CHEF US Equity☆

chef-20221230

UNITED STATES

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 30, 2022

or

☐ 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: 001-35249

THE CHEFS’ WAREHOUSE, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

100 East Ridge Road

Ridgefield, Connecticut, 06877

(Address of principal executive offices)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (203) 894-1345

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

Title of each class Trading Symbol(s) Name of each exchange on which registered

Common Stock, par value $0.01 CHEF The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC

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 Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Yes ☐ No☒

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

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes☒ No ☐

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

Large accelerated filer ☒ Accelerated filer ☐

Non-accelerated filer ☐ Smaller reporting company ☐

Emerging growth company ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if 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.Yes ☒ No ☐

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect

the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐ Yes ☐ No

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of

the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to ☐ Yes ☐ No

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 registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates computed by reference to the price at which the common equity was last sold as of the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second quarter (June 24, 2022): $778,285,837

Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the registrant’s classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date.

Class Outstanding at February 13, 2023

Common Stock, $.01 par value per share 38,599,390 shares

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Document Parts Into Which Incorporated

Total number of pages: 83

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THE CHEFS’ WAREHOUSE, INC.

INDEX

Description PageNumber

Part I

Item 1 Business 5

Item 1A Risk Factors 15

Item 1B Unresolved Staff Comments 29

Item 2 Properties 30

Item 3 Legal Proceedings 30

Item 4 Mine Safety Disclosures 30

Part II

Item 6 Reserved 32

Item 7A Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk 43

Item 8 Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 44

Item 9A Controls and Procedures 73

Item 9B Other Information 75

Item 9C Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections 75

Part III

Item 10 Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 76

Item 11 Executive Compensation 76

Item 14 Principal Accounting Fees and Services 76

Part IV

Item 15 Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules 77

Signatures 83

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CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K of The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements provide our current expectations or forecasts of future events and are not statements of historical fact. These forward-looking statements include information about possible or assumed future events, including, among other things, discussion and analysis of our future financial condition, results of operations, our strategic plans and objectives, cost management, liquidity and ability to refinance our indebtedness as it matures, anticipated capital expenditures (and access to capital) required to complete projects, amounts of cash distributions to our stockholders in the future, if any, and other matters. Words such as “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates” and variations of these words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond our control, are difficult to predict and/or could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements involve inherent uncertainty and may ultimately prove to be incorrect or false. Investors in our common stock are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Except as otherwise may be required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or actual operating results. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, the following:

•our success depends to a significant extent upon general economic conditions, including disposable income levels and changes in consumer discretionary spending;

•a significant portion of our future growth is dependent upon our ability to expand our operations in our existing markets and to penetrate new markets through acquisitions;

•we may not achieve the benefits expected from our acquisitions, which could adversely impact our business and operating results;

•we may have difficulty managing and facilitating our future growth;

•our business is a low-margin business and our profit margins may be sensitive to inflationary and deflationary pressures;

•we have significant competition from a variety of sources, and we may not be able to compete successfully;

•our customers are generally not obligated to continue purchasing products from us;

•damage to our reputation or lack of acceptance of our specialty food products, center-of-the-plate products and/or the brands we carry in existing and new markets could materially and adversely impact our business, financial condition or results of operations;

•we have experienced losses due to our inability to collect accounts receivable in the past and could experience increases in such losses in the future if our customers are unable to pay their debts to us in a timely manner or at all;

•new information or attitudes regarding diet and health or adverse opinions about the health effects of the products we distribute could result in changes in consumer eating habits, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations;

•our business operations and future development could be significantly disrupted if we lose key members of our management team;

•our insurance policies may not provide adequate levels of coverage against all claims, and fluctuating insurance requirements and costs could negatively impact our profitability. In addition, if we fail to establish proper reserves and adequately estimate future expenses, the costs associated with our self-insured group medical, workers’ compensation liability and auto liability plans may adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations;

•conditions beyond our control could materially affect the cost and/or availability of our specialty food products or center-of-the-plate products and/or interrupt our distribution network;

•our distribution of center-of-the-plate products, like meat, poultry and seafood, involves increased exposure to price volatility experienced by those products;

•group purchasing organizations may become more active in our industry and increase their efforts to add our customers as members of these organizations;

•fuel cost volatility may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations;

•increases in our labor costs, including as a result of labor shortages, the unionization of some of our associates, the price or unavailability of insurance and changes in government regulation, could slow our growth or harm our business;

•significant public health epidemics or pandemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic (the “Pandemic”), may adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition;

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•because our foodservice distribution operations are concentrated in certain culinary markets, we are susceptible to economic and other developments, including adverse weather conditions, in these areas;

•information technology system failures or breaches of our network security could interrupt our operations and adversely affect our business;

•our investments in information technology may not produce the benefits that we anticipate;

•we may not be able to adequately protect our intellectual property, which, in turn, could harm the value of our brands and adversely affect our business;

•product liability claims could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations;

•we are subject to significant governmental regulation and failure to comply could subject us to enforcement actions, recalls or other penalties, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations;

•federal, state, provincial and local tax rules in the United States and the foreign countries we operate in may adversely impact our business, financial condition or results of operations;

•our substantial indebtedness may limit our ability to invest in the ongoing needs of our business;

•our ability to raise capital in the future may be limited;

•we may be unable to obtain debt or other financing, including financing necessary to execute on our acquisition strategy, on favorable terms or at all;

•changes in the method of determining Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”), or the replacement of SOFR with an alternative rate, may adversely affect interest charged on our outstanding debt;

•the price of our common stock may be volatile and our stockholders could lose all or a part of their investment;

•concentration of ownership among our existing executive officers, directors and their affiliates may prevent new investors from influencing significant corporate decisions;

•if securities analysts or industry analysts downgrade our stock, publish negative research or reports or do not publish reports about our business, our stock price and trading volume could decline;

•we do not intend to pay dividends for the foreseeable future and our stock may not appreciate in value;

•our issuance of preferred stock or debt securities could adversely affect holders of our common stock and discourage a takeover; and

•some provisions of our charter documents and Delaware law may have anti-takeover effects that could discourage an acquisition of us by others, even if an acquisition would be beneficial to our stockholders, and may prevent attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management.

This list of risks and uncertainties, however, is only a summary of some of the most important factors and is not intended to be exhaustive. Investors in our common stock should carefully review the risks that are set forth under the caption “Risk Factors” included in Part I, Item 1A of this Form 10-K.

Unless this Form 10-K indicates otherwise or the context otherwise requires, the terms “The Chefs’ Warehouse,” “we,” “our,” “our Company,” “the Company” or “us” as used in this Form 10-K refer to The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. and its subsidiaries.

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Item 1. BUSINESS

We are a premier distributor of specialty food and center-of-the-plate products in the United States, the Middle East, and Canada. We are focused on serving the specific needs of chefs who own and/or operate some of the leading menu-driven independent restaurants, fine dining establishments, country clubs, hotels, caterers, culinary schools, bakeries, patisseries, chocolateries, cruise lines, casinos and specialty food stores in the United States, the Middle East, and Canada (collectively, our “core customers”). We believe that we have a distinct competitive advantage in serving these customers as a result of our extensive selection of distinctive and hard-to-find specialty and center-of-the-plate food products, our product knowledge and our customer service.

We define specialty food products as gourmet foods and ingredients that are of the highest grade, quality or style as measured by their uniqueness, exotic origin or particular processing method. Our product portfolio includes over 55,000 stock-keeping units (“SKUs”) from more than 2,500 different suppliers and is comprised primarily of imported and domestic specialty food products, such as artisan charcuterie, specialty cheeses, unique oils and vinegars, truffles, caviar, chocolate and pastry products. We also offer an extensive line of center-of-the-plate products, including custom cut beef, seafood and hormone-free poultry, as well as produce and broadline food products, such as cooking oils, butter, eggs, milk and flour. When marketing our products to our customers, we focus our efforts on chefs, and we believe that, by offering a wide selection of both distinctive and hard-to-find products, together with center-of-the-plate proteins and staple broadline food products, we are able to differentiate ourselves from larger, traditional broadline foodservice distributors, while simultaneously enabling our customers to utilize us as their primary foodservice distributor. Additionally, we market certain of our center-of-the-plate products directly to consumers through our Allen Brothers, Inc. (“Allen Brothers”) mail and e-commerce platform. We also market a broader variety of our products directly to consumers via our “Shop Like a Chef” online home delivery platform which operates in several of the markets we serve.

Since our formation in 1985, we have expanded our distribution network, product selection and customer base both organically and through acquisitions. Our net revenues have increased from approximately $1.3 billion for the fiscal year ended December 28, 2018 to $2.6 billion for the fiscal year ended December 30, 2022. Our historical sales growth and our ability to manage through the material adverse impacts of the Pandemic on our business are the result of an increase in the breadth and depth of our product portfolio, our commitment to customer service, the efforts of our experienced and sophisticated sales professionals, the increased use of technology in the operations and management of our business and our ongoing consolidation of the fragmented specialty foodservice distribution industry. Since December 28, 2018, we have completed sixteen acquisitions which have increased our penetration in existing markets, expanded our footprint into new markets and/or enhanced our product capabilities. The up-front cash purchase prices for these sixteen acquisitions resulted in aggregate up-front cash consideration of more than $294.5 million, which we funded with cash generated from our operations, borrowings under our then existing credit facilities and the proceeds of our common stock offerings.

Excluding our direct-to-consumer businesses, we currently serve more than 40,000 core customer locations in our twenty-three primary geographic markets across the United States, the Middle East, and Canada. We maintain collaborative relationships with thousands of chefs while also acting as a critical marketing arm and route-to-market for many of our suppliers by leveraging an experienced and sophisticated sales force of approximately 720 sales and customer service professionals. We operate 44 distribution centers and provide service six days a week in many of our service areas, utilizing our fleet of delivery trucks to fill our customers’ orders.

Competitive Strengths

We believe that, during our over 35-year history, we have achieved, developed and/or refined the following strengths which provide us with a distinct competitive position in the foodservice distribution industry and also the opportunity to achieve superior margins relative to most large broadline foodservice distributors:

Leading Distributor of Specialty Food Products in Many of the Key Culinary Markets. Based on our management’s industry knowledge and experience, we believe we are the largest distributor of specialty food products, as measured by net sales, in the New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Los Angeles metropolitan markets. We believe these markets, along with a number of other markets we serve, including Las Vegas, Miami, New England, Portland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Chicago, Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Seattle, Sacramento, Texas, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Qatar create and set the culinary trends for the rest of the United States, the Middle East, and Canada and provide us with valuable insight into the latest culinary and menu practices. Furthermore, we believe our established relationships with many of the top chefs, culinary schools and dining establishments in these key culinary markets have benefited us when we entered into new markets where we believe that chefs at our potential customers were generally knowledgeable of our brand and commitment to quality and excellence from their experience working in other markets which we serve or through their personal relationships throughout the culinary industry.

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Expansive Product Offering. We offer an extensive portfolio of high-quality specialty food products, ranging from basic ingredients and staples, such as milk and flour, to custom-cut steaks, seafood, produce and pastries, as well as delicacies and specialty ingredients sourced from North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America, which we believe helps our customers distinguish their menu offerings. We carry more than 55,000 SKUs and we constantly evaluate our portfolio and introduce new products to address regional trends and preferences and ensure that we are on the leading edge of broader culinary trends. Through our importing division, we provide our customers with access to a portfolio of exclusive items, including regional olive oils, truffles and charcuterie from Italy, Spain, France and other Mediterranean countries. In addition, and as evidence of our commitment to aid our customers in creating unique and innovative menu items, we regularly utilize our sourcing relationships and industry insights to procure additional products that we do not regularly carry but that our customers specifically request. We believe that the breadth and depth of our product portfolio facilitates our customers’ ability to distinguish and enhance their menu offerings and differentiates us from larger traditional broadline foodservice distributors. For example, we provide a selection of more than 200 different varieties of olive oil, while large broadline foodservice distributors only carry, on average, 5-10 types of olive oil.

Critical Route-to-Market for Specialty Food Suppliers. We currently distribute products from more than 2,500 different suppliers. Our suppliers are located throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America and include numerous small, family-owned entities and artisanal food producers. We are the largest customer for many of our suppliers. As a result, our experienced and sophisticated sales professionals, customer relationships and distribution platform are important to these suppliers’ route-to-market, which enables us to offer a wide range of products on an exclusive basis.

