COFFEE HOLDING CO INC - Annual Report: 2017 (Form 10-K)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Form 10-K

For the fiscal year ended October 31, 2017

For the transition period from ____________ to _______________.

Commission file number: 001-32491

COFFEE HOLDING CO., INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (718) 832-0800

Securities registered under Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered under Section 12(g) of the Exchange Act: None

Indicate by check mark if registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes [  ] No [X]

Indicate by check mark if registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes [  ] No [X]

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 past 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 [X] No [  ]

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted 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 and post such files). Yes [X] No [  ]

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained in, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. [X]

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, or a non-accelerated filer. See definition of “accelerated filer and large accelerated filer” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

Emerging Growth Company [  ]

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 is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes [  ] No [X]

The aggregate market value of the common equity held by non-affiliates of the registrant, computed by reference to the closing price of the registrant’s common stock on the NASDAQ Capital Market on April 30, 2017, was $28,554,281.

As of January 20, 2018, the registrant had 5,742,894 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share, outstanding.

Documents incorporated by reference

Portions of the registrant’s proxy statement for the 2017 annual meeting of stockholders to be filed pursuant to Regulation 14A within 120 days after the registrant’s fiscal year ended October 31, 2017, are incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I

General Overview

Products and Operations. We are an integrated wholesale coffee roaster and dealer in the United States. Our core products can be divided into three categories:

Our private label and branded coffee products are sold throughout the United States, Canada and certain countries in Asia to supermarkets, wholesalers, and individually owned and multi-unit retail customers. Our unprocessed green coffee, which includes over 90 specialty coffee offerings, is primarily sold to specialty gourmet roasters.

We conduct our operations in accordance with strict freshness and quality standards. All of our private label and branded coffees are produced from high quality coffee beans that are deep roasted for full flavor using a slow roasting process that has been perfected utilizing our more than thirty years of experience in the coffee industry. In order to ensure freshness, our products are delivered to our customers within 72 hours of roasting. We believe that our long history has enabled us to develop a loyal customer base.

In June 2016, we acquired substantially all of the assets of Coffee Kinetics LLC (doing business as Sonofresco) through our wholly-owned subsidiary Sonofresco, LLC (“Sonofresco” or “SONO”), including equipment, inventory, customer lists, relationships and accounts payable. In addition to our wholesale green coffee, private label coffee and branded coffee product offerings, we currently sell tabletop coffee roasting equipment to our customers through Sonofresco.

On February 23, 2017, we purchased all the outstanding common stock of Comfort Foods, Inc. (“CFI”). CFI is a medium sized regional roaster, manufacturing both branded and private label coffee for retail and foodservice customers located predominantly in the northeast United States marketplace.

We were incorporated on October 9, 1995 under the laws of the State of Nevada under the name Transpacific International Group Corp (“Transpacific”). On April 16, 1998, Transpacific completed a merger with Coffee Holding Co., Inc., a New York corporation. Upon the consummation of the merger, Coffee Holding Co., Inc. was merged into Transpacific and Transpacific changed its name to Coffee Holding Co., Inc.

Our corporate offices are located at 3475 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island, New York 10314. Our telephone number is (718) 832-0800 and our website address is www.coffeeholding.com. The information on our website is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Our Competitive Strengths

To achieve our growth objectives described below, we intend to leverage the following competitive strengths:

Positioned to Profitably Grow Through Varying Cycles of the Coffee Market. We believe that we are one of the few coffee companies to offer a broad array of branded and private label roasted ground coffees and wholesale green coffee across the spectrum of consumer tastes, preferences and price points. While many of our competitors engage in distinct segments of the coffee business, we sell products in each of the following areas:

Our branded and private label roasted ground coffees are sold at competitive and value price levels while some of our other branded and specialty coffees are sold predominantly at premium price levels. Premium price level coffee is high-quality gourmet coffee, such as AA Arabica coffee, which sell at a substantial premium over traditional retail canned coffee, while competitive and value price level coffee is mainstream or traditional canned coffee. Because of this diversification, we believe that our profitability is not dependent on any one area of the coffee industry and, therefore, is less sensitive than our competition to potential coffee commodity price and overall economic volatility.

Wholesale Green Coffee Market Presence. As a large roaster-dealer of green coffee, we believe that we are favorably positioned to increase our specialty coffee sales. Since 1998, we have increased the number of our wholesale green coffee customers, including coffee houses, single store operators, mall coffee stores and mail order sellers, by 547% from 150 to 971. We are a charter member of the Specialty Coffee Association of America and one of the largest distributors of Swiss Water Processed Decaffeinated Coffees and Datteral specialty Brazil coffees along the east coast of the United States. Our over 40 years of experience as a roaster and a dealer of green coffee allows us to provide our roasting experience as a value added service to our gourmet roaster customers. The assistance we provide to our customers includes training, coffee blending and market identification. We believe that our relationships with wholesale green coffee customers and our focus on selling green coffee as a wholesaler has enabled us to participate in the growth of the specialty coffee market while mitigating the risks associated with the competitive retail specialty coffee environment.

Diverse Portfolio of Differentiated Branded Coffees. We have amassed a portfolio of five proprietary name brands sold to supermarkets, wholesalers and individually owned stores in the United States, including brands for specialty espresso, Latin espresso, Italian espresso, 100% Colombian coffee and blended and flavored coffees. In addition, we have entered into a licensing agreement with Del Monte Corporation for the exclusive right to use the S&W trademark in the United States and other countries approved by Del Monte Corporation in connection with the production, manufacture and sale of roasted whole bean and ground coffee for distribution to retail customers. Our existing portfolio of differentiated brands combined with our management expertise serve as a platform to add additional name brands through acquisition or licensing agreements which target product niches and segments that do not compete with our existing brands.

Management Has Extensive Experience in the Coffee Industry. We have been a family-operated business for three generations. Throughout this time, we have remained strong through varying cycles in the coffee industry and the economy. Andrew Gordon, our President, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, and David Gordon, our Executive Vice President – Operations, have worked with Coffee Holding for 35 and 37 years, respectively. David Gordon is an original member of the Specialty Coffee Association of America. We believe that our employees and management are dedicated to our vision and mission, which is to produce high quality products, as well as to provide quality and responsive service to our customers.

Our Growth Strategy

We believe that significant growth opportunities exist by selectively pursuing strategic acquisitions and alliances, targeting the rapidly growing Hispanic market in the United States, increasing penetration with existing customers by adding new products, and developing our food service business. By capitalizing on this strategy, we hope to continue to grow our business with our commitment to quality and personalized service to our customers. We do not intend to compete on price alone nor do we intend to expand sales at the expense of profitability.

Selectively Pursue Strategic Acquisitions and Alliances. We have expanded our operations by acquiring coffee companies, entering into strategic alliances and acquiring or licensing brands, which complement our business objectives and we intend to continue to seek such opportunities.

Grow Our Cafe Caribe and Cafe Supremo Products. We believe the Hispanic population in the United States is the fastest growing and now represents the largest minority demographic in the United States. We believe there is significant opportunity for our Café Caribe and Café Supremo brands to gain market share among Hispanic consumers in the United States. Café Caribe, which has historically been our leading brand by poundage, is a specialty espresso coffee that targets espresso coffee drinkers and, in particular, Hispanic consumers. Café Supremo is a specialty espresso coffee which is priced for the more price sensitive Hispanic espresso coffee drinker.

