COFFEE HOLDING CO INC

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Management, which includes our President, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)) as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based upon that evaluation, our President, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that the disclosure controls and procedures were not effective due to the existence of material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting.

Material Weakness Over Financial Reporting

During the year ended October 31, 2020, our controls were inadequate to prevent and detect misstatements of stock based compensation awards, quantities of inventory at one of our subsidiaries and inaccurately accounted for certain intercompany eliminations in our consolidated statements of operations. Accordingly, management determined that this control deficiency constituted a material weakness.

During the year ended October 31, 2021, we identified inappropriate system access controls over our financial reporting system. These controls were not designed to prevent or detect unauthorized changes to source information, or implement an appropriate level of segregation of duties. During this same period, we determined that we lacked adequate controls with respect to identifying and accounting for material contracts. This was evidenced by our failure to properly identify and account for a material lease amendment. Accordingly, management determined that the foregoing were control deficiencies that constituted material weaknesses.

Further, during the year ended October 31, 2022, we concluded that we lacked adequate controls with respect to the preparation and review of journal entries and account reconciliations during the year-end financial statement closing process. Accordingly, management has determined that this control deficiency constituted a material weakness.

Further, during the year ended October 31, 2023, we concluded that we lacked adequate controls with respect to recording year end accruals for vendor liabilities and properly calculating required loan covenants. Accordingly, management has determined that this control deficiency constituted a material weakness.

Notwithstanding such material weaknesses, we believe the financial information presented herein is materially correct and fairly presents the financial position and operating results of the quarter ended January 31, 2023 in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles for interim financial information and in accordance with the rules and regulations of the SEC.

Remediation Plan for the Material Weaknesses

As previously disclosed in Item 9A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2023, management has identified material weaknesses as of that date. A “material weakness” is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. To remediate the material weaknesses identified above, we are initiating controls and procedures in order to:

The material weaknesses identified above will not be considered remediated until our remediation efforts have been fully implemented and we have concluded that these controls are operating effectively.

Management does not expect that our internal control over financial reporting will prevent or detect all errors and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control systems are met. Further, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in a cost-effective control system, no evaluation of internal control over financial reporting can provide absolute assurance that misstatements due to error or fraud will not occur or that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, have been or will be detected.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Other than the changes intended to remediate the material weakness as discussed above and in Part II, Item 9A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended October 31, 2023, there was no change in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) during the fiscal quarter ended January 31, 2024 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.