Looking for a wholesale juice business plan? You're in the right place.
Selling juice by the case means answering to buyers first and to a bank second. Which accounts pay on net-60 terms, and how much cash does that tie up? What does a case really cost once tolling and freight are counted? How many grocers must say yes before the press line pays for itself? These are the questions a lender tests, and this example shows one set of answers laid out in full.
The article follows a sample producer in Richmond, Virginia through each section of its plan, from the account types and the sales path to the kitchen, the team and the three statements that close the plan.
Read it for the parts that carry the decision:
- The raise and the reserve: see why a reserve is sized to the lowest cash point of the year, not to the first loss
- The buyer types: compare what a grocer, a gym, a campus kitchen and a distributor each pay per case and how long each takes to pay
- The per-case costs: follow how produce, packaging, tolling and freight separate, and which of them move with volume
- The kitchen and routes: test whether one press line and two vans can carry the volume the sales forecast asks for
- The weak-year case: check what happens when cases run a fifth short and fruit costs more, and what the owners cut first
The producer in this plan is fictional. Its structure can serve a food business that sells to other businesses, with that business's own prices, costs and accounts in place of these figures.
In this plan
If you need a wholesale juice business plan template for your own plan, start it in the Toolkit.
The Plan on One Page
Crestview Ridge, LLC is a Richmond, Virginia producer of cold-pressed bottled juice that sells only by the case. It presses and bottles in a leased 4,200-square-foot production kitchen and delivers by refrigerated van to grocers, cafes, gyms, hospital cafeterias and university dining halls. January 2027 goes to the build-out and validation runs, and the first deliveries leave in February. Marcus Hale handles sales, finance and the first routes. Elena Ruiz runs production and the food-safety plan. Together they hold 60% of the company.
The company raises $857,000: $250,000 from the founders, $167,000 from two local investors and a $440,000 bank term loan. Equipment and the kitchen build-out take $281,000. Opening stock, permits, the food-safety plan, test batches and launch marketing take $96,500. The remaining $479,500 is a cash reserve, because the business pays for fruit and bottles weeks before grocers and campuses pay for their cases.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $837,300 | $1,669,321 | $2,670,603 |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($215,648) | $93,721 | $285,434 |
| Closing cash | $237,363 | $238,912 | $334,216 |
Year 1 delivers 17,300 cases to about 97 direct accounts plus a distributor. EBITDA turns positive in August, once the institutional contracts and the distributor are ordering. Year 2 is the first year with a profit after interest and depreciation, at a 5.6% net margin. Year 3 reaches a 10.7% net margin, and the margin is 12.8% by Year 5.
A weak-year case is built in. If sales run 20% short and produce costs rise 15%, the founders slow hiring, cut marketing and take a pay cut. That case loses about $31,000 in Year 2, is profitable from Year 3 at an 8.1% margin, and keeps cash positive every month, with a low point of about $39,000 once receivables are set aside.
The Plant, the Owners and the Rules
Legal name: Crestview Ridge, LLC, a Virginia limited liability company taxed as a corporation in this plan. Owners: Marcus Hale and Elena Ruiz, 60% together, $125,000 each; two local investors, 40%, with no day-to-day role. Space: about 4,200 square feet of leased food-production space in the Richmond area, with a walk-in cooler and a loading door, on a five-year lease with a renewal option. Start date: January 2027. The lease is still in draft, and two grocers have agreed to take sample cases.
Why this producer
The founders met selling to the same buyers from opposite sides: Marcus for a beverage distributor, Elena inside a packaged-food plant. Their view is that a local producer with a documented food-safety process and a fixed delivery day can win shelf and cooler space that brands made elsewhere serve less closely. The aim is a producer a buyer can reorder from every week without a conversation.
What the plant sells
| Line | How it earns | Year 1 share of revenue |
|---|---|---|
| Independent grocers and natural-food stores | 7,600 cases at $48 a case | 44% |
| Cafes, coffee shops and restaurants | 4,300 cases at $51 | 26% |
| Gyms, studios and corporate wellness | 2,500 cases at $53 | 16% |
| Hospital cafeterias and university dining | 1,900 cases at $43 under contract | 10% |
| Regional distributor | 1,000 cases at $39, net of the distributor's margin | 5% |
Food-safety and licensing position
Juice sold wholesale is a regulated food. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration publishes a hazard-analysis rule for juice processing and a separate juice labeling rule. The founders also confirm the Virginia requirements for food manufacturers, including any registration, with the state agency before the first sale. The plan does not rely on a Virginia source for any production, pricing or food-safety figure. Which rules apply to a given facility, process and label depends on the product, so the founders check them with the agencies and a food-safety consultant. The shelf life of each product comes from the validation study, not from this plan.
