The following chart provides a breakdown of our employees by function and geographic region (including employees at our third party logistics facilities) as of December 31, 2015:2016:

Our business is subject to a variety of risks. Set forth below are certain of the important risks that we face, the occurrence of which may have a material effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

The majority of our sales are made under purchase orders and short-term contracts with convenience retail stores which inherently involve significant risks. These risks include declining sales in the convenience retail industry due to general economic conditions, including rising gasoline prices, which may impact “in-store” retail sales, competition from grocery stores and other retail outlets, termination of customer relationships and consolidation of our customer base. Such events could cause us to experience decreases in revenues and put pressure on our margins. In addition, any decline in the convenience store industry may place a number of our convenience retail customers under financial stress, which couldmargins and increase our credit risk and potential bad debt exposure.

Our distribution centers operate in highly competitive markets. We face competition from local, regional and national tobacco and consumable products distributors on the basis of service, price, reliability, delivery schedules, and variety of products offered. We also face competition from club stores and alternate sources that sell consumable products to convenience retailers. Some of our competitors, including McLane Company, Inc. (a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.), have substantial financial resources and long-standing customer relationships. In addition, heightened competition among our existing competitors, or by new entrants into the distribution market, could create additional competitive pressures that may reduce ourresult in the loss of major customers, reduced margins, and adversely affector have other adverse effects on our business. If we fail to successfully respond to these competitive pressures or to implement our strategies effectively, we may lose market share and our results of operations could suffer.

We have relationships with many large regional and national convenience and other store chains. While we expect to maintain these relationships for the foreseeable future, any termination, non-renewal or reduction in services that we provide to such customers could cause our revenues and operating results to suffer.

In the past, certain large manufacturers and customers have elected to engage in direct distribution or third party distribution of their products and eliminate wholesale distributors such as Core-Mark. If other manufacturers or retail customers make similar elections in the future, our revenues and profits would be adversely affected and there can be no assurance that we will be able to mitigate such losses.

We derive most of our revenues from the distribution of cigarettes, other tobacco products, candy, snacks, fast food, groceries, fresh products, dairy, beverages, general merchandise and health and beauty care products. Our industry is characterized by a high volume of sales with low profit margins. Our food/non-food sales are generally priced based on the manufacturer’s cost of the product plus a percentage markup. As a result, our profit levels may be negatively impacted during periods of cost deflation or stagnation for these products, even though our gross profit as a percentage of the price of goods sold may remain relatively constant. In addition, periods of product cost inflation may have a negative impact on our gross profit margins with respect to sales of cigarettes because gross profit on cigarette sales are generally fixed on a cents per carton basis. Therefore, as cigarette prices increase, gross profit generally decreases as a percentage of sales. In addition, if the cost of the cigarettes that we purchase increases due to manufacturer price increases, reduced or eliminated manufacturer discounts and incentive programs or increases in applicable

We receive payments from the manufacturers on the products we distribute for allowances, discounts, volume rebates and other merchandising and incentive programs. These payments are a substantial benefitcontributor to our gross profit. The amount and timing of these payments are affected by changes in the programs by the manufacturers, our ability to sell specified volumes of a particular product, attaining specified levels of purchases by our customers and the duration of carrying a specified product. In addition, we receive discounts from certain taxing jurisdictions in connection with the collection of excise taxes. If the manufacturers or taxing jurisdictions change or discontinue these programs or change the timing of payments, or if we are unable to maintain the volume of our sales required by such programs, our results of operations could be negatively affected.

We obtain the products we distribute from third party suppliers. At December 31, 2015,2016, we had approximately 4,4005,000 vendors and during 20152016 we purchased approximately 64%79% of our products from our top 20 suppliers, with purchases from our top two suppliers, Philip Morris USA, Inc. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, representing approximately 29%35% and 17%23% of our purchases, respectively. We do not have any long-term contracts with our suppliers committing them to provide products to us. Our suppliers may not provide the products we distribute in the quantities we request on favorable terms, or at all. We are also subject to delays caused by interruption in production due to conditions outside our control, such as slow-downs or strikes by employees of suppliers, inclement weather, transportation interruptions, regulatory requirements and natural disasters. Our inability to obtain adequate supplies of the products we distribute could cause us to fail to meet our contractual and other obligations to our customers and reduce the volume of our sales and profitability.

As a distributor of food and consumer products, we face the risk of exposure to product liability claims in the event that the use of a product sold by us causes injury or illness. In addition, certain products that we distribute may be subject to counterfeiting. Our business could be adversely affected if consumers lose confidence in the safety and quality of the food and other products we distribute. Further, our operations could be subject to disruptions as a result of manufacturer recalls. This risk may increase as we continue to expand our distribution of fresh products. If we do not have adequate insurance, if contractual indemnification

We are continuously improving our competitive performance through a series of strategic marketing initiatives. The goal of this effort is to develop and implement a comprehensive and competitive business strategy, addressing the special needs of the convenience industry environment, increasing our market position within the industry and ultimately creating increased stockholder value. Customer acceptance of our new marketing initiatives that we implement may not be as anticipated or competitive pressures may cause us to curtail or abandon these initiatives, resulting in lower revenue growth and unachieved cost savings.