Further Market Penetration of Our Niche Products. We intend to capture additional market share through our existing distribution channels by selectively adding or introducing new brand names and products across multiple price points, including:

Our Core Products

Our core products can be divided into three categories:

Wholesale Green Coffee. The specialty coffee market represents the fastest growing area of our industry. The number of gourmet coffee houses have been increasing in all areas of the United States. The growth in specialty coffee sales has created a marketplace for higher quality and differentiated products, which can be priced at a premium in the marketplace. As a large roaster-dealer of green coffee, we are favorably positioned to increase our specialty coffee sales. We sell green coffee beans to small roasters and coffee shop operators located throughout the United States and carry over approximately 90 different varieties. Specialty green coffee beans are sold unroasted, direct from warehouses to small roasters and gourmet coffee shop operators, which then roast the beans themselves. We sell from as little as one bag (132 pounds) to a full truckload (44,000 pounds) of specialty green coffee beans, depending on the size and need of the customer. We believe that we can increase sales of wholesale green coffee without an increase in infrastructure as well as without venturing into the highly competitive retail specialty coffee environment. We believe that by utilizing our current strategy we can be as profitable or more profitable than our competitors in this segment by selling “one bag at a time” rather than “one cup at a time.”

Private Label Coffee. We roast, blend, package and sell coffee under private labels for companies throughout the United States and Canada. Our private label coffee is sold in cans, brick packages and instants in a variety of sizes. As of October 31, 2017, we supplied coffee under approximately 26 different labels to wholesalers and retailers. We produce private label coffee for customers who desire to sell coffee under their own name but do not want to engage in the manufacturing process. Our private label customers seek a quality similar to the national brands at a lower cost, which represents a better value for the consumer.

Branded Coffee. We roast and blend our branded coffee according to our own recipes and package the coffee at our facilities in La Junta, Colorado, North Andover, Massachusetts and Brecksville, Ohio. We then sell the packaged coffee under our brand labels to supermarkets, wholesalers and individually-owned stores throughout the United States.

We hold trademarks for each of our proprietary name brands and have the exclusive right to use the S&W, IL CLASSICO brand names in the United States in connection with the production, manufacture and sale of roasted whole bean and ground coffee for distribution at the retail level. For further information regarding our trademark rights, see “Business—Trademarks.”

Each of our name brands is directed at a particular segment of the coffee market. Our branded coffees are:

Cafe Caribe, a specialty espresso coffee that targets espresso coffee drinkers and, in particular, the Hispanic consumer market;

Don Manuel, is produced from the finest 100% Colombian coffee beans. Don Manuel is an upscale quality product which commands a substantial premium compared to the more traditional brown coffee blends. We also use this known trademark in our food service business because of the high brand quality;

S&W, an upscale canned coffee established in 1921 and includes Premium, Premium Decaf, French Roast, Colombian, Colombian Decaf, Swiss Water Decaf, Kona, Mellow’d Roast and IL CLASSICO lines;

Cafe Supremo, a specialty espresso that targets espresso drinkers of all backgrounds and tastes. It is designed to introduce coffee drinkers to the tastes of dark roasted coffee;

Via Roma, an Italian espresso targeted at the more traditional espresso drinker; and

Premier Roasters, a line of high quality retail and foodservice products packed in composite cans and poly bags.

Harmony Bay, an upscale line of both flavored beans and bags incorporating an array of unique flavors including hazelnut and winterspice.

Other Products

We also offer several niche products, including:

Raw Materials

Coffee is a commodity traded on the Commodities and Futures Exchange subject to price fluctuations. Over the past five years, the average price per pound of coffee beans ranged from approximately $1.03 to $3.05. The price for coffee beans on the commodities market as of October 31, 2017 and 2016 was $1.25 and $1.64 per pound, respectively. Specialty green coffee, unlike most coffee, is not tied directly to the commodities cash markets. Instead, it tends to trade on a negotiated basis at a substantial premium over commodity coffee pricing, depending on the origin, supply and demand at the time of purchase. We are a licensed Fair Trade dealer for Fair Trade certified coffee. Fair Trade certified coffee helps small coffee farmers to increase their incomes and improve the prospects of their communities and families by guaranteeing farmers a minimum price of ten cents above the current market price. Our Ohio Facility operated by Generations Coffee Company, LLC (“GCC”) is certified organic by the Organic Crop Improvement Association (OCIA). All of our specialty green coffees, as well as all of the other coffees we import for roasting, are subject to multiple levels of quality control.

We purchase our green coffee from dealers located primarily within the United States. The dealers supply us with coffee beans from many countries, including Colombia, Mexico, Kenya, Indonesia, Brazil and Uganda. For the fiscal years ended 2017 and 2016, approximately 50% and 43%, respectively of all of our green coffee purchases were from five suppliers. One of these suppliers, Rothfos Corporation, accounted for approximately $6.7 million, or 10%, in 2017, and $8.5 million, or 13%, in 2016, of our total product purchases. An employee of Rothfos Corporation is one of our directors. We do not have any formalized, material agreements or long-term contracts with any of these suppliers. Rather, our purchases are typically made pursuant to individual purchase orders. We do not believe that the loss of any one supplier, including Rothfos, would have a material adverse effect on our operations due to the availability of alternate suppliers.

The supply and price of coffee beans are subject to volatility and are influenced by numerous factors which are beyond our control. Supply and price can be affected by factors such as weather, politics, currency fluctuations and economics within the countries that export coffee. Increases in the cost of coffee beans can, to a certain extent, be passed on to our customers in the form of higher prices for coffee beans and processed coffee. Drastic or prolonged increases in coffee prices may also adversely impact our business as it could lead to a decline in overall consumption of coffee. Similarly, rapid decreases in the cost of coffee beans may force us to lower our sale prices before realizing cost reductions in our purchases.

We subject all of our private unroasted green coffee to both a pre-shipment sample approval and an additional sample approval upon arrival into the United States. Once the arrival sample is approved, we then bring the coffee to one of our facilities to roast and blend according to our own strict specifications. During the roasting and blending process, samples are pulled off the production line and tested on an hourly basis to ensure that each batch roasted is consistent with the others and meets the strict quality standards demanded by our customers and us.

Our Use of Derivatives

The supply and price of coffee beans are subject to volatility and are influenced by numerous factors which are beyond our control. Historically, we have used, and intend to continue to use in a limited capacity, short-term coffee futures and options contracts primarily for the purpose of partially hedging the effects of changing green coffee prices and to reduce our costs of sales, as further explained in Note 2 of the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements in this Report. In addition, we acquired, and expect to continue to acquire, futures contracts with longer terms, generally three to four months, primarily for the purpose of guaranteeing an adequate supply of green coffee. Realized and unrealized gains or losses on options and futures contracts are reflected in our cost of sales. Gains on options and futures contracts reduce our cost of sales and losses on options and futures contracts increase our cost of sales. The use of these derivative financial instruments has generally enabled us to mitigate the effect of changing prices. We believe that, in normal economic times, our hedging policies remain a vital element of our business model not only in controlling our cost of sales, but also giving us the flexibility to obtain the inventory necessary to continue to grow our sales while trying to minimize margin compression during a time of historically high coffee prices. However, no strategy can entirely eliminate pricing risks and we generally remain exposed to losses on futures contracts when prices decline significantly in a short period of time, and we would generally remain exposed to supply risk in the event of non-performance by the counterparties to any of our futures contracts. Although we have had net gains on options and futures contracts in the past, we have incurred significant losses on options and futures contracts during some reporting periods. In these cases, our cost of sales has increased, resulting in a decrease in our profitability or increase our losses. Such losses have and could in the future materially increase our cost of sales and materially decrease our profitability and adversely affect our stock price. See “Item 1A – Risk Factors - If our hedging policy is not effective, we may not be able to control our coffee costs, we may be forced to pay greater than market value for green coffee and our profitability may be reduced.” Failure to properly design and implement an effective hedging strategy may materially adversely affect our business and operating results. If the hedges that we enter do not adequately offset the risks of coffee bean price volatility or our hedges result in losses, our cost of sales may increase, resulting in a decrease in profitability or increased losses. As previously announced, as a result of the volatile nature of the commodities markets, we have and are continuing to scale back our use of hedging and short-term trading of coffee futures and options contracts, and intend to continue to use these practices in a limited capacity going forward. See “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk—Commodity Price Risks.”

