The following is the 2016 report of the independent registered public accounting firm
for The Great Food Company, Inc., a large supermarket chain:
In our opinion, the accompanying consolidated balance sheets and the related
consolidated statements of operations, stockholders’ deficit and comprehensive loss, and
cash flows present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of The Great
Food Company, Inc. and its subsidiaries (debtor-in-possession) at December 31, 2016,
and December 31, 2015, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each
of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2016, in conformity with
accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. In addition,
in our opinion, the financial statement schedule listed in Item 15(a)(2) presents fairly, in
all material respects, the information set forth therein when read in conjunction with the
related consolidated financial statements. Also in our opinion, the Company
maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as
of December 31, 2016, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated
Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway
Commission (COSO). The Company’s management is responsible for these financial
statements and financial statement schedule, for maintaining effective internal control
over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control
over financial reporting, included in Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control
over Financial Reporting appearing under Item 9A. Our responsibility is to express
opinions on these financial statements, on the financial statement schedule, and on the
Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our integrated audits. We
conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company
Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and
perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial
statements are free of material misstatement and whether effective internal control over
financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audits of the financial
statements included examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and
disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and
significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial
statement presentation. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included
obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the
risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating
effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audits also included
performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We
believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions. The accompanying
financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a
going concern. However, the Company is currently operating pursuant to a Chapter 11
bankruptcy filing which, together with the uncertain outcomes of the matters discussed
in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, raise substantial doubt about the
Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to
these matters are also described in Note 1. The consolidated financial statements do not
include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of these uncertainties. As
discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company changed the
manner in which it accounts for share lending arrangements during fiscal 2015. A
company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide
reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation
of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted
accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes
those policies and procedures that (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in