Item 1. Business
Unless the context otherwise requires, all references in this subsection to the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our” refer to Utz Brands, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries following the Business Combination, other than certain historical information which refers to the business of Utz Brands Holdings and its consolidated subsidiaries prior to the consummation of the Business Combination. Our Core geographies, consist of Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, and Washington D.C. (our “Core Geographies”). Our Expansion geographies consist of Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Vermont (our “Expansion Geographies”). Our Emerging geographies consist of Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming (our “Emerging Geographies”).
Overview
We are a leading manufacturer, marketer, and distributor of high-quality, branded snacking products in the United States. We produce a broad offering of salty snacks, including potato chips, pretzels, cheese snacks, veggie snacks, pork skins, pub/party mixes, and other snacks. Our iconic portfolio of authentic, craft, and “better for you” (“BFY”) brands, which includes Utz, Zapp’s, ON THE BORDER, Golden Flake, Good Health and Boulder Canyon, among others, enjoys strong household penetration in the United States, where our products can be found in approximately half of U.S. households. As of January 3, 2021, we operate 14 manufacturing facilities with a broad range of capabilities, and our products are distributed nationally to grocery, mass, club, convenience, drug and other retailers through direct shipments, distributors, and more than 1,600 direct store delivery (“DSD”) routes. Our company was founded in 1921 in Hanover, Pennsylvania, and benefits from nearly 100 years of brand awareness and heritage in the salty snacks industry. We are the second-largest producer of branded salty snacks in our Core Geographies, based on retail sales and we have historically expanded our geographic reach and product portfolio organically and through acquisitions.
We believe our recent business combination with Collier Creek Holdings (“CCH”) and our enhanced access to capital as a public company best position us to realize our objective of becoming the fastest-growing pure-play branded snack platform of scale in the United States. Going forward, we plan to accelerate organic revenue growth, expand margins, and leverage our competitively advantaged route-to-market and scalable operating platform to make periodic value-enhancing strategic acquisitions.
Our business benefits from multiple opportunities to deliver attractive long-term profitable growth. Our value creation strategies are focused on driving productivity to enhance margins, reinvesting in marketing and innovation to accelerate revenue growth and continuing to make strategic acquisitions. We believe we are well-positioned for long-term growth as we (a) gained a significant amount of new buyers in the salty snack category in 2020 and repeat rates are increasing, (b) have significant opportunity in our Emerging and Growth Geographies and under-penetrated channels, (c) continue to execute productivity efforts that will help to fuel incremental marketing and innovation to accelerate growth in sales, (d) continue to make infrastructure improvements to enable us to continue to scale to greater heights, and (e) continue to make strategic acquisitions that deliver strong synergies and that enhance our competitive positioning. We believe each of these growth avenues represents a sizeable opportunity to expand our Net Sales. In addition, we further anticipate expanding our margins through supply chain productivity, revenue management, a higher-margin product mix, and higher margins on incremental sales as we leverage our scalable existing platform.
We also maintain a highly-disciplined approach to M&A and have substantial experience sourcing, executing, and integrating value-enhancing acquisitions. Since 2010, we have successfully integrated 14 acquisitions. Given our highly-scalable operating platform, we have been able to quickly and efficiently integrate acquired businesses into our infrastructure and realize attractive cost savings as well as revenue and distribution increases.
We believe these initiatives should generate attractive earnings growth as well as strong and stable free cash flow, enabling us to reinvest in our existing brands, reduce debt, and pay regular dividends to our stockholders.
Recent Developments
Effects of COVID-19. The novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, outbreak began impacting consumption, distribution and production of our products in March 2020. We are taking necessary preventive actions and implementing additional measures to protect our employees who are working on site. We continue to experience higher demand for our products versus the prior year, and we are servicing that demand by increasing production and distribution activities. Generally, producers of food products, including salty snacks, have been deemed “essential industries” by federal, state, and local governments and are exempt from certain COVID-19-related restrictions on business operations. Our strategic manufacturing capabilities and DSD distribution network have allowed us to effectively service increases in demand and be responsive to evolving market dynamics driven by changes in consumer behavior. We continue to monitor customer and consumer demands, and intend to adapt our plans as needed to continue to meet these demands.
Recent Acquisitions
On November 2, 2020, we completed the acquisition of certain assets from Conagra Brands, Inc. related to the H.K. Anderson business, a leading brand of peanut butter-filled pretzels for approximately $8 million. The transaction enables us to jump-start our entry into the growing filled pretzel segment, leveraging the synergies of our salty snack platform.
On November 11, 2020, we entered into a stock purchase agreement to acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Truco Holdco Inc. (“Truco”), a leading seller of tortilla chips, salsa and queso sold under the ON THE BORDER® (“OTB”) brand for approximately $404.0 million. In addition on November 11, 2020, the Company entered into an asset purchase agreement to acquire from OTB Acquisition, LLC certain intellectual property (“OTB IP”) for $79.0 million, including all rights to the OTB trademarks for use in the manufacture, sale and distribution of snack food products in the United States and certain other international markets. The Company closed these acquisitions of Truco on December 14, 2020.
On February 8, 2021, we completed the acquisition of certain assets from Snak-King Corp related to the Vitner's business, a leading brand of snack foods in the Chicago metropolitan area, for $25 million, subject to customary purchase price adjustments. The Vitner's assets included intellectual property and assets associated with the distribution network, which includes approximately 55 DSD routes.
Brands
Our business is managed and reported in one operating segment. However, we actively manage our portfolio of brands by strategically segregating our sole operating segment into Power Brands and Foundation Brands. Power Brands, in aggregate, enjoy a combination of higher growth and margins, greater potential for value-added innovation, and enhanced responsiveness to consumer marketing as compared to Foundation Brands. As a result, we focus our investment spending and brand-building activities on Power Brands while managing Foundation Brands for cash flow generation to support investment in Power Brands and fund other corporate priorities.
Our Power Brands are comprised of Utz, ON THE BORDER, Good Health, Boulder Canyon, Zapp’s, Hawaiian, Golden Flake pork skins, TGIF, Herdez, and TORTIYAHS!.
Our flagship Utz brand generated retail sales in excess of $650 million in 2020, representing approximately 5.2% compound annual growth rate (“CAGR”) (2016-2020) and making it one of the 10 largest salty snack brands in the United States by retail sales. Recognized for its iconic logo featuring the “Little Utz Girl” since the 1920s, the Utz brand currently utilizes the slogan “Family Crafted Flavor Since 1921”. We sell a variety of salty snacks under the Utz brand, including potato chips, pretzels, cheese snacks, pub/party mixes, and others.
Our ON THE BORDER brand, which was acquired on December 14, 2020 as part of the acquisition of Truco, is a national brand of tortilla chips, salsa and queso. OTB is the #3 tortilla chip brand in the tortilla chip sub-category. Additionally, the acquisition of OTB strengthens our national geographic footprint in our Expansion Geographies and Emerging Geographies and enhances our presence in the Mass and Club retail channels.
Our Good Health and Boulder Canyon Power Brands anchor our position in the BFY segment of salty snacking, which has been a high-growth segment in recent years. Good Health, which we acquired in 2014, is positioned as a positive way to snack because its products have cleaner ingredients and are certified non-GMO and gluten-free. Boulder Canyon, which we acquired as part of the Inventure Foods, Inc. (“Inventure Foods”) acquisition in 2017, offers a line of premium BFY potato chips, including those made with olive or avocado oils. In the Natural channel, Boulder Canyon is the #2 potato chip brand while growing over 40% within the channel in 2020 and its “Canyon Cut” rippled avocado oil-based chip is the #1 selling potato chip item.
Our Power Brands also include a number of our authentic craft brands including Zapp’s, Hawaiian, and Golden Flake pork skins. For example, Zapp’s, which we acquired in 2011, offers a line of premium kettle-cooked potato chips with bold, authentic flavors steeped in its New Orleans roots, including “Voodoo,” “Hotter ‘N’ Hot Jalapeño,” “Spicy Cajun Crawtators,” and “Cajun Dill Gator-tators,” among others. Hawaiian is a premium kettle chip brand that was acquired with the acquisition of Kennedy Endeavors, LLC (“Kennedy”), the DSD snacks business of Conagra Brands, Inc. (the “Kennedy Acquisition”). It evokes the feel of the Pacific islands, with exotic flavors like “Sweet Maui Onion,” “Luau BBQ,” “Mango Habanero,” and “Hulapeño.” Our Golden Flake brand, a part of Southern culture since 1923, has a full line of Southern-style pork skins with flavors like “Louisiana Hot Sauce” and “Sweet Heat Barbecue,” which offer great taste and crunch with low carbohydrates.
Our Foundation Brands include strong regional snacking brands, such as Golden Flake (excluding pork skins), Tim’s Cascade, Snyder of Berlin, “Dirty”, Kitchen Cooked, Bachman, and Jax as well as our partner and private label brands. We have historically utilized the strong regional positions and relevance of our Foundation Brands to drive increased distribution for our Power Brands.
Products
We produce a broad range of salty snack foods, including potato chips, tortilla chips, pretzels, cheese snacks, veggie snacks, pub/party mixes, pork skins, ready-to-eat popcorn, and other snacks. Our products are packaged in a variety of different sizes and configurations, ranging from individual packages to shareable bulk containers. We also sell certain third-party branded products through our distribution network.
We believe our ability to produce a wide range of products differentiates us from some of our competitors whose businesses focus on a particular product type. We believe our broad product assortment enables us to gain greater distribution and shelf space with our customers. Our in-house production capabilities across a range of products also enable us to rapidly respond to evolving consumer needs and preferences and to better create new innovative products to delight consumers. We also believe that our diversified product portfolio results in more predictable and stable financial performance as we are not overly exposed to only one product sub-category.
Product Innovation
New product innovation is critical in the salty snacks category because consumers both enjoy long-time favorites and like to experiment with new forms, flavors, textures, and ingredients. In particular, our brands have strong competitive positions across an assortment of popular salty snacks, including potato chips, tortilla chips, pretzels, cheese snacks, pub/party mixes, veggie snacks, and pork skins. Given our long-standing customer relationships, broad production capabilities, and scalable distribution platform, we plan to strengthen our presence in certain salty snack sub-categories that we believe are highly synergistic to our existing business. We intend to expand our presence in key salty snack sub-categories through a combination of line extensions of our existing brands, new brand introductions, licensing partnerships with established brands, and/or acquisitions. We believe our expanded presence across key salty snack sub-categories would enhance our competitive position with customers and would be highly synergistic given our ability to leverage our existing manufacturing and distribution infrastructure.
As such, the level of new product innovation and the speed to market with these innovations are critical components of our business. Our innovation process begins with our marketing team, which understands our brands and consumers, and works collaboratively with our research & development and innovation leaders to identify new product opportunities that best suit our brand positions. We develop insights about unsatisfied consumer needs using our market research capabilities, and we track competitive product introductions to ensure appropriate responses. We also collaborate with third-party seasoning and flavor houses to understand the latest trends in consumer flavors and emerging consumer flavor preferences. Going forward, we intend to increase our investments in market research and other resources to generate more consumer insights and new product innovations.
We also utilize our flexible manufacturing and distribution platform to streamline the new product innovation process from idea conception through development and commercialization to market. The strategic location of our primary corporate office adjacent to our largest manufacturing plants facilitates strong coordination between our marketing, sales, research & development, and manufacturing professionals, leveraging the innovation experience of senior management and our in-house innovation leaders. Our broad in-house manufacturing capabilities across different product forms and packaging allow us to develop and commercialize new products quickly, and we have the manufacturing flexibility to handle many types of ingredients, including on-trend BFY oils such as avocado and olive. Our DSD distribution system allows us to efficiently experiment with new products at retail stores driven by the ability to quickly place new items and collect immediate feedback on sell-through trends. Finally, given the importance of in-store presence, we have a dedicated graphics team that is able to quickly develop and implement new packaging designs, impactful point-of-sale materials, and retail-ready displays.
Recent innovations include exciting new flavors such as Zapp’s “Evil Eye,” building on the success of the extreme flavor sensation in Zapp’s “Voodoo” kettle chips; Good Health “Creamy Onion & Chive Veggie Chips”; Boulder Canyon “Thin & Crisp” potato chips cooked in avocado oil; Utz Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels, flavored pretzels such as “Pumpernickel,” “Butter,” and “Everything”; and Utz “Kettle Classics” with TGI Fridays “Cheddar & Bacon” flavor. We have also introduced new product forms under the Good Health brand, including organic “Puffs” and “Fries,” as well as the TGI Friday’s brand, including “Party Sticks” shaped like French fries and “Pub Bites” shaped like chicken drumsticks. Further, we continue to introduce new packaging format innovations highlighted by the convenient POURABLES Utz cheeseballs pouches that protect your fingers while letting you enjoy your favorite snack.
Marketing, Advertising, and Consumer Engagement
Strategy. Our marketing strategy is centered around our strong brand equities, new product innovation capabilities, and the consistently high quality of our products. We conduct marketing efforts through three principal sets of activities: (i) consumer marketing and advertising, including sponsorships, print, digital, eCommerce and social media, and other product promotions; (ii) consumer sales incentives including coupons and rebates; and (iii) trade promotions to support features, displays and other merchandising of our products by our customers. We have historically relied more heavily on sponsorships, trade promotions, and in-store merchandising as our primary forms of consumer engagement. In fiscal 2020, we spent approximately $11.1 million related to consumer marketing and advertising expenses. Going forward, consistent with our value creation strategies, we intend to meaningfully increase our investments in direct consumer marketing and advertising focused on our Power Brands as well as reallocate our current mix of media spending toward activities we believe will generate the highest return on investment. We believe these strategies will have a meaningfully positive impact on our brands and help drive long-term Net Sales growth.
Digital and Social Media. In recent years we have shifted our media efforts toward digital advertising, and increased our investments in engaging with consumers directly via social media platforms. In mid-2019, we appointed a VP of Digital Marketing and eCommerce to focus on expanding and integrating our e-commerce and social media platforms. These efforts have resulted in significant increases in household reach, expanded community sizes, and increased social media engagement in 2020. We expect to continue to expand our investments in digital and social media in the future, including as part of our strategy to grow our eCommerce marketing investments.