Expanding Base of Premier Customer Relationships. Our breadth and depth of product offerings coupled with our highly regarded customer service has allowed us to develop and retain a loyal customer base that is comprised of chefs who own or work at more than 40,000 of the nation’s leading menu-driven independent restaurants, fine dining establishments, country clubs, hotels, caterers, culinary schools, bakeries, patisseries, chocolateries, cruise lines, casinos and specialty food stores. Our focus on product selection, product knowledge and customer service has rewarded us with a number of long-term customer relationships, which often begin when chefs are introduced to us while attending the nation’s leading culinary schools. Based on our management’s industry experience and our relationships and dealings with our customers, we believe we are the primary distributor of specialty food products to the majority of our core customers.

Collaborative Professional and Educational Relationships with our Customers. We employ a sophisticated and experienced sales force of approximately 720 sales and customer service professionals, a significant number of whom have formal culinary training, degrees in the culinary arts or prior experience working in the culinary industry. Equipped with advanced culinary and industry knowledge, our sales professionals seek to establish a rapport with our customers’ chefs, so that they can more fully understand and anticipate the needs of and offer cost-effective food product solutions to the chefs who own or operate these businesses. We believe that the specialized knowledge base of our sales professionals enables us to take a more collaborative and educational approach to selling our gourmet foods and ingredients and to further differentiate ourselves from our traditional broadline competitors.

Expertise in Logistics and Distribution. We have built a first-class, scalable inventory management and logistics platform that enables us to efficiently fill our customers’ orders and to profitably meet our customers’ needs for varying drop sizes, high service levels and timely delivery. With 44 distribution centers located throughout the United States, Middle East and Canada, we are able to leverage our geographic footprint and reduce our inbound freight costs. This scale enables us to maintain a portfolio of more than 55,000 SKUs, and through the operation of our sophisticated information technology, inventory management and logistics systems, we believe we provide our customers with some of the highest levels of customer service and responsiveness in our industry.

Experienced and Proven Management Team. Our senior management team has demonstrated the ability to grow the business through various economic environments. With collective experience of more than 90 years at The Chefs’ Warehouse and other foodservice distribution companies, our founders and senior management are experienced operators and are passionate about our future. Our senior management team is comprised of our founders, as well as experienced professionals with expertise in the foodservice distribution industry and in a wide range of functional areas, including finance and accounting, sales and marketing, operations, information technology, legal and human resources.

Our Growth Strategies

We believe substantial organic growth opportunities exist in our current markets through increased penetration of our existing customers and the addition of new customers, and we have identified new markets that we believe also present opportunities for future expansion. Key elements of our growth strategy include the following:

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Increase Penetration with Existing Customers. We intend to sell more products to our existing customers by increasing the breadth and depth of our product selection and increasing the efficiency of our sales professionals, while at the same time continuing to provide excellent customer service. We are a data-driven and goal-oriented organization, and our management and sales professionals are highly focused on our weekly sales and gross profit contribution from each of our core customers and increasing the number of unique products we distribute to such customers. We believe our acquisition activity reflects this focus, as we have sought to complement our existing product offerings and enhance our product capabilities through the acquisition of wholesale specialty food and produce distributors and high quality center-of-the-plate protein suppliers, manufacturers and distributors.

Expand our Customer Base Within our Existing Markets. We serve more than 40,000 core customer locations, excluding our direct-to-consumer business, in the United States, Middle East, and Canada. We plan to expand our market share in the fragmented specialty food distribution industry by cultivating new customer relationships within our existing markets through the continued penetration of menu-driven independent restaurants, fine dining establishments, country clubs, hotels, caterers, culinary schools, bakeries, patisseries, chocolateries, cruise lines, casinos and specialty food stores. We believe we have the opportunity to continue to gain market share in our existing markets by offering an extensive selection of specialty food products, as well as center-of-the-plate proteins, produce and traditional broadline staple food products through our unique, collaborative and educational sales efforts and efficient, scalable distribution solution.

Improve our Operating Margins. As we continue to grow, we believe that the investments we are making in our facilities and information technology platforms, along with improved efficiencies that we are working to achieve in our general and administrative functions, should yield both improved customer service and increased profitability. Utilizing our fleet of delivery trucks, we usually fill customer orders within 12-24 hours of order placement. We intend to continue to offer our customers this high level of customer service, while maintaining our focus on realizing efficiencies and economies of scale in purchasing, warehousing, distribution and general and administrative functions which, when combined with incremental fixed-cost leverage, we believe will lead to continued improvements in our operating margin over time.

Pursue Selective Acquisitions. Throughout our over 35-year history, we have successfully identified, consummated and integrated multiple strategic acquisitions, which were designed to increase our penetration in existing markets, expand our footprint into new markets and/or enhance our product capabilities. We believe that, over time, we will be able to improve the operations and overall profitability of each acquired company by leveraging our sourcing relationships to provide an expanded product portfolio, implementing our tested sales force training techniques and metrics and installing improved warehouse management and information systems. We believe we have the opportunity to capitalize on our existing infrastructure and expertise by continuing to selectively pursue opportunistic acquisitions in order to expand the breadth of our distribution network, increase our operating efficiency and add additional products and capabilities. Since our initial public offering (“IPO”), we have completed thirty-one acquisitions, which have increased our penetration in existing markets, expanded our footprint into new markets and enhanced our product capabilities.

Our Markets and the Customers that We Serve

Excluding our direct-to-consumer business, we distribute our specialty food products to over 40,000 distinct core customer locations from distribution centers located in our primary markets, which include New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, New England, Las Vegas, Miami, Portland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Chicago, Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Seattle, Sacramento, Philadelphia, Texas, Denver, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Oman and Qatar. We believe that many of these markets set the culinary trends for the rest of the United States, Middle East and Canada and provide us with valuable insight into the latest culinary and menu trends. We have established collaborative professional and educational relationships with some of the United States’ and Canada’s most demanding chefs, which allows us to anticipate the needs of, and offer cost-effective food product solutions to, our customers while allowing our customers to locate ingredients that will enable them to create unique and differentiated menu items. Our target customers include menu-driven independent restaurants, fine dining establishments, country clubs, hotels, caterers, culinary schools, bakeries, patisseries, chocolateries, cruise lines, casinos and specialty food stores. We have no meaningful customer concentration as our top ten customers who accounted for less than 6.5% of total net sales for our 2022 fiscal year.

Our Allen Brothers subsidiary markets certain of our center-of-the-plate proteins directly to consumers through a mail and e-commerce platform. Additionally, in response to the Pandemic, we expanded our direct-to-consumer product offerings by launching our “Shop Like a Chef” online home delivery platform in several of the markets we serve.

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Set forth below is a breakdown of the primary geographic markets we serve and the year we entered each market:

Market Name Geographies Served Year Entered

New York New York to Atlantic City 1985

Washington, D.C. Baltimore to Richmond 1999

Los Angeles Santa Barbara to San Diego and Phoenix 2005

San Francisco Napa Valley to Monterey Bay 2005

Las Vegas Las Vegas 2005

Miami Orlando to Miami 2010

Portland Portland 2011

Columbus Midwest 2012

Cincinnati Dayton to Lexington 2013

Vancouver Vancouver and Western Canada 2013

Edmonton Edmonton and Calgary 2013

Sacramento Sacramento 2015

Philadelphia Philadelphia 2018

New England New England 2020

Middle East Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, and Oman 2022

We extend credit to virtually all of our core customers on varying terms. Most of our customers have payment terms from 14 to 60 days. We complete a formal credit assessment of all significant new core customers, and our Credit and Collections Department regularly evaluates credit terms for each such customer based upon several factors, including order frequency, average order size, the types of products purchased and the length of the relationship. We believe that we are skilled at managing customer credit.

Our Gourmet Food Products

We strive to be the primary food source solution for our customers, and, to this end, we offer our customers a comprehensive product portfolio that ranges from basic ingredients and staples, such as milk and flour, to custom-cut steaks, seafood, produce and pastries, as well as delicacies and specialty ingredients sourced from North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America. We carry more than 55,000 SKUs and we are fully committed to utilizing our sourcing relationships and industry insights to procure products that we do not regularly carry but that our customers specifically request as they seek to create unique and innovative menu offerings.

We continuously evaluate potential additions to our product portfolio based on both existing and anticipated trends in the culinary industry. Our buyers have numerous contacts with suppliers throughout North America, Europe, Asia and South America and are always looking for new and interesting products that will aid our customers as they seek to keep up with the latest developments in the culinary industry. Our ability to successfully distribute a significant portion of the total production of smaller, regional and artisanal specialty food producers allows us the opportunity to be these producers’ primary route-to-market in our markets without, in most cases, requiring us to make contractual commitments regarding guaranteed volume. We are also able to leverage our scale and successful track record of distributing products sourced from outside the United States and Canada to minimize importing costs.

We seek to differentiate ourselves from our competitors by offering a more extensive depth and breadth of specialty products. We carry a wide range of high-quality specialty food products, including artisan charcuterie, specialty cheeses, unique oils and vinegars, truffles, caviar, chocolate and pastry products across each of our markets, but we also offer a number of items in each of our respective markets that are tailored to meet the unique preferences of the individual chefs in that market. We regularly rotate our inventory to identify and bring to market new products that will continue to support our value proposition.

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Within our product offerings, we carry numerous gourmet brands, and at the same time, we seek to maximize product contribution through the sale of our proprietary brands, which we offer in a number of staple products, including bulk olive oil, Italian grating cheeses and butter. We believe that our ability to offer simultaneously high-quality specialty foods and ingredients, center-of-the-plate products, produce and more traditional broadline staple food products provides our customers with foodservice distribution solutions that are efficient and cost effective.

Our Sophisticated and Experienced Sales Professionals

We employ a sophisticated and experienced sales force of approximately 720 sales and customer service professionals focused on meeting our customers’ goals and objectives, while concurrently educating them regarding our latest products and broader culinary trends. Our sales force is composed of the following three distinct groups which are all focused on providing outstanding service to our customers:

•Outside Sales Associates: Responsible for identifying sales opportunities, educating customers and acting as our public representatives.

•Inside Sales Associates: Responsible for processing customer orders and arranging for delivery and payment.

•Product Specialists: Responsible for maintaining specialized product knowledge and educating our outside sales associates and customers regarding new products and general developments in several specific categories, including meat, seafood, pastry and cheese.

A significant number of our sales professionals have formal culinary training, degrees in the culinary arts and/or prior experience working in the culinary industry. We strive to harness this culinary knowledge and passion for food and to concurrently promote an entrepreneurial working environment. Utilizing advanced pricing optimization software available to them on a real-time basis, our sales professionals are afforded flexibility to determine the pricing of individual items for our customers within a range of pricing options. The majority of our outside sales professionals are compensated on a commission basis, and their performance is measured primarily upon their gross profit dollars obtained. We have historically experienced low turnover among our seasoned sales professionals.

Because we are highly focused on collaborating with our customers and educating them regarding our latest products and broader culinary trends, we view the ongoing education and training of our sales force as crucial to our continued success. To ensure that our sales professionals remain on the forefront of new culinary products and trends, we regularly hold “vendor shows” at our distribution centers, where our sales force is able to interact with vendors and learn more about the vendors’ latest product offerings and the performance of these products relative to competitive offerings.

Our Suppliers

We are committed to providing our customers with an unrivaled portfolio of specialty food products, as well as a comprehensive broadline product offering, produce and center-of-the-plate products. To fulfill this commitment, we maintain strong sourcing relationships with numerous producers of high-quality artisan and regional specialty food products, as well as a wide range of broadline product suppliers, produce and protein vendors. Our importing arm also provides us with access to exclusive items such as regional olive oils, truffles and charcuterie sourced from Italy, Spain, France and other Mediterranean countries.

We constantly seek out and evaluate new products in order to satisfy our customers’ desire to be at the forefront of the latest culinary and menu trends, and, as evidence of our commitment to aid our customers in creating unique and innovative menu items, we regularly utilize our sourcing relationships and industry insights to procure other products that we do not regularly carry but that our customers specifically request.

We currently distribute products from more than 2,500 different suppliers. We carry multiple products and utilize multiple suppliers in all of our product categories, thereby eliminating our dependence upon any single supplier. Additionally, we seek to limit commodity risk by utilizing sophisticated forecasting and inventory management systems to minimize the inventory carrying time of commodity-oriented products and by leveraging the specialized product knowledge of our product specialists to manage purchasing and inventory levels when appropriate.

