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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, DC 20549
FORM
10-K
(Mark One)
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☒
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ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES
EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
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For the fiscal year ended
December 31,
2021
OR
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☐
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TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES
EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
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For the transition period from ________ to ________
Commission File Number:
001-41055
Winc, Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
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Delaware
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45-2988960
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(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)
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(I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)
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1751 Berkeley St, Studio 3
Santa Monica,
CA
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90404
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(Address of principal executive offices)
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(Zip Code)
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(800)
297-1760
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the
Act:
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Title of each class
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Trading
Symbol(s)
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Name of each exchange on which registered
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Common Stock, $0.0001 par value per share
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WBEV
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The NYSE American
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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
Common Stock, $0.0001 par value per share
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned
issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.
Yes
☐
No
☒
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file
reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act.
Yes
☐
No
☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all
reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or
for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file
such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements
for the past 90 days.
Yes
☒
No
☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted
electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted
pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter)
during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the
registrant was required to submit such files).
Yes
☒
No
☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large
accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a
smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the
definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,”
“smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule
12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
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Large accelerated filer
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☐
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Accelerated filer
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☐
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Non-accelerated filer
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☒
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Smaller reporting company
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☒
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Emerging growth company
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☒
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If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the
registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period
for complying with any new or revised financial accounting
standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange
Act.
☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on
and attestation to its management's assessment of the effectiveness
of its internal control over financial reporting under Section
404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the
registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit
report.
☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company
(as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).
Yes
☐
No
☒
As of June 30, 2021, the last business day of the registrant’s most
recently completed second fiscal quarter, the registrant was not a
public company, and there was
no
established public market for the registrant’s common
stock.
As of March 28, 2022, the registrant had
13,213,378
shares of common stock, $0.0001 par value per share,
outstanding.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Portions of the registrant's definitive Proxy Statement relating to
the 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated herein by
references in Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K to the
extent stated herein. Such definitive Proxy Statement will be filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days of the
registrant's fiscal year ended December 31, 2021. Except with
respect to information specifically incorporated by reference in
this Annual Report on Form 10-K, such proxy statement is not deemed
to be filed as part hereof.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
i
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Annual Report on Form 10-K, or this Annual Report, contains
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We intend such
forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor
provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A
of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act,
and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended,
or the Exchange Act. The words “believe,” “may,” “will,”
“estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “could,”
“would,” “project,” “plan,” “potentially,” “preliminary,” “likely,”
and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking
statements. All statements contained in this Annual Report other
than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements,
including statements regarding:
•
our total addressable market, future results of operations,
financial position, research and development costs, capital
requirements and our needs for additional financing;
•
our expectations about market trends and our ability to capitalize
on these trends;
•
our business strategy and plans;
•
the impact on our business, financial condition and results of
operation from the ongoing and global COVID-19 pandemic, or any
other pandemic, epidemic or outbreak of an infectious disease in
the United States or worldwide;
•
our ability to effectively and efficiently develop new brands of
wines and introduce products in beverage categories beyond
wine;
•
our ability to efficiently attract and retain
consumers;
•
our ability to increase awareness of our portfolio of brands in
order to successfully compete with other companies;
•
our ability to maintain and improve our technology platform
supporting our Winc digital platform;
•
our ability to maintain and expand our relationships with wholesale
distributors and retailers;
•
our ability to continue to operate in a heavily regulated
environment;
•
our ability to establish and maintain intellectual property
protection or avoid claims of infringement;
•
our ability to hire and retain qualified personnel;
and
•
our ability to obtain adequate financing.
We caution you that the foregoing list may not contain all of the
forward-looking statements made in this Annual Report.
We have based the forward-looking statements contained in this
Annual Report on our current expectations and projections about
future events and trends that we believe may affect our financial
condition, results of operations, business strategy, short-term and
long-term business operations and objectives, and financial needs.
These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of known
and unknown risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, including those
described under the sections in this Annual Report entitled “Risk
Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial
Condition and Results of Operations” and elsewhere in this Annual
Report. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly
changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time. It is not
possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess
the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which
any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to
differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking
statements we may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties, and
assumptions, the future events and trends discussed in this Annual
Report may not occur and actual results could differ materially and
adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking
statements.
Any forward-looking statements made herein speak only as of the
date of this Annual Report, and you should not rely on
forward-looking statements as predictions of future events.
Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the
forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee that
the future results, performance, or achievements reflected in the
forward-looking statements will be achieved or will occur. Except
as required by applicable law, we undertake no obligation to update
any of these forward-looking statements for any reason after the
date of this Annual Report or to conform these statements to actual
results or revised expectations. Our forward-looking statements do
not reflect the potential impact of any future acquisitions,
mergers, dispositions, restructurings, joint ventures, partnerships
or investments we may make.
These forward-looking statements are based upon information
available to us as of the date of this Annual Report, and while we
believe such information forms a reasonable basis for such
statements, such information may be limited or incomplete, and our
statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an
exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available
relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain and
investors are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these
statements.
2
AVAILABLE INFORMATION
All reports we file with the SEC are available for download free of
charge via the Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval
(EDGAR) System on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. We also make
electronic copies of our reports available for download, free of
charge, through our investor relations website at ir.winc.com as
soon as reasonably practicable after filing such material with the
SEC.
We may announce material business and financial information to our
investors using our investor relations website at ir.winc.com. We
therefore encourage investors and others interested in Winc to
review the information that we make available on our investor
relations website, in addition to following our filings with the
SEC, webcasts, press releases and conference calls. Information
contained on our investor relations website is not part of this
Annual Report.
GLOSSARY
Unless the context otherwise requires, all references in this
Annual Report to “we,” “us,” “our,” “Winc” or the “Company” refer
to Winc, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries.
As used in this Annual Report, unless the context otherwise
requires, reference to:
•
"ABC" means the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage
Control;
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“Alcoholic Beverages” means wine, spirits and beer and the
“Alcoholic Beverages market” or “Alcoholic Beverages industry”
means the wine, spirits and beer market in the United
States;
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“AOV” means average order value, which, for any period, represents
the sum of DTC net revenues divided by the total orders placed in
that period;
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"BoC Credit Agreement" means that certain credit agreement, by and
between the Company, BWSC, LLC and Pacific Mercantile Bank, dated
as of December 15, 2020, as amended;
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"BoC Line of Credit" means the $7.0 million revolving line of
credit under the BoC Credit Agreement;
•
“case” means a standard 12 bottle case of wine, in which each
bottle has a volume of 750 milliliters, or nine liters, in
total;
•
"CCPA" means the California Consumer Privacy Act of
2018;
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“core brands” refers to the following brands: (i) “Summer Water” or
“SW;” (ii) “Wonderful Wine Company” or “WWC;” (iii) “Lost Poet” or
“LP;” (iv) “Folly of the Beast” or “Folly;” and (v) “Chop Shop, or
“Chop;”
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“CPG” means consumer product goods;
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"CPRA" means the California Privacy Rights Act of
2020;
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“DTC” means direct-to-consumer;
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"DTSA" means the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016;
•
"EPA" means the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency;
•
"FDA" means the U.S. Food and Drug Administration;
•
"FTC" means the Federal Trade Commission;
•
"GDPR" means the European Union General Data Protection
Regulation;
•
"IPO" means our initial public offering, which closed on November
15, 2021;
•
"JOBS Act" means the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of
2012;
•
"Multiplier" means Multiplier Capital II, LP;
•
"Multiplier LSA" means that certain loan and security agreement,
dated as of December 29, 2017, by and among the Company and
Multiplier, as amended;
•
"Multiplier Term Loan" means the $5.0 million term loan under the
Multiplier LSA;
•
"OSHA" means the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration;
•
"sales velocity" means sales per point of
distribution;
•
"Sarbanes-Oxley Act" means the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of
2002;
•
"SEC" means the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission;
3
•
"SG&A" means selling, general and administrative
expense;
•
"SKU" means stock keeping units;
•
“three-tier system” means the system for distributing Alcoholic
Beverages set up in the United States after the repeal of the
prohibition. The three tiers are importers or producers,
distributors and retailers. Under the traditional three-tier
system, producers can sell their products only to wholesale
distributors who then sell to retailers, and only retailers may
sell to consumers. Today, sales of Alcoholic Beverages are
permitted online outside of the three-tier system, through
direct-to-consumer licenses;
•
"TTB" means the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau;
and
•
"USDA" means the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
RISK FACTOR SUMMARY
Our business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties,
including those described in Part I, Item 1A. “Risk Factors” in
this Annual Report on Form 10-K. You should carefully consider
these risks and uncertainties before investing in our common stock.
The principal risks and uncertainties affecting our business
include the following:
•
We have a history of net losses, and we may not be able to achieve
or maintain profitability in the future.
•
Our historical growth may not be indicative of our future growth
and, if we continue to grow rapidly, we may not be able to
effectively manage our growth or evaluate our future prospects. If
we fail to effectively manage our future growth or evaluate our
future prospects, our business could be adversely
affected.
•
Our ability to raise capital in the future may be limited, we may
be unable to secure funds for our liquidity needs, and our failure
to raise capital when needed could prevent us from growing and
adversely affect our ability to continue as a going
concern.
•
Failure to introduce and effectively market new brands may
adversely affect our ability to continue to grow.
•
Our success is dependent upon our ability to expand our existing
consumer relationships and acquire new consumers, and we must
expend resources to maintain consumer awareness of our brand, build
brand loyalty and generate interest in our brands. If we fail to
cost-effectively acquire new consumers or retain our existing
consumers, our business could be adversely affected.
•
We may not be able to compete successfully in our highly
competitive market.
•
Our ability to maintain our competitive position is largely
dependent on the services of our senior management and other key
personnel.
•
The consumer reception of the launch and expansion of our brands is
inherently uncertain and may present new and unknown risks and
challenges in production and marketing that we may fail to manage
optimally and which could have a materially adverse effect on our
business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
•
Our business may be adversely affected if we are unable to provide
our consumers with a technology platform that is able to respond
and adapt to rapid changes in technology, if our platform
encounters disruptions in usability or if our consumers find our
platform less usable or attractive than those of our
competitors.
•
Our business performance by segment may be subject to significant
variability.
•
Our business, including our costs and supply chain, is subject to
risks associated with sourcing, production, warehousing,
distribution and logistics, and the loss of any of our key
suppliers or logistical service providers could negatively impact
our business.
•
The occurrence of an environmental catastrophe could disrupt our
business. Climate change, wildfires, disease, pests, weather
conditions and problems with water supply could also have adverse
effects on our business.
•
If we are unable to obtain adequate supplies of premium grapes and
bulk wine from third-party grape growers and bulk wine suppliers,
the quantity or quality of our annual production of wine could be
adversely affected, causing a negative impact on our business,
financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
•
Our wholesale channel operations and revenues depend largely on
independent wholesale distributors whose performance and continuity
are not assured.
•
Consumer demand for Alcoholic Beverages could decline for a variety
of reasons. Reduced demand could harm our results of operations,
financial condition and prospects.
4
•
As a producer of Alcoholic Beverages, we are regularly the subject
of regulatory reviews, proceedings and audits by governmental
entities, any of which could result in an adverse ruling or
conclusion, and which could have a material adverse effect on our
business, financial condition, results of operations and future
prospects.
PART I
Item 1. Business.
Overview
We are a differentiated platform for growing Alcoholic Beverages
brands, fueled by the joint capabilities of our data-driven brand
development strategy paired with a true omni-channel distribution
network. We believe our balanced platform is well-suited to gain
market share and drive meaningful long-term growth in the Alcoholic
Beverages market. Winc’s mission is to become the leading brand
builder within the Alcoholic Beverages industry through an
omni-channel growth platform.
As product innovators focused on building durable brands that
consumers love, we have developed a proprietary process,
called
Ideate,
Launch
and
Amplify,
that has allowed us to consistently produce quality wine brands in
a capital-efficient fashion. We believe this process is unique
within the Alcoholic Beverages industry. The key components of our
brand building strategy are as follows:
Ideate—The
Winc digital platform is the starting point for our brand ideation
process. Ongoing analysis of consumer data and the behavior of our
online consumer base provides near real-time insights into shifting
and emerging consumer preferences. For years, we have been learning
and constantly refining our understanding of the key signals from
our consumer data that we believe have the greatest predictive
power. We then combine those signals with an extensive review of
industry data trends and qualitative inputs from our winemakers,
sommeliers and creative team to discern the most compelling product
opportunities for our development team to begin the brand-building
process.
Launch—After
our team has delivered a target product from the
Ideate
process, we design the brand and associated beverage formulation.
With our asset-light outsourced production model, we produce
initial inventories and prepare to launch the product on the Winc
digital platform directly into our consumer base. Once our products
begin to be sold on the Winc digital platform, we can quickly
identify brands that are demonstrating strong initial traction
using a variety of key data points, such as click-through metrics,
consumer ratings and social listening and re-order rates. For those
brands showing breakout potential, we further test, refine and
iterate in a rapid and capital-efficient manner before
ultimately
Amplifying
the most promising brands to broader distribution.
Amplify—With
validation from consumers and proprietary sell-through data from
the Winc digital platform, we aim to take one or two of the best
performing new brands each year and
Amplify
them by scaling the new products across our high-volume
omni-channel distribution platform. Our proprietary data enables us
to better predict and validate demand prior to a broad wholesale
launch supported by extensive digital marketing. This approach is
designed to reduce the launch-related risk of our brands and allow
for superior targeting capabilities, which we believe increases the
attractiveness of our brands to wholesale distributors and
retailers, both of whom are eager to add predictably high-velocity
and profitable brands to their offerings.
We believe our
Ideate,
Launch
and
Amplify
brand development process incorporates the “Best
of the New”
and “Best
of the Old”
aspects of Alcoholic Beverages brand creation in a truly
omni-channel fashion. The “Best
of the New”
is highlighted by our data-rich DTC relationships via the Winc
digital platform. This data is a critical competitive advantage
that we use to help shape the ideation and development of our
brands. Our digitally native roots also provide us with a strong
core competency in digital marketing and data analytics that allows
us to interact in a more targeted and direct fashion with
end-consumers and
Amplify
brands in ways the legacy Alcoholic Beverages companies have yet to
consistently utilize. Our “Best
of the Old”
strategy is encompassed by our appreciation of the value creation
potential and durable power of proprietary brand development, as
well as the scale benefits that can be achieved by leveraging the
legacy wholesale distribution channel. Today, the vast majority of
wine is still purchased according to the legacy three-tier system,
which mandates a supply chain through which, unless selling through
DTC licenses, alcohol suppliers may sell only to wholesale
distributors, wholesale distributors to retailers and retailers to
consumers.
We view our omni-channel platform as highly complementary because
it creates a positive feedback loop where incremental scale on
either side of our platform begets scale and success on the other.
This “Scale
Begets Scale”
dynamic allows the online DTC and offline wholesale businesses to
be self-reinforcing rather than competing. As our brand portfolio
expands over time, we believe our DTC channel will become more
desirable to existing and potential online consumers who will have
an increasing number of highly rated and recognizable products to
choose from each month. We believe over time this will lower our
consumer acquisition cost, improve consumer retention rates and
increase AOV, thereby allowing us to take a larger share of our
consumers' wine-buying wallets. We expect the resulting growth in
our DTC channel to provide us with increased scale and SG&A
leverage that can be reinvested in strengthening and better
powering our data set, which we consider to be critical to driving
innovation and effectively launching successful new core products
into the wholesale channel. In turn, we expect this brand portfolio
to further solidify our relationship with wholesale distributors,
resulting in an expansion of retail accounts and shelf space with
retailers and greater brand recognition on the part of consumers,
which then strengthens our subscription-based DTC offering, and the
cycle continues. We believe that this increasingly powerful
“Scale
Begets Scale”
dynamic provides us with a highly differentiated and strong
competitive position within the rapidly evolving Alcoholic
Beverages marketplace.
5
At one time, this omni-channel approach might have created the
perception of a potential for “channel conflict” between us and
wholesale distributors and retailers. However, we believe that our
partners within the wholesale channel recognize that the Winc
digital platform allows us to provide them with key data to help
de-risk brand launches and increase the odds that our brands will
become high performers on store shelves. Rather than disrupt the
traditional wholesale distribution network, we consider our
relationships with wholesale distributors and retailers to be more
like strategic partnerships as we help them address the next
generation of wine buyers with unique branding, digital marketing
capabilities and de-risked brand launches.
Our Market Opportunity
The Alcoholic Beverages category represents one of the largest
total addressable market opportunities in the entire CPG landscape.
The attractiveness of the Alcoholic Beverages market is further
enhanced by the highly recurring and frequent nature of product
usage by consumers. Finally, leading Alcoholic Beverages companies
have consistently reported among the highest profit margins within
the broader CPG space. We believe this combination of market size,
frequency of consumption and strong profitability makes the
Alcoholic Beverages market a very attractive backdrop for us to
pursue our open-ended platform development opportunity across other
beverage verticals.
The wine market can be further delineated into three distinct price
point ranges: $9.99 or lower retail price per bottle, $10.00 to
$29.99 retail price per bottle and $30.00 or higher retail price
per bottle. We call these three price bands Value, Premium and
Luxury, respectively. While we plan to offer products across
several price points over time, we have historically achieved our
greatest success by focusing on the large and attractive Premium
category. We believe this is due to consumer preferences for a
well-regarded flavor profile, a strong brand and a reasonable price
point. In our view, the Premium category is where we believe that
meaningful scale can be achieved by a winemaker and where we intend
to position the vast majority of our wines going
forward.
In addition to our broad exposure to the highly attractive Premium
segment of the wine category, we believe we are well positioned to
benefit from two additional important trends that are currently
re-shaping the Alcoholic Beverages industry:
First, from a demographic perspective, we believe the rise of
Millennials and Gen-Z drinkers, whom we call “Next-Gen”
consumers, has the potential to create a large shift in market
share across the entire Alcoholic Beverages industry, as
demonstrated in the wine industry. Over the last 30 years, Baby
Boomers and Gen X have driven wine consumption. Over time, the
demographics of wine drinkers are expected to continue to shift to
Millennial and Gen-Z consumers who are developing new taste
preferences, discovery patterns, consumption frequencies and price
points. With a significant majority of our Winc.com members aged 44
or younger, and a branding strategy that strongly resonates with
these younger consumers, we believe we are well positioned to
capitalize on the rapidly evolving demographic shift taking place
within the wine industry.
Second, like many other sectors, we believe the Alcoholic Beverages
industry is experiencing a meaningful shift to online purchasing.
This shift was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which drove
increases in ecommerce spending within the traditionally slow to
change Alcoholic Beverages category. We believe that the go-forward
opportunity remains even greater and that Alcoholic Beverages
remain meaningfully under-indexed relative to other CPG categories
in terms of overall ecommerce penetration. Due to our digitally
native roots and large current online presence, we believe we are
well-positioned to capitalize on these shifting channel dynamics,
as more and more consumers routinely discover and order their
Alcoholic Beverages products online. Additionally, we believe the
biggest winners in the industry will be those that most effectively
create a highly synergistic omni-channel purchasing experience for
their consumers.
The Competitive Landscape
By incorporating the “Best
of the New”
and “Best
of the Old”
into our business model, we currently maintain a highly
differentiated competitive position within the Alcoholic Beverages
industry, as we sit squarely between the legacy shelf-focused brand
developers and the newer breed of DTC online-focused
wineries.
Legacy shelf-focused brand aggregators have historically built and
consolidated brands over the course of many years with significant
capital investments in physical assets, traditional brand marketing
and strategic transactions to create the scale necessary to become
preferred partners to wholesale distributors, which in turn, has
allowed them to maintain a dominant share of shelf space throughout
the wholesale channel.
We firmly believe a true brand builder in the Alcoholic Beverages
industry must become a scaled partner to wholesale distributors and
retailers, and our aspiration is to become a top ten partner to the
major wholesale distributors. However, we plan to accomplish this
in a manner that is meaningfully different from legacy brand
aggregators. First, we believe our unique, modern branding
resonates particularly well with the faster-growing and younger
generation of wine consumers, which are becoming an increasingly
important demographic to the industry. Second, we believe the
combination of data generated from the Winc digital platform, our
direct relationship with consumers and our digital marketing
expertise can reduce certain risks relating to wholesale brand
launches and enables more effective targeting than more traditional
branding and marketing techniques. Third, our asset-light
outsourced production model is more capital-efficient and reduces
time to market for potential break-out brands compared to legacy
shelf-focused brand aggregators. Finally, we have found that
wholesale distributors and retailers greatly value the additional
insights we bring them from our broader data set, which allow them
to better understand emerging trends in the rapidly evolving
Alcoholic Beverages market.
6
In stark contrast to our efforts to become a critical partner to
wholesale distributors and retail accounts that are seeking to
effectively reach the next generation of wine consumers, many
online-only wineries that offer a DTC subscription model have made
a strategic decision to completely bypass and disintermediate the
traditional wholesale distribution channel. We believe this is a
less scalable business model with a substantially smaller total
addressable market.
Our goal is to serve all Alcoholic Beverages consumers across all
available distribution channels, whether they choose to purchase
product in a store, in a restaurant or online. We believe this is
best accomplished by building a large portfolio of durable brands
that successfully scales through a true omni-channel distribution
platform.
Competitive Strengths
Highly Innovative, Differentiated and Repeatable Brand Development
Strategy—We
have used our
Ideate,
Launch
and
Amplify
framework to launch multiple brands that resonate with consumers.
Since January 1, 2016, we have released five brands that, based on
their success in both the DTC and wholesale channels, we currently
consider our core brands, with two of those being released in 2019
or later. As our online consumer base continues to grow and our
processes and data analytics capabilities are further refined, we
anticipate building a larger portfolio of brands that will be
marketed broadly both throughout the wholesale channel, as well as
on the Winc digital platform. We believe this proven ability to
successfully launch brands in a repeatable and predictable fashion
is a core competency for us and a durable competitive
advantage.
Barrier to Entry Created by Extensive Portfolio of Owned
Brands—We
have successfully launched and grown multiple highly rated and
award-winning wines. Our core brands form the focus of our
portfolio and are comprised of a strong and diverse collection of
wine brands. Collectively, our brands have won multiple awards,
including Summer Water as #56 on the Top 100 wines of 2020 by Wine
Enthusiast.
In our experience, once a wine brand achieves scale, it generally
maintains or grows market share for an extended period time.
Therefore, we believe, in the aggregate, a growing portfolio of
core brands can provide us with a highly recurring revenue stream
and SG&A leverage to enable reinvestment in our development
strategy and distribution expansion. A large portfolio of
successful wine brands also provides us with critical scale
advantages that we believe will strengthen our relationships with
wholesale distributors and retail chains. Finally, we expect that a
large and increasingly well-recognized portfolio of top wine brands
will enhance the Winc digital experience, thereby strengthening the
performance of our online business.
Attractive Return on New Product Development—We
believe our brand development framework allows us to
Ideate
and
Launch
brands in a rapid and capital-efficient fashion. We further believe
that our ability to sell newer brands through the Winc digital
platform enables us to quickly recoup initial investments, which
helps reduce financial risk associated with new product launches.
Moreover, when a potentially higher performing brand is identified,
we believe it has the opportunity to become a core brand in our
portfolio, with appeal across both DTC and wholesale channels, and
to represent greater long-term return on invested
capital.
We believe our brand development framework and portfolio management
strategy represents a repeatable process that allows us to generate
attractive returns on successful brand launches while reducing the
financial risk associated with new product launches. We believe we
have the opportunity to continue to improve on these returns on
investments in new products as our omni-channel distribution
platform continues to scale with a growing number of online
consumers and a larger physical retail account presence in the
wholesale channel.
Uniquely Scaled Data and Analytics Capabilities—We
collect a wealth of proprietary data from our online consumers. We
use this data, which includes click-through rates, re-order
frequency, consumer feedback and additional metrics to help shape
our brand development process, optimize the Winc digital platform
consumer experience and collaborate effectively with wholesale
distributors.
Global Access to Raw Materials and Dynamic Supply
Chain—Due
to our asset-light outsourced production model, we are not reliant
on any one vineyard or geographic region to source raw material for
our brands. As a scale producer, we are able to procure high
quality grapes and raw materials from a consistently growing list
of sources and create a supply chain that is both deep and
diversified. The depth of our raw material procurement abilities
has allowed our winemakers to be very creative in their winemaking
formulation and enabled our top brands to scale without significant
supply constraint. Finally, our asset-light outsourced production
model allows us to manage inventory in a highly capital-efficient
fashion. We believe this dynamism represents a meaningful strength
in comparison to a more traditional asset-heavy winery built around
a finite set of vineyards in one geographic region.
Rapidly Expanding Omni-channel Distribution
Network—We
believe we have established a resilient and differentiated
omni-channel distribution network. Our plan is to continue to grow
both our online consumer base and to expand our wholesale presence
to at least 50,000 retail accounts over the next several
years.
In our view, a key driver of success in our industry is an ability
to synergistically pair proprietary brands that excite consumers
with extensive omni-channel distribution. While there are thousands
of small wineries in the United States, the vast majority lack the
distribution necessary to achieve broad recognition of their brands
through the wholesale channel. A lack of extensive distribution is
the key barrier to scale for any small or emerging wine
brand.
We are now well down the path of building a fully scaled
omni-channel distribution network that will allow us to
fully
Amplify
our brands, both online and offline, to maximize their financial
impact, reach more consumers and maximize brand awareness. In line
with
7
our “Scale
Begets Scale”
strategy, as our DTC channel expands, we expect that we will have
increased opportunities to innovate and market new products.
Likewise, as our wholesale business scales, we believe that when we
launch brands validated through our DTC channel, the brands will
scale much more quickly in the wholesale channel. We view this
self-reinforcing relationship as a key competitive differentiator
in the highly fragmented wine industry, where many producers are
destined to remain sub-scale due to a lack of distribution in both
channels.
Growing Scale with Key Wholesale Distributors and
Retailers—Historically,
there has been little turnover of top suppliers to the industry’s
key wholesale distributors, as scaled brand aggregators and the
largest wholesale distributors tend to become entrenched partners.
To become a key partner to these critical wholesale distributors
and fully capitalize on the growth opportunity presented by the
legacy distribution system, we intend to continue presenting key
wholesale distributors and retailers with a broad portfolio of
differentiated brands that we believe will resonate strongly with
consumers based on extensive testing and data analysis through the
Winc digital platform. We believe our wines are attractive to
wholesale distributors due to: (1) the uniqueness of our branding,
which resonates strongly with the increasingly important younger
average wine drinker; (2) the data-backed evidence of demand for
our brands; and (3) superior targeting capabilities due to our data
analytic and digital marketing expertise. As sales grow and we
expand our portfolio of brands with success across both DTC and
wholesale channels, we would expect our relationships with key
wholesale distributors to also grow and expand. Once we reach our
goal of becoming a top ten wine supplier to the wholesale
distributors, these critical relationships become a strong
differentiator and large competitive moat for us by helping us grow
and maintain shelf space throughout the entire retail
landscape.
Financial Profile Enables Reinvestment to Drive
Growth—We
believe the recurring nature of our subscription-driven DTC
revenues, strong gross margins and our asset-light outsourced
business model provide us with sustainable competitive advantages
to reinvest in brand building, marketing, consumer acquisition and
distribution expansion. Our view is that a strong underlying
financial profile that produces SG&A leverage to invest in
building scale is critical to our long-term success. Key
differentiators of our financial model are as follows:
•
Recurring Nature of Revenues:
We believe the stickiness of brands that achieve scale, high
frequency usage patterns of Alcoholic Beverages consumers,
recurring subscription-based revenues through the Winc digital
platform, as well as durable relationships with key wholesale
distributors and retailers will enable us to grow steadily over
time.
•
Strong Gross Margins:
For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, our gross margins
were 41.8% and 40.7%, respectively. This allows us to
disproportionately invest in growth over the near and intermediate
terms, which we believe will increase our operating margins through
SG&A leverage as we continue to scale.
•
Flexible Supply Chain and Asset-Light Outsourced Business
Model:
Our dynamic supply chain and asset-light outsourced production
model allow us to use SG&A leverage to invest in building
brands. It also allows us to satisfy inventory needs in a more
predictable and lower-risk fashion than more asset-heavy legacy
wineries.
First-Class Management Team and Organizational Structure Built for
Brand Innovation—Our
management team consists of brand-building specialists and
operators with broad experience across the CPG industry,
experienced winemakers and proven marketing professionals. Over the
past several years, this team has demonstrated an ability to
develop a high-growth DTC subscription platform and successfully
launch a strong portfolio of wine brands into the wholesale channel
with speed and scale in a repeatable fashion.
Growth Strategies
New Brand Development and Portfolio Optimization—The
primary driver of our long-term growth strategy is our ability to
consistently and predictably build innovative new products that, in
aggregate, become a leading portfolio of owned brands in the
Alcoholic Beverages industry. The expansion and optimization of
this portfolio remains a key enabler of all our other growth
strategies.
Drive Efficient Online Consumer Acquisition—The
Winc digital platform is unique in that our leading wine
subscription platform is not only designed to delight consumers but
also to bring critical information that delivers strategic value to
our brand-building efforts. As a result, the Winc digital platform
is a key pillar in our broader omni-channel distribution strategy.
However, because online consumer acquisition is not our primary
driver of long-term growth, we plan to remain highly disciplined in
managing our online marketing initiatives. We believe this strategy
allows for high returns on consumer acquisition and short payback
periods. By increasing wholesale penetration and continuing to
provide new products, we also aim to improve the retention rates
and AOVs through a variety of digital analytic and marketing
strategies. However, our core belief is that over time, the best
and most sustainable way to retain online consumers, and expand
their purchases on the Winc digital platform, is to develop the
strongest possible core portfolio of widely recognized,
differentiated and well-loved brands and make them available on the
Winc digital platform. We believe this strategy will result in
improved consumer acquisition costs and AOVs as well-recognized
brands will draw consumers to the Winc digital platform in a more
organic fashion, improve the likelihood that they will remain our
online consumers and increase AOVs as we take a larger share of
their Alcoholic Beverages buying wallets.
Multiple Levers for Wholesale Expansion—We
believe our opportunity to expand in wholesale is multi-faceted,
with several key levers to drive outsized growth:
8
•
Wholesale Retail Account Expansion:
Our goal is to leverage our relationships with national and
regional wholesale distributors to meaningfully expand our retail
accounts from 16,905 retail accounts serviced in 2021 to over
50,000 retail accounts over the next several years. Recent wins
with shelf-space at large chains, such as Target, Walmart, Total
Wine and Spirits, Kroger and H-E-B, as well as strengthening
relationships with key wholesale distributors has increased our
confidence in an accelerated path to our retail account growth
targets.
•
New Brands Drive SKU Growth:
We plan to capitalize on our ability to develop brands that
consumers love in an effort to capture more shelf space with
additional SKUs at each retail location, which should grow revenues
per retail account.
•
Increase Sales Velocity:
We plan to continually
Amplify
and market our core brand portfolio on an ongoing basis to drive
sell-through and increase sales velocity. Additionally, we expect
relationships with last-mile delivery providers such as Amazon
Prime, GoPuff, Instacart and Drizly will help to continue to
increase wholesale channel sales velocity.
