Expansion was Ganfer Fresh’s key to stability and their gateway to innovation. They used Silo Capital to make this vision a reality.
Case Study
Build Vertically to Expand Your Horizon
“Silo Capital helped us build out operations for growing and preparing dried veggies this summer. In order to grow our production, we had to do a lot of prep and it was a big financial undertaking over several months.”
Francisco Coppel
VP of Sales and CCO at Ganfer Fresh
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Let's get to know
Ganfer Fresh
Ganfer specializes in growing, processing and importing high quality tomatoes, berries, and dried veg products from Sonora, Mexico into United States markets. Throughout their 30 years of doing business in the Americas, they have remained committed to sustainable business practices and promoting healthy lifestyles in their community.
Location
Sonora, Mexico
Team Size
50
Their Goals
Create greater revenue consistency year round, continue to diversify their product lines, and vertically integrate their business.
Special ingredient to share
Football Season’s Famous Jalapeno Poppers
Ingredients:
- 6 jalapeno peppers
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 2 tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese
- 6 bacon strips, halved widthwise
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon chili seasoning mix
Steps:
- Cut jalapeños in half lengthwise and remove seeds; set aside.
- In a small bowl, beat the cheeses until blended. Spoon into pepper halves.
- Wrap a half-strip of bacon around each pepper half.
- Combine brown sugar and chili seasoning; coat peppers with sugar mixture. Place in a greased 15x10x1-in. baking pan.
- Bake at 350° until bacon is firm, 18-20 minutes.
Ganfer Fresh leverages Silo’s tailor-fit financing to corner Dried Veg production in North America
The Challenge
Ganfer, owned and operated by Grupo Ganfer, had been a staple of the North American tomato market for 30 years. As ambitious and innovative industry leaders, the Ganfer team had goals of becoming a premium supplier to their national retail customers through diversifying their stock and vertically integrating their operations. However, cash flow gaps and a lack of available investment capital was preventing them from diversifying or sourcing products at a pace they desired.
The Solution
A strategic combination of Silo Capital Products equipped Ganfer with the financial solutions necessary to find meaningful growth for their business. Silo Instant Pay ensured that lengthy customer payment terms would not inhibit Ganfer’s ability to source products quickly, cementing stronger partnerships with their retail customers. Silo Cash Advance gave Ganfer the capital needed to act on the time-sensitive opportunity to build out the infrastructure and operations to support their new dried veg program and successfully fill demands in the dry summer season. Silo Cash Advance additionally helped them invest in growing and processing operations for their berries business, bringing them several steps closer to a fully vertical business model.
“We want to develop fair rates with growers so we can sell at a good price and keep them happy. Silo Capital helped us invest in an on-the-ground management operation that helped us accomplish that.”
The Results
100% increase in sales volume.
Ganfer Fresh successfully increased sales by 100% in under 1 year of using Silo Capital by leveraging both Silo Instant Pay to accelerate cash flow and Silo Cash Advance to invest in vertical growth.
98% fill rating with major North American retailer.
Silo Instant Pay freed up essential working capital, enabling Ganfer Fresh to purchase more product with greater consistency and better meet the demand of their large retail customers. Ganfer achieved a 98% fill rating with one significant partner, which resulted in favored status for Ganfer over other suppliers.
Net new dried veg growing operation.
Silo Capital funds were invested to develop a new dried veg operation in Baja California to fill high summer demand. Funds were used to purchase growing licenses, procure land, pay farm staff, build an operations team, and purchase necessary growing and packaging equipment.
Read the Full Story
Ganfer uses every tool in their toolbox to achieve maximum output
After years of building the largest wheat flour milling operation in Spain, the Fernandez family looked westward for new opportunities. Ganfer Fresh, their first American venture, was established in Sonora, Mexico–and three decades later had grown into one of the largest suppliers of tomatoes in the country. Jose Fernanez had seen his family’s successes up close and was eager to contribute to Ganfer’s legacy.
During the Covid-19 Pandemic, Jose Fernandez and the Ganfer leadership began to ambitiously leverage their industry expertise in order to take their business to the next level. In a few short years, Ganfer leadership sought to expand into the hyper competitive berries market and vertically integrate their operations, giving them greater control over their costs, volume, and product quality. Despite their ambitions, periodic disruptions to revenues and a lack of working capital meant that progress towards their goals would be slow and disjointed.
