U. S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

☒	ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022

☐	TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from ___________ to _____________

Commission File Number 001-38182

EASTSIDE DISTILLING, INC.

(Name of small business issuer as specified in its charter)

Nevada

20-3937596

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification No.)

2321 NE Argyle Street, Unit D

Portland, Oregon 97211

(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (971) 888-4264

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Common Stock, $0.0001 par value		EAST		The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
(Title of Each Class)		(Trading Symbol)		(Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

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

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act: Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 day. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, 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. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 if the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer ☐	Accelerated filer ☐
Non-accelerated filer ☐	Smaller reporting company ☒
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 has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262 (b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

The aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant at June 30, 2022, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter was $10,658,219 based on the last reported sales price of the registrant’s common stock as reported by the Nasdaq Stock Market on that date.

As of March 31, 2023, 16,532,799 shares of our common stock were outstanding.

Documents Incorporated by Reference: None.

EASTSIDE DISTILLING, INC.

FORM 10-K

December 31, 2022

TABLE OF CONTENTS

		Page
PART I
Item 1.	Business	4
Item 1A.	Risk Factors	12
Item 1B.	Unresolved Staff Comments	20
Item 2.	Properties	20
Item 3.	Legal Proceedings	20
Item 4.	Mine Safety Disclosures	20
PART II
Item 5.	Market for the Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters, and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities	21
Item 6.	Selected Financial Data	21
Item 7.	Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations	22
Item 7A.	Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk	27
Item 8.	Financial Statements and Supplementary Data	F-1
Item 9.	Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure	28
Item 9A.	Controls and Procedures	28
Item 9B.	Other Information	28
Item 9C.	Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections	28
PART III
Item 10.	Directors, Executive Officers, and Corporate Governance	29
Item 11.	Executive Compensation	29
Item 12.	Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters	29
Item 13.	Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence	29
Item 14.	Principal Accounting Fees and Services	29
PART IV
Item 15.	Exhibits	30
Item 16.	Form 10-K Summary	30
SIGNATURES		31

PART I

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

The statements in this section and other sections of this Form 10-K include “forward-looking statements” as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and involve uncertainties that could significantly impact results. Forward-looking statements give current expectations or forecasts of future events about the company or our outlook. You can identify forward-looking statements by the fact they do not relate to historical or current facts and by the use of words such as “believe,” “expect,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “will be,” “should,” “plan,” “project,” “intend,” “could” and similar words or expressions. Examples include, among others, statements about any of the following:

	●	Our ability to secure additional financing, refinance debt, and achieve positive working capital;
	●	General industry, market and economic conditions (including consumer spending patterns and preferences) and our expectations regarding growth in the markets in which we operate;
	●	Our ability to introduce competitive new products on a timely basis and continue to make investments in product development and our expectations regarding the effect of new products on our operating results;
	●	Our realizing the results of our competitive strengths and ability to compete with other producers and distributors of alcoholic beverage products;
	●	Our expectation regarding product pricing and our ability to market to premium and super-premium segments of the market;
	●	Our ability to retain, market and grow our existing brands, the effect that may have on other brands, and our ability to profitably sell our brands;
	●	Our ability to financially support the brands in the market;
	●	Our ability to protect our intellectual property, including trademarks and tradenames related to our brands;
	●	The effects of competition and consolidation in the markets in which we operate;
	●	The ability of our production capabilities to support our business and operations and production strategy, including our ability to continue to expand our production capacity to meet demand or outsource production to lower cost of goods sold;
	●	Our expectations regarding our supply chain, including our ongoing relationships with certain key suppliers and/or any potential supply chain disruption;
	●	Our ability to cultivate our distribution network and maintain relationships with our major distributors;
	●	Our ability to utilize our existing distribution pipelines and channels to grow other brands in our portfolio;
	●	Changes in applicable laws, policies and the application of regulations and taxes in jurisdictions in which we operate and the impact of newly enacted laws;
	●	Tax rate changes (including excise tax, VAT, tariffs, duties, corporate, individual income, or capital gains), changes in related reserves, or changes in tax rules or accounting standards;
	●	Our ability to expand our business and brand offerings by acquisitions, including our ability to identify, complete, and finance acquisitions, and our ability to integrate and realize the benefits of our acquisitions;
	●	Negative publicity related to our company, brands, marketing, personnel, operations, business performance, or prospects;
	●	Our ability to attract and retain key board, executive or employee talent;
	●	Our liquidity and capital needs and ability to meet our liquidity needs and going concern requirements; and
	●	Our ability to position our brands as attractive acquisition candidates.

Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and known risks and uncertainties. Although we believe we have been prudent in our assumptions, any or all of our forward-looking statements may prove to be inaccurate, and we can make no guarantees about our future performance. Should known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, or underlying assumptions prove inaccurate, actual results could materially differ from past results and/or those anticipated, estimated or projected.

We undertake no obligation to provide updates to forward-looking statements to the public, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You should, however, consult any subsequent disclosures we make in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on Form 10-Q or Form 8-K.

You should review the “Risk Factors” set forth elsewhere in this Annual Report for a cautionary discussion of certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that we believe are significant to our business and may effect forward looking statements.