Adjacent Category Expansion—We
plan to expand our business by creating new innovative products
that are closely adjacent to our current wine product offerings,
such as Prosecco and ready-to-drink wine cocktails. We also believe
that our unique, omni-channel platform could be applied to entirely
new categories, such as spirits, beer and non-alcoholic celebratory
beverages, significantly increasing our addressable market. Our
goal is to create the broadest possible portfolio to maximize our
exposure to the Alcoholic Beverages market, and we believe
our
Ideate,
Launch
and
Amplify
brand development process can be leveraged into these other
targeted categories in a seamless fashion.
Growth through Acquisitions in Highly Fragmented
Markets—In
addition to organic growth of our brand portfolio and distribution
scale, we believe we will have opportunity to grow through
acquisitions. While our growth and success are not contingent upon
future acquisitions, we are constantly evaluating acquisition
opportunities and believe our organization is positioned to
Amplify
any brands we acquire by providing digital marketing expertise and
a national wholesale distribution network to accelerate growth and
improve a potential target’s existing business. For example, in May
2021, we purchased certain assets of Natural Merchants, Inc., an
international wine importer and leading purveyor of natural,
organic, biodynamic and vegan wines from around the
world.
Our Products
Our Portfolio of Core Brands
Each of our current core brands has individually generated more
than $1.0 million in net revenues through the DTC channel and more
than $0.5 million through the wholesale channel in the last 12
months, and we believe has the potential to continue to grow sales
through the wholesale channel.
Summer Water—Launched
first as a DTC product, Summer Water gained national acclaim
without presence in the legacy wholesale channel. Since launching
in the wholesale channel, it has continued to scale by achieving
high velocity and becoming the #8 best-selling pure play rosé brand
in the United States according to Nielsen data as of January 1,
2022. As the brand has scaled, quality continues to improve as new
vintages achieve higher ratings by our Winc.com members. SW is a
nationally recognized brand, ranking #56 on Wine Enthusiast’s top
100 Wines of the Year in 2020. New line extensions include “Keep it
Chill,” a chilled red, “Droplets,” a 187 milliliter single-serve,
and “Bubbly,” a sparkling rosé.
Wonderful Wine Company—Despite
being launched during a challenging COVID-19-impacted market, WWC
achieved immediate traction with consumers and sold approximately
17,000 cases in 2020. A digital-first strategy built brand
awareness rapidly and gained the interest of national retailers,
such as Walmart, where the brand launched in the second quarter of
2021. This “better for you, better for the world” brand was the
result of proprietary data and insights from our online
consumers.
Lost Poet—The
raw material (wine) in LP is our highest-rated red blend with
nearly 105,000 ratings in addition to being rated in the top 3% of
the world by Vivino in 2017. While the high quality of the wine was
validated by our online consumers, we did not have a scalable
brand. To reach a key shopper profile for our retailers, we crafted
a brand and marketing strategy to target younger female consumers
by partnering with Atticus, a best-selling author and Instagram
poet. The highly successful re-launch quickly achieved national
press, influencer pick-up and a placement with Target.
Folly of the Beast—Our
award-winning winemaker, Ryan Zotovich, applied his luxury
winemaking experience to create uncompromising value in this under
$20.00 Pinot Noir. Folly delivers a fresh and bright style favored
by younger consumers, having been ordered by approximately 203,000
distinct users as of December 31, 2021. In addition to receiving 93
points from Tasting Panel in 2019, Folly is our best-selling and
highest rated Pinot Noir that continues to scale in wholesale. The
brand includes small-lot single vineyard bottlings from some of the
top Pinot Noir vineyards in California and a recently launched
Chardonnay.
Chop Shop—We
positioned Chop as the perfect pairing for America’s favorite
culinary past time, BBQ. A favorite of our consumers with a 4.23
rating out of 5.00 and over 151,000 reviews as of February 2022,
Chop continues to scale across channels.
Our Portfolio of Non-Core Brands
Cherries and Rainbows—Low-sulfur
winemaking has historically been an attribute of the small and
fragmented natural wine scene. Our product team worked diligently
to perfect high-quality, low-sulfur winemaking at scale before
launching. The delicious flavor, low-sulfur and contemporary
branding have contributed to this brand’s rapid rise first with
Whole Foods and now with H-E-B. Initially
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launched as a red wine, the brand’s success led to our extension of
the line to include a white wine. The use of our DTC channel to
test consumer receptiveness to the white wine extension exemplifies
our
Ideate,
Launch,
Amplify
brand building strategy. The consumer feedback we have received
from our DTC channel and early wholesale channel traction lead us
to believe that Cherries and Rainbows will become a core brand over
the coming years.
Organic and Sustainable Wines—Internal
data indicates that organic and sustainable wines are of growing
importance to younger consumers. This emerging preference is
confirmed with the success of our brands, such as WWC and Cherries
and Rainbows. Additionally, through the purchase of certain assets
of Natural Merchants, Inc., we have introduced an organic Top-100
Wine Enthusiast brand into our portfolio and established supplier
relationships with prominent family-owned organic specialists.
Among these is the La Cantina Pizzolato brand family, which
includes some of Winc's fastest growing SKUs available at key
national retailers such as Whole Foods, Natural Grocers and
Sprouts. We believe that our digitally native model will help us
increase our access to organic suppliers, providing data-driven
insights to create healthier beverages for the future.
Anchor Portfolio—Our
asset-light outsourced production model allows for continual
optimization around our consumers tastes and preferences. Each
year, our wine team seeks to improve our DTC experience through a
globally diverse and constantly improving selection of over 100
wines.
New Products
Our innovation pipeline broadens our platform and expands our
business. The primary focuses for our product expansion are
collaborations, line extensions, new categories, and new formats.
Each new launch allows for targeted marketing and provides
potential incremental value to both the online and offline
channels.
•
Line Extensions—Leveraging
the brand equity and consumer base of our core brands creates an
opportunity for increase in share and growth.
•
New Brands—The
fast-to-market and capital-efficient elements of our platform
create an opportunity to continually innovate within traditional
categories to assess breakout potential.
•
Ready-to-Drink Cocktails—Our
innovation pipeline includes formulations and brands to address
this rapidly expanding market opportunity with our unique
omni-channel strategy and capabilities.
•
Alternative Packaging Formats—Younger
consumers are driving packaging innovation in the wine space.
Portability, convenience and environmental impact are key drivers
in this innovation. Cans, Tetra, box, bag and PET (polyethylene
terephthalate) packaging options are currently in development. We
expect to launch a 1.5 liter Astropouch portable bag with spigot
under the brand name "DIME" in early 2022.
•
Spirits and Beer—As
the digital landscape continues to evolve and younger consumers
purchase across categories and the digital landscape, we believe we
are uniquely positioned to potentially expand into other categories
within the Alcoholic Beverages industry.
•
Non-Alcoholic Celebratory Beverages—Our
first non-alcoholic wine launched in 2021, and we see expansion
opportunities in non-alcoholic and functional
beverages.
Company History
Winc (formerly Club W) launched in 2011 with the goal of making
discovering great wine easy. Our founders set out to create a model
that catered to a broad audience to curate and personalize the
process of buying and enjoying wine. Under the guidance of
winemaker, sommelier and co-founder Brian Smith, Club W
transitioned to producing fully proprietary products in 2014. Club
W rebranded as Winc in 2016. The rebrand was not only a reflection
of our past transition into fully proprietary products, but our
expansion beyond our successful online membership. As consumers
were beginning to foreshadow our most successful products through
their proprietary data, our wholesale channel was launched in late
2015. Over the past six years, we have continued to focus on
building our portfolio of brands to scale both the DTC and
wholesale channels.
Omni-Channel Platform
DTC
Winc.com is one component of our digital platform and provides an
authentic brand experience for our consumers while driving
engagement and also providing feedback for future product
development. In addition, we have dedicated brand websites through
which online consumers can purchase our core brands.
We acquire online consumers through a mix of paid and non-paid
advertising. Our paid advertising may include search engine
marketing, display, paid social media and product placement and
traditional advertising, such as direct mail, television, radio and
magazine advertising. Our non-paid advertising efforts include
search engine optimization, non-paid social media, email and SMS
marketing.
Our Winc.com online process helps guide consumers towards a
discounted first purchase, typically consisting of a four-bottle
order and then encourages consumers to sign up for a Winc.com
membership. Our Winc.com membership is a subscription through
which
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members are charged a set monthly amount and then given credits
that can be used at any time to purchase products on Winc.com.
Unused credits roll over each month and never expire. This credit
model allows us to collect predictable revenue monthly from our
consumers, while allowing our consumers the flexibility of ordering
wines they want when they need them.
We believe our DTC platform provides strategic benefit to our
entire ecosystem. Through the Winc.com shopping experience, members
have the option of selecting from our curated recommendations or
purchasing products of their choice. After each purchase, members
are encouraged to rate their wines in order to improve their
recommendations in the future—this direct consumer connection
allows us to collect data on our products and unlock unique
consumer insights that then help to improve our ability to market
and sell through alternative channels. It also allows for an
improved experience for our consumers, helping to increase the
value of our offerings to them through personalized
recommendations.
Wholesale
In the United States, Alcoholic Beverages may be sold either
subject to TTB regulation through the government-mandated
three-tier system or directly to consumers through a DTC channel,
subject to other Alcoholic Beverages rules and regulations. We
historically have sold through our DTC channel, but increasingly we
are selling through the three-tier system, which we refer to as our
wholesale channel. The three-tier system establishes three
categories of licensees: the producer (the party that makes the
wine), the wholesale distributor (the party that buys the wine from
the producer and then sells to the retailer) and the retailer (the
party that sells the wine to the end consumer). In this wholesale
framework, we act as the producer, selling our products to
distributors who in turn contract directly with
retailers.
Through our relationships with wholesale distributors, we are able
to distribute across all 50 states and, during 2021, we serviced
16,905 retail accounts across 12 countries. Wholesale distributor
accounts are split between on-premise and off-premise retailers. Of
the retail accounts serviced in 2021, over 13,000 were for
off-premise consumption (grocery stores, wine shops and liquor
stores) and over 3,400 were on-premise consumption (restaurants,
bars and other venues), and we sold approximately 201,500 cases of
wine through our wholesale channel to these off-premise and
on-premise retailers, collectively, during the year. As a result of
the COVID-19 pandemic, off-premise wine sales for the U.S. wine
industry increased as a percentage of total U.S. wine sales due to
quarantining and restaurant shutdowns. Our largest retail accounts
through distributors for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021
were Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Walmart, H-E-B, Target, Albertsons
and Central Market. Under the three-tier system, distributors
directly manage sales to our retail accounts, while we maintain
strong relationships with large retailers in order to facilitate
brand creation and growth.
Our typical agreements with distributors generally have a term of
approximately five years and can be terminated by the distributor
for any reason upon advance notice or by either party if the other
party is in breach, though the laws and regulations of several
states prohibit changes of wholesale distributors except under
certain limited circumstances, which makes it difficult to
terminate a wholesale distributor for poor performance without
reasonable cause as defined by applicable statutes. Distributors
purchase products from us at prevailing prices in the applicable
territory.
Winemaking
With the vast majority of work happening in the vineyard, we have a
long-term focus on investing in sustainable and organic farming and
winemaking practices. Because at the heart of all great wine is
great raw material, we are champions of minimal intervention
winemaking practices, which allows us to respect the raw product,
shape award-winning wines and leave vineyards in a healthy state
for future harvests. We seek low sugar, low sulfite, vegan wines,
which we believe deliver the most natural expression of
quality.
We source from exceptional vineyards and partner with exceptional
winemakers from around the world. Our relationships with
independent winemakers and growers allow us to deliver even greater
quality and diversity. The hundreds of unique wines we have bottled
from around the globe range from classic blends to obscure, single
vineyard fringe projects. We strive to showcase the best that every
region, varietal and style has to offer, at the best value
possible.
By deploying a multipronged sourcing strategy on a global basis, we
are able to adapt to changing consumer market dynamics,
opportunistic sourcing and shifting consumer demand. We believe our
strategy across categories allows us the flexibility and scope to
source the best possible product in a more capital-efficient
fashion than most at scale wineries whose product decisions are
driven by significant assets or holdings.
Supply Chain Overview
We have developed a highly efficient supply chain that minimizes
capital investment and provides a broad range of supply and
production alternatives.
Use of co-manufacturers
We operate using an asset-light outsourced model by leveraging a
network of co-manufacturers in California to accomplish our various
production and bottling needs; a relationship known in the wine
industry as alternating proprietorship. This model allows us to
lower the up-front capital expenditures necessary to manufacture
wines and reduce the personnel costs related to manufacturing. We
dictate to the co-manufacturing facility all workflows, and the
co-manufacturing facility, in turn, carries out the winery
production. Under our
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direction, we have the ability to work with our co-manufacturers to
maintain high standards, oversight and ensure compliance with all
requirements while utilizing the co-manufacturers’ facility and
staff on our behalf.
Inventory management
We aim to curate a diverse and balanced selection of wines to our
consumers. Inventory is managed by the constant evaluation of
consumer data and channel performance, allowing us to embrace
omni-channel inventory balancing. As a result, we have never
experienced dead stock, which we believe is very unique in the
traditional winery landscape. Through data-driven models, we have
been able to predict and anticipate demand for our products. For
example, we analyzed ratings and site behavior for the 2019
Cabernet Sauvignon varietal of our Porter & Plot brand to
launch the same wine as a limited exclusive in our wholesale
channel. Our product planning strategy takes into account many
factors, including price points, varietals, countries of origin,
wine style and brands. Our proprietary DTC data enables us to
understand buying behaviors and product preferences, read SKU
velocities and evaluate consumer ratings to inform our overall
product breath and volume needs. Traditional wineries do not have
access to such real-time performance indicators and must wait for
third-party data, which is often significantly lagging to current
volume, to make decisions on a go-forward plan. As a result,
traditional wineries invest in product, even new vintages, before
they have a sense of performance. We believe our data-driven
production plan is incredibly nimble and enables our inventory to
flex up or down based on the demands of our DTC and wholesale
channels. Additionally, balancing inventory between channels with
our biggest brands means we can release new vintages and wines
in-line with online consumer and wholesale buyer
expectations.
Sourcing
We approach sourcing under two main channels: grape to glass and
contract wines. There are three categories of contract wines:
contract, spot market and case good import sourcing. By deploying a
multipronged sourcing strategy on a global basis, our team has the
ability to adapt to changing consumer market dynamics and shifting
consumer demand and engage in opportunistic sourcing. We believe
our strategy across categories allows us the flexibility and scope
to source the best possible product in a capital-efficient fashion
not typically employed with more vertically integrated traditional
wineries.
•
Grape to glass:
We utilize our direct grower relationships and broker network to
secure grapes for these programs. We deploy a grape to glass
strategy for projects that require a very distinct style. Summer
Water is a great example of this strategy. The grapes and
winemaking for this project are very specific to achieve the
quality and style that has made it so successful. We believe
thoughtful sourcing, farming and winemaking are integral to
achieving this level of quality even as we continue to
scale.
•
Contract wine:
Contract wine is wine that is purchased from a third party to make
on our behalf. Generally, the third party is vertically integrated,
and we can leverage that integration by signing a bulk wine
agreement that provides a high quality-to-price ratio and that the
wine will be made under the direction of our winemaking team.
Contract wine holds four main benefits: (i) securing hard to find
and in-demand varietals, (ii) securing long-term growth hedging
against any possible short supply, (iii) establishing a consistent
price point and quality for a component of a blend or brand and
(iv) cash flow efficiency. Under these agreements, we are only
required to put a deposit on wine, as opposed to realizing all
costs and then holding in tank until it matures and is ready for
bottle (a process typically ranging from six to twelve months).
These contracts generally have terms ranging from one to three
years. Our winemaking team works in collaboration with these third
parties to shape the wines and pursue optimization and improvements
on quality with each new vintage.
•
Spot market:
Components of blends or wines purchased outside of contract are
classified as spot market purchases. While we have a trusted
network of growers and collaborators, global supply and demand of
high-quality wine is rarely in balance. We believe we are in a
position to take advantage of these conditions when it ultimately
benefits our consumers with respect to price and eventual wine
quality. This represents the most capital efficient part of the
supply chain as it is just-in-time sourcing. While not our core,
this strategy has been very helpful in efficiently scaling
production to meet high growth and allows for low-risk testing of
new collaborators and styles.
•
Case good imports:
We utilize our supplier relationships to import finished case goods
for the majority of our natural and organic wine brands, most of
which we sell in our wholesale channel. We are licensed to import
and sell these brands in the United States, and we are the
exclusive U.S. importer and seller of several of these
brands.
Bottling
As of December 31, 2021, we have partnered with seven different
bottling facilities, utilizing alternating proprietor agreements,
within the State of California. Each facility possesses its own
niche strengths and capabilities, including organic certification,
cost and scale flexibility and formulation and packaging
competencies. Our dedicated and experienced winemaking and product
operations teams manage the planning, production and supply chain
to ensure bottling timelines, budgets and the needs of our sales
channels are met.
Labeling
We have in-house branding and compliance teams that work
hand-in-hand to create visually appealing labels for our consumers
in accordance with TTB requirements. Labels are printed by various
vendors in the United States and shipped to our bottling facilities
in
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accordance with production timelines. We work with several
different vendors with the aim of optimizing pricing and
maintaining access to the latest printing capabilities and
technology.
Warehousing and Product Distribution
Finished inventory is freighted to our two warehouse and
fulfillment centers, which are located in Santa Maria, California
and Garnet Valley, Pennsylvania. These bi-coastal locations allow
delivery of approximately 75% of orders within two days and 97% of
orders within three days, using ground shipping. Our investment in
these Winc-operated warehouses differentiates us from competitors
who often use third-party logistics. By comparison, we custom pack
and ship finished products to our online consumers across the
United States and house inventory for wholesale pick-up.
Inventory levels are tracked and maintained through our warehouse
management system. We regularly evaluate our distribution
infrastructure and capacity to monitor our ability to meet our
anticipated needs and support our continued growth across all sales
channels.
As a result of our direct involvement in warehousing and product
distribution, we believe we have greater flexibility on
multi-channel fulfillment. In fact, we have even been engaged by
direct competitors to fulfill and ship orders in the past due to
our high-level performance and product expertise.
Shipping and Delivery
Inventory to fulfill our DTC orders is stored between two
Winc-operated fulfillment centers. Inventory is balanced between
these two warehouses to pick, pack and ship orders based on
best-cost-routing to ensure the shortest delivery times and lowest
shipping cost. We have negotiated proprietary contracts with the
largest national shippers, with FedEx shipping the majority of our
DTC orders. Final delivery to consumers through FedEx requires age
verification and signature.
Environmental, Social and Governance Practices
We are committed to making wines that not only taste good today,
but also contribute to good for tomorrow. Environmental
sustainability is a key focus across all parts of our business,
from the farms and vineyards we partner with to the bottles and
boxes our consumers receive. Additionally, we strive to operate a
socially impactful company that considers the well-being of all
persons involved in our process to deliver great products to our
consumers.
The Vineyard and Winery
Sustainability is a winemaking philosophy that encourages
mindfulness in three categories: (i) social (livable wages,
benefits, safe working environments, continued education and career
growth), (ii) ecological (stewardship of the land, i.e., safe usage
of agrichemicals, responsible water usage, vineyard health through
cover crops and the preservation of local flora and fauna), and
(iii) economic (a viable business model that supports company
health and longevity). Our sustainable wine follows the philosophy
outlined above and is all Certified Sustainable (as certified
through third-party agencies—Lodi Rules, SIP or CSWGA). Certified
Sustainable means the vineyard and wine have passed rigid,
non-negotiable standards as outlined by the applicable
agency.
Organic International Sourcing
The majority of our international sourcing from France, Spain,
Argentina and Italy is currently certified organic. Grapes are
certified organic by a third party (NOP, ECCOCERT, USDA or CCOF),
and, in order to label any domestic or international wines as
organic, all certification must be verified by the TTB. In
addition, our May 2021 purchase of certain assets of Natural
Merchants, Inc., an international wine importer, gives us core
capabilities and access to organically farmed grapes that will be
used across our products to increase the amount of sustainably and
organically farmed grapes we use in our wines.
Environmentally Friendly Logistics and Manufacturing
By using flexi-tanks to ship more than twice as much wine per
container and by bottling closer to the point of sale, we reduce
our carbon footprint from shipping. In addition, when we transfer
our wines over road, rather than using refrigerated trucks, which
emit carbon dioxide and increase vehicle fuel demand, we opt for
reusable insulated blankets and truck liners.
The boxes our online consumers receive are made from 70%
post-consumer materials and are 100% recyclable. They have been
designed to use the least amount of corrugate possible while
keeping our online consumers’ wine secure for delivery to their
doorstep. Additionally, we expect to switch to Vinc Neo Corks in
the majority of our future SKU production. These corks are 100%
plant based, 100% sustainable and made from discarded materials. We
have also removed foils from most of our bottles to further reduce
waste, and most of the foils that we have not removed are now made
from polylaminate, which is more easily recyclable than aluminum
counterparts. We also expect to continue to incorporate light
weight glass into our production, which requires less energy and
less water to manufacture than the average weight
bottle.
Human Capital Management
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We are building a team that shares our goal of creating products
that help to enhance our consumer’s everyday celebrations. We are
led by an experienced executive team. However, without the talented
individuals who work at Winc, our leadership team would not have
been able to execute on our success to date.
We are growing fast and recognize that the talented individuals who
work at Winc are at the center of our success. As of December 31,
2021, we had a total of 100 full-time employees, as well as a
limited number of temporary employees and consultants. In building
our high-performing teams, we have invested in leadership,
marketing, digital and technology capabilities. Our core values
embrace passionate problem-solving, curiosity and open-mindedness,
challenging the status quo, ownership and execution, teamwork,
collaboration and fun. We offer a competitive compensation and
benefits program and opportunities for our employees to grow and
develop personally and professionally. We maintain a strong
relationship with our employees and have never experienced a
labor-related work stoppage.
IT Systems
The Winc digital platform has been built by our internal team in
order to execute on our membership-based subscription model,
support our dedicated brand websites and deliver on a best-in-class
online consumer experience through unique and proprietary features.
Through this platform, we are able to operationalize our
credits-based membership model and have a full suite of
customization opportunities on Winc.com, something that DTC
businesses built on out-of-the-box platforms may not have.
Additionally, our homegrown digital product experimentation
platform allows us to rapidly test new ideas to improve consumer
acquisition efficiency, gather consumer feedback and data, increase
average order value, and improve the consumer
experience.
Competition
The Alcoholic Beverages industry generally, and the wine industry
in particular, is intensely competitive. We compete with online DTC
wine retailers, such as Naked Wines, Firstleaf and Bright Cellars,
which curate wines based on consumers’ preferences, and online wine
clubs. However, unlike us, none of these companies function as
fully integrated wineries with nationally distributed brands. We
believe our brands attract consumer loyalty and give us a
competitive advantage.
In addition to online wine retailers, we also compete with other
wineries that ship directly to consumers and distribute their wines
through third parties to restaurants and brick-and-mortar
retailers, such as Constellation Brands, E & J Gallo Winery,
Vintage Wine Estates and Duckhorn Vineyards. The wines we produce
and distribute compete with domestic and foreign wines in the
premium, super-premium and ultra-premium wine market segments. Our
wines also compete with other alcoholic and, to a lesser degree,
non-Alcoholic Beverages, for shelf space in retail stores and for
marketing focus by independent wholesale distributors, many of
which carry extensive brand portfolios.
We believe our ability to compete effectively in our industry is
primarily on the basis of developing a portfolio of high-quality
and culturally relevant brands and innovative products that
resonate with our consumers.
Intellectual Property
Our ability to compete in our industry depends in part on our
ability to obtain, maintain, establish, protect and enforce our
intellectual property rights. We protect our intellectual property
rights through a combination of trademark and trade secret
protection, and other intellectual property protections under
applicable law. We register domain names, trademarks, and service
marks in the United States and abroad. We also seek to protect and
avoid disclosure of our intellectual property through
confidentiality, non-disclosure and invention assignment agreements
with our employees, and through appropriate agreements with our
suppliers and others. Our intellectual property is an important
component of our business, and we believe that our know-how and
continued innovation are important to developing and maintaining
our competitive position. We also believe having distinctive marks
that are readily identifiable on our products is an important
factor in continuing to build our brand and distinguish our
products. We consider the WINC logo trademarks to be among our most
valuable intellectual property assets. In addition, we have
registered the trademarks for many of our wines and product names
and have also obtained trademark protection for several of our tag
lines. Several of our wine brands, services and accessories are
under registered U.S. trademarks. Each registration is renewable
indefinitely so long as the Company is making a bona fide usage of
the trademark. As of December 31, 2021, between the United States
and foreign jurisdictions, we own approximately 110 registered
trademarks and 35 pending trademarks, including registrations for
“WINC” and “SUMMER WATER”. We do not currently own any patents or
registered copyrights and primarily rely on trademarks and trade
secret protection.
Government Regulation
Regulatory Framework
We, along with our contract growers, producers, manufacturers,
wholesale distributors, retail accounts and ingredients and
packaging suppliers, are subject to extensive regulations in the
United States and abroad by federal, state, local and foreign
government authorities with respect to registration, production
processes, product attributes, packaging, labeling, storage,
shipping and distribution of wine.
We are also subject to state and local tax requirements in all
states where our wine is sold. We and our third-party providers
monitor the requirements of relevant jurisdictions to maintain
compliance with tax liability and reporting matters.
Alcohol-Related Regulation
14
We are subject to extensive alcohol-related regulation in the
United States by federal, state and local laws regulating the
production, distribution and sale of Alcoholic Beverages, including
by the TTB and the FDA. The TTB is primarily responsible for
overseeing alcohol production records supporting tax obligations,
issuing wine labeling guidelines, including grape source and bottle
fill requirements, as well as reviewing and issuing certificates of
label approval, which are required for the sale of wine through
interstate commerce. We carefully monitor compliance with TTB rules
and regulations, as well the state law of each state in which we
sell our wines. For example, in California, we are subject to
alcohol-related licensing and regulations by many authorities,
including the ABC. ABC agents and representatives investigate
applications for licenses to sell Alcoholic Beverages, report on
the moral character and fitness of alcohol license applicants and
the suitability of premises where sales are to be conducted and
enforce California Alcoholic Beverages laws. We are also subject to
municipal authorities with respect to aspects of our operations,
including applicable land use laws and the terms of our use
permits.
Employee and Occupational Safety Regulation
We are subject to certain state and federal employee safety and
employment practices regulations, including regulations issued
pursuant to OSHA and regulations governing prohibited workplace
discriminatory practices and conditions, including those
regulations relating to COVID-19 virus transmission mitigation
practices. These regulations require us to comply with
manufacturing safety standards, including protecting our employees
from accidents, providing our employees with a safe and non-hostile
work environment and being an equal opportunity
employer.
Environmental Regulation
As a result of our agricultural and wine production activities, we
and certain third parties with which we work are subject to
federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations.
Federal regulations govern, among other things, air emissions,
wastewater and storm water discharges, and the treatment, handling
and storage and disposal of materials and wastes. State
environmental regulations and authorities intended to address and
oversee environmental issues are largely state-level analogs to
federal regulations and authorities intended to perform similar
purposes. For example, in California, we are subject to
state-specific rules, such as those contained in the California
Environmental Quality Act, California Air Resources Act,
Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, California Water Code
sections 13300-13999 and Title 23 of the California Administrative
Code and various sections of the Health and Safety Code. We are
also subject to municipal environmental regulations that address a
number of elements of our wine production process, including air
quality, the handling of hazardous waste, recycling, water use and
discharge, emissions and traffic impacts.
Labeling Regulation
Many of our wines are identified by their appellation of origin,
which are among the most highly regarded wine growing regions in
the world. An appellation may be present on a wine label only if it
meets the requirements of applicable state and federal regulations
that seek to ensure the consistency and quality of wines from a
specific territory. These appellations designate the specific
geographic origin of most or all (depending on the appellation) of
the wine’s grapes, and can be a political subdivision (e.g., a
country, state or county) or a designated viticultural area. The
rules for vineyard designation are similar. Most of our labels
maintain the same appellation of origin from year to year. From
time to time, our winemakers choose to change the appellation of
one of our wines to take advantage of high-quality grapes in other
areas or to change the profile of a wine.
Privacy and Security Regulation
We collect personal information from individuals. Accordingly, we
are or may become subject to numerous data privacy and security
related regulations, including U.S. state privacy, security and
breach notification laws. Certain U.S. states have adopted robust
data privacy and security laws and regulations and others are
considering doing so. For example, the CCPA, which took effect in
2020, imposes obligations and restrictions on businesses regarding
their collection, use and sharing of personal information and
provides new and enhanced data privacy rights to California
residents, such as affording them the right to access and delete
their personal information and to opt out of certain sharing of
personal information. Further, the CPRA was voted into law by
California residents in November 2020. The CPRA significantly
amends the CCPA and imposes additional data protection obligations
on covered companies doing business in California, including
additional consumer rights processes and opt outs for certain uses
of sensitive data. It also creates a new California data protection
agency specifically tasked with enforcing the law, which will
likely result in increased regulatory scrutiny of California
businesses in the areas of data protection and security. In
addition, the FTC and many state attorneys general are interpreting
existing federal and state consumer protection laws to impose
evolving standards for the online collection, use, dissemination
and security of information about individuals. As we expand our
business in the future, we may increasingly become subject to data
privacy and security laws in foreign jurisdictions. In response to
the data privacy laws and regulations discussed above and those in
other countries in which we do business, we have implemented
several technological safeguards, processes, contractual
third-party provisions, and employee trainings to help ensure that
we handle information about our employees and consumers in a
compliant manner. We maintain a privacy policy and related
procedures and train our workforce to understand and comply with
applicable privacy laws. See Part I, Item 1A. “Risk Factors—Risks
Related to Intellectual Property and Data Privacy” for additional
information regarding the risks related to compliance with data
privacy and security laws and their potential effect on
us.
Corporate Information
15
We were initially formed as a limited liability company under the
laws of the state of Colorado in June 2011 under the name Club W.
In August 2011, we changed our name to Club W, Inc. and converted
to a Delaware corporation. In September 2016, we changed our name
to Winc, Inc. Our principal executive offices are located at 1751
Berkeley St, Studio 3, Santa Monica, CA 90404, the address of our
registered office in the State of Delaware is National Registered
Agents, Inc., 160 Greentree Drive, Suite 101, Dover, Delaware 19904
and our telephone number is (800) 297-1760. Our website address is
www.winc.com. The information contained on, or that can be accessed
through, our website is not incorporated by reference into, and is
not a part of, this Annual Report.
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
Our operations and financial results are subject to various risks
and uncertainties, including those described below. You should
consider carefully the risks and uncertainties described below,
together with all of the other information in this Annual Report on
Form 10-K, including Part II, Item 7. "Management's Discussion and
Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and our
audited consolidated financial statements and related notes before
deciding whether to invest in our common stock. The risks and
uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face.
Additional risks and uncertainties that we are unaware of, or that
we currently believe are not material, may also become important
factors that adversely affect our business. If any of the following
risks or others not specified below materialize, our business,
financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be
materially and adversely affected. In that case, the trading price
of our common stock could decline, and you could lose part or all
of your investment.
Risks Related to Our Business
We have a history of net losses, and we may not be able to achieve
or maintain profitability in the future.