Customers
In fiscal 2020, our top 10 customers, all of which are retailers, represented approximately 37% of our invoiced sales, and no customer accounted for more than 11% of our invoiced sales in fiscal 2020. We historically have benefited from long-term relationships with our key customers, having a sales relationship for more than 20 years on average across our top 15 retail customers.
Our strong brand equities, enhanced innovation, and increased consumer marketing spend should enable us to continue to expand distribution of our products both within existing customers and in under-penetrated retail channels. In 2020, we estimate that approximately 19% of our customers sold only one of our Power Brands and no customers sold all of our Power Brands. We believe there is an opportunity to expand our distribution in mass merchants and convenience stores, where our retail sales as a percentage of the salty snack category are lower than in other channels such as grocery or club stores.
International
More than 99% of our invoiced sales occurred in the United States in fiscal 2020, and we are focused on growing our business in the United States. Since substantially all of our business is in the United States, we believe we have more limited exposure to global economic conditions and foreign exchange fluctuations than companies with more substantial international sales and operations.
Competition
Our products primarily compete with other salty snacks but also compete more broadly for certain eating occasions with other snack foods. We believe that the principal competitive factors in the salty snacks industry include taste, convenience, product variety, product quality, price, nutrition, consumer brand awareness, media and promotional activities, in-store merchandising execution, customer service, cost-efficient distribution, and access to retailer shelf space. We believe we compete effectively with respect to each of these factors.
The salty snacking industry is competitive and includes a number of diverse participants. Our identified competitors include PepsiCo (Frito Lay), Campbell’s (Snyder’s-Lance), Kellogg’s (Pringles), General Mills, Grupo Bimbo, Hershey’s, Hain Celestial, and Arca Continental (Wise), among others. Our products also compete with private label or retailer-branded salty snacks. However, private label represented only approximately 5% of category retail sales in 2020, which was flat compared to its share of retail sales in 2013.
Historically, the salty snacks category has benefited from favorable competitive dynamics, including low private label penetration and category leaders who compete primarily via marketing and innovation.
Importantly, we are the #2 brand platform in our Core Geographies representing 9% of total salty snacks category retail sales. As of January 3, 2021 in our Core Geographies, we have the #1 position in pork skins with 27% of sub-category retail sales and the #2 positions in potato chips, pretzels and cheese snacks with 15%, 20% and 9% of sub-category retail sales, respectively. With the acquisition of OTB, as of December 14, 2020, we hold the #3 branded position with Tortillas, with a 4% share. We believe we have a strong and defensible position in our Core Geographies with a significant opportunity to enhance our national position by expanding sales in Expansion Geographies (where we represent 4.5% of category retail sales) and Emerging Geographies (where we represent 2.5% of category retail sales).
Notably, in 2020, approximately $2.3 billion of salty snack retail sales were generated by approximately 1,300 smaller competitors, each with retail sales of less than $200 million. We believe this fragmented group of smaller brands provides an attractive opportunity for us to expand our retail sales by either acquiring or displacing smaller regional or product-specific competitors.
Supply Chain
Sourcing. The principal ingredients used to manufacture our products include potatoes, oil, flour, wheat, corn, cheese, spices, and seasonings. Our primary packaging materials include flexible films and rigid containers, such as barrels, lids, cartons, and trays. All of our core ingredients are purchased according to rigorous standards to assure food quality and safety. Our principal ingredients are generally available from multiple suppliers and we do not source any of our top 10 inputs under any single-source arrangements. As such, we believe that we can make satisfactory alternative arrangements in the event of an interruption of supply from our vendors. No single category of raw material purchases represented more than 13% of our Cost of Goods Sold in fiscal 2020. In addition to raw materials, we source energy and liquid fuels for our manufacturing facilities and in-house distribution assets.
We utilize various buying strategies to mitigate the impact of changes in input prices, including fixed-price forward purchases as well as commodity hedging arrangements with third parties (particularly for energy, vegetable oils, wheat, and corn). A number of external factors such as weather, commodity markets, and governmental or agricultural programs can affect the cost of raw materials used in our products. To provide greater visibility, we typically look to enter into pricing arrangements covering a meaningful portion of our forecast purchases over the next 3 to 18 months. As of March 2, 2021, we believe we have entered into pricing arrangements covering over 75% of our budgeted raw material needs in fiscal 2021.
Manufacturing. We manufacture our products primarily through 14 company-operated manufacturing facilities across the United States. These include four legacy Utz facilities and ten facilities that were added over the last ten years from acquisitions (for more details see Item 2 “Properties” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for more details). Our facilities had capacity to produce approximately 400 million pounds of salty snacks annually in 2020 based on management’s estimate of available capacity, excluding weekly sanitation, over a seven-day work schedule, providing us with significant available capacity to accommodate increased sales. We believe this available capacity across our manufacturing footprint will enable us to leverage existing fixed costs to generate higher margins on incremental organic sales or acquired brands as well as generate potential future cost savings through consolidating our manufacturing footprint. For example, in 2018 we consolidated production from our Denver, Colorado, manufacturing facility into our Goodyear, Arizona, facility, enabling us to realize cost savings and proceeds from the sale of the Colorado facility. Our manufacturing facilities are well-maintained, and we have a program to ensure appropriate maintenance capital expenditures are undertaken. We also utilize several co-manufacturers for certain products.
Distribution. We offer national distribution of our products through our flexible, hard-to-replicate distribution system that combines direct-to-warehouse, direct-to-store, distributor, and direct-to-consumer capabilities. We believe this hybrid system, which we have built and enhanced over nearly a century, offers us flexibility to cost-effectively distribute our products to a wide range of retail locations where salty snacks are sold. Additionally, we believe our distribution system is highly scalable, resulting in the ability to drive higher margins on incremental revenues and enabling us to realize significant cost savings when integrating acquired brands into our established platform.
We benefit from strong brand awareness and heritage in our Core Geographies, where we are the second largest provider of branded salty snacks based on retail sales. We have historically expanded our geographic reach, both organically and through acquisitions, in our Expansion and Emerging Geographies. We plan to continue to expand our distribution and sales of Power Brands in these geographies, supported by our increased brand investments, expansion of our direct-to-customer and DSD distribution capabilities, and potentially through strategic acquisitions.
Direct-to-Warehouse: For a number of our customers, we either ship products directly from our facilities to their distribution centers or allow them to pick-up products directly from our facilities. These customers are then responsible for fulfilling shipments to their own retail stores. The direct-to-warehouse (“DTW”) model is often preferred by some of our national mass, club, and grocery customers that have sufficient scale and capabilities to efficiently manage distribution and replenishment for their own retail stores.
Direct-Store-Delivery: We believe we are one of only three scale U.S. salty snack providers with extensive DSD capabilities. Within our DSD system, either independent operators (“IOs”) or Utz-employed route sales professionals (“RSPs”) pick up products from our manufacturing facilities, distribution centers, storage facilities, or small bins and distribute and sell these products to retail stores within a geographic territory. Our DSD system is utilized by both large and small customers, and we believe it provides us a competitive advantage in expanding distribution, increasing shelf space, executing in-store merchandising activities, and ensuring products are fresh and available wherever consumers shop. Our DSD network included over 1,600 individual routes reaching over 75,000 retail stores in 2020. Our DSD routes are managed by a combination of approximately 1,300 IOs, covering approximately 79% of our routes, and approximately 350 RSPs, covering approximately 21% of our routes as of January 3, 2021. Over the last several years, we have converted from a predominately company-owned RSP model toward the use of third-party IOs. We believe this transition benefits us by creating motivated independent owner-operators and a more variable cost structure for our company. We expect to substantially complete our ongoing transition from RSPs toward IOs by the second quarter of fiscal year 2022 (See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of Utz Brands Holdings — Recent Developments and Significant Items Affecting Comparability — Independent Operator Conversions” for more details).
Third Party Distributors: We also use third-party distributors in certain regions where their capabilities enhance the cost effectiveness and reach of our overall distribution system. For third-party distributors, we either ship products directly from our facilities to their distribution centers or allow them to pick up products directly from our facilities. The distributors are then responsible for selling our products to our customers and ensuring optimal retail presence within the stores they serve, utilizing both DTW and DSD capabilities. Our third-party distributors operated an additional approximately 635 DSD-style routes, reaching over 15,000 retail stores.
Direct-to-Consumer: We also distribute our products directly to consumers. Our direct-to-consumer shipments primarily originate from orders received via our company website (www.utzsnacks.com) or select third party retailer sites, including Amazon and Sam’s Club, which extend our reach to virtually every household in America. Our direct-to-consumer shipments are delivered from our central warehouse facility to consumers using FedEx, UPS, or other third-party carriers. E-Commerce represented approximately 7% of our retail sales in fiscal 2020 and is an accelerating part of our business, with the channel having grown by more than approximately 125% as compared to 2019.
Food Safety and Quality. Food safety and quality are top priorities and we dedicate substantial resources to ensure that consumers receive consistently safe and high-quality food products. Our products are manufactured in facilities that have programs and controls in place regarding consistent quality and food safety. These comprehensive programs include Safe Quality Food (SQF) certifications and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) that are designed to produce a safe, wholesome product. Our suppliers are required to have similarly robust processes in place and confirm their compliance for shipments of all ingredients to be used in our products. Finally, in addition to real-time product testing during production, we frequently monitor product attributes including taste, aroma, texture, and appearance, and random samples of finished goods are regularly sent to third-party laboratories for testing and verification.
Human Capital
Supporting our people is a foundational value for Utz. We believe company success depends on our ability to attract, develop, and retain key personnel whose skills, experience and industry knowledge benefit our operations and performance. The Company’s Board, Board committees, and management oversee various employee initiatives including compensation and benefits programs, succession planning, and leadership development and diversity and inclusion.
Utz aims to both attract and retain a qualified workforce through an inclusive and accessible recruiting process and online platform, as well as by offering competitive wages, benefits, and training opportunities. We also support and develop our employees through company-wide training and development programs intended to build and strengthen employees’ leadership and professional skills.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Utz wants to ensure that we have a workplace where every associate feels valued. It’s vital for us to ensure dignity and respect in the workplace by embracing diverse perspectives and backgrounds for all associates. Diverse teams drive better performance and greater innovation.
To further develop our diversity, equity and inclusion strategy, Utz has partnered with a nationally recognized consulting firm to aid in the development of a comprehensive strategy to ensure we are continuing to foster a work environment that values all people.
Health and Safety
The safety of our team members is a top priority. We strive to provide a safe working environment, and have policies, procedures, and training programs to ensure employees and associates understand and meet safety guidelines. Utz and our associates are dedicated to providing a safe environment by continuously improving our Safety Culture and Performance through commitment, investment, and training.
•Employee engagement: Leading indicators are used to both encourage and measure regular safety related activities throughout the organization
•Training: Safety training relevant to each work group’s operation is distributed throughout the organization monthly, quarterly and/or annually
•Compliance: Regular audits in various formats are used to review and ensure compliance with applicable agency regulations
•Performance metrics: Traditional OSHA metrics are maintained on a quarterly and annual basis to measure actual performance and help identify continuous improvement opportunities
Total Rewards
We have a demonstrated history of investing in our workforce by providing competitive wages and benefits. Our benefits package includes:
•Comprehensive health insurance coverage to employees working 30 hours or more each week;
•Parental leave to all new parents for birth, adoption or foster placement;
•Short term disability to provide partial wage protection for up to 13 weeks;
•Employee stock purchase plan;
•Wellness and disease management programs, health advocacy partner, and employee assistance programs;
•Tuition reimbursement program; and
•401(k) plan with generous company match and profit sharing.
Employees
As of January 3, 2021, we employed 3,083 full-time employees and 266 part-time employees.
Over the last several years, we have meaningfully reduced our number of full time employees and our selling, general & administrative expenses through our business transformation initiatives, particularly our DSD shift from RSPs to IOs and the associated restructuring of our sales management and corporate organization structure (see “— Supply Chain — Distribution” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of Utz Brands Holdings — Recent Developments and Significant Items Affecting Comparability —Independent Operator Conversions” for more information). We expect the ongoing shift from RSPs toward IOs to be substantially completed by the second quarter of fiscal year 2022. Additionally, we historically have reduced employee count and operating expenses in relation to integration initiatives associated with our recent acquisitions.
Sustainability
We recognize the importance of Environment, Social and Governance issues for all stakeholders. As a newly public company, we are in the early stages of building our ESG framework and strategy and are using leading ESG and sustainability frameworks and guiding principles, such as the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as stakeholder engagement to inform our ESG program.
Cross-functional working groups and an ESG committee has been formed that has clear reporting to the executive team and the board. We recognize our responsibility to uphold the Company’s founding values which, for more than 100 years, have centered on working ethically, responsibly, and with integrity. We also look for ways to make a positive difference at work and in our communities. By collaborating with stakeholders, including team members, business partners, suppliers, and customers, we are working to become a more sustainable company.
Intellectual Property
We own numerous domestic and foreign trademarks and other proprietary rights that are important to our business. These include the U.S. trademark registrations, which protect certain rights in the following brands: Utz, ON THE BORDER, Zapp’s, Golden Flake, Good Health, Boulder Canyon, Hawaiian, TORTIYAHS!, Tim’s Cascade, Snyder of Berlin, “Dirty”, Kitchen Cooked, Bachman, Jax, and On the Border, among others. We also recently unveiled a modernization of our well known Little Utz Girl, and procured a trademark registration for her. Depending upon the jurisdiction, trademarks are valid as long as they are used in the regular course of trade and/or their registrations are properly maintained.
We also maintain rights to the domain name www.utzsnacks.com and www.getutz.com, among others.
We believe the protection of our intellectual property, particularly our trademarks, trade dress, trade secrets, copyrights and domain names, is important to our success. We aggressively protect our intellectual property rights by, among other methods, relying on a combination of watch services and enforcement under intellectual property laws through the domain name dispute resolution system. For example in 2020, we were engaged in litigation against Dirty South BBQ Co., LLC in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, in light of Dirty South BBQ Co., LLC’s use of certain DIRTY designations in connection with the advertising, marketing, offering for sale, and sale of pork skins and food seasonings. This matter was then transferred to the Eastern District of Tennessee in September 2020 before both parties stipulated to the dismissal of the litigation in October 2020.