Our Operations and Distribution Centers

Operating out of 44 distribution centers of varying size and providing service six days a week in many areas, we utilize our fleet of delivery trucks to fill customer orders, usually within 12-24 hours of order placement. We have invested significantly in sophisticated warehousing, inventory control and distribution systems, as described in more detail below.

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We have implemented pick-to-voice technology in each of our distribution facilities, which enables our warehouse employees to fill orders with greater speed and accuracy and are implementing inventory scanning platforms in an effort to reduce damages and returns.

Products are delivered to our distribution centers primarily by contract carriers, the suppliers themselves and our fleet of trucks. Out trucks are either owned or leased from national leasing companies and regional firms that offer competitive services. Customer orders are assembled in our distribution centers and then sorted, placed on pallets and loaded onto trucks and trailers in delivery sequence. The majority of our trucks and delivery trailers have multiple, temperature-controlled compartments that ensure all product is delivered to the customer at its optimal temperature.

We employ advanced routing and logistics planning software, which maximizes the number of daily deliveries that each of our trucks can make, while also enabling us to typically make deliveries within each customer’s preferred two to three hour time window. We’ve deployed truck scanning across most of our fleet which allows us to monitor the delivery of product to our customers on a real-time basis. For our direct-to-consumer business, we ship through nationally recognized couriers. We also use GPS and vehicle monitoring technology, including on-board camera technology, to regularly evaluate the condition of our delivery trucks and monitor the performance of our drivers, by tracking their progress relative to their delivery schedule and providing information regarding hard braking, idling and fast starts. Our use of this technology allows us to conduct proactive fleet maintenance, provide timely customer service and improve our risk management.

Our Technology Systems

We maintain an advanced information technology platform that enables us to manage our operations across our various markets, as we seek to drive our growth and profitability and ensure that the needs of our customers are met in an accurate and efficient manner. Over recent years, we have made significant investments in distribution, sales, information and warehouse management systems and are in the process of implementing a fully-integrated Enterprise Resource Planning system. Our systems improvements include the implementation of route optimization software, a warehouse management system at all specialty warehouses that integrates with pick-to-voice and directed put-away systems. We are driving increasing sales volume through our e-commerce platforms and a new mobile ordering tool which we believe will enable a much more seamless online customer experience. We also leverage a reporting and analytics platform that provides our sales team and management with the information required to drive efficiency and growth. We believe that our current systems are scalable and can be leveraged together with targeted investments in new technology to provide the fuel to drive profitable growth.

Intellectual Property

Except for the Spoleto, Bel Aria, Grand Reserve, Provvista, Argonaut, Praml, Black Falls, Michael’s, Chocoa, Crescendo, Matisse, Qzina, Coccinelle, Allen Brothers, The Great Steakhouse Steaks, Del Monte, Fells Point, Bassian Farms, Sid Wainer & Son, Cambridge Packing, Foley Fish, Silver State Meats, Sid Wainer & Son, Alexis Foods, Chef Middle East, and The Chefs’ Warehouse trademarks, we do not own or have the right to use any patent, trademark, trade name, license, franchise or concession, the loss of which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Competition

The foodservice distribution industry is highly competitive. We compete with numerous smaller distributors on a local level, as well as with a limited number of national broadline foodservice distributors. Certain of these distributors have greater financial and other resources than we do. Bidding for contracts or arrangements with customers, particularly larger hotels and caterers, is highly competitive and distributors may market their services to a particular customer over a long period of time before they are invited to bid. We believe that most purchasing decisions in the foodservice distribution industry are based upon the quality and price of the product distributed and the distributor’s ability to completely and accurately fill orders and deliver them in a timely manner.

Human Capital Management

As of December 30, 2022, we had 4,124 full-time employees, 181 of whom (approximately 4%) are currently represented by unions and operate under collective bargaining agreements, which expire at various times between fiscal 2024 and 2025. We offer attractive compensation and benefit packages, and we believe our relationship with our employees is satisfactory.

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Environmental, Social and Governance

We are committed to upholding ethical, socially responsible and environmentally conscious business practices, consistent with

our corporate values, to promote long-term and sustainable change. In 2022, our board of directors formed an Environmental,

Social and Governance Committee (the “ESG Committee”) to oversee our environmental, social and governance activities and

practices. Among other things, the ESG Committee reviews and evaluates: our progress towards meeting our diversity goals

and compliance with our responsibilities as an equal opportunity employer; our workplace safety, employee health and

wellness, inclusion, employee training and skill improvement and other human capital management initiatives; and our

programs and activities relating to environmental sustainability, product quality and quality assurance, social and community

relations (including labor relations) and other related economic and regulatory compliance requirements.

Workforce Health and Safety

The safety and health of our employees is a top priority for us. In response to the Pandemic, we implemented new procedures and protocols recommended by the Centers for Disease Control, federal and state governments, and other major health authorities. This includes, but is not limited to, instructing our employees to practice social distancing on our premises and those of our customers, frequent sanitation of our work environments, truck fleet and equipment, supplying personal protective equipment to our workforce and allowing our administrative employees to work from home.

Professional Development

Providing career development opportunities for our employees is a top priority. As an investment in the professional growth of

our employees, professional learning and development courses are provided for all employees. Our employees can readily

choose to take courses in categories such as safety, leadership, management, sales and business acumen, and courses may also

be assigned to our employees based on job function.

Social and Environmental Responsibility

Our corporate policies, overseen by the ESG Committee, are intended to further strengthen and promote our commitment to social and environmental responsibility with our directors, employees, leaders and business partners. Our policy on salient human rights risks identifies key human rights issues related to our business activities and business relationships, including promoting a safe and healthy work environment, providing a fair and inclusive work environment and combating forced and underage labor. Our Human Rights Policy details our commitment to upholding fundamental human rights, and our Code of Conduct for Suppliers reflects our commitment to extending ethical business practices throughout our supply chain. Our Environmental, Health and Safety Policy promotes and protects the health and safety of our employees and reinforces our commitment to environmental stewardship, such as through our endorsement of the United Nations Global Compact CEO Water Mandate.

Regulation

As a distributor of specialty food products and meat and seafood in the United States and Canada, we are subject to regulation by numerous international, federal, state, provincial and local regulatory agencies. For example, at the U.S. federal level, we are subject to the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, the Bioterrorism Act and regulations promulgated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”). The FDA regulates manufacturing and holding requirements for foods, specifies the standards of identity for certain foods and prescribes the format and content of certain information required to appear on food product labels, among other responsibilities. For certain product lines, we are also subject to the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, the Country of Origin Labeling Act and regulations promulgated thereunder by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (“USDA”). The USDA imposes standards for product quality and sanitation, including the inspection and labeling of meat and poultry products and the grading and commercial acceptance of produce shipments from vendors. The products we distribute in Canada are subject to regulation and inspection by Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Our distribution operations in the Middle East are subject to regulation by municipal and local regulatory agencies including the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority, the Ministry of Health in Qatar, the Centre for Food and Safety and Quality in Oman, and the Department of Food Safety in Dubai. Our suppliers are also subject to similar regulatory requirements and oversight. The failure to comply with applicable regulatory requirements could result in civil or criminal fines or penalties, product recalls, closure of facilities or operations, the loss or revocation of existing licenses, permits or approvals or the failure to obtain additional licenses, permits or approvals in new jurisdictions where we intend to do business.

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We are also subject to state and local regulation through such measures as the licensing of our facilities, enforcement by state and local health agencies of state and local standards for our products and facilities and regulation of our trade practices in connection with the sale of products. Our facilities are generally inspected at least annually by federal and/or state authorities. These facilities are also subject to inspections and regulations issued pursuant to the Occupational Safety and Health Act by the U.S. Department of Labor, which require us to comply with certain manufacturing, health and safety standards to protect our employees from accidents and to establish hazard communication programs to transmit information about the hazards of certain chemicals present in certain products that we distribute. Our Canadian distribution facilities, repackaging activities and other operations also are subject to regulation and inspection by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and provincial health authorities.

Our trucking operations are regulated by the Surface Transportation Board, the Federal Highway Administration, Transport Canada and Canadian provincial transportation authorities. We are also regulated by the Dubai Road and Transport Authority, Abu Dhabi Transport Authority and the Ministry of Transport in Qatar and Oman. In addition, interstate motor carrier operations are subject to safety requirements prescribed by the U.S. Department of Transportation and other relevant federal and state agencies. Such matters as weight and dimension of equipment are also subject to federal and state regulations. We believe that we are in compliance with applicable regulatory requirements relating to our motor carrier operations. Our failure to comply with the applicable motor carrier regulations could result in substantial fines or revocation of our operating permits.

Our operations are subject to a broad range of federal, state, provincial and local environmental health and safety laws and regulations, including those governing discharges to air, soil and water, the handling and disposal of hazardous substances and the investigation and remediation of contamination resulting from releases of petroleum products and other hazardous substances.

We believe that we are in material compliance with all international, federal, state, provincial and local regulations applicable to our operations, and management is unaware of any related issues that may have a material adverse effect upon our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Litigation and Insurance

We may be subject to lawsuits, claims and assessments in the normal course of business. Our management does not believe that there are any suits, claims or unasserted claims or assessments pending which would have a material adverse effect on our operations or financial condition.

We maintain comprehensive insurance packages with respect to our facilities, equipment, product liability, directors and officers, workers’ compensation and employee matters in amounts which management believes to be prudent and customary within the foodservice distribution industry.

Seasonality

Excluding our direct-to-consumer business, we generally do not experience any material seasonality. However, our sales and operating results may vary from quarter to quarter due to factors such as changes in our operating expenses, management’s ability to execute our operating and growth strategies, personnel changes, demand for our products, supply shortages, weather patterns and general economic conditions.

Our Allen Brothers direct-to-consumer business is subject to seasonal fluctuations, with direct-to-consumer center-of-the-plate protein sales typically higher during the holiday season in our fourth quarter; accordingly, a disproportionate amount of operating cash flows from this portion of our business is generated in the fourth quarter. Despite a significant portion of these sales occurring in the fourth quarter, there are operating expenses, principally advertising and promotional expenses, throughout the year.

The Pandemic has had a material impact on our business and operations and those of our customers. Our net sales were most significantly impacted during the second quarter of fiscal 2020 when, in an effort to limit the spread of the virus, federal, state and local governments began implementing various restrictions that resulted in the temporary closure of non-essential businesses in many of the markets we serve, which forced our customers in those markets to either transition their establishments to take-out service, delivery service or temporarily cease operations.

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Inflation

Our profitability is dependent, among other things, on our ability to anticipate and react to changes in the costs of key operating resources, including food and other raw materials, labor, energy and other supplies and services. Substantial increases in costs and expenses could impact our operating results to the extent that such increases cannot be passed along to our customers. The impact of inflation on food, labor, energy and occupancy costs can significantly affect the profitability of our operations.

Available Information

Our principal executive office is located at 100 East Ridge Road, Ridgefield, Connecticut 06877, and our telephone number is (203) 894-1345. Our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments to those reports will be made available free of charge through the Investors section of our website (http://www.chefswarehouse.com) as soon as practicable after such material is electronically filed with, or furnished to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Material contained on our website is not incorporated by reference into this report.

We have also adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics (“Code of Ethics”) that applies to all of our employees, including our principal executive officer, principal financial officer and principal accounting officer. Our Code of Ethics is publicly available on the Investor Relations section of our website (http://www.chefswarehouse.com) and is available free of charge by writing to The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc., 100 East Ridge Road, Ridgefield, Connecticut 06877, Attn: Investor Relations. If we make any substantive amendments to the Code of Ethics or grant any waiver, including any implicit waiver, from a provision of the Code of Ethics to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer or principal accounting officer, or persons performing similar functions, we intend to make any legally required disclosures regarding such amendments or waivers on the Investors section of our website (http://www.chefswarehouse.com).

The SEC also maintains an Internet website that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers, including us, that file electronically with the SEC located at http://www.sec.gov.