Item 1. BUSINESS

Overview

Eastside Distilling, Inc. (the “Company,” “Eastside Distilling,” “we,” “us,” or “our,” below) was incorporated under the laws of Nevada in 2004 under the name of Eurocan Holdings, Ltd. In December 2014, we changed our corporate name to Eastside Distilling, Inc. to reflect our acquisition of Eastside Distilling, LLC. We operate in two segments. Our Spirits segment manufactures, blends, bottles, markets and sells a wide variety of alcoholic beverages under recognized brands in 30 U.S. states. Our Craft Canning + Printing (“Craft C+P”) segment provides digital can printing and canning services to the craft beverage industry in Washington, Oregon and Colorado. In addition to mobile co-packing services we offer co-packing services from a single fixed site in Portland, Oregon. We employ 50 people in the United States.

Mission-What We Do

Our mission is to source, make and deliver the best in class, end-to-end craft spirits brands and product portfolio. In addition, we offer advanced digital can printing decoration with custom graphics and co-packing services with distinct capability and craftsmanship.

Strategy

Our spirits brands span several alcoholic beverage categories, including whiskey, vodka, rum and tequila. We sell our products on a wholesale basis to distributors through open states, and brokers in control states. Craft C+P primarily services the craft beer, cider and kombucha beverage segments. Craft C+P offers digital can printing to customers and co-packing services, as well as operates 13 mobile lines in Seattle and Spokane, Washington; Portland, Oregon; and Denver, Colorado.

Our strategy is to utilize our public company stature to our advantage and position to expand our two distinct businesses – Spirits and Craft C+P. Our spirits portfolio is to be positioned as a leading regional craft spirits provider that develops brands, expands geographic presence growing revenue and cash flow. We look to grow and vertically integrate our Craft C+P business to expand our product offerings and improve our competitive position. These two segments are detailed below.

Segments

Spirits

Since 2014 we have developed or acquired many award-winning spirits while evolving to meet the growing demand for quality products and services associated with the burgeoning craft and premium beverage trade. Our portfolio includes originals like the Quercus garryana barrel-finished Burnside Whiskey family, Portland Potato Vodka, Hue-Hue Coffee Rum, and Azuñia Tequilas.

●

Burnside Whiskey Family – Our Burnside Whiskey Family celebrates the unique attributes of the native Oregon Oak tree (Quercus garryana). The unique complexity of each distinct whiskey comes from blending Oregon Oak barrels of differing sizes, char levels, and ages.

●

Portland Potato Vodka – Our award-winning premium craft vodka is distilled four times to ensure a smooth finish. While most vodka is made from grain, we source award winning premium potato ethanol and blend it with pristine water sourced from Oregon.

●

Hue-Hue (pronounced “way-way”) Coffee Rum – Premium silver rum is blended with concentrated cold-brewed coffee and a small amount of Demerara sugar. We source fair-trade, single-origin Arabica coffee beans from the Finca El Paternal Estate in Huehuetenango, Guatemala that are lightly roasted for us by Portland Coffee Roasters.

●

Azuñia Tequilas – Smooth, clean, additive-free tequilas crafted by Rancho Miravalle, a second generation, family-owned-and-operated estate, bursting with authentic flavor from the local terroir of Tequila Valley, Mexico. 100% pure Weber Blue Agave is harvested by hand, roasted in traditional clay hornos, and finished with a natural, open-air fermentation process. It is bottled on-site in small batches using a consistent process to deliver consistent field-to-bottle quality and exclusively exported by Agaveros Unidos de Amatitán.

●

Eastside Brands – Craft inspired high-quality limited-edition products. which focus on innovation, craftsmanship and curiosity, and creativity.

Craft Canning + Printing

Digital Can Printing

In April 2022, we initiated operations of an innovative digital can printing facility that allows us to customer-design four sizes of popular aluminum beverage cans. This flexibility allows for custom graphics of limited releases, vintages, partnerships, and special events. This new acquisition of technology gives Craft C+P the ability to offer unparalleled customization and flexibility to craft beverage producers seeking direct printing for canning projects of all sizes, while having a production capacity of over 20 million cans.

Co-packing Facility

We offer co-packing services for non-alcoholic canned beverages including CBD soda waters in Portland, Oregon through our recent asset acquisition, allowing us to offer end-to-end production capabilities. We are currently the exclusive provider of can printing and co-packing services for a local CBD and wellness water maker.

Mobile Canning

Our mobile canning business has locations in Oregon, Washington and Colorado. We use extensive proprietary and data-driven quality control measures and a robust clean-in-place procedure in order to provide the best packaging service for our customers. We take great pride in helping local beverage producers expand their distribution reach by using our service to offer industry-top quality and branding. Our greatest asset is the unmatched expertise of our talented group of printing and packaging professionals who show up every day to go above and beyond to get the job done.

Our Craft mobile team offers a variety of services and products, including:

●

High Mobile Canning Capacity – We operate 13 Wild Goose MC-250 machines, with the capacity to can over 150,000 barrels per year. In addition to the canning lines, we use custom in-house designed fully automated depalletizers and twist rinses.

●

Large Craft Volumes – With capabilities of around 600-800 cases per shift, we can manage any volume. Averaging 40 cans per minute, each machine can do 100 cases per hour.

●

Dedicated Team – All of our employees are carefully and rigorously trained. A fully insured workforce is ready to take on any and all of the customer’s packaging needs. We believe in continuous improvement and we understand the value of our clients’ products and dedicate ourselves to making every run a successful run.