In addition, from time to time, we may be subject to legal proceedings and claims in the ordinary course of business. We take proactive measures in attempts to avoid infringement of third party marks by conducting trademark clearance searches and taking other industry standard measures. However, this does not prevent third parties from asserting claims against us. We have received, and may in the future continue to receive, claims from third parties asserting, among other things, infringement of their intellectual property rights. The results of any current or future litigation cannot be predicted with certainty and regardless of the outcome, litigation can have an adverse impact on us because of defense and settlement costs, diversion of management resources, and other factors. See “Risk Factors — Potential liabilities and costs from litigation, claims, legal or regulatory proceedings, inquiries or investigations can have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations.” Moreover, future litigation may be necessary to defend ourselves, our partners, and our customers by determining the scope, enforceability, and validity of third-party proprietary rights or to establish our proprietary rights.
We also license certain third-party brand names for use on our products, including the TGI Friday’s and Herdez trademarks. We use these trademarks in connection with the manufacturing, production, and distribution of snack products to be sold under the trademarked labels. Under the agreements governing our use of such trademarks, we are required to make guaranteed annual royalty payments. Sales under the TGI Fridays and Herdez agreements represent approximately 3% of our 2020 invoice sales.
We also license certain of our owned brands, including Utz, for use by third parties in certain food categories (such as frozen foods); however, licensing revenues from these arrangements represent less than 1% of fiscal year 2020 Net Sales and are not material to our business or growth strategy. Finally, we have historically engaged in certain cross-marketing and/or promotional activities with third parties, including Major League Baseball, thereby increasing the visibility of our brands.
Seasonality
Although the demand for our products is relatively stable throughout the year as compared to other consumer goods, we have experienced in the past, and expect to continue to experience, seasonal fluctuations in our retail sales as a result of consumer and customer spending patterns. Historically, the months of April-September and December have resulted in higher retail sales than average due to increased consumer demand during the spring and summer months and holiday season, as well as significant retailer merchandising and promotions around those times. Additionally, we have historically generated seasonal cash flow from decreases in working capital levels in the fourth quarter and invested cash flow in working capital increases in the first quarter. We expect these historical trends to continue in the future.
Government Regulation and Compliance
We are subject to various laws and regulations in the United States by federal, state and local government authorities. In the United States, the federal agencies governing the manufacture, distribution and advertising of our products include, among others, the FTC; the FDA; the United States Department of Agriculture, or USDA; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and similar state and local agencies. Under various statutes, these agencies, among other things, prescribe the requirements and establish the standards for quality and safety and regulate marketing and advertising to consumers.
We are subject to labor and employment laws, laws governing advertising, privacy laws, safety regulations and other laws, including consumer protection regulations that regulate retailers or govern the promotion and sale of merchandise. Our operations, and those of our distributors and suppliers, also are subject to various laws and regulations relating to environmental protection and worker health and safety matters. We monitor these regulatory requirements and our compliance on a regular basis.
Available Information
Our website is www.utzsnacks.com. The information found on, or that can be accessed from or that is hyperlinked to, our website is not part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We file or furnish annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). You may obtain a copy of any of these reports, free of charge, from the Investors Relations section of our website as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. The SEC maintains an Internet site that also contains these reports at: www.sec.gov. In addition, copies of the Company's annual report will be made available, free of charge, on written request to the Company.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Our business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties. You should carefully consider the following risks as well as the other information included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We operate in a changing environment that involves numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could materially adversely affect our operations. Any of the following risks could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects. However, the selected risks described below are not the only risks facing us. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or those we currently view to be immaterial may also materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects. In such a case, the trading price of our securities could decline and you may lose all or part of your investment in us.
Unless the context otherwise requires, all references in this subsection to the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our” refer to Utz Brands, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries following the Business Combination, other than certain historical information which refers to the business of UBH and its consolidated subsidiaries prior to the consummation of the Business Combination.
Risks Related to Our Business
Our gross profit margins may be impacted by a variety of factors, including but not limited to variations in raw materials pricing, retail customer requirements and mix, sales velocities and required promotional support.
We expect that our gross profit as a percentage of net sales could fluctuate as a result of competition and other factors described herein. Our gross profit is impacted by a number of factors, including product pricing, the availability and cost of commodities, raw materials pricing (including ingredients and packaging), labor costs, and energy costs. Further, our gross profit margin may be impacted by shifts in the overall mix of products having a higher or lower profit margin. Should the competitive dynamic change in our industry (which could impact our margins through forces including but not limited to requiring us to alter our pricing strategy, offering a greater percentage of lower profit margin products in our overall product mix, or requiring additional promotional activity), raw materials prices increase dramatically, or any of our customer relationships or relationships with our IOs and third-party distributors change materially, then we may not be able to continue to operate at our current margins. We may be able to pass some or all raw material, energy and other input cost increases to customers, IOs and third-party distributors by increasing the selling prices of our products or decreasing the size of our products; however, higher product prices or decreased product sizes may cause us to be less competitive with our peers and result in a reduction in sales volume or consumption, or increased packaging costs. If we are not able to increase our selling prices or reduce product sizes sufficiently, or in a timely manner, to offset increased raw material, packaging, energy or other input costs, including freight, direct labor, overhead and employee benefits, or if our sales volume decreases significantly, there could be a negative impact on our financial condition and results of operations.
Consumers’ loyalty to our brands may change due to factors beyond our control, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results.
Our business currently depends in a large part on repeat purchases by the same consumers, many of whom are based in our Core Geographies where we have acquired strong regional brands and distribution capabilities in recent years. We believe this purchasing pattern is indicative of loyalty to our brands. However, these consumers are under no obligation to continue to repeatedly purchase our products and could stop or materially reduce purchasing our products at any time. These consumers could cease purchasing our products for any number of reasons, some of which are beyond our control, including changing consumer trends, negative publicity regarding our brand, real or perceived quality or health issues with our products, a change in consumers’ perception of “better for you” brands or other specialty brands, or the availability of premium-branded or lower-priced alternative snack products, or for no reason at all. Loss of consumers’ loyalty to our brands and the resulting decreased sales to consumers could have an adverse effect on our business and operating results.
Demand for our products may be adversely affected by changes in consumer preferences and tastes or if we are unable to innovate or market our products effectively.
We are a consumer products company operating in highly competitive markets and rely on continued demand for our products. To generate revenue and profits, we must sell products that appeal to our customers and consumers. Any significant changes in consumer preferences or any inability on our part to anticipate or react to such changes could result in reduced demand for our products and erosion of our competitive and financial position. Our success depends on our ability to respond to consumer trends, including increasing concerns of consumers regarding health and wellness, obesity, product attributes and ingredients, as demonstrated through the “better-for-you” movement in our industry. In addition, changes in product category consumption or consumer demographics could result in reduced demand for our products. Consumer preferences may shift due to a variety of factors, including the changes in social trends and activity patterns. Any of these changes may affect consumers’ willingness to purchase our products and negatively impact our financial results.
Our continued success also is dependent on product innovation, such as new flavors and formats, as well as the introduction of “better-for-you” products in response to evolving consumer preference. In order to successfully compete within our industry, we must maintain a robust pipeline of new products, and effective advertising and promotional campaigns, marketing programs and product packaging. Although we devote significant resources to meet this goal, we may not be able to continue to develop and launch successful new products or variants of existing products, or to effectively execute advertising and promotional campaigns and marketing programs.
We must expend resources to create consumer awareness, build brand loyalty and generate interest in our products. In addition, competitors may offer significant price reductions and consumers may not find our products suitably differentiated from products of our competitors.
Our ability to develop, market and sell new and existing products at an appropriate price may be hampered by unfavorable terms of sale imposed by our retail customers or, once placed, the failure to have an attractive price set for our products. Competitors, many of whom have greater resources than us, vie for the same shelf placement and may offer incentives to retail customers that we cannot match. In addition, unattractive shelf placement and pricing may put us at a disadvantage to our competitors.
Even if we do obtain shelf space or preferable shelf placement for any of our brands, our new and existing products may fail to achieve the sales expectations set by our retail customers, potentially causing these retailers to remove our products from the shelf. Additionally, an increase in the number and quality of private-label products in the product categories in which we compete could reduce available shelf space and hamper the placement for our branded products, which could adversely affect our sales.
To obtain and keep shelf placement for our products, we may need to increase our marketing and advertising spending in order to create consumer awareness, protect and grow our existing market share or to promote new products, which could impact our operating results. Despite our efforts, our marketing and advertising efforts may not be effective, and we may not be able to protect or grow our existing market share nor successfully promote new products. In addition, we consistently evaluate our product lines to determine whether or not to discontinue certain products. Discontinuing product lines may increase our profitability but could reduce our sales and hurt our brand and consumer loyalty, and a reduction in sales of certain of our products could result in a reduction in sales of other of our products. The discontinuation of product lines may have an adverse effect on our business.
Fluctuations in our results of operations from quarter to quarter because of changes in our promotional activities may impact, and may have a disproportionate effect on, our overall financial condition and results of operations.
Our business is subject to quarterly fluctuations due to the timing of, and demand for, consumer-driven promotional activities, which may have a disproportionate effect on our results of operations. Historically, we have offered a variety of sales and promotion incentives to our customers, IOs, and third-party distributors and consumers, such as price discounts, consumer coupons, volume rebates, cooperative marketing programs, slotting fees and in-store displays. In addition, our sales and promotion incentives are typically offered in connection with seasonal social events, holidays and sporting events. Our Net Sales are periodically influenced by the introduction and discontinuance of sales and promotion incentives. Reductions in overall sales and promotion incentives could impact our Net Sales and affect our results of operations in any particular fiscal quarter.
Our reputation or brand image might be impacted as a result of issues or concerns relating to the quality and safety of our products, ingredients or packaging, and other environmental, social or governance matters, which in turn could negatively impact our operating results.
In order to sell our branded products, we need to maintain a good reputation with our stakeholders, including our customers, consumers, IOs, third-party distributors, suppliers, vendors, employees and equityholders, among others. Issues related to the quality and safety of our products, ingredients or packaging could jeopardize our image and reputation. Negative publicity related to these types of concerns, or related to product contamination or product tampering, whether valid or not and which may not be in our control, could decrease demand for our products or cause production and delivery disruptions. We may need to recall products if any of our products become unfit for consumption, and we could potentially be subject to litigation or government actions, which could result in payments of fines or damages. In addition, negative publicity related to our environmental, social or governance practices could also impact our reputation with customers, consumers, IOs, third-party distributors, suppliers, vendors, employees and equityholders, among others. Costs associated with these potential actions, as well as the potential impact on our ability to sell our products, could negatively affect our operating results.
If our products become adulterated or are mislabeled, we might need to recall those items, and we may experience product liability claims and damage to our reputation.
We have in the past and we may, in the future, need to recall some of our products, including any products that we produce for other parties under a private label, if they become adulterated or if they are mislabeled due to our fault or error, or the fault or error of any of our suppliers. We may also be liable if the consumption of any of our products cause sickness or injury to consumers. A widespread product recall could result in significant losses due to the costs of a recall, the destruction of product inventory, losses due to the frustration of our contracts with third parties, and lost sales due to the unavailability of product for a period of time. We could also suffer losses from a significant adverse product liability judgment. A significant product recall or product liability claim could also result in adverse publicity, damage to our reputation, and a loss of consumer confidence in the safety or quality of our products, ingredients or packaging and consumer loyalty. We may not be sufficiently indemnified by our suppliers, or successfully recover under any such indemnification rights, in the event sickness or injury to consumers is caused by any of our supplier’s fault or error. In addition, if other companies recall or experience negative publicity related to a product in a category in which we compete, consumers might reduce their overall consumption of products in that category.
Slotting fees and customer charges or charge-backs for promotion allowances, cooperative advertising, and product or packaging damages, as well as undelivered or unsold food products may have a significant impact on our operating results and may disrupt our customer relationships.
Retailers in the grocery industry may charge slotting fees for access to shelf space and often enter into promotional and advertising arrangements with manufacturers that result in the sharing of promotional and advertising costs among the retail customer, distributor or manufacturer. As the retail grocery industry has consolidated and become more competitive, retail customers have sought greater participation by manufacturers in cooperative promotional and advertising arrangements and are more inclined to pass on unanticipated increases in promotional and advertising costs to distributors and manufacturers. Additionally, retailers are exhibiting a greater willingness to take deductions from distributors and manufacturers for damaged products, undelivered and unsold products or to return unsold products to distributors and manufacturers. If we are charged significant and unanticipated promotional allowances or advertising charges directly or indirectly by retail customers, or if we, our IOs, third-party distributors or our direct or indirect customers take substantial charge-backs or return material amounts of our products, the operating results and liquidity of our business could be harmed, perhaps substantially. Moreover, an unresolved disagreement with a retail customer concerning promotional allowances, advertising charges, charge-backs or returns could significantly disrupt or cause the termination of a customer relationship, immediately reducing our sales and liquidity. Because of the limited number of retail customers in the U.S. grocery market, the loss of even a single retail customer, a single stock-keeping unit previously maintained by a retail customer, or a customer of one of our significant IOs or third-party distributors, could have a long-term negative impact on our financial condition and Net Sales.
We do not have many contracts with our customers that require the purchase of a minimum amount of our products.
Very few of our customers provide us with firm, long-term or short-term volume purchase commitments. As a result of the absence of such contracts, we could have periods during which we have no or limited orders for our products, but we will continue to have certain fixed costs, including those to maintain our work force and other expenses that are subject to contract. We may not be able to find new customers in a timely manner to supplement periods where we experience no or limited purchase orders or recover fixed costs as a result of experiencing reduced purchase orders. Periods of no or limited purchase orders for our products could have a material adverse effect on our Net Income or cause us to incur losses. Unanticipated fluctuations in product requirements by our customers could result in fluctuations in our results from quarter to quarter.
We operate in the highly competitive snack food industry, which may reduce our ability to sell our products to our customers or consumers if we are unable to compete effectively.