Trademarks and Tradename

We hold trademarks, registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, for all seven of our proprietary coffee brands and an exclusive license for S&W, IL CLASSICO brands for sale in the United States. Trademark registrations are subject to periodic renewal and we anticipate maintaining our registrations. We believe that our brands are recognizable in the marketplace and that brand recognition is important to the success of our branded coffee business.

Customers

We sell our private label and our branded coffee to some of the largest retail and wholesale customers in the United States (according to Supermarket News). We sell wholesale green coffee to Keurig Green Mountain, Inc. “GMCR”. Sales to GMCR accounted for approximately $5.9 million or approximately 8% of our net sales for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2017, and $22.6 million or 29% for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2016.

Although our agreements with wholesale customers generally contain only pricing terms, our contracts with certain customers also contain minimum and maximum purchase obligations at fixed prices. Because our profits on a fixed-price contract could decline if coffee prices increased, we acquire futures contracts with longer terms (generally three to four months) primarily for the purpose of guaranteeing an adequate supply of green coffee at favorable prices. Although the use of these derivative financial instruments has generally enabled us to mitigate the effect of changing prices, no strategy can entirely eliminate pricing risks or increased losses and we generally remain exposed to losses on futures contacts when prices decline significantly in a short period of time, and we would generally remain exposed to supply risk in the event of non-performance by the counterparties to any futures contracts. See “Our Use of Derivatives.”

Marketing

We market our private label and wholesale coffee through trade shows, industry publications, face-to-face contact and through the use of our internal sales force and non-exclusive independent food and beverage sales brokers. We also use our web site (www.coffeeholding.com) as a method of marketing our coffee products and ourselves.

For our private label and branded coffees, we will, from time to time in conjunction with retailers and with wholesalers, conduct in-store promotions, such as product demonstrations, coupons, price reductions, two-for-one sales and new product launches to capture changing consumer taste preferences for upscale canned coffees.

We evaluate opportunities for growth consistent with our business objectives. In addition, we have established relationships with independent sales brokers to market our products across the United States, in areas of the country where we have not had a high penetration of sales and Canada. We utilize our in-house sales personnel to market our private label brands. We intend to capture additional market share in our existing distribution channels by selectively adding or introducing new brand names and products across multiple price points, including niche specialty blends, private label “value” blends and tea and our own brands, filter packages, and peripheral products.

Charitable Activities

We are also a supporter of several coffee-oriented charitable organizations and during fiscal 2017 and 2016, we donated approximately $49,000 and $46,000, respectively, to charities.

Competition

The coffee market is highly competitive. We compete in the following areas:

Wholesale Green Coffee. There are many green coffee dealers throughout the United States. Many of these dealers have greater financial resources than we do. However, we believe that we have both the knowledge and the capability to assist small specialty gourmet coffee roasters with developing and growing their businesses. Our over 40 years of experience as a roaster and a dealer of green coffee allows us to provide our roasting experience as a value added service to our gourmet roaster customers. While other coffee merchants may be able to offer lower prices for coffee beans, we market ourselves as a value-added supplier to small roasters, with the ability to help them market their specialty coffee products and develop a customer base. The assistance we provide our customers includes training, coffee blending and market identification. Because specialty green coffee beans are sold unroasted to small coffee shops and roasters that market their products to local gourmet customers, we do not believe that our specialty green coffee customers compete with our private label or branded coffee lines of business. We believe that the addition of Organic Products Trading Company, LLC (“OPTCO”) and Sonofresco as well as our external green coffee salespeople allows us to compete more effectively throughout the country and Canada.

Private Label Competition. There are several major producers of coffee for private label sales in the United States. Many other companies produce coffee for sale on a regional basis. Our main competitor is the Massimo Zanetti Beverage Company. The Massimo Zanetti Beverage Company is larger and has more financial and other resources than we do and, therefore, is able to devote more resources to product development and marketing. We believe that we remain competitive by providing a higher level of quality and customer service. This service includes ensuring that the coffee produced for each label maintains a consistent taste and is delivered on time and in the proper quantities.

Branded Competition. Our proprietary brand coffees compete with many other brands that are sold in supermarkets and specialty stores, primarily in the Northeastern United States. The branded coffee market in both the Northeast and elsewhere is dominated by three large companies: Kraft General Foods, Inc. (owner of the Maxwell House brand), J.M. Smucker Co. (owner of the Folgers and Café Bustelo brands) and Massimo Zanetti Beverage Group which also markets specialty coffee in addition to non-specialty coffee. Our large competitors have greater access to capital and a greater ability to conduct marketing and promotions. We believe that, while our competitors’ brands may be more nationally recognizable, our Café Caribe and Café Supremo brands are competitive in the fast growing Hispanic demographic and our S&W brand has been a popular and recognizable brand on the west coast for over 80 years.

Government Regulation

Our coffee roasting operations are subject to various governmental laws and regulations, which require us to obtain licenses relating to customs, health and safety, building and land use and environmental protection. Our roasting facility is subject to state and local air-quality and emissions regulation. If we encounter difficulties in obtaining any necessary licenses or if we have difficulty complying with these laws and regulations, then we could be subject to fines and penalties, which could have a material adverse effect on our profitability. In addition, our product offerings could be limited, thereby reducing our revenues.

We believe that we are in compliance in all material respects with all such laws and regulations and that we have obtained all material licenses and permits that are required for the operation of our business. We are not aware of any environmental regulations that have or that we believe will have a material adverse effect on our operations.

Employees

We have 74 full-time employees. None of our employees are represented by unions or collective bargaining agreements. Our management believes that we maintain good working relationships with our employees. To supplement our internal sales staff, we sometimes engage independent national and regional sales brokers as independent contractors who work on a commission basis.

An investment in our common stock is subject to risks inherent in our business. Before making an investment decision, you should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below together with all of the other information included in this report. In addition to the risks and uncertainties described below, other risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial also may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. The value or market price of our common stock could decline due to any of these identified or other risks, and you could lose all of your investment.

Risks affecting our Company

Because our business is highly dependent upon a single commodity, coffee, any decrease in demand for coffee could materially adversely affect our revenues and profitability. Our business is centered on essentially one commodity: coffee. Our operations have primarily focused on the following areas of the coffee industry:

Demand for our products is affected by:

Because we rely on a single commodity, any decrease in demand for coffee would harm our business more than if we had more diversified product offerings and could materially adversely affect our revenues and operating results.

If we are unable to geographically expand our branded and private label products, our growth will be impeded which could result in reduced sales and profitability. Our business strategy emphasizes, among other things, geographic expansion of our branded and private label products as opportunities arise. We may not be able to implement successfully this portion of our business strategy. Our ability to implement this portion of our business strategy is dependent on our ability to:

Our sales and profitability may be adversely affected if we fail to successfully expand the geographic distribution of our branded and private label products. In addition, our expenses could increase and our profits could decrease as we implement our growth strategy.

If our hedging policy is not effective, we may not be able to control our coffee costs, we may be forced to pay greater than market value for green coffee and our profitability may be reduced. The supply and price of coffee beans are subject to volatility and are influenced by numerous factors which are beyond our control. We have used and expect to continue to use to a lesser extent short-term coffee futures and options contracts for the purpose of hedging the effects of changing green coffee prices. In addition, we have acquired and expect to continue to acquire to a lesser extent futures contracts with longer terms, generally three to four months, for the purpose of guaranteeing an adequate supply of green coffee. Realized and unrealized gains or losses on options and futures contracts are reflected in our cost of sales. Gains on options and futures contracts reduce our cost of sales and losses on options and futures contracts increase our cost of sales.