●

Quality Control – Hach Orbispheres measure our dissolved oxygen (“DO”) during packaging to ensure the lowest Total Packaged Oxygen for the customer’s can. We use luminometers and ATP swabs to ensure sanitation of our equipment. We can provide Zahm & Nagel volume meters to measure carbon dioxide (“CO2”) volumes in carbonated products before packaging. As masters of the “double seam” we frequently take on-site measurements with micrometers. We also offer CMC Kuhnke technology to generate even more accurate measurements in the form of visual seam reports.

	●	Velcorin and Nitrogen Dosing – We have both velcorin and nitrogen dosing capabilities that supports microbial control and allows packaging of still products in addition to carbonated and nitrogenated beverages.
	●	Pre-printing and Outfeed Labeling – Bringing on advanced digital can printing technology from Hinterkopf allows us to offer customers both world-class aesthetics and full sustainability in an end-to-end branding and packaging solution, accessible from our smallest to our largest customers. We also provide outfeed labeling and the ability to package customer-provided branded cans of all varieties.

	●	Location Flexibility – We allow our customers to choose the location of canning. We bring our mobile equipment to their facility, or our customers can bring their product to us for co-packing.

Production and Supply

Bringing a brand to market involves several important stages, including bottle and label design, raw materials procurement, filling the bottles, and packaging the bottles in various configurations for shipment. To achieve a unique flavor profile for each brand, we use one or more of the following techniques: infusion of fruit, addition of natural flavorings, blending of products, and aging in selected casks. Once the final profile is approved and quality control standards are met, we filter the liquid as needed and bottle the product.

We rely on a limited number of suppliers for the sourcing of our spirit products and raw materials, including our distillate products and other ingredients. These suppliers consist of third-party producers in the U.S. and Mexico. One key supplier is Agaveros Unidos de Amatitan, SA. de CV., which supplies tequila to us. We do not have long-term, written agreements with any of our other suppliers for the production of raw materials. However, we believe that we have consistent and reliable third-party sources for the needed materials.

Distribution Network

U.S. Distribution

Producers and importers of beverage alcohol in the U.S. must sell their products through a three-tier distribution system.

In the 33 open states, the distributors are generally large, privately held companies. The distributors and wholesalers in turn sell to individual retailers, such as liquor stores, restaurants, bars, supermarkets and other outlets licensed to sell alcoholic beverages. We primarily focus our distribution efforts in six open states; California, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Washington and Florida.

In the 17 control states, the states themselves function as the distributor, and regulate suppliers, including our Company. In control states, producers and importers sell their products directly to state liquor authorities, which distribute the products and either operate retail outlets or license the retail sales function to private companies, while maintaining strict control over pricing and profit. Our largest distribution channel is in the state of Oregon through the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.

We hold the federal importer and wholesaler license required by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department and the requisite state licenses within the states in which we conduct business.

Our inventory is maintained in offsite bonded warehouses at our producers, our bonded warehouse in Milwaukie, Oregon, and at bonded warehouses managed by Park Street, our fulfillment and logistics partner. We also typically have inventory in transit that we ship nationally through our network of licensed and bonded carriers.

Wholesalers and Distributors

In the United States, we are required by law to use state-licensed distributors or, in the control states, state-owned agencies performing this function, to sell our brands to retail outlets. As a result, we depend on distributors for sales, product placement and retail store penetration. All of the distributors with whom we currently work also distribute our competitors’ products and brands. As a result, we must foster and maintain our relationships with our distributors. Through our internal sales team, we have established relationships for our brands with wholesale distributors in the states where we sell our products, and our products are sold in the U.S. by these wholesale distributors, as well as by various state beverage alcohol control agencies.

Significant Customers

Sales to one customer, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, accounted for approximately 18% and 20% of our consolidated sales for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Sales Team

Spirits

We have a total spirits sales force of four people, who have an average of close to ten years of industry experience with premium spirits brands.

Our spirits sales personnel are engaged in the day-to-day interaction with our distributors, which includes setting quotas, coordinating promotional plans for our brands, maintaining adequate levels of stock, brand education and training and sales calls with distributor personnel. Our sales team also maintains relationships with key chain and retail customers through independent sales calls. They also schedule promotional events, create local brand promotion plans, host in-store tastings, where permitted, and provide wait staff and bartender training and education for our brands.

In addition, we have also engaged for our spirits business Park Street, a provider of back-office administrative, fulfillment, and logistical services for alcohol and beverage distributors, which services include state compliance, logistics planning, order processing, order fulfillment, distributor chargeback and bill-support management and certain accounting and reporting services. We believe, given our smaller scale, that we can leverage the outsourced services of Park Street to reduce complexity.

Craft C+P

The canning sales force is made up of four members, focusing on three regions. Their goal is to connect with and onboard new clients, as well as maintain relations and offer expanded digital can printing capabilities to current clients. The sales team provides a premium customer service experience from introductory conversations about mobile canning to the very first packaging day and beyond. Their previous experience of operating the equipment gives them deep knowledge to share with prospective customers, including trust and accountability. Our sales team is keen on strong partnerships that allow for sustainable success. We also partner with local craft beverage industry guilds and associations for creative collaborations, booth events and sponsorships.

Advertising, Marketing and Promotion

To build and sell our brands, we must effectively communicate with three distinct audiences: distributors, retail trade and end consumers. Social media, sponsorships, sampling and other promotional activities help to establish and reinforce the image of our brands, and to provide the push into the trade and pull through out of the trade that our customers demand.