The sales of most of our products are subject to significant competition due to factors including product quality and taste, brand awareness among consumers, access to shelf space at retail customers’ locations, price, advertising and promotion, innovation of on-trend snacks, variety of snacks offered, nutritional content, product packaging and package design. We compete in that market principally on the basis of product taste and quality, but also brand recognition and loyalty, price, marketing, advertising and the ability to satisfy specific consumer dietary needs against numerous multinational, regional and local companies, as well as emerging companies, primarily in the “better-for-you” product segment.
Historically our growth strategy has utilized acquisitions in the salty snack industry as a means of our growth, and we believe that acquisitions will continue to be an important component of our intended growth strategy. Additionally, as a general matter, there is continuing consolidation in the snack food industry and in retail outlets for snack foods by other market participants. Although we gain benefits from the execution of our acquisition strategy, the continuing consolidation has increased, and may continue to increase, competition over such factors as promotional discounting and other price cutting techniques. Consolidation within the snack food industry and retail outlets by others may prevent us from effectively competing if others in the industry that have greater resources than us, and retail customers or potential retail customers, enter into long-term purchase contracts or promotional arrangements. Significant consolidation by others increases the possibility that we could lose one or more major customers, lose existing product authorizations at customer locations, lose market share or shelf space, increase expenditures or reduce selling prices, which could have an adverse impact on our business or financial results.
In addition, we compete with emerging companies, primarily in the “better-for-you” product segment, some of which may provide innovative or trendier snack foods. In addition, many of these emerging companies receive investment from private equity, venture capital or other investors, who may be willing to accept lower product margins or sustained losses by such competitors, while such competitors gain market share. If such emerging companies are able to attract a loyal consumer base through more innovative or trendier snack foods, or offer their snack food products at lower prices than us, our market share and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.
Substantial advertising and promotional expenditures may also be required to maintain or improve our brands’ market position or to introduce a new product to the market, and participants in our industry have been engaging with new media, including consumer outreach through social media and web-based channels. Advertising and promotional expenditures may be ineffective if consumers prioritize price over other factors and purchase lower-cost alternatives, such as private label, generic or store branded products. Our ability to compete may also be dependent on the availability of product category-appropriate snack aisles at our retail customers’ locations and whether our products are placed in the appropriate snack aisle, such as the “better-for-you” snack food aisle or in the traditional snack food aisle. An increasing focus on “better for you” products and other specialty products in the marketplace will likely increase these competitive pressures within the category in future periods.
Due to the competitive landscape in the snack food industry, price increases for our products that we initiate or failure to effectively advertise and promote our products may negatively impact our financial results if not properly implemented or accepted by our customers, IOs, third-party distributors or consumers. Future price increases, such as those made in order to offset increased input costs or other expenditures, such as advertising and promotion, may reduce our overall sales volume, which could reduce our revenue and operating profit. We may not be able to implement price increases driven by higher input costs on a timely basis or at all, either of which may reduce our operating profit. Additionally, if market prices for certain inputs decline significantly, in some instances we may be required by contract to pay customers the difference or experience customer pressure to reduce the prices for our products which could lower our revenue and operating profit. Further, if our advertising or promotional efforts do not increase brand awareness or sales of our products, our expenses may increase, and our operating profit may be reduced.
We face competition in our business from private label, generic or store branded products which may result in price point pressures, leading to decreased demand for our products.
We are subject to competition from companies, including from some of our customers, that either currently manufacture or are developing products directly in competition with our products. While we manufacture certain store-branded products for our customers under a private label, these private label, generic or store-branded products may be a less expensive option for consumers than our products, making it more difficult to sell our branded products. If our customers cease to purchase our branded products or select another third-party manufacturer for their private label products, our financial results could be adversely affected. Similarly, other large retail customers or potential customers could follow similar private-label strategies. In future years, we may experience pricing pressure from our customers due to such competition, which could have a material and adverse effect on our operating results.
Changes in retail distribution arrangements can result in the temporary loss of retail shelf space and disrupt sales of food products, causing our sales to fall.
From time to time, retailers change distribution centers that supply some of their retail stores. If a new distribution center has not previously distributed our products in that region, it may take time for a retailer’s distribution center to begin distributing new products in its region. Even if a retailer approves the distribution of products in a new region, product sales may decline while the transition in distribution takes place. If we do not get approval to have our products offered in a new distribution region or if getting this approval takes longer than anticipated, our sales and operating results may suffer.
Our direct-to-warehouse delivery network system relies on a significant number of brokers, wholesalers and logistics companies. Such reliance could affect our ability to effectively and profitably distribute and market products, maintain existing markets and expand business into other geographic markets.
Our DTW network system relies on a significant number of brokers, wholesalers and logistics companies to deliver our products to approximately 350 retailer distribution centers as of the end of our 2020 fiscal year. The ability to maintain a DTW system depends on a number of factors, many of which are outside of our control. Some of these factors include: (i) the level of demand for the brands and products which are available in a particular area surrounding a retailer distribution center; (ii) the ability to price products at levels competitive with those offered by competing producers and at prices that consumers will purchase our products; and (iii) our ability and the ability of third-party logistics companies to deliver products in the quantity and at the time ordered by brokers, wholesalers and retail customers. We may not be able to mitigate the risks related to all or any of these factors in any of our current or prospective geographic areas. To the extent that any of these factors have an adverse effect on our relationships with our brokers, wholesalers or third-party logistics companies, thus limiting maintenance and expansion of the sales market, our revenue and financial results may be adversely impacted.
Identifying new brokers, wholesalers or third-party logistics companies can be time-consuming and any resulting delay may be disruptive and costly to our business. Many of our agreements with our brokers, in particular, are terminable by either us or them after satisfaction of a short notice period. There also is no assurance that we will be able to maintain current distribution relationships or establish and maintain successful relationships with brokers, wholesalers or third-party logistics companies in new geographic distribution areas. We may have to incur significant expenses to attract and maintain brokers, wholesalers or third-party logistics companies in one or more geographic distribution areas. The occurrence of any of these factors could result in increased expense or a significant decrease in sales volume through the DTW system and harm our business and financial results.
Our direct-store-delivery network system and regional third-party distributor network relies on a significant number of independent operators and third-party distributors, and such reliance could affect our ability to effectively and profitably distribute and market products, maintain existing markets and expand business into other geographic markets.
Our DSD network and regional third-party distributor network rely on over 1,300 IOs and approximately 430 third-party distributors, respectively, as of the end of our 2020 fiscal year for the distribution and sale of our branded products and some private label products. In order to purchase from us an exclusive right to deliver our products to retail customers in a specific territory, IOs and third-party distributors must make a commitment of capital or obtain financing to purchase such rights and other equipment to conduct their business. Certain financing arrangements, through third-party lending institutions, are made available to IOs and require us to repurchase the rights granted to an IO in the event the IO defaults on its loan; we are then required to collect any shortfall from the IO, to the extent possible. The inability of the IOs to make timely payments on their financing arrangements could require us to make payments on such financing arrangements pursuant to any guarantee agreements we have in place with such IOs’ third-party lenders. If we are required to make payments under such guarantees upon default by our IOs of a significant amount under their financing arrangements, the aggregate amount of such payments, could have an adverse effect on our financial results.
The ability to maintain a DSD network and regional third-party distributor network depends on a number of factors, many of which are outside of our control. Some of these factors include: (i) the level of demand for the brands and products which are available in a particular distribution area; (ii) the ability to price products at levels competitive with those offered by competing producers; and (iii) the ability to deliver products in the quantity and at the time ordered by IOs or third-party distributors, and retail customers. There can be no assurance that we will be able to mitigate the risks related to all or any of these factors in any of our current or prospective geographic areas of distribution. To the extent that any of these factors have an adverse effect on our relationships with IOs third-party distributors, thus limiting maintenance and expansion of the sales market, our revenue and financial results may be adversely impacted.
In addition, we rely on third-party distributors to directly or indirectly promote and sell our products within their assigned distribution areas. We may reimburse third-party distributors for a portion of their costs and expenses incurred in connection with such promotional efforts. If third-party distributors do not efficiently promote our products, we may experience an adverse effect on our financial results.
Identifying new IOs and third-party distributors can be time-consuming and any resulting delay may be disruptive and costly to the business. There also is no assurance that we will be able to maintain current distribution relationships or establish and maintain successful relationships with IOs or third-party distributors in new geographic distribution areas. There is the possibility that we will have to incur significant expenses to attract and maintain IOs and third-party distributors in one or more geographic distribution areas. The occurrence of any of these factors could result in increased expense or a significant decrease in sales volume through the DSD network and regional third-party distributor network and harm our business and financial results.
A disruption in the operation of the DSD network, regional third-party distributor network or DTW system could negatively affect our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
We believe that our development of our DSD network, regional third-party distributor network and DTW system is a significant competitive advantage. A material negative change in our relationship with our IOs, third-party distributors, brokers, wholesalers and logistics companies could materially and negatively affect our financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, and ability to operate and conduct our business. In addition, litigation or one or more adverse rulings by courts or regulatory or governmental bodies regarding our DSD network, third-party distributor network or DTW system, including actions or decisions that could affect the independent contractor classifications of the IOs, or an adverse judgment against us for actions taken by the IOs could materially and negatively affect our financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, and ability to operate and conduct our business.
The evolution of e-commerce sales channels may adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Our industry has been affected by changes to the retail landscape through sales over the Internet, including the rapid growth in sales through e-commerce websites, mobile commerce applications and subscription services as well as the integration of physical and digital operations among retailers. If we are unable to develop and maintain successful relationships with existing and new e-commerce retailers or otherwise adapt to the growing e-commerce landscape, while simultaneously maintaining relationships with our key customers, IOs and third-party distributors operating in traditional retail channels, we may be disadvantaged in certain channels and with certain customers, IOs, third-party distributors and consumers, which can adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. In addition, the growth in e-commerce may result in consumer price deflation and higher direct-to-consumer costs, which may adversely affect our margins, as well as our relationships with key retail customers and our IOs and third- party distributors. If these e-commerce retailers were to take significant additional market share away from traditional retailers or we fail to adapt to the rapidly changing retail and e-commerce landscapes, including finding ways to create more powerful digital tools and capabilities for our retail customers to enable them to grow their businesses, our ability to maintain and grow our profitability, share of sales or volume, and our business, financial condition or results of operations could be adversely affected.
The rapid expansion of hard discounters may adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
The growth of hard discounters, which are focused on limiting the number of items they sell and selling predominantly private label brands, may continue to reduce our ability to sell our products through such retailers. The rapid expansion of hard discounters may, among other factors, result in consumer price deflation, which may affect our relationships with key retail customers. Failure to appropriately respond to the expansion of hard discounter retailers may reduce our ability to sell our products in retail locations where consumers may be willing to purchase them, thus adversely affecting our ability to maintain or grow our share of sales or volume, and adversely affecting our business, financial condition or results of operations. In addition, if hard discounters were to take significant additional market share away from traditional retailers or if we fail to adapt to the rapidly changing retail landscape, our ability to maintain and grow our profitability, share of sales or volume and our business, financial condition or results of operations could be adversely affected.
Disruption to our manufacturing operations, supply chain or distribution channels could impair our ability to produce or deliver finished products and negatively impact our operating results.
Disruption to our manufacturing operations, our supply chain or our distribution channels, including our DSD network, regional third-party distributor network and DTW system, could result from, among other factors, the following: (i) natural disaster; (ii) pandemic, or epidemic or other outbreak of disease; (iii) adverse developments in crops or other significant ingredient shortfall, due to factors such as famine or climate conditions affecting agricultural materials; (iv) fire or explosion; (v) terrorism or other acts of violence; (vi) labor strikes or other major labor disruptions; (vii) unavailability of raw or packaging materials; (viii) operational or financial instability of key suppliers, and other vendors or service providers, including our IOs, third-party distributors, brokers, wholesalers and logistics companies; (ix) government action or economic or political uncertainties or instability affecting the manufacture, distribution or sale of our products; (x) power, fuel or water shortages; (xi) unanticipated failures to comply with regulatory requirements; and (xii) changes requiring unexpected shifts in production planning which could impact our ability to meet product demand in a cost-effective manner. If we are unable, or find that it is not financially feasible, to effectively plan for or mitigate the potential impacts of such disruptive events on our manufacturing operations or supply chain, our financial condition and results of operations could be negatively impacted.
The loss of, or a significant reduction in sales to, any key customer can adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Our customers include wholesale and other distributors, grocery stores, convenience and drug stores, discount stores, mass merchandisers, membership club stores, hard discounters, and specialty and e-commerce retailers, among others. We must maintain mutually beneficial relationships with our key customers to compete effectively. Any inability to resolve a significant dispute with any of our key customers, a change in the business condition (financial or otherwise) of any of our key customers, even if unrelated to us, a significant reduction in sales to any key customer, or the loss of any of our key customers can adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Our business, financial condition or results of operations may be adversely affected by increased costs, disruption of supply or shortages of raw materials, energy, water and other supplies.
We and our business partners use various raw materials, energy, water and other supplies in our business. Our supply chain, including our raw materials and other supplies, may be disrupted by unfavorable economic conditions and other disruptions to free and open trade of materials used in our products. In addition, some of our raw materials and other supplies are available from a limited number of suppliers or a sole supplier or are in short supply when seasonal demand is at its peak. We may not be able to maintain favorable arrangements and relationships with our suppliers and our contingency plans, including development of ingredients, materials or supplies to replace ingredients, materials or supplies sourced from such suppliers, may not be effective in preventing disruptions that may arise from shortages or discontinuation of any ingredient that is sourced from such suppliers. In addition, increasing focus on climate change, deforestation, water conservation, animal welfare and human rights concerns and other risks associated with the global food system may lead to increased activism focusing on consumer goods companies, governmental intervention and consumer response, and could adversely affect our or our suppliers’ reputation and business and our ability to procure the materials we need to operate our business.