The use of these derivative financial instruments has generally enabled us to mitigate the effect of changing prices. However, no strategy can entirely eliminate pricing risks and we generally remain exposed to losses on futures contracts when prices decline significantly in a short period of time, and we would generally remain exposed to supply risk in the event of non-performance by the counterparties to any futures contracts. Historically, we generally have been able to pass green coffee price increases through to customers, thereby maintaining our gross profits, however, we may not be able to pass price increases through to our customers in the future. Failure to properly design and implement an effective hedging strategy may materially adversely affect our business and operating results. If the hedges that we enter do not adequately offset the risks of coffee bean price volatility or our hedging results in losses, our cost of sales may increase, resulting in a decrease in profitability or an increase in losses. Although we have had net gains on options and futures contracts in the past, we have incurred losses on options and futures contracts during some reporting periods. In these cases, our cost of sales has increased, resulting in a decrease in our profitability or an increase in losses. Such losses have and could in the future materially increase our cost of sales and materially decrease our profitability or increase losses and adversely affect our stock price.

Our revenues and profitability could be adversely affected if our joint ventures or acquisitions are not successful. We have historically utilized acquisitions and joint ventures to grow our business and we intend to continue to seek opportunities for new joint ventures and acquisitions that will be complimentary to our business. While we believe that our joint ventures will be successful, losses in our joint ventures or any future joint ventures would hurt our profitability. In addition, we generally will not be in a position to exercise sole decision-making authority regarding our joint ventures. Investments in joint ventures may under certain circumstances, involve risks not present when a third party is not involved, including the possibility that joint venture partners might become bankrupt or fail to fund their share of the required capital contributions. Joint venture partners may have business interests, strategies or goals that are inconsistent with our business interests, strategies or goals and may be, in cases where we have a minority interest, in a position to take actions contrary to our policies, strategies or objectives. Any disputes that may arise between us and our joint venture partners may result in litigation or arbitration that could increase our expenses and could prevent our officers and/or directors from focusing their time and effort exclusively on our business strategies. In addition, we may in certain circumstances be liable for the actions of our third-party joint venture partners.

Acquisitions including strategic investments or alliances entail numerous risks, which may include:

Our failure to successfully complete the integration of any acquired business, and any adverse consequences associated with our acquisition activities, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.

Any inability to successfully implement our strategy of growth through selective acquisitions, licensing arrangements and other strategic alliances, including joint ventures, could materially affect our revenues and profitability. Part of our growth strategy utilizes the selective acquisition of coffee companies, the selective acquisition or licensing of additional coffee brands and other strategic alliances including joint ventures, presents risks that could result in increased expenditures and could materially adversely affect our revenues and profitability, including:

In addition, any such acquisitions, licensing arrangements or strategic alliances may result in:

As has been our practice in the past, we will continuously evaluate any such acquisitions, licensing opportunities or strategic alliances as they arise. However, we have not reached any new agreements or arrangements with respect to any such acquisition, licensing opportunity or strategic alliance (other than those described herein) at this time and we may not be able to consummate any acquisitions, licensing arrangements or strategic alliances on terms favorable to us or at all. The failure to consummate any such acquisitions, licensing arrangements or strategic alliances may reduce our growth and expansion. In addition, if these acquisitions, licensing opportunities or strategic alliances are not successful, our earnings could be materially adversely affected by increased expenses and decreased revenues.

The loss of any of our key customers, could negatively affect our revenues and decrease our earnings. We are dependent upon sales of our products to our key customers, including GMCR, which accounted for approximately 8% and 29% of our net sales for the fiscal years ended October 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. No other customer accounted for greater than 10% of our net sales during our 2017 and 2016 fiscal years. We generally do not enter long-term contracts with our customers that are material to our business. Accordingly, some of our customers can stop purchasing our products at any time without penalty and are free to purchase products from our competitors. The loss of, or reduction in sales to any of our other customers to which we sell a significant amount of our products or any material adverse change in the financial condition of such customers would negatively affect our revenues and decrease our earnings.

If we lose our key personnel, including Andrew Gordon and David Gordon, our revenues and profitability could suffer. Our success depends to a large degree upon the services of Andrew Gordon, our President, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, and David Gordon, our Executive Vice President – Operations and Secretary. We also depend to a large degree on the expertise of our coffee roasters. We do not have employment contracts with our coffee roasters. Our ability to source and purchase a sufficient supply of high quality coffee beans and to roast coffee beans consistent with our quality standards could suffer if we lose the services of any of these individuals. As a result, our business and operating results would be adversely affected. We may not be successful in obtaining and retaining a replacement for either Andrew Gordon or David Gordon if they elect to stop working for us. In addition, we do not have key-person insurance on the lives of Andrew Gordon or David Gordon.

Our indebtedness may adversely affect our ability to obtain additional funds and may increase our vulnerability to economic or business downturns. From time to time, we utilize borrowings under our credit facility in connection with operations. Outstanding debt could have important negative consequences to the holders of our securities, including the following:

Our ability to make payments on our indebtedness and to fund our operations depends on our ability to generate cash in the future. Our future operating performance is subject to market conditions and business factors that are beyond our control. If our cash flows and capital resources are insufficient to allow us to make scheduled payments on our debt, we may have to reduce or delay capital expenditures, sell assets, seek additional capital or restructure or refinance our debt.

Our credit facility contains covenants that place annual restrictions on our operations, including covenants relating to debt restrictions, capital expenditures, minimum deposit restrictions, tangible net worth, net profit, leverage, employee loan restrictions, distribution restrictions (common stock and preferred stock), dividend restrictions and restrictions on intercompany transactions. The credit facility also requires that we maintain a minimum working capital at all times. There can be no assurance that we will be in compliance with all covenants in the future or that we will be able to modify the terms of the credit facility should that become necessary. Failure to comply with any of these covenants and restrictions would result in an event of default under the loan agreement.

If we fail to promote, enhance and maintain our brands, the value of our brands could decrease and our revenues and profitability could be adversely affected. We believe that promoting and enhancing our brands is critical to our success. If our brand-building strategy is unsuccessful, these expenses may never be recovered, and we may be unable to increase awareness of our brands or protect the value of our brands. If we are unable to achieve these goals, our revenues and ability to implement our business strategy could be adversely affected.

Our success in promoting and enhancing our brands will also depend on our ability to provide customers with high quality products and service. Although we take measures to ensure that we sell only fresh roasted coffee, we have no control over our roasted coffee products once they are purchased by our customers. Accordingly, wholesale customers may store our coffee for longer periods of time or resell our coffee without our consent, in each case, potentially affecting the quality of the coffee prepared from our products. Although we believe we are less susceptible to quality control problems than many of our competitors because our products are processed in-house under strict quality control guidelines which have been in place for more than 30 years, if consumers do not perceive our products and service to be of high quality, then the value of our brands may be diminished and, consequently, our operating results and ability to implement our business strategy may be adversely affected.

Our roasting methods are not proprietary, so competitors may be able to duplicate them, which could harm our competitive position. If our competitive position is weakened, our revenues and profitability could be materially adversely affected. We consider our roasting methods essential to the flavor and richness of our roasted coffee and, therefore, essential to our brands of coffee. Because we do not hold any patents for our roasting methods, it may be difficult for us to prevent competitors from copying our roasting methods if such methods become known. If our competitors copy our roasting methods, the value of our coffee brands may be diminished, and we may lose customers to our competitors. In addition, competitors may be able to develop roasting methods that are more advanced than our roasting methods, which may also harm our competitive position.

The success of our brand also depends in part on our intellectual property. We rely on a combination of trademarks, copyrights, service marks, trade secrets and similar rights to protect our intellectual property. The success of our growth strategy depends on our continued ability to use our existing trademarks and service marks in order to increase brand awareness and further develop our brand in both domestic and international markets. If our efforts to protect our intellectual property are not adequate, or if any third party misappropriates or infringes on our intellectual property, the value of our brand may be harmed, which could have a material adverse effect on our business. We may become engaged in litigation to protect our intellectual property, which could result in substantial costs to us as well as diversion of management attention.