We have significantly narrowed our focus on building three main brands, Burnside Whiskeys, Portland Potato Vodka and Azuñia Tequilas, across seven key markets.

In Oregon, which has the strongest distribution for Burnside Whiskeys and Portland Potato Vodka, our focus is on closing the distribution gaps and on driving consumer pull through local sponsorships.

In our six key open states where Azuñia is the lead brand, driving distribution is the main priority, In these states, we focus mostly on price promotions, point-of-sale materials, and tastings to drive trial.

Intellectual Property

Trademarks are an important aspect of our business. We sell our products under a number of trademarks which we own. Our brands are protected by trademark registrations or are the subject of pending applications for trademark registration in the U.S. where we distribute our brands. The trademarks may be registered in the names of our subsidiaries. In the U.S., trademark registrations need to be renewed every ten years. We expect to register our trademarks in additional markets as we expand our distribution territories.

Seasonality

Our business has historically followed the spirits industry seasonality trends with peak sales generally occurring in the fourth calendar quarter in spirits, primarily due to seasonal holiday buying. Our Craft C+P business typically has peak sales mid to late summer.

Competition

Over the past ten years, the U.S. wine and spirits industry has undergone dramatic consolidation and realignment of brands and brand ownership. The number of major importers in the U.S. has declined significantly. Today, we believe seven major companies dominate the market: Diageo PLC, Pernod Ricard S.A., Bacardi Limited, Brown-Forman Corporation, Beam Suntory Inc., Davide Campari-Milano S.p.A., and Rémy Cointreau S.A. These competitors have substantially greater resources than we do.

Our printing business is the only one of its kind in the Pacific Northwest. However, we compete with other can decorating companies that offer different decorating technologies. These alternative suppliers can produce can decorations at lower costs than our technology as well as at greater volumes.

The mobile canning and bottling industry is highly fragmented and very competitive. The threat of new entrants is high. Moreover, we compete at the hyper-local scale, where we have a customer base concentrated in the craft beer segment. One of our greatest threats associated with losing customers is the customer’s own growth and success. As new brewers grow, they are able to afford the investment in their own canning line. Recently, the growth of craft beer startups has slowed and this has affected the competition in our market and our ability to achieve adequate pricing.

Government Regulation

We are subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Alcohol Administration Act, U.S. Customs laws, and the Alcoholic Beverage Control laws of the states where our products are distributed, among many other regulations.

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau regulates the production, blending, bottling, sales and advertising and transportation of alcohol products. Also, each state regulates the advertising, promotion, transportation, sale and distribution of alcohol products within its jurisdiction. We are also required to conduct business in the U.S. only with holders of licenses to import, warehouse, transport, distribute and sell spirits.

We are subject to U.S. regulations on spirits, marketing, and advertising, such as style, media and messages. Labeling of spirits is also regulated in many markets, varying from health warning labels to importer identification, alcohol strength and other consumer information. All beverage alcohol products sold in the U.S. must include warning statements related to risks of drinking beverage alcohol products.

In the U.S. control states, the state liquor commissions act in place of distributors and decide which products are to be purchased and offered for sale in their respective states. Products are selected for purchase and sale through listing procedures which are generally made available to new products only at periodically scheduled listing interviews. Consumers may purchase products not selected for listings only through special orders, if at all.

The distribution of alcohol-based beverages is also subject to extensive federal and state taxation in the U.S. and internationally. Most foreign countries impose excise duties on wines and distilled spirits, although the form of such taxation varies from a simple application on units of alcohol by volume to intricate systems based on the imported or wholesale value of the product. Several countries impose additional import duty on distilled spirits, often discriminating between categories in the rate of such tariffs. If we begin distributing our products internationally, import and excise duties could have a significant effect on our sales, both through reducing the consumption of alcohol and through encouraging consumer switching into lower-taxed categories of alcohol.

Employees

As of March 31, 2023, we have 50 employees, 7 of whom are in sales and marketing, 31 in production/canning/bottling, and 12 of whom are in administration. We will continue to monitor our staffing while streamlining our operations for working capital needs.

Geographic Information

Spirits currently sells its products in 30 states. Craft C+P operates in three states.

Item 1A. RISK FACTORS

The statements in this section describe the most significant risks to our business and should be considered carefully in conjunction with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements” to this Annual Report on Form 10-K, as well as our other disclosures in this Annual Report. We may have other risks that we have not yet identified or that we currently believe are immaterial but may become material.

RISKS RELATING TO OUR BUSINESS

We expect to continue to produce net operating losses in 2023.

We believe that we will continue to incur net losses in 2023. We also anticipate that our operating and investing cash needs may exceed our income from sales in 2023. Results of operations will depend upon numerous factors, some of which are beyond our control, including but not limited to new entrants, competitive activity, government regulations and increase in tax. We also incur substantial operating expenses at the corporate level, including costs directly related to being a reporting company with the SEC.

We may be unsuccessful monetizing spirits assets in 2023.

On December 14, 2022, we announced the intent to pursue the sale of one or more of our spirits assets. We have not concluded our process; however we may be unable to sell a spirit asset and realize substantial cash from an asset sale. We may be unable to complete a sale on favorable terms including amending certain debt provisions allowing us to use a portion of the proceeds from a sale for purposes other than debt paydown.

We may fail to secure additional capital and achieve adequate liquidity to grow and compete.

