Note 1 - Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation
 9 Months Ended
Nov. 30, 2021
Notes to Financial Statements  
Business Description and Accounting Policies [Text Block]

NOTE 1 – NATURE OF OPERATIONS AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION

 

Nature of Operations

 

The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Inc., a Delaware corporation, its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Inc. (a Colorado corporation), Aspen Leaf Yogurt, LLC (“ALY”), and U-Swirl International, Inc. (“U-Swirl”), and its 46%-owned subsidiary, U-Swirl, Inc. (“SWRL”) (collectively, the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our”).

 

The Company is an international franchisor, confectionery manufacturer and retail operator. Founded in 1981, the Company is headquartered in Durango, Colorado and manufactures an extensive line of premium chocolate candies and other confectionery products. U-Swirl franchises and operates self-serve frozen yogurt cafés. The Company also sells its candy in selected locations outside of its system of retail stores and through ecommerce channels, and licenses the use of its brand with certain consumer products.

 

U-Swirl operates self-serve frozen yogurt cafés under the names “U-Swirl,” “Yogurtini,” “CherryBerry,” “Yogli Mogli Frozen Yogurt,” “Fuzzy Peach Frozen Yogurt,” “Let’s Yo!” and “Aspen Leaf Yogurt.”

 

The Company’s revenues are currently derived from three principal sources: sales to franchisees and others of chocolates and other confectionery products manufactured by the Company; the collection of initial franchise fees and royalties from franchisees’ sales; and sales at Company-owned stores of chocolates, frozen yogurt, and other confectionery products.

 

In FY 2020 and early FY 2021 we entered into a long-term strategic alliance and ecommerce agreements, respectively, with Edible Arrangements®, LLC and its affiliates (“Edible”), whereby it is intended that we would become the exclusive provider of certain branded chocolate products to Edible, its affiliates and its franchisees. Under the strategic alliance, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory branded products are intended to be available for purchase both on Edible’s website as well as through over 1,000 franchised Edible locations nationwide. In addition, due to Edible’s significant e-commerce expertise and scale, we have also executed an ecommerce licensing agreement with Edible, whereby Edible is expected to sell a wide variety of chocolates, candies and other confectionery products produced by the Company or its franchisees through Edible’s websites. There is no assurance that the strategic alliance and ecommerce agreements will be deployed into our operations and to our satisfaction, or that we will achieve the expected full benefits from these agreements. During the nine months ended November 30, 2021, certain disagreements arose between RMCF and Edible related to the strategic alliance and ecommerce agreements resulting in continuing discussions, the result of which are not currently determinable.  Purchases by Edible during the three and nine months ended November 30, 2021 were approximately $413,400 and $1.2 million, or 4.9% and 5.0% of the Company’s revenues, respectively. Purchases by Edible during the three and nine months ended November 30, 2020 were approximately $1.2 million and $2.1 million, or 16.3% and 13.9% of the Company’s revenues, respectively. There can be no assurance historical revenue levels will be indicative of future revenues.

 

The following table summarizes the number of stores operating under the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory brand and frozen yogurt cafés as of November 30, 2021:

 

  

Sold, Not Yet

Open

  

Open

  

Total

 

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory

            

Company-owned stores

  -   2   2 

Franchise stores - Domestic stores and kiosks

  5   156   161 

International license stores

  1   5   6 

Cold Stone Creamery - co-branded

  5   97   102 

U-Swirl (Including all associated brands)

            

Company-owned stores - co-branded

  -   3   3 

Franchise stores - Domestic stores

  1   60   61 

Franchise stores - Domestic - co-branded

  1   5   6 

International license stores

  -   1   1 

Total

  13   329   342 

 

During FY 2021 the Company initiated formal legal proceedings against Immaculate Confections (“IC”), the operator of RMCF locations in Canada. In its complaint, the Company alleged, among other things, that IC has utilized the Company’s trademarks and other intellectual property without authority to do so and that IC has been unjustly enriched by their use of the Company’s trademarks and intellectual property.