Information about our Executive Officers

Name & Position Age Business Experience

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Item 1A. RISK FACTORS

Our business, financial condition and results of operations are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including those described below and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This section discusses factors that, individually or in the aggregate, we think could cause our actual results to differ materially from our expected and historical results. Risk factors are organized in categories where they primarily apply, but other categories may also apply. Our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially adversely affected by any of these risks. We note these factors for investors as permitted by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Business and Macroeconomic Risk

Our success depends to a significant extent upon general economic conditions, including disposable income levels and changes in consumer discretionary spending.

Our business is exposed to reductions in consumer discretionary spending because our target customers operate in the food-away-from-home industry. Consumer discretionary spending may be affected by many factors outside of our control, including general economic conditions, inflation, disposable income levels and consumer confidence levels. In uncertain economic environments, consumers may choose to spend discretionary dollars less frequently which could result in a decline in consumers’ food-away-from-home purchases, particularly in more expensive restaurants, and, consequently, adversely impact the businesses of our customers by, among other things, reducing the frequency with which our customers’ customers choose to dine out or the amount they spend on meals while dining out. If our customers’ sales decrease, our profitability could decline as we spread fixed costs across lower sales volume. Also, similar economic conditions could lead to consumers purchasing less from our direct-to-consumer platforms. Moreover, if a prolonged downturn or uncertain outlook in the economy were to occur, consumers might ultimately make long-lasting changes to their discretionary spending behavior, including dining out less frequently on a permanent basis or purchasing less on our direct-to-consumer platforms. Accordingly, adverse changes to consumer preferences or consumer discretionary spending, each of which could be affected by many different factors which are out of our control, could harm our business, financial condition or results of operations. Our continued success will depend in part upon our ability to anticipate, identify and respond to changing economic and other conditions and the impact that those conditions may have on discretionary consumer spending.

A significant portion of our future growth is dependent upon our ability to expand our operations in our existing markets and to penetrate new markets either through organic growth or through acquisitions.

We intend to expand our presence in our existing markets by adding to our existing customer base through the expansion of our product portfolio and the increase in the volume and/or number of purchase orders from our existing customers. We cannot assure investors, however, that we will be able to continue to successfully expand or acquire critical market presence in our existing markets, as we may not successfully market our specialty food and center-of-the-plate products and brands or may encounter larger and/or more well-established competitors with substantially greater financial resources. Moreover, competitive circumstances and consumer characteristics in new segments of existing markets may differ substantially from those in the segments in which we have substantial experience. If we are unable to expand in existing markets, our ability to increase our revenues and profitability may be affected in a material and adverse manner. At times, we have grown our business by expanding into new geographic markets, including our recent expansion to in the Middle East. Efforts to expand organically may take time to produce revenues that exceed our expenses in these new markets, which can be high as we build out our infrastructure and hire associates to run our operations. Additionally, with respect to international markets, political or financial instability, changes in U.S. and foreign relationships, laws and regulations affecting the importation and taxation of goods, including duties, tariffs and quotas, or changes in the enforcement of those laws and regulations could adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations.

We also regularly evaluate opportunities to acquire other companies. To the extent our future growth includes acquisitions, we cannot assure investors that we will successfully identify suitable acquisition candidates, obtain financing for such acquisitions, if necessary, consummate such potential acquisitions, effectively and efficiently integrate any acquired entities or successfully expand into new markets as a result of our acquisitions. Moreover, there may be additional risks that we face to the extent that we acquire companies that are principally involved in the distribution of products that we have not historically distributed, like fresh produce. We may choose to pursue further expansion into new international markets. If we seek and attain a larger international footprint, we would be required to comply with additional foreign laws and regulations, which could increase our operating costs. Any failure to comply with these laws or regulations could result in civil and/or criminal sanctions, reputational harm and could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

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We may not achieve benefits expected from our acquisitions which could adversely impact our business and operating results.

We believe that there are risks related to acquiring companies, including overpaying for acquisitions, losing key employees of acquired companies, failing to identify potential liabilities associated with the acquisition of the business prior to our acquisition and failing to achieve potential synergies. Additionally, our business could be adversely affected if we are unable to integrate the companies we acquired.

A significant portion of our past growth has been achieved through acquisitions of, or mergers with, other distributors of specialty food products and center-of-the-plate protein items. Our future acquisitions may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, particularly in periods immediately following the consummation of those transactions while the operations of the acquired business are being integrated with our operations. Achieving the benefits of acquisitions depends on timely, efficient and successful execution of a number of post-acquisition events, including successful integration of the acquired entity. Integration requires, among other things:

•maintaining the existing customer and supplier base and personnel;

•optimizing delivery routes;

•coordinating administrative, distribution and finance functions; and

•integrating management information systems and personnel.

The integration process may temporarily redirect resources previously focused on reducing product cost, resulting in lower gross profits in relation to sales. In addition, the process of combining companies could cause the interruption of, or a loss of momentum in, the activities of the respective businesses, which could have an adverse effect on their combined operations. These risks may be exacerbated in international markets where we have less operational experience. We have an integration team which is dedicated to onboarding new acquisitions and integrating information technology systems as quickly and efficiently as possible. We believe that having a team dedicated to integration helps make sure the people, processes and products we add through acquisitions are consistent with our historical business and allows our management team to focus its attention on our day-to-day operations. If the integration team does not improve our integration process, the integration of acquisitions could divert the attention of management, and any difficulties or problems encountered in the integration process could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

In connection with our acquisition of businesses in the future, if any, we may decide to consolidate the operations of any acquired business with our existing operations or make other changes with respect to the acquired business, which could result in special charges or other expenses. Our results of operations also may be adversely affected by expenses we incur in making acquisitions, by amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets with definite lives and by additional depreciation attributable to acquired assets. Any of the businesses we acquire may also have liabilities or adverse operating issues, including some that we fail to discover before the acquisition, and our indemnity for such liabilities typically has been limited and may, with respect to future acquisitions, also be limited. Additionally, our ability to make any future acquisitions may depend upon obtaining additional financing or the consents of our lenders. We may not be able to obtain this additional financing or these consents on acceptable terms or at all. Moreover, we may need to finance our acquisition activity with the issuance of equity or debt securities, which may have rights and preferences superior to those of our common stock and, in the case of common equity securities, may be issued at such prices and in such amounts as may cause significant dilution to our then-existing common stockholders. To the extent we seek to acquire other businesses in exchange for our common stock, fluctuations in our stock price could have a material adverse effect on our ability to complete acquisitions.

In addition, although we enter into acquisition agreements with each company or business we acquire that contain customary representations, warranties, covenants and indemnities, there is no guarantee that we will recover all of our losses that may result from a breach of such agreements. For example, most acquisition agreements contain baskets or deductibles and caps and limitations on damages and on periods in which we may bring a claim. In addition, there can be no guarantee that we will be successful on the merits of any claim that we bring arising out of a breach of an acquisition agreement or that if we are successful on the merits in bringing a claim that the sellers of the businesses we acquire will be able to pay us for our losses. Moreover, the costs that we incur to investigate a potential matter may not be fully recoverable. Additionally, as a result of an acquisition, we may enter into a new business or market or offer products that differ from our core business. Any such new business or market or the sale and distribution of new products may present new challenges for us, and we may not be able to overcome such challenges. Additionally, we may seek to distribute a different set of products than the business that we acquire, which may cause a loss of customers of those businesses if we can no longer carry the products they desire or charge more for those products than was charged before we acquired the business.

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Our failure to realize the benefits expected from our acquisitions could result in a reduction in the price of our common stock as well as in increased costs, decreases in the amount of expected revenues and diversion of management’s time and energy and could materially and adversely impact our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We may have difficulty managing and facilitating our future growth.

At times since our inception, we have rapidly expanded our operations through organic growth, acquisitions or otherwise. This growth has placed and will continue to place significant demands upon our administrative, operational and financial resources. This growth, however, may not continue. To the extent that our customer base and our distribution networks continue to grow, this future growth may be limited by our inability to acquire new distribution facilities or expand our existing distribution facilities, make acquisitions, successfully integrate acquired entities, implement information systems initiatives or adequately manage our personnel.

Moreover, our future growth may be limited in part by the size and location of our distribution centers. As we near maximum utilization of a given facility, our operations may be constrained and inefficiencies may be created, which could adversely affect our results of operations unless the facility is expanded, volume is shifted to another facility or additional processing capacity is added. Conversely, as we add additional facilities or expand existing operations or facilities, excess capacity may be created. Any excess capacity may also create inefficiencies and adversely affect our results of operations. We cannot assure investors that we will be able to successfully expand our existing distribution facilities or open new distribution facilities in new or existing markets as needed to facilitate growth.

Even if we are able to expand our distribution network, our ability to compete effectively and to manage future growth, if any, will depend on our ability to continue to implement and improve operational, financial and management information systems on a timely basis and to expand, train, motivate and manage our employees. We cannot assure investors that our existing personnel, systems, procedures and controls will be adequate to support the future growth of our operations. Accordingly, our inability to manage our growth effectively could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our business is a low-margin business and our profit margins may be sensitive to inflationary and deflationary pressures.

We operate within a segment of the foodservice distribution industry, which is an industry characterized by a high volume of sales with relatively low profit margins. Although our profit margins are typically higher than more traditional broadline foodservice distributors, they are still relatively low compared to other industries’ profit margins. Volatile food costs may have a direct impact upon our profitability. Prolonged periods of product cost inflation may have a negative impact on our profit margins and results of operations to the extent we are unable to pass on all or a portion of such product cost increases to our customers. In addition, product cost inflation may negatively impact consumer discretionary spending decisions within our customers’ establishments, which could adversely impact our sales. Conversely, our profit levels may be negatively impacted during periods of product cost deflation even though our gross profit as a percentage of sales may remain relatively constant. However, some of our products, particularly certain of our center-of-the-plate protein items, are priced on a “cost plus” markup, which helps mitigate the negative impact of deflation. If our product mix changes, we may face increased risks of margin compression, as we may be unable to achieve the same level of profit margins as we are able to capture on our traditional specialty products. Our inability to effectively price our specialty food products, produce or center-of-the-plate products, to quickly respond to inflationary and deflationary cost pressures and to reduce our expenses could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We have significant competition from a variety of sources, and we may not be able to compete successfully.

The foodservice distribution industry is highly fragmented and competitive, and our future success will be largely dependent upon our ability to profitably meet our customers’ needs for certain gourmet foods and ingredients, varying drop sizes, high service levels and timely delivery. We compete with numerous smaller distributors on a local level, as well as with a limited number of larger, traditional broadline foodservice distributors. We cannot assure investors that our current or potential competitors will not provide specialty food products and ingredients, produce, center-of-the-plate protein items or services that are comparable or superior to those provided by us at prices that are lower than the prices we charge or adapt more quickly than we do to evolving culinary trends or changing market requirements. It is also possible that alliances among competitors may develop and rapidly acquire significant market share. Accordingly, we cannot assure investors that we will be able to compete effectively against current and future competitors, and increased competition may result in price reductions, reduced gross margins and loss of market share, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

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Our customers are generally not obligated to continue purchasing products from us.

Most of our customers buy from us pursuant to individual purchase orders, as we generally do not enter into long-term agreements with our customers for the purchase of our products. Because our customers are generally not obligated to continue purchasing products from us, we cannot assure investors that the volume and/or number of our customers’ purchase orders will remain constant or increase or that we will be able to maintain or add to our existing customer base. Significant decreases in the volume and/or number of our customers’ purchase orders or our inability to retain or grow our current customer base may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Damage to our reputation or lack of acceptance of our specialty food products, center-of-the-plate products and/or the brands we carry in existing and new markets could materially and adversely impact our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We believe that we have built a strong reputation for the breadth and depth of our product portfolio and the brands we carry and that we must protect and grow their value to be successful in the future. Any incident that erodes consumer confidence in or affinity for our specialty food, produce or center-of-the-plate products or brands, whether or not justified, could significantly reduce their respective values and damage our business. If our customers perceive or experience a reduction in the quality or selection of our products and brands or our customer service, or in any way believe that we failed to deliver a consistently positive experience, our business, financial condition or results of operations may be affected in a materially adverse manner.

A specialty foods distribution business such as ours can be adversely affected by negative publicity or news reports, whether or not accurate, regarding food quality issues, public health concerns, illness, safety, injury or government or industry findings concerning our products or others across the food distribution industry. Although we have taken steps to mitigate food quality, public health and other foodservice-related risks, these types of health concerns or negative publicity cannot be completely eliminated or mitigated and may harm our results of operations and damage the reputation of, or result in a lack of acceptance of, our products or the brands we carry.