We have incurred net losses each year since our inception, and we
may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability in the future.
We incurred net losses of approximately $14.6 million and $7.0
million in the fiscal years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020,
respectively. In addition to increases in expenses as a result of
becoming a public company in November 2021, we expect our expenses
will increase in the future as we develop and launch new product
offerings and platform features, expand in existing and new
markets, increase our sales and marketing efforts and continue to
invest in our platform. These efforts may be more costly than we
expect and may not result in increased revenue or growth in our
business. Any failure to increase our revenue sufficiently to keep
pace with our investments and other expenses could prevent us from
achieving or maintaining profitability or positive cash flow on a
consistent basis. If we are unable to successfully address these
risks and challenges as we encounter them, our business, financial
condition, results of operations and prospects could be adversely
affected. If we are unable to generate adequate revenue growth and
manage our expenses, we may continue to incur significant losses in
the future and may not be able to achieve or maintain
profitability.
Additionally, as a result of our relatively short operating history
at our current scale, we have limited financial data that can be
used to evaluate our business and future prospects. Any evaluation
of our business and prospects must be considered in light of our
limited operating history, which may not be indicative of future
performance. Because of our limited operating history, we face
increased risks, uncertainties, expenses, and difficulties,
including our ability to plan for and anticipate future growth and
the other risks and uncertainties discussed in this
section.
Our historical growth may not be indicative of our future growth
and, if we continue to grow rapidly, we may not be able to
effectively manage our growth or evaluate our future prospects. If
we fail to effectively manage our future growth or evaluate our
future prospects, our business could be adversely
affected.
We have experienced significant growth since our founding in 2011.
For example, our net revenues increased from approximately $36.4
million in 2019 to $72.1 million in 2021. This growth has placed
significant demands on our management, financial, operational,
technological and other resources. The anticipated growth and
expansion of our business depends on a number of factors, including
our ability to:
•
increase awareness of our portfolio of brands in order to
successfully compete with other companies;
•
efficiently drive online consumer acquisition;
•
expand our relationships with wholesale distributors;
•
introduce products in beverage categories beyond wine;
•
maintain and improve our technology platform supporting the Winc
digital platform;
•
expand our supplier and fulfillment capacities; and
•
maintain quality control over our brand offerings.
16
We expect to invest in our growth for the foreseeable future, but
we may not sustain our historical growth rates, nor can we assure
you that our investments to support our growth, if any, will be
successful. Even if these investments do result in the growth of
our business, if we do not effectively manage our growth, we may
not be able to execute on our business plan, respond to competitive
pressures, take advantage of market opportunities, satisfy consumer
requirements or maintain high-quality brand offerings, any of which
could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results
of operations and prospects. You should not rely on our historical
rate of revenue growth as an indication of our future performance
or the rate of growth we may experience in the future.
In addition, to support continued growth, we must effectively
integrate, develop and motivate new employees while maintaining our
corporate culture. We face significant competition for personnel.
To attract top talent, we have had to offer, and expect to continue
to offer, competitive compensation and benefits packages before we
can validate the productivity of new employees. We may also need to
increase our employee compensation levels to remain competitive in
attracting and retaining talented employees. The risks associated
with a rapidly growing workforce will be particularly acute as we
choose to expand into new beverage categories and markets.
Additionally, we may not be able to hire new employees quickly
enough to meet our needs. If we fail to effectively manage our
hiring needs or successfully integrate new hires, our efficiency,
ability to meet forecasts and employee morale, productivity and
retention could suffer, which could have an adverse effect on our
business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
We are also required to manage numerous relationships with various
vendors and other third parties. Further growth of our operations,
vendor base, fulfillment centers, information technology systems or
internal controls and procedures may not be adequate to support our
operations. If we are unable to manage the growth of our
organization effectively, our business, financial condition,
results of operations and prospects may be adversely
affected.
Our ability to raise capital in the future may be limited, we may
be unable to secure funds for our liquidity needs, and our failure
to raise capital when needed could prevent us from growing and
adversely affect our ability to continue as a going
concern.
Our cash flows from operating activities have not been sufficient
to fund our business and we have relied significantly on debt
and equity financings for our capital needs, particularly as we
have continued to prioritize various growth initiatives. In the
future, we could deem it desirable or be required to raise capital
through public or private financing or other arrangements. Such
financing may not be available on acceptable or favorable terms, or
at all, and our failure to raise capital when desirable or needed
could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations
or prospects. We may sell common stock, convertible securities and
other equity securities in one or more transactions at prices and
in a manner as we may determine or negotiate from time to time. If
we sell any such securities in subsequent transactions, investors
in our common stock may be materially diluted. Debt financing, if
available, may involve restrictive covenants and could reduce our
operational flexibility or ability to achieve or maintain
profitability. New investors in such subsequent transactions could
gain rights, preferences and privileges senior to those of holders
of our common stock. If we cannot raise funds on acceptable or
favorable terms, we may be forced to raise funds on undesirable
terms, or our business may contract or we may be unable to grow our
business or respond to competitive pressures, any of which could
have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition,
results of operations and prospects.
In particular, the BoC Line of Credit, as amended, matures on June
30, 2022, and we may be unable to secure alternative debt financing
or repay any amounts owed at that date. In March 2022, we entered
into a non-binding term sheet with a lender to provide a new credit
facility. Any definitive agreement as to such credit facility
remains subject to further negotiations and there can be no
assurance that this credit facility will ultimately be agreed and
become available to us or that, if definitive agreement is reached,
its terms will be more favorable to us than our prior or existing
indebtedness. If we cannot obtain additional financing when we need
it, on terms acceptable or favorable to us and sufficient to meet
our liquidity needs, our business, financial condition, results of
operations, prospects and ability to continue as a going concern
could be adversely affected.
Failure to introduce and effectively market new brands may
adversely affect our ability to continue to grow.
A key element of our growth strategy depends on our ability to
develop and market new brands that meet our standards for quality
and appeal to our consumers. The success of our innovation and
product development efforts is affected by our ability to
successfully leverage consumer data, the technical capability of
our innovation staff, our ability to successfully develop and test
product formulas and prototypes, our ability to comply with
applicable governmental regulations, and the success of our
management and sales and marketing teams in introducing and
marketing new brands. Our brand offerings have changed since our
launch, which makes it difficult to forecast our future results of
operations. There can be no assurance that we will successfully
develop and market new brands that appeal to consumers. For
example, product blends or formulas we develop may not contain the
attributes desired by our consumers. Any such failure may lead to a
decrease in our growth, sales and ability to achieve profitability,
which could adversely affect our business, financial condition,
results of operations and prospects.
Additionally, the development and introduction of new brands
requires substantial marketing expenditures, which we may be unable
to recoup if new brands do not gain widespread market acceptance.
If we are unsuccessful in meeting our objectives with respect to
new or improved brands, our business, financial condition, results
of operations and prospects could be adversely affected.
17
Our success is dependent upon our ability to expand our existing
consumer relationships and acquire new consumers, and we must
expend resources to maintain consumer awareness of our brand, build
brand loyalty and generate interest in our brands.
If we fail to cost-effectively acquire new consumers or retain our
existing consumers, our business could be adversely
affected.
Our success and our ability to remain competitive and expand and
keep market share for our brands across our various channels depend
in part on our ability to cost-effectively acquire new consumers,
retain existing consumers and keep existing consumers engaged so
that they continue to purchase our brands. Substantial advertising
and promotional expenditures and efforts may be required to
maintain and increase consumer awareness, maintain and improve our
brands' market positions or introduce and promote new brands, which
could negatively impact our results of operations. Moreover, there
can be no assurance that these efforts and investments will be
successful or cost-efficient. Our ability to attract new consumers
and retain our existing consumers will depend on, among other
items, the perceived value and quality of our brands, the success
of our omni-channel approach, demand for Alcoholic Beverages
generally, our ability to offer high-quality and culturally
relevant brands and the effectiveness of our marketing efforts. We
may also lose loyal consumers to our competitors if we are unable
to meet consumer demand in a timely manner.
Our ability to expand our existing consumer relationships and
retain existing consumers are subject to numerous factors outside
of our control. Our retailers continue to aggressively market their
private label or other competing products, which could reduce
demand for our brands. The expansion of our business also depends
on our ability to increase sales through our DTC channel and
increase breadth and depth of distribution at retailers. Any growth
within our existing distribution channels may also affect our
existing consumer relationships and present additional challenges,
including those related to pricing strategies. Our direct
connections to our consumers may become more limited as we expand
our wholesale channel. Additionally, we may need to increase or
reallocate spending on marketing and promotional activities, such
as temporary price reductions, off-invoice discounts and other
trade activities, and these expenditures are subject to risks,
including risks related to consumer acceptance of our
efforts.
Historically, the majority of our revenue has been derived from
Winc.com members who purchase subscription-based offerings through
our DTC channel. These subscriptions can be canceled at any time.
The introduction of competitors’ offerings with lower prices for
consumers, fluctuations in prices, a lack of online consumer
satisfaction with our monthly themes or brands, changes in consumer
purchasing habits, including an increase in the use of competitors’
products or offerings, and other factors could result in declines
in our DTC net revenues. Because we derive a majority of our total
revenue from online consumers who purchase products in our DTC
channel, any material decline in demand and DTC net revenues could
adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of
operations and prospects. In addition, if we are unable to
successfully introduce through the Winc digital platform brands
that resonate with our online consumers, our revenue growth may
decline, which could have an adverse effect on our business,
financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
If existing online consumers no longer find our brands appealing or
appropriately priced, they may make fewer purchases and may cancel
their subscriptions or stop purchasing our brands. Even if our
existing online consumers continue to find our offerings appealing,
they may decide to pause their subscription or reduce their
purchases over time as their demand for new brands declines. A
decrease in the number of online consumers, a decrease in online
consumer spending on the brands we offer, or our inability to
attract online consumers could negatively affect our business,
financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
We use both paid and non-paid advertising to increase and maintain
consumer awareness of our brands, build brand loyalty and generate
interest in our brands. Our paid advertising may include search
engine marketing, display, paid social media and product placement
and traditional advertising, such as direct mail, television,
radio, podcasts and magazine advertising. Our non-paid advertising
efforts include search engine optimization and non-paid social
media and email marketing.
We drive a significant amount of traffic to the Winc digital
platform via search engines and, therefore, rely heavily on traffic
generated through search engines. Search engines frequently update
and change the algorithms that determine the placement and display
of results of a user’s search, such that the purchased or
algorithmic placement of links to the Winc digital platform can be
negatively affected. Moreover, a search engine could, for
competitive or other purposes, alter its search algorithms or
results, causing our website to place lower in search query results
and result in fewer visits to the Winc digital platform, or
increase the costs of advertising its platform, making such
marketing cost prohibitive. We also drive a significant amount of
traffic to the Winc digital platform via social networking or other
ecommerce channels used by our current and prospective consumers.
As social networking and ecommerce channels continue to rapidly
evolve, we may be unable to develop or maintain a presence within
these channels. In addition, social media platforms typically
require compliance with their policies and procedures, which may be
subject to change or new interpretation with limited ability to
negotiate, which could negatively impact our marketing
capabilities. If we are unable to cost-effectively drive traffic to
the Winc digital platform, or if the popularity of our online
presence declines, our ability to acquire new consumers could be
adversely affected.
If we are unable to cost-effectively acquire new consumers, retain
existing consumers and keep existing consumers engaged, or maintain
and promote a favorable perception of our brands, our business,
financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be
adversely affected.
18
We may not be able to compete successfully in our highly
competitive market.
The markets in which we operate are highly competitive and rapidly
evolving, with many new brands and product offerings emerging in
the marketplace. We face significant competition from both
established, well-known players in the wine industry and emerging
brands. Numerous brands and products compete for limited shelf
space in our wholesale channel and for online consumers in our DTC
channel. We believe our ability to compete effectively in our
industry is primarily on the basis of developing a portfolio of
high-quality and culturally relevant brands and innovative products
that resonate with our consumers.
Our wines compete with popularly priced generic wines and with
other alcoholic and, to a lesser degree, non-Alcoholic Beverages,
for drinker acceptance and loyalty, shelf space and prominence in
retail stores, presence and prominence on restaurant wine lists and
for marketing focus by independent wholesale distributors, many of
which carry extensive portfolios of wines and other Alcoholic
Beverages. This competition is driven by established companies as
well as new entrants in our markets and categories. In the United
States, wine sales are relatively concentrated among a limited
number of large suppliers. Many of these competitors have
substantially greater financial and other resources than us and
products that are well-accepted in the marketplace today. Many also
have longer operating histories, larger fulfilment infrastructures,
greater technical capabilities, faster shipping times, lower
freight costs, lower operating costs, greater financial, marketing,
institutional and other resources and larger consumer bases than we
do. Companies with greater resources may acquire our competitors or
launch new products, and they may be able to use their resources
and scale to respond to competitive pressures and changes in
consumer preferences by reducing prices or increasing promotional
activities, among other things. These factors may also allow our
competitors to derive greater revenue and profits from their
existing consumer bases, acquire consumers at lower costs or
respond more quickly than we can to new or emerging technologies
and changes in product trends and consumer shopping behavior. These
competitors may engage in more extensive research and development
efforts, enter or expand their presence in any or all of the DTC or
wholesale channels where we compete, undertake more far-reaching
marketing campaigns, and adopt more aggressive pricing policies,
which may allow them to build larger consumer bases or generate
revenue from their existing consumer bases more effectively than we
do.
In addition to other widely advertised branded products, retailers
also market competitive products under their own private labels,
which are generally sold at lower prices, and may change the
merchandising of our brands so that they have less favorable
placement. Consumers are more likely to purchase our brands if they
believe that our brands provide greater value than less expensive
alternatives. If the difference in perceived value between our
brands and private label products narrows, or if there is a
perception of such a narrowing, we may face pressure to lower our
prices, resulting in lower revenue and margins, and we may lose
market share even if we lower prices. We believe that in periods of
economic uncertainty, such as the current economic uncertainty
surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers may purchase more
lower-priced private label or other economy brands. To the extent
this occurs, we could experience a reduction in the sales volume of
our brands or an unfavorable shift in our brand mix, which could
have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition,
results of operations and prospects.
We expect competition in the wine industry to continue to increase.
We believe that our ability to compete successfully in this market
depends upon many factors both within and beyond our control,
including:
•
the size and composition of our consumer base;
•
the number of brands that we offer and feature across our sales
channels;
•
our information technology infrastructure;
•
the quality and responsiveness of our customer
service;
•
our selling and marketing efforts;
•
the quality and price of the brands that we offer;
•
the convenience of the shopping experience that we provide on the
Winc digital platform;
•
our ability to distribute our brands and manage our operations;
and
•
our reputation and brand strength.
We cannot be certain that we will be able to compete successfully
in our highly competitive market. Competitive pressures or other
factors could cause us to lose market share, which may require us
to lower prices, increase marketing expenditures, or increase the
use of discounting or promotional campaigns, each of which would
adversely affect our margins and could adversely affect our
business and results of operations and ability to achieve or
maintain profitability. If we fail to compete successfully, our
business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects
could be adversely affected.
Consolidation in our industry, including the consolidation of the
wholesale distributors or retailers of our brands, may increase
competition in an already crowded space and may adversely affect
our business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
19
Consolidation among wine producers, wholesale distributors,
suppliers or retailers could create a more challenging competitive
landscape for our wines. In addition, the increased growth and
popularity of the retail ecommerce environment across the consumer
product goods market, which has accelerated during the COVID-19
pandemic and the resulting quarantines, “stay at home” orders,
travel restrictions, retail store closures, social distancing
requirements and other government action, has changed, and we
believe is likely to continue to change, the competitive landscape
for our brands. Consolidation at any level could hinder the
distribution and sale of our brands as a result of reduced
attention and resources allocated to our brands both during and
after transition periods, which could impair general consumer
awareness of and access to our brands.
Sales not made directly to consumers through our DTC channel are
made through our wholesale channel to independent wholesale
distributors for resale to retail outlets, restaurants, hotels and
private clubs across the United States and in some overseas
markets. Furthermore, consolidation of wholesale distributors may
lead to the erosion of margins as newly consolidated wholesale
distributors take down prices or demand more margin from existing
suppliers. Changes in wholesale distributors’ strategies, including
a reduction in the number of brands they carry or the allocation of
resources for our competitors’ brands or private label brands, may
adversely affect our ability to maintain or grow our market share
and harm our business, financial condition, results of operations
and prospects. Wholesale distributors of our brands offer products
that compete directly with our brands for inventory and retail
shelf space, promotional and marketing support and consumer
purchases. Expansion into new product categories by other suppliers
or innovation by new entrants into the market could increase
competition in our product categories.
A retailer may take actions that affect our brands for reasons that
we cannot always anticipate or control, such as their financial
condition, changes in their business strategy or operations, the
introduction of competing products or the perceived quality of our
brands. Despite operating in different channel segments, the Winc
digital platform and retailers sometimes compete for the same
consumers. Because of actual or perceived conflicts resulting from
this competition, third-party retailers may take actions that
negatively affect our brands. Consequently, our financial results
may fluctuate significantly from period to period based on the
actions of one or more significant third-party
retailers.
Moreover, a large percentage of our net sales is concentrated
within a small number of wholesale distributors. There can be no
assurance that the wholesale distributors and retailers we use will
continue to purchase our brands or provide our brands with adequate
levels of promotional and merchandising support. The loss of one or
more major distributor or retail account, or the need to make
significant concessions to retain one or more such distributor or
retail account, could adversely affect our business, financial
condition, results of operations and prospects.
Our marketing strategy involves continued expansion into the DTC
channel, which may present risks and challenges that we have not
yet experienced or contemplated, or for which we are not adequately
prepared. These risks and challenges could negatively affect our
sales in these channels and our business and results of
operations.
The marketplace in which we operate is highly competitive and in
recent years has seen the entrance of new competitors and products
targeting similar consumer groups as our business. To stay
competitive and forge new connections with consumers, we are
continuing investment in the expansion of our DTC channel.
Expanding our DTC channel may require significant investment in
ecommerce platforms, marketing, fulfillment, information technology
infrastructure and other known and unknown costs. There can be no
assurance that these investments will be successful or
cost-efficient, and in such an event we may not be able to maintain
or expand our DTC channel sales. The success of our DTC channel
depends on our ability to maintain the efficient and uninterrupted
operation of online order-processing and fulfillment and delivery
operations. As such, we are heavily dependent on the performance of
third parties for shipping and technology. Any system interruptions
or delays could prevent potential consumers from purchasing our
wines directly. Additionally, we may be unable to adequately or
timely adapt to shifts in consumer preferences for points of
purchase, such as an increase in at-home delivery during the
COVID-19 pandemic, and our competitors may react more rapidly or
with improved consumer experiences. A failure to react quickly to
these and other changes in consumer preferences, or to create
infrastructure to support new or
20
expanding sales channels, may materially and adversely affect our
business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
consumer experiences.
The success of our business depends heavily on the strength of
brands, and our brands and reputation may be diminished due to real
or perceived quality, safety, efficacy or environmental impact
issues with our brands, which could have an adverse effect on our
business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
Maintaining and expanding our reputation as a premier producer of
premium wine among our consumers and the wine market generally is
critical to the success of our business and our growth strategy.
Maintaining, promoting and positioning our brands and reputation
will depend on, among other factors, the success of our brands,
product safety, quality assurance, marketing and merchandising
efforts, our continued focus on delivering high-quality and
culturally relevant brands to our consumers and our ability to
provide a consistent, enjoyable consumer experience.
If we are unable to maintain the actual or perceived quality of our
brands, including as a result of contamination or tampering,
environmental or other factors impacting the quality of our grapes
or other raw materials, or if our brands otherwise do not meet the
subjective expectations or tastes of one or more of a relatively
small number of critics, the actual or perceived quality and value
of one or more of our brands could be harmed, which could
negatively impact not only the value of that product, but also the
value of the vintage, the particular brand or our broader
portfolio. As a result, we are dependent on our winemakers and
tasting panels to ensure that every wine we release meets our
exacting quality standards. Any negative publicity, regardless of
its accuracy, could have an adverse effect on our business and
reputation, and brand value is based on perceptions of subjective
qualities. Any loss of confidence on the part of our consumers,
suppliers, wholesale distributors or retailers in the quality,
safety, efficacy or environmental suitability of our brands,
including as a result of changes to our brands or packaging,
adverse publicity or a governmental investigation, litigation or
regulatory enforcement action, could be difficult and costly to
overcome, significantly reduce the value of our brand and adversely
affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
The use of social and digital media by us, our consumers and third
parties increases the speed and extent that information or
misinformation and opinions can be shared, which can accentuate
both the positive and the negative reviews of our brands and of
wine vintages generally. Public perception of our brands could be
negatively affected by adverse publicity or negative commentary on
social media outlets, particularly negative commentary on social
media outlets that goes “viral,” or our responses relating to,
among other things:
•
an actual or perceived failure to maintain quality, safety,
ethical, social and environmental standards for all of our
operations and activities;
•
an actual or perceived failure to address concerns relating to the
quality, safety or integrity of our brands;
•
our environmental impact, including our use of agricultural
materials, packaging, water and energy use, and waste management;
or
•
an actual or perceived failure by us to promote the responsible
consumption of alcohol.
If we do not produce brands that are well-regarded by the
relatively small critic community, the Alcoholic Beverages market
could quickly become aware of this determination. In addition, if
certain vintages receive negative publicity or consumer reaction,
whether as a result of our wines or wines of other producers, our
wines in the same vintage could be adversely affected. Unfavorable
publicity, whether accurate or not, related to our industry, us,
our brands, marketing, personnel, operations, business performance
or prospects could adversely affect our reputation, business,
financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
Any contamination or other quality control issue could have an
adverse effect on sales of the impacted brand or our broader
portfolio of brands. If any of our brands become unsafe or unfit
for consumption, cause injury or are otherwise defective or
improperly packaged or labeled, we may have to engage in a brand
recall and may be subject to liability and regulatory action and
incur additional costs. A widespread recall, multiple recalls,
boycotts or a significant product liability judgment against us
could cause affected brands to be unavailable for a period of time,
depressing demand and our brand equity. Even if a product liability
claim is unsuccessful or is not fully pursued, any resulting
negative publicity could adversely affect our reputation with
existing and potential consumers and retail accounts, as well as
our corporate and individual brand image in such a way that current
and future sales could be diminished. In addition, safety or other
defects in our competitors’ products or products using similar
names to those of our brands could reduce consumer demand for our
own brands if consumers view them to be similar. Any such adverse
effect could be exacerbated by our market positioning as a purveyor
of high-quality and culturally relevant brands and may
significantly reduce our brand value.
Third parties may sell wines or inferior brands that imitate our
brands or that are counterfeit versions of our labels, and
consumers could be duped into thinking that these imitation labels
are our authentic wines. A negative consumer experience with such a
wine could cause them to refrain from purchasing our brands in the
future and damage our brand integrity. We also have no control over
our brands once purchased by consumers. For example, consumers may
store or use our brands under conditions and for periods of time
inconsistent with approved storage guidelines, which may adversely
affect the quality and safety of our products. Any failure to
maintain the actual or perceived quality of our wines could
materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition,
results of operations and prospects.
21
Damage to our reputation or loss of consumer confidence in our
brands for any of these or other reasons could result in decreased
demand for our brands and adversely affect our business, financial
condition, results of operations and prospects, as well as require
additional resources to rebuild our reputation, competitive
position and brand strength.
Economic downturns or a change in consumer preferences, perception
and spending habits could limit consumer demand for our brands and
adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of
operations and prospects.
We have positioned our business to capitalize on growing consumer
interest in high-quality and culturally relevant brands. The
Alcoholic Beverages industry is sensitive to national and regional
economic conditions, and the demand for the brands that we
distribute may be adversely affected from time to time by economic
downturns that impact consumer spending, including discretionary
spending. Future economic conditions such as employment levels,
business conditions, housing starts, interest rates, inflation
rates, energy and fuel costs and tax rates could reduce consumer
spending or change consumer purchasing habits. Among these changes
could be a reduction in the number of wine brands that consumers
purchase where there are alternatives, given that many products in
this category often have higher retail prices than other alcoholic
or non-alcoholic alternatives.
Further, the markets in which we operate are subject to changes in
consumer preference, perception and spending habits. Our
performance depends significantly on factors that may affect the
level and pattern of consumer spending in the markets in which we
operate. Such factors include consumer preference, consumer
confidence, consumer income, consumer perception of the safety and
quality of our brands and shifts in the perceived value for our
brands relative to alternatives. In addition, media coverage
regarding the safety or quality of our brands or the raw materials,
ingredients or processes involved in their production may damage
consumer confidence in our brands. A general decline in the
consumption of our brands could occur at any time as a result of
change in consumer preference, perception, confidence and spending
habits, including an unwillingness to pay a premium or an inability
to purchase our brands due to financial hardship or increased price
sensitivity, which may be exacerbated by the effects of a general
economic decline, including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
If consumer preferences shift away from our brands, our business,
financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be
adversely affected.
The success of our brands depends on a number of factors including
our ability to accurately anticipate changes in market demand and
consumer preferences, our ability to differentiate the quality of
our brands from those of our competitors, and the effectiveness of
our marketing and advertising campaigns for our brands. We may not
be successful in identifying trends in consumer preferences and
developing brands that respond to such trends in a timely manner.
We also may not be able to effectively promote our brands by our
marketing and advertising campaigns and gain market acceptance. If
our brands fail to gain market acceptance, are restricted by
regulatory requirements or have quality problems, we may not be
able to fully recover costs and expenses incurred in our operation,
and our business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects could be adversely affected.
22
Our ability to maintain our competitive position is largely
dependent on the services of our senior management and other key
personnel.
Our ability to maintain and improve our competitive position is
largely dependent on the services of our senior management and
other key personnel. The loss of the services of any of these
individuals could have an adverse effect on our business, financial
condition, results of operations and prospects. In addition, our
future success depends on our continued ability to attract,
develop, motivate and retain highly qualified and skilled
employees. The market for such positions is competitive. Qualified
individuals are in high demand, and we may incur significant costs
to attract them. In addition, the loss of any of our senior
management or other key employees or our inability to recruit and
develop key employees could adversely affect our ability to execute
our business plan, and we may be unable to find adequate
replacements. All of our employees are at-will employees, meaning
that they may terminate their employment relationship with us at
any time, and their knowledge of our business and industry would be
extremely difficult to replace. If we fail to retain talented
senior management and other key personnel, or if we do not succeed
in attracting well-qualified employees or retaining and motivating
existing employees, our business, financial condition, results of
operations and prospects could be adversely affected.
Use or ineffective use of social media and influencers may
adversely affect our reputation or subject us to fines or other
penalties.
We use third-party social media platforms as, among other things,
marketing tools. For example, we maintain Instagram, Facebook,
Pinterest and Twitter accounts. We also maintain relationships with
thousands of social media influencers and engage in sponsorship
initiatives. As existing ecommerce and social media platforms
continue to rapidly evolve and new platforms develop, we must
continue to maintain a presence on these platforms and establish
presences on new or emerging social media platforms. If we are
unable to cost-effectively use social media platforms as marketing
tools or if the social media platforms we use change their policies
or algorithms, we may not be able to fully optimize our use of such
platforms, and our ability to maintain and acquire consumers and
our financial condition may suffer. Furthermore, as laws and
regulations and public opinion rapidly evolve to govern the use of
these platforms and devices used to access them, the failure by us,
our employees, our network of social media influencers, our
sponsors or third parties acting at our direction to abide by
applicable laws and regulations in the use of these platforms and
devices or otherwise could subject us to regulatory investigations,
class action lawsuits, liability, fines or other penalties and have
an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of
operations and prospects.
In addition, an increase in the use of social media influencers for
product promotion and marketing may cause an increase in the burden
on us to monitor compliance of the content they post and increase
the risk that such content could contain problematic product or
marketing claims in violation of applicable laws and regulations.
For example, in some cases, the FTC has sought enforcement action
where an endorsement has failed to clearly and conspicuously
disclose a financial relationship or material connection between an
influencer and an advertiser. We do not control the content that
our influencers post, and if we were held responsible for any
false, misleading or otherwise unlawful content of their posts or
their actions, we could be fined or subjected to other monetary
liabilities or forced to alter our practices, which could have an
adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of
operations and prospects.
Negative commentary regarding us, our brands or influencers and
other third parties who are affiliated with us may also be posted
on social media platforms and may adversely affect our reputation
or business. Influencers with whom we maintain relationships could
engage in behavior or use their platforms to communicate directly
with our consumers in a manner that reflects poorly on our brands
and may be attributed to us or otherwise adversely affect us. It is
not possible to prevent such behavior, and the precautions we take
to detect this activity may not be effective in all cases.
Moreover, the harm may be immediate, without affording us an
opportunity for redress or correction.
We may be unable to accurately forecast revenue and appropriately
plan our expenses in the future, and any failure to meet forecasted
revenue or other financial figures may have an adverse impact on
our financial condition and stock price.
Our revenues and results of operations are difficult to forecast
because they generally depend on the volume, timing and types of
orders we receive across our various channels, all of which are
uncertain. Forecasts may be particularly challenging as we expand
into new markets and geographies and develop and market new brands.
We base our expense levels and investment plans on our estimates of
revenue and gross profit. There can be no assurances that
historical growth rates and trends are meaningful predictors of
future growth or trends. If our assumptions prove to be wrong, we
may spend more than we anticipate acquiring and retaining consumers
or may generate lower revenue per consumer than anticipated, either
of which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial
condition, results of operations and prospects.
23
The consumer reception of the launch and expansion of our brands is
inherently uncertain and may present new and unknown risks and
challenges in production and marketing that we may fail to manage
optimally and which could have a materially adverse effect on our
business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
New brand development and innovation is core to our marketing
strategy and a significant portion of our net revenues are derived
from new brands. To continue our growth and compete with new and
existing competitors, we may need to innovate and develop a robust
pipeline of new brands. The launch and continued success of new
brands is inherently uncertain, particularly with respect to
consumer appeal and market share capture. An unsuccessful launch
may impact consumer perception of our existing brands and
reputation, which are critical to our ongoing success and growth.
Unsuccessful implementation or short-lived success of new brands
may result in write-offs or other associated costs which may
adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of
operations and prospects. In addition, the launch of new brand
offerings may result in cannibalization of sales of existing brands
in our portfolio.
Our results of operations may be impacted by promotional
activities, price concessions, credits and other
factors.
We have incurred, and expect to continue to incur, significant
advertising and promotional expenditures to enhance our brands and
raise consumer awareness in both existing and emerging categories.
These expenditures may adversely affect our results of operations
in a particular quarter or even a full fiscal year and may not
result in increased sales. Variations in the levels of advertising
and promotional expenditures have in the past caused, and are
expected in the future to continue to cause, variability in our
quarterly results of operations. While we strive to invest only in
effective advertising and promotional activities in both the
digital and traditional segments, it is difficult to correlate such
investments with sales results, and there is no guarantee that our
expenditures will be effective in building brand strength or
growing long term sales.
Additionally, retailers may at times require price concessions that
would negatively impact our margins and our ability to achieve or
maintain profitability. If we are not able to lower our cost
structure adequately in response to consumer pricing demands, and
if we are not able to attract and retain a profitable consumer mix
and a profitable product mix, our business, financial condition,
results of operations and prospects could be adversely
affected.