The raw materials and energy, including electricity, fuel and natural gas, that we use for the manufacturing, production and distribution of our products are largely commodities that are subject to price volatility and fluctuations in availability caused by many factors, including changes in global supply and demand, weather conditions (including any potential effects of climate change), fire, natural disasters, disease or pests, agricultural uncertainty, pandemics, epidemics or other outbreak of disease, governmental incentives and controls (including import/export restrictions, such as new or increased tariffs, sanctions, quotas or trade barriers), limited or sole sources of supply, political uncertainties, acts of terrorism, governmental instability or currency exchange rates.
Shortage of some of these raw materials and other supplies, sustained interruption in their supply or an increase in their costs could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. Many of our ingredients, raw materials and commodities are purchased in the open market. The prices we pay for such items are subject to fluctuation, and we manage this risk through the use of fixed-price contracts and purchase orders (including buying forward at contracted prices for delivery of such supply within a period of up to a year), pricing agreements and derivative instruments, including options and futures. If commodity price changes result in unexpected or significant increases in raw materials and energy costs, we may be unwilling or unable to increase our product prices or unable to effectively hedge against commodity price increases to offset these increased costs without suffering reduced volume, revenue, margins and operating results. In addition, certain of the derivatives used to hedge price risk do not qualify for hedge accounting treatment and, therefore, can result in increased volatility in our net earnings in any given period due to changes in the spot or market prices of the underlying commodities.
Water is a limited resource in many parts of the world. The lack of available water of acceptable quality and increasing pressure to conserve water in areas of scarcity and stress may lead to supply chain disruption; adverse effects on our operations; higher compliance costs; capital expenditures (including additional investments in the development of technologies to enhance water efficiency and reduce water consumption); higher production costs; the cessation of operations at, or relocation of, our facilities or the facilities of our suppliers, contract manufacturers, distributors, joint venture partners or other third parties; or damage to our reputation, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
We rely on local government and municipal agencies to provide several resources, including water, electricity and natural gas, in such quantities and of such quality to be of use as inputs for our products. These local government and municipal agencies are subject to various regulations and political pressures from numerous stakeholders, which may cause them to conserve resources or fail to protect the quality of these resources, at times when we rely on them to timely deliver our products to our customers. If these agencies are unable or unwilling to deliver resources of a suitable quantity or quality we may not be able to deliver products in the quantity and at the time ordered by our customers, IOs, third-party distributors, brokers, wholesalers and retail customers, which may have a material and adverse effect on our results of operations.
Pandemics, epidemics or other disease outbreaks, such as COVID-19, may change or disrupt consumption and trade patterns, supply chains, and production processes, which could materially affect our operations and results of operations.
Pandemics, epidemics or other disease outbreaks, such as COVID-19, could significantly change consumption patterns for our products. These changes could force us to rapidly adapt to those new patterns, and, if we do not, our business could be materially and adversely affected. Additionally, pandemics, epidemics or other disease outbreaks, may depress or otherwise impact demand for our products because quarantines may inhibit consumption or as the result of other factors. Restrictions on public gatherings or interactions may also limit the opportunity for our customers and consumers to purchase our products, especially in certain of our sales channels, such as food service. Any economic downturn caused by any pandemic, epidemic or other disease outbreak may also cause substantial changes in consumer behavior, some of which we may not be able to predict with certainty, including:
•A shift in consumer preference toward private label products and changes in consumer behavior to retail outlets that do not sell any, or a significant portion, of our products, such as hard discounters. See “― Our performance may be impacted by general economic conditions or an economic downturn.”
•Rapid growth in sales through e-commerce websites, mobile commerce applications and subscription services, which is a channel through which we may not be able to effectively compete. See “— The evolution of e-commerce sales channels may adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.”
The spread of pandemics, epidemics or other disease outbreaks may also disrupt logistics necessary to distribute products to us or our customers. Ports and other channels of entry may be closed or operate at only a portion of capacity, as workers may be prohibited or otherwise unable to report to work and means of transporting products within regions may be limited for the same reason.
Our operations, or those of suppliers and other members of our supply chain, or IOs, third-party distributors and other participants in our distribution channels may become limited in their ability to procure, distribute, or produce our products because of transport restrictions related to quarantines or travel bans.
Workforce limitations and travel restrictions resulting from pandemics, epidemics or other disease outbreaks and related government actions may impact many aspects of our business. If a significant percentage of our workforce is unable to work, including because of catastrophes, illness, travel or government restrictions in connection with pandemics, epidemics or other disease outbreaks, our operations may be negatively impacted.
We have developed, and periodically update, our contingency plans to address disruptions such as pandemics, epidemics and other disease outbreaks, or similar disruption in our operations. If in the event of such a disruption our contingency plans are partially, or entirely, ineffective our operations and results of operations could be materially and adversely harmed.
Our financial position may be adversely affected by an unexpected event carrying an insurance obligation for which we have inadequate coverage.
We are primarily self-insured, up to certain limits, for employee group health claims. We purchase stop-loss insurance, which will reimburse us for individual and aggregate claims in excess of certain annual established limits. We are also primarily self-insured through large deductible insurance plans for automobile, general liability and workers’ compensation. We have utilized a number of different insurance vehicles and programs for these insurable risks and recognizes expenses and reserves in accordance with the provisions of each insurance vehicle/program. We believe that our insurance coverage is customary for businesses of our size and type. However, there are types of losses we may incur that cannot be insured against or that we believe are not commercially reasonable to insure. These losses, should they occur, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. In addition, the cost of insurance fluctuates based upon our historical trends, market conditions, and availability.
We estimate the liabilities and required reserves associated with the risks we retain. Any such estimates and actuarial projection of losses is subject to a considerable degree of variability. Among the causes of this variability are changes in benefit levels, medical fee schedules, medical utilization guidelines, severity of injuries and accidents, vocation, rehabilitation and apportionment and unpredictable external factors affecting inflation rates, discount rates, rising healthcare costs, litigation trends, legal interpretations, benefit level changes, actual claim settlement patterns, and pandemics, epidemics and other disease outbreaks. If actual losses incurred are greater than those anticipated, our reserves may be insufficient and additional costs could be recorded in our consolidated financial statements. If we suffer a substantial loss that exceeds our self-insurance reserves, and any excess insurance coverage, the loss and attendant expenses could harm our business, financial condition, or results of operations. We have purchased stop-loss coverage from third parties for certain employee healthcare plans, which limits our exposure above the amounts we have self-insured.
In addition, while we currently maintain insurance coverage that is intended to address certain costs associated with aspects of our business, this insurance coverage, to the extent we utilize it, may not, depending on the specific facts and circumstances surrounding an incident, may be insufficient to cover the actual losses or the types of claims that arise from an incident, or the damage to our reputation or brands that may result from an incident.
Changes in the legal and regulatory environment could limit our business activities, increase our operating costs, reduce demand for our products or result in litigation.
The conduct of our businesses, including the procurement, production, storage, distribution, sale, display, advertising, marketing, labeling, health and safety practices, transportation and use of many of our products, are subject to various laws and regulations administered by federal, state and local governmental agencies in the United States, as well as to laws and regulations administered by government entities and agencies outside the United States in markets in which our products or components thereof (such as packaging) may be made, manufactured or sold. These laws and regulations and interpretations thereof may change, sometimes dramatically, as a result of a variety of factors, including political, economic or social events. Such changes may include changes in:
•Food and drug laws (including U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations and other applicable regulations);
•Laws related to product labeling;
•Advertising and marketing laws and practices;
•Laws and programs restricting the sale and advertising of certain of our products;
•Laws and programs aimed at reducing, restricting or eliminating ingredients present in certain of our products;
•Laws and programs aimed at discouraging the consumption of products or ingredients or altering the package or portion size of certain of our products;
•Increased regulatory scrutiny of, and increased litigation involving, product claims and concerns regarding the effects on consumers’ health from ingredients in, or attributes of, certain of our products;
•Farming and environmental laws;
•Taxation requirements, including the imposition or proposed imposition of new or increased taxes or other limitations on the sale of our products;
•State consumer protection and disclosure laws;
•Anti-corruption laws;
•Laws regulating transportation, including the use of motor vehicles;
•Employment and labor laws, including laws regulating employee or independent contractor classification;
•Privacy laws;
•Export control laws;
•Laws regulating the price we may charge for our products; and
•Competition or antitrust laws.
New laws, regulations or governmental policy and their related interpretations, or changes in any of the foregoing, including taxes or other limitations on the sale of our products, ingredients contained in our products or commodities used in the production of our products, may alter the environment in which we do business and, therefore, may impact our operating results or increase our costs or liabilities.
As a food manufacturing company, all of our products must be compliant with regulations by, among others, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”), the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”), and the laws of the various states and localities where we operate and sell products (“Local Laws”). In addition a number of our products rely on independent certification that they are non-GMO, gluten-free, organic or Kosher. Any non-compliance with the FDA, or USDA, or the loss of any such certification could harm our business.
We must comply with various FDA, FTC and USDA rules and regulations and Local Laws, including those regarding product manufacturing, food safety, required testing and appropriate labeling of our products. It is possible that FDA, FTC and USDA regulations thereof may change over time. As such, there is a risk that our products could become non-compliant with the applicable regulations and any such non-compliance could harm our business. In addition, we rely on independent certification of our non-GMO, organic, gluten-free and Kosher products and must comply with the requirements of independent organizations or certification authorities in order to label our products as such. Currently, the FDA does not directly regulate the labeling of Kosher or non-GMO products as such. The FDA has defined the term “gluten-free” and we must comply with the FDA’s definition if we include this label on our products. Our products could lose their non-GMO and gluten-free certifications if our raw material suppliers lose their product certifications for those specified claims. We could also lose our Kosher product certification if our production facility or a contract manufacturing plant is found to be in violation of required manufacturing or cleaning processes. The loss of any of these independent certifications, including for reasons outside of our control, could harm our business.
We also must comply with state rules and regulations, including Proposition 65 in California, which requires a specific warning on or relating to any product that contains a substance listed by the State of California as having been found to cause cancer or birth defects or other reproductive harm, unless the level of such substance in the product is below a safe harbor level established by the State of California. Interpretation and application of such rules, including potential differences in application on a state by state basis, may give rise to uncertainty as to the appropriate labeling and formulation of our products. In addition, the FDA has adopted labeling guidelines that will affect the labeling of both the front and back of many of our products. We are continually reviewing and revising our labeling activities in advance of new or changed requirements in anticipation of any rules coming into effect and in response to industry litigation trends. The imposition or proposed imposition of additional product labeling or warning requirements may reduce overall consumption of our products, lead to negative publicity (whether based on scientific fact or not) or leave consumers with the perception (whether or not valid) that our products do not meet their health and wellness needs, resulting in adverse effects on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Potential liabilities and costs from litigation, claims, legal or regulatory proceedings, inquiries or investigations can have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
We and our subsidiaries are party to a variety of litigation, claims, legal or regulatory proceedings, inquiries and investigations, including but not limited to matters related to our advertising, marketing or commercial practices; product labels, the difference between the actual capacity of a container and the volume of product contained in such container (which is referred to as “slack fill”), claims and ingredients; our intellectual property rights; environmental, privacy, employment, tax and insurance matters; and matters relating to our compliance with applicable laws and regulations. We evaluate such matters to assess the likelihood of unfavorable outcomes and estimate, if possible, the amount of potential losses and establish reserves as we deem appropriate. These matters are inherently uncertain and there is no guarantee that we will be successful in defending ourselves in these matters, or that our assessment of the materiality of these matters and the likely outcome or potential losses and established reserves will be consistent with the ultimate outcome of such matters. In the event that management’s assessment of actual or potential claims and proceedings proves inaccurate or litigation, claims, proceedings, inquiries or investigations that are material arise in the future, there may be a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. Responding to litigation, claims, proceedings, inquiries, and investigations, even those that are ultimately non-meritorious, requires us to incur significant expense and devote significant resources, including the time and attention of our management, and may generate adverse publicity that damages our reputation or brand image, resulting in an adverse impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
We may be unable to successfully identify and execute or integrate acquisitions.
In December 2017, October 2019, and December 2020, we acquired Inventure Foods, Kennedy, the DSD snacks business of Conagra Brands, Inc., and Truco, respectively. In addition, we have periodically acquired other businesses or business assets and we plan to selectively pursue acquisitions in the future to continue to grow and increase our profitability. Our acquisition strategy is based on identifying and acquiring brands with products that complement our existing products and identifying and acquiring brands in new categories and in new geographies for purposes of expanding our platform of snack foods. Although we regularly evaluate multiple acquisition candidates, we cannot be certain that we will be able to successfully identify suitable acquisition candidates, negotiate acquisitions of identified candidates on terms acceptable to us, or integrate acquisitions that we complete.
Our acquisition strategy involves numerous risks and uncertainties, including intense competition for suitable acquisition targets, which could increase valuations or adversely affect our ability to consummate deals on favorable or acceptable terms, the potential unavailability of financial resources necessary to consummate acquisitions in the future, the risk that we improperly value and price a target, the inability to identify all of the risks and liabilities inherent in a target company notwithstanding our due diligence efforts, the diversion of management’s attention from the operations of our business and strain on our existing personnel, increased leverage due to additional debt financing that may be required to complete an acquisition, dilution of our stockholder’s net current book value per share if we issue additional equity securities to finance an acquisition, difficulties in identifying suitable acquisition targets or in completing any transactions identified on sufficiently favorable terms and the need to obtain regulatory or other governmental approvals that may be necessary to complete acquisitions.
In addition, any future acquisitions may pose risks associated with entry into new geographic markets, including outside the United States, distribution channels, lines of business or product categories, where we may not have significant or any prior experience and where we may not be as successful or profitable as we are in businesses and geographic regions where we have greater familiarity and brand recognition. Potential acquisitions may also entail significant transaction costs and require a significant amount of management time, even where we are unable to consummate or decide not to pursue a particular transaction.
In addition, even when acquisitions, such as the acquisition of Inventure Foods, Kennedy, and Truco, are completed, integration of acquired entities and business lines can involve significant difficulties, such as failure to achieve financial or operating objectives with respect to an acquisition, strain on our personnel, systems and operational and managerial controls and procedures, the need to modify systems or to add management resources, difficulties in the integration and retention of customers or personnel and the integration and effective deployment of operations or technologies, amortization of acquired assets (which would reduce future reported earnings), possible adverse short-term effects on cash flows or operating results, diversion of management’s attention from the operations of our business, integrating personnel with diverse backgrounds and organizational cultures, coordinating sales and marketing functions and failure to obtain and retain key personnel of an acquired business. Failure to manage these acquisition growth risks could have an adverse effect on us.