In addition, we retain sensitive data, including intellectual property, proprietary business information and personally identifiable information, in our secure data centers and on our networks. We may face threats to our data centers and networks of unauthorized access, security breaches and other system disruptions. Despite our security measures, our infrastructure may be vulnerable to attacks by experienced hackers or other disruptive events.

The nature of our business exposes us to the potential for various claims and litigation related to labor and employment, personal injury, property damage, business practices, environmental liability and other matters. Any material litigation or a catastrophic accident or series of accidents could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations and cash flows.

As of December 31, 2015, 276,2016, 325, or approximately 4%, of our employees were covered by collective bargaining agreements with labor organizations, which agreements expire at various times. We cannot assure that we will be able to renew our respective

With over 4,4005,000 employees and their families participating in our health plans, our expenses relating to employee health benefits are substantial. In past years, we have experienced significant increases in certain of these costs, largely as a result of economic factors beyond our control, including, in particular, ongoing increases in health care costs well in excess of the rate of inflation. Increased participation in our health plans, continued increasing health care costs, as well as changes in laws, regulations and assumptions used to calculate health and benefit expenses, may adversely affect our business, financial position and results of operations. In addition, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA)("ACA") may continue to increase our employee healthcare-related costs. The company hasWe have migrated a significant number of employees to our high deductible plan resulting in a reduction in our claims exposure and offsetting other costs related to ACA. While we have taken steps to minimize the impact of ACA, there is no guarantee our efforts will be successful.

As a distributor of food and other consumable products, we are subject to regulation by the FDA, Health Canada and similar regulatory authorities at the federal,state, provincial and local levels. In addition, our employees operate tractor trailers, trucks, forklifts and various other powered material handling equipment and we are therefore subject to regulation by the U.S. and Canadian Departments of Transportation. Our operations are also subject to regulation by OSHA, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and a myriad of other federal, state, provincial and local agencies. Each of these regulatory authorities has broad administrative powers with respect to our operations. Regulations, and the costs of complying with those regulations, have been increasing in recent years. If we fail to adequately comply with government regulations, we could experience increased inspections or audits, regulatory authorities could take remedial action including imposing fines or shutting down our operations or we could be subject to increased compliance costs. If any of these events were to occur, our results of operations would be adversely affected.

Our headquarters and several of our warehouses in California, as well as one of our data centers and one warehouse located near Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, are in or near high hazard earthquake zones. In addition, one of our data centers is located in Plano, Texas, which is susceptible to wind storms. We also have operations in areas that have been affected by natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornados, floods, and ice and snow storms. While we maintain insurance to cover us for suchcertain potential

The distribution of cigarettes is currently a significant portion of our business. In 2015,2016, approximately 68.0%71.1% of our net sales (which includes excise taxes) and 28.3%29.9% of our gross profit were generated from the distribution of cigarettes. Due to increases in the prices of cigarettes, restrictions on cigarette manufacturers’ marketing and promotions, increases in cigarette regulation and excise taxes, health concerns, increased pressure from anti-tobacco groups, the rise in popularity of tobacco alternatives, including electronic cigarettes, and other factors, cigarette consumption in the U.S. and Canada has been declining gradually over the past few decades. In most instances, tobacco alternatives, such as electronic cigarettes, are not subject to federal, state, provincial and local excise taxes like the sale of conventional cigarettes or other tobacco products. We expect consumption trends of legal cigarette products will continue to be negatively impacted by the factors described above. In addition, we expect rising prices may lead to a higher percentage of consumers purchasing cigarettes through illicit markets, over the internet and by other means designed to avoid payment of cigarette taxes. If we are unable to sell other products to make up for these declines in cigarette unit sales, our operating results may suffer.