In addition, we periodically offer credits through various programs
to wholesale distributors, including temporary price reductions,
off-invoice discounts, and other trade activities.
We anticipate that these promotional activities, price concessions,
credits and other factors could adversely impact our revenue and
that changes in such activities could adversely impact
period-over-period results. If we do not accurately predict the
performance of such promotions, or if we do not accurately estimate
credits, our business, financial condition, results of operations
and prospects could be adversely affected.
Our inability to develop and maintain strong relationships with
retailers in order to maximize our presence in retail stores could
adversely impact our revenue, and in turn our business, financial
condition, results of operations and prospects could be adversely
affected.
Our operations include sales through wholesale distributors to
retail stores and their related websites, which accounted for
approximately 23.6% of our net revenues in 2021. The successful
growth of our wholesale business is dependent in part on our
continuing development of strong relationships with major retail
chains. The loss of our shelf space with any of our large retail
partners could have a significant impact on our revenue. In
addition, we may be unable to secure adequate shelf space in new
markets, or any shelf space at all, until we develop relationships
with the retailers that operate in such markets. Consequently,
growth opportunities through our wholesale channel may be limited
and our business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects could be adversely affected if we are unable to
successfully establish relationships with other retailers in new or
current markets.
We also face severe competition to display our brands on store
shelves and obtain optimal presence on those shelves. Due to the
intense competition for limited shelf space, retailers are in a
position to negotiate favorable terms of sale, including price
discounts, allowances and brand return policies. To the extent we
elect to increase discounts or allowances in an effort to secure
shelf space, our results of operations could be adversely affected.
We may not be able to increase or sustain our volume of retail
shelf space or offer retailers price discounts sufficient to
overcome competition and, as a result, our sales and results of
operations could be adversely affected. In addition, many of our
competitors have significantly greater financial, production,
marketing, management and other resources than we do and may have
greater name recognition, a more established distribution network
and a larger base of wholesale distributors. If our competitors’
sales surpass ours, retailers may give higher priority to our
competitors’ products, causing such retailers to reduce their
efforts to sell our brands and resulting in the loss of
advantageous shelf space, which in turn could adversely impact our
revenue, and in turn our business, financial condition, results of
operations and prospects could be adversely affected.
24
Significant product returns or refunds could harm our
business.
We allow our online consumers to return products and offer refunds,
subject to our return and refunds policy. If product returns or
refunds are significant or higher than anticipated and forecasted,
our business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects could be adversely affected. Further, we and our
retailers modify policies relating to returns or refunds from time
to time, and may do so in the future, which may result in consumer
dissatisfaction and harm to our reputation or brand or an increase
in the number of product returns or the amount of refunds we make.
From time to time, our products are damaged in transit, which can
increase return rates and harm our brand, which in turn could
adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of
operations and prospects.
Our business may be adversely affected if we are unable to provide
our consumers with a technology platform that is able to respond
and adapt to rapid changes in technology, if our platform
encounters disruptions in usability or if our consumers find our
platform less usable or attractive than those of our
competitors.
The number of people who access the Internet through devices other
than personal computers, including mobile phones, tablets,
television set-top devices and similar hand-held devices, has
increased dramatically in recent years. Adapting the Winc digital
platform to these devices as well as other new Internet, networking
or telecommunications technologies could be time-consuming and
could require us to incur substantial expenditures, which could
have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition,
results of operations and prospects. Ultimately, the versions of
our websites and mobile applications developed for these devices
may not be compelling to consumers.
Additionally, as new mobile devices and platforms are released, it
is difficult to predict the problems we may encounter in developing
applications for alternative devices and platforms, and we may need
to devote significant resources to the creation, support and
maintenance of such applications. If we or our retailers are unable
to attract consumers to the Winc digital platform or their websites
or mobile applications through these devices or are slow to develop
a version of such websites or mobile applications that are more
compatible with alternative devices, we may fail to capture a
significant share of new consumers and could also lose existing
consumers, which could have an adverse effect on our business,
financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
Further, we continually upgrade existing technologies and business
applications, and we may be required to implement new technologies
or business applications in the future. The implementation of
upgrades and changes requires significant investments. Our results
of operations may be affected by the timing, effectiveness and
costs associated with the successful implementation of any upgrades
or changes to the Winc digital platform. In the event that it is
more difficult for our consumers to buy brands from us on their
mobile devices, or if our consumers choose not to buy brands from
us on their mobile devices or to use mobile products or platforms
that do not offer access to the Winc digital platform, we could
lose existing consumers and fail to attract new consumers. Even if
we build and maintain a platform that is effective and attractive
to our consumers, there is no guarantee the Winc digital platform
will not encounter disruptions or outages and diminish our
consumers’ satisfaction. As a result, our consumer growth could be
harmed and our business, financial condition, results of operations
and prospects could be adversely affected.
25
We are subject to risks related to online payment methods,
including third-party payment processing-related risks.
We currently accept payments using a variety of methods, including
credit card, debit card, Apple Pay, PayPal and gift cards. We also
rely on third parties to provide payment processing services, and,
for certain payment methods, we pay interchange and other fees,
which may increase over time and raise our operating costs and
affect our ability to achieve or maintain profitability. We are
also subject to payment card association operating rules and
certification requirements, including the Payment Card Industry
Data Security Standards and rules governing electronic funds
transfers, which could change or be reinterpreted to make it
difficult or impossible for us to comply. If we offer new payment
options to consumers, including by way of integrating emerging
mobile and other payment methods, we may be subject to additional
regulations, compliance requirements, fraud and other risks. In
addition, as our business changes, we may be subject to different
rules under existing standards, which may require new assessments
that involve costs above what we currently incur for
compliance.
If we or a third-party processing payment card transactions on our
behalf fail to comply with the rules or requirements of any
provider of a payment method we accept, if the volume of fraud in
our transactions limits or terminates our rights to use payment
methods we currently accept, or if a data breach occurs relating to
our payment systems, we may, among other things, be subject to
significant fines, penalties and assessments or higher transaction
fees arising out of the major payment card brands’ rules and
regulations, contractual indemnifications or liability contained in
merchant agreements and similar contracts, and we may lose, or face
restrictions placed upon, our ability to accept credit card
payments from consumers or facilitate other types of online
payments, which could materially impact our business, financial
condition, results of operations and prospects.
We may in the future incur losses from various types of fraud,
including stolen credit card numbers, claims that a consumer did
not authorize a purchase, merchant fraud and consumers who have
closed bank accounts or have insufficient funds in open bank
accounts to satisfy payments. We occasionally receive orders placed
with fraudulent data and we may ultimately be held liable for the
unauthorized use of a cardholder’s card number in an illegal
transaction and be required by card issuers to pay charge-back
fees. Chargebacks result not only in our loss of fees earned with
respect to the payment, but also leave us liable for the underlying
money transfer amount. If our charge-back rate becomes excessive,
card associations also may require us to pay fines or refuse to
process our transactions. In addition, under current credit card
practices, we are liable for fraudulent credit card transactions
because we do not obtain a cardholder’s signature. Further, we may
be subject to additional fraud risk if third-party service
providers or our employees fraudulently use consumer information
for their own gain or facilitate the fraudulent use of such
information. Although we have measures in place to detect and
reduce the occurrence of fraudulent activity in our marketplace,
those measures may not always be effective. Our failure to
adequately prevent fraudulent transactions could damage our
reputation, result in litigation or regulatory action and
additional expenses. If any of these events were to occur, our
business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects
could be adversely affected.
We may grow our business through acquisitions of, or investments
in, new or complementary businesses, assets, facilities,
technologies or products, or through strategic alliances, and the
failure to manage these acquisitions, investments or alliances, or
to integrate them with our existing business, could adversely
affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
From time to time, we may consider opportunities to acquire or make
investments in new or complementary businesses, assets, facilities,
technologies, offerings, or products, or enter into strategic
alliances, that may enhance our capabilities, expand our
outsourcing and supplier network, complement our current brands or
expand the breadth of our markets. For example, in May 2021, we
purchased certain assets of Natural Merchants, Inc., an
international wine importer.
Acquisitions, investments and other strategic alliances involve
numerous risks, including:
•
problems integrating the acquired business, assets, facilities,
technologies or products, including issues maintaining uniform
standards, procedures, controls and policies;
•
risks associated with quality control and brand
reputation;
•
unanticipated costs associated with acquisitions, investments or
strategic alliances;
•
diversion of management’s attention from our existing
business;
•
adverse effects on existing business relationships with suppliers,
wholesale distributors and retailers;
•
risks associated with any dispute that may arise with respect to
such strategic alliance;
•
risks associated with entering new markets in which we may have
limited or no experience;
•
potential loss of key employees of acquired businesses;
and
•
increased legal and accounting compliance costs.
26
Our ability to successfully grow through strategic transactions
depends upon our ability to identify, negotiate, complete and
integrate suitable target businesses, assets, facilities,
technologies and products and to obtain any necessary financing.
These efforts could be expensive and time-consuming and may disrupt
our ongoing business and prevent management from focusing on our
operations. If we are unable to identify suitable acquisitions or
strategic relationships, or if we are unable to integrate any
acquired businesses, assets, facilities, technologies and products
effectively, our business, financial condition, results of
operations and prospects could be adversely affected. Further,
while we employ several different methodologies to assess potential
business opportunities, the new businesses may not meet or exceed
our expectations, which could result in write-downs of assets or
goodwill or impairment charges.
The COVID-19 pandemic could have an adverse effect on our business,
financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
In connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, governments implemented
significant measures, including closures, quarantines, travel
restrictions and other social distancing directives, intended to
control the spread of the virus. Companies have also taken
precautions, such as requiring employees to work remotely, imposing
travel restrictions and temporarily closing businesses. Although as
of December 2021, the global economy has begun to recover and the
widespread availability of vaccines has encouraged greater economic
activity, we are continuing to monitor the situation, and we cannot
predict for how long, or the ultimate extent to which, the pandemic
may disrupt our operations. The COVID-19 pandemic has had and
continues to have an adverse impact on global economic conditions
and consumer confidence and spending, including supply chain
disruptions and resulting inflationary pressures, which could
adversely affect our ability to produce and distribute our brands
as well as the demand for our brands. The fluid nature of the
COVID-19 pandemic, including the emergence of new variants of the
virus that causes COVID-19, and uncertainties regarding the related
economic impact are likely to result in sustained market turmoil,
which could also have an adverse effect on our business, financial
condition, results of operations and prospects.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on any of our suppliers,
wholesale distributors, retailers or ecommerce vendors or
transportation or logistics providers may negatively affect the
price and availability of our materials and impact our supply
chain. If the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic continue
for an extended period of time, our ability to meet the demands of
our consumers may be materially impacted. For example, government
restrictions may limit the personnel available to receive or ship
brands at our distribution centers. In addition, the continuing
effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic may negatively impact
collections of accounts receivable and cause some of our retailers
to go out of business, all of which could adversely affect our
business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
Further, the COVID-19 pandemic may impact consumer demand and
demand from wholesale distributors and retailers. Retail stores may
be impacted if governments continue to implement regional business
closures, quarantines, travel restrictions and other social
distancing directives to slow the spread of the virus. Further, to
the extent our retailers’ operations are negatively impacted, our
consumers may reduce demand for or spending on our products, or
consumers or retailers may delay payments to us or request payment
or other concessions. There may also be significant reductions or
volatility in consumer demand for our products due to travel
restrictions or social distancing directives, as well as the
temporary inability of consumers to purchase our products due to
illness, quarantine or financial hardship, shifts in demand away
from one or more of our products or decreased consumer confidence,
any of which may increase the difficulty in planning our operations
and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of
operations and prospects. Additionally, we may be unable to
effectively modify our trade promotion and advertising activities
to reflect changing consumer viewing and shopping habits due to
event cancellations, reduced in-store visits and travel
restrictions, among other things.
Beginning in March 2020, we saw an increase in DTC demand,
primarily, we believe, as a result of purchases arising from more
consumers working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic and thus,
spending more time at home and the unavailability of public venues.
If remote work conditions end, more public venues reopen and
consumers spend less time at home, our online consumers may elect
to purchase fewer products or may elect to pause or cancel their
subscriptions and purchase products from traditional brick and
mortar stores rather than from the Winc digital platform, which
could materially and adversely affect our business, financial
condition, results of operations and prospects.
The extent of the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on our operational and
financial performance will also depend on future developments,
including the duration and intensity of the pandemic, and the
emergence of variants of COVID-19 and related developments, all of
which are uncertain and difficult to predict. As a result, it is
not currently possible to ascertain the overall impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic on our business. However, if the pandemic
continues to persist as a severe worldwide health crisis, the
disease could have an adverse effect on our business, financial
condition, results of operations and prospects, and may also have
the effect of heightening many of the other risks described
herein.
27
Our business performance by segment may be subject to significant
variability.
Our financial performance is influenced by a number of factors
which are difficult to predict and variable in nature. These
include cost volatility for raw materials, production yields and
inventory availability and the evolution of our sales channel mix,
as well as external trends in weather patterns and discretionary
consumer spending. In addition, consumer demand and net sales among
our wholesale and DTC channels are subject to seasonal
fluctuations. While we have not in the past experienced significant
variability among our results of operations in the aggregate, our
business performance by segment has displayed seasonal trends, and
a failure by us to adequately prepare for periods of changed demand
within any particular segment, or any event that disrupts our
distribution channels during those periods, could adversely affect
our business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects. A number of other factors that are inherently difficult
to predict could affect the seasonality or variability of our
financial performance in any impacted segment. Therefore, the
performance of our wholesale or DTC segments may vary on a
quarterly basis, and the results of a segment during one period may
not be indicative of that segment’s results during any other future
period.
The agreements governing our indebtedness require us to meet
certain operating and financial covenants and place restrictions on
our operating and financial flexibility. If we raise capital
through additional debt financing, the terms of any new
indebtedness could further restrict our ability to operate our
business.
We are party to the BoC Credit Agreement providing for the $7.0
million BoC Line of Credit. The BoC Line of Credit bears interest
at a variable annual rate equal to 1.25% plus the prime rate and,
as amended, matures on June 30, 2022. Under the BoC Credit
Agreement, we are required to pay an annual fee equal to 0.25% of
the revolving credit commitment in effect on the date that the fee
is due. The BoC Credit Agreement also contains various affirmative
and negative covenants and restrictions that limit our ability to
engage in certain activities, including, among other things,
incurring certain types of additional indebtedness (including
certain guarantees or other contingent obligations) or
consolidating, merging, selling or otherwise disposing of all or
substantially all of our assets or acquiring all or substantially
all of the assets or business of another person. As of December 31,
2021, we had zero outstanding balance under the BoC Credit
Agreement.
The BoC Credit Agreement contains affirmative and negative
covenants, indemnification provisions and events of default. The
affirmative covenants include, among others, administrative,
reporting and legal covenants, in each case subject to certain
exceptions. The negative covenants include, among others,
limitations on our and our subsidiaries’ abilities to, in each case
subject to certain exceptions:
•
make restricted payments, including dividends and
distributions;
•
use proceeds from the BoC Line of Credit for purposes other than
for working capital;
•
incur additional indebtedness;
•
enter into fundamental changes, including mergers and
consolidations;
•
engage in certain sale leaseback transactions;
•
sell assets, including capital stock of subsidiaries;
•
make certain investments;
•
create negative pledges or restrictions on the payment of dividends
or payment of other amounts owed from subsidiaries;
•
make prepayments or modify documents governing material debt that
is subordinated with respect to right of payment;
•
enter into certain transactions with affiliates;
•
change our fiscal year; and
•
change our lines of business.
The restrictions in the BoC Credit Agreement and any future credit
facilities may prevent us from taking actions that we believe would
be in the best interests of our business and may make it difficult
for us to execute our business strategy successfully or effectively
compete with companies that are not similarly restricted. In
addition, the terms of any future indebtedness we may incur could
include similar, additional and more restrictive covenants. Our
ability to comply with the covenants and restrictions contained in
the BoC Credit Agreement and any future credit facilities may be
affected by economic, financial and industry conditions beyond our
control, and we have previously breached similar covenants in prior
credit facilities. We cannot assure you that we will be able to
maintain compliance with these covenants in the future and, if we
fail to do so, that we will be able to obtain waivers from the
lenders or amend the covenants.
The BoC Credit Agreement includes customary events of default,
including failure to pay principal, interest or certain other
amounts when due; material inaccuracy of representations and
warranties; violation of covenants; specified cross-default and
cross-acceleration to other material indebtedness; certain
bankruptcy and insolvency events; certain events relating to the
Employee Retirement Income
28
Security Act of 1974, as amended; certain undischarged judgments;
material invalidity of guarantees or grant of security interest;
and change of control, in certain cases subject to certain
thresholds and grace periods.
Our failure to comply with the restrictive covenants described
above as well as other terms of our indebtedness could result in an
event of default, which, if not cured or waived, could result in
the lenders declaring all obligations, together with accrued and
unpaid interest, immediately due and payable and taking control of
the collateral, potentially requiring us to renegotiate the BoC
Credit Agreement on terms less favorable to us. If we are forced to
refinance these borrowings on less favorable terms or are unable to
refinance these borrowings, our business, results of operations,
financial condition and future prospects could be adversely
affected. In addition, such a default or acceleration may result in
the acceleration of any future indebtedness to which a
cross-acceleration or cross-default provision applies. If we are
unable to repay our indebtedness, lenders having secured
obligations, such as the lenders under the BoC Credit Agreement,
could proceed against the collateral securing the indebtedness. In
any such case, we may be unable to borrow under our credit
facilities and may not be able to repay the amounts due under our
credit facilities. This could have an adverse effect on our
business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects
and could cause us to become bankrupt or insolvent.
We could be required to collect additional sales taxes or be
subject to other tax liabilities that may increase the costs our
consumers would have to pay for our products and adversely affect
our business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
On June 21, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court held in South Dakota v.
Wayfair, Inc. that states could impose sales tax collection
obligations on out-of-state retailers even if those retailers lack
any physical presence within the states imposing sales taxes. Under
Wayfair, a person requires only a “substantial nexus” with the
taxing state before the state may subject the person to sales tax
collection obligations therein. An increasing number of states,
both before and after the Supreme Court’s ruling, have considered
or adopted laws that attempt to impose sales tax collection
obligations on out-of-state retailers. The Supreme Court’s Wayfair
decision has removed a significant impediment to the enactment of
these laws, and it is possible that states may seek to tax
out-of-state retailers, including for prior tax years. Although we
believe that we currently collect sales taxes in all states that
have adopted laws imposing sales tax collection obligations on
out-of-state retailers since Wayfair was decided, a successful
assertion by one or more jurisdictions requiring us to collect
sales taxes where we presently do not do so, or to collect more
taxes in a jurisdiction in which we currently do collect some sales
taxes, could result in substantial tax liabilities, including taxes
on past sales, as well as penalties and interest. The imposition by
state governments of sales tax collection obligations on
out-of-state retailers in jurisdictions where we do not currently
collect sales taxes, whether for prior years or prospectively,
could also create additional administrative burdens for us, put us
at a competitive disadvantage if they do not impose similar
obligations on our competitors and decrease our future sales, which
could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition,
results of operations and prospects.
29
Our ability to utilize our net operating loss carryforwards and
certain other tax attributes may be limited.
We have incurred substantial losses since inception. As of December
31, 2021, we had federal and state net operating loss carryforwards
of approximately $61.1 million and $54.9 million, respectively. The
federal loss carryforwards, except the federal loss carryforwards
arising in tax years beginning after December 31, 2017, begin to
expire in 2032 unless previously utilized. Federal net operating
losses arising in tax years beginning after December 31, 2017 have
an indefinite carryforward period and do not expire, but the
deduction for these carryforwards is limited to 80% of current-year
taxable income for taxable years beginning after 2020. In general,
under Sections 382 and 383 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of
1986, as amended, a corporation that undergoes an “ownership
change” (generally defined as a greater than 50 percentage point
change (by value) in its equity ownership by certain stockholders
over a rolling three-year period) is subject to limitations on its
ability to utilize its pre-change net operating losses to offset
future taxable income. We may experience ownership changes in the
future and are currently evaluating with our independent tax
advisors whether and to what extent our net operating losses may be
currently limited. In addition, for state income tax purposes,
there may be periods during which the use of net operating losses
or tax credits is suspended or otherwise limited, which could
accelerate or permanently increase state taxes owed. For example,
California has imposed limits on the usability of California net
operating losses and certain tax credits to offset California
taxable income or California tax liabilities in tax years beginning
after 2019 and before 2023. Additionally, state net operating loss
carryforwards begin to expire in 2028. As a result, to the extent
that we earn net taxable income, our ability to use our pre-change
net operating losses to offset such taxable income and our ability
to use our tax credits to reduce our tax liabilities may be subject
to limitations.
If we cannot maintain our company culture or focus on our purpose
as we grow, our success and our business and competitive position
may be harmed.
We believe our culture and our mission have been key contributors
to our success to date and that the critical nature of the platform
that we provide promotes a sense of greater purpose and fulfillment
in our employees. Any failure to preserve our culture or focus on
our mission could negatively affect our ability to retain and
recruit personnel, which is critical to our growth, and our ability
to effectively focus on and pursue our corporate objectives. As we
grow and mature as a public company, we may find it difficult to
maintain these important values. If we fail to maintain our company
culture or focus on our mission, our competitive position and
business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects
could be adversely affected.
Risks Related to Production, Supply and Service
Providers
We rely on our proprietary technology and data and data from third
parties to forecast consumer demand and to manage our supply chain,
and any failure of this technology or other failure to accurately
forecast demand for our brands could adversely affect our business,
financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
To ensure adequate inventory supply, we must forecast inventory
needs and place orders with our third-party suppliers before firm
orders are placed by our consumers or our retailers. We rely on our
proprietary technology and data, as well as data received from
third parties, including third-party platforms, to forecast demand
and predict our consumers’ orders, determine the amounts of grapes,
wine and other supplies to purchase, and optimize our in-bound and
out-bound logistics for delivery and transport of our supply to our
fulfillment centers and of our brand offerings to consumers. If
this technology fails or produces inaccurate information or results
at any step in this process—for example, if the data we collect
from consumers is insufficient or incorrect, if we overestimate or
underestimate future demand or if we fail to optimize delivery
routes to our consumers—our inventory could become unsalable, we
could experience shortages in key ingredients, the operational
efficiency of our supply chain may suffer (including as a result of
excess or shortage of fulfillment center capacity) or our consumers
could experience delays or failures in the delivery of our brand
offerings. In addition, certain data is subject to limitations. For
example, data may include information from fraudulent accounts and
interactions with the Winc digital platform or the social media
accounts of our business or of our influencers, including as a
result of the use of bots or other automated or manual mechanisms
to generate false impressions. We have only a limited ability to
verify data from the Winc digital platform or third parties, and
perpetrators of fraudulent impressions may change their tactics and
may become more sophisticated, which would increase the difficulty
of detecting such activity.
Moreover, forecasts based on historical data, regardless of any
historical patterns or the quality of the underlying data, are
inherently uncertain. Our ability to effectively manage production
and inventory is inherently linked to actual and expected consumer
demand for our brands, particularly given the long product lead
time and agricultural nature of the wine business. Unanticipated
changes in consumer demand, tastes or preferences or external
events could result in material inaccuracy of our forecasts and
impair our ability to manage supply and capture growth
opportunities, which could result in disruptions in our business
and our incurrence of significant costs and waste and adversely
affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
Factors that could affect our ability to accurately forecast demand
for our brands include:
•
an unanticipated increase or decrease in demand for our
brands;
•
our failure to accurately forecast acceptance for our new
brands;
•
brand introductions by competitors;
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•
unanticipated changes in general market conditions or other
factors, which may result in cancellations of advance orders or a
reduction or increase in the rate of reorders or at-once orders
placed by retailers;
•
the impact on demand due to unseasonable weather
conditions;
•
weakening of economic conditions or consumer confidence in future
economic conditions, which could reduce demand for discretionary
items, such as our brands; and
•
terrorism or acts of war, or the threat thereof, or political or
labor instability or unrest, which could adversely affect consumer
confidence and spending or interrupt production and distribution of
product and raw materials.
Our methodologies for tracking data may also change over time. If
we undercount or overcount performance due to the internal data
analytics tools we use or experience issues with the data received
from third parties, or if our internal data analytics tools contain
algorithmic or other technical errors, the data we track may not be
accurate. In addition, limitations, changes or errors with respect
to how we measure data may affect our understanding of certain
details of our business, which could affect our longer-term
strategies. If we are not able to obtain and track accurate data,
our business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects could be adversely affected.
Inventory levels in excess of consumer demand may result in
inventory write-downs or write-offs and the sale of excess
inventory at discounted prices or in less preferred distribution
channels, which could impair our brand image and harm our business.
In addition, if we underestimate the demand for our brands, our
third-party manufacturers may not be able to produce brands to meet
our consumer requirements, and this could result in delays in the
shipment of our brands and our ability to recognize revenue, lost
sales, as well as damage to our reputation and retailer and
wholesale distributor relationships.
The difficulty in forecasting demand also makes it difficult to
estimate our future results of operations and financial condition
from period to period. A failure to accurately predict the level of
demand for our brands could adversely affect our business,
financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
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Our business, including our costs and supply chain, is subject to
risks associated with sourcing, production, warehousing,
distribution and logistics, and the loss of any of our key
suppliers or logistical service providers could negatively impact
our business.
We do not grow our own grapes and instead rely on third parties to
supply grapes and bulk wine. All of the brands we offer are made up
of ingredients that are produced by a relatively limited number of
third-party producers, and as a result we may be subject to price
fluctuations or demand disruptions. Our results of operations would
be negatively impacted by increases in the costs of our brands, and
we have no guarantees that costs will not rise. In addition, as we
expand into new categories and brand types, we expect that we may
not have strong purchasing power in these new areas, which could
lead to higher costs than we have historically seen in our current
categories. We may not be able to pass increased costs on, which
could adversely affect our results of operations. Moreover, in the
event of a significant disruption in the supply of the materials
used in the production of the brands we offer, we and the vendors
that we work with might not be able to locate alternative suppliers
of materials of comparable quality at prices consistent with our
historical experience.
In addition, products and merchandise we receive from wineries and
suppliers may not be of sufficient quality or free from mislabeling
or damage, or such products may be damaged during shipping, while
stored in our warehouse fulfillment centers or with third-party
retail consumers or when returned by consumers. We may incur
additional expenses and our reputation could be harmed if consumers
and potential consumers believe that our brands do not meet their
expectations, are not properly labeled or are damaged.
We purchase significant amounts of product supply from a limited
number of suppliers with limited supply capabilities. There can be
no assurance that our current suppliers will be able to accommodate
our anticipated growth or continue to supply current quantities at
preferential prices. An inability of our existing suppliers to
provide materials in a timely or cost-effective manner could impair
our growth and have an adverse effect on our business, financial
condition, results of operations and prospects. We generally do not
maintain long-term supply contracts with any of our suppliers and
any of our suppliers could discontinue selling to us at any time.
If an agreement with one of our primary suppliers is terminated or
is not renewed, if one of our primary suppliers becomes insolvent,
ceases or significantly reduces its operations or experiences
financial distress, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic or
otherwise, or if any environmental, economic or other outside
factors impact their operations, our ability to procure grapes,
juice, wine, or other product materials may be temporarily
impaired, or we may face increased costs related to such products.
The loss of any of our primary suppliers, or the discontinuance of
any preferential pricing or exclusive incentives they currently
offer to us could have an adverse effect on our business, financial
condition, results of operations and prospects.
We continually seek to expand our base of suppliers, especially as
we identify new brands that necessitate new or additional
materials. We also require our new and existing suppliers to meet
our ethical and business partner standards. Suppliers may also have
to meet governmental and industry standards and any relevant
standards required by our consumers, which may require additional
investment and time on behalf of suppliers and us. If we are unable
to identify or enter into distribution relationships with new
suppliers or to replace the loss of any of our existing suppliers,
we may experience a competitive disadvantage, our business may be
disrupted and our business, financial condition, results of
operations and prospects could be adversely affected.
Our principal suppliers currently provide us with certain
incentives, such as volume purchasing, trade discounts, cooperative
advertising and market development funds. A reduction or
discontinuance of these incentives would increase our costs and
could reduce our ability to achieve or maintain profitability.
Similarly, if one or more of our suppliers were to offer these
incentives, including preferential pricing, to our competitors, our
ability to compete would be reduced, which could have an adverse
effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations
and prospects.
A disruption in our operations, or the operations of third parties
upon which we rely, could have an adverse effect on our business,
financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
Our operations, including those of our third-party manufacturers,
suppliers and delivery service providers, are subject to the risks
inherent in such activities, including industrial accidents,
environmental events, strikes and other labor disputes, disruptions
in information systems, product quality control, safety, licensing
requirements and other regulatory issues, as well as natural
disasters, pandemics or other public health emergencies, border
disputes, acts of terrorism and other external factors over which
we and our third-party manufacturers, suppliers and delivery
service providers have no control. The loss of, or damage to, the
facilities or fulfillment centers of our third-party manufacturers,
suppliers and delivery service providers could have an adverse
effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations
and prospects.
We depend heavily on ocean container delivery to receive shipments
from our third-party suppliers located overseas and contracted
third-party delivery service providers to deliver our products to
our fulfillment centers located in Santa Maria, California and
Garnet Valley, Pennsylvania, and from there to our consumers and
retailers. Further, we rely on postal and parcel carriers for the
delivery of products sold directly to consumers through the Winc
digital platform. Interruptions to or failures in these delivery
services could prevent the timely or successful delivery of our
brands. These interruptions or failures may be due to unforeseen
events that are beyond our control or the control of our
third-party delivery service providers, such as labor unrest or
natural disasters. For example, a labor strike at a port could
negatively impact the delivery of our imported grapes, juice, wine
or other product materials, and trade disputes between the United
States and countries from which we import grapes, juice, wine and
other product materials may in the future restrict the flow of the
goods from such countries to the United States. Any failure to
provide high-quality delivery services to our consumers may
negatively affect the shopping experience of our consumers, damage
our reputation and cause us to lose consumers.
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Our ability to meet the needs of our consumers and retailers
depends on our proper operation of our fulfillment centers, where
most of our inventory that is not in transit is housed. Although we
currently insure our inventory, our insurance coverage may not be
sufficient to cover the full extent of any loss or damage to our
inventory or fulfillment centers, and any loss, damage or
disruption of our facilities, or loss or damage of the inventory
stored there, could have an adverse effect on our business,
financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
We may be unable to manage the complexities created by our
omni-channel operations, which may have a material adverse effect
on our business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
Our omni-channel operations, such as offering our brands through
the Winc digital platform, on third party websites, through
wholesale distributors and in traditional brick and mortar stores,
create additional complexities in our ability to manage inventory
levels, as well as certain operational issues, including timely
shipping and refunds. Accordingly, our success depends to a large
degree on continually evolving the processes and technology that
enable us to plan and manage inventory levels and fulfill orders,
address any related operational issues and further align channels
to optimize our omni-channel operations. If we are unable to
successfully manage these complexities, it may have a material
adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of
operations and prospects.