The geographic concentration of our markets may adversely impact us if we are unable to effectively diversify the markets in which we participate.
Our legacy business has been heavily concentrated in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. In recent years, however, through a series of acquisitions, we have expanded our geographic footprint to include locations across the United States. This expansion, however, is relatively recent and we remain subject to the risks associated with entry into new geographic markets, including failure to achieve financial or operating objectives with respect to the newly expanded regions. See “— We may be unable to successfully identify and execute or integrate acquisitions” for a summary of risks associated with our geographic expansion and acquisition strategy. Further, it is possible that the failure to effectively integrate acquired companies based in new geographic markets may frustrate our goal of diversifying our geographic presence, following which we may remain vulnerable to the financial risks associated with the lack of diversity.
We may not be able to attract and retain the highly skilled people we need to support our business.
We depend on the skills and continued service of key personnel, including our experienced management team. In addition, our ability to achieve our strategic and operating goals depends on our ability to identify, hire, train and retain qualified individuals. We also compete with other companies both within and outside of our industry for talented personnel, and we may lose key personnel or fail to attract, train and retain other talented personnel. Any such loss or failure may adversely affect our business or financial results. We may also lose the service of key personnel and significant portions of our workforce for extended periods of time due to pandemics, epidemics or other disease outbreaks.
Our ability to be successful following the Business Combination is also dependent upon the efforts of the board of directors of the Company (the “Company Board”) and key personnel to operate a public company. We cannot assure you that the Company Board and our key personnel will be effective or successful or remain with us. In addition to the other challenges they will face, following the Business Combination such individuals may be unfamiliar with certain requirements of operating a public company, which could cause our management to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such requirements.
Activities related to identifying, recruiting, hiring and integrating qualified individuals may require significant time and expense. We may not be able to locate suitable replacements for any members of the Company Board or key personnel who leave or suffer extended illness or disability, or offer employment to potential replacements on reasonable terms, each of which may adversely affect our business and financial results.
A portion of our workforce is represented by unions. Failure to successfully negotiate collective bargaining agreements, or strikes or work stoppages, could cause our business to suffer.
Some of our employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements, and other employees may seek to be covered by collective bargaining agreements. Strikes or work stoppages or other business interruptions could occur if we are unable to renew these agreements on satisfactory terms or enter into new agreements on satisfactory terms or if we are unable to otherwise manage changes in, or that affect, our workforce, which could impair manufacturing and distribution of our products or result in a loss of sales, which could adversely impact our business, financial condition or results of operations. The terms and conditions of existing, renegotiated or new collective bargaining agreements could also increase our costs or otherwise affect our ability to fully implement future operational changes to enhance our efficiency or to adapt to changing business needs or strategy.
We license certain trademarks to sell branded specialty products under popular household names, such as T.G.I. Friday’s®, which may require us to pay minimum annual royalty payments to the licensor.
We license trademarks, which permit us to sell branded specialty products under popular household names. The terms of the license agreements typically include an obligation for us to pay a minimum annual royalty to the licensor. If we are unable to sell enough branded specialty products to exceed the minimum amount, we would be obligated to still pay the minimum annual royalty payments. If we are unable or unwilling to pay the minimum annual royalty payment, the licensor may be able to enforce the license agreement against us, and potentially terminate the license, which could have an adverse effect on our revenues and our results of operations.
We may not be successful in implementing our growth strategy, including without limitation, increasing distribution of our products, attracting new consumers to our brands, driving repeat purchase of our products, enhancing our brand recognition, and introducing new products and product extensions, in each case in a cost-effective manner, on a timely basis, or at all.
Our future success depends in large part on our ability to implement our growth strategy, including without limitation, increasing distribution of our products, attracting new consumers to our brands, driving repeat purchase of our products, enhancing our brand recognition and introducing new products and product extensions. Our ability to implement our growth strategy depends, among other things, on our ability to develop new products, identify and acquire additional product lines and businesses, secure shelf space from retail customers, increase customer and consumer awareness of our brands, enter into distribution and other strategic arrangements with third-party retailers and other potential distributors of our products and compete with numerous other companies and products. We cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully implement our growth strategy and continue to maintain growth in our sales. If we fail to implement our growth strategy, our sales and profitability may be adversely affected.
Our continued success depends, to a large extent, on our ability to successfully and cost-effectively develop and innovate our product offerings in response to changing consumer preferences and trends with respect to forms, flavors, textures and ingredients. As such, the level of new product innovation and the speed to market with these innovations are critical components of our business. The development and introduction of new products requires substantial research and development and marketing expenditures, which we may be unable to recover if the new products do not achieve commercial success and gain widespread market acceptance. Such failures may arise if our new products do not reach the market in a timely manner or fail to align with consumer tastes, which may occur for many reasons, including our non-exclusive collaboration with third-party seasoning and flavor houses. Product innovation may also result in increased costs resulting from the use of new manufacturing techniques, capital equipment expenditures, new raw materials and ingredients, new product formulas and possibly new manufacturers. There may also be regulatory restrictions on the production and advertising of our new products, and our new products may cannibalize sales of our existing products. In addition, under-performance of new product launches may damage overall brand credibility with customers and consumers. Further, new products may not achieve success in the marketplace, due to lack of demand, failure to meet consumer tastes or otherwise. If we are unsuccessful in our product innovation efforts and demand for our products declines, our business would be negatively affected.
Impairment in the carrying value of goodwill or other intangible assets could have an adverse impact on our financial results.
The net carrying value of goodwill represents the fair value of acquired businesses in excess of identifiable assets and liabilities, and the net carrying value of other intangibles represents the fair value of trademarks, customer relationships, route intangibles and other acquired intangibles. Pursuant to U.S. GAAP, we are required to perform impairment tests on our goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets annually, or at any time when events occur, which could impact the value of our reporting unit or our indefinite-lived intangibles. These values depend on a variety of factors, including the success of our business, market conditions, earnings growth and expected cash flows. Impairments to goodwill and other intangible assets may be caused by factors outside our control, such as increasing competitive pricing pressures, changes in discount rates based on changes in cost of capital or lower than expected sales and profit growth rates. In addition, if we see the need to consolidate certain brands, we could experience impairment of our trademark intangible assets. During fiscal 2020, we recognized impairment charges of $0.1 million and $3.8 million for goodwill and trademarks, respectively. Significant and unanticipated changes in our business could require additional non-cash charges for impairment in a future period which may significantly affect our financial results in the period of such charge.
Our performance may be impacted by general economic conditions or an economic downturn.
An overall decline in economic activity could adversely impact our business and financial results. Economic uncertainty may reduce consumer spending as consumers make decisions on what to include in their food budgets. This could also result in a shift in consumer preference toward private label products and changes in consumer behavior to retail outlets that do not sell any, or a significant portion, of our products, such as hard discounters. Shifts in consumer spending could result in increased pressure from competitors or customers that may require us to increase promotional spending or reduce the prices of some of our products, or limit our ability to increase or maintain prices, which could lower our revenue and profitability.
Instability in financial markets may impact our ability, or increase the cost, to enter into new credit agreements in the future. Additionally, it may weaken the ability of our customers, suppliers, IOs, third- party distributors, banks, insurance companies and other business partners to perform their obligations in the normal course of business, which could expose us to losses or disrupt the supply of inputs we rely upon to conduct our business. If one or more of our key business partners fail to perform as expected or contracted for any reason, our business could be negatively impacted.
Our intellectual property rights are valuable, and any inability to protect them could reduce the value of our products and brands.
We consider our intellectual property rights, particularly our trademarks, to be a significant and valuable aspect of our business. We protect our intellectual property rights through a combination of trademark, trade dress, patent, copyright and trade secret protection, contractual agreements and policing of third-party misuses of our intellectual property. Our failure to obtain or adequately protect our intellectual property or any change in law that lessens or removes the current legal protections of our intellectual property may diminish our competitiveness and adversely affect our business and financial results.
Competing intellectual property claims that impact our brands or products may arise unexpectedly. Any litigation or disputes regarding intellectual property may be costly and time-consuming and may divert the attention of our management and key personnel from our business operations. We also may be subject to significant damages or injunctions against development, launch and sale of certain products. Any of these occurrences may harm our business and financial results.
Disruptions, failures or security breaches of our information technology infrastructure could have a negative impact on our operations.
Information technology is critically important to our business operations. We use information technology to manage all business processes including manufacturing, financial, logistics, sales, marketing and administrative functions. These processes collect, interpret and distribute business data and facilitate communication internally and externally with employees, suppliers, customers and others.
We are, or may become, the target of attempted cyber and other security threats. Therefore, we continuously monitor and update our information technology networks and infrastructure to prevent, detect, address and mitigate the risk of unauthorized access, misuse, computer viruses and other events that could have a security impact. We invest in industry standard security technology to protect our data and business processes against risk of data security breach and cyber-attack. Our data security management program includes identity, trust, vulnerability and threat management business processes as well as adoption of standard data protection policies. We measure our data security effectiveness through industry accepted methods and remediate significant findings. We maintain and routinely test backup systems and disaster recovery, along with external network security penetration testing by an independent third party as part of our business continuity preparedness. We also have processes in place to prevent disruptions resulting from the implementation of new software and systems of the latest technology.
While we have previously been subject to cyber-attacks and other security breaches, these incidents did not have a significant impact on our business operations. We believe our security technology tools and processes provide adequate measures of protection against security breaches and reduce cybersecurity risks. Nevertheless, despite continued vigilance in these areas, disruptions in or failures of information technology systems are possible and could have a negative impact on our operations or business reputation. Failure of our systems, including failures due to cyber-attacks that would prevent the ability of systems to function as intended, could cause transaction errors, loss of customers and sales, and could have negative consequences to our company, our employees and those with whom we do business. This in turn could have a negative impact on our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, the cost to remediate any damages to our information technology systems suffered as a result of a cyber-attack could be significant.
Improper use or misuse of social media may have an adverse effect on our business and financial results.
In recent years we have expanded our consumer outreach and communications through use of various social media platforms. However, misuse of social media platforms by individuals, customers, consumers, competitors, or employees may result in unfavorable media attention which could negatively affect our business. Further, our competitors are increasingly using social media platforms to market and advertise products. If we are unable to adequately develop and deploy social media accounts on such platforms it could adversely affect our financial results.
Climate change or legal, regulatory or market measures to address climate change may negatively affect our business and operations or damage our reputation.
There is concern that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have an adverse impact on global temperatures, weather patterns and the frequency and severity of extreme weather and natural disasters. In the event that such climate change has a negative effect on agricultural productivity, we may be subject to decreased availability or less favorable pricing for certain commodities that are necessary for our products, such as potatoes, oil, flour, wheat, corn, cheese, spices, seasonings and packaging materials. Natural disasters and extreme weather conditions, such as a severe drought, hurricane, tornado, earthquake, wildfire or flooding, may disrupt the productivity of our facilities or the operation of our supply chain and unfavorably impact the demand for, or our consumers’ ability to purchase, our products.
Concern over climate change may result in new or increased regional, federal or global legal and regulatory requirements to reduce or mitigate the effects of greenhouse gases. In the event that such regulation is more stringent than current regulatory obligations or the measures that we are currently undertaking to monitor and improve our energy efficiency, we may experience disruptions in, or significant increases in our costs of, operation and delivery and be required to make additional investments in facilities and equipment or relocate our facilities. In particular, increasing regulation of fuel emissions can substantially increase the cost of energy, including fuel, required to operate our facilities’ production lines, or transport and distribute our products, thereby substantially increasing the distribution and supply chain costs associated with our products. As a result, the effects of climate change can negatively affect our business and operations.
In addition, any failure to achieve our goals with respect to reducing our impact on the environment or perception (whether or not valid) of our failure to act responsibly with respect to the environment or to effectively respond to new, or changes in, legal or regulatory requirements concerning climate change can lead to adverse publicity, resulting in an adverse effect on our business, reputation, financial condition or results of operations.
There is also increased focus, including by governmental and non-governmental organizations, investors, customers and consumers on these and other environmental sustainability matters, including deforestation, land use, climate impact and recyclability or recoverability of packaging, including plastic. Our reputation can be damaged if we or others in our industry do not act, or are perceived not to act, responsibly with respect to our impact on the environment.
Our debt instruments contain covenants that impose restrictions on our operations that may adversely affect our ability to operate our business if we fail to meet those covenants or otherwise suffer a default thereunder.
Our debt instruments require us to comply with certain covenants and terms which may limit our ability to enter into new acquisitions, licenses, mergers, and to take on new debt and sell assets. The terms of our debt instruments could adversely affect our operations and limit our ability to plan for or respond to changes in our business. These and other terms in the debt instruments have to be monitored closely for compliance and could restrict our ability to grow our business or enter into transactions that we believe will be beneficial to our business. If we are unable to comply with covenants in the agreements, commitments by the lenders thereunder may be terminated and the repayment of our indebtedness may be accelerated.
Changes in interest rates may adversely affect our earnings and/or cash flows.
Our term loan and asset based revolving credit facility bear interest at variable interest rates that use the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) as a benchmark rate. On July 27, 2017, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”), which regulates LIBOR, announced that it intends to stop persuading or compelling banks to submit LIBOR quotations after 2021 (the “FCA Announcement”). The FCA Announcement, as updated by more recent pronouncements, indicates that the continuation of LIBOR on the current basis cannot and will not be assured after 2023, and LIBOR may cease to exist or otherwise be unsuitable for use as a benchmark. Recent proposals for LIBOR reforms may result in the establishment of new methods of calculating LIBOR or the establishment of one or more alternative benchmark rates. Although our credit agreement provides for successor base rates, the successor base rates may be related to LIBOR, and the consequences of any potential cessation, modification or other reform of LIBOR cannot be predicted at this time. We work to reduce our exposure to LIBOR through swap contracts which effectively fix a portion of our variable-rate interest payments. If LIBOR ceases to exist, we may need to amend our credit agreement and swap contracts. As a result, our interest expense may increase, and our available cash flow may be adversely affected.