We needed to find a way to sustain business during the summer in Mexico which isn’t always easy due to the extreme heat that shuts down a lot of growing operations.
The greater the goal, the greater the challenge
Ganfer Fresh’s foremost challenge revolved around cash flow gaps that became exaggerated by the lengthy payment terms requested by their largest retail customer. Although challenging, Ganfer Fresh deeply valued the high sales volume and the support that stable cash flow that their retail relationships offered. However these slower payments created financial strains that consistently hindered Ganfer Fresh’s ability to make their own on-time payments to suppliers. Over time, this limited their ability to invest in expansion the way they desired.
The Summer’s seasonal production decline added to this strain. “We needed to find a way to sustain business during the summer in Mexico which isn’t always easy due to the extreme heat that shuts down a lot of growing operations,” explained Francisco Coppel, Ganfer Fresh’s Chief Financial Officer. In 2022, Ganfer Fresh identified a time-sensitive opportunity to diversify their stock and meet demand by becoming dried vegetable producers in Baja California and supply the US market where demand was high, but this required substantial upfront capital.
Ganfer Fresh’s ultimate aspiration for vertical integration would help to insulate themselves from this type of cash flow variability. The setup of new production and quality control operations under one roof would help Ganfer Fresh better control their costs and manage prices for their growing berries business. “We want to develop fair rates with growers so we can sell at a good price and keep them happy,” remarked Francisco.
Ultimately, Ganfer Fresh decided on a bespoke financing solution with Silo Capital to tackle their multi-pronged challenges and forge a defined path to the stability and operational control they wanted. After an initial connection with a Silo representative, leadership at Ganfer Fresh sat down with Silo’s Capital team to develop a plan for financing that worked for the goals they set out for themselves.
They told us - ‘you just became the best veggie supplier in the US.'
Bridging gaps large and small
At the start of the consultative process with the Silo Capital team, Silo Instant Pay was selected as the clear solution for filling their cash flow gaps that persisted due to lengthy customer terms agreements. Through Silo Instant Pay, Ganfer Fresh could now reduce gaps in revenues by accessing 90% of their invoice value immediately, rather than waiting 30+ days. According to one national retail customer, Ganfer Fresh’s newfound speed distinguished them as a high-quality supplier and ensured Ganfer would be favored for future orders.
“We achieved an outstanding 98% fill rate for our largest retail customer, when other suppliers tend to average 91%,” exclaimed Francisco. “They told us - ‘you just became the best veggie supplier in the US.’ This was a direct result of our Baja California expansion that was made possible through Silo Capital.”
While Silo Instant Pay helped to instantly mitigate cash gaps between invoices, Ganfer’s leadership deployed a different tool to tackle more substantial gaps between seasons. Slow downs in summer months had frustrated Ganfer, but now with Silo Cash Advance, they had the resources they needed to seize an opportunity to fill their market gap. “Silo Capital helped us build out operations for growing and preparing dried veggies this summer. In order to grow our production, we had to do a lot of prep and it was a big financial undertaking over several months.”
Silo Cash Advance funding provided the working capital needed to source land for growing, purchase necessary processing equipment, secure growers licenses, and hire staff to run the entire operation. Under their brand new operation, Ganfer Fresh became the proud supplier of Jalapeño, green bean, cabbage, shishito pepper, yellow squash, green bell pepper, and zucchini to a deprived summertime marketplace.
Silo Capital was the key to our vertical integration. That additional capital helped us make it happen faster.
Prescriptive solutions were just what the doctor ordered
Once their cash flow consistency had been restored, Ganfer Fresh and the Silo Capital team turned their sights towards the expansion of their berries operation and began using Silo Cash Advance to make the investments necessary to vertically integrate.
Cash Advance funds were used to purchase berry farms and the rights to grow specialized varieties so that Ganfer Fresh could fully control the supply chain of their product.
They also purchased an operations management company to tackle pricing and on-the-ground management to ensure buyers remained happy while Ganfer pursued more optimal profit margins. “Silo Capital was the key to our vertical integration. That additional capital helped us make it happen faster.” Francisco remarked.
As a direct result of Silo Capital’s prescriptive financial solution, Ganfer Fresh’s sales volume doubled in less than a year.