The occurrence of an environmental catastrophe could disrupt our
business. Climate change, wildfires, disease, pests, weather
conditions and problems with water supply could also have adverse
effects on our business.
Our ability to conduct business in the ordinary course, fulfilling
consumer demand for wine, is restricted by the availability of
grapes. Climate change, agricultural and other factors, such as
wildfires, disease, pests, extreme weather conditions, water
scarcity, biodiversity loss and competing land use, could
negatively impact the quality and quantity of grapes available to
us and our producers for wine production.
We source grapes and juice from a variety of producers, but in
significant volumes from certain suppliers. Although there is more
than one supplier for most of the grapes we buy, and the right
variety and quality of grapes is usually readily available when
needed, there is no assurance that this will always be the case,
particularly in the adverse circumstances mentioned above and
below. A shortage of grapes of the required variety and quality
could impair our business and results of operations both in the
year of harvest and thereafter.
We may not be fully insured against risk of catastrophic loss to
wineries, production facilities, fulfillment centers, customer
service centers, data centers, corporate officers or distribution
systems as a result of earthquakes, fires or other events. Some of
the vineyards we source from, and their and our facilities, are
located in California, which is prone to seismic activity and has
recently experienced landslides and wildfires, which have been
increasing in frequency and intensity. If any of our facilities or
the vineyards or facilities of our significant suppliers were to
experience catastrophic loss, that event could disrupt operations,
delay production, shipments and revenue and could result in
potentially significant expenses to repair or replace the vineyard
or facility. If such a disruption were to occur, then we could
breach agreements, our reputation could be harmed, and our
business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects
could be adversely affected. Further, we may not be able to
efficiently relocate our fulfillment and delivery operations due to
disruptions in service if one of these events occurs, and our
insurance coverage may be insufficient to compensate us for such
losses. While we take steps to minimize the damage that would be
caused by a catastrophic event, including relying on diversity of
suppliers and wholesale distributors, there is no certainty that
such efforts would prove successful.
Wine is also subject to diseases, pests and weather conditions that
can affect the quality and quantity of grapes. Various diseases,
pests, fungi, viruses, drought, floods, frosts and other weather
conditions can affect the quality and quantity of grapes,
decreasing the supply of our brands and negatively impacting us. We
cannot guarantee that independent grape suppliers will succeed in
preventing disease in their vineyards. For example, Pierce’s
disease is a vine bacterial disease spread by insects that kills
grapevines and for which there is no known cure. If vineyards used
by our suppliers become contaminated with this or other diseases,
then our business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects could be adversely affected. Additionally, future
government restrictions regarding the use of materials used in
grape growing could increase vineyard costs and reduce
production.
We are also subject to the adverse effects of climate change.
Restrictions on access to or an increase in the cost of water and
energy, and the inability of independent suppliers to adapt to and
mitigate against climate change, could negatively impact our
ability to effectively source grapes and wine for production. While
we are diversified in our grape production, climate change is an
unfolding phenomenon with uncertain outcomes. Furthermore,
governmental actions to reduce the impacts of climate change such
as packaging waste and emission reduction targets could adversely
impact our profit margins.
Additionally, water availability is important to the supply of
grapes and winemaking, other agricultural raw materials and our
ability to operate our business. If climate patterns change and
droughts become more severe, there may be a scarcity of water, poor
water quality or water right restrictions, which could affect
production costs, consistency of yields or impose capacity
constraints. The suppliers of the grapes and other agricultural raw
materials purchased by us depend upon sufficient supplies of
quality water for their vineyards and fields. The availability of
adequate quantities of water for application at the correct time
can be vital for grapes to thrive. Whether particular vineyards are
experiencing water shortages depends, in large part, on their
location. An extended period of drought across much of California
would restrict the use and availability of water for agricultural
uses, and in some cases governmental authorities might divert water
to other uses. Lack of available water could reduce grape harvest
and access to grapes and adversely impact us and our suppliers.
Scarcity of adequate water in grape growing areas could also result
in legal disputes among landowners and water users. If water
available to the operations of our suppliers becomes scarcer,
restrictions are placed on usage of water or the quality of that
water
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deteriorates, then we and our suppliers may incur increased
production costs or face manufacturing constraints that could
negatively affect production. Even if quality water is widely
available, water purification and waste treatment infrastructure
limitations could increase our costs or constrain operation of
production facilities and vineyards of our suppliers. Any of these
factors could adversely affect our business, financial condition,
results of operations and prospects.
Supply and price volatility of grapes, labor and other necessary
supplies or services may adversely affect our business, financial
condition, results of operations and prospects.
Volatility and increases in the costs of grapes, labor and other
necessary supplies or services have in the past negatively
impacted, and in the future may negatively impact, our business,
financial condition and results of operations. If such increases
occur or exceed our estimates and if we are unable to increase the
prices of our brands or achieve cost savings to offset the
increases, then our results of operations may be harmed. Even if we
increase brand prices in response to cost increases, such price
increases may not be sustainable and could lead to declines in
market share as competitors may not increase their prices or
consumers may decide not to pay the higher prices. In the
alternative, an extreme oversupply of grapes can lead to a glut of
grape supply and declines in the value of the harvest. Future
swings in grape supply and price volatility may adversely affect
our results of operations.
If we are unable to identify and obtain adequate supplies of
quality agricultural, raw and processed materials, including corks,
glass bottles, barrels, winemaking additives and agents, water and
other supplies, or if there is an increase in the cost of the
commodities or products, then our profitability could be negatively
impacted, which would adversely affect our business, financial
condition, results of operations and prospects.
We use a large volume of raw materials, in addition to grapes, to
produce and package wine, including corks, barrels, winemaking
additives and water, as well as large amounts of packaging
materials such as metal, cork, glass and cardboard. We purchase raw
materials and packaging materials under contracts of varying
maturities from domestic and international suppliers.
Glass bottle costs are one of our largest packaging components of
cost of revenues. In North America, glass bottles have only a small
number of producers. Currently, the majority of our glass
containers are sourced from China, the United States and Mexico,
while a minority are sourced from Taiwan and Chile. In addition,
costs and programs related to mandatory recycling and recyclable
materials deposits could be adopted in states of manufacture,
imposing additional and unknown costs to manufacture products
utilizing glass bottles. Increases in the costs of, or any
difficulty in acquiring adequate supply of, glass bottles or other
raw materials may significantly impact our supply chain and our
business. For example, our industry has experienced a glass
shortage in the past, and any future glass shortage may make it
more difficult and more expensive to acquire the bottles we require
for our brands.
Our production facilities also use a significant amount of energy
in their operations, including electricity, propane and natural
gas. We have experienced increases in energy costs in the past, and
energy costs could rise in the future, which would result in higher
transportation, freight and other operating costs, such as aging
and bottling expenses. Our freight cost and the timely delivery of
wines could be adversely affected by a number of factors that could
reduce the profitability of operations, including driver shortages,
higher fuel costs, weather conditions, traffic congestion,
increased government regulation, and other matters. In addition,
increased labor costs or insufficient labor supply could increase
our production costs.
The supply and the price of raw materials, packaging materials and
energy and the cost of energy, freight and labor used in our
productions and distribution activities could be affected by a
number of factors beyond our control, including market demand,
global geopolitical events (especially their impact on energy
prices), economic factors affecting growth decisions, exchange rate
fluctuations and inflation. To the extent that any of these
factors, including supply of goods and energy, affect the prices of
ingredients or packaging, or we do not effectively or completely
hedge changes in commodity price risks, or if we are unable to
recoup costs through increases in the price of finished wines, our
business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects
could be adversely affected.
If we are unable to obtain adequate supplies of premium grapes and
bulk wine from third-party grape growers and bulk wine suppliers,
the quantity or quality of our annual production of wine could be
adversely affected, causing a negative impact on our business,
financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
The production of our wines and the ability to fulfill the demand
for our wines is restricted by the availability of premium grapes
and bulk wines from third-party growers. The entirety of our grape
inputs per year come from third parties in the form of contracted
grapes, contracted bulk wine, spot grapes and spot bulk wine.
Additionally, in 2021, a majority of our wine came from grapes
purchased from California-based growers. Any delay or other
disruption in the supply of California grapes from these growers
could have a significant adverse effect on our business. Many of
these risks remain outside our control, or the control of the
growers upon whom we rely, including, for example, the risks of
fires or other natural disasters.
As we continue to grow, we anticipate that our production will
continue to rely on third-party suppliers. If we are unable to
source grapes and bulk wine of the requisite quality, varietal and
geography, among other factors, our ability to produce wines to the
standards, quantity and quality demanded by our consumers could be
impaired.
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Factors including climate change, agricultural risks, competition
for quality, water availability, land use, wildfires, floods,
disease and pests could impact the quality and quantity of grapes
and bulk wine available to our company. Furthermore, these
potential disruptions in production may drive up demand for grapes
and bulk wine creating higher input costs or the inability to
purchase these materials. In recent years, we have observed
significant volatility in the grape and juice market. We may
experience upward price pressure in future harvest seasons due to
factors including the general volatility in the grape and bulk wine
markets, widespread insured or uninsured losses and overall stress
on the agricultural portion of the supply chain. Furthermore,
following the 2020 wildfires in Northern California, the price of
bulk wine increased substantially in a very short period of time,
leading to some wine producers reducing lot sizes of certain wines.
While we were able to purchase much of our bulk wine prior to
meaningful price increases, we cannot be sure that we will be able
to avoid similar price increases in the future. In such an event,
our financial results could be adversely affected both in the year
of the harvest and future periods.
A reduction in our access to or an increase in the cost of the
third-party facilities we use to produce our wine could harm our
business.
We use third-party alternating proprietorship bottling and
winemaking facilities in the production of many of our wines, which
means we rely on production capacity at several third-party
facilities to bring certain of our brands to market. The activities
conducted at outside facilities include crushing, fermentation,
storage, blending, and bottling, and our reliance on these third
parties varies according to the type of production activity and
with annual harvest volumes. As production increases, we must
increasingly rely upon these third-party production
facilities.
Our ability to utilize these facilities may be limited by several
factors outside our control, including, among others, increased
processing costs, damage to the facility or temporary or permanent
shutdown for hygienic, mechanical, regulatory or other reasons. In
addition, the alternating proprietorship agreements that we have
entered into with these agreements are not long-term, and these
facilities may provide facility space and services to competitors
at a price above what we are willing to pay, which could force us
to locate new facilities. Moving production to a new third-party
service provider could negatively impact our financial
results.
The inability to use these or alternative facilities, or to quickly
find alternative facilities, at reasonable prices or at all, could
increase our costs or reduce the amounts we produce, which could
adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of
operations and prospects.
Shipping is a critical part of our business and any changes in our
shipping arrangements or any interruptions in shipping could
adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of
operations and prospects.
We primarily rely on one major vendor for our DTC shipping
requirements.
If we are not able to negotiate acceptable pricing and other terms
with our vendors or they experience performance problems or other
difficulties, it could negatively impact our results of operations
and our consumer experience. For example, the costs and difficulty
in procuring adequate trucking and other shipping services have
increased recently as a result of, among other things, the COVID-19
pandemic. Ongoing or recurring challenges relating to our shipping
processes or that of any third parties that we rely on could have a
material impact on our business, financial condition, results of
operations and prospects.
Shipping vendors may also impose shipping surcharges from time to
time. In addition, our ability to receive inbound inventory
efficiently and ship brands to consumers and retailers may be
negatively affected by inclement weather, fire, flood, power loss,
earthquakes, labor disputes, acts of war or terrorism, trade
embargoes, customs and tax requirements and similar factors. We are
also subject to risks of damage or loss during delivery by our
shipping vendors. If our brands are not delivered in a timely
fashion or are damaged or lost during the delivery process, our
consumers could become dissatisfied and cease shopping on the Winc
digital platform or retailer or third-party ecommerce sites, which
could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition,
results of operations and prospects.
If we do not successfully optimize, operate and manage the
expansion of the capacity of our warehouse fulfillment centers, our
business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects
could be adversely affected.
We have warehouse fulfillment centers located in Santa Maria,
California and Garnet Valley, Pennsylvania. If we do not optimize
and operate our warehouse fulfillment centers successfully and
efficiently, it could result in excess or insufficient fulfillment
capacity, an increase in costs or impairment charges or harm our
business in other ways. In addition, if we do not have sufficient
fulfillment capacity or experience a problem fulfilling orders in a
timely manner, our consumers may experience delays in receiving
their purchases, which could harm our reputation and our
relationship with our consumers. As a result of the continuing
effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, we may experience disruptions to
the operations of our fulfillment centers, which may negatively
impact our ability to fulfill orders in a timely manner, which
could harm our reputation and relationships with consumers and
adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of
operations and prospects.
We have designed and established our own fulfillment center
infrastructure, including customizing inventory and package
handling software systems, which is tailored to meet the specific
needs of our business. If we continue to add fulfillment and
warehouse capabilities, add new businesses or categories with
different fulfillment requirements or change the mix in brands that
we sell, our fulfillment network will become increasingly complex
and challenging. Failure to successfully address such challenges in
a cost-effective and timely manner could impair our ability to
timely deliver purchases to our online consumers and merchandise
inventory to
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our retailers and could have an adverse effect on our reputation
and ultimately, our business, financial condition, results of
operations and prospects.
We may also need to add an additional warehouse fulfillment center
or other distribution capacity as our business continues to grow.
We cannot assure you that we will be able to locate suitable
facilities on commercially acceptable terms in accordance with our
expansion plans, nor can we assure you that we will be able to
recruit qualified managerial and operational personnel to support
our expansion plans. If we are unable to secure new facilities for
the expansion of our fulfillment operations, recruit qualified
personnel to support any such facilities, or effectively control
expansion-related expenses, our business, financial condition,
results of operations and prospects could be adversely affected. If
we grow faster than we anticipate, we may exceed our fulfillment
center capacity sooner than we anticipate, we may experience
problems fulfilling orders in a timely manner or our consumers may
experience delays in receiving their purchases, which could harm
our reputation and our relationships with our consumers, and we
would need to increase our capital expenditures more than
anticipated and in a shorter time frame than we currently
anticipate. Our ability to expand our fulfillment center capacity,
including our ability to secure suitable facilities and recruit
qualified employees, may be substantially affected by the spread of
COVID-19 and related governmental orders and there may be delays or
increased costs associated with such expansion as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic. Many of the expenses and investments with
respect to our fulfillment centers are fixed, and any expansion of
such fulfillment centers will require additional investments of
capital. We expect to incur higher capital expenditures in the
future for our fulfillment center operations as our business
continues to grow, and we expect we would incur such expenses and
make such investments in advance of expected sales. Such expected
sales may not occur at all or at the level or within the timeframe
that we anticipate, and if our estimates around expected sales are
inaccurate, our business, financial condition, results of
operations and prospects may be adversely affected.
We rely on third-party suppliers, producers, retailers and other
vendors, and they may not continue to produce products or provide
services that are consistent with our standards or applicable
regulatory requirements, which could harm our brand, cause consumer
dissatisfaction, and require us to find alternative suppliers of
our products or services.
We do not grow our own grapes and instead rely on multiple
third-party suppliers and producers, primarily based in the United
States, to supply grapes and bulk wine. We engage many of our
third-party suppliers and manufacturers on a purchase order basis
and in some cases are not party to long-term contracts with them.
The ability and willingness of these third parties to supply and
manufacture our products may be affected by competing orders placed
by other companies, including our competitors, and the demands of
those companies. If we experience significant increases in demand,
or need to replace a significant number of existing suppliers or
manufacturers, there can be no assurance that additional supply and
manufacturing capacity will be available when required on terms
that are acceptable to us, or at all, or that any supplier or
manufacturer will allocate sufficient capacity to us in order to
meet our requirements. Furthermore, our reliance on suppliers and
manufacturers outside of the United States, the number of third
parties with whom we transact and the number of jurisdictions to
which we sell complicates our efforts to comply with customs duties
and excise taxes; any failure to comply with which could adversely
affect our business.
In addition, quality control problems, such as the use of materials
and delivery of products that do not meet our quality control
standards and specifications or comply with applicable laws or
regulations, could harm our business. Quality control problems
could result in regulatory action, such as restrictions on
importation, products of inferior quality or product stock outages
or shortages, harming our sales and creating inventory write-downs
for unusable products.
We have also outsourced portions of our fulfillment process, as
well as certain technology-related functions, to third-party
service providers. Specifically, we rely on third parties in a
number of foreign countries and territories, we are dependent on
third-party vendors for credit card processing, and we use
third-party hosting and networking providers to host the Winc
digital platform. The failure of one or more of these entities to
provide the expected services on a timely basis, or at all, or at
the prices we expect, or the costs and disruption incurred in
changing these outsourced functions to being performed under our
management and direct control or that of a third party, could have
an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of
operations and prospects. We are not party to long-term contracts
with some of our retailers, and upon expiration of these existing
agreements, we may not be able to renegotiate the terms on a
commercially reasonable basis, or at all.
Further, our third-party manufacturers, suppliers and retail and
ecommerce vendors may:
•
have economic or business interests or goals that are inconsistent
with ours;
•
take actions contrary to our instructions, requests, policies or
objectives;
•
be unable or unwilling to fulfill their obligations under relevant
purchase orders, including obligations to meet our production
deadlines, quality standards, pricing guidelines and product
specifications, and to comply with applicable regulations,
including those regarding the safety and quality of
products;
•
have financial difficulties;
•
encounter raw material or labor shortages;
•
encounter increases in raw material or labor costs, which may
affect our procurement costs;
36
•
encounter difficulties with proper payment of custom duties or
excise taxes;
•
disclose our confidential information or intellectual property to
competitors or third parties;
•
engage in activities or employ practices that may harm our
reputation; and
•
work with, be acquired by, or come under control of, our
competitors.
A change in our relationship with any third party on which we rely
due to one or more of the foregoing factors or otherwise may
adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of
operations or prospects.
If our third-party suppliers and manufacturers do not comply with
ethical business practices or with applicable laws and regulations,
our reputation, business, financial condition, results of
operations and prospects could be harmed.
Our reputation and our consumers’ willingness to purchase our
brands depend in part on our suppliers’, manufacturers’, and
retailers’ compliance with ethical employment practices, such as
with respect to child labor, wages and benefits, forced labor,
discrimination, safe and healthy working conditions, and with all
legal and regulatory requirements relating to the conduct of their
businesses. We do not exercise control over our suppliers,
manufacturers, and retailers and cannot guarantee their compliance
with ethical and lawful business practices. If our suppliers,
manufacturers, or retailers fail to comply with applicable laws,
regulations, safety codes, employment practices, human rights
standards, quality standards, environmental standards, production
practices, or other obligations, norms, or ethical standards, our
reputation and brand image could be harmed, and we could be exposed
to litigation, investigations, enforcement actions, monetary
liability, and additional costs that would harm our reputation,
business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
Our wholesale channel operations and revenues depend largely on
independent wholesale distributors whose performance and continuity
are not assured.
Due to regulatory requirements in the United States, our wholesale
channel operations generate revenue from brands sold to wholesale
distributors, who then sell our products to retail accounts and, in
some states, directly to government agencies for resale.
Additionally, a small percentage of our wines are sold by wholesale
distributors to retail accounts outside of the United States.
Decreased demand for our products in any of our sales channels
would adversely affect our business, financial condition, results
of operations and prospects. During the year ended December 31,
2021, one wholesale distributor accounted for approximately 12% of
wholesale net revenues. A change in our relationship with one or
more significant wholesale distributors could harm our business and
reduce sales. The laws and regulations of several states prohibit
changes of wholesale distributors except under certain limited
circumstances, which makes it difficult to terminate or otherwise
cease working with a wholesale distributor for poor performance
without reasonable cause, as defined by applicable statutes. Any
difficulty or inability with respect to replacing wholesale
distributors, poor performance of our major wholesale distributors
or our inability to collect accounts receivable from major
wholesale distributors could harm our business, financial
condition, results of operations and prospects. In addition, an
expansion of the laws and regulations limiting the sale of our
products could materially and adversely affect our relationships
with wholesale distributors and government agencies. There can be
no assurance that the wholesale distributors, retail accounts and
government agencies that currently purchase our brands will
continue to do so or provide our brands with adequate levels of
promotional support, which could increase competitive pressure to
increase sales and market spending and adversely affect our
business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
We may face difficulties as we expand our business and operations
into jurisdictions in which we have no prior operating
experience.
We plan in the future to expand our operations and business into
jurisdictions outside of the jurisdictions where we currently
conduct business, including internationally. There can be no
assurance that any market for our products will develop in any such
foreign jurisdiction. We may face new or unexpected risks or
significantly increase our exposure to one or more existing risk
factors, including economic instability, new competition, changes
in laws and regulations, including the possibility that we could be
in violation of these laws and regulations as a result of such
changes, and the effects of competition.
In addition, it may be difficult for us to understand and
accurately predict taste preferences and purchasing habits of
consumers in new markets. It is costly to establish, develop and
maintain operations and to develop and promote our brands in new
jurisdictions. As we expand our business into other jurisdictions,
we may encounter regulatory, legal, personnel, technological and
other difficulties that increase our expenses and delay our ability
to become profitable in such jurisdictions, which may have a
material adverse effect on our business, financial condition,
results of operations and prospects. These factors may limit our
capability to successfully expand our operations in, or export our
products to, those other jurisdictions.
37
Risks Related to Intellectual Property and Data Privacy
We may be unable to adequately obtain, maintain, protect and
enforce our intellectual property rights.
Our future success depends significantly on our ability to protect
our current and future brands and to obtain, maintain, protect,
enforce and defend our trademarks and other intellectual property
rights. We protect our intellectual property rights through a
combination of trademark and trade secret protection, and other
intellectual property protections under applicable law. We register
domain names, trademarks, and service marks in the United States
and abroad. We also seek to protect and avoid disclosure of our
intellectual property through confidentiality, non-disclosure and
invention assignment agreements with our employees, and through
appropriate agreements with our suppliers and others.
We have been granted numerous trademark registrations in the United
States and abroad covering many of our brands, and we have filed,
and expect to continue to file, trademark applications seeking to
protect newly developed brands. However, effective intellectual
property protection may not be available in every country in which
our brands are, or may be made, available, including those that we
may consider important to our business. In addition, unilateral
actions in the United States or other countries, including changes
to or the repeal of laws recognizing trademark or other
intellectual property rights, could have an impact on our ability
to obtain, maintain and enforce our trademark and other
intellectual property rights. Furthermore, the laws of some foreign
countries may not protect trademark and other intellectual property
rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States, and it
may be more difficult for us to successfully obtain, maintain,
protect and enforce our trademark and other intellectual property
rights in these countries. There is also a risk that we could fail
to timely maintain or renew our trademark registrations or
otherwise protect our trademark rights, which could result in the
loss of those trademark rights (including in connection with
failure to maintain consistent use of these trademarks). If we fail
to maintain our trademarks or our trademarks are successfully
challenged, we could be forced to rebrand our wines and other
products, which could result in a loss of brand recognition and
could require us to devote additional resources to the development
and marketing of new brands.
In addition, our pending and future trademark applications may
never be granted and could be opposed by third parties. The process
of obtaining trademark protection is expensive and time-consuming,
and we may be unable to prosecute all necessary or desirable
trademark or other intellectual property applications at a
reasonable cost or in a timely manner. We may also allow certain of
our registered intellectual property rights, or our pending
applications for intellectual property rights, to lapse or become
abandoned if we determine that obtaining or maintaining the
applicable registered intellectual property rights is no longer
worthwhile. There can be no assurance that our registered
trademarks or pending applications, if issued or registered, will
adequately protect our intellectual property, as the legal
standards relating to the validity, enforceability and scope of
protection of trademark and other intellectual property rights are
constantly evolving and vary by jurisdiction. We also cannot assure
you that our trademarks can be successfully defended and asserted
in the future or that third parties will not infringe upon any such
rights. We also cannot be certain that others will not
independently develop or otherwise acquire equivalent or superior
technology or intellectual property rights. If any third party
copies our brands or products in a manner that projects lesser
quality or carries a negative connotation or otherwise uses
trademarks that are identical or similar to our trademarks, it
could lead to market confusion and have an adverse effect on our
brand image and reputation. In some cases, there may be third-party
trademark owners who have prior rights to our trademarks or third
parties who have prior rights to similar trademarks, and we may not
be able to prevent such third parties from using and marketing any
such trademarks.
We also rely on unpatented proprietary technology, such as the
source code of our platform. Despite our efforts to protect our
proprietary rights, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy
aspects of our technology or obtain and use information that we
regard as proprietary. It is also possible that others will
independently develop the same or similar technology or otherwise
obtain access to our unpatented technology. To protect our trade
secrets and other proprietary information, we require our employees
and certain of our consultants, contract employees, suppliers and
independent contractors, including some of our manufacturers who
use our formulations to manufacture our brands to enter into
confidentiality agreements, which generally require that all
information made known to them be kept strictly confidential. The
effectiveness of these agreements is important as some of our
formulations have been developed by or with our suppliers and
manufacturers. However, we may fail to enter into confidentiality
agreements with all parties who have access to our trade secrets or
other confidential information. In addition, parties may breach
such agreements and disclose our proprietary information, and we
may not be able to obtain adequate remedies for such breaches.
Further, such agreements may not be enforceable in full or in part
in all jurisdictions and any breach could have a negative effect on
our business and our remedy for such breach may be limited. The
contractual provisions that we enter into may not prevent
unauthorized use or disclosure of our proprietary technology or
intellectual property rights and may not provide an adequate remedy
in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure of our proprietary
technology or intellectual property rights. Enforcing a claim that
a party illegally disclosed or misappropriated a trade secret can
be difficult, expensive and time-consuming, and the outcome is
unpredictable. Even if we are successful in prosecuting such
claims, any remedy awarded may be insufficient to fully compensate
us for the improper disclosure or misappropriation. In addition, if
any of our trade secrets were to be lawfully obtained or
independently developed by a competitor or other third party, we
would have no right to prevent them from using that technology or
information to compete with us and our competitive position would
be harmed.
In the United States, the DTSA provides a federal cause of action
for misappropriation of trade secrets. Under the DTSA, an employer
may not collect enhanced damages or attorneys’ fees from an
employee or contractor in a trade secret dispute brought under the
DTSA, unless certain advanced provisions are observed. The full
benefit of the remedies available under the DTSA requires specific
language and notice requirements present in the relevant agreements
with such employees and contractors, which may not be present in
all of our
38
agreements. We cannot provide assurance that our existing
agreements with our employees, consultants, contract employees and
independent contractors contain notice provisions that would enable
us to seek enhanced damages or attorneys’ fees in the event of any
dispute for misappropriation of trade secrets brought under the
DTSA.
We might be required to spend significant financial, managerial and
operational resources to monitor and protect our intellectual
property rights. For example, we may initiate claims or litigation
against others for infringement, misappropriation or violation of
our intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights or to
establish the validity of such rights. However, we may be unable to
discover or determine the extent of any infringement,
misappropriation or other violation of our intellectual property
rights and other proprietary rights. Furthermore, our efforts to
enforce our intellectual property rights may be met with defenses,
counterclaims and countersuits challenging our intellectual
property rights and if such defenses, counterclaims or countersuits
are successful, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights.
Despite our efforts, we may be unable to prevent third parties from
infringing upon, misappropriating or otherwise violating our
intellectual property rights and other proprietary rights, and we
may not be able to prevent counterfeit products or products bearing
confusingly similar trademarks from entering the marketplace or
prevent third parties from registering domain names that are
confusingly similar to our own, which could divert sales from us,
tarnish our reputation or reduce the demand for our brands or the
prices at which those brands are sold. Any enforcement litigation,
brought by us, whether or not resolved in our favor, could result
in significant expense to us and divert the attention of
management, which could have an adverse effect on our business,
financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
Any of our intellectual property rights, including our trademark
registrations, may lapse, be abandoned, be challenged,
circumvented, declared generic or otherwise invalidated through
administrative process or litigation. Notwithstanding any trademark
registrations or other intellectual property held by us, third
parties have brought claims in the past, and may bring claims in
the future alleging that we have infringed, misappropriated, or
otherwise violated that third party’s trademark or other
intellectual property rights. We cannot assure you that we will be
successful in defending our intellectual property in actions
brought by third parties. Any such claims, with or without merit,
could require significant resources to defend, could damage the
reputation of our brands, could result in the payment of
compensation (whether as a damages award or settlement) to such
third parties, and could require us to stop using our brands or
other intellectual property rights, enter into costly royalty or
licensing agreements or otherwise agree to an undertaking to limit
our use of such trademarks or other intellectual property rights.
In addition, we may be unable to obtain or utilize on terms that
are favorable to us, or at all, licenses or other rights with
respect to trademarks and other intellectual property rights we do
not own. These risks have been amplified by the increase in third
parties whose sole or primary business is to assert such claims.
Any payments we are required to make and any injunctions we are
required to comply with as a result of these claims would result in
additional cost and could result in additional liability to us. Any
of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our
business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
If we fail to comply with our obligations under our existing
license agreements or cannot license rights to use technologies on
reasonable terms or at all, we may be unable to license rights that
are critical to our business.
We license from third parties certain intellectual property and
technology which are critical to our business. If we fail to comply
with any of the obligations under our license agreements, we may be
required to pay damages and the licensor may have the right to
terminate the license. Licensing intellectual property or
technology from third parties also exposes us to increased risk of
being the subject of intellectual property infringement due to,
among other things, our lower level of visibility into the
development process with respect to such technology and the care
taken to safeguard against infringement risks. We cannot be certain
that our licensors do not or will not infringe on the intellectual
property rights of third parties or that our licensors have or will
have sufficient rights to the licensed intellectual property in all
jurisdictions. Some of our agreements with our licensors may be
terminated by them for convenience, or otherwise provide for a
limited term. Termination by the licensor would cause us to lose
valuable rights and could inhibit our ability to commercialize our
brands. If any contract interpretation disagreement were to arise,
the resolution could narrow what we believe to be the scope of our
rights to the relevant intellectual property or increase what we
believe to be our financial or other obligations under the relevant
agreement. Any of the foregoing could adversely impact our
business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
In addition, in the future we may identify additional third-party
intellectual property we may consider attractive or necessary to
license in order to engage in our business, including to develop or
commercialize new brands. However, such licenses may not be
available on acceptable terms or at all. The licensing or
acquisition of third-party intellectual property rights is a
competitive area, and companies with greater size and capital
resources than us may pursue strategies to license or acquire
third-party intellectual property rights that we may consider
attractive or necessary. In addition, companies that perceive us to
be a competitor may be unwilling to assign or license rights to us.
Even if such licenses are available, we may be required to pay the
licensor substantial royalties or other fees. If we are unable to
enter into the attractive or necessary licenses on acceptable terms
or at all, it could have an adverse effect on our business,
financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
Our reliance on software-as-a-service technologies from third
parties may adversely affect our business and results of
operations.
We rely on software-as-a-service technologies from third parties in
order to operate critical functions of our business, including
financial management services, consumer relationship management
services, supply chain services and data storage services. If these
services become unavailable due to extended outages or
interruptions, because they are no longer available on commercially
reasonable terms or prices or for any other reason, our expenses
could increase, our ability to manage our finances could be
interrupted, our processes for managing sales of our products and
supporting our consumers could be impaired, our ability to
communicate with our suppliers could
39
be weakened and our ability to access or save data stored to the
cloud may be impaired until equivalent services, if available, are
identified, obtained and implemented, all of which could have an
adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of
operations and prospects.
