Project description
An entrepreneur from Munich with connections to Mexico planned to set up a logistics centre for limes there and export the limes to the USA and Europe.
The Mexican lime industry is still strongly characterised by manual labour, long truck transports, inefficient logistics and mediocre product quality. In addition, there is a lack of innovative capacity due to a lack of capital and partly also due to cultural influences. The entrepreneurial opportunity was to gain market share in this market with modern technology and logistics and to achieve good margins thanks to direct sales to major American and European customers.
The entrepreneur envisioned five major competitive advantages:
- High efficiency in production thanks to a high-performance sorting plant,
- Supplier loyalty thanks to a transparent remuneration system for suppliers,
- Cost advantages through cheaper transport (to the USA by shipping sea containers instead of using trucks),
- Higher margins than competitors by bypassing middlemen; direct sales to supermarkets and importers in the US and Europe.
- Retention of customers thanks to consistently high product quality and reliability.
The land was already bought; the capital requirement for the logistics building and sorting facility was EUR 3 million.
We mapped the complex business model for the business plan in a spreadsheet and made the resulting financial planning the core of the presentation to the banks.
What banks look at in a food wholesale business plan
Wholesalers of fresh produce operate on thin margins and perishable goods, so the plan should show sourcing countries, prices, seasonality, quality standards and the customers, such as supermarkets, restaurants or traders.
Key assumptions are the purchase price, freight and customs costs, losses from spoilage, the margin and payment terms. Cold storage, transport and import permits belong in the investment plan.
Because purchases are paid early and customers pay late, a liquidity forecast with a clear working-capital line shows how much financing is required and whether credit insurance or guarantees may be needed.