Increases in income tax rates, changes in income tax laws or disagreements with tax authorities can adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Increases in income tax rates or other changes in income tax laws in the United States or any particular jurisdiction in which we operate can reduce our after-tax income from such jurisdiction and adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. An increase in tax rates would also cause a corresponding increase in the Company’s Tax Receivable Agreement (“TRA”) liability as the Company is obligated to share 85% of the cash tax savings that are attributable to its increased tax basis in the UBH partnership assets per the Business Combination, future exchanges of UBH units for UBI stock by the Continuing Members, and annual TRA Payments, as well as the tax basis step-up that occurred in connection with the Kennedy Acquisition. Existing tax laws in the United States have been and could in the future be subject to significant change. For example, in December 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “TCJ Act”), was signed into law in the United States. While our accounting for the recorded impact of the TCJ Act is deemed to be complete, these amounts are based on prevailing regulations and currently available information, and additional guidance issued by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), may continue to impact our recorded amounts in future periods. Additional changes in the United States tax regime, including changes in how existing tax laws are interpreted or enforced, can adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
We are also subject to regular reviews, examinations and audits by the IRS and other taxing authorities with respect to income and non-income-based taxes. Economic and political pressures to increase tax revenues in jurisdictions in which we operate, or the adoption of new or reformed tax legislation or regulation, may make resolving tax disputes more difficult and the final resolution of tax audits and any related litigation can differ from our historical provisions and accruals, resulting in an adverse impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Complications with the design or implementation of our new enterprise resource planning system could adversely impact our business and operations.
We rely extensively on information systems and technology to manage our business and summarize operating results. We are in the process of a multi-year implementation of a new global enterprise resource planning (“ERP”) system and expect to fully transition to the new ERP during 2021. This ERP system will replace our existing operating and financial systems. The ERP system is designed to accurately maintain the Company’s financial records, enhance operational functionality and provide timely information to the Company’s management team related to the operation of the business. The ERP system implementation process has required, and will continue to require, the investment of significant personnel and financial resources. We may not be able to successfully implement the ERP system without experiencing further delays, increased costs and other difficulties. If we are unable to successfully design and implement the new ERP system as planned, our financial position, results of operations and cash flows could be negatively impacted. Additionally, if we do not effectively implement the ERP system as planned or the ERP system does not operate as intended, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting could be adversely affected or our ability to assess those controls adequately could be further delayed.
The imposition or proposed imposition of new or increased taxes aimed at our products can adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Certain jurisdictions in which our products are made, manufactured, distributed or sold have either imposed, or are considering imposing, new or increased taxes on the manufacture, distribution or sale of our products, ingredients or substances contained in, or attributes of, our products or commodities used in the production of our products. These tax measures, whatever their scope or form, could increase the cost of certain of our products, reduce consumer demand and overall consumption of our products, lead to negative publicity (whether based on scientific fact or not) or leave consumers with the perception (whether or not valid) that our products do not meet their health and wellness needs, resulting in adverse effects on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Risks Related to the Ownership of our Securities
Resales of shares of our Class A Common Stock could cause the market price of our Class A Common Stock to drop significantly, even if our business is doing well.
There may be a large number of shares of Class A Common Stock sold in the market in the near future. These sales, or the perception in the market that the holders of a large number of shares intend to sell shares, could reduce the market price of our Class A Common Stock, even if our business is doing well. A substantial number of our Class A Common Stock previously held by the pre-Business Combination public shareholders of CCH at the closing of the Business Combination are available for sale in the public market. In addition, 15,802,379 shares of Class A Common Stock were issued upon exercise of our warrants, including warrants that were initially sold by CCH in its initial public offering of securities (the “Public Warrants”) and warrants issued pursuant to those certain Forward Purchase Agreements entered into by CCH, Collier Creek partners LLC, the sponsor of CCH (the “Sponsor”) and the independent directors of CCH (the “Forward Purchase Agreements” and such warrants, the “Forward Purchase Warrants”), and up to 7,200,000 shares of Class A Common Stock issuable upon the exercise of our warrants initially sold to the Sponsor simultaneously with the closing of its initial public offering (the “Private Placement Warrants”), have been registered for resale on the registration statement on Form S-1 declared effective as of October 5, 2020.
We have also registered up to 9,500,000 shares of Class A Common Stock that we may issue under the Utz Brands, Inc. 2020 Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan (the “2020 Plan”), 1,500,000 shares of Class A Common Stock that we may issue under the Utz Brands, Inc. 2021 Employee Stock Purchase Plan, and 1,557,941 shares of Class A Common Stock that we may issue under the Utz Quality Foods, LLC 2020 Long-Term Incentive Plan. To the extent such shares have vested or vest in the future (and settle into shares, in the case of restricted stock units), they can be freely sold in the public market upon issuance, subject to volume limitations applicable to affiliates.
In addition, we have granted certain registration rights in respect of all shares of Class A Common Stock, including shares that are obtainable in exchange for common units of UBH held by the Continuing Members.
Potential sales of shares of Class A Common Stock described above or the perception of such sales may depress the market price of our Class A Common Stock. A market for our Class A Common Stock may not continue, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of our securities.
The price of our Class A Common Stock may fluctuate significantly due to the market’s reaction to the Business Combination and general market and economic conditions. An active trading market for our Class A Common Stock may not be sustained. In addition, the price of our Class A Common Stock can vary due to general economic conditions and forecasts, our general business condition and the release of our financial reports. Additionally, if our Class A Common Stock is not listed on, or becomes delisted from, the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) for any reason, and is quoted on an over-the-counter market, the liquidity and price of such securities may be more limited than if we were quoted or listed on NYSE or another national securities exchange. You may be unable to sell your Class A Common Stock unless a market is sustained. Furthermore, our Private Placement Warrants, when exercised, will increase the number of issued and outstanding shares and may reduce the market price of our Class A Common Stock.
We are a holding company and our only material asset after the Closing of the Business Combination are our interest in UBH, and we are accordingly dependent upon distributions made by our subsidiaries to pay taxes, make payments under the TRA and pay dividends.
We are a holding company with no material assets other than our ownership of the Common Company Units and our managing member interest in UBH. As a result, we have no independent means of generating revenue or cash flow. Our ability to pay taxes, make payments under the TRA and pay dividends will depend on the financial results and cash flows of UBH and its subsidiaries and the distributions we receive from UBH. Deterioration in the financial condition, earnings or cash flow of UBH and its subsidiaries for any reason could limit or impair UBH’s ability to pay such distributions. Additionally, to the extent that we need funds and UBH and/or any of its subsidiaries are restricted from making such distributions under applicable law or regulation or under the terms of any financing arrangements, or UBH is otherwise unable to provide such funds, it could materially adversely affect our liquidity and financial condition.
UBH is intended to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, as such, generally will not be subject to any entity-level U.S. federal income tax. Instead, taxable income will be allocated to holders of Common Company Units. Accordingly, we will be required to pay income taxes on our allocable share of any net taxable income of UBH. Under the terms of the Third Amended and Restated Limited Liability Company Agreement of UBH (the “Third Amended and Restated Limited Liability Company Agreement”), UBH is obligated to make tax distributions to holders of Common Company Units (including us) calculated at certain assumed tax rates. In addition to income taxes, we will also incur expenses related to our operations, including payment obligations under the TRA, which could be significant, and some of which will be reimbursed by UBH (excluding payment obligations under the TRA). We intend to cause UBH to make ordinary distributions and tax distributions to holders of Common Company Units on a pro rata basis in amounts sufficient to cover all applicable taxes, relevant operating expenses, payments under the TRA and dividends, if any, declared by us. However, as discussed below, UBH’s ability to make such distributions may be subject to various limitations and restrictions including, but not limited to, retention of amounts necessary to satisfy the obligations of UBH and its subsidiaries and restrictions on distributions that would violate any applicable restrictions contained in UBH’s debt agreements, or any applicable law, or that would have the effect of rendering UBH insolvent. To the extent that we are unable to make payments under the TRA for any reason, such payments will be deferred and will accrue interest until paid; provided, however, that nonpayment for a specified period may constitute a material breach of a material obligation under the TRA and therefore accelerate payments under the TRA, which could be substantial.
Additionally, although UBH generally will not be subject to any entity-level U.S. federal income tax, it may be liable under recent federal tax legislation for adjustments to its tax return, absent an election to the contrary. In the event UBH’s calculations of taxable income are incorrect, UBH and/or its members, including us, in later years may be subject to material liabilities pursuant to this federal legislation and its related guidance.
We anticipate that the distributions it will receive from UBH may, in certain periods, exceed our actual tax liabilities and obligations to make payments under the TRA. The Company Board, in its sole discretion, will make any determination from time to time with respect to the use of any such excess cash so accumulated, which may include, among other uses, to pay dividends on our Class A Common Stock. We will have no obligation to distribute such cash (or other available cash other than any declared dividend) to our stockholders.
Dividends on our Class A Common Stock, if any, will be paid at the discretion of the Company Board, which will consider, among other things, our available cash, available borrowings and other funds legally available therefor, taking into account the retention of any amounts necessary to satisfy our obligations that will not be reimbursed by UBH, including taxes and amounts payable under the TRA and any restrictions in then applicable bank financing agreements. Financing arrangements may include restrictive covenants that restrict our ability to pay dividends or make other distributions to its stockholders. In addition, UBH is generally prohibited under Delaware law from making a distribution to a member to the extent that, at the time of the distribution, after giving effect to the distribution, liabilities of UBH (with certain exceptions) exceed the fair value of its assets. UBH’s subsidiaries are generally subject to similar legal limitations on their ability to make distributions to UBH. If UBH does not have sufficient funds to make distributions, our ability to declare and pay cash dividends may also be restricted or impaired.
Pursuant to the TRA, we are required to pay to Continuing Members and/or the exchanging holders of Common Company Units, as applicable, 85% of the tax savings that we realized as a result of increases in tax basis in UBH’s assets as a result of the sale of Common Company Units for the cash consideration in the Business Combination, the purchase and redemption of the common units and preferred units in the Continuing Members and the future exchange of the Common Company Units for shares of Class A Common Stock (or cash) pursuant to the Third Amended and Restated Limited Liability Company Agreement and certain other tax attributes of UBH and tax benefits related to entering into the TRA, including tax benefits attributable to payments under the TRA, and those payments may be substantial.
At the closing of the Business Combination, the Continuing Members sold Common Company Units for the cash consideration in the Business Combination and may in the future exchange their Common Company Units, together with the surrender and cancellation of an equal number of shares of Class V Common Stock, for shares of our Class A Common Stock (or cash) pursuant to the Third Amended and Restated Limited Liability Company Agreement, subject to certain conditions and transfer restrictions as set forth therein and in the Investor Rights Agreement dated August 28, 2020 (the “Investor Rights Agreement”), entered into between the Company, the Continuing Members, the Sponsor, the Founder Holders, Collier Creek's independent directors (together with the Sponsor and the Founder Holders, the “Sponsor Parties”) and the representative of the Sponsor (the “Sponsor Representative”) in connection with the Closing of the Business Combination. In addition, we purchased common units and preferred units in the Continuing Members from third-party members, and the Continuing Members redeemed such units from us. These sales, purchases, redemptions and exchanges resulted in increases in our allocable share of the tax basis of the tangible and intangible assets of UBH. These increases in tax basis may increase (for income tax purposes) depreciation and amortization deductions and therefore reduce the amount of income or franchise tax that we would otherwise be required to pay in the future had such sales and exchanges never occurred.
In connection with the Business Combination, we entered into the TRA, which generally provides for the payment by it of 85% of certain tax benefits, if any, that we realize (or in certain cases is deemed to realize) as a result of these increases in tax basis and certain other tax attributes of UBH and tax benefits related to entering into the TRA, including tax benefits attributable to payments under the TRA. These payments are our obligations and not of UBH. The actual increase in our allocable share of UBH’s tax basis in its assets, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under the TRA, will vary depending upon a number of factors, including the timing of exchanges, the market price of the Class A Common Stock at the time of the exchange, the extent to which such exchanges are taxable and the amount and timing of the recognition of our income. While many of the factors that will determine the amount of payments that we will make under the TRA are outside of our control, we expect that the payments it will make under the TRA will be substantial and could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition. Any payments made by us under the TRA will generally reduce the amount of overall cash flow that might have otherwise been available to us. To the extent that we are unable to make timely payments under the TRA for any reason, the unpaid amounts will be deferred and will accrue interest until paid; however, nonpayment for a specified period may constitute a material breach of a material obligation under the TRA and therefore accelerate payments due under the TRA, as further described below. Furthermore, our future obligation to make payments under the TRA could make it a less attractive target for an acquisition, particularly in the case of an acquirer that cannot use some or all of the tax benefits that may be deemed realized under the TRA.
In certain cases, payments under the TRA may exceed the actual tax benefits we realize or be accelerated.
Payments under the TRA will be based on the tax reporting positions that we determine, and the IRS or another taxing authority may challenge all or any part of the tax basis increases, as well as other tax positions that we take, and a court may sustain such a challenge. In the event that any tax benefits initially claimed by us are disallowed, the Continuing Members and the exchanging holders will not be required to reimburse us for any excess payments that may previously have been made under the TRA, for example, due to adjustments resulting from examinations by taxing authorities. Rather, excess payments made to such holders will be netted against any future cash payments otherwise required to be made by us, if any, after the determination of such excess. However, a challenge to any tax benefits initially claimed by us may not arise for a number of years following the initial time of such payment or, even if challenged early, such excess cash payment may be greater than the amount of future cash payments that we might otherwise be required to make under the terms of the TRA and, as a result, there might not be future cash payments against which to net. As a result, in certain circumstances we could make payments under the TRA in excess of our actual income or franchise tax savings, which could materially impair our financial condition.
