrictions or limits on advertising or other marketing activities promoting beverage alcohol products. Failure to comply with any of the current or future regulations and requirements relating to our industry and products could result in monetary penalties, suspension or even revocation of our licenses and permits. Costs of compliance with changes in regulations could be significant and could harm our business, as we could find it necessary to raise our prices to maintain profit margins, which could lower the demand for our products and reduce our sales and profit potential.

Also, the distribution of beverage alcohol products is subject to extensive taxation both in the U.S. and internationally (and, in the U.S., at both the federal and state government levels), and beverage alcohol products themselves are the subject of national import and excise duties in most countries around the world. An increase in taxation or in import or excise duties could also significantly harm our sales revenue and margins, both through the reduction of overall consumption and by encouraging consumers to switch to lower-taxed categories of beverage alcohol.

Risk Factors Related to Our Common Stock

If we are not able to achieve our objectives for our business, the value of an investment in our Company could be negatively affected.

In order to be successful, we believe that we must, among other things:

We may not be able to meet these objectives, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. We have incurred significant operating expenses in the past and may do so again in the future and, as a result, will need to increase revenues in order to improve our results of operations. Our ability to increase sales volume will depend primarily on success in marketing initiatives with industry brokers, improving our distribution base with DSD companies, introducing new no sugar brands, and focusing on the existing core brands in the market. Our ability to successfully enter new distribution areas and obtain national accounts will, in turn, depend on various factors, many of which are beyond our control, including, but not limited to, the continued demand for our brands and products in target markets, the ability to price our products at competitive levels, the ability to establish and maintain relationships with distributors in each geographic area of distribution and the ability in the future to create, develop and successfully introduce one or more new brands, products, and product extensions.

Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and under Delaware law could make an acquisition of us more difficult, limit attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management and limit the market price of our common stock.

Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control or changes in our management. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws include provisions that:

These provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our board of directors, which is responsible for appointing the members of our management, and may discourage, delay or prevent a transaction involving a change of control of our Company that is in the best interest of our minority stockholders. Even in the absence of a takeover attempt, the existence of these provisions may adversely affect the prevailing market price of our common stock if they are viewed as discouraging future takeover attempts.

Furthermore, we are subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. In general, Section 203 prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging in a “business combination” with an “interested stockholder” for a three-year period following the time that this stockholder becomes an interested stockholder, unless the business combination is approved in a prescribed manner. A “business combination” includes, among other things, a merger, asset or stock sale or other transaction resulting in a financial benefit to the interested stockholder. An “interested stockholder” is a person who, together with affiliates and associates, owns, or did own within three years prior to the determination of interested stockholder status, 15% or more of the corporation’s voting stock. Under Section 203, a business combination between a corporation and an interested stockholder is prohibited unless it satisfies one of the following conditions:

The existence of this provision may have an anti-takeover effect with respect to transactions the Company’s board of directors does not approve in advance. Section 203 may also discourage attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for the shares of Common Stock held by stockholders.

These provisions of Delaware law and the Certificate of Incorporation could have the effect of discouraging others from attempting hostile takeovers and, as a consequence, they may also inhibit temporary fluctuations in the market price of the Company’s common stock that often result from actual or rumored hostile takeover attempts. These provisions may also have the effect of preventing changes in the Company’s management. It is possible that these provisions could make it more difficult to accomplish transactions that stockholders may otherwise deem to be in their best interests.

Collectively, members of our board of directors and our executive officers hold approximately 11.2% of the Company’s outstanding common stock, beneficially own approximately 26.7% of our common stock and may greatly influence the outcome of all matters on which stockholders vote.

Collectively, members of our board of directors and our executive officers hold approximately 11.2% of our outstanding common stock and beneficially own approximately 26.7% of our common stock. Members of our board of directors and our executive officers may influence the outcome of certain matters on which stockholders vote. (Beneficial ownership is calculated pursuant to Section 13d-3 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and includes shares underlying derivative securities which may be exercised or converted within 60 days.)

If securities analysts or industry analysts downgrade our shares, publish negative research or reports, or do not publish reports about our business, our share price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us, our business and our industry. If one or more analysts adversely change their recommendation regarding our shares or our competitors’ stock, our share price would likely decline. If one or more analysts cease coverage of us or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our share price or trading volume to decline. As a result, the market price for our common stock may decline.

We have the ability to issue additional shares of our common stock and shares of preferred stock without asking for stockholder approval, which could cause your investment to be diluted.

