Our business may be negatively impacted by the fear of exposure to or actual effects of a disease outbreak, epidemic, pandemic or similar widespread public health concern. These impacts may include, but are not limited to:
- Significant reductions in demand or significant volatility in demand for one or more of our products, which may be caused by, among other things: the temporary inability of consumers to purchase our products due to illness, quarantine or other travel restrictions or financial hardship, shifts in demand away from one or more of our more discretionary or higher priced products to lower priced products or stockpiling or similar pantry-loading activity. If prolonged, such impacts can further increase the difficulty of business or operations planning and may adversely impact our results of operations and cash flows; or
- Significant changes in the political conditions in markets in which we manufacture, sell or distribute our products, including quarantines, import/export restrictions, tariffs, price controls, or governmental or regulatory actions, closures or other restrictions that limit or close our operating and manufacturing facilities, restrict our employees’ ability to travel or perform necessary business functions or otherwise prevent our third-party partners, suppliers or customers from sufficiently staffing operations.
Despite efforts to manage and remedy these impacts, their ultimate impact also depends on factors beyond our knowledge or control, including the duration and severity of any such outbreak as well as third-party actions taken to contain its spread and mitigate its public health effects.