Moreover, the TRA provides that, in the event that (i) we exercise our early termination rights under the TRA, (ii) certain changes of control of the Company or UBH occur (as described in the Third Amended and Restated Limited Liability Company Agreement), (iii) we, in certain circumstances, fail to make a payment required to be made pursuant to the TRA by its final payment date, which non-payment continues until the later of 30 days following receipt by us of written notice thereof and 60 days following such final payment date or (iv) we materially breach any of our material obligations under the TRA other than as described in the foregoing clause (iii), which breach continues without cure for 30 days following receipt by us of written notice thereof and written notice of acceleration is received by us thereafter (except that in the case that the TRA is rejected in a case commenced under bankruptcy laws, no written notice of acceleration is required), in the case of clauses (iii) and (iv), unless certain liquidity exceptions apply, our obligations under the TRA will accelerate and we will be required to make a lump-sum cash payment to the Continuing Members and/or other applicable parties to the TRA equal to the present value of all forecasted future payments that would have otherwise been made under the TRA, which lump-sum payment would be based on certain assumptions, including those relating to our future taxable income. The lump-sum payment could be substantial and could exceed the actual tax benefits that we realize subsequent to such payment because such payment would be calculated assuming, among other things, that we would have certain tax benefits available to us and that we would be able to use the potential tax benefits in future years.
There may be a material negative effect on our liquidity if the payments under the TRA exceed the actual income or franchise tax savings that we realize. Furthermore, our obligations to make payments under the TRA could also have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing certain mergers, asset sales, other forms of business combinations or other changes of control.
The NYSE may delist our Class A Common Stock from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in shares of our Class A Common Stock and subject us to additional trading restrictions.
Our Class A Common Stock is currently listed on the NYSE. However, we cannot assure you that shares of our Class A Common Stock will continue to be listed on the NYSE in the future. In order to continue listing our Class A Common Stock on the NYSE, we must maintain certain financial, share price and distribution levels. It is possible that our Class A Common Stock will cease to meet the NYSE listing requirements.
If NYSE delists our Class A Common Stock from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our Class A Common Stock on another national securities exchange, our Class A Common Stock could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
•A limited availability of market quotations for our Class A Common Stock;
•Reduced liquidity for our Class A Common Stock;
•A determination that our Class A Common Stock is a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in the Class A Common Stock to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities;
•A limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and
•A decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future.
The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because our Class A Common Stock is listed on the NYSE, our Class A Common Stock qualifies as a covered security under the statute. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of our Class A Common Stock, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. Further, if our Class A Common Stock were no longer listed on the NYSE, our Class A Common Stock would not qualify as covered securities under the statute and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our Class A Common Stock and certain senior securities.
Reports published by analysts, including projections in those reports that differ from our actual results, could adversely affect the price and trading volume of our Class A Common Stock.
Securities research analysts may establish and publish their own periodic projections for us. These projections may vary widely and may not accurately predict the results we actually achieve. Our share price may decline if our actual results do not match the projections of these securities research analysts. Similarly, if one or more of the analysts who write reports on us downgrades our stock or publishes inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our share price could decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of us or fails to publish reports on us regularly, our share price or trading volume could decline. While we expect research analyst coverage, if no analysts cover us, or cease coverage of us, the market price and volume for our Class A Common Stock could be adversely affected.
Delaware law, the Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws contain certain provisions, including anti-takeover provisions that limit the ability of stockholders to take certain actions and could delay or discourage takeover attempts that stockholders may consider favorable.
Our Certificate of Incorporation and the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”), contain provisions that could have the effect of rendering more difficult, delaying, or preventing an acquisition deemed undesirable by the Company Board and therefore depress the trading price of our Class A Common Stock. These provisions could also make it difficult for stockholders to take certain actions, including electing directors who are not nominated by the current members of the Company Board or taking other corporate actions, including effecting changes in management. Among other things, the Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws include provisions regarding:
•A classified board of directors with three-year staggered terms, which could delay the ability of stockholders to change the membership of a majority of the Company Board;
•The ability of the Company Board to issue shares of preferred stock, including “blank check” preferred stock and to determine the price and other terms of those shares, including preferences and voting rights, without stockholder approval, which could be used to significantly dilute the ownership of a hostile acquirer;
•The limitation of the liability of, and the indemnification of, our directors and officers;
•The right of the Company Board to elect a director to fill a vacancy created by the expansion of the Company Board or the resignation, death or removal of a director, which prevents stockholders from being able to fill vacancies on the Company Board;
•The requirement that directors may only be removed from the Company Board for cause;
•The requirement that a special meeting of stockholders may be called only by the Company Board, the chairman of the Company Board or our chief executive officer, which could delay the ability of stockholders to force consideration of a proposal or to take action, including the removal of directors;
•Controlling the procedures for the conduct and scheduling of the Company Board and stockholder meetings;
•The requirement for the affirmative vote of holders of (i) (a) at least 66 2∕3% or 80%, in case of certain provisions, or (b) a majority, in case of other provisions, of the voting power of all of the then outstanding shares of the voting stock, voting together as a single class, to amend, alter, change or repeal certain provisions of our Certificate of Incorporation, and (ii) (a) at least 66 2∕3%, in case of certain provisions, or (b) a majority, in case of other provisions, of the voting power of all of the then outstanding shares of the voting stock, voting together as a single class, to amend, alter, change or repeal certain provisions of our Bylaws, which could preclude stockholders from bringing matters before annual or special meetings of stockholders and delay changes in the Company Board and also may inhibit the ability of an acquirer to effect such amendments to facilitate an unsolicited takeover attempt;
•The ability of the Company Board to amend the Bylaws, which may allow the Company Board to take additional actions to prevent an unsolicited takeover and inhibit the ability of an acquirer to amend the Bylaws to facilitate an unsolicited takeover attempt; and
•Advance notice procedures with which stockholders must comply to nominate candidates to the Company Board or to propose matters to be acted upon at a stockholders’ meeting, which could preclude stockholders from bringing matters before annual or special meetings of stockholders and delay changes in the Company Board and also may discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of the Company.
These provisions, alone or together, could delay or prevent hostile takeovers and changes in control or changes in the Company Board or management.
In addition, as a Delaware corporation, we will generally be subject to provisions of Delaware law, including the DGCL. Although we will elect not to be governed by Section 203 of the DGCL, certain provisions of the Certificate of Incorporation will, in a manner substantially similar to Section 203 of the DGCL, prohibit certain of our stockholders (other than certain stockholders who are specified in the Investor Rights Agreement) who hold 15% or more of our outstanding capital stock from engaging in certain business combination transactions with us for a specified period of time unless certain conditions are met.
Any provision of the Certificate of Incorporation, Bylaws or Delaware law that has the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control could limit the opportunity for stockholders to receive a premium for their shares of our capital stock and could also affect the price that some investors are willing to pay for the our Class A Common Stock or Class V Common Stock (collectively, without duplication, “Common Stock”).
In addition, the provisions of the Investor Rights Agreement provide the stockholders party thereto with certain board rights which could also have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control.
The Certificate of Incorporation designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees.
The Certificate of Incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of us, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our current or former directors, officers, other employees, agents or stockholders to us or our stockholders, or any claim for aiding and abetting such alleged breach, (iii) any action asserting a claim against us or any of our current or former directors, officers, other employees, agents or stockholders (a) arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, the Certificate of Incorporation (as it may be amended or restated) or the Bylaws or (b) as to which the DGCL confers jurisdiction on the Delaware Court of Chancery or (iv) any action asserting a claim against us or any of our current or former directors, officers, other employees, agents or stockholders governed by the internal affairs doctrine of the law of the State of Delaware shall, as to any action in the foregoing clauses (i) through (iv), to the fullest extent permitted by law, be solely and exclusively brought in the Delaware Court of Chancery; provided, however, that the foregoing shall not apply to any claim (a) as to which the Delaware Court of Chancery determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Delaware Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), (b) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Delaware Court of Chancery, or (c) arising under federal securities laws, including the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) as to which the federal district courts of the United States of America shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the provisions of Article XII of the Certificate of Incorporation will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America shall be the sole and exclusive forum.
Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in the Certificate of Incorporation. If any action the subject matter of which is within the scope of the forum provisions is filed in a court other than a court located within the State of Delaware (a “foreign action”) in the name of any stockholder, such stockholder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located within the State of Delaware in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an “enforcement action”); and (y) having service of process made upon such stockholder in any such enforcement action by service upon such stockholder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such stockholder.
This choice-of-forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, stockholders, agents or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of the Certificate of Incorporation inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.
Certain of our significant stockholders and Utz Brands Holdings members whose interests may differ from those of our other stockholders will have the ability to significantly influence our business and management.
Pursuant to the Investor Rights Agreement that we entered into with the Sponsor, certain founder members of the Sponsor and their family members (the “Founder Holders”), the Sponsor Representative, the Continuing Members and the independent directors of CCH at the closing of the Business Combination in connection with the Business Combination, we agreed to nominate five designees by each of the Sponsor and the Continuing Members, respectively, to serve on the Company Board for so long as each of them and their respective affiliates and specified family members beneficially own certain specified percentages of certain economic interests in us and UBH held as of the closing of the Business Combination, without duplication. Accordingly, the Continuing Members and the successors to the Sponsor will be able to significantly influence the approval of actions requiring Company Board approval through their voting power. Such stockholders will retain significant influence with respect to our management, business plans and policies, including the appointment and removal of our officers. In particular, the Continuing Members and the successors to the Sponsor could influence whether acquisitions, dispositions and other change of control transactions are approved. Additionally, for so long as the Continuing Members hold at least 50% of the economic interests held in us and UBH as of Closing (without duplication) they will have consent rights over certain material transactions with respect to us and our subsidiaries, including UBH.
The Certificate of Incorporation does not limit the ability of the successors to the Sponsor to compete with us.
The successors to the Sponsor, or its successors, and each of their respective affiliates engage in a broad spectrum of activities, including investments in the financial services and technology industries. In the ordinary course of their business activities, the successors to the Sponsor, and each of their respective affiliates may engage in activities where their interests conflict with our interests or those of our stockholders. The Certificate of Incorporation provides that none of the successors to the Sponsor, any of their respective affiliates or any director who is not employed by us (including any non-employee director who serves as one of its officers in both his director and officer capacities) or his or her affiliates will have any duty to refrain from engaging, directly or indirectly, in the same business activities or similar business activities or lines of business in which we operate. The successors to the Sponsor, any of their respective affiliates also may pursue, in their capacities other than as members of the Company Board, acquisition opportunities that may be complementary to our business, and, as a result, those acquisition opportunities may not be available to us. In addition, the successors to the Sponsor may have an interest in pursuing acquisitions, divestitures and other transactions that, in its judgment, could enhance its investment, even though such transactions might involve risks to you.
Our business and operations could be negatively affected if it becomes subject to any securities litigation or shareholder activism, which could cause us to incur significant expense, hinder execution of business and growth strategy and impact our stock price.
In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of a company’s securities, securities class action litigation has often been brought against that company. Shareholder activism, which could take many forms or arise in a variety of situations, has been increasing recently. Volatility in the stock price of our Class A Common Stock or other reasons may in the future cause it to become the target of securities litigation or shareholder activism. Securities litigation and shareholder activism, including potential proxy contests, could result in substantial costs and divert management’s and board of directors’ attention and resources from our business. Additionally, such securities litigation and shareholder activism could give rise to perceived uncertainties as to our future, adversely affect our relationships with service providers and make it more difficult to attract and retain qualified personnel. Also, we may be required to incur significant legal fees and other expenses related to any securities litigation and activist shareholder matters. Further, our stock price could be subject to significant fluctuation or otherwise be adversely affected by the events, risks and uncertainties of any securities litigation and shareholder activism.
We may not have sufficient funds to satisfy indemnification claims of our directors and executive officers.
We agreed to indemnify our officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted by law. Our obligation to indemnify our officers and directors may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders. Furthermore, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
The grant of registration rights to certain of our stockholders and holders of our Warrants and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our Class A Common Stock.
The Investor Rights Agreement entered into between us, the Continuing Members, the Sponsor, the Founder Holders, the Sponsor Representative and certain independent directors of CCH, replacing the Original Registration Rights Agreement. Pursuant to the Investor Rights Agreement, the Continuing Members and the successors to the Sponsor, and, in each case, their permitted transferees have customary registration rights (including demand and piggy-back rights, subject to cooperation and cut-back provisions) with respect to (i) the Class A Common Stock (including the Class A Common Stock issued pursuant to the Third Amended and Restated Limited Liability Company Agreement upon exchange of the Common Company Units along with the surrender and cancellation of a corresponding number of shares of the Class V Common Stock for the Class A Common Stock), (ii) Private Placement Warrants and the Class A Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Private Placement Warrants, and (iii) any of our Common Stock or common stock of any of our subsidiaries issued or issuable with respect to the securities referred to in clause (i) and (ii) above by way of dividend, distribution, split or combination of securities, or any recapitalization, merger, consolidation or other reorganization. Further, pursuant to the Forward Purchase Agreements, we agreed that we will use our reasonable best efforts (x) to file within 30 days after the closing of the Business Combination a registration statement with the SEC for a secondary offering of the shares issued pursuant to the Forward Purchase Agreements and the Forward Purchase Warrants (prior to their redemption) (and underlying Class A Common Stock), (y) to cause such registration statement to be declared effective promptly thereafter and (z) to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement until the earlier of (a) the date on which the succesors to the Sponsor and all of the independent directors cease to hold the securities covered thereby, and (b) the date all of the securities covered thereby can be sold publicly without restriction or limitation under Rule 144 under the Securities Act. In addition, the Forward Purchase Agreements provide these holders will have certain “piggy-back” registration rights to include their securities in other registration statements filed by us. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A Common Stock.
Our Private Placement Warrants may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A Common Stock.
We issued in a private placement an aggregate of 7,200,000 Private Placement Warrants, each exercisable to purchase one Class A Common Stock at $11.50 per share. Such Private Placement Warrants, when exercised, will increase the number of issued and outstanding Class A Common Stock and may reduce the value of the Class A Common Stock.
We are an emerging growth company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our stockholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our Class A Common Stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of any June 30 before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the end of such fiscal year. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accountant standards used.
Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act require substantial financial and management resources.
As a privately held company, UBH was not subject to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The standards required for a public company under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The development of the internal control system to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may impose obligations on us.