Since we rely heavily on common carriers to ship our coffee on a daily basis, any disruption in their services or increase in shipping costs could adversely affect our relationship with our customers, which could result in reduced revenues, increased operating expenses, a loss of customers or reduced profitability. We rely on a number of common carriers to deliver coffee to our customers and to deliver coffee beans to us. We have no control over these common carriers and the services provided by them may be interrupted as a result of labor shortages, contract disputes and other factors. If we experience an interruption in these services, we may be unable to ship our coffee in a timely manner, which could reduce our revenues and adversely affect our relationship with our customers. In addition, a delay in shipping could require us to contract with alternative, and possibly more expensive, common carriers and could cause orders to be cancelled or receipt of goods to be refused. Any significant increase in shipping costs could lower our profit margins or force us to raise prices, which could cause our revenue and profits to suffer.

If there was a significant interruption in the operation of our Colorado, Ohio or Massachusetts facilities, we may not have the capacity to service all of our customers and we may not be able to service our customers in a timely manner, thereby reducing our revenues and earnings. We are dependent on the continued operations of our Colorado and Massachusetts coffee roasting and distribution facilities. Our ability to maintain our computer and telecommunications equipment in effective working order and to protect against damage from fire, natural disaster, power loss, telecommunications failure or similar events. In addition, growth of our customer base may strain or exceed the capacity of our systems and lead to degradations in performance or systems failure. Although we continually review and consider upgrades to our order fulfillment infrastructure and provide for system redundancies to limit the likelihood of systems overload or failure, substantial damage to our systems or a systems failure that causes interruptions for a number of days could adversely affect our business. Additionally, if we are unsuccessful in updating and expanding our order fulfillment infrastructure, our ability to grow may be constrained. As a result, our revenues and earnings could be materially adversely affected.

Risks related to the coffee industry

Increases in the cost of high quality Arabica or Robusta coffee beans could reduce our gross margin and profit. Green coffee is our largest single cost of sales. Coffee is a traded commodity and, in general, its price can fluctuate depending on:

If the cost of wholesale green coffee increases due to any of these factors, our margins could decrease and our profitability could suffer accordingly. It is expected that coffee prices will remain volatile in the coming years. Although we have historically attempted to raise the selling prices of our products in response to increases in the price of wholesale green coffee, when wholesale green coffee prices increase rapidly or to significantly higher than normal levels, we are not always able to pass the price increases through to our customers on a timely basis, if at all, which adversely affects our operating margins and cash flow. We may not be able to recover any future increases in the cost of wholesale green coffee. Even if we are able to recover future increases, our operating margins and results of operations may still be materially and adversely affected by time delays in the implementation of price increases.

Disruptions in the supply of green coffee could result in a deterioration of our relationship with our customers, decreased revenues or could impair our ability to grow our business. Green coffee is a commodity and its supply is subject to volatility beyond our control. Supply is affected by many factors in the coffee growing countries including weather, pest damage, economic conditions, acts of terrorism, as well as efforts by coffee growers to expand or form cartels or associations. In addition, the political situation in many of the Arabica coffee growing regions, including Africa, Indonesia, and Central and South America, can be unstable, and such instability could affect our ability to purchase coffee from those regions. If Arabica coffee beans from a region become unavailable or prohibitively expensive, we could be forced to discontinue particular coffee types and blends or substitute coffee beans from other regions in our blends. Frequent substitutions and changes in our coffee product lines could lead to cost increases, customer alienation and fluctuations in our gross margins.

Some of the Arabica coffee beans of the quality we purchase do not trade directly on the commodity markets. Rather, we purchase the high-end Arabica coffee beans that we use on a negotiated basis. We depend on our relationships with coffee brokers, exporters and growers for the supply of our primary raw material, high quality Arabica coffee beans. If any of our relationships with coffee brokers, exporters or growers deteriorate, we may be unable to procure a sufficient quantity of high quality coffee beans at prices acceptable to us or at all. In such case, we may not be able to fulfill the demand of our existing customers, supply new retail stores or expand other channels of distribution. A raw material shortage could result in a deterioration of our relationship with our customers, decreased revenues or could impair our ability to expand our business.

The coffee industry is highly competitive and if we cannot compete successfully, we may lose our customers or experience reduced sales and profitability. The coffee markets in which we do business are highly competitive and competition in these markets could become increasingly more intense due to the relatively low barriers of entry. The industry in which we compete is particularly sensitive to price pressure, as well as quality, reputation and viability for wholesale and brand loyalty for retail. To the extent that one or more of our competitors becomes more successful with respect to any key competitive factor, our ability to attract and retain customers could be materially adversely affected. Our private label and branded coffee products compete with other manufacturers of private label coffee and branded coffees. These competitors, such as Kraft General Foods, Inc. (owner of the Maxwell House brand), J.M. Smucker Co. (owner of the Folgers and Café Bustelo brands), and Massimo Zanetti Beverage Group, have much greater financial, marketing, distribution, management and other resources than we do for marketing, promotions and geographic and market expansion. In addition, there are a growing number of specialty coffee companies who provide specialty green coffee and roasted coffee for retail sale. If we are unable to compete successfully against existing and new competitors, we may lose our customers or experience reduced sales and profitability.

Besides coffee, we face exposure to other commodity cost fluctuations, which could impair our profitability. In addition to the increase in coffee costs discussed in the risk factor above, we are exposed to cost fluctuation in other commodities, including, in particular, steel, natural gas and gasoline. In addition, an increase in the cost of fuel could indirectly lead to higher electricity costs, transportation costs and other commodity costs. Much like coffee costs, the costs of these commodities depend on various factors beyond our control, including economic and political conditions, foreign currency fluctuations, and global weather patterns. To the extent we are unable to pass along such costs to our customers through price increases, our margins and profitability will decrease.

Adverse public or medical opinion about caffeine may harm our business. Coffee contains caffeine and other active compounds, the health effects of some of which are not fully understood. A number of research studies conclude or suggest that excessive consumption of caffeine may lead to increased heart rate, nausea and vomiting, restlessness and anxiety, depression, headaches, tremors, sleeplessness and other adverse health effects. An unfavorable report on the health effects of caffeine or other compounds present in coffee could significantly reduce the demand for coffee, which could harm our business and reduce our sales and profits. In addition, we could become subject to litigation relating to the existence of such compounds in our coffee; litigation that could be costly and could divert management attention.

Risks related to our common stock

Our operating results may fluctuate significantly, which makes our results of operations difficult to predict and could cause our results of operations to fall short of expectations. Our operating results may fluctuate from quarter to quarter and year to year as a result of a number of factors, many of which are outside of our control. These fluctuations could be caused by a number of factors including:

As a result of the foregoing, period-to-period comparisons of our operating results may not necessarily be meaningful and those comparisons should not be relied upon as indicators of future performance. Accordingly, our operating results in future quarters may be below market expectations. In this event, the price of our common stock may decline.

The Gordon family has the ability to influence action requiring stockholder approval. Members of the Gordon family, including Andrew Gordon, our President, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, and David Gordon, our Executive Vice President and Secretary, own, in the aggregate, approximately 11.9% of our outstanding shares of common stock. As a result, the Gordon family is able to influence the actions that require stockholder approval, including:

As a result, our other stockholders may have reduced influence over matters submitted for stockholder approval. In addition, the Gordon family’s influence could preclude any unsolicited acquisition of us and consequently materially adversely affect the price of our common stock.

The market price of our common stock has been volatile over the year and may continue to be volatile. The market price and trading volume of our common stock has been volatile over the past year and it may continue to be volatile. Over the past year, our common stock has traded as low as $3.76 and as high as $5.68 per share. We cannot predict the price at which our common stock will trade in the future and it may decline. The price at which our common stock trades may fluctuate significantly and may be influenced by many factors, including our financial results, developments generally affecting the coffee industry, general economic, industry and market conditions, the depth and liquidity of the market for our common stock, fluctuations in coffee prices, investor perceptions of our business, reports by industry analysts, negative announcements by our customers, competitors or suppliers regarding their own performances, and the impact of other “Risk Factors” discussed in this Annual Report.