Our Articles of Incorporation authorize the Board of Directors to issue up to 180,000,000 shares of common stock and up to 500,000 shares of preferred stock. The power of the Board of Directors to issue shares of common stock, preferred stock or warrants or options to purchase shares of common stock or preferred stock is generally not subject to stockholder approval. Accordingly, any additional issuance of our common stock, or preferred stock that may be convertible into common stock, may have the effect of diluting your investment, and the new securities may have rights, preferences and privileges senior to those of our common stock.

Substantial sales of our stock may impact the market price of our common stock.

Future sales of substantial amounts of our common stock, including shares that we may issue upon exercise of options and warrants, could adversely affect the market price of our common stock. Further, if we raise additional funds through the issuance of common stock or securities convertible into or exercisable for common stock, the percentage ownership of our stockholders will be reduced, and the price of our common stock may fall.

Our common stock is thinly traded, and investors may be unable to sell some or all of their shares at the price they would like, or at all, and sales of large blocks of shares may depress the price of our common stock.

Our common stock has historically been sporadically or “thinly-traded,” meaning that the number of persons interested in purchasing shares of our common stock at prevailing prices at any given time may be relatively small or nonexistent. As a consequence, there may be periods of several days or more when trading activity in shares of our common stock is minimal or non-existent, as compared to a seasoned issuer that has a large and steady volume of trading activity that will generally support continuous sales without an adverse effect on share price. This could lead to wide fluctuations in our share price. Investors may be unable to sell their common stock at or above their purchase price, which may result in substantial losses. Also, as a consequence of this lack of liquidity, the trading of relatively small quantities of shares by our stockholders may disproportionately influence the price of shares of our common stock in either direction. The price of shares of our common stock could, for example, decline precipitously in the event a large number of shares of our common shares are sold on the market without commensurate demand, as compared to a seasoned issuer that could better absorb those sales without adverse impact on its share price.

We do not intend to pay any cash dividends on our shares of common stock in the near future, so our shareholders will not be able to receive a return on their shares unless they sell their shares.

We intend to retain any future earnings to finance the development and expansion of our business. We do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. There is no assurance that future dividends will be paid, and if dividends are paid, there is no assurance with respect to the amount of any such dividend. Unless we pay dividends, our shareholders will not be able to receive a return on their shares unless they sell such shares.

Risk Factors Related to Environmental and Social Factors

Water scarcity and poor quality could negatively impact our costs and capacity.

Water is a main ingredient in substantially all of our products, is vital to the production of the agricultural ingredients on which our business relies and is needed in our manufacturing process. It also is critical to the prosperity of the communities we serve and the ecosystems in which we operate. Water is a limited resource in many parts of the world, facing unprecedented challenges from overexploitation, increasing demand for food and other consumer and industrial products whose manufacturing processes require water, increasing pollution and emerging awareness of potential contaminants, poor management, lack of physical or financial access to water, sociopolitical tensions due to lack of public infrastructure in certain areas of the world and the effects of climate change. As the demand for water continues to increase around the world, and as water becomes scarcer and the quality of available water deteriorates, we may incur higher costs or face capacity constraints, which could adversely affect our profitability.

Increased demand for food products and decreased agricultural productivity may negatively affect our business.

As part of the manufacture of our beverage products, we and our bottling partners use a number of key ingredients that are derived from agricultural commodities; decreased agricultural productivity in certain regions of the world as a result of changing weather patterns; increased agricultural regulations; and other factors have in the past, and may in the future, limit the availability and/or increase the cost of such agricultural commodities and could impact the food security of communities around the world.

Climate change and legal or regulatory responses thereto may have a long-term adverse impact on our business and results of operations.

There is increasing concern that a gradual increase in global average temperatures due to increased concentration of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will cause significant changes in weather patterns around the globe and an increase in the frequency and severity of natural disasters. Decreased agricultural productivity in certain regions of the world as a result of changing weather patterns may limit the availability or increase the cost of key agricultural commodities, which are important sources of ingredients for our products, and could impact the food security of communities around the world. Climate change may also exacerbate water scarcity and cause a further deterioration of water quality in affected regions, which could limit water availability for our independent bottlers. Increased frequency or duration of extreme weather conditions could also impair production capabilities, disrupt our supply chain or impact demand for our products. Increasing concern over climate change also may result in additional legal or regulatory requirements designed to reduce or mitigate the effects of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions on the environment. Increased energy or compliance costs and expenses due to increased legal or regulatory requirements may cause disruptions in, or an increase in the costs associated with, the manufacturing and distribution of our beverage products. The effects of climate change and legal or regulatory initiatives to address climate change could have a long-term adverse impact on our business and results of operations.

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Adverse weather conditions could reduce the demand for our products.

The sales of our products are influenced to some extent by weather conditions in the markets in which we operate. Unusually cold or rainy weather during the summer months may have a temporary effect on the demand for our products and contribute to lower sales, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations for such periods.