The food-safety plan is treated as a core cost rather than overhead: $27,000 at start-up for writing, validation and legal work, and $22,000 in Year 1 for testing and upkeep. Elena owns it.
Goals to the end of 2029
- About 97 direct accounts at the end of 2027, and about 160 on average in 2029.
- Revenue of $1,669,321 in 2028, with positive EBITDA.
- Receivables kept near 60 days of sales despite institutional terms.
- Profit after tax in every year from 2028, with the bank loan repaid on schedule from 2029.
Who Buys Juice by the Case
Four buyers and one distributor
The customers are buyers, not shoppers. A grocery category manager chooses a shelf, a cafe owner chooses a cooler, a campus dining director signs a supplier contract and a gym manager stocks a fridge. A regional food distributor sits across all of them and reaches stores that a small producer would take years to serve alone.
What a juice buyer compares
Buyers weigh price per case, whether the van arrives on the agreed day, how long the product keeps, whether the producer can document its food-safety process, and what happens when a case spoils. The founders expect reliability to count for more than a few cents a bottle, and the plan prices accordingly. Institutional buyers often ask for a written food-safety plan, insurance certificates and lot tracing, and each buyer sets its own list.
Cold-chain rivals for the cooler
Three groups compete for the same cooler space: bottled-juice brands made elsewhere and carried by large distributors, other regional cold-pressed producers, and cafes and grocers that press their own. Competitors are described by category only. The plan makes no price comparison with any named brand.
The plan's seasonal curve
The plan's own seasonal curve puts the cafe and grocer peak in summer, after a spring build-up. The institutional line combines hospital cafeterias and campus dining, and its curve dips in June and July with the campus calendar. Fruit and vegetable costs can move with the harvest, and the weak-year case adds two points of revenue to direct costs to reflect that.
Strengths, limits, openings and threats
| Strengths | Limits |
|---|---|
| A production lead who writes and owns the food-safety plan | Two founders carry sales, production and routes in Year 1 |
| Gyms and cafes pay the highest case prices in the plan | No brand beyond the founders' buyer relationships |
| Two grocers committed to sample cases before opening | Years 1 and 2 draw on the reserve |
| Openings | Threats |
|---|---|
| Institutional contracts that renew on a fixed schedule | Distributors pressing for a larger share of each case |
| Referrals from grocers and cafes to other buyers | A poor fruit season raising the cost of each case |
| A second filler that lets the line serve more accounts | A recall or failed test damaging one account's trust |
Account Types and What Each Needs
Independent grocers and natural-food stores
Owner-run stores with a refrigerated juice shelf, ordering once or twice a week, around 330 cases a year each. They want a shelf-ready case, a clear price list and one named contact.
Cafes, coffee shops and restaurants
Smaller orders, about 150 cases a year, on short terms. They use juice as a menu line and care most about fresh dates and a driver who comes on the same day each week.
Gyms, studios and corporate wellness
About 220 cases a year per account, bought for a fridge or a juice counter. The invoice has to be easy for an office manager to approve.
Hospital cafeterias and university dining
The largest accounts, averaging about 1,100 cases a year each at full size. They ask for documentation before they order, and the plan sets their terms at net-45 to net-60. Five are signed in Year 1 and reach full volume by October.
The distributor
A regional food distributor buys case lots at about 19% below the direct grocery price and resells to stores the plant does not serve. That discount is a planning figure, not a sourced distributor margin. The plan caps the distributor at a quarter of cases, which keeps any one buyer from setting the price for the rest.
Getting Onto Shelves and Into Coolers
The buyer's path
A visit with a sample case, a price sheet the same week, a trial order of two to four cases, and a standing weekly order from the third delivery. Institutional buyers go through a bid or a supplier-qualification review and take longer: the first contracts start in May and September of Year 1.