Provisions in our articles of incorporation, bylaws and of Nevada law have anti-takeover effects that could prevent a change in control that could be beneficial to our stockholders, which could depress the market price of shares of our common stock. Our articles of incorporation, bylaws and Nevada corporate law contain provisions that could delay, defer or prevent a change in control of us or our management that could be beneficial to our stockholders. These provisions could also discourage proxy contests and make it more difficult for our stockholders to elect directors and take other corporate actions. These provisions might also discourage a potential acquisition proposal or tender offer, even if the acquisition proposal or tender offer is at a price above the then current market price for shares of our common stock. These provisions:

We are also subject to certain anti-takeover provisions under Nevada law. Under Nevada law, a corporation may not, in general, engage in a business combination with any “interested stockholder” for two (2) years after the date the person first became an interested stockholder, unless the combination meets all of the requirements of our articles of incorporation and (i) the purchase of shares by the interested stockholder is approved by our board of directors before that date or (ii) the combination is approved by our board of directors and, at or after that time, the combination is approved at an annual or special meeting of our stockholders, and not by written consent, by the affirmative vote of the holders of stock representing at least sixty percent (60%) of our outstanding voting power not beneficially owned by the interested stockholder or the affiliates or associates of the interested stockholder.

Not applicable.

We are headquartered at 3475 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island, New York, where we lease office and warehouse space. We pay annual rent of $129,420 under the terms of the lease, which expires on October 31, 2023.

We lease a 50,000 square foot facility located at 27700 Frontage Road in La Junta, Colorado from the City of La Junta. We pay annual rent of $100,093 under the terms of the lease, which expires in January 2024.

We lease production, warehouse and office space in North Arlington, MA. We pay annual rent of $168,288 under the terms of a lease, which expires in May 2028.

We also use a variety of independent, bonded commercial warehouses to store our green coffee beans. Our management believes that our facilities are adequate for our current operations and for our contemplated operations in the foreseeable future.

We are not a party to, and none of our property is the subject of, any pending legal proceedings other than routine litigation that is incidental to our business. To our knowledge, no governmental authority is contemplating initiating any such proceedings.

Not applicable.

PART II

Our common stock trades on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol “JVA.” We do not currently pay cash dividends on our common stock. We do not intend to declare or pay cash dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future, but currently intend to retain any future earnings for use in the operation and expansion of our business. The payment of cash dividends if any, on the common stock will rest solely within the discretion of our board of directors and will depend, among other things, upon our earnings, capital requirements, financial condition, and other relevant factors.

As of January 20, 2018, we had 174 holders of record.

We repurchased 57,367 shares of our common stock during the year ended October 31, 2017.

We repurchased 337,269 shares of our common stock during the year ended October 31, 2016.

ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES (1)

The following table sets forth the high and low sales prices of our common stock for each quarter of the last two fiscal years.

The following table sets forth selected financial data for the last five years from the consolidated financial statements of Coffee Holding Co., Inc. The following information is only a summary, and you should read it in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and notes beginning on page F-1.

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the matters discussed under the caption “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation,” “Business,” “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this annual report include forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We have based these forward-looking statements upon information available to management as of the date of this Form 10-K and management’s expectations and projections about future events, including, among other things:

In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “should,” “could,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “future,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “estimate” and similar expressions (or the negative of such expressions). Any or all of our forward looking statements in this annual report and in any other public statements we make may turn out to be wrong. They can be affected by inaccurate assumptions we might make or by known or unknown risks and uncertainties. Consequently, no forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. In addition, we undertake no responsibility to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances, that occur after the date of this annual report.

Overview

We are an integrated wholesale coffee roaster and dealer in the United States and one of the few coffee companies that offers a broad array of coffee products across the entire spectrum of consumer tastes, preferences and price points. As a result, we believe that we are well-positioned to increase our profitability and endure potential coffee price volatility throughout varying cycles of the coffee market and economic conditions.

Our operations have primarily focused on the following areas of the coffee industry:

Our operating results are affected by a number of factors including:

Our net sales are driven primarily by the success of our sales and marketing efforts and our ability to retain existing customers and attract new customers. For this reason, we have made, and will continue to evaluate, strategic decisions to invest in measures that are expected to increase net sales. These transactions include our acquisition of Premier Roasters, LLC, including equipment and a roasting facility in La Junta, Colorado, the addition of a west coast sales manager to increase sales of our private label and branded coffees to new customers, our joint venture with Caruso’s Coffee, Inc. of Brecksville, Ohio, the transaction with OPTCO, the transaction with Sonofresco and the transaction with Comfort Foods. We believe these efforts will allow us to expand or business.

Our net sales are affected by the price of green coffee. We purchase our green coffee from dealers located primarily within the United States. The dealers supply us with coffee beans from many countries, including Colombia, Mexico, Kenya, Indonesia, Brazil and Uganda. The supply and price of coffee beans are subject to volatility and are influenced by numerous factors which are beyond our control. For example, in Brazil, which produces approximately 40% of the world’s green coffee, the coffee crops are historically susceptible to frost in June and July and drought in September, October and November. However, because we purchase coffee from a number of countries and are able to freely substitute one country’s coffee for another in our products, price fluctuations in one country generally have not had a material impact on the price we pay for coffee. Accordingly, price fluctuations in one country generally have not had a material effect on our results of operations, liquidity and capital resources. Historically, because we generally have been able to pass green coffee price increases through to customers, increased prices of green coffee generally result in increased net sales.

The supply and price of coffee beans are subject to volatility and are influenced by numerous factors which are beyond our control. Historically, we have used, and intend to continue to use in a limited capacity, short-term coffee futures and options contracts primarily for the purpose of partially hedging the effects of changing green coffee prices, as further explained in Note 2 of the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements in this Report. In addition, we acquired, and expect to continue to acquire, futures contracts with longer terms, generally three to four months, primarily for the purpose of guaranteeing an adequate supply of green coffee. Realized and unrealized gains or losses on options and futures contracts are reflected in our cost of sales. Gains on options and futures contracts reduce our cost of sales and losses on options and futures contracts increase our cost of sales. The use of these derivative financial instruments has generally enabled us to mitigate the effect of changing prices. We believe that, in normal economic times, our hedging policies remain a vital element to our business model not only in controlling our cost of sales, but also giving us the flexibility to obtain the inventory necessary to continue to grow our sales while trying to minimize margin compression during a time of historically high coffee prices. However, no strategy can entirely eliminate pricing risks and we generally remain exposed to losses on futures contracts when prices decline significantly in a short period of time, and we would generally remain exposed to supply risk in the event of non-performance by the counterparties to any of our futures contracts. Although we have had net gains on options and futures contracts in the past, we have incurred significant losses on options and futures contracts during some recent reporting periods. In these cases, our cost of sales has increased, resulting in a decrease in our profitability or increase our losses. Such losses have and could in the future materially increase our cost of sales and materially decrease our profitability and adversely affect our stock price. See “Item 1A – Risk Factors - If our hedging policy is not effective, we may not be able to control our coffee costs, we may be forced to pay greater than market value for green coffee and our profitability may be reduced.” Failure to properly design and implement an effective hedging strategy may materially adversely affect our business and operating results. If the hedges that we enter do not adequately offset the risks of coffee bean price volatility or our hedges result in losses, our cost of sales may increase, resulting in a decrease in profitability or increased losses. As previously announced, as a result of the volatile nature of the commodities markets, we have and are continuing to scale back our use of hedging and short-term trading of coffee futures and options contracts, and intend to continue to use these practices in a limited capacity going forward.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

The preparation of financial statements and related disclosures in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Estimates are used for, but not limited to, the accounting for the allowance for doubtful accounts, inventories, assets held for sale, income taxes, commodities held and loss contingencies. Management bases its estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results could differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

We believe the following critical accounting policies, among others, may be impacted significantly by judgment, assumptions and estimates used in the preparation of the financial statements:

Goodwill and the trademarks which are deemed to have indefinite lives are subject to annual impairment tests. Goodwill impairment tests require the comparison of the fair value and carrying value of reporting units. We assess the potential impairment of goodwill and intangible assets annually and on an interim basis whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable. Upon completion of such review, if impairment is found to have occurred, a corresponding charge will be recorded. The value assigned to the customer list and relationships is being amortized over a twenty year period.

