Barfresh Food Group (BRFH) Risk Analysis

In May 2023, we received a letter from Nasdaq indicating that we were not in compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(b)(1), which requires companies listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market to maintain a minimum of $2,500,000 in stockholders' equity for continued listing. In our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2023, we reported stockholders' equity of $1,845,000, thereby failing to satisfy Listing Rule 5550(b)(1). While we recently regained compliance with this Rule, our stockholders' equity at December 31, 2023 was only $2,503,000. Incurring net losses going forward may cause us to fail to meet Nasdaq listing standards and result in our common stock only being tradable in the over-the-counter markets.

We use information technology and third-party service providers to support our business processes and activities, including supporting critical business operations such as manufacturing and distribution; communicating with our suppliers, customers and employees; maintaining effective accounting processes and financial and disclosure controls; executing corporate transactions; conducting research and development activities; and meeting regulatory, legal and tax requirements. Shared service centers managed by third parties provide an increasing number of services important to conducting our business, including accounting, internal control, human resources and computing functions. Continuity of business applications and services has been, and may in the future be, disrupted by events such as infection by viruses or malware; other cybersecurity attacks; issues with or errors in systems' maintenance or security; power outages; hardware or software failures; denial of service attacks; telecommunication failures; natural disasters; terrorist attacks; and other catastrophic occurrences. Our use of new and emerging technologies such as cloud-based services and mobile applications continues to evolve, presenting new and additional risks in managing access to our data, relying on third parties to manage and safeguard data, ensuring access to our systems and availability of third-party systems. In addition, we are experiencing new and more frequent attempts by third parties to gain access to our systems, such as through increased email phishing of our workforce. We leverage third parties for various technology and business services who may experience cybersecurity breaches, whether from circumvention of security systems, denial-of-service attacks or other cyberattacks such as hacking, phishing attacks, computer viruses, ransomware or malware, cyber extortion, employee or insider error, malfeasance, social engineering, physical breaches or other actions or attempts to exploit vulnerabilities may cause confidential information or Personally Identifiable Information belonging to us or our employees, customers, consumers, partners, suppliers, or governmental or regulatory authorities to be misused or breached. These risks could be magnified since the number of employees, contractors and others working outside of offices increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, continued geopolitical turmoil, including the ongoing war in Ukraine, has heightened the risk of cyberattacks. When risks such as these materialize, the need for us to coordinate with various third-party service providers and for third-party service providers to coordinate amongst themselves might increase challenges and costs to resolve related issues. Our information security program includes capabilities designed to evaluate and mitigate cyber risks arising from third-party service providers. Cyber threats to externally-hosted technology and business services are beyond our control. Additionally, new initiatives, such as those related to digital commerce and direct sales, that increase the amount of confidential information that we process and maintain increase our potential exposure to a cybersecurity breach. Furthermore, the rapid evolution and increased adoption of artificial intelligence technologies may intensify our cybersecurity risks. If our controls, disaster recovery and business continuity plans or those of our third-party providers do not effectively respond to or resolve the issues related to any such disruptions in a timely manner, our product sales, financial condition, results of operations and stock price may be materially and adversely affected, and we might experience delays in reporting our financial results, loss of intellectual property and damage to our reputation or brands.

We compete with many well-established companies, food service and otherwise, on the basis of taste, quality and price of product offered, customer service, atmosphere, location and overall guest experience. Our success depends, in part, upon the popularity of our products and our ability to develop new menu items that appeal to consumers across all four day parts. Shifts in consumer preferences away from our products, our inability to develop new menu items that appeal to consumers across all day parts, or changes in our menu that eliminate items popular with some consumers could harm our business. We compete with other smoothie and juice bar retailers, specialty coffee retailers, yogurt and ice cream shops, bagel shops, fast-food restaurants, delicatessens, cafés, take-out food service companies, supermarkets and convenience stores. Our competitors change with each of the four day parts, ranging from coffee bars and bakery cafés to casual dining chains. Many of our competitors or potential competitors have substantially greater financial and other resources than we do, which may allow them to react to changes in the market quicker than we can. In addition, aggressive pricing by our competitors or the entrance of new competitors into our markets, could reduce our revenue and operating margins. We also compete with other employers in our markets for workers and may become subject to higher labor costs as a result of such competition.

Our distributors are not required to place minimum monthly or annual orders for our products. Accordingly, we cannot predict the timing or quantity of purchases by any of our independent distributors or whether any of our distributors will continue to purchase products from us in the same frequencies and volumes as they may have done in the past. Additionally, our larger distributors and partners may make orders that are larger than we have historically been required to fill. Shortages in inventory levels, supply of raw materials or other key supplies could negatively affect us.

Our success depends to a significant extent on discretionary consumer spending, which is influenced by general economic conditions and the availability of discretionary income. There is no certainty regarding economic conditions in the United States, and credit and financial markets and confidence in economic conditions could deteriorate at any time. Accordingly, we may experience declines in revenue during economic turmoil or during periods of uncertainty including uncertainty resulting from war, terrorism or contagious disease. Any material decline in the amount of discretionary spending, leading cost-conscious consumers to be more selective in restaurants visited, could have a material adverse effect on our revenue, results of operations, business and financial condition.