In addition, our ability to successfully penetrate new markets may be adversely affected by a lack of awareness or acceptance of our product portfolio or our brands in these new markets. To the extent we are unable to foster name recognition and affinity for our products and brands in new markets, we may not be able to penetrate these markets as anticipated, and, consequently, our growth may be significantly delayed or impaired.

We have experienced losses due to our inability to collect accounts receivable in the past and could experience increases in such losses in the future if our customers are unable to pay their debts to us in a timely manner or at all.

Certain of our customers have experienced bankruptcy, insolvency and/or an inability to pay their debts to us as they come due. If our customers suffer significant financial difficulties or bankruptcies, they may be unable to pay their debts to us in a timely manner or at all. It is possible that our customers may contest their obligations to pay us under bankruptcy laws or otherwise. Even if our customers do not contest their obligations to pay us, if our customers are unable to pay their debts to us in a timely manner, it could adversely impact our ability to collect accounts receivable and may require that we take larger provisions for bad debt expense. Moreover, we may have to negotiate significant discounts and/or extended financing terms with these customers in such a situation in an attempt to secure payment for outstanding debts. Accordingly, if we are unable to collect upon our accounts receivable as they come due in an efficient and timely manner, our business, financial condition or results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. During periods of economic weakness, small to medium-sized businesses, like many of our independent restaurant and fine dining establishment customers, may be impacted more severely and more quickly than larger businesses. Consequently, the ability of such businesses to repay their obligations to us may deteriorate, and in some cases this deterioration may occur quickly, which could adversely impact our business, financial condition or results of operations.

New information or attitudes regarding diet and health or adverse opinions about the health effects of the products we distribute could result in changes in consumer eating habits, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Consumer eating habits may impact our business as a result of changes in attitudes regarding diet and health or new information regarding the health effects of consuming the products we distribute. If consumer eating habits change significantly, we may be required to modify or discontinue sales of certain items in our product portfolio, and we may experience higher costs associated with the implementation of those changes. Additionally, changes in consumer eating habits may result in the enactment of laws and regulations that impact the ingredients and nutritional content of our products or require us to disclose the nutritional content of products. Compliance with these laws and regulations, as well as others regarding the ingredients and nutritional

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content of our products, may be costly and time consuming. We cannot assure investors that we will be able to effectively respond to changes in consumer health perceptions or resulting new laws or regulations or to adapt our product offerings to trends in eating habits.

Our business operations and future development could be significantly disrupted if we lose key members of our management team.

The success of our business significantly depends upon the continued contributions of our founders and key employees, both individually and as a group. Our future performance will substantially depend upon our ability to motivate and retain our founders Christopher Pappas, our chairman, president and chief executive officer, and John Pappas, our vice chairman, as well as certain other senior key employees. The loss of the services of either of our founders or any of our key employees, including key employees of the businesses we have acquired, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. We have no reason to believe that we will lose the services of these individuals in the foreseeable future; however, we currently have no effective replacement for these individuals due to their experience, reputation in the foodservice distribution industry and special role in our operations.

Our insurance policies may not provide adequate levels of coverage against all claims, and fluctuating insurance requirements and costs could negatively impact our profitability. In addition, if we fail to establish proper reserves and adequately estimate future expenses, the costs associated with our self-insured group medical, workers’ compensation liability and auto liability plans may adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We believe that our insurance coverage is customary for businesses of our size and type. However, there are types of losses we may incur that cannot be insured against or that we believe are not commercially reasonable to insure. These losses, should they occur, could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. In addition, the cost of workers’ compensation insurance, auto liability insurance, general liability insurance and directors’ and officers’ liability insurance fluctuates based upon our historical trends, market conditions and availability. Because our operations principally are centered in large, metropolitan areas, our insurance costs are higher than if our operations and facilities were based in more rural markets. Additionally, health insurance costs in general have risen significantly over the past few years. These increases, as well as federal legislation requiring employers to provide specified levels of health insurance to all employees, could have a negative impact upon our business, financial condition or results of operations, and we cannot assure investors that we will be able to successfully offset the effect of such increases with plan modifications and cost control measures, additional operating efficiencies or the pass-through of such increased costs to our customers.

We maintain a self-insured group medical program. The program contains individual stop loss thresholds of $300 thousand per incident and aggregate stop loss thresholds based upon the average number of employees enrolled in the program throughout the year. The amount in excess of the self-insured levels is fully insured by third party insurers. We record a liability for medical claims during the period in which they occur, as well as an estimate of incurred but not reported claims. Management determines the adequacy of these accruals based on a monthly evaluation of our historical claims experience and medical cost trends. Projections of future loss expenses are inherently uncertain because of the random nature of insurance claims occurrences and could be significantly affected if future occurrences and claims differ from these assumptions and historical trends. If we suffer a substantial loss that is not covered by our self- insurance reserves, the loss and attendant expenses could harm our business and operating results.

We are self-insured for workers’ compensation and automobile liability to deductibles or self-insured retentions of $500 thousand per occurrence. The amounts in excess of our deductibles are fully insured by third party insurers. Liabilities associated with this program are estimated in part by considering historical claims experience and cost trends. Projections of future loss expenses are inherently uncertain because of the random nature of insurance claims occurrences and could be significantly affected if future occurrences and claims differ from these assumptions and historical trends.

Supply Chain and Labor Risk

Conditions beyond our control could materially affect the cost and/or availability of our specialty food products, produce or center-of-the-plate products and/or interrupt our distribution network.

Our profitability and operating margins are dependent upon, among other things, our ability to anticipate and react to any interruptions in our distribution network and changes to food costs and availability. We obtain a significant portion of our specialty food products, produce and center-of-the-plate products from local, regional, national and international third-party suppliers. We generally do not enter into long-term contracts with our suppliers, whereby they would be committed to provide products to us for any appreciable duration of time. Although our purchasing volume can provide leverage when dealing with

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suppliers, particularly smaller suppliers for whom we may be their largest customer, suppliers may not provide or may be unable to provide the specialty food products, produce or center-of-the-plate products we need in the quantities and at the times and prices we request. Failure to identify an alternate source of supply for these items or comparable products that meet our customers’ expectations may result in significant cost increases. Additionally, weather, governmental regulation, water shortages, availability and seasonality may affect our food costs or cause a disruption in the quantity of our supply. For example, weather patterns in recent years have resulted in lower than normal or, conversely, higher than normal levels of rainfall and snowfall in key agricultural states such as California, impacting the price of water and the corresponding prices of food products grown in states affected by such weather. Additionally, the route-to-market for some of the products we sell, such as baking chocolate, depends upon the stability of political climates and a stable labor force in developing nations, such as the Ivory Coast. In such countries, political and social unrest may cause the prices for these products to rise to levels beyond those that our customers are willing to pay, if the product is available at all. If we are unable to obtain these products, our customers may seek a different supplier for these or other products which could negatively impact our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We do not currently use financial instruments to hedge our risk exposure to market fluctuations in the price of food products. Similarly, our suppliers may also be affected by higher costs to source or produce and transport food products, as well as by other related expenses that they pass through to their customers, which could result in higher costs for the specialty food products or center-of-the-plate products they supply to us. Our inability to anticipate and react to changing food costs through our sourcing and purchasing practices in the future could therefore negatively impact our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We may also be subject to material supply chain interruptions based upon conditions outside of our control. These interruptions could include work slowdowns, work interruptions, strikes or other adverse employment actions taken by employees of ours or our suppliers, short-term weather conditions or more prolonged climate change, crop conditions, product recalls, water shortages, transportation interruptions within our distribution channels, unavailability of fuel or increases in fuel costs, competitive demands and natural disasters or other catastrophic events, such as food-borne illnesses, pandemics or bioterrorism. The efficiency and effectiveness of our distribution network is dependent upon our suppliers’ ability to consistently deliver the specialty food products, produce, meat, poultry and seafood we need in the quantities and at the times and prices we request. Accordingly, if we are unable to obtain the specialty food products, produce, meat, poultry or seafood that comprise a significant percentage of our product portfolio in a timely manner and in the quantities and at the prices we request as a result of any of the foregoing factors or otherwise, we may be unable to fulfill our obligations to customers who may, as a result of any such failure, resort to other distributors for their food product needs or change the types of products they buy from us to products that are less profitable for us.

Our distribution of center-of-the-plate products, like meat, poultry and seafood involves exposure to price volatility experienced by those products.

With our distribution of center-of-the-plate products like meat, poultry and seafood, we are susceptible to increases in the prices of those products, and we cannot assure investors in our common stock that all or part of any increased costs experienced by us from time to time can be passed along to consumers of our products, in a timely manner or at all. Conversely, rapid downward pricing for these products, including as a result of export restrictions on U.S. beef products or lower demand internationally for U.S. beef products, may result in us lowering our prices to our customers even though our inventory on hand is at a higher cost. The supply and market price of our center-of the plate products are typically more volatile than most of our core specialty products and are dependent upon a variety of factors over which we have no control, including the relative cost of feed and energy, weather, livestock diseases, government regulation and the availability of beef, chicken and seafood.

The prices of our meat and poultry products are largely dependent on the production of feed ingredients, which is affected primarily by the global level of supply inventories and demand for feed ingredients, the agricultural policies of the U.S. and foreign governments and weather patterns throughout the world. In particular, weather patterns often change agricultural conditions in an unpredictable manner. A significant change in weather patterns could affect supplies of feed ingredients, as well as the industry’s ability to obtain feed ingredients or deliver products. More recently, feed prices have been impacted by increased demand both domestically for ethanol and globally for protein production.

Additionally, our center-of-the-plate category is subject to risks relating to animal health and diseases. An outbreak of diseases affecting livestock (such as foot-and-mouth disease or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly referred to as mad cow disease) could result in restrictions on sales of products, restrictions on purchases of livestock from suppliers or widespread destruction of livestock. Outbreaks of diseases, or the perception by the public that an outbreak has occurred, or other concerns regarding diseases, can lead to inadequate supply, cancellation of orders by customers and adverse publicity, any of which can

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have a significant negative impact on consumer demand and, as a result, on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

In addition, meat, poultry and seafood products that we distribute could be subject to recall because they are, or are alleged to be, contaminated, spoiled or inappropriately labeled. Our meat, poultry and seafood products may be subject to contamination by disease-producing organisms, or pathogens, such as Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella and generic E.coli. These pathogens are generally found in the environment, and, as a result, there is a risk that they, as a result of food processing, could be present in the meat, poultry and seafood products that we distribute. These pathogens can also be introduced as a result of improper handling in our facilities or at the consumer level. These risks may be controlled, although not eliminated, by adherence to good manufacturing practices and finished product testing. We have little, if any, control over proper handling before we receive the product or once the product has been shipped to our customers. Illness and death may result if the pathogens are not eliminated before these products are sold to customers.

We are also susceptible to increases in the prices of our seafood products. The prices of our seafood products are largely dependent on the continuous supply of fresh seafood, which in turn could be affected by a large number of factors, including, but not limited to, environmental factors, the availability of seafood stock, weather conditions, water contamination, the policies and regulations of the governments of the relevant territories where such fishing is carried out, the ability of the fishing companies and fishermen that supply us to continue their operations and pressure from environmental or animal rights groups. The major raw material for our seafood products is fresh seafood, and any shortage in supply or upsurge in demand of fresh seafood may lead to an increase in prices, which may adversely affect our profitability, including as a result of increased production costs and lower profit margins.

Our operations are subject to extensive regulation and oversight by the USDA, the FDA, and other federal, state, local and foreign authorities regarding the processing, packaging, storage, safety, distribution, advertising and labeling of its products. Recently, food safety practices and procedures in the meat processing industry have been subject to more intense scrutiny and oversight by the USDA. Failure to comply with existing or new laws and regulations could result in administrative penalties and injunctive relief, civil remedies, fines, interruption of operations, recalls of products or seizures of properties, potential criminal sanctions and personal injury or other damage claims. These remedies, changes in the applicable laws and regulations or discovery of currently unknown conditions could increase costs, limit business operations and reduce profitability.

Group purchasing organizations may become more active in our industry and increase their efforts to add our customers as members of these organizations.