Because the Company is a single reporting unit, the closing NASDAQ Capital Market price of our common stock as of the acquisition date was used as a basis to measure the fair value of goodwill. Goodwill and the intangible assets will be tested annually at the end of each fiscal year to determine whether they have been impaired. Upon completion of each annual review, there can be no assurance that a material charge will not be recorded. Impairment testing is required more often than annually if an event or circumstance indicates that an impairment or decline in value may have occurred.

Year Ended October 31, 2017 (Fiscal Year 2017) Compared to the Year Ended October 31, 2016 (Fiscal Year 2016)

Net Sales. Net sales totaled $77,127,595 for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2017, a decrease of $1,820,633, or 2.3%, from $78,948,228 for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2016. The decrease in net sales reflects reduced wholesale transactions with our largest wholesale green coffee customer during fiscal 2017 of approximately $16,775,000, partially offset by increased sales to both new and existing customers including a fourth quarter increase in revenues of $4,300,000 or 25.0%.

Cost of Sales. Cost of sales for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2017 was $64,977,632, or 84.3% of net sales, as compared to $67,066,050, or 85.0% of net sales, for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2016. Cost of sales consists primarily of the cost of green coffee and packaging materials and realized and unrealized gains or losses on hedging activity. The decrease in cost of sales reflects the change in the product mix due to our reduced wholesale transactions with our largest wholesale green coffee customer.

Gross Profit. Gross profit for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2017 was $12,149,963, an increase of $267,785 from $11,882,178 for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2016. Gross profit as a percentage of net sales increased to 15.8% for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2017 from 15.0% for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2016. Although we experienced improved margins on our wholesale and roasted business during the year our margins have not increased as expected due to our integration of our acquisition of Comfort Foods and reduced profitability of our OPTCO subsidiary.

Operating Expenses. Total operating expenses increased by $2,908,136 to $10,927,246 for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2017 from $8,019,110 for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2016. Selling and administrative expenses increased $2,864,796, or 39.0%, to $10,228,506 for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2017 from $7,363,710 for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2016. The primary reasons for this increase were the acquisition of Comfort Foods, the full year of integration of Sonofresco and the increase in our freight costs as we increased and expanded our product distribution. Officers’ salary increased by $43,340 or 6.6% to $698,740 for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2017 from $655,400 for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2016.

Other Income (Expense). Other expense for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2017 was $245,781, an increase of $98,675 from $147,106 for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2016. The increase in other expense was attributable to an increase in interest expense of $76,951 and a decrease in interest income of $21,740, partially offset by a decrease in our loss from our equity investments of $16, during the fiscal year ended October 31, 2017.

Income (Loss) Before Taxes and Non-controlling Interest in Subsidiary. We had income of $976,936 before income taxes and non-controlling interest in subsidiary for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2017 compared to income of $3,715,962 for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2016, resulting in a net change of $2,739,026 for the year ended October 31, 2017. The decrease was primarily attributable to the reasons described above.

Income Taxes. Our provision for income taxes for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2017 totaled $244,096 compared to a provision of $1,365,920 for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2016. The change was attributable to the difference in the gain for the year ended October 31, 2017 versus fiscal year ended October 31, 2016. The Company’s effective tax rate for the year ended October 31, 2017 was 34.0% compared to 37.0% for the year ended October 31, 2016.

Net Income (Loss). We had net income of $467,262 or $0.08 per share basic and diluted, for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2017 compared to a net income of $2,212,288, or $0.36 per share basic and diluted for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2016. The decrease in net income was due primarily to the reasons described above.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

As of October 31, 2017, we had working capital of $20,605,400, which represented a $1,064,042 decrease from our working capital of $21,669,442 as of October 31, 2016, and total stockholders’ equity of $24,951,549 which increased by $412,346 from our total stockholders’ equity of $24,539,203 as of October 31, 2016. Our working capital decreased primarily due to decreases of $902,331 in cash, $76,090 in accounts receivable, $264,227 in prepaid green coffee, $9,163 in prepaid and refundable income taxes, $345,584 in due from broker, an increase of $368,053 in accounts payable and accrued expenses, $1,449,152 in our line of credit, $296 in income taxes payable, partially offset by increases of $2,034,282 in inventory, $58,369 in prepaid expenses and other current assets and $258,203 deferred income tax asset. As of October 31, 2017, the outstanding balance on our line of credit was $8,407,527 compared to $6,958,375 as of October 31, 2016. Total stockholders’ equity increased due to our net income, partially offset by our Share Repurchase Program.

On April 25, 2017, the Company and OPTCO (together with the Company, collectively referred to herein as the “Borrowers”) entered into an Amended and Restated Loan and Security Agreement (the “A&R Loan Agreement”) with Sterling, which consolidated the Company Financing Agreement and the OPTCO Financing Agreement.

Pursuant to the A&R Loan Agreement, the terms of each of the Company Financing Agreement and the OPTCO Financing Agreement were amended and restated to, among other things: (i) provide for a new Maturity Date of February 28, 2018; (ii) consolidate the principal amounts of the Company Financing Agreement and the OPTCO Financing Agreement to provide for a maximum principal amount limit of $12,000,000 for the Borrowers, collectively, provided that OPTCO is limited to a $3,000,000 maximum principal amount sublimit; (iii) expand the borrowing base to include, along with 85% of eligible accounts receivable, up to the lesser of $2,000,000 as to the Company and $1,500,000 as to OPTCO; (iv) effective March 1, 2017, converted the interest rate on the average unpaid balance of the A&R Loan Facility from an interest rate per annum equal to the Wall Street Journal Prime Rate to an interest rate per annum equal to the sum of the LIBOR rate plus 2.4%; (v) require the Company and OPTCO to pay, collectively, upon the occurrence of certain termination events, a prepayment premium of 1.0% (as opposed to the 0.5% under the OPTCO Financing Agreement) of the maximum amount of the A&R Loan Facility in effect as of the date of the termination event; (vi) eliminate the overadvance fee; and (vii) establish a Letter of Credit Facility (as defined in the A&R Loan Agreement) with a maximum obligation amount of $1,000,000, and subject to other terms and conditions described therein. The Company is currently negotiating the terms of a new facility with Sterling and the Company expects to enter into a new facility on or before February 28, 2018 or extend the line further until the terms of the new facility have been finalized.

Also on April 25, 2017, SONO and CFI (collectively referred to herein as the “Guarantors”), entered into a Guaranty Agreement (the “Guaranty Agreement”) in connection with the A&R Loan Agreement. The Guaranty Agreement was provided as an inducement to Sterling to extend credit to Borrowers in exchange for the Guarantors’ unconditional guarantee of the payment and performance obligations of the Borrowers under the A&R Loan Agreement, as further defined in the Guaranty Agreement.

Each of the Company Loan Facility and A&R Loan Agreement contains covenants, subject to certain exceptions, that place annual restrictions on the Borrowers’ operations, including covenants relating to debt restrictions, capital expenditures, indebtedness, minimum deposit restrictions, tangible net worth, net profit, leverage, employee loan restrictions, dividend and repurchase restrictions (common stock and preferred stock), and restrictions on intercompany transactions. The Loan Facility also requires that we maintain a minimum working capital at all times, and the A&R Loan Agreement requires that the Borrowers, on a consolidated basis, maintain a minimum working capital at all times and achieve a minimum net profit amount as of fiscal year end during the term of the A&R Loan Agreement. The Company and OPTCO, as applicable were in compliance with all required financial covenants at October 31, 2017 and 2016.