Historically, we have not generated sufficient cash from operations to finance additional capital needs, and thus we have used external sources of capital to fund operations. The source of these funds has included both private and public equity and/or debt financing. We have also raised cash from the bulk sale of whiskey. We cannot assure that additional financing will be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. If additional capital is either unavailable or cost prohibitive, our operations and growth may be limited, and we may need to change our business strategy to slow the rate of, or eliminate, our expansion or to reduce or curtail our operations. Also, any additional financing we undertake could impose covenants upon us that restrict our operating flexibility. If we issue equity securities to raise capital, our existing shareholders may experience dilution and the new securities may have rights, preferences and privileges senior to those of our common stock.

We have defaulted in repaying the Senior Convertible Notes.

On October 18, 2022, $3.4 million of Senior Convertible Notes became due and were not repaid by the Company. We received a one-time extension to November 18, 2022; however, we have not received a second extension. The Company continues to discuss extension and refinance options with the holders of the Notes, who have not exercised any of their remedial rights in the event of a default under the Notes. The Note-holders do however, reserve their rights to remediate our default under the Notes, including foreclosure on their liens on the Company’s assets. If we are unable to reach a satisfactory accommodation with the Note-holders, our secured creditors may take action, including foreclosure, that would adversely affect our business and possibly force us into liquidation.

We may be unable to effectively service and refinance debt.

We have incurred significant debt under promissory notes and inventory financing lines. Much of our debt is secured by our bulk spirits inventory and other assets, including assets in Craft C+P. Our ability to meet our debt service obligations depends upon our operating and financial performance, which is subject to general economic and competitive conditions and to financial, business, and other factors affecting our operations, many of which are beyond our control. If we are unable to service our debt, we may need to sell inventory and other material assets, restructure or refinance our debt, or seek additional equity capital. Prevailing economic conditions and global credit markets could adversely impact our ability to do so.

Our debt agreements contain limits on our ability to, among other things, incur additional debt, grant liens, undergo certain fundamental changes, make investments, and dispose of inventory. In 2022, we refinanced debt that had certain covenants with other facilities. While these new facilities do not have the same covenants, they include substantial restrictions that could have important consequences, including the following:

	●	We may need to prematurely pay down our outstanding debt balance if the market value of our bulk spirits falls and we need to remain within our borrowing base covenants;
	●	We may be more limited in our ability to execute on our strategy and have flexibility to operate or restructure our business;
	●	Our cash flow from operations may be allocated to the payment of outstanding debt and not to developing and growing our brands;
	●	We might not generate sufficient cash flow from operations or other sources to enable us to meet our payment obligations under the facility and to fund other liquidity needs;
	●	We may be more vulnerable to economic downturns, less able to withstand competitive pressures, and less flexible in responding to changing business and economic conditions; or
	●	We may be unable to incur additional debt, including for working capital, acquisitions, or other needs.

If we breach a loan covenant or miss a payment, the lenders could accelerate the repayment of debt and foreclose on our inventory and other assets. We might not have sufficient assets to repay our debt upon acceleration. If we are unable to repay or refinance the debt upon acceleration or at maturity, the lenders could initiate a bankruptcy proceeding against us or collection proceedings with respect to our assets securing the facility, which could materially decrease the value of our common stock.

Failure to retain and recruit executive management and to build morale and improve performance could negatively impact our business.

Eastside Distilling’s success depends upon the efforts and abilities of our executive management team, key senior management, and a high-quality employee base, as well as our ability to attract, motivate, reward, and retain them. If one of our executive officers or critical senior management terminates his or her employment, we may not be able to replace their expertise, fully integrate new personnel or replicate the prior working relationships. The loss of critical employees might significantly delay or prevent the achievement of our business objectives. Qualified individuals with the breadth of skills and experience in our industry that we require are in high demand, and we may incur significant costs to attract them. Difficulties in hiring or retaining key executive or employee talent, or the unexpected loss of experienced employees could have an adverse impact on our business performance. In addition, we could experience business disruption and/or increased costs related to organizational changes, reductions in workforce, or other cost-cutting measures.

Failure of our brands to achieve anticipated consumer acceptance would impact sales and profitability.

Most of our brands are relatively new and have not achieved national brand recognition. We have not yet had success growing a brand to a sufficient level to realize corporate wide profitability. Also, brands we may develop and/or acquire in the future may not establish widespread brand recognition. Accordingly, if consumers do not accept our brands at scale, our sales will be limited, and we will not be able to penetrate our markets. Our profitability depends in part on achieving scale. We will need to achieve wider market acceptance of our brands and materially increase sales to achieve profitability.

We must maintain adequate terms from our supply partner Agaveros Unidos de Amatitan, SA. de CV, which if not done, will likely result in deteriorating performance of our Azuñia brand.

We have a long-term exclusive agreement with Agaveros Unidos de Amatitan, SA. de CV (“Agaveros Unidos”) for the Azuñia Tequila brand. The termination of our relationship or an adverse change in the terms of our arrangement with Agaveros Unidos could have a negative impact on our business. If Agaveros Unidos increases its prices, we may not be able to secure alternative suppliers, and may not be able to raise the prices of our products to cover all or even a portion of the increased costs. Also, its failure to perform satisfactorily or handle increased orders, or delays in shipping could cause us to fail to meet orders for our products, lose sales, incur additional costs and/or expose us to product quality issues. In turn, this could cause us to lose credibility in the marketplace and damage our relationships with distributors, ultimately leading to a decline in our business and results of operations. If we are not able to renegotiate these contracts on acceptable terms or find suitable alternatives, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be negatively impacted.