Where the first 97 accounts come from
About 390 visits and sample drops, at a 25% conversion rate, produce 97 accounts. At 20%, the same 97 accounts would need about 490 visits, which is why the founders' visit count is the first number to check.
| Lead source | Accounts won | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Founder visits and sample drops | 52 | 54% |
| Referrals from existing grocers and cafes | 21 | 22% |
| Trade shows and buyer events | 12 | 12% |
| In-store demo days and the ordering portal | 7 | 7% |
| Institutional bids | 5 | 5% |
Case prices by buyer type
Per-case prices are highest for gyms and cafes, which buy in small lots. They are lower for grocers, and lowest for the distributor, which resells, and for institutions that commit to volume. These are the plan's own price points, not published benchmarks. List prices stay flat in Year 1 and rise 3% a year from Year 2. Promotions and distributor allowances are budgeted at 4% of sales, and a bad-debt allowance at 0.8%.
Staying on the shelf
The plan expects about 15% of direct accounts to leave each year, mostly cafes that close and stores that reset their coolers. Standing weekly orders, a lot code on every case and a replacement guarantee for spoiled product are the retention tools.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cases delivered | 17,300 | 34,500 | 54,000 | 62,000 | 66,500 |
Growth after Year 3 slows because the press line sets the pace. The second filler in Year 4 and the account manager hired in month 26 widen that limit.
Sampling and Marketing Spend
Marketing line by line
The first-year marketing budget is $52,000: $18,000 of launch spend paid from start-up capital and $34,000 of running costs. That is 6.2% of Year 1 revenue. It falls to 1.4% by Year 3 and 1.2% by Year 5, as standing orders and referrals carry more of the growth. Spread over about 97 new accounts, Year 1 spend comes to about $536 per account, less than half a month of sales to a typical grocery account. Promotions and distributor allowances are budgeted separately, as a share of sales.
| Item | Year 1 spend | What it is expected to do |
|---|---|---|
| Brand, labels and website (launch) | $8,000 | A bottle and a case that look the same on a shelf and in a cooler |
| Buyer sample cases and tasting events (launch) | $10,000 | First visits to about 150 buyers |
| Sample cases and store tastings | $11,000 | The trial order that converts a grocer or cafe |
| Trade shows and buyer events | $7,000 | About 12 accounts and the first distributor conversation |
| Institutional bid preparation | $4,000 | Tasting sessions, documentation and insurance certificates for dining committees |
| In-store demo days | $5,000 | Sell-through at the first 15 grocers, which supports reorders |
| Ordering portal hosting and content | $4,000 | Reorders without a phone call |
| Referral credits and price-sheet printing | $3,000 | A credit on the next invoice for each introduction that orders |
Dated milestones, 2027
- February: first deliveries to three grocers and eight cafes.
- May: first hospital cafeteria contract starts.
- September: the distributor begins ordering, and campus accounts return after the summer.
- December: about 97 direct accounts and about $112,600 of monthly sales.
Kitchen Capacity and Delivery Routes
The kitchen
Fruit and vegetables arrive three times a week, are washed, pressed cold and bottled the same day, and are held in the walk-in cooler. Bottles that go through high-pressure processing travel to an outside toll processor and come back in about two days, at a planning rate of $3.00 a case in Year 1, rising 3% a year. One line, rated at about 450 bottles an hour, runs a single shift. Year 3 needs just under six hours of filling on a production day, and a second filler in Year 4 lifts the rate to about 600 an hour. Pulp is hauled away and wash water is charged by the utility, and both are budgeted.
Routes and delivery
One refrigerated van is bought at launch and a second is leased from month 21. In Year 3 the two routes carry about 44,700 cases, roughly 90 cases and 20 drops a route-day, at about 4.4 cases a drop, against a van load of about 220 cases. Distributor cases leave on the distributor's own truck. Pallets, freight and spoilage are budgeted at $1.80 a case in Year 1, rising 3% a year, which is $1.91 a case and $103,119 in total in Year 3. Pressing, washing and prep time are not separately costed, so the filler hours are the only throughput the plan tests.
Receivables and payables
Grocers, gyms and the distributor are invoiced on net-30, cafes on net-14, and institutions on net-45 to net-60. The plan collects in 60 days on average. A part-time collections clerk starts in month 10 because the invoices outnumber what the founders can chase. Suppliers of fruit and packaging give about 28 days. At the end of Year 3, receivables of $439,003 and inventory of $78,853 are the largest working-capital items.