Some of our customers, including a majority of our hotel customers, purchase their products from us through group purchasing organizations. These organizations have increased their efforts to aggregate the purchasing power of smaller, independent restaurants in an effort to lower the prices paid by these customers on their foodservice orders, and we have experienced some pricing pressure from these purchasers. If these group purchasing organizations are able to add a significant number of our customers as members, we may be forced to lower the prices we charge these customers in order to retain the business, which would negatively affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. Additionally, if we were unable or unwilling to lower the prices we charge for our products to a level that was satisfactory to the group purchasing organization, we may lose the business of those of our customers that are members of these organizations, which could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Fuel cost volatility may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Fuel cost volatility may have a negative impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations. The cost of diesel fuel can increase the price we pay for products as well as the costs we incur to distribute products to our customers. These factors, in turn, may negatively impact our net sales, margins, operating expenses and operating results. Although we have been able to pass along a portion of increased fuel costs to our customers in the past, we cannot assure investors that we can do so again. If fuel costs increase in the future, we may experience difficulties in passing all or a portion of these costs along to our customers, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Increases in our labor costs, including as a result of labor shortages, the unionization of some of our associates, the price or unavailability of insurance and changes in government regulation could slow our growth or harm our business.

We are subject to a wide range of labor costs. Because our labor costs (particularly those in our center-of-the-plate category) are, as a percentage of revenues, higher than other industries, we may be significantly harmed by labor cost increases.

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Our operations are dependent upon our experienced and sophisticated sales professionals, warehouse personnel and drivers, and, in our center-of-the plate facilities, on the experienced butchers we employ. Qualified individuals have historically been in short supply and an inability to attract and retain them may limit our ability to expand our operations in existing markets, as well as our ability to penetrate new markets. We cannot assure investors that we will be able to attract and retain qualified individuals in the future. Additionally, the cost of attracting and retaining qualified individuals may be higher than we currently anticipate, and as a result, our profitability could decline. We are subject to the risk of employment-related litigation, which we believe increased as a result of our large workforce in California and New York, at both the state and federal levels, including claims styled as class action lawsuits, which are more costly to defend. Also, some employment-related claims in the area of wage and hour disputes are not insurable risks.

Despite our efforts to control costs while still providing competitive healthcare benefits to our staff members, significant increases in healthcare costs continue to occur, and we can provide no assurance that our cost containment efforts in this area will be effective. Moreover, we are continuing to assess the impact of federal healthcare legislation on our healthcare benefit costs, and significant increases in such costs could adversely impact our operating results. We cannot assure investors that we will be able to pass through the costs of such legislation in a manner that will not adversely impact our operating results.

In addition, many of our delivery and warehouse personnel are hourly workers subject to various minimum wage requirements. Mandated increases in minimum wage levels have recently been and continue to be proposed and implemented at both federal and state government levels. Minimum wage increases may increase our labor costs.

We are also subject to the regulations of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement. Our failure to comply with federal and state labor laws and regulations, or our employees’ failure to meet federal citizenship or residency requirements, could result in a disruption in our work force, sanctions or fines against us as well as adverse publicity and additional cost.

As of December 30, 2022, we had 4,124 full-time employees, 181 of whom (approximately 4%) are represented by unions and are operating under collective bargaining agreements which expire at various times between fiscal 2024 and 2025. We have in the past been the focus of union negotiating efforts, and it is likely that we will be the focus of similar efforts in the future.

As we increase our employee base and broaden our distribution operations to new geographic markets, including as a result of acquisitions, our increased visibility could result in increased or expanded union-organizing efforts or we may acquire businesses with unionized workforces. Three labor unions have been certified to represent bargaining units at our New York, Chicago and Maryland facilities, and we have entered into a collective bargaining agreement with our union employees in New York, Chicago and Maryland. Although we have not experienced a work stoppage to date, if we are unable to successfully negotiate union contracts, or renewals of existing contracts, if additional employees were to unionize or if we acquire additional businesses with unionized employees, we could be subject to work stoppages and increases in labor costs, either of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Geographic and Global Risk

Significant public health epidemics or pandemics, including COVID-19, may adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

A public health epidemic or pandemic can significantly impact our business or those of our core customers or suppliers, particularly if located in geographies in which we have significant operations. Such events could significantly impact the food-away-from-home industry and other industries that are sensitive to changes in consumer discretionary spending habits. In addition, our operations could be disrupted if we were required to quarantine employees that work at our various distribution centers and processing facilities.

For instance, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic had an adverse impact on numerous aspects of our business, financial condition and results of operations including, but not limited to, our growth, product costs, supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, logistics constraints, customer demand for our products and industry demand generally, consumer spending, our liquidity, the price of our securities and trading markets with respect thereto, our ability to access capital markets, and the global economy and financial markets generally. The Pandemic may also have exacerbated many of the other risks described in this section or may have the potential to do so in the future. The extent to which the Pandemic impacts our financial condition or results of operations is uncertain and will depend on future developments including new information that may emerge on the severity or transmissibility of the disease, new variants, government responses, trends in infection rates, development and distribution of effective medical treatments and vaccines, and future consumer spending behavior, among others.

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Because our foodservice distribution operations are concentrated in certain culinary markets, we are susceptible to economic and other developments, or events, including adverse weather conditions, in these areas.

Our financial condition and results of operations are highly dependent upon the local economies of the culinary markets in which we distribute our products. In recent years, certain of these markets have been more resilient to economic downturns than others. Moreover, sales in our New York market, which we define as our operations spanning from New York to Atlantic City, accounted for approximately 18.8% of our net sales for fiscal year 2022. We are therefore particularly exposed to downturns in this regional economy. We also have significant operations in the San Francisco Bay area, Los Angeles, California, New England and Middle East. Deterioration in the economic conditions of our key markets generally, or in the local economy of the New York metropolitan area, San Francisco Bay or Los Angeles, California, New England and Middle East areas, specifically, could affect our business, financial condition or results of operations in a materially adverse manner.

In addition, given our geographic concentrations, and recent international expansion, other regional occurrences such as adverse weather conditions, terrorist attacks and other catastrophic events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. Adverse weather conditions can significantly impact the business of our customers and our ability to profitably and efficiently conduct our operations and, in severe cases, could result in our trucks being unable to make deliveries or cause the temporary closure or the destruction of one or more of our distribution centers. Our operations and/or distribution centers which are located in (i) New York City, New England, Ohio, Washington D.C., Chicago and Canada are particularly susceptible to significant amounts of snowfall and ice, (ii) Miami and Orlando are particularly susceptible to hurricanes and flooding, and (iii) Los Angeles and San Francisco are particularly susceptible to earthquakes, mudslides and wildfires, among other locally occurring adverse weather conditions. In addition, our restaurant customers, many of which are independently owned with operations limited to one or two markets, may be less able to withstand the impact on their business from adverse weather conditions than national chain restaurants because they are unable to spread the risks of such events across numerous locations. In some cases, these customers may not be able to re-open their restaurants, and consequently make payment to us for products previously provided, if the weather event or other catastrophic event is severe, particularly if they lacked sufficient insurance or their insurance claims are not processed quickly.

Due to their prominence as, among other characteristics, densely-populated major metropolitan cities and as international hubs for intermodal transportation, a majority of our markets are known as targets for terrorist activity and other catastrophic events and could be subject to transportation disruption. Our markets outside the United States may also be impacted by political protests or instability. If our or our customers’ operations are significantly disrupted or if any one or more of our distribution centers is temporarily closed or destroyed for any of the foregoing reasons, our business, financial condition or results of operations may be materially adversely affected. In anticipation of any such adverse weather conditions, terrorist attacks, man-made disasters or other unforeseen regional occurrences, we have implemented a disaster recovery plan. Should any of these events occur, and if we are unable to execute our disaster recovery plan, we may experience challenges in acquiring and distributing our products, failures or delays in the recovery of critical data, delayed reporting and compliance with governmental entities, inability to perform necessary corporate functions and other breakdowns in normal operating procedures that could have a material adverse effect on our business and create exposure to administrative and other legal claims against us.

As a result of our global operations, we are required to comply with laws and regulations governing ethical, anti-bribery and similar business practices. In our foreign operations, we are subject to the risk that one or more of our employees, contractors or agents could engage in business practices prohibited by U.S. laws and regulations that are applicable to us, such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, including those based in or from countries where practices that violate U.S. laws and regulations or the laws and regulations of other countries may be customary, or will engage in business practices that are prohibited by the Company’s policies or circumvent its compliance programs. Any of these violations could adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. Further, foreign currency exchange rates and fluctuations may have an effect on our future costs or on future cash flows from our foreign operations and could adversely affect our financial condition and operating results.

Information Technology, Intellectual Property and Data Risk

Information technology system failures, cybersecurity incidents or other disruptions to our use of technology and networks could interrupt our operations and adversely affect our business.

We rely upon information technology solutions including enterprise networks and software to process, transmit and store data related to virtually all our business processes and activities. Our business involves the storage and transmission of many types of sensitive or confidential information, including customers’ and suppliers’ personal information, private information about employees, and financial and strategic information about us and our operations. We leverage a suite of integrated hardware and software that relies on the availability of private and public networks to facilitate collaboration among all stakeholders.

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Likewise, we use mobile networks, web social media and other online applications to conduct business with suppliers and customers. Our operations depend upon our ability to protect our computer equipment and systems against damage from physical theft, fire, power loss, telecommunications failure or other catastrophic events, as well as from internal and external cybersecurity breaches, viruses, worms and other disruptive problems. We are continuously improving our information technology solutions, resulting in a larger technological presence and corresponding increase in exposure to cybersecurity risk. Any damage or failure of our computer systems or network infrastructure that causes an interruption in our operations, due to theft, destruction, loss, misappropriation, or release of confidential information or intellectual property, or interference with our information technology systems or the technology systems of third parties on which we rely, could result in business disruption, negative publicity, brand damage, violation of privacy laws, loss of customers, potential liability, remediation costs, and competitive disadvantage, which in turn could adversely affect our business and results of operations. While we have implemented cybersecurity solutions, conducted employee awareness campaigns, employed both internal resources and external consultants to conduct auditing and testing for weaknesses in our systems, controls, firewalls and encryption and intend to maintain and upgrade our security technology and operational procedures to prevent such damage, breaches or other disruptive problems, we cannot assure investors that these security measures will either continue or be successful.

Our investments in information technology may not produce the benefits that we anticipate.

In an attempt to reduce our operating expenses, increase our operational efficiencies, boost our operating margins and more closely track the movement of our inventory in our center-of-the-plate category, we have aggressively invested in the development and implementation of new information technology. We may not be able to implement these technological changes in the time frame we have planned, and any delays in implementation could negatively impact our business, financial condition or results of operations. In addition, the costs to make these changes may exceed our estimates and will likely exceed any benefits that we realize during the early stages of implementation. Even if we are able to implement the changes as planned, and within our cost estimates, we may not be able achieve the expected efficiencies, cost savings and operational enhancements from these investments which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We may not be able to adequately protect our intellectual property, which, in turn, could harm the value of our brands and adversely affect our business.

Our ability to implement our business plan successfully depends in part upon our ability to further build brand recognition, including for our proprietary products, using our trademarks, service marks and other proprietary intellectual property, including our names and logos. We have registered or applied to register a number of our trademarks. We cannot assure investors that our trademark applications will be approved. Third parties may also oppose our trademark applications, or otherwise challenge our use of the trademarks. In the event that our trademarks are successfully challenged, we could be forced to rebrand our goods and services, which could result in loss of brand recognition and could require us to devote resources to advertising and marketing new brands. If our efforts to register, maintain and protect our intellectual property are inadequate, or if any third party misappropriates, dilutes or infringes upon our intellectual property, the value of our brands may be harmed, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations and might prevent our brands from achieving or maintaining market acceptance.

We may also face the risk of claims that we have infringed third parties’ intellectual property rights. If third parties claim that we have infringed or are infringing upon their intellectual property rights, our operating profits could be affected in a materially adverse manner. Any claims of intellectual property infringement, even those without merit, could be expensive and time consuming to defend, require us to rebrand our services, if feasible, divert management’s attention and resources or require us to enter into royalty or licensing agreements in order to obtain the right to use a third party’s intellectual property. Any royalty or licensing agreements, if required, may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. A successful claim of infringement against us could result in our being required to pay significant damages, enter into costly license or royalty agreements, or stop the sale of certain products or services, any of which could have a negative impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations and could harm our future prospects.

