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Agriculture & Food

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MERU CASE STUDY

Implemented $14M in EBITDA p.a. and $4M of cash savings for a food producer & distributor

COMPANY OVERVIEW

  • The company is a manufacturer and distributor of healthy and sustainable packaged foods, primarily to public and private schools
  • The Company was experiencing financial and operational headwinds as a result of a highly competitive environment and a misguided sales strategy
  • In July 2019, the Board hired MERU to:
    • Assess cash runway and preserve liquidity
    • Develop turnaround plan by identifying & prioritizing performance improvement and cash/EBITDA enhancement initiatives
    • Serve as interim executives (CTO, COO, CFO) to provide on-the-ground leadership

OUR APPROACH

  • MERU’s engagement included a 6-week Phase I diagnostic assessment and a ~6-month implementation and transition planning Phase II
  • During Phase I, MERU identified $9M-$19M of EBITDA and $3M-$6M of cash opportunities across pricing strategy, supply chain, procurement, operational excellence, transportation & logistics and liquidity/working capital optimization
  • Developed detailed implementation plans and PMO office to manage turnaround program
  • Defined company wide key operating metrics and developed 20+ dashboards to track value capture
  • Developed numerous complex models & tools including: 13-week cash flow model, dynamic menu planning tool and daily labor calculator

OUR IMPACT

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Implemented ~$14M of annualized EBITDA and $4M of cash savings in just under 6 months.

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Instituted a culture of accountability & data-driven decision making through roll out of KPIs representing single source of truth for initiative-level impact on operational and financial results.

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Heavily supported a $13M equity raise and successful lender negotiation and amendment.