Failure of our distributors to distribute our products adequately within their territories or “under-invest” in our brands could result in deteriorating operating performance.

We are required by law to use state-licensed distributors or, in 17 states known as “control states,” state-owned agencies performing this function, to sell our products to retail outlets, including liquor stores, bars, restaurants and national chains in the United States. We have established relationships for our brands with a limited number of wholesale distributors; however, failure to maintain those relationships could significantly and adversely affect our business, sales and growth. We currently distribute our spirits in 30 states.

Over the past decade there has been increasing consolidation in production, distribution, and retail (the three tiers of the current system) that challenges the growth of small businesses in the marketplace. Our distributors also distribute competitive brands for much larger companies with significant pricing power. The ultimate success of our products depends in large part on our distributors’ ability and desire to distribute our products, as we rely significantly on them for product placement and retail store penetration. In many key states, we have signed contracts that greatly limit our ability to replace and pursue recourse with distributor partners that fail to meet their obligations. We cannot assure you that our U.S. distributors will commit sufficient time and resources to promote and market our brands and product lines. If they do not, our sales will be harmed, resulting in a decline in our results of operations.

Failure of our products to secure and maintain listings in the control states would result in a decline in revenue.

In the control states, the state liquor commissions act in place of distributors and decide which products are to be purchased and offered for sale in their respective states. Products selected for listing in control states must generally reach certain sales volumes and/or profit levels to maintain their listings. Products in control states are selected for purchase and sale through listing procedures, which are generally made available to new products only at periodically scheduled listing interviews. Products not selected for listings can only be purchased by consumers in the applicable control state through special orders, if at all. If, in the future, we are unable to maintain our current listings in the control states, or secure and maintain listings in those states for any additional products we may develop or acquire, sales of our products could decrease significantly, which would have a material adverse financial effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

Failure to maintain adequate inventory levels would negatively impact operational profitability.

We maintain inventories of our product aging in barrels, as well as, to meet customer delivery requirements. We have used our barreled spirits inventory at market value as collateral in our financing. If we do not make timely payments on our financing obligations, or we breach our covenants in any financing document, including maintaining loan-to-value ratios, the lenders may foreclose and take possession of our inventory. In addition, this inventory is always at risk of loss due to theft, fire, evaporation, spoilage, or other damage, and any such loss, whether insured against or not, could cause us to fail to meet our orders and harm our sales and operating results. Also, our inventory may become obsolete as we introduce new products, cease to produce old products or modify the design of our products’ packaging, which would increase our operating losses and negatively impact our results of operations.

We have been unsuccessful in launching new products and recent launches have negatively impacted the rate of loss.

A component of our growth strategy has been the addition of other brands that are complementary to our existing portfolio. In addition, we have launched new services and acquired new assets. Future growth requires we continue to invest in the newly acquired businesses or our growth will be limited. In addition, our entry into and expansion of our contract bottling, canning, and packaging services may not be successful, and we may not realize the benefits of these co-packing operations and may face certain risks, including safety concerns, product contamination, and equipment malfunctions or breakdowns, among other things associated with our manufacturing operations.

If we are successful in acquiring additional brands or related service businesses, we may still fail to achieve our target margins or maintain profitability levels that would justify our investment in those additional brands or services or fail to realize operating and economic efficiencies or other planned benefits with respect to those additional brands or services.

The addition of new products or businesses entails numerous risks with respect to integration and other operating issues, any of which could have a detrimental effect on our results of operations and/or the value of our equity. These risks include, but are not limited to, the following:

	●	difficulties in assimilating acquired operations or products, including failure to realize synergies;
	●	failure to realize or anticipate benefits or to execute on our planned strategy for the acquired brand or business;
	●	unanticipated costs that could materially adversely affect our results of operations;
	●	negative effects on reported results of operations from acquisition-related charges and amortization of acquired intangibles;
	●	diversion of management’s attention from other business concerns;
	●	adverse effects on existing business relationships with suppliers, distributors and retail customers;
	●	risks of entering new markets or markets in which we have limited prior experience; and
	●	the potential inability to retain and motivate key employees of acquired businesses.

Our ability to grow through the acquisition of additional brands is also dependent upon identifying acceptable acquisition targets and opportunities, our ability to consummate prospective transactions on favorable terms, or at all, and the availability of capital to complete the necessary acquisition arrangements. We intend to finance our brand acquisitions through a combination of our available cash resources, third-party financing and, in appropriate circumstances, the further issuance of equity and/or debt securities. Acquiring additional brands could have a significant effect on our financial position and could cause substantial fluctuations in our quarterly and yearly operating results. Also, acquisitions could result in the recording of significant goodwill and intangible assets on our financial statements, the amortization or impairment of which would reduce reported earnings in subsequent years.

Failure to protect our customer relationships, trademarks and trade secrets from competitors would result in increased competition.

Our business and prospects depend in part on our ability to develop and retain customers as well as cultivate favorable consumer recognition of our brands and trademarks. Although we apply for registration of our brands and trademarks, they could be imitated in ways that we cannot prevent. Also, we rely on trade secrets and proprietary know-how, concepts and formulas. Our methods of protecting this information may not be adequate. Moreover, we may face claims of misappropriation or infringement of third parties’ rights that could interfere with our use of this information. Defending these claims may be costly and, if unsuccessful, may prevent us from continuing to use this proprietary information in the future and result in a judgment or monetary damages being levied against us. We do not maintain non-competition agreements with all of our key personnel or with some of our key suppliers. If competitors independently develop or otherwise obtain access to our trade secrets, proprietary know-how or recipes, the appeal, and thus the value, of our brand portfolio could be reduced, negatively impacting our sales and growth potential.