 

In June 2021 a court order was issued declaring the original 1991 Development Agreement for Canada between RMCF and IC had expired. In September 2021, the Company and IC reached a Settlement Agreement (the “IC Agreement”) whereby the parties agreed to a six months negotiation period to explore alternative solutions. During the six-month period, IC will continue to operate locations as Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. The IC Agreement contains provisions that would require IC to de-identify its locations if a solution is not reached. As of the date of this filing, IC operates 49 locations in Canada. During the nine months ended November 30, 2021 the Company recognized approximately $116,800 of factory revenue from locations operated by IC in Canada compared with no revenue recognized from locations operated by IC in Canada during the nine months ended November 30, 2020.

 

Basis of Presentation

 

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared by the Company, without audit, and reflect all adjustments which are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair statement of the results for the interim periods presented. The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for interim financial reporting and Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) regulations. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP have been condensed or omitted pursuant to such rules and regulations. In the opinion of management, the consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments (of a normal and recurring nature) which are necessary for a fair presentation of the financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the interim periods presented. The results of operations for the nine months ended November 30, 2021 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the entire fiscal year.

 

These consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 28, 2021, as amended by Amendment No. 1 on Form 10-K/A filed on June 28, 2021. The year-end balance sheet data was derived from audited financial statements, but does not include all disclosures required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

 

Subsequent Events

 

Management evaluated all activity of the Company through the issue date of the financial statements and concluded that no subsequent events have occurred that would require recognition or disclosure in the financial statements.

 

COVID-19 Update

 

As discussed in more detail throughout this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the nine months ended November 30, 2021 (this “Quarterly Report”), we have experienced significant business disruptions resulting from efforts to contain the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”), including the vast mandated self-quarantines of customers throughout the United States and internationally. During the year ended February 28, 2021 nearly all of the Company-owned and franchise stores were directly and negatively impacted by public health measures taken in response to COVID-19, with nearly all locations experiencing reduced operations as a result of, among other things, modified business hours and store and mall closures. As a result, franchisees and licensees were not ordering products for their stores in line with historical amounts. This trend has negatively impacted, and may continue to negatively impact, among other things, factory sales, retail sales and royalty and marketing fees. Beginning in May 2020, most stores previously closed for much of March 2020 and April 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, began to re-open. During the year ended February 28, 2021, approximately 53 stores closed and have not re-opened and the future of these locations is uncertain. That is a closure rate significantly higher than historical levels. As of the date of this report, most stores have met or exceeded pre-COVID-19 sales levels, however, many retail environments have continued to be adversely impacted by changes to consumer behavior as a result of COVID-19. Most stores re-opened subject to various local health restrictions and often with reduced operations. Strong consumer spending and other macro-economic trends as well as the roll out of vaccines and relaxing of most local health restrictions have resulted in significant increases in sales at our franchise stores during the nine months ended November 30, 2021. Our ability to meet the increase in franchise store demand has been partially constrained by labor and supply chain constraints. We are unsure how the emergence of COVID-19 variants, such as Delta and Omicron, will impact the positive recovery trends.

 

In addition, as previously announced on May 11, 2020, the Board of Directors has suspended future quarterly dividends until the Board of Directors determines that resumption of dividend payments is in the best interest of the Company and our stockholders.

 

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

 

Except for the recent accounting pronouncements described below, other recent accounting pronouncements are not expected to have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

 

In June 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments. ASU 2016-13 significantly changes the impairment model for most financial assets and certain other instruments. ASU 2016-13 will require immediate recognition of estimated credit losses expected to occur over the remaining life of many financial assets, which will generally result in earlier recognition of allowances for credit losses on loans and other financial instruments. ASU 2016-13 is effective for the Company's fiscal year beginning March 1, 2023 and subsequent interim periods. The Company is currently evaluating the impact the adoption of ASU 2016-13 will have on the Company's consolidated financial statements.