Food-safety routine
Each lot is coded, sampled and held until the required tests clear. Elena signs every batch record, the cooler is logged twice a day and a mock recall runs each quarter. Lab testing and shelf-life checks are budgeted at $22,000 in Year 1.
Space and suppliers
About 4,200 square feet at about $13.80 a square foot a year, with about 1,000 square feet added from Year 4 for dry packaging. Fruit comes from two regional produce wholesalers and a few growers. Bottles and caps come from a packaging distributor in pallet lots.
Insurance
Product liability with recall cover, commercial auto for two vans, property, workers' compensation and key-person life cover on both founders, budgeted at $22,000 in Year 1 and $35,000 by Year 5.
What could break the plan
The toll processor is a single point of failure, so the founders qualify a second processor in Year 1. The cost of that second processor is not yet in the figures. The distributor is capped at a quarter of cases. No single institutional contract decides a year. A recall is the largest tail risk. The plan carries recall cover and a quarterly mock recall, but it does not model a recall event, and the insurer sets the recall limit, which the broker must confirm. The cost and timing of a second toll processor are not costed. No sale or exit of the investors' 40% is modeled. Their return in the plan is their share of the $700,000 of distributions in Years 4 and 5, about $280,000.
The Founders and the Hires
Marcus Hale, co-founder, sales and finance
Nine years selling to grocery and food-service buyers for a regional beverage distributor. He holds 30% of Crestview Ridge, invests $125,000 and is paid $70,000 a year.
Elena Ruiz, co-founder, production and food safety
Eleven years in production and quality assurance at a packaged-food plant, including HACCP training and a period as the plant's sanitation lead. She holds 30%, invests $125,000 and is paid $70,000 a year.
Gaps in the founders' experience
Neither founder has run a delivery route at scale, hired a driver or worked a hospital bid. The plan covers those gaps with a route driver from month 5, a collections clerk from month 10 and an account manager from month 26. An outside food-safety consultant reviews the plan each year.
When a founder is out of the kitchen
Marcus and Elena each know the other's work well enough to cover a month, and the plan carries key-person insurance on both. A written batch record and a documented recall procedure let a trained associate run the line for a short period.
Investors and the bank
The two investors buy 40% for $167,000, at the same price per share the founders paid, and take no operating role. Any preference terms are for counsel to settle and are not modeled. The bank's security is the press line and both founders' personal guarantees, and it requires quarterly accounts.
The Five-Year Model
Crestview Ridge earns by the case. Each revenue line is cases delivered times a price per case. Produce and packaging form the cost of goods. Toll processing and freight are charged per case, and rent, payroll and the office sit below gross profit. The first year runs month by month through 2027 and later years are annual.
Press line, kitchen and who pays for them
| Use of funds | Amount |
|---|---|
| Press, filler, capper, labeler, conveyor and sanitation line | $124,000 |
| Walk-in cooler, floor drains, stainless prep and wash areas in the leased kitchen | $78,000 |
| Refrigerated delivery van, pallet jack, scales and lab bench | $79,000 |
| Opening inventory of bottles, caps, labels and cases | $30,000 |
| State and city registrations, food-facility permits, label review | $5,500 |
| Food-safety plan, shelf-life validation, legal (entity, investor and lease) | $27,000 |
| Test batches, trial runs and sample bottles before first delivery | $16,000 |
| Launch: brand, website, tasting events and buyer sample cases | $18,000 |
| Cash reserve for the receivables build and the first summer | $479,500 |
| Total uses | $857,000 |
| Source of funds | Amount |
|---|---|
| Marcus Hale and Elena Ruiz, founders (60% of the company) | $250,000 |
| Two local investors (40% of the company) | $167,000 |
| Bank term loan (equipment and working capital) | $440,000 |
| Total sources | $857,000 |
The company raises $857,000 from three sources. Marcus Hale and Elena Ruiz put in $250,000 for 60%, $125,000 each. Two local investors put in $167,000 for 40%. Both groups pay the same price per share, which puts the company at about $417,000 of equity after the investment, before the loan. A bank provides a $440,000 term loan at 9.75%, repaid over seven years with interest only for the first 24 months. Equipment and the kitchen build-out take $281,000, and launch costs, permits, testing and opening stock take $96,500. The remaining $479,500 is a cash reserve, sized to the lowest point of Year 1, which falls in September at about $85,000 once receivables are set aside. The loan is larger than the equipment because it also funds about $159,000 of the reserve. The press line, cooler and van are security alongside the guarantees. The weak-year case dips to about $39,000 in October, below one month of Year 1 operating cost of about $50,000, so that case runs with less cover than the base case. The loan terms are planning figures for this example, not quoted lending rates. The bank's security is the press line, about $124,000 at cost, and the founders' personal guarantees, so most of the loan rests on the guarantees. Without the loan the September low would fall below zero, so the loan funds the first-year need and the reserve covers the rest.