The tobacco industry is subject to a wide range of laws and regulations regarding the marketing, distribution, sale, taxation and use of tobacco products imposed by governmental entities. Various jurisdictions have adopted or are considering legislation and regulations restricting displays and marketing of tobacco products, establishing fire safety standards for cigarettes, raising the minimum age to possess or purchase tobacco products, requiring the disclosure of ingredients used in the manufacture of tobacco products, imposing restrictions on public smoking, restricting the sale of tobacco products directly to consumers or other recipients over the internet and other tobacco product regulation. In addition, the FDA has been empowered to regulate changes to nicotine yields and the chemicals and flavors used in tobacco products (including cigars, pipe and e-cigarette products), require ingredient listings be displayed on tobacco products, prohibit the use of certain terms which may attract youth or mislead users as to the risks involved with using tobacco products, as well as limit or otherwise impact the marketing of tobacco products by requiring additional labels or warnings as well as pre-approval by the FDA. Such legislation and related regulation is likely to continue adversely impacting the market for tobacco products and, accordingly, our sales of such products. However, some state, local, municipal governments and agencies have not adopted legislation, regulations or policies which prohibit, restrict or discourage tobacco alternatives, such as electronic cigarettes, or the sale of such products to minors. Such disparate legislation and regulation for tobacco alternatives could adversely impact the market for regulated tobacco products.

In Canada, many provinces have enacted legislation authorizing and facilitating the recovery by provincial governments of tobacco-related health care costs from the tobacco industry by way of lawsuit. Some Canadian provincial governments have either already initiated lawsuits or indicated an intention that such lawsuits will be filed. It is unclear at this time how such restrictions and lawsuits may affect Core-Mark and its Canadian operations.

Cigarettes and tobacco products are subject to substantial excise taxes in the U.S. and Canada. Significant increases in cigarette-related taxes and/or fees have been proposed or enacted and are likely to continue to be proposed or enacted by various taxing jurisdictions within the U.S. and Canada as a means of increasing government revenues. These tax increases negatively impact consumption. Additionally, they may cause a shift in sales from premium brands to discount brands, illicit channels or tobacco alternatives, such as electronic cigarettes, as smokers seek lower priced options.

Taxing jurisdictions have the ability to change or rescind credit terms currently extended for the remittance of tax that we collect on their behalf. If these excise taxes are substantially increased or credit terms are substantially reduced, it could have a negative impact on our liquidity. Accordingly, we may be required to obtain additional debt financing, which we may not be able to obtain on satisfactory terms or at all.

In June 1994, the Mississippi attorney general brought an action against various tobacco industry members on behalf of the state to recover state funds paid for health care costs related to tobacco use. Most other states sued the major U.S. cigarette manufacturers based on similar theories. In November 1998, the major U.S. tobacco product manufacturers entered into a Master Settlement Agreement (MSA)("MSA") with 46 states, the District of Columbia and certain U.S. territories. The other four states--Mississippi, Florida, Texas and Minnesota (non-MSA states)--settled their litigations with the major cigarette manufacturers by separate agreements. The MSA and the other state settlement agreements settled health care cost recovery actions and monetary claims relating to future conduct arising out of the use of, or exposure to, tobacco products, imposed a stream of future payment obligations on major U.S. cigarette manufacturers and placed significant restrictions on the ability to market and sell cigarettes. The payments required under the MSA result in the products sold by the participating manufacturers to be priced at higher levels than non-MSA manufacturers. In addition, the growth in market share of discount brands since the MSA was signed has had an adverse impact on the total volume of the cigarettes that we sell.

In connection with the MSA, we were indemnified by most of the tobacco product manufacturers from which we purchased cigarettes and other tobacco products for liabilities arising from our sale of the tobacco products that they supplied to us. Should the MSA ever be invalidated, we could be subject to substantial litigation due to our distribution of cigarettes and other tobacco products, and we may not be indemnified for such costs by the tobacco product manufacturers in the future. In addition, even if we are indemnified by cigarette manufacturers that are parties to the MSA, future litigation awards against such cigarette manufacturers could be so large as to prevent the manufacturers from satisfying their indemnification obligations.

We expect that our principal sources of funds will be cash generated from our operations and, if necessary, borrowings under a $200$600 million revolving credit facility (Credit Facility)("Credit Facility") as of December 31, 2015.2016. On January 11,November 4, 2016, we entered into a seventhninth amendment to the Credit Facility which increased our Credit Facility from $200$450 million to $300$600 million. The Credit Facility, initially dated as of October 12, 2005, as amended or otherwise modified from time to time, is between us, as Borrowers, the Lenders named therein, and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as administrative agent (Credit Facility).agent. The Credit Facility expires in May 2020. While

Our Credit Facility imposes restrictions on us that could increase our vulnerability to general adverse economic and industry conditions by limiting our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and industry. Specifically, these restrictions place limits on our ability, among other things, to: incur additional indebtedness, pay dividends, issue stock of subsidiaries, make investments, repurchase stock, create liens, enter into transactions with affiliates, merge or consolidate, or transfer and sell our assets. In addition, under our Credit Facility, under certain circumstances we are required to meet a fixed charge coverage ratio. Our ability to comply with this covenant may be affected by factors beyond our control and a breach of the covenant could result in an event of default under our Credit Facility, which would permit the lenders to declare all amounts incurred thereunder to be immediately due and payable and terminate their commitments to make further extensions of credit.