We must successfully maintain, scale and upgrade our information
technology systems, and our failure to do so could have an adverse
effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations
and prospects.
We have identified the need to significantly expand, scale and
improve our information technology systems and personnel to support
recent and expected future growth. As such, we are in the process
of implementing, and will continue to invest in and implement,
significant modifications and upgrades to our information
technology systems and procedures, including replacing legacy
systems with successor systems, making changes to legacy systems or
acquiring new systems with new functionality, hiring employees with
information technology expertise and building new policies,
procedures, training programs and monitoring tools. These types of
activities subject us to inherent costs and risks associated with
replacing and changing these systems, including impairment of our
ability to leverage our DTC channel or fulfill consumer orders,
potential disruption of our internal control structure, substantial
capital expenditures, additional administration and operating
expenses, the need to acquire and retain sufficiently skilled
personnel to implement and operate the new systems, demands on
management time, the introduction of errors or vulnerabilities and
other risks and costs of delays or difficulties in transitioning to
or integrating new systems into our current systems. These
implementations, modifications and upgrades may not result in
productivity improvements at a level that outweighs the costs of
implementation, or at all. Additionally, difficulties with
implementing new technology systems, delays in our timeline for
planned improvements, significant system failures, failures or
delays in developing and deploying patches and other remedial
measures to adequately address vulnerabilities or our inability to
successfully modify our information systems to respond to changes
in our business needs may cause disruptions in our business
operations and could have an adverse effect on our business,
financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
We are dependent on information technology and our ability to
process data in order to operate and sell our products, and if we
(or our vendors) are unable to protect against software and
hardware vulnerabilities, service interruptions, data corruption,
cyber-based attacks, ransomware or security breaches, or if we fail
to comply with our commitments and assurances regarding the privacy
and security of such data, our operations could be disrupted, our
ability to provide our goods and services could be interrupted, our
reputation may be harmed and we may be exposed to liability and
loss of consumers and business.
We rely on information technology networks and systems and data
processing (some of which are managed by third-party service
providers) to market, sell and deliver our brands, to fulfill
orders, to collect, receive, store, generate, use, transfer,
disclose, make accessible, protect, secure, dispose of share, and
otherwise process (which we collectively refer to as "Process")
large amounts of information, including confidential information,
intellectual property, proprietary business information, financial
information, and personal information of our consumers, employees
and contractors, to manage a variety of business processes and
activities, for financial reporting purposes, to operate our
business, process orders and to comply with regulatory, legal and
tax requirements (which we collectively refer to as "Business
Functions"). These information technology networks and systems, and
the Processing they perform, may be susceptible to damage,
interruptions, disruptions or shutdowns, software or hardware
vulnerabilities, security incidents, cyberattacks, phishing
attacks, ransomware attacks, social engineering attacks,
supply-side attacks, malicious code, employee theft or misuse,
fraud, denial or degradation of service attacks, unauthorized
access or use by persons inside our organization, or persons with
access to systems inside our organization, failures during the
process of upgrading or replacing software, databases or
components, power outages, fires, natural disasters, hardware
failures, computer viruses, terrorism, war, attacks by computer
hackers, telecommunication and electrical failures, user errors or
catastrophic events. The risk of a security breach or disruption,
particularly through cyberattacks or cyber intrusion, including by
computer hackers, foreign governments or state-sponsored actors and
cyber terrorists, has generally increased as the number, intensity
and sophistication of attempted attacks and intrusions from around
the world have increased and evolved. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic,
our personnel and certain of our third-party service providers have
been, and may continue, working remotely and relying on their own
computers, routers and other equipment, which may pose additional
data security risks to networks, systems and data, and may create
additional opportunities for cybercriminals to exploit
vulnerabilities. If our information technology networks, systems or
Processing activities (or those of our third-party service
providers) suffer any damage, security breaches, vulnerabilities,
disruption or shutdown, and we do not effectively resolve the
issues in a timely manner, it could cause a material adverse impact
to our Business Functions and our reputation, business, financial
condition, results of operations and prospects. Our DTC and
ecommerce operations are critical to our business and our financial
performance. The Winc digital platform serves as an effective
extension of our marketing strategies by exposing potential new
consumers to our brands, brand offerings and enhanced content. Due
to the importance of the Winc digital platform and DTC operations,
any material disruption of our networks, systems or Processing
activities related to the Winc digital platform and DTC operations
could reduce DTC sales and financial performance, damage our
reputation and materially adversely impact our business, financial
condition, results of operations and prospects.
40
Despite our efforts to ensure the security, privacy, integrity,
confidentiality, availability, and authenticity of information
technology networks and systems, processing and information, we and
our third-party providers may not be able to anticipate or to
implement effective preventive and remedial measures against all
data security and privacy threats. The recovery systems, security
protocols, network protection mechanisms and other security
measures integrated into our and our third-party providers'
systems, networks and physical facilities, which are designed to
protect against, detect and minimize security breaches, may not be
adequate to prevent or detect service interruption, system failure
data loss or theft, or other material adverse consequences. No
security solution, strategy, or measures can address all security
threats or block all methods of penetrating a network or otherwise
perpetrating a security incident. The risk of unauthorized
circumvention of our security measures or those of our third-party
providers, clients and any strategic partners has been heightened
by advances in computer and software capabilities and the
increasing sophistication of hackers who employ complex techniques,
including without limitation, the theft or misuse of personal and
financial information, counterfeiting, “phishing” or social
engineering incidents, ransomware, extortion, publicly announcing
security breaches, account takeover attacks, denial or degradation
of service attacks, malware, fraudulent payment and identity theft.
Because the techniques used by hackers change frequently, we and
our third-party providers may be unable to anticipate these
techniques or implement adequate preventive measures. We have
experienced and expect to continue to experience actual and
attempted cyber-attacks of our IT networks, such as through
phishing scams and ransomware. Although none of these actual or
attempted cyber-attacks has had a material adverse impact on our
operations or financial condition, we cannot guarantee that any
such incidents will not have such an impact in the future. Our and
our third-party providers' applications, systems, networks,
software and physical facilities could have material
vulnerabilities, be breached or personal or confidential
information could be otherwise compromised due to employee error or
malfeasance, if, for example, third parties attempt to fraudulently
induce our personnel or our consumers to disclose information or
usernames or passwords, or otherwise compromise the security of our
networks, systems or physical facilities. Third parties may also
exploit vulnerabilities in, or obtain unauthorized access to,
platforms, software, applications, systems, networks, sensitive
information, or physical facilities utilized by our vendors.
Improper access to our or our third-party providers' systems or
databases could result in the theft, publication, deletion or
modification of personal information, confidential or proprietary
information, financial information and other information. An actual
or perceived breach of our security systems or those of our
third-party service providers may require notification under
applicable data privacy regulations or contractual obligations, or
for consumer relations or publicity purposes, which could result in
reputational harm, costly litigation (including class action
litigation), material contract breaches, liability, settlement
costs, loss of sales, regulatory scrutiny, actions or
investigations, a loss of confidence in our business, systems and
Processing, a diversion of management’s time and attention, and
significant fines, penalties, assessments, fees and
expenses.
The costs to respond to a security breach or to mitigate any
security vulnerabilities that may be identified could be
significant, our efforts to address these problems may not be
successful, and these problems could result in unexpected
interruptions, delays, cessation of service, negative publicity,
and other harm to our business and our competitive position,
including transaction errors, supply chain or manufacturing
interruptions, processing inefficiencies, data loss or the loss of
or damage to intellectual property or other proprietary
information. We could be required to fundamentally change our
business activities and practices in response to a security breach
or related regulatory actions or litigation, which could have an
adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of
operations and prospects.
We may have contractual and other legal obligations to notify
relevant stakeholders of any security breaches. Most jurisdictions
have enacted laws requiring companies to notify individuals,
regulatory and government authorities, supervisory bodies, the
media and others of security breaches involving certain types of
data. In addition, our agreements with certain consumers and third
parties may require us to notify them in the event of a security
breach. Such mandatory disclosures are costly, could lead to
negative publicity, may cause our consumers to lose confidence in
the effectiveness of our security measures and require us to expend
significant capital and other resources to respond to or alleviate
problems caused by the actual or perceived security breach, and may
cause us to breach consumer or ecommerce or retail consumer
contracts. Our agreements with certain consumers or ecommerce or
retail consumers, our representations, or industry standards, may
require us to use industry-standard or reasonable measures to
safeguard sensitive personal information or confidential
information. A security breach or compromise affecting us, our
service providers, vendors, any strategic partners, other
contractors, consultants, or our industry, whether real or
perceived, could lead to claims by our consumers or ecommerce or
retail consumers, or other relevant stakeholders that we have
failed to comply with such legal or contractual obligations and
could harm our reputation, erode confidence in the effectiveness of
our security measures and lead to regulatory scrutiny. As a result,
we could be subject to legal action or we also could be subject to
actions or investigations by regulatory authorities which could
potentially result in regulatory penalties, fines and significant
legal liability, or our consumers or ecommerce or retail consumers
could end their relationships with us. There can be no assurance
that any limitations of liability in our contracts would be
enforceable or adequate or would otherwise protect us from
liabilities or damages.
We may not have adequate insurance coverage for security incidents
or breaches, including fines, judgments, settlements, penalties,
costs, attorney fees and other impacts that arise out of incidents
or breaches. The impacts of a security incident or breach,
including the successful assertion of one or more large claims
against us that exceeds our available insurance coverage or
resulting changes to our insurance policies (including premium
increases or the imposition of large deductible or co-insurance
requirements), could have an adverse effect on our business,
financial condition, results of operations and prospects. In
addition, we cannot be sure that our existing insurance coverage,
cyber coverage and coverage for errors and omissions will continue
to be available on acceptable terms or that our insurers will not
deny coverage as to all or part of any future claim or loss. Our
risks are likely to increase as we continue to expand,
41
grow our consumer base and Process increasingly large amounts of
proprietary and sensitive data. Any adverse security incident or
breach could have a material adverse effect on our business,
financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
The use of open source software in our products and services may
expose us to additional risks and harm our intellectual
property.
Certain of our platforms and technologies utilize and incorporate
“open source” software. Open source software is generally freely
accessible, usable and modifiable, however certain open source
software licenses require a user who intends to distribute the open
source software as a component of the user’s software to disclose
publicly part or all of the source code to the user’s software. The
use and distribution of open source software may entail greater
risks than the use of third-party commercial software, as open
source licensors generally do not provide warranties or other
contractual protections regarding infringement claims or the
quality of the code. Additionally, certain open source software
licenses require the user of such software to make any derivative
works of the open-source code available to others on terms that are
unfavorable to such user or at no cost. This can effectively render
what was previously proprietary software to be open source
software. Open source license terms are often ambiguous, and there
is little or no legal precedent governing the interpretation of
many of the terms of certain of these licenses.
While we try to ensure that no open source software is used in such
a way as to require us to disclose the source code to our related
proprietary software, such use could inadvertently occur.
Additionally, a third-party software provider may incorporate,
inadvertently or not, certain types of open source software into
software that we license from such third party for our proprietary
software. If any of the foregoing occurs, we could, under certain
circumstances, be required to disclose the source code to our
proprietary software, which could enable third parties to compete
with us using such software. This could harm our intellectual
property position and have a material adverse effect on our
business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
We are subject to stringent and changing laws, rules, regulations,
industry standards, information security policies, self-regulatory
schemes and contractual obligations related to data privacy,
protection and security, marketing, advertising and consumer
protection. Any actual or perceived failure by us, our consumers,
partners or vendors to comply with such laws, rules, regulations,
industry standards, information security policies, self-regulatory
schemes and contractual obligations could have an adverse effect on
our business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
We Process, and our vendors Process on our behalf, personal
information, confidential information and other information
necessary to provide and deliver our brands through our DTC channel
to operate our business, for legal and marketing purposes, and for
other business-related purposes.
Data privacy and information security has become a significant
issue in the United States, countries in Europe, and in many other
countries in which we operate and where we offer our brands. The
legal and regulatory framework for privacy and security issues is
rapidly evolving and is expected to increase our compliance costs
and exposure to liability. There are numerous federal, state,
local, and international laws, orders, codes, regulations and
regulatory guidance regarding privacy, information security and
Processing (which we collectively refer to as "Data Protection
Laws"), the number and scope of which is changing, subject to
differing applications and interpretations, and which may be
inconsistent among jurisdictions, or in conflict with other rules
and laws. Data Protection Laws and data protection worldwide are,
and are likely to remain, uncertain for the foreseeable future, and
our actual or perceived failure to address or comply with these
laws could have an adverse effect on our business, financial
condition, results of operations and prospects. We are or may also
be subject to the terms of our external and internal privacy and
security policies, codes, representations, certifications, industry
standards, publications and frameworks (which we collectively refer
to as "Privacy Policies"), and contractual obligations to third
parties related to privacy, information security and Processing,
including contractual obligations to indemnify and hold harmless
third parties from the costs or consequences of non-compliance with
Data Protection Laws or other obligations (which we collectively
refer to as "Data Protection Obligations"). We expect that there
will continue to be new Data Protection Laws and Data Protection
Obligations, and we cannot yet determine the impact such future
Data Protection Laws may have on our business. Any significant
change to Data Protection Laws and Data Protection Obligations,
including in regards to the manner in which the express or implied
consent of consumers for Processing is obtained, could increase our
costs and require us to modify our operations, possibly in a
material manner, which we may be unable to complete and may limit
our ability to store and otherwise Process consumer data and
operate our business.
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In the United States, relevant Data Protection Laws include rules
and regulations promulgated under the authority of the FTC, the
Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse
Act, the CCPA and other state and federal laws relating to privacy
and data security. The CCPA requires companies that Process
information of California residents to make new disclosures to
consumers about their data collection, use and sharing practices,
allows California residents to opt out of certain sharing of
personal information with third parties, gives California residents
the right to access and request deletion of their information, and
provides a private right of action and statutory damages for
certain data breaches that result in the loss of personal
information. The CCPA may increase our compliance costs and
potential liability and risks associated with data breach
litigation. In addition, California voters recently approved the
CPRA, which goes into effect in most material respects on January
1, 2023. The CPRA significantly expands the CCPA, including by
introducing additional obligations such as data minimization and
storage limitations additional rights to California residents to
limit the use of their sensitive information, providing for
penalties for CPRA violations concerning California residents under
the age of 16, and establishing a new California Privacy Protection
Agency to implement and enforce the law. The enactment of the CCPA
prompted a wave of similar legislative developments in other states
in the United States, which creates the potential for a patchwork
of overlapping but different state laws and could mark the
beginning of a trend toward more stringent privacy legislation in
the United States, which could increase our potential liability and
adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial
condition. For example, in March 2021, Virginia enacted the
Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act, a comprehensive privacy
statute that becomes effective on January 1, 2023 and shares
similarities with the CCPA, the CPRA, and legislation proposed in
other states. Laws in all 50 states already require businesses to
provide notice under certain circumstances to consumers whose
personal information has been disclosed as a result of a data
breach. Each of these Data Protection Laws and any other such
changes or new Data Protection Laws could impose significant
limitations, require changes to our business, or restrict our
collection, use, storage or Processing of personal information,
which may increase our compliance expenses and make our business
more costly or less efficient to conduct. In addition, any such
changes could compromise our ability to develop an adequate
marketing strategy and pursue our growth strategy effectively or
even prevent us from providing certain offerings in jurisdictions
in which we currently operate and in which we may operate in the
future or incur potential liability in an effort to comply with
such legislation, which, in turn, could adversely affect our
business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
We rely on a variety of marketing techniques and practices,
including email and social media marketing, online targeted
advertising, cookie-based Processing, and postal mail to sell our
brands and to attract new consumers, and we, and our vendors, are
subject to various current and future Data Protection Laws and Data
Protection Obligations that govern marketing and advertising
practices. Governmental authorities continue to evaluate the
privacy implications inherent in the use of proprietary or
third-party “cookies” and other methods of online tracking for
behavioral advertising and other purposes, such as by regulating
the level of consumer notice and consent required before a company
can employ cookies or other electronic tracking tools or the use of
data gathered with such tools. Additionally, some providers of
consumer devices, web browsers and application stores have
implemented, or announced plans to implement, means to make it
easier for Internet users to prevent the placement of cookies or to
block other tracking technologies, require additional consents from
users for certain activities, or limit the ability to track user
activity, which could if widely adopted result in the use of
third-party cookies and other methods of online tracking becoming
significantly less effective. We may have to develop alternative
systems to determine our consumers’ behavior, customize their
online experience, or efficiently market to them if consumers block
cookies or regulations introduce additional barriers to collecting
cookie data, and there is no guarantee that such development
efforts will be successful or cost-effective. Laws and regulations
regarding the use of these cookies and other current online
tracking and advertising practices or a loss in our ability to make
effective use of services that employ such technologies could
increase our costs of operations and limit our ability to acquire
new consumers on cost-effective terms, which, in turn, could have a
material adverse effect on our business, financial condition,
results of operations and prospects.
In Europe, the European Union General Data Protection Regulation,
or GDPR, went into effect in May 2018 and imposes strict
requirements for Processing the personal data of individuals within
the European Economic Area. While we do not believe we are
currently subject to the GDPR, we have plans of expanding
internationally and have trademark registrations in jurisdictions
in the European Economic Area. Companies that must comply with the
GDPR face increased compliance obligations and risk, including more
robust regulatory enforcement of data protection requirements and
potential fines for non-compliance of up to €20 million or 4% of
the annual global revenues of the non-compliant company, whichever
is greater. Among other requirements, the GDPR regulates transfers
of personal data subject to the GDPR to third countries that have
not been found to provide adequate protection to such personal
data, including the United States, and the efficacy and longevity
of current transfer mechanisms between the European Union and the
United States remains uncertain. For example, in 2016, the European
Union and United States agreed to a transfer framework for data
transferred from the European Union to the United States, called
the Privacy Shield, but the Privacy Shield was invalidated in July
2020 by the Court of Justice of the European Union. Further, from
January 1, 2021, certain companies operating in the United Kingdom
have to comply with the GDPR and also the United Kingdom GDPR,
which, together with the amended UK Data Protection Act 2018,
retains the GDPR in UK national law. The United Kingdom GDPR
mirrors the fines under the GDPR, i.e., fines up to the greater of
€20 million (£17.5 million) or 4% of global turnover. The
relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union in
relation to certain aspects of data protection law remains unclear,
and it is unclear how United Kingdom data protection laws and
regulations will develop in the medium to longer term, and how data
transfers to and from the United Kingdom will be regulated in the
long term. These changes will lead to additional costs and increase
overall risk exposure for companies subject to these
regulations.
43
In addition to government regulation and laws, we are subject to
self-regulatory standards and industry certifications that may
legally or contractually apply to us, including the Payment Card
Industry Data Security Standards. In the event we fail to comply
with such standards, we could be in breach of our obligations under
consumer and other contracts, fines and other penalties could
result, and we may suffer reputational harm and damage to our
business. Further, our customers and other third parties may expect
us to comply with more stringent privacy and data security
requirements than those imposed by laws, regulations or
self-regulatory requirements, and we may be obligated contractually
to comply with additional Data Protection Obligations or different
standards relating to our handling or protection of
data.
Although we strive to comply with applicable Data Protection Laws,
Privacy Policies and Data Protection Obligations, data protection
requirements are evolving and may be modified, interpreted and
applied in an inconsistent manner from one jurisdiction to another,
and may conflict with one another or other legal obligations with
which we must comply. As a result, we may at times fail to comply,
or may be perceived to have failed to comply. Moreover, despite our
efforts, we may not be successful in achieving compliance if our
employees, partners, if any, or third-party vendors do not comply
with applicable Data Protection Laws, Privacy Policies and Data
Protection Obligations. Any failure or perceived failure by us or
our employees, representatives, contractors, consultants, partners,
vendors or other third parties to comply with such requirements or
adequately address privacy and security concerns, even if
unfounded, or any finding that our Privacy Policies are, in whole
or part, inaccurate, incomplete, deceptive, unfair, or
misrepresentative of our actual practices, could result in
additional cost and liability to us, damage our reputation, and
adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of
operations and prospects.
Risks Related to the Alcohol and the Alcoholic Beverages
Industry
Adverse public opinion about alcohol may harm our
business.
Certain research studies have concluded or suggest that alcohol
consumption has no health benefits and may increase the risk of
stroke, cancer and other illnesses. An unfavorable report on the
health effects of alcohol consumption could significantly reduce
the demand for Alcoholic Beverages, which could harm our business
by reducing sales and increasing expenses. Additionally, in recent
years, activist groups have used advertising and other methods to
inform the public about the societal harms associated with the
consumption of Alcoholic Beverages. These groups have also sought,
and continue to seek, legislation to reduce the availability of
Alcoholic Beverages, to increase the penalties associated with the
misuse of Alcoholic Beverages, or to increase the costs associated
with the production of Alcoholic Beverages. Over time, these
efforts could cause a reduction in the consumption of Alcoholic
Beverages generally or an increase in production costs, which could
reduce sales and increase expenses and adversely affect our
business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
Consumer demand for Alcoholic Beverages could decline for a variety
of reasons. Reduced demand could harm our results of operations,
financial condition and prospects.
There have been periods in the past in which there were substantial
declines in the overall per capita consumption of wine. A limited
or general decline in consumption in one or more of our brand
categories could occur in the future for a variety of reasons,
including a general decline in economic conditions, changes in the
spending habits of consumers generally (or of groups of consumers,
such as millennials), prohibition, increased concern about the
health consequences of consuming Alcoholic Beverages and about
drinking and driving, a trend toward a healthier diet, including
lighter, lower-calorie beverages such as diet soft drinks, juices
and water, the increased activity of anti-alcohol consumer group
and increased federal, state or foreign excise and other taxes on
Alcoholic Beverages. Reduced demand for Alcoholic Beverages could
harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
A decrease in score ratings by important rating organizations could
have a negative impact on our ability to create demand for and sell
our brands. Sustained negative scores could reduce the prominence
of our brands and carry negative association across our portfolio
which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial
condition, results of operations and prospects.
Our brands’ individual labels are issued ratings or scores by wine
rating organizations, and higher scores often drive greater demand
and, in some cases, higher pricing. We have no control over ratings
issued by third parties or the methodology they use to evaluate our
brands, which may not be favorable to us in the future. If our new
or existing brands are assigned significantly lower ratings, if our
brands consistently receive lower ratings over an extended period
of time or if any of our competitors’ new or existing brands are
assigned comparatively higher ratings, our consumers’ perception of
our brands and demand for our brands could be negatively impacted,
which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial
condition, results of operations and prospects.
44
We rely on independent certification for a number of our
brands.
We rely on independent third-party certification, such as
certifications of some of our brands or ingredients as “organic” to
differentiate them from others. We must comply with the
requirements of independent organizations or certification
authorities in order to label our brands as certified organic, such
as the California Certified Organic Farmers and Quality Assurance
International. We may lose our certifications if we use unapproved
raw materials or incorrectly use a certification on brand labels or
in marketing materials. The loss of any independent certification
could adversely affect our market position and brand reputation,
and our business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects could be adversely affected.
From time to time, we may become subject to litigation specifically
directed at the Alcoholic Beverages industry, as well as litigation
arising in the ordinary course of business.
We and other companies operating in the Alcoholic Beverages
industry are, from time to time, exposed to class action or other
private or governmental litigation and claims relating to product
liability, alcohol marketing, advertising or distribution
practices, alcohol abuse problems or other health consequences
arising from the excessive consumption of or other misuse of
alcohol, including underage drinking. Various groups have, from
time to time, publicly expressed concern over problems related to
harmful use of alcohol, including drinking and driving, underage
drinking and health consequences from the misuse of alcohol. These
campaigns could result in an increased risk of litigation against
us and our industry. Lawsuits have been brought against Alcoholic
Beverages companies alleging problems related to alcohol abuse,
negative health consequences from drinking, problems from alleged
marketing or sales practices and underage drinking. While these
lawsuits have been largely unsuccessful in the past, others may
succeed in the future.
From time to time, we may also be party to other litigation in the
ordinary course of our operations, including in connection with
commercial disputes, enforcement or other regulatory actions by
tax, customs, competition, environmental, anti-corruption and other
relevant regulatory authorities, or securities-related class action
lawsuits, particularly following any significant decline in the
price of our securities. Any such litigation or other actions may
be expensive to defend and result in damages, penalties or fines as
well as reputational damage to our company and our brands and may
impact the ability of management to focus on other business
matters. Furthermore, any adverse judgments may result in an
increase in future insurance premiums, and any judgments for which
we are not fully insured may result in a significant financial loss
and may materially and adversely affect our business, financial
condition, results of operations and prospects.
Risks Related to Government Regulation
Health and safety incidents or advertising inaccuracies or product
mislabeling may have an adverse effect on our business by exposing
us to lawsuits, product recalls or regulatory enforcement actions,
increasing our operating costs and reducing demand for our
brands.
Selling wine and other Alcoholic Beverages involves inherent legal
and other risks, and there is increasing governmental scrutiny of
and public awareness regarding product safety. Illness, injury or
death related to allergens, illnesses, foreign material
contamination or other product safety incidents caused by our
brands, or involving our suppliers, could result in the disruption
or discontinuance of sales of these brands or our relationships
with such suppliers, or otherwise result in increased operating
costs, regulatory enforcement actions or harm to our
reputation.
Shipment of adulterated or misbranded products, even if
inadvertent, can result in criminal or civil liability. Such
incidents could also expose us to product liability, negligence or
other lawsuits, including consumer class action lawsuits. Any
claims brought against us may exceed or be outside the scope of our
existing or future insurance policy coverage or limits. Any
judgment against us that is more than our policy limits or not
covered by our policies or not subject to insurance would have to
be paid from our cash reserves, which would reduce our capital
resources.
The occurrence of adverse reactions or other safety incidents could
also adversely affect the price and availability of affected
brands, resulting in higher costs, disruptions in supply and a
reduction in our sales. Furthermore, any instances of
contamination, defects, or regulatory non-compliance, whether or
not caused by our actions, could compel us, our suppliers or our
retail or wholesale distributors, depending on the circumstances,
to conduct a recall in accordance with the regulations and policies
of the TTB, FDA, ABC, Consumer Product Safety Commission, USDA,
EPA, or other federal regulations and policies, and comparable
state laws, regulations and policies. Product recalls could result
in significant losses due to their costs, the destruction of
product inventory, lost sales due to the unavailability of the
product for a period of time and potential loss of existing
retailers or consumers and a potential negative impact on our
ability to attract new consumers due to negative consumer
experiences or because of an adverse impact on our brands and
reputation. The costs of a recall could be outside the scope of our
existing or future insurance policy coverage or limits.
In addition, companies that sell wine and other Alcoholic Beverages
products have been subject to targeted, large-scale tampering as
well as to opportunistic, individual product tampering, and we,
like any such company, could be a target for product tampering.
Forms of tampering could include the introduction of foreign
material, chemical contaminants and pathological organisms into
products, as well as product substitution. Governmental regulations
require companies like us to analyze, prepare and implement
mitigation strategies specifically to address tampering designed to
inflict widespread public health harm. If we or our suppliers do
not adequately address the possibility, or any actual instance, of
product tampering, we could face possible seizure or recall of our
products and the imposition of civil or criminal sanctions, which
could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition,
results of operations and prospects.
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Further, many brands that we sell are advertised with claims as to
their origin, ingredients or environmental benefits, including, for
example, the use of the term “natural,” “organic,” “sustainable” or
similar synonyms or implied statements relating to such benefits.
Although each of the TTB, FDA and the USDA has issued statements
regarding the appropriate use of the word “natural,” there is no
single, U.S. government-regulated definition of the term “natural”
for use in the Alcoholic Beverages industry, which is also true for
many other adjectives common in the Alcoholic Beverages industry.
The resulting uncertainty has led to consumer confusion, distrust
and legal challenges. Plaintiffs have commenced legal actions
against several companies that market “natural” products or
ingredients, asserting false, misleading and deceptive advertising
and labeling claims, including claims related to genetically
modified ingredients and the use of synthetic ingredients,
including synthetic forms of otherwise natural
ingredients.
Should we become subject to similar claims, the resulting adverse
publicity about these matters may discourage consumers from buying
our brands, even if the basis for the claim is unfounded. The cost
of defending against any such claim could be significant. Any loss
of confidence on the part of consumers in the truthfulness of our
labeling, advertising or ingredient claims would be difficult and
costly to overcome and may significantly reduce our brand value.
Any of these events could adversely affect our reputation and brand
and decrease our sales, which could have an adverse effect on our
business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
Furthermore, the USDA enforces federal standards for organic
production and use of the term “organic” on product labeling. These
laws prohibit a company from selling or labeling products as
organic unless they are produced and handled in accordance with the
applicable federal law. Failure to comply with these requirements
may subject us or our suppliers to liability or regulatory
enforcement. Consumers may also pursue state law claims against us
or our suppliers challenging use of the "organic" label as being
intentionally mislabeled or misleading or deceptive to
consumers.
In addition, certain of the brands we sell require approval from
and registration with the EPA prior to sale. Products that
expressly or impliedly claim to control microorganisms that pose a
threat to human health may be subject by additional regulatory
scrutiny and need to be supported by additional efficacy data.
Should we advertise or market these EPA regulated products with
claims that are not permitted by the terms of their registration or
are otherwise false or misleading, the EPA may be authorized to
take enforcement action to prevent the sale or distribution of
disinfectant products. False or misleading marketing claims
concerning a product’s EPA registration or its efficacy may also
create the risk for challenges under state law at the consumer
level.
If any of the above actions or factors were to adversely impact our
products, it could adversely affect our reputation, business,
financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
We are subject to extensive governmental regulation and may incur
material liabilities under, or costs in order to comply with,
existing or future laws and regulation, and our failure to comply
may result in enforcements, recalls, and other adverse
actions.
We and the suppliers and manufacturers we work with are subject to
a broad range of federal, state, local, and foreign laws and
regulations intended to protect public and worker health and
safety, natural resources, the environment and consumers. Our
operations are subject to regulation by the TTB, ABC, OSHA, FDA,
Consumer Product Safety Commission, USDA, FTC, EPA, and by various
other federal, state, local and foreign authorities regarding the
manufacture, processing, packaging, storage, sale, order
fulfillment, advertising, labeling, import and export of our
brands. Certain of the brands we sell may require EPA registration
and approval prior to sale.
In addition, we, our co-manufacturers and our third-party
contractors are subject to additional regulatory requirements,
including environmental, health and safety laws and regulations
administered by the EPA, state, local and foreign environmental,
health and safety legislative and regulatory authorities and the
National Labor Relations Board, covering such areas as discharges
and emissions to air and water, the use, management, disposal and
remediation of, and human exposure to, hazardous materials and
wastes, and public and worker health and safety. Violations of or
liability under any of these laws and regulations may result in
administrative, civil or criminal fines, penalties or sanctions
against us, revocation or modification of applicable permits,
licenses or authorizations, environmental, health and safety
investigations or remedial activities, voluntary or involuntary
product recalls, warning or untitled letters or cease and desist
orders against operations that are not in compliance, among other
things. Such laws and regulations generally have become more
stringent over time and may become more so in the future, and we
may incur (directly, or indirectly through our co-manufacturers and
third-party contractors) material costs to comply with current or
future laws and regulations or in any required product recalls.