Each of the Company Loan Facility and the A&R Loan Agreement is secured by all tangible and intangible assets of the Company. Other than as amended and restated by the A&R Loan Agreement, the Company Financing Agreement and the OPTCO Financing Agreement remains in full force and effect.

As of October 31, 2017 and 2016, the outstanding balance under the bank line of credit was $8,407,527 and $6,958,375, respectively.

For the fiscal year ended October 31, 2017, our operating activities provided net cash of $1,476,633 as compared to the fiscal year ended October 31, 2016 when operating activities provided net cash of $1,607,788. The decreased cash flow from operations for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2017 was primarily due to our net income.

For the fiscal year ended October 31, 2017, our investing activities used net cash of $3,573,196 as compared to the fiscal year ended October 31, 2016 when net cash used by investing activities was $1,782,999. The increase in our uses of cash in investing activities was due to our increased outlays for the acquisition of our subsidiary, partially offset by the decrease in outlays for equipment during the fiscal year ended October 31, 2017.

For the fiscal year ended October 31, 2017, our financing activities provided net cash of $1,194,232 compared to net cash used in financing activities of $450,624 for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2016. The change in cash flow from financing activities for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2017 was due to our decreased purchases of treasury stock.

We expect to fund our operations, including paying our liabilities, funding capital expenditures and making required payments on our indebtedness, through October 31, 2017 with cash provided by operating activities and the use of our credit facility. In addition, an increase in eligible accounts receivable and inventory would permit us to make additional borrowings under our line of credit.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We do not have any off-balance sheet arrangements that have or are reasonably likely to have a current or future effect on our financial condition, changes in financial condition, revenues or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources that is material to investors.

Market risks relating to our operations result primarily from changes in interest rates and commodity prices as further described below.

Interest Rate Risks. We are subject to market risk from exposure to fluctuations in interest rates. As of October 31, 2017, our debt consisted of $8,407,527 of variable rate debt under our revolving line of credit. Our line of credit provides for a maximum of $12,000,000 and is payable monthly in arrears on the average unpaid balance of the line of credit at an interest rate equal to a per annum reference rate (currently 3.6%). This loan is secured by all tangible and intangible assets of the Company.

Commodity Price Risks. The supply and price of coffee beans are subject to volatility and are influenced by numerous factors which are beyond our control. Historically, we have used, and intend to continue to use in a limited capacity, short-term coffee futures and options contracts primarily for the purpose of partially hedging the effects of changing green coffee prices, as further explained in Note 2 of the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements in this Report. In addition, we acquired, and expect to continue to acquire, futures contracts with longer terms, generally three to four months, primarily for the purpose of guaranteeing an adequate supply of green coffee. Realized and unrealized gains or losses on options and futures contracts are reflected in our cost of sales. Gains on options and futures contracts reduce our cost of sales and losses on options and futures contracts increase our cost of sales. The use of these derivative financial instruments has generally enabled us to mitigate the effect of changing prices. We believe that, in normal economic times, our hedging policies remain a vital element to our business model not only in controlling our cost of sales, but also giving us the flexibility to obtain the inventory necessary to continue to grow our sales while trying to minimize margin compression during a time of historically high coffee prices. However, no strategy can entirely eliminate pricing risks and we generally remain exposed to losses on futures contracts when prices decline significantly in a short period of time, and we would generally remain exposed to supply risk in the event of non-performance by the counterparties to any of our futures contracts. Although we have had net gains on options and futures contracts in the past, we have incurred significant losses on options and futures contracts during some reporting periods. In these cases, our cost of sales has increased, resulting in a decrease in our profitability or increase our losses. Such losses have and could in the future materially increase our cost of sales and materially decrease our profitability and adversely affect our stock price. See “Item 1A – Risk Factors - If our hedging policy is not effective, we may not be able to control our coffee costs, we may be forced to pay greater than market value for green coffee and our profitability may be reduced.” Failure to properly design and implement an effective hedging strategy may materially adversely affect our business and operating results. If the hedges that we enter do not adequately offset the risks of coffee bean price volatility or our hedges result in losses, our cost of sales may increase, resulting in a decrease in profitability or increased losses. As previously announced, as a result of the volatile nature of the commodities markets, we have and are continuing to scale back our use of hedging and short-term trading of coffee futures and options contracts, and intend to continue to use these practices in a limited capacity going forward. See “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk—Commodity Price Risks.”

As of October 31, 2017, we held 145 futures contracts for the purchase of 5,437,500 pounds of green coffee at a weighted average price of $1.31 per pound compared to 22 futures contracts for the purchase of 825,000 pounds of coffee at a weighted average price of $1.45 per pound for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2016. The fair market value of coffee applicable to such contracts was $1.25 and $1.64 per pound, respectively.

See pages F-1 through F-21 following the Exhibit Index of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

None.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures. Management, which includes our President, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)) as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based upon that evaluation, our President, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that the disclosure controls and procedures were effective to ensure that information required to be disclosed in the reports that we file and submit under the Exchange Act is (i) recorded, processed, summarized and reported as and when required and (ii) accumulated and communicated, as is appropriate, to our management, including its principal executive officer and financial officer to allow timely decisions regarding disclosure.

Management Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Our internal control system is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance to our management and Board of Directors regarding the preparation and fair presentation of published financial statements.

Our internal control over financial reporting includes policies and procedures that pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect transactions and dispositions of assets, provide reasonable assurances that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, and that receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and the directors, and provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on our financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

Our management assessed the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting as of October 31, 2017. In making this assessment, management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in Internal Control-Integrated Framework. Based on our assessment our management believes that, as of October 31, 2017, our internal control over financial reporting was effective based on those criteria.

There have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting identified in connection with the evaluation that occurred during our last fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or that is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Attestation Report of the Registered Public Accounting Firm.

This annual report does not include an attestation report of our registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting. Management’s report was not subject to attestation by our registered public accounting firm pursuant to section 989G of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that permits us to provide only management’s report in this annual report.

None.

PART III

Information required by this item is incorporated by reference to our Proxy Statement for the 2017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

Information required by this item is incorporated by reference to our Proxy Statement for the 2017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

Information required by this item is incorporated by reference to our Proxy Statement for the 2017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

Information required by this item is incorporated by reference to our Proxy Statement for the 2017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

Information required by this item is incorporated by reference to our Proxy Statement for the 2017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

PART IV

The financial statements and related notes, together with the report of Marcum LLP appear at pages F-1 through F-21 following the Exhibit List as required by Part II, Item 8 “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Form 10-K.

None.

The Company has filed with this report or incorporated by reference herein certain exhibits as specified below pursuant to Rule 12b-32 under the Exchange Act. See Exhibit Index following the signature page to this report for a complete list of documents filed with this report.

* Filed herewith

**Furnished herewith

SIGNATURES

In accordance with Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized on January 29, 2018.

In accordance with the Exchange Act, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

COFFEE HOLDING CO., INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Audit Committee of the

Board of Directors and Shareholders

Coffee Holding Co., Inc. and Subsidiaries

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Coffee Holding Co., Inc. and Subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of October 31, 2017 and 2016 and the related consolidated statements of income, changes in stockholders’ equity and cash flows for each of the years then ended. These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements based on our audit.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. Our audit included consideration of internal control over financial reporting as a basis for designing audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. An audit also includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Coffee Holding Co., Inc. and Subsidiaries as of October 31, 2017 and 2016, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the years then ended, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

COFFEE HOLDING CO., INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

OCTOBER 31, 2017 AND 2016

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

COFFEE HOLDING CO., INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME

YEARS ENDED OCTOBER 31, 2017 AND 2016

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

COFFEE HOLDING CO., INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

YEARS ENDED OCTOBER 31, 2017 AND 2016