Failure to manage our relationships with suppliers

Our business depends on our ability to manage our relationships with suppliers and at times we have disputes on contracts, terms and conditions, required payments and our suppliers’ recourse. These disputes have been material at various periods. If we are unable to resolves disputes on a timely basis we could be subject to protracted litigation that would be costly to us. In addition, we, at times, have requested extended payment terms from customers due to cash flow limitations. A number of suppliers have restricted our purchasing ability to cash paid in advance, which negatively impacts us.

We are susceptible to cyber-security breaches and cyber-related fraud.

We rely on information technology (“IT”) systems, networks, and services, including internet sites, data hosting and processing facilities and tools, hardware (including laptops and mobile devices), and software and technical applications and platforms, some of which are managed, hosted, provided and/or used by third-parties or their vendors, to assist us in the management of our business.

Increased IT security threats and more sophisticated cyber-crime pose a potential risk to the security of our IT systems, networks, and services, as well as to the confidentiality, availability, and integrity of our data. If the IT systems, networks, or service providers we rely upon fail to function properly, or if we suffer a loss or disclosure of business or other sensitive information, due to any number of causes, ranging from catastrophic events to power outages to security breaches, and our business continuity plans do not effectively address these failures on a timely basis, we may suffer interruptions in our ability to manage operations and reputational, competitive and/or business harm, which may adversely affect our business operations and/or financial condition. In addition, such events could result in unauthorized disclosure of material confidential information, and we may suffer financial and reputational damage because of lost or misappropriated confidential information belonging to us or to our partners, our employees, customers, suppliers, or consumers. In any of these events, we could also be required to spend significant financial and other resources to remedy the damage caused by a security breach or to repair or replace networks and IT systems.

RISKS RELATED TO OUR INDUSTRY

Demand for our products may be adversely affected by consumer taste changes affecting category trends.

Consumer preferences may shift due to a variety of factors, including changes in demographic and social trends, public health initiatives, product innovations, changes in vacation or leisure, dining and beverage consumption patterns and a downturn in economic conditions, any or all of which may reduce consumers’ willingness to purchase distilled spirits or cause a shift in consumer preferences toward beer, wine or non-alcoholic beverages or other products. Our success depends in part on fulfilling available opportunities to meet consumer needs and anticipating changes in consumer preferences with successful new products and product innovations.

In addition, the legalization of marijuana in any of the jurisdictions in which we sell our products may result in a reduction in sales. Studies have shown that sales of alcohol may decrease in jurisdictions where marijuana has been legalized. As a result, marijuana sales may adversely affect our sales and profitability.

We face substantial competition in our industry and have limited financial resources compared to other competitors.

We compete on the basis of product taste and quality, brand image, price, service and ability to innovate in response to consumer preferences. The global spirits industry is highly competitive and is dominated by several large, well-funded international companies. Many of our competitors have longer operating histories and have substantially greater financial, sales, marketing and other resources than we do, as well as larger installed customer bases, greater name recognition and broader product offerings. Some of these competitors can devote greater resources to the development, promotion, sale and support of their products. As a result, it is possible that our competitors may either respond to industry conditions or consumer trends more rapidly or effectively or resort to price competition to sustain market share, which could adversely affect our sales and profitability.

We face unique risks relating to class actions or other litigation relating to alcohol abuse or the misuse of alcohol.

Our industry faces the possibility of class action or similar litigation alleging that the continued excessive use or abuse of beverage alcohol has caused death or serious health problems or that we failed to adequately warn consumers of the risks of alcohol consumption. It is also possible that governments could assert that the use of alcohol has significantly increased government-funded healthcare costs. Litigation or assertions of this type have adversely affected companies in the tobacco industry, and it is possible that we, as well as our suppliers, could be named in litigation of this type.

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

We face substantial regulatory risks including compliance with local and national laws, legal, regulatory and tax changes.

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

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

We were subject to a tax investigation of the operations by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (“TTB”) for the period October 15, 2018 to September 30, 2021. In March of 2022, we received notices of violations citing ten violations at our Motherlode distilled spirits plant, six violations at our Big Bottom Distilling distilled spirits plant and eight violations at our Eastside Distilling distilled spirits plant. As a result of these violations, we are required to pay $0.3 million to the TTB and correct the violating conditions.

We are exposed to product liability or other related liabilities which could have significant negative financial repercussions on the Company’s solvency.

Although we maintain liability insurance and will attempt to limit contractually our liability for damages arising from consumer, stakeholder and other lawsuits, these measures may not be sufficient for us to successfully avoid or limit product liability or other related liabilities. Our product liability insurance coverage is limited to $1 million per occurrence and $3 million in the aggregate and $2 million products/completed operations aggregate, and our general liability umbrella policy is limited to $5 million per occurrence and $5 million in the aggregate and $5 million products/completed operations aggregate. We do not have insurance covering employee lawsuits. Further, any contractual indemnification and insurance coverage we have from parties supplying our products is limited, as a practical matter, to the creditworthiness of the indemnifying party and the insured limits of any insurance provided by these suppliers. In any event, extensive product liability claims could be costly to defend and/or costly to resolve and could harm our reputation or business.

