Re-imaging the Strategy of an Award-Winning Company

Wholesale food distribution is a high volume, low margin business. In creating 100km Foods, a company that sources directly from and distributes on behalf of Ontario farmers and producers, we entered a very established industry with a very unique and niche offering; Ontario farm identified local food products, harvested-to-order and delivered directly to restaurants, hotels, institutions and independent retailers within 24 hours of harvest. 100km Foods has had a profound impact on the local food economy in Ontario, growing 30-40% year over year since our inception and has forced other competitors to adopt a local food strategy. We differ from most competitors in another major way as well; we drive to and pick up directly from over 80% of our farm partners, adding a significant cost of procurement that is not incurred by most other wholesale distributors. While this allows for our unique competitive advantage, it also adds a significant cost to our operations. Despite this, we still need to remain reasonably price competitive in the wholesale food market, contributing to a relatively low net profit margin. We are looking to find operational efficiencies or tweaks to our operational model to allow for a greater proportion of our gross margin to contribute to our EBITDA. This need is further amplified by our desire to refinance the equity position of our investors into a debt instrument, thereby regaining the equity in our company.