Legal and Regulatory Risk

Product liability claims could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Like any other distributor of food products, we face an inherent risk of exposure to product liability claims if the products we sell cause injury or illness. We may be subject to liability, which could be substantial, because of actual or alleged contamination in products sold by us, including products sold by companies before we acquired them. We have, and the companies we have acquired have had, liability insurance with respect to product liability claims. This insurance may not continue to be available at a reasonable cost or at all, and it may not be adequate to cover product liability claims against us or

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against any of the companies we have acquired. We generally seek contractual indemnification from manufacturers or suppliers of the product, but any such indemnification is limited, as a practical matter, to the creditworthiness of the indemnifying party. If we or any of our acquired companies do not have adequate insurance or contractual indemnification available, product liability claims and costs associated with product recalls, including a loss of business, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We are subject to significant governmental regulation, and failure to comply could subject us to enforcement actions, recalls or other penalties, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our business is highly regulated at the federal, state and local levels, and our specialty food products, meat, poultry and seafood products and distribution operations require various licenses, permits and approvals. For example:

•the products we distribute in the United States are subject to regulation and inspection by the FDA and the USDA, the products we distribute in the Middle East are subject to regulation and inspection by the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority, Ministry of Health, and Centre for Food Safety and Quality, and the products we distribute in Canada are subject to regulation by Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency;

•our warehouse, distribution facilities, repackaging activities and other operations also are subject to regulation and inspection, as applicable, by the FDA, the USDA, Health Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority, Ministry of Health, Centre for Food Safety and Quality, and state, and provincial health authorities; and

•our U.S., Canadian, and Middle Eastern trucking operations are subject to regulation by, as applicable, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Federal Highway Administration, Transport Canada, the Surface Transportation Board, Dubai Road and Transport Authority, Abu Dhabi Transport Authority, Ministry of Transport, and provincial transportation authorities.

The failure to comply with applicable regulatory requirements could result in civil or criminal fines or penalties, product recalls, closure of facilities or operations, the loss or revocation of any existing licenses, permits or approvals or the failure to obtain additional licenses, permits or approvals in new jurisdictions where we intend to do business, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. Our suppliers are also subject to similar regulatory requirements and oversight.

In addition, as a distributor and repackager of specialty food products and meat, poultry and seafood products, we are subject to increasing governmental scrutiny of and public awareness regarding food safety and the manufacture, sale, packaging, storage and marketing of natural, organic and other food products. Compliance with these laws may impose a significant burden upon our operations. If we were to distribute foods that are or are perceived to be contaminated, or otherwise not in compliance with applicable laws, any resulting product recalls could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. We cannot assure investors in our common stock that these actions will not adversely impact us or others in our industry further, including suppliers of the products we sell, many of whom are small-scale producers who may be unable or unwilling to bear the expected increases in costs of compliance and as a result cease operations or seek to pass along these costs to us.

Additionally, concern over climate change, including the impact of global warming, has led to significant U.S. and international legislative and regulatory efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Increased regulation regarding greenhouse gas emissions, especially diesel engine emissions, could impose substantial costs upon us. These costs include an increase in the cost of the fuel and other energy we purchase and capital costs associated with updating or replacing our vehicles prematurely.

Until the timing, scope and extent of such regulation becomes known, we cannot predict its effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. It is reasonably possible, however, that such regulation could impose material costs on us that we may be unable to pass on to our customers.

Federal, state, provincial and local tax rules in the United States, Canada and the Middle East may adversely impact our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We are subject to federal, state, provincial and local tax rules in the United States, Canada and Middle East. Although we believe that our tax estimates are reasonable, if the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) or any other taxing authority disagrees with the positions we have taken on our tax returns, we could face additional tax liability, including interest and penalties. If material, payment of such additional amounts upon final adjudication of any disputes could have a material impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

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Many jurisdictions and intergovernmental organizations have been discussing or are in the process of implementing proposals that may change various aspects of the existing framework under which our tax obligations are determined in future periods. For example, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (the “OECD”), an international association comprised of 38 countries, including the United States, has issued proposals that change long-standing tax principles including on a global minimum tax initiative. On December 12, 2022 the European Union member states agreed to implement the OECD’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (“BEPS”) 2.0 Pillar Two global corporate minimum tax rate of 15% on companies with revenues of at least €750 million, which would go into effect in 2024. In December 2022, South Korea enacted new global minimum tax rules to align with the OECD's BEPS 2.0 Pillar Two. Other countries, including the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Canada, and Australia are also actively considering changes to their tax laws to adopt certain parts of the OECD’s proposals. The Company will continue to monitor regulatory developments to assess potential impacts to the Company.

Complying with new tax rules, laws or regulations could impact our business, financial condition or results of operations, and increases to federal, provincial or state statutory tax rates and other changes in tax laws, rules or regulations may increase our effective tax rate. Any increase in our effective tax rate could have a material impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We estimate our ability to recover deferred tax assets within the jurisdiction from which they arise. A valuation allowance is recognized if, based on the available positive and negative evidence, it is more likely than not that some or all of a deferred tax asset is not recoverable. This evaluation considers several factors, including recent results of operations, future taxable income, scheduled reversal of deferred tax liabilities, and tax planning strategies. Our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely impacted if our valuation allowances increase due to an unfavorable change in our estimate of the recoverability of our deferred tax assets or changes in laws or regulations that limit our ability to recover them.

Financial Risk

Our substantial indebtedness may limit our ability to invest in the ongoing needs of our business.

As of December 30, 2022, we had approximately $686.0 million of total indebtedness, consisting of $299.3 million of loans outstanding on our senior secured term loan facility (“Term Loan”), $333.2 million of convertible debt, $11.3 million of finance leases, and other revolving credit facilities of $2.2 million . We had $40.0 million borrowings outstanding under our asset-based loan facility (“ABL”). See Note 9 “Debt Obligations” to our consolidated financial statements for a full description of our debt instruments.

Our indebtedness could have important consequences for us and our investors. For example our indebtedness:

•requires us to utilize a substantial portion of our cash flows from operations to make payments on our indebtedness, reducing the availability of our cash flows to fund working capital, capital expenditures, development activity and other general corporate purposes;

•increases our vulnerability to adverse general economic or industry conditions;

•limits our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business or the industries in which we operate;

•makes us more vulnerable to increases in interest rates, as borrowings under our Term Loan and ABL (together the “Credit Facilities”) are at variable rates;

•in the case of our convertible debt, could result in the issuance of additional shares of our common stock that would result in the dilution of our then-existing stockholders;

•limits our ability to obtain additional financing in the future for working capital or other purposes, including to finance acquisitions; and

•places us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our competitors with less indebtedness.

If our earnings are insufficient to fund our operations, including our acquisition growth strategy, we will need to raise additional capital or issue additional debt, including longer-term, fixed-rate debt, to pay our indebtedness as it comes due or as our availability under our ABL is exhausted. If we are unable to obtain funds necessary to make required payments or if we fail to comply with the various requirements of our Credit Facilities and convertible debt agreements, we would be in default, which would permit the holders of our indebtedness to accelerate the maturity of the indebtedness and could cause defaults under any indebtedness we may incur in the future. Any default under our indebtedness requiring the repayment of outstanding borrowings would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. If we are unable to refinance or repay our indebtedness as it becomes due, we may become insolvent and be unable to continue operations.

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Although the agreements governing the Credit Facilities contain restrictions on the incurrence of additional indebtedness, these restrictions are subject to a number of qualifications and exceptions, and the indebtedness incurred in compliance with these restrictions could be substantial. Also, these restrictions do not prevent us from incurring obligations that do not constitute indebtedness.

The agreements governing the Credit Facilities require us to maintain fixed charge coverage ratios and leverage ratios. Our ability to comply with these ratios in the future may be affected by events beyond our control, and our inability to comply with the required financial ratios could result in a default under the Credit Facilities. In the event of events of default, the lenders under the Credit Facilities could elect to terminate lending commitments and declare all borrowings outstanding, together with accrued and unpaid interest and other fees, to be immediately due and payable. See “Management’s Discussion and Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources.”

Our ability to raise capital in the future may be limited.

Our business and operations may consume resources, including availability under our ABL, faster than we currently anticipate. In the future, we may need to raise additional funds through the issuance of new equity securities, debt, including longer-term, fixed-rate debt, or a combination of both. Additional financing may not be available on favorable terms or at all. If adequate funds are not available on acceptable terms, we may be unable to fund our capital requirements or grow our business through acquisitions, or otherwise. If we issue new debt securities, the debt holders may have rights senior to those of our common stockholders to make claims on our assets, and the terms of any debt could restrict our operations, including our ability to pay dividends on our common stock. If we issue additional equity securities or convertible debt, existing stockholders will experience dilution, and the new equity securities could have rights senior to those of our common stock. Because our decision to issue securities in any future offering will depend upon market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing or nature of our future offerings. Thus, our stockholders bear the risk of our future securities offerings reducing the market price of our common stock and diluting their interest.

We may be unable to obtain debt or other financing, including financing necessary to execute on our acquisition strategy, on favorable terms or at all.

There are inherent risks in our ability to borrow debt capital. Lenders, including those participating in the Credit Facilities, may become insolvent or tighten their lending standards, which could make it more difficult for us to borrow under our ABL, refinance our existing indebtedness or obtain other financing on favorable terms or at all. Our access to funds under the Credit Facilities is dependent upon the ability of our lenders to meet their funding commitments. Our financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected in a material manner if we were unable to draw funds under the ABL because of a lender default or if we had to obtain other cost-effective financing. Longer term disruptions in the capital and credit markets as a result of uncertainty, changing or increased regulation, reduced alternatives or failures of significant financial institutions could adversely affect our access to liquidity needed for our business. Any disruption could require us to take measures to conserve cash until the markets stabilize or until alternative credit arrangements or other funding for our business can be arranged. Such measures could include deferring capital expenditures (including our entry into new markets, including through acquisitions) and reducing or eliminating other discretionary uses of cash.

Risks Relating to Ownership of our Common Stock

The price of our common stock may be volatile and our stockholders could lose all or part of their investment.

Volatility in the market price of our common stock may prevent our stockholders from being able to sell their shares at or above the price the stockholders paid for their shares. The market price of our common stock could fluctuate significantly for various reasons, which include the following:

•our quarterly or annual earnings or those of other companies in our industry;

•changes in laws or regulations, or new interpretations or applications of laws and regulations, that are applicable to our business;

•the public’s reaction to our press releases, our other public announcements and our filings with the SEC;

•changes in accounting standards, policies, guidance, interpretations or principles;

•additions or departures of our senior management personnel;

•sales of common stock by our directors and executive officers;

•adverse market reaction to any indebtedness we may incur or securities we may issue in the future;

•actions by stockholders;

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•the level and quality of research analyst coverage for our common stock, changes in financial estimates or investment recommendations by securities analysts following our business or failure to meet such estimates;

•the financial disclosure we may provide to the public, any changes in such disclosure or our failure to meet projections included in our public disclosure;

•various market factors or perceived market factors, including rumors, whether or not correct, involving us, our customers, our distributors or suppliers or our competitors;

•introductions of new products or new pricing policies by us or by our competitors;

•acquisitions or strategic alliances by us or our competitors;

•short sales, hedging and other derivative transactions in our common stock;

•the operating and stock price performance of other companies that investors may deem comparable to us; and

•other events or factors, including changes in general conditions in the United States and global economies or financial markets (including those resulting from acts of God, war, incidents of terrorism, global pandemics or responses to such events).

Concentration of ownership among our existing executive officers, directors and their affiliates may prevent new investors from influencing significant corporate decisions.

As of February 13, 2023, our executive officers, directors and their affiliates beneficially owned, in the aggregate, approximately 11.9% of our outstanding shares of common stock. In particular, Christopher Pappas, our president and chief executive officer, and John Pappas, our vice chairman, beneficially owned approximately 10.0% of our outstanding shares of common stock as of February 13, 2023. As a result of their significant individual ownership levels, these stockholders will be able to exercise a significant level of control over all matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors, amendment of our certificate of incorporation and approval of significant corporate transactions. This control could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of our company or changes in management and will make the approval of certain transactions difficult or impossible without the support of these stockholders.

If securities analysts or industry analysts downgrade our stock, publish negative research or reports or do not publish reports about our business, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us, our business and our industry. If one or more analysts adversely change their recommendation regarding our stock or our competitors’ stock, our stock price may likely decline. If one or more analysts cease coverage of us or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.