We could face issues including the risk of contamination of our products and/or counterfeit or confusingly similar products.

The success of our brands depends upon the positive image that consumers have of them. Contamination, whether arising accidentally or through deliberate third-party action, or other events that harm the integrity or consumer support for our brands, could affect the demand for our products. Contaminants in raw materials purchased from third parties and used in the production of our products or defects in the distillation and fermentation processes could lead to low beverage quality, as well as illness among, or injury to, consumers of our products and could result in reduced sales of the affected brand or all of our brands and potentially serious damage to our reputation for product quality, as well as product liability claims. Also, to the extent that third parties sell products that are either counterfeit versions of our brands or brands that look like our brands, consumers of our brands could confuse our products with products that they consider inferior. This could cause them to refrain from purchasing our brands in the future and in turn could impair our brand equity and adversely affect our sales and operations.

In addition, we also provide contract bottling, canning, and packaging services for existing and emerging beer, wine and spirits producers. Beer and wine products produced by third parties may be more susceptible to contamination than the distilled products that we produce, due to the lower alcohol content.

We have incurred substantial turnover in employees over the past few years, which has negatively affected operating performance.

Over the past two years, we have embarked on a restructuring of operations to improve our financial performance. As a result, management has experienced a significant amount of employee turnover. In addition, we have reduced the total number of employees of the firm. This reduced headcount has negatively impacted performance in a number of ways. If this level of turnover continues, we could face operational challenges that would negatively impact financial performance.

We operate with one person as a CEO and CFO, which could have a negative impact on financial performance.

In February 2022, Eastside’s CEO resigned and Eastside’s CFO assumed both roles. Operating with a single person as both CEO and CFO adds risk to the Company’s operating performance, given the complexity of our business.

RISKS RELATED TO OUR COMMON STOCK

We no longer meet the continued listing requirements of the Nasdaq Capital Market and expect to be removed from the Market, which will reduce our ability to secure equity-based financing.

In June 2022, Nasdaq informed us that our common stock will be delisted from the Nasdaq Capital Market unless it achieves the minimum closing bid price requirement for a Nasdaq listing, which is $1.00 per share. On December 1, 2022, Nasdaq granted our request to extend our listing until May 30, 2023. At the present time, the market price of our common stock is significantly short of $1.00 per share. In addition, the financial statements included in this Report show that our shareholders’ equity no longer meets the standard of $2.5 million required for continuing listing. For these reasons, our common stock will be delisted from the Nasdaq Capital Market in the near future and will thereafter trade on the facilities of OTC Markets. Many institutional investors will not provide financing to a company that does not have a listing on Nasdaq or an exchange. Therefore, the delisting of our common stock from Nasdaq will make it more difficult for us to secure equity-based financing for our business.

Sales of our stock or use of our common stock to satisfy obligations may impact the market price and cause substantial dilution to existing shareholders.

We will need to raise additional capital, which might be in the form of an equity offering. Future sales of substantial amounts of our common or preferred stock, including shares that we may issue upon exercise of warrants or conversion of preferred stock, could adversely affect the market price of our common stock. Further, if we raise additional funds through the issuance of equity, the percentage ownership of our stockholders will be reduced and cause substantial dilution to current stockholders.

We pay certain of our directors, consultants and business partners in our common stock or other securities linked to our common stock, and sometimes settle debts with common stock. Continued use of our stock in this manner, especially if our stock price is trading at a low price, may cause dilution to our shareholders and could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

A decline in the price of our common stock could affect our ability to raise working capital and finance our operations.

A further decline in the price of our common stock could result in a reduction in the liquidity of our common stock and a reduction in our ability to raise capital. A decline in the price of our common stock could be especially detrimental to our liquidity and our operations. Such reductions may force us to reallocate funds from other planned uses and may have a significant negative effect on our business plans and operations, including our ability to develop new services and continue our current operations. If our common stock price further declines, we can offer no assurance that we will be able to raise additional capital or generate funds from operations sufficient to meet our obligations. If we are unable to raise sufficient capital in the future, we may not be able to have the resources to continue our normal operations.

If we are unable to continue as a going concern, our securities will have little or no value.

We have incurred operating losses since our inception, and we expect to continue to incur significant expenses and operating losses for the foreseeable future. Our financial statements have been prepared under the assumption that we will continue as a going concern. Our independent registered public accounting firm included in its audit report for the year ended December 31, 2022 an explanatory paragraph referring to our net loss from operations and accumulated deficit and expressing substantial doubt in our ability to continue as a going concern without additional capital becoming available. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash from operations or obtain additional financing in the future, we might not be able to continue as a going concern. There are no assurances that such financing, if necessary, will be available to us at all or will be available in sufficient amounts or on reasonable terms. Our financial statements do not include any adjustments that may result from the outcome of this uncertainty. If we are unable to generate additional funds in the future through financings, sales of our products or from other sources or transactions, we will exhaust our resources and will be unable to continue operations. If we cannot continue as a going concern, our stockholders would likely lose most or all of their investment in us.

While our derivatives are outstanding, it may be more difficult to raise additional equity capital to fund operations.

There are currently outstanding non-trading, privately issued common stock warrants to pu

SEC Form 10-K filed by Eastside Distilling Inc.