Liabilities and costs of compliance, and the impacts on us of any
non-compliance, with any such laws and regulations could have an
adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of
operations and prospects. In addition, changes in the laws and
regulations to which we are subject, or in the prevailing
interpretations of such laws and regulations by courts and
enforcement authorities, could impose significant limitations and
require changes to our business, which may increase our compliance
expenses, make our business more costly and less efficient to
conduct, and compromise our growth strategy, which could have an
adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of
operations and prospects.
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Our brands are also subject to state laws and regulations, such as
California’s Proposition 65, which requires a specific warning on
any product that contains a substance listed by the State of
California as having been found to cause cancer or birth defects,
unless the level of such substance in the product is below a safe
harbor level. We have in the past been subject to lawsuits brought
under Proposition 65, and if we fail to comply with Proposition 65
in the future, it may result in lawsuits and regulatory enforcement
that could have a material adverse effect on our reputation,
business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Further, the inclusion of warnings on our brands to comply with
Proposition 65 could also reduce overall consumption of our brands
or leave consumers with the perception (whether or not valid) that
our brands do not meet their health and wellness needs, all of
which could adversely affect our reputation, business, financial
condition, results of operations and prospects.
Changes in existing marketing and advertising laws or regulations
or related official guidance, or the adoption of new laws or
regulations or guidance, may increase our costs and otherwise
adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of
operations and prospects.
The manufacture and marketing of Alcoholic Beverages is highly
regulated. In connection with the marketing and advertisement of
our brands, we could be the target of claims relating to false or
deceptive advertising, including under the auspices of the FTC and
the consumer protection statutes of some states.
The advertising regulatory environment in which we operate has
changed in the past and could change significantly and adversely in
the future. For example, in December 2009, the FTC substantially
revised its Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and
Testimonials in Advertising to eliminate a safe harbor principle
that permitted advertisers to publish consumer testimonials that
conveyed truthful but extraordinary results from using the
advertiser’s product so long as the advertiser clearly and
conspicuously disclosed that the endorser’s results were not
typical. Although we strive to adapt our marketing efforts to
evolving regulatory requirements and related guidance, we may not
always anticipate or timely identify changes in regulation or
official guidance that could impact our business, with the result
that we could be subjected to litigation and enforcement actions
that could adversely affect our business, financial condition,
results of operations and prospects. Future changes in regulations
and related official guidance could also introduce new restrictions
that impair our ability to market our brands effectively and place
us at a competitive disadvantage with competitors who depend less
than we do on environmental marketing claims and social media
influencer relationships.
Moreover, any change in marketing for our brands may lead to an
increase in costs or interruptions in sales, either of which could
adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of
operations and prospects. New or revised governmental laws,
regulations or guidelines could result in additional compliance
costs and, in the event of non-compliance, civil remedies,
including fines, injunctions, withdrawals, recalls or seizures and
confiscations, as well as potential criminal sanctions, any of
which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial
condition, results of operations and prospects.
Failure by our network of distributors, retailers, suppliers or
manufacturers to comply with product safety, environmental or other
laws and regulations, or with the specifications and requirements
of our brands, may disrupt our supply of products and adversely
affect our business.
If our network of distributors, retailers, suppliers or
manufacturers fail to comply with environmental, health and safety
or other laws and regulations, or face allegations of
non-compliance, their operations may be disrupted and our
reputation could be harmed. Additionally, our distributors,
retailers, suppliers and manufacturers are required to maintain the
quality of our products and to comply with our standards and
specifications. In the event of actual or alleged non-compliance,
we might be forced to find alternative distributors, retailers,
suppliers or manufacturers and we may be subject to lawsuits or
regulatory enforcement actions related to such non-compliance by
the suppliers and manufacturers. As a result, our supply of and
ability to distribute and sell Alcoholic Beverages could be
disrupted or our costs could increase, which could adversely affect
our business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects. The failure of any supplier or manufacturer to produce
products that conform to our standards could adversely affect our
reputation in the marketplace and result in product recalls,
product liability claims, government or third-party actions and
economic loss. Additionally, actions we may take to mitigate the
impact of any disruption or potential disruption in our supply of
materials or finished inventory, including increasing inventory in
anticipation of a potential supply or production interruption,
could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition,
results of operations and prospects.
Class action litigation, other legal claims and regulatory
enforcement actions and the lack of adequate or sufficient
insurance coverage could subject us to liability for damages, civil
and criminal penalties and other monetary and non-monetary
liability and could otherwise adversely affect our reputation,
business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
We operate in a highly regulated environment with constantly
evolving legal and regulatory frameworks. Consequently, we are
subject to a heightened risk of consumer class action litigation,
other legal claims, government investigations or other regulatory
enforcement actions. The product marketing and labeling practices
of companies operating in the Alcoholic Beverages industry receive
close scrutiny from the private plaintiff’s class action bar and
from public consumer protection agencies. Accordingly, there is
risk that consumers will bring class action lawsuits and that the
FTC or state attorneys general or other consumer protection law
enforcement authorities will bring legal actions concerning the
truth and accuracy of our product marketing and labeling claims.
Examples of causes of action that may be asserted in a consumer
class action lawsuit include fraud, false advertising, unfair and
deceptive practices, negligent misrepresentation and breach of
state consumer protection statutes. Although we have implemented
policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance with existing
laws and regulations, there can be no assurance that our employees,
consultants, independent
47
contractors, suppliers, manufacturers or retailers will not violate
our policies and procedures. Moreover, a failure to maintain
effective control processes could lead to violations, unintentional
or otherwise, of laws and regulations. Legal claims, government
investigations or regulatory enforcement actions arising out of our
failure or alleged failure to comply with applicable laws and
regulations could subject us to civil and criminal penalties and
liabilities that could adversely affect our brand sales,
reputation, financial condition and results of operations. These
liabilities could include obligations to reformulate brands or
remove them from the marketplace, as well as obligations to
disgorge revenue and to accept burdensome injunctions that limit
our freedom to market our brands. In addition, the costs and other
effects of defending potential and pending litigation and
administrative actions against us may be difficult to determine and
could adversely affect our reputation, business, brand image,
financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
Furthermore, although we believe that the extent of our insurance
coverage is consistent with industry practice, any claim under our
insurance policies may be subject to certain exceptions, may not be
honored fully, in a timely manner, or at all, and we may not have
purchased sufficient insurance to cover all losses incurred. If we
were to incur substantial liabilities, as a result of civil or
criminal penalties or otherwise, or if our business operations were
interrupted for a substantial period of time, we could incur costs
and suffer losses. Such liabilities, including inventory and
business interruption losses, may not be covered by our insurance
policies. In addition, being a public company makes it more
difficult and more expensive for us to obtain director and officer
liability insurance. Premiums for director and officer liability
insurance can vary substantially from year to year, and we may be
required in the future to accept reduced policy limits and coverage
or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar
coverage. As a result, it may be more difficult for us to attract
and retain qualified people to serve on our board of directors, our
board committees or as executive officers. We do not know if we
will be able to maintain existing insurance with adequate levels of
coverage, and, in the future, insurance coverage may not be
available to us at commercially acceptable premiums, or at all. Any
significant uninsured liability may require us to pay substantial
amounts, which would adversely affect our business, financial
condition, results of operations and prospects.
Government regulation of the Internet and ecommerce is evolving,
and unfavorable changes or failure by us to comply with these
regulations could have an adverse effect on our business, financial
condition, results of operations and prospects.
We are subject to governmental laws as well as regulations and laws
specifically governing the Internet and ecommerce. Existing and
future regulations and laws could impede the growth of the
Internet, ecommerce or mobile commerce, which could in turn
adversely affect our growth. These regulations and laws may involve
taxes, tariffs, privacy and data security, anti-spam, content
protection, electronic contracts and communications, consumer
protection, sales practices and Internet neutrality. It is not
clear how existing laws governing issues such as property
ownership, sales and other taxes and consumer privacy apply to the
Internet as the vast majority of these laws were adopted prior to
the advent of the Internet and do not contemplate or address the
unique issues raised by the Internet or ecommerce. It is possible
that general business regulations and laws, or those specifically
governing the Internet or ecommerce, may be interpreted and applied
in a manner that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another
and may conflict with other rules or our practices. We cannot be
sure that our practices have complied, comply or will comply fully
with all such laws and regulations. Any failure, or perceived
failure, by us to comply with any of these laws or regulations
could result in damage to our reputation, a loss in business and
proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities,
consumers, suppliers or others. Any such proceeding or action could
hurt our reputation, force us to spend significant amounts in
defense of these proceedings, distract our management, increase our
costs of doing business, decrease the use of the Winc digital
platform by consumers and suppliers and may result in the
imposition of monetary liabilities and burdensome injunctions. We
may also be contractually liable to indemnify and hold harmless
third parties from the costs or consequences of non-compliance with
any such laws or regulations. As a result, adverse developments
with respect to these laws and regulations could have an adverse
effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations
and prospects.
Developments in labor and employment law and any unionizing efforts
by employees could have an adverse effect on our business,
financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
We face the risk that Congress, federal agencies or one or more
states could approve legislation or regulations significantly
affecting our businesses and our relationship with our employees
and other individuals providing valuable services to us, such as
our social media influencers. For example, the previously proposed
federal legislation referred to as the Employee Free Choice Act
would have substantially liberalized the procedures for union
organization. None of our employees are currently covered by a
collective bargaining agreement, but any attempt by our employees
to organize a labor union could result in increased legal and other
associated costs. Additionally, given the National Labor Relations
Board’s “speedy election” rule, our ability to timely and
effectively address any unionizing efforts would be difficult. If
we enter into a collective bargaining agreement with our employees,
the terms could have an adverse effect on our costs, efficiency and
ability to generate returns on the affected operations.
Federal and state wage and hour rules establish minimum salary
requirements for employees to be exempt from overtime payments. For
example, among other requirements, California law requires
employers to pay employees who are classified as exempt from
overtime a minimum salary of at least twice the minimum wage, which
effective January 1, 2021 was $58,240 per year for executive,
administrative and professional employees with employers that have
26 or more employees. Minimum salary requirements impact the way we
classify certain employees, increases our payment of overtime wages
and provision of meal or rest breaks, and increases the overall
salaries we are required to pay to currently exempt employees to
maintain their exempt status. As such, these requirements could
have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition,
results of operations and prospects.
48
As a producer of Alcoholic Beverages, we are regularly the subject
of regulatory reviews, proceedings and audits by governmental
entities, any of which could result in an adverse ruling or
conclusion, and which could have a material adverse effect on our
business, financial condition, results of operations and future
prospects.
We are subject to extensive regulatory review, proceedings and
audits in the United States pursuant to federal, state and local
laws regulating the production, distribution and sale of consumable
food items, and specifically Alcoholic Beverages, including by the
TTB and the FDA. These and other regulatory agencies impose a
number of product safety, labeling and other requirements on our
operations and sales. In California, we are subject to
alcohol-related licensing and regulations by many authorities,
including the ABC, which investigates applications for licenses to
sell Alcoholic Beverages, reports on the moral character and
fitness of alcohol license applicants and the suitability of
premises where sales are to be conducted. Any governmental
litigation, fines or restrictions on our operations resulting from
the enforcement of these existing regulations or any new
legislation or regulations could have a material adverse effect on
our business, results of operations and financial results. Any
government intervention challenging the production, marketing,
promotion, distribution or sale of beverage alcohol or specific
brands could affect our ability to sell our wines. Because
litigation and other legal proceedings can be costly to defend,
even actions that are ultimately decided in our favor could have a
negative impact on our business, results of operations or financial
results. Adverse developments in major lawsuits concerning these or
other matters could result in management distraction and have a
material adverse effect on our business. Furthermore, changes to
the interpretation or approach to enforcement of regulations may
require changes to our business practices or the business practices
of our suppliers, wholesale distributors or consumers. The
penalties associated with any violations or infractions may vary in
severity and could result in a significant impediment to our
business operations and could cause us to have to suspend sales of
our wines in a jurisdiction for a period of time.
Changes in laws and government regulations to which we are
currently subject, including changes to the method or approach of
enforcement of these government rules and regulations, may increase
our costs or limit our ability to sell our brands into certain
markets, which could materially and adversely affect our business,
results of operations and financial condition.
The Alcoholic Beverages industry is subject to extensive regulation
by a number of foreign and domestic agencies, state liquor
authorities and local authorities. These regulations and laws
dictate such matters as licensing requirements, land use,
production methods, trade and pricing practices, permitted
distribution channels, permitted and required labeling,
advertising, sequestration of classes of wine and relations with
wholesale distributors and retailers. Changes to existing laws and
regulations may result in increased production and sales costs,
including an increase on the applicable taxes in various state,
federal and foreign jurisdictions in which we do business. The
amount of wine that we can sell directly to consumers in certain
jurisdictions is regulated, and in certain states we are not
allowed to sell wines directly to consumers at all. Changes in
these laws and regulations that tighten current rules could have an
adverse impact on sales or increase costs to produce, market,
package or sell wine. Changes in regulation that require
significant additional source data for registration and sale, in
the labeling or warning requirements, or limitations on the
permissibility of any component, condition or ingredient, in the
places in which our wines can be sold could inhibit sales of
affected products in those markets. From time to time, states also
consider proposals to increase state alcohol excise taxes, which
could adversely affect our profit margins. In addition, any
expansion of our existing facilities may be limited by present and
future zoning ordinances, use permit terms, environmental
restrictions and other legal requirements. New or updated
regulations, requirements or licenses, particularly changes that
impact our ability to sell DTC or to retail accounts or new or
increased excise taxes, income taxes, property and sales taxes or
international tariffs could adversely affect our business,
financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock
Our quarterly results of operations may fluctuate, which could
cause our stock price to decline.
Our quarterly results of operations may fluctuate for a variety of
reasons, many of which are beyond our control,
including:
•
fluctuations in revenue, including as a result of adverse market
conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the opening of retail
and travel opportunities as the pandemic abates, the seasonality of
market transactions and fluctuations in sales through our retail
and ecommerce channels;
•
the amount and timing of our operating expenses;
•
our success in attracting and maintaining relationships with
wholesale distributors and retailers;
•
our success in executing on our strategy and the impact of any
changes in our strategy;
•
the timing and success of brand launches, including new products in
beverage categories beyond wine that we may introduce;
•
the timing and success of our marketing efforts;
•
adverse economic and market conditions, such as those related to
the current COVID-19 pandemic and other adverse domestic or global
events;
49
•
disruptions or defects in our technology platform, such as privacy
or data security breaches, errors in our software or other
incidents that impact the availability, reliability or performance
of our platform;
•
disruptions in our supply chain, such as the ability of our
third-party suppliers to produce grapes or wine, the ability of
wholesale distributors to distribute our brands, or in our shipping
arrangements or other relationships with third-party
vendors;
•
the impact of competitive developments and our response to those
developments;
•
fluctuations in inventory and working capital;
•
our ability to manage our business and future growth;
and
•
our ability to recruit and maintain employees.
Fluctuations in our quarterly results of operations and the price
of our common stock may be particularly pronounced in the current
economic environment due to the uncertainty caused by and the
unprecedented nature of the current COVID-19 pandemic, consumer
spending patterns and the impacts of the gradual reopening of the
offline economy and lessening of restrictions on movement and
travel as the COVID-19 pandemic abates. For example, inflation and
supply chain factors, such as freight and labor, created pressure
on margins during 2021. Fluctuations in our quarterly results of
operations may cause those results to fall below our financial
guidance or other projections, or the expectations of analysts or
investors, which could cause the price of our common stock to
decline. Fluctuations in our results could also cause other
problems, including, for example, analysts or investors changing
their models for valuing our common stock, particularly
post-pandemic. We could experience short-term liquidity issues, our
ability to retain or attract key personnel may diminish, and other
unanticipated issues may arise.
We believe that our quarterly results of operations may vary in the
future and that period-to-period comparisons of our results of
operations may not be meaningful. For example, our overall
historical growth rate and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic may
have overshadowed the effect of seasonal variations on our
historical results of operations. Any seasonal effects may change
or become more pronounced over time, which could also cause our
results of operations to fluctuate. You should not rely on the
results of any given quarter as an indication of future
performance.
Securities analysts may not publish favorable research or reports
about our business or may publish no information at all, which
could cause our stock price or trading volume to
decline.
Our stock price and the trading market for our stock may be heavily
influenced by the way analysts and investors interpret our
financial information and other disclosures and the research and
reports published by industry or financial analysts about us and
our business. As a recently public company following the completion
of our IPO in November 2021, we may be slow to attract research
coverage, and the analysts who publish information about our common
stock will have had relatively little experience with us or our
industry, which could affect their ability to accurately forecast
our results and could make it more likely that we fail to meet
their estimates. Even if our common stock is actively covered by
analysts, we do not have any control over the analysts or the
measures that analysts or investors may rely upon to forecast our
future results. Over-reliance by analysts or investors on any
particular metric to forecast our future results may lead to
forecasts that differ significantly from our own. In addition, if
any of the analysts who cover us provide inaccurate or unfavorable
research or issue an adverse opinion regarding our stock price, our
stock price could decline. If one or more of these analysts cease
coverage of us or fail to publish reports covering us regularly, we
could lose visibility in the market, which in turn could cause our
stock price or trading volume to decline.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or
reports about our business, delay publishing reports about our
business, or publish negative reports about our business,
regardless of accuracy, our stock price and trading volume could
decline.
50
If our estimates or judgments relating to our critical accounting
policies are based on assumptions that change or prove to be
incorrect, our results of operations could fall below our publicly
announced guidance or the expectations of securities analysts and
investors, resulting in a decline in the market price of our common
stock.
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S.
generally accepted accounting principles requires management to
make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in
our financial statements and accompanying notes. We base our
estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions
that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the
results of which form the basis for making judgments about the
carrying values of assets, liabilities, equity, revenue and
expenses that are not readily apparent from other sources. In
connection with our adoption and implementation of the new lease
accounting standard, ASU No. 2016-02, effective January 1, 2022,
management made judgments and assumptions based on our
interpretation of the new standard. The new lease standard is
principles based, and interpretation of those principles may vary
from company to company based on their unique circumstances. It is
possible that interpretation, industry practice and guidance
involving estimates and assumptions may evolve or change over time.
If our assumptions change or if actual circumstances differ from
our assumptions, our results of operations may be adversely
affected and could fall below our publicly announced guidance or
the expectations of securities analysts and investors, resulting in
a decline in the market price of our common stock.
Future sales and issuances of shares of our common stock, or the
perception that such sales or issuances may occur, may result in
dilution and cause the price of our common stock to
decline.
Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the
public market or the perception that these sales might occur, could
depress the market price of our common stock and could impair our
ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity
securities. We are unable to predict the effect that such sales may
have on the prevailing market price of our common stock, and such
sales could occur at any time.
The majority of our currently outstanding shares of common stock
are restricted as a result of securities laws or 180-day lock-up
agreements (which may be waived, with or without notice, by Spartan
Capital Securities, LLC) but will be able to be sold beginning on
May 9, 2022.
Moreover, holders of a substantial number of shares of our common
stock have rights, subject to some conditions, to require us to
file registration statements covering their shares or to include
their shares in registration statements that we may file for
ourselves or other stockholders. We have also registered, and
intend to register in the future, all shares of common stock that
we may issue under our equity compensation plans. Once we register
these shares or they otherwise cease to be restricted securities
under applicable securities laws and are no longer subject to
contractual lockup restrictions, they can be freely sold in the
public market, subject to volume limitations applicable to
affiliates and lock-up agreements.
We may also issue shares of our common stock or securities
convertible into shares of our common stock from time to time in
connection with a financing, acquisition, investments, or
otherwise. New investors in such subsequent transactions could gain
rights, preferences, and privileges senior to those of holders of
our common stock. We also expect to grant equity awards to
employees, directors, and consultants under our equity incentive
plans. Any such issuance could result in substantial dilution to
our existing stockholders and cause the market price of our common
stock to decline.
Our directors, officers and principal stockholders have significant
voting power and may take actions that may not be in the best
interests of our other stockholders.
Our directors, officers and principal stockholders holding more
than 5% of our common stock collectively control a substantial
portion of our outstanding common stock. As a result, these
stockholders, if they act together, will be able to exert
significant influence over the management and affairs of our
company and most matters requiring stockholder approval, including
the election of directors and approval of significant corporate
transactions. This concentration of ownership may have the effect
of delaying or preventing a change in control, might adversely
affect the market price of our common stock and may not be in the
best interests of our other stockholders.
Some of these persons or entities may have interests different than
yours. For example, they may be more interested in selling our
company to an acquirer than other investors, or they may want us to
pursue strategies that deviate from the interests of other
stockholders.
Delaware law and provisions in our amended and restated certificate
of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws could make a
merger, tender offer or proxy contest more difficult, limit
attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current
management and depress the market price of our common
stock.
Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation
and our amended and restated bylaws may discourage, delay or
prevent a merger, acquisition or other change in control of us or
tender offer that stockholders may consider favorable, including
transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a
premium for their shares. These provisions could also limit the
price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for
shares of our common stock, thereby depressing the market price of
our common stock. In addition, these provisions may frustrate or
prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace members of our
board of directors. Because our board of directors is responsible
for appointing the members of our management team, these provisions
could in
51
turn affect any attempt by our stockholders to replace current
members of our management team. Among others, these provisions
include that:
•
subject to the rights of any series of preferred stock, our board
of directors has the exclusive right to expand the size of our
board of directors and to elect directors to fill a vacancy created
by the expansion of the board of directors or by the resignation,
death or removal of a director, which prevents stockholders from
being able to fill vacancies on our board of
directors;
•
our board of directors is divided into three classes, with each
class serving staggered three-year terms, which may delay the
ability of stockholders to change the membership of a majority of
our board of directors;
•
our stockholders may not act by written consent, which forces
stockholder action to be taken at an annual or special meeting of
our stockholders;
•
a special meeting of stockholders may be called only by our board
of directors, the chairperson of our board of directors or our
chief executive officer, which may delay the ability of our
stockholders to force consideration of a proposal or to take
action, including the removal of directors;
•
cumulative voting is prohibited in the election of directors, which
limits the ability of minority stockholders to elect director
candidates;
•
our board of directors may adopt, amend or repeal our amended and
restated bylaws without obtaining stockholder
approval;
•
the approval of the holders of at least two-thirds of the shares
entitled to vote at an election of directors is required to adopt,
amend or repeal our amended and restated bylaws or repeal the
provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation
regarding the election and removal of directors;
•
stockholders must provide advance notice and additional disclosures
in order to nominate individuals for election to the board of
directors or to propose matters that can be acted upon at a
stockholders’ meeting, which may discourage or deter a potential
acquiror from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the
acquiror’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain
control of our company; and
•
our board of directors is authorized to issue shares of preferred
stock and to determine the 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.
Moreover, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed
by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General
Corporation Law, which generally prohibits a person who owns in
excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock from merging or
combining with us for a period of three years after the date of the
transaction in which the person acquired in excess of 15% of our
outstanding voting stock, unless the merger or combination is
approved in a prescribed manner.
52
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that
the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware shall be the sole
and exclusive forum for certain stockholder litigation matters and
the federal district courts of the United States shall be the
exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a
cause of action arising under the Securities Act, which could limit
our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for
disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees or
stockholders.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides
that, unless we otherwise consent in writing, (A) (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
current or former director, officer, employee or agent of ours to
us or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against
us arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General
Corporation Law, our amended and restated certificate of
incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws or as to which the
Delaware General Corporation Law confers jurisdiction to the Court
of Chancery of the State of Delaware or (iv) any action asserting a
claim against us governed by the internal affairs doctrine shall,
in each case subject to said Court of Chancery having personal
jurisdiction over the indispensable parties named as defendants
therein, be exclusively brought in the Court of Chancery of the
State of Delaware or, if such court dismisses any such action for
lack of subject matter jurisdiction, another state or federal court
sitting in the State of Delaware; and (B) the federal district
courts of the United States shall be the exclusive forum for the
resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action against us
or any director, officer, employee or agent of ours under the
Securities Act; however, there is uncertainty as to whether a court
would enforce such provision, and investors cannot waive compliance
with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations
thereunder. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the exclusive forum
provision shall not apply to claims seeking to enforce any
liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim
for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. The
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, employees or agents
which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors,
officers, employees or agents, although our stockholders will not
be deemed to have waived our compliance with federal securities
laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Alternatively, if a
court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our
amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be
inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional
costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions,
which could harm our business, financial condition, results of
operations and prospects. Any person or entity purchasing or
otherwise acquiring or holding any interest in shares of our
capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to
the forum provisions in our amended and restated certificate of
incorporation.
We do not intend to pay dividends for the foreseeable
future.
We currently intend to retain any future earnings to finance the
operation and expansion of our business, and we do not expect to
declare or pay any dividends in the foreseeable future. Moreover,
the terms of the BoC Credit Agreement restrict our ability to pay
dividends, and any additional debt we may incur in the future may
include similar restrictions. In addition, Delaware law may impose
requirements that may restrict our ability to pay dividends to
holders of our common stock. As a result, capital appreciation, if
any, of our common stock will be the sole source of gain for our
stockholders for the foreseeable future.
General Risk Factors
We will continue to incur significant additional costs as a result
of being a public company, and our management will be required to
continue to devote substantial time to compliance with our public
company responsibilities and corporate governance
practices.
We incur significant costs associated with corporate governance
requirements that are applicable to us as a public company,
including rules and regulations of the SEC, under the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer
Protection Act of 2010, and the Exchange Act, as well as the rules
of the NYSE American. These rules and regulations significantly
increase our accounting, legal and financial compliance costs and
make some activities more time-consuming. We expect such expenses
will further increase after we cease to qualify as an emerging
growth company and smaller reporting company. These rules and
regulations also make it more expensive for us to maintain
directors’ and officers’ liability insurance. As a result, it may
be more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to
serve on our board of directors or as executive officers.
Furthermore, these rules and regulations increase our legal and
financial compliance costs and make some activities more
time-consuming and costly. We are also subject to more stringent
state law requirements as a public company, including requirements
to have a minimum number of females or individuals from
underrepresented populations on our board of directors.
These requirements may place a strain on our systems and resources
and have required us, and may in the future require us, to hire
additional accounting, financial and legal resources with
appropriate
public
company
experience and technical accounting knowledge. These
increased costs and future increases in costs may adversely affect
our business, financial condition, results of operations and
prospects.
Our disclosure controls and procedures may not prevent or detect
all errors or acts of fraud.
We recently became subject to the periodic reporting requirements
of the Exchange Act. We designed our disclosure controls and
procedures to provide reasonable assurance that information we must
disclose in reports we file or submit under the Exchange Act is
accumulated and communicated to management, and recorded,
processed, summarized and reported within the time periods
specified in the rules and forms of the SEC. We believe that any
disclosure controls and procedures, no matter how well-conceived
and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance
that the objectives of the control system are met. These inherent
limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making
can be faulty, and that breakdowns can occur because of simple
error or mistake. Additionally, controls can be circumvented by the
individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more people
or by an
53
unauthorized override of the controls. Accordingly, because of the
inherent limitations in our control system, misstatements due to
error or fraud may occur and not be detected.
If we are unable to implement and maintain effective internal
control over financial reporting, investors may lose confidence in
the accuracy and completeness of our reported financial information
and the market price of our common stock may be negatively
affected.
As a public company, we are required to maintain effective internal
control over financial reporting and to report any material
weaknesses in such internal control. Section 404 of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and determine the
effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting and,
beginning with our second annual report after the completion of our
IPO, provide a management report on the internal control over
financial reporting. If we have a material weakness in our internal
control over financial reporting, we may not detect errors on a
timely basis and our financial statements may be materially
misstated. We will be implementing the process and documentation
necessary to perform the evaluation needed to comply with Section
404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We may not be able to complete our
evaluation, testing and any required remediation in a timely
fashion.
During the evaluation and testing process, if we identify one or
more material weaknesses in our internal control over financial
reporting, our management will be unable to conclude that our
internal control over financial reporting is effective. Moreover,
when we are no longer an emerging growth company or smaller
reporting company, our independent registered public accounting
firm will be required to issue an attestation report on the
effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting.
Even if our management concludes that our internal control over
financial reporting is effective, our independent registered public
accounting firm may conclude that there are material weaknesses
with respect to our internal controls or the level at which our
internal controls are documented, designed, implemented or
reviewed.
If we are unable to conclude that our internal control over
financial reporting is effective, or, when we are no longer an
emerging growth company or smaller reporting company, if our
auditors were to express an adverse opinion on the effectiveness of
our internal control over financial reporting, investors could lose
confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial
disclosures, which could cause the market price of our common stock
to decline. Internal control deficiencies could also result in a
restatement of our financial results in the future.
Litigation or legal proceedings could expose us to significant
liabilities and have a negative impact on our reputation or
business.
We are, and may in the future become, party to various claims and
litigation proceedings. We evaluate these claims and litigation
proceedings to assess the likelihood of unfavorable outcomes and to
estimate, if possible, the amount of potential losses. Based on
these assessments and estimates, we may establish reserves, as
appropriate. These assessments and estimates are based on the
information available to management at the time and involve a
significant amount of management judgment. Actual outcomes or
losses may differ materially from our assessments and
estimates.
Even when not merited, the defense of these lawsuits may divert our
management’s attention, and we may incur significant expenses in
defending these lawsuits. The results of litigation and other legal
proceedings are inherently uncertain, and adverse judgments or
settlements in some of these legal disputes may result in adverse
monetary damages, penalties or injunctive relief against us, which
could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition,
results of operations and prospects. Any claims or litigation, even
if fully indemnified or insured, could damage our reputation and
make it more difficult to compete effectively or to obtain adequate
insurance in the future.
Furthermore, while we maintain insurance for certain potential
liabilities, such insurance does not cover all types and amounts of
potential liabilities and is subject to various exclusions as well
as caps on amounts recoverable. Even if we believe a claim is
covered by insurance, insurers may dispute our entitlement to
recovery for a variety of potential reasons, which may affect the
timing and, if the insurers prevail, the amount of our
recovery.
Employee litigation or other unfavorable publicity could negatively
affect our future business.
Our employees have in the past, and may in the future, bring
employment-related lawsuits against us, including regarding
injuries, a hostile workplace, discrimination, wage and hour
disputes, sexual harassment, or other employment issues. In recent
years there has been an increase in the number of discrimination
and harassment claims generally. Coupled with the expansion of
social media platforms, employer review websites and similar
devices that allow individuals access to a broad audience, these
claims have had a significant negative impact on some businesses.
Certain companies that have faced employment- or harassment-related
claims have had to terminate management or other key personnel and
have suffered reputational harm that has negatively impacted their
business, including their ability to attract and hire top talent.
If we were to face any employment- or harassment-related claims,
our business could be negatively affected in similar or other
ways.