We do not intend to pay dividends for the foreseeable future and our stock may not appreciate in value.

We currently intend to retain our future earnings, if any, to finance the operation and growth of our business and do not expect to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. As a result, the success of an investment in shares of our common stock will depend upon any future appreciation in its value. There is no guarantee that shares of our common stock will appreciate in value or that the price at which our stockholders have purchased their shares will be able to be maintained.

Our issuance of preferred stock or debt securities could adversely affect holders of our common stock and discourage a takeover.

Our board of directors is authorized to issue up to 5 million shares of preferred stock without any action on the part of our stockholders. Our board of directors also has the power, without stockholder approval, to set the terms of any series of preferred stock that may be issued, including voting rights, dividend rights, preferences over our common stock with respect to dividends or in the event of a dissolution, liquidation or winding up and other terms. In the event that we issue preferred stock in the future that has preference over our common stock with respect to payment of dividends or upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, or if we issue preferred stock with voting rights that dilute the voting power of our common stock, the rights of the holders of our common stock or the market price of our common stock could be adversely affected. In addition, the ability of our board of directors to issue shares of preferred stock without any action on the part of our stockholders may impede a takeover of us and prevent a transaction favorable to our stockholders.

Additionally, in the future, we may need to raise additional funds or pay all, or a portion, of the acquisition price for a business we acquire through the issuance of new debt, including longer-term, fixed-rate debt. If we issue new debt securities, the debt holders may have rights senior to those of our common stockholders to make claims on our assets, and the terms of any debt could restrict our operations, including our ability to pay dividends on our common stock.

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Some provisions of our charter documents and Delaware law may have anti-takeover effects that could discourage an acquisition of us by others, even if an acquisition would be beneficial to our stockholders, and may prevent attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management.

Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws as well as provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us or increase the cost of acquiring us, even if doing so would benefit our stockholders, including transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares. These provisions include:

•authorizing the issuance of “blank check” preferred stock, the terms of which may be established and shares of which may be issued without stockholder approval;

•prohibiting stockholder action by written consent, thereby requiring all stockholder actions to be taken at a meeting of our stockholders;

•eliminating the ability of stockholders to call a special meeting of stockholders; and

•establishing advance notice requirements for nominations for election to the board of directors or for proposing matters that can be acted upon at stockholder meetings.

Item 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

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Item 2. PROPERTIES

We operate 44 distributions centers located in the United States, Canada, Qatar, Oman, and United Arab Emirates, totaling approximately 2.9 million square feet. We own two distribution facilities in Massachusetts with a combined 241,000 square feet, two distribution centers in Ohio with a combined 120,397 square feet, and a 10,000 square foot protein processing facility and distribution center in Chicago, Illinois. All of our other properties are leased. The following table sets forth our significant distribution, protein processing, corporate and other support facilities by state or country and their approximate aggregate square footage as of February 13, 2023.

State / Country Number of Facilities Total Square Footage

(1)Represents our corporate headquarters in Ridgefield, Connecticut.

(2)Includes a corporate office in Miami, Florida.

We consider our properties to be in good condition generally and believe our facilities are adequate for our operations and provide sufficient capacity to meet our anticipated requirements.

Item 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

From time to time, we are subject to various legal proceedings that arise from the normal course of business activities. If an unfavorable ruling were to occur, there exists the possibility of a material adverse impact on our results of operations, prospects, cash flows, financial position and brand. We are not currently aware of any pending or threatened legal proceeding against us that could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results or financial condition.

Item 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

Not applicable.

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PART II

Item 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. Common Stock

Our common stock is publicly traded under the symbol “CHEF” on the NASDAQ Global Select Market. As of December 31, 2022, there were 204 holders of record of our common stock. This does not include the number of persons whose stock is in nominee or “street” name accounts through brokers.

We have never paid a cash dividend on our common stock and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. Furthermore, we are prohibited from paying cash dividends under the terms of our senior secured credit facilities without the consent of the lenders thereunder.

Performance Graph

The following graph compares the cumulative total stockholder return on our common stock during the period from December 29, 2017 through December 30, 2022 with the cumulative total return on the NASDAQ Composite and the S&P Smallcap Food Distributor Index. The comparison assumes that $100 was invested on December 29, 2017 in our common stock and in each of the foregoing indices and assumes reinvestment of dividends, if any.

The following performance graph and related information shall not be deemed “soliciting material” or to be “filed” with the Securities and Exchange Commission, nor shall such information be incorporated by reference into any future filing under the Securities Act of 1933 or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, each as amended, except to the extent that we specifically incorporate such information by reference into such filing.

COMPARISON OF 5 YEAR CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN

AMONG THE CHEFS’ WAREHOUSE, INC.

NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX AND THE S&P SMALLCAP FOOD DISTRIBUTOR INDEX

ASSUMES $100 INVESTED ON DECEMBER 29, 2017

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ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

(1)During the fourteen weeks ended December 30, 2022, we withheld 2,371 shares of our common stock to satisfy tax withholding requirements upon the vesting of restricted shares of our common stock awarded to certain of our officers and key employees.

Equity Compensation Plan Information

See Part III, Item 12 for information regarding securities authorized for issuance under our equity compensation plans.

Item 6. RESERVED

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Item 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion should be read in conjunction with information included in Item 8 of this report. Unless otherwise indicated, the terms “Company”, “Chefs’ Warehouse”, “we”, “us”, and “our” refer to The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. and its subsidiaries.

Overview and Recent Developments

Overview

We are a premier distributor of specialty foods in the leading culinary markets in the United States and the Middle East. We offer more than 55,000 SKUs, ranging from high-quality specialty foods and ingredients to basic ingredients and staples, produce and center-of-the-plate proteins. We serve more than 40,000 core customer locations, primarily located in our twenty-three geographic markets across the United States, Middle East and Canada, and the majority of our customers are independent restaurants and fine dining establishments. Our Allen Brothers subsidiary sells certain of our center-of-the-plate products directly to consumers. We expanded our direct-to-consumer product offerings in fiscal 2020 by launching our “Shop Like a Chef” online home delivery platform in several of the markets we serve.

We believe several key differentiating factors of our business model have enabled us to execute our strategy consistently and profitably across our expanding customer base. These factors consist of a portfolio of distinctive and hard-to-find specialty food products, an extensive selection of center-of-the-plate proteins, a highly trained and motivated sales force, strong sourcing capabilities, a fully integrated warehouse management system, a highly sophisticated distribution and logistics platform and a focused, seasoned management team.

In recent years, our sales to existing and new customers have increased through the continued growth in demand for specialty food and center-of-the-plate products in general; increased market share driven by our large percentage of sophisticated and experienced sales professionals, our high-quality customer service and our extensive breadth and depth of product offerings, including, as a result of our acquisitions; the expansion of our existing distribution centers; our entry into new distribution centers, including the construction of new distribution centers in San Francisco, Toronto, Dallas, Los Angeles and Miami; and the import and sale of our proprietary brands. Through these efforts, we believe that we have been able to expand our customer base, enhance and diversify our product selections, broaden our geographic penetration and increase our market share.

Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on our Business and Operations

The Pandemic had and could again have an adverse impact on numerous aspects of our business and those of our customers including, but not limited to, demand for our products, cost inflation and labor shortages. Despite these challenges, we continued to provide our core customers with high touch service, executed on our cost control measures and returned to profitability during the second quarter of fiscal 2021.

Recent Major Acquisitions

On December 28, 2021, pursuant to an asset purchase agreement, the Company acquired substantially all of the assets of CGC Holdings, Inc. (“Capital Seaboard”), a specialty seafood and produce distributor in Maryland. The purchase price was approximately $31,036, consisting of $28,000 paid in cash at closing, common stock warrants valued at $1,701, and $1,335 paid upon settlement of a net working capital true-up.

On November 1, 2022, pursuant to a share sale and purchase agreement, the Company acquired substantially all of the shares of Chef Middle East LLC (“CME”), a specialty food distributor with operations in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman. The purchase price was approximately $108,749, paid in cash at closing. The Company is in the process of finalizing a valuation of tangible and intangible assets of CME as of the acquisition date. The Company will also pay additional contingent consideration, if earned, in the form of an earn-out amount which could total $10,000 over a two-year period upon successful attainment of certain gross profit targets.

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Transition of Trademarks

During the second quarter of fiscal 2021, we committed to a plan to shift our brand strategy to leverage our Allen Brothers brand in our New England market and determined our Cambridge trademark did not fit our long-term strategic objectives. As a result, we recognized a $0.6 million impairment charge, $0.4 million net of tax, to fully write-down the net book value of our Cambridge trademark.

During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020, we committed to a plan to shift our brand strategy to leverage our Allen Brothers brand in our west coast region and determined that our Del Monte, Ports Seafood and Bassian Farms trademarks did not fit our long-term strategic objectives. This brand transition began in the second quarter of fiscal 2021. As a result, we recorded a $24.2 million impairment charge, $17.5 million net of tax, to write-down the value of our Del Monte and Bassian Farms trademarks.

Our Growth Strategies and Outlook

We continue to invest in our people, facilities and technology in an effort to achieve the following objectives and maintain our premier position within the specialty foodservice distribution market:

•sales and service territory expansion;

•operational excellence and high customer service levels;

•expanded purchasing programs and improved buying power;

•product innovation and new product category introduction;

•operational efficiencies through system enhancements; and

•operating expense reduction through the centralization of general and administrative functions.

Our growth has allowed us to improve upon our organization’s infrastructure, open new distribution facilities and pursue selective acquisitions. Over the last several years, we have increased our distribution capacity to approximately 2.9 million square feet in 44 distribution facilities as of February 13, 2023. From fiscal 2020 through the end of fiscal 2022, we have invested significantly in acquisitions, infrastructure and management.

Key Factors Affecting Our Performance

Due to our focus on menu-driven independent restaurants, fine dining establishments, country clubs, hotels, caterers, culinary schools, bakeries, patisseries, chocolateries, cruise lines, casinos and specialty food stores, our results of operations are materially impacted by the success of the food-away-from-home industry in the United States, Middle East and Canada, which is materially impacted by general economic conditions, weather, discretionary spending levels and consumer confidence. When economic conditions deteriorate, our customers’ businesses are negatively impacted as fewer people eat away-from-home and those who do spend less money. As economic conditions begin to improve, our customers’ businesses historically have likewise improved, which contributes to improvements in our business. Similarly, the direct-to-consumer business of our Allen Brothers subsidiary is significantly dependent on consumers’ discretionary spending habits, and weakness or uncertainty in the economy could lead to consumers buying less from Allen Brothers.

Volatile food costs may have a direct impact upon our profitability. Prolonged periods of product cost inflation may have a negative impact on our profit margins and results of operations to the extent we are unable to pass on all or a portion of such product cost increases to our customers. In addition, product cost inflation may negatively impact consumer discretionary spending decisions within our customers’ establishments, which could adversely impact our sales. Conversely, our profit levels may be negatively impacted during periods of product cost deflation even though our gross profit as a percentage of sales may remain relatively constant. However, some of our products, particularly certain of our center-of-the-plate protein items, are priced on a “cost plus” markup, which helps mitigate the negative impact of deflation.

Given our wide selection of product categories, as well as the continuous introduction of new products, we can experience shifts in product sales mix that have an impact on net sales and gross profit margins. This mix shift is most significantly impacted by the introduction of new categories of products in markets that we have more recently entered, the shift in product mix resulting from acquisitions, as well as the continued growth in item penetration on higher velocity items such as dairy products.

The foodservice distribution industry is fragmented but consolidating, and we have supplemented our internal growth through selective strategic acquisitions. We believe that the consolidation trends in the foodservice distribution industry will continue to present acquisition opportunities for us, which may allow us to grow our business at a faster pace than we would otherwise be able to grow the business organically.

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Performance Indicators

In addition to evaluating our income from operations, our management team analyzes our performance based on net sales growth, gross profit and gross profit margin.

•Net sales growth. Our net sales growth is driven principally by changes in volume and, to a lesser degree, changes in price related to the impact of inflation in commodity prices and product mix. In particular, product cost inflation and deflation impacts our results of operations and, depending on the amount of inflation or deflation, such impact may be material. For example, inflation may increase the dollar value of our sales, and deflation may cause the dollar value of our sales to fall despite our unit sales remaining constant or growing.