We are an “emerging growth company” and a “smaller reporting
company” and we cannot be certain if the reduced disclosure
requirements applicable to emerging growth companies and a smaller
reporting companies will make our common stock less attractive to
investors.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act,
and we take advantage of certain exemptions and relief from various
reporting requirements that are applicable to other public
companies that are not emerging growth companies. In
particular,
54
while we are an emerging growth company: we will not be required to
comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404(b)
of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; we will be exempt from any rules that
could be adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
requiring mandatory audit firm rotations or a supplement to the
auditor’s report on financial statements; we will be subject to
reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in
our periodic reports and proxy statements; and we will not be
required to hold non-binding advisory votes on executive
compensation and frequency of votes on executive compensation or
stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not
previously approved.
In addition, while we remain an emerging growth company, we can
take advantage of an extended transition period for complying with
new or revised accounting standards. This allows an emerging growth
company to delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until
those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have
elected to take advantage of this extended transition period and,
as a result, our results of operations and financial statements may
not be comparable to the results of operations and financial
statements of companies who have adopted the new or revised
accounting standards.
We may remain an emerging growth company until as late as December
31, 2026, though we may cease to be an emerging growth company
earlier under certain circumstances, including if (i) we have more
than $1.07 billion in annual revenue in any fiscal year, (ii) the
market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates
exceeds $700 million as of any June 30 or (iii) we issue more than
$1.0 billion of non-convertible debt over a three-year
period.
Even after we no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, we
may still qualify as a smaller reporting company, which would allow
us to continue to take advantage of many of the same exemptions
from disclosure requirements, including, among other things, not
being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements
of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, presenting only the two
most recent fiscal years of audited financial statements in our
Annual Reports on Form 10-K and reduced disclosure obligations
regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy
statements.
Investors may find our common stock less attractive to the extent
we rely on the exemptions and relief granted by the JOBS Act. If
some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result,
there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and
our stock price may decline or become more volatile.
55
None.
Item 2. Properties.
Following the outbreak of COVID-19, we have implemented various
social distancing measures, including implementing a virtual-first
employment model in an effort to provide a safe work environment.
We currently do not occupy and have two non-cancelable sublease
agreements for our former corporate headquarters located at 5340
Alla Road, Suite 105, Los Angeles, California, consisting of
approximately 18,920 square feet of office space, pursuant to
sublease agreements that expire in 2023. This lease expires in 2023
and provides us with an option to extend it for five years. We
entered a lease for additional office space located at 1751
Berkeley St., Studio 3, Santa Monica, CA 90404, consisting of
approximately 3,822 rentable square feet, on September 21, 2021.
The lease expires in 2024. As of December 31, 2021, we also had two
non-cancelable operating leases for warehouse facilities located in
Santa Maria, California and Garnet Valley, Pennsylvania where we
occupy approximately 60,548 and 72,244 square feet, respectively.
The Santa Maria warehouse lease expires in 2023, with an option to
extend the lease for one year, while the Garnet Valley warehouse
lease expires in 2023, with two options to extend the lease for
five years. In total, we have over approximately 132,792 square
feet of facility space that can be leveraged to fulfill DTC and
wholesale orders. We believe that our current facilities are
suitable and adequate to meet our current needs.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings.
See Note 12 "Commitments and Contingencies" to our consolidated
financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report for
information regarding certain legal proceedings in which we are
involved, which is incorporated by reference into this Part I, Item
3.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
Not applicable.
56
PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder
Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
Market Information
Our common stock began trading on the NYSE American under the
symbol “WBEV” on November 11, 2021. Prior to that date, there was
no public trading market for our common stock.
Holders
As of March 28, 2022, there were approximately 5,345 holders of
record of our common stock. The actual number of holders of our
common stock is greater than the number of record holders and
includes stockholders who are beneficial owners but whose shares
are held in street name by brokers or other nominees on behalf of
such stockholders.
Dividend Policy
We intend to retain future earnings, if any, to finance the
operation and expansion of our business and do not anticipate
paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any future
determination related to our dividend policy will be made at the
discretion of our board of directors after considering our
financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements,
business prospects and other factors our board of directors deems
relevant, and subject to the restrictions contained in any future
financing instruments and the terms of any preferred securities we
may issue. In addition, our ability to pay cash dividends is
currently restricted by the terms of the BoC Credit
Agreement.
Securities
Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans
The information required by this item will be included in our Proxy
Statement for the 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, or the Proxy
Statement, to be filed with the SEC within 120 days of the fiscal
year ended December 31, 2021 and is incorporated herein by
reference.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Equity Securities
The following sets forth information regarding all unregistered
securities sold since December 31, 2020 (with share and per share
information retroactively adjusted to reflect an 8-to-1 reverse
split of our common stock and redeemable convertible preferred
stock in October 2021):
•
In November 2021, we issued 50,000 shares of our common stock to an
advisor as partial consideration for advisory services rendered in
connection with investor relations and related
matters.
•
In April 2021, we issued 714,272 shares of our Series F redeemable
convertible preferred stock and 285,704 Series F warrants to
various investors at a price of $14.00 per share pursuant to the
Series F redeemable convertible preferred stock and warrant
purchase agreement, and received aggregate gross proceeds of $10.0
million. In May 2021, we issued 71,428 shares of our Series F
redeemable convertible preferred stock as consideration for the
purchase of certain assets of Natural Merchants, Inc. We paid $0.8
million in fees to a placement agent in connection with the Series
F issuances.
•
From November 2020 through February 2021, we issued 532,331 shares
of our Series E redeemable convertible preferred stock to various
investors at a price of $14.00 per share pursuant to the Series E
redeemable convertible preferred stock purchase agreement, and
received aggregate gross proceeds of $7.5 million in an offering
made pursuant to Regulation A.
•
We granted stock options under the 2013 Plan to purchase an
aggregate of 436,173 shares of our common stock at a weighted
average exercise price of $5.28 per share. Options to purchase an
aggregate of 2,124,171 shares of our common stock were exercised at
a weighted average exercise price of $1.66 per share.
Unless otherwise stated, the issuances of the above securities were
deemed to be exempt from registration under the Securities Act in
reliance upon Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act or Regulation D
promulgated thereunder, or Rule 701 promulgated under Section 3(b)
of the Securities Act as transactions by an issuer not involving
any public offering or pursuant to benefit plans and contracts
relating to compensation as provided under Rule 701. Individuals
who purchased securities as described above represented their
intention to acquire the securities for investment only and not
with a view to or for sale in connection with any distribution
thereof, and appropriate legends were affixed to the share
certificates issued in such transactions.
Unless otherwise stated, none of the foregoing transactions
involved any underwriters, underwriting discounts or commissions or
any public offering.
57
Use of Proceeds
On November 15, 2021, we closed our IPO of our common stock in
which we issued and sold 1,692,308 shares of our common stock at a
price to the public of $13.00 per share. The shares were offered
pursuant to registration statements on Form S-1 (File Nos.
333-259828 and 333-260989), which became effective on November 10,
2021.
We raised approximately $17.7 million in proceeds, net of
underwriting discounts and commissions of approximately $1.5
million and offering costs of approximately $2.6 million. There has
been no material change in the intended use of proceeds from our
IPO as described in our final prospectus dated November 10, 2021
and filed with the SEC pursuant to Rule 424(b)(4) on November 12,
2021.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
None.
Item 6. [Reserved]
58
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition
and Results of Operations.
You should read the following discussion and analysis of our
financial condition and results of operations in conjunction with
our consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes
thereto included elsewhere in this Annual Report. Some of the
information contained in this discussion and analysis or set forth
elsewhere in this Annual Report, including information with respect
to our plans and strategy for our business, includes
forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.
You should read the sections titled “Risk Factors” and “Special
Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” contained elsewhere in
this Annual Report for a discussion of important factors that could
cause actual results to differ materially from the results
described in or implied by the forward-looking statements contained
in the following discussion and analysis.
All references to years, unless otherwise noted, refer to our
fiscal years, which end on December 31. Unless the context
otherwise requires, all references in this subsection to “we,”
“us,” “our,” “Winc” or the “Company” refer to Winc, Inc. and its
consolidated subsidiaries.
Overview
We are a differentiated platform for growing Alcoholic Beverages
brands, fueled by the joint capabilities of our data-driven brand
development strategy paired with a true omni-channel distribution
network. We believe our balanced platform is well-suited to gain
market share and drive meaningful long-term growth in the Alcoholic
Beverages market. Winc’s mission is to become the leading brand
builder within the Alcoholic Beverages industry through an
omni-channel growth platform.
As product innovators focused on building durable brands that
consumers love, we have developed a proprietary process,
called
Ideate,
Launch
and
Amplify,
that has allowed us to consistently produce quality wine brands in
a capital-efficient fashion. We believe this process is unique
within the Alcoholic Beverages industry, incorporating the
“Best
of the New”
and “Best
of the Old”
aspects of Alcoholic Beverages brand creation in a truly
omni-channel fashion. The “Best
of the New”
is highlighted by our data-rich DTC relationships via the Winc
digital platform. This data is a critical competitive advantage
that we use to help shape the ideation and development of our
brands. Our digitally native roots also provide us with a strong
core competency in digital marketing and data analytics that allows
us to interact in a more targeted and direct fashion with
end-consumers and
Amplify
brands in ways the legacy Alcoholic Beverages companies have yet to
consistently utilize. Our “Best
of the Old”
strategy is encompassed by our appreciation of the value creation
potential and durable power of proprietary brand development, as
well as the scale benefits that can be achieved by leveraging the
legacy wholesale distribution channel, through which the vast
majority of wine is still purchased. We view our omni-channel
platform as highly complementary because it creates a positive
feedback loop where incremental scale on either side of our
platform begets scale and success on the other.
We generate net revenues by building durable brands that consumers
love. We offer high-quality products in all 50 states either
through our DTC channel or the national distribution network in our
wholesale channel. Our omni-channel approach allows us to create
compelling order economics, differentiated product offerings,
consumer-led brands, and a loyal consumer following. We seek to
meet consumers however they want to shop, balancing deep consumer
connection with broad convenience and accessibility. We believe
this distinctive business model has allowed us to efficiently scale
our business while remaining agnostic as to the channel where
consumers purchase our products. Our integrated omni-channel
presence provides meaningful benefits to our consumer which we
believe is not easily replicated by our competitors.
As we continue to execute on our omni-channel strategy, we have
demonstrated success by significantly growing net revenues,
continuing to improve our online operational metrics, expanding our
wholesale distribution, and increasing the efficiency of our brand
development process. The following financial and operational
results were achieved during the years ended December 31, 2021 and
2020:
• we grew net revenues by 11.4% to $72.1 million from $64.7 million
for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020,
respectively;
• we expanded our retail accounts by 114.8% to 16,905 from 7,869
for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020,
respectively;
• our net loss increased to $14.6 million for the year ended
December 31, 2021 from $7.0 million for the year ended December 31,
2020; and
• our Adjusted EBITDA loss increased to $10.2 million for the year
ended December 31, 2021 from $5.1 million for the year ended
December 31, 2020.
See the section titled "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" for
information regarding Adjusted EBITDA, including a reconciliation
to the most directly comparable financial measure prepared in
accordance with GAAP.
Impact of COVID-19
In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the spread of
COVID-19 a pandemic. Shortly thereafter, we closed our
headquarters, supported our employees and contractors to work
remotely, and implemented travel restrictions. In addition, we
were
59
required to operate our fulfillment centers with reduced occupancy
to maintain social distancing requirements, which together with
increased DTC orders, led to minor delivery delays in some
instances. We have returned to full capacity in our fulfillment
centers.
The COVID-19 pandemic also significantly accelerated consumer
adoption of a wide variety of at-home delivery services, including
in the Alcoholic Beverages sector. Beginning in March 2020, we
experienced a significant increase in DTC demand due to changes to
consumer behaviors resulting from the various stay-at-home and
restaurant restriction orders and other restrictions placed on
consumers throughout much of the United States in response to the
COVID-19 pandemic. The growth in new consumer acquisition has
resulted in corresponding increases in “new consumer discount,”
resulting in lower DTC gross margins. While we believe this
represents a permanent shift in consumer behavior, future DTC
demand remains uncertain and difficult to predict.
Our wholesale net revenues declined in April and May of 2020 as a
result of the pandemic and government measures to slow the spread
of the COVID-19 pandemic. These restrictions included limited
operating hours, reduced capacity at dining and other venues and
decreased consumer interest in frequenting public gathering spaces.
While it is difficult to quantify the full impact the COVID-19
pandemic had on the wholesale channel as a whole, we believe the
rate of growth for our wholesale net revenues from 2020 to 2021 was
slightly impaired due to the restrictions noted above, specifically
with respect to on-premise sales at venues like restaurants and
bars. We do not believe that the COVID-19 pandemic materially
impacted our growth in wholesale net revenues for the year ended
December 31, 2021 as compared to December 31, 2020.
Although the global economy has begun to recover and the widespread
availability of vaccines has encouraged greater economic activity,
we are continuing to monitor the situation and we cannot predict
for how long, or the ultimate extent to which, the pandemic may
impact our operations, the markets in which we operate and consumer
behavior.
Key
Factors Affecting Our Performance and Growth
The Alcoholic Beverages market represents one of the largest total
addressable market opportunities in the CPG landscape, and, within
the Alcoholic Beverages market, the wine industry is a sizable
market. We believe we are one of the few wine companies that is
connecting with the next generation of consumers who prefer to shop
online, and we expect that connection will lead to a significant
and expanding market opportunity. With a strong portfolio of brands
and driven sales and performance marketing teams, we believe we
have the potential to seize a larger portion of the U.S. Alcoholic
Beverages market.
Our primary goal is to grow by building a portfolio of durable
brands that consumers love. As we strengthen our portfolio of
brands and increase our brand awareness, we believe that it will
become easier to acquire DTC consumers and grow our wholesale
business. Our DTC channel net revenues decreased by 1.7% for the
year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended December
31, 2020. DTC represented 74.8% of our total net revenues for the
year ended December 31, 2021. Our Wholesale channel net revenues
grew by 106.9% for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to
December 31, 2020. Wholesale represented 23.6% of our total net
revenues for the year ended December 31, 2021.
Our DTC channel growth slowed in 2021 as COVID-19 restrictions were
eased or lifted, though we believe the overall growth of our DTC
channel will continue beyond the pandemic. Additionally, the
significant growth within the Wholesale channel was fueled
primarily by an increase in retail accounts, more of the Company's
products being sold at each retailer and an acceleration in the
rate at which products sell at retail accounts. These factors were
further amplified by the Company's May 2021 purchase of certain
assets of Natural Merchants, Inc. We believe wholesale net revenues
will continue to grow but not at levels consistent with the growth
for the year ended December 31, 2021.
We believe the following factors and trends in our business have
driven our recent growth and are expected to remain key drivers of
our growth for the foreseeable future:
Brand Awareness and Loyalty
Our ability to promote and maintain brand awareness and loyalty is
critical to our success. Consumer appreciation of our brands is
reflected in the increase of online consumers in our DTC channel
and the additional retail accounts in our wholesale channel. We
believe we have a significant opportunity to continue to grow our
brand awareness and loyalty through word of mouth, brand marketing
and performance marketing. We have made significant investments to
strengthen our brand and generate awareness of our products through
our marketing strategy, which includes brand marketing campaigns
across various platforms, including email, digital, display, site,
direct-mail, commercials, and social media, as well as performance
marketing efforts, including retargeting, paid search and product
listing advertisements, paid social media advertisements, search
engine optimization, personalized email and mobile push
notifications through our mobile application. We plan to continue
to invest in our brand and performance marketing to help drive our
future growth.
Innovation
Ideation, development and innovation are core elements underpinning
our growth strategy. The improvement of existing products and the
introduction of new products have been, and continue to be,
integral to our growth. While we launched an aggregate of 7
innovation brands in the last two years, we have made significant
investments in our product development capabilities, which should
allow us to iterate faster and more efficiently in the future. Our
continued focus on brand innovation will be central to attracting
and retaining
60
consumers in the future. Our ability to successfully Ideate, Launch
and Amplify new products will depend on a variety of factors,
including our continued investment in innovation, integrated
business planning processes and capabilities.
Execution of Omni-channel Strategy
The continued execution of our omni-channel strategy impacts our
financial performance. We intend to continue leveraging our
marketing strategy to grow our DTC channel by driving increased
consumer traffic to our digital platform. We believe our digital
platform is a valuable tool for creating direct connections with
our consumers, influencing brand experience and understanding
consumer preference and behavior. Our wholesale channel is focused
on relationships with leading national distributors and retailers
that have broadened our consumer reach, raised our brand awareness
and allowed us to achieve additional scale. We aim to strengthen
these relationships to further increase their benefit. Our ability
to execute this strategy will depend on a number of factors, such
as distributors’ and retailers’ satisfaction with the sales our
products, our ability to develop high-quality and culturally
relevant brands and our introduction of innovative
products.
Key Financial and Operating Metrics
In addition to the measures presented in our financial statements,
we use the following key financial and operational metrics to
evaluate our business, measure our performance, develop financial
forecasts and make strategic decisions:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Years Ended December 31,
|
|
|
|
2021
|
|
|
2020
|
|
|
|
|
|
DTC
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
DTC net revenues
|
|
$
|
53,931
|
|
|
$
|
54,854
|
|
DTC gross profit
|
|
|
23,045
|
|
|
|
23,055
|
|
Average order value
|
|
$
|
71.91
|
|
|
$
|
63.04
|
|
Wholesale
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wholesale net revenues
|
|
$
|
17,042
|
|
|
$
|
8,237
|
|
Wholesale gross profit
|
|
|
6,473
|
|
|
|
2,393
|
|
Retail accounts
|
|
|
16,905
|
|
|
|
7,869
|
|
Consolidated
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net loss margin
|
|
|
-20.3
|
%
|
|
|
-10.8
|
%
|
Adjusted EBITDA¹
|
|
$
|
(10,199
|
)
|
|
$
|
(5,104
|
)
|
Adjusted EBITDA margin¹
|
|
|
-14.2
|
%
|
|
|
-7.9
|
%
|
___________________
(1) Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin are non-GAAP
measures and are presented for supplemental informational purposes
only and should not be considered as alternatives or substitutes to
financial information presented in accordance with GAAP. See the
section titled "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" for additional
information and a reconciliation of net loss to Adjusted EBITDA and
net loss margin to Adjusted EBITDA margin.
Average Order Value
We believe the continued growth of our average order value
demonstrates both our increasing value proposition for our consumer
base and their increasing affinity for our premium brands. We
define average order value as the sum of DTC net revenues, divided
by the total orders placed in that period. Total orders are the
summation of all completed individual purchase transactions in a
given period. Average order value may fluctuate as we expand into
and increase our presence in additional product
categories.
We increased AOV by 14.1%, to $71.91 from $63.04 for the years
ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
61
Retail Accounts
Retail account growth is a key metric for our continued growth in
wholesale as it is a measure of how widely our products are
distributed. The metric represents the number of retail accounts in
which we sold our products in a given period.
Components of Results of Operations
We evaluate our business and allocate resources among our
reportable business segments: (i) DTC and (ii)
Wholesale.
Net Revenues
We generate net revenues from the following revenue
streams:
DTC — We define DTC net revenues as net revenues generated from
consumers through our monthly membership or individual orders on
our digital platform. Members are charged a monthly membership and
are awarded credits in the same monetary value. Members can then
utilize their credits to purchase our brand wines at their
discretion. Members have the option to skip monthly charges,
accumulate credits or use credits when purchased so that the
membership is tailored to everyone’s preference and lifestyle.
Additionally, we have dedicated brand websites that generate orders
and net revenues for our core brands. Breakage revenue related to
prepaid credits and gift cards is reported in DTC net
revenues.
Breakage revenue is recognized based on historical redemption rates
of payments received in advance of performance. We determined that
a percentage of prepaid credits goes unredeemed. We recognize
breakage proportionally with credit redemptions in net revenues, or
when redemption is remote.
Wholesale — We define wholesale net revenues as net revenues
generated from wholesale distributors, state-operated licensees and
directly to retail accounts. Our wholesale channel success is based
on long-standing relationships with a highly developed network of
distributors in all U.S. states. We work closely with wholesale
distributors to increase the volume of our wines and number of
products that are sold by the retail accounts in their respective
territories. During the year ended December 31, 2021, one wholesale
distributor accounted for approximately 12% of wholesale net
revenues. During the year ended December 31, 2020, another
wholesale distributor accounted for approximately 14% of wholesale
net revenues.
Other Non-Reportable — We also generate an immaterial amount of net
revenues from a non- reportable segment that is comprised of a
small business line focused on testing new products to determine if
they have long-term viability prior to integration into the DTC
and/or wholesale distribution channels.
Cost of Revenues
Cost of revenues consists of:
•
wine-related inputs, such as grapes and semi-finished bulk
wine;
•
bottling materials (bottles, corks, and labeling
materials);
•
fulfillment costs (costs attributable to receiving, inspecting and
warehousing inventories, picking, packaging, and preparing orders
for shipment, including the variable costs of employing hourly
employees and temporary staff provided by agencies at our
fulfillment centers);
•
credit card fees related to DTC transactions;
•
inbound and outbound freight;
Gross Profit and Gross Margin
We define gross profit as net revenues less cost of revenues as
discussed above. Gross margin is gross profit expressed as a
percentage of net revenues. Our gross margin has fluctuated
historically and may continue to fluctuate from period to period
based on a number of factors, including the timing and mix of the
product offerings we sell, the timing and mix of sales through our
DTC and wholesale channels, and our ability to reduce costs,
including with respect to inflation and supply chain factors, in
any given period. Additionally, as our portfolio includes more
subscale, high-growth brands, gross margin may be negatively
impacted until economies of scale can be achieved.
62
DTC Gross Profit
We define DTC gross profit as DTC net revenues less DTC cost of
revenues. DTC gross margin is DTC gross profit expressed as a
percentage of DTC net revenues. DTC gross margin has fluctuated
historically and may continue to fluctuate from period to period
based on a number of factors, including the timing and mix of the
product offerings we sell, the timing and mix of sales through our
DTC channels, and our ability to reduce costs, in any given
period.
Wholesale Gross Profit
We define wholesale gross profit as wholesale net revenues less
wholesale cost of revenues. Wholesale gross margin is gross profit
expressed as a percentage of wholesale net revenues. Wholesale
gross margin has fluctuated historically and may continue to
fluctuate from period to period based on a number of factors,
including the timing and mix of the product offerings we sell, the
timing and mix of sales through our wholesale network, and our
ability to reduce costs, in any given period.
Operating Expenses
Operating expenses primarily consist of marketing, personnel, and
general and administrative expenses.
•
Our marketing expenses consist primarily of costs incurred to
acquire new consumers, retain existing consumers, build our brand
awareness through various offline and online paid advertising
channels, including television, digital and social media, direct
mail, radio and podcasts, email, brand activations, and strategic
brand partnerships.
•
Our personnel expenses consist primarily of payroll and related
expenses, including stock- based compensation.
•
Our general and administrative expenses consist of: (i) costs
associated with general corporate functions, such as depreciation
expense and rent relating to facilities and equipment and insurance
expense; (ii) professional fees and other general corporate costs;
(iii) travel-related expenses; and (iv) customer services costs,
such as third-party staffing to respond to inquiries from
consumers.
We expect our operating expenses to increase substantially for the
foreseeable future as we continue to increase our headcount to
support our existing business, increase our online consumer base,
and grow our business. We will also incur additional expenses as a
result of operating as a public company, including expenses related
to compliance with the rules and regulations of the SEC, additional
director and officer insurance expenses, investor relations
activities, and other administrative and professional
services.
Contract Liability
Contract liabilities, also referred to as deferred revenues, arise
as a result of the Winc.com subscription model. Deferred revenues
represent payments received from consumers in advance of ordering
goods and are referred to as “credits”. Winc.com members are
charged a monthly fee and are awarded credits equivalent to the
monetary value. Members are then able to utilize member credits at
their leisure to place an order on our website. Revenue is
recognized when the member takes control of the ordered goods, at
delivery. Credits do not expire or lose value over periods of
inactivity. We are not required by law to escheat the value of
unredeemed credits.
Other Income and Expense
Other income and expense consist primarily of income from a
forgiven Paycheck Protection Program loan, interest expense
associated with our credit facilities, rental income from sublease
agreements, and changes in fair value of warrants that were issued
in connection with past financing transactions. See “Liquidity and
Capital Resources — Credit Facilities.”
Results of Operations
Comparison of the Years Ended December 31, 2021 and 2020
The following table summarize the results of operations for our DTC
reportable segment for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020
(in thousands):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Years Ended December 31,
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2021
|
|
|
2020
|
|
|
Change $
|
|
|
Change %
|
|
DTC Net revenues
|
|
$
|
53,931
|
|
|
$
|
54,854
|
|
|
$
|
(923
|
)
|
|
|
-1.7
|
%
|
DTC Cost of revenues
|
|
|
30,886
|
|
|
|
31,799
|
|
|
|
(913
|
)
|
|
|
-2.9
|
%
|
DTC Gross profit
|
|
$
|
23,045
|
|
|
$
|
23,055
|
|
|
$
|
(10
|
)
|
|
|
0.0
|
%
|
DTC Net Revenues
DTC net revenues for the year ended December 31, 2021 was $53.9
million, compared to $54.9 million for the year ended December 31,
2020, a decrease of $0.9 million. This decrease was primarily
driven by a 18.2% decrease in order volume year over year,
partially offset by a 14.1% increase in AOV. During the years ended
December 31, 2021, we had a 43.2% decrease in first time orders,
which contributed to the increased AOV because first orders offer
significant discounts.
63
DTC Cost of Revenues
DTC cost of revenues for the year ended December 31, 2021 was $30.9
million, compared to $31.8 million for the year ended December 31,
2020, a decrease of $0.9 million or 2.9%. The decrease in DTC cost
of revenues is primarily due to a $0.8 million decrease in product
costs due to strategic sourcing. DTC cost of revenues as a
percentage of DTC net revenues decreased approximately 0.7%,
resulting in increased margin. This change is primarily related to
a $3.8 million decrease period over period in discounts related to
first orders.
DTC Gross Profit
Changes in DTC gross profit are a function of the changes in DTC
net revenues and DTC cost of revenues discussed above. DTC gross
profit remained consistent for the years ended December 31, 2021
and 2020.
The following table summarize the results of operations for our
wholesale reportable segment for the year ended December 31, 2021
and 2020 (in thousands):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Years Ended December 31,
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2021
|
|
|
2020
|
|
|
Change $
|
|
|
Change %
|
|
Wholesale Net revenues
|
|
$
|
17,042
|
|
|
$
|
8,237
|
|
|
$
|
8,805
|
|
|
|
106.9
|
%
|
Wholesale Cost of revenues
|
|
|
10,569
|
|
|
|
5,844
|
|
|
|
4,725
|
|
|
|
80.9
|
%
|
Wholesale Gross profit
|
|
$
|
6,473
|
|
|
$
|
2,393
|
|
|
$
|
4,080
|
|
|
|
170.5
|
%
|
Wholesale Net Revenues
Wholesale net revenues for the year ended December 31, 2021 was
$17.0 million, compared to $8.2 million for the year ended December
31, 2020, an increase of $8.8 million or 106.9%. Growth in
wholesale net revenues was primarily attributable to an increase in
the number of retail accounts through wholesale distribution as a
result of organic growth of our brands, as well as the purchase of
certain assets from Natural Merchants, Inc., which combined
resulted in a $8.3 million increase.
Wholesale Cost of Revenues
Wholesale cost of revenues for the ended December 31, 2021 was
$10.6 million, compared to $5.8 million for the year ended December
31, 2020, an increase of $4.7 million or 80.9%.
The increase in wholesale cost of revenues was primarily
attributable to the increase in wholesale net revenues for the
year. This increase was partially offset by approximately $0.9
million in lower product costs due to strategic
sourcing.
Wholesale Gross Profit
Changes in wholesale gross profit are a function of the changes in
wholesale net revenues and wholesale cost of revenues discussed
above. Wholesale gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2021
was $6.5 million compared to $2.4 million for the year ended
December 31, 2020, an increase of $4.1 million or
170.5%.
The following table summarize the results of operations for our
other non-reportable segments for the year ended December 31, 2021
and 2020 (in thousands):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Years Ended December 31,
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2021
|
|
|
2020
|
|
|
Change $
|
|
|
Change %
|
|
Other Net revenues
|
|
$
|
1,096
|
|
|
$
|
1,616
|
|
|
$
|
(520
|
)
|
|
|
-32.2
|
%
|
Other Cost of revenues
|
|
|
489
|
|
|
|
709
|
|
|
|
(220
|
)
|
|
|
-31.0
|
%
|
Other Gross profit
|
|
$
|
607
|
|
|
$
|
907
|
|
|
$
|
(300
|
)
|
|
|
-33.1
|
%
|
Other Net Revenues
Other non-reportable net revenues for the year ended December 31,
2021 was $1.1 million, compared to $1.6 million for the year ended
December 31, 2020, a decrease of $0.5 million or 32.2%.
The decrease in other net revenues was primarily attributable to
$0.3 million lower new revenues of Wonderful Wine, Co. due to
decreased marketing spend as advertising priorities shifted during
the period and $0.2 million lower net revenues generated from the
Summer Water Société program due to limited volume sold to satisfy
demand in wholesale.
Other Cost of Revenues
Other non-reportable cost of revenues for the year ended December
31, 2021 was $0.5 million, compared to $0.7 million for the year
ended December 31, 2020, a decrease of $0.2 million or 31.0%.
Decline in other non-reportable cost of revenues was entirely
driven by the decrease in other non-reportable net revenues
discussed above.
64
Other Gross Profit
Changes in other non-reportable gross profit are a function of the
changes in other non-reportable net revenues and other
non-reportable cost of revenues discussed above. Other
non-reportable gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2021
was $0.6 million compared to $0.9 million for the year ended
December 31, 2020, a decrease of 33.1%.
Operating Expenses
Comparison of the Years Ended December 31, 2021 and 2020
The following table identifies our operating expenses and other
income and expense items for the years ended December 31, 2021 and
2020 (in thousands).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Years Ended December 31,
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2021
|
|
|
2020
|
|
|
Change $
|
|
|
Change %
|
|
Marketing
|
|
$
|
17,516
|
|
|
$
|
17,388
|
|
|
$
|
128
|
|
|
|
0.7
|
%
|
Personnel
|
|
|
15,500
|
|
|
|
7,582
|
|
|
|
7,918
|
|
|
|
104.4
|
%
|
General and administrative
|
|
|
13,214
|
|
|
|
7,545
|
|
|
|
5,669
|
|
|
|
75.1
|
%
|
Production and operation
|
|
|
318
|
|
|
|
169
|
|
|
|
149
|
|
|
|
88.2
|
%
|
Creative development
|
|
|
374
|
|
|
|
83
|
|
|
|
291
|
|
|
|
350.6
|
%
|
Total operating expenses
|
|
$
|
46,922
|
|
|
$
|
32,767
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Interest expense
|
|
|
(654
|
)
|
|
|
(834
|
)
|
|
|
180
|
|
|
|
-21.6
|
%
|
Income (expense) from change in fair value of warrant
liabilities
|
|
|
388
|
|
|
|
(208
|
)
|
|
|
596
|
|
|
|
-286.5
|
%
|
Other income, net
|
|
|
1,101
|
|
|
|
523
|
|
|
|
578
|
|
|
|
-110.5
|
%
|
Gain on debt forgiveness from Paycheck Protection Program note
payable
|
|
|