Case prices, per-case costs and terms
- A case is twelve 12-ounce bottles. Year 1 prices are $48 a case to grocers, $51 to cafes and restaurants, $53 to gyms and wellness programs, $43 under institutional contracts and $39 net through the distributor. Prices rise 3% a year from Year 2. These are the plan's own price points, not published benchmarks. Cases delivered are 17,300 in Year 1, 34,500 in Year 2, 54,000 in Year 3, 62,000 in Year 4 and 66,500 in Year 5.
- Account counts follow from case volume. A grocery account buys about 330 cases a year, a cafe about 150, a gym or studio about 220, and an institutional contract about 1,100 at full size. The plan ends Year 1 with about 97 direct accounts: 35 grocers, 40 cafes, 17 gyms and 5 institutional contracts signed in Year 1. In Year 3 it averages about 160 direct accounts. The distributor counts as one account that resells to its own stores.
- Produce costs $11.80 a case and packaging $5.90: bottles, caps, labels and cases bought by the pallet. Those two form the cost of goods, which runs at 33% of revenue on gym cases, 35% on cafe cases, 37% on grocery cases, 41% on institutional cases and 45% on distributor cases. Toll processing at $3.00 a case and freight at $1.80 a case sit below gross profit and move with cases. Both rise 3% a year from Year 2, so toll is $3.18 a case and freight $1.91 in Year 3. All four per-case figures are planning figures, not supplier quotes, and the founders replace them with written quotes before the first order. Cost of goods is held at a constant share of each price, so per-case produce and packaging rise 3% a year with prices. A produce spike is tested in the weak-year case, not in the base case.
- The distributor buys at about 19% below the direct grocery price. That gap is a planning figure, not a sourced distributor margin. Its share of revenue rises from 5% in Year 1 to 17% in Year 5, and the plan caps it at a quarter of cases so no single buyer sets prices for the rest. Retail promotions, demo-day fills and distributor allowances are budgeted at 4% of sales, and bad debt at 0.8%.
- Collection is planned at 60 days of sales. That blends the stated terms, net-14 for cafes, net-30 for grocers, gyms and the distributor, and net-45 to net-60 for institutions, with the slippage every new supplier sees. The annual balance sheet applies 60 days to each year's average sales. In a growing year that understates year-end receivables: December 2027 sales at 60 days would give about $225,000, against the $137,638 shown for Year 1. The monthly cash low point sets each month's receivables at 60 days of that month's sales, which puts the September low at about $85,000.
- Suppliers are paid in 28 days on average. Packaging inventory and finished juice are held at $30,000 at opening plus 5% of each year's cost of goods, which reaches $78,853 at the end of Year 3. Bottles that go through high-pressure processing spend about two days with the toll processor, and finished bottles ship on the next route day.
- One production line, rated at about 450 bottles an hour, runs a single shift. Year 3 volume of 648,000 bottles is about 2,600 bottles a production day across roughly 250 production days, or just under six hours of filling. Pressing, washing and prep time are not separately costed, so the filler hours are the only throughput the plan tests. A second filler in Year 4 is costed at $25,000 inside the equipment-replacement line until a supplier quote is in hand, and lifts the rated speed to about 600 an hour.
- Delivery runs on one refrigerated van bought at launch and a second leased van from month 21. In Year 3 about 44,700 cases go out on the two routes, roughly 90 cases and 20 drops per route-day at about 4.4 cases a drop, against a van load of about 220 cases. Distributor cases travel on the distributor's own truck.
- Payroll adds 27% to wages for payroll taxes, health contributions and paid leave, and 15% for the two part-time roles. Marcus Hale and Elena Ruiz are each paid $70,000 from month 1. The part-time roles are costed at 20 hours a week: $18,720 for the billing clerk (about $18 an hour), $17,680 for sanitation and packing (about $17 an hour) and $19,240 for the relief driver and packer (about $18.50 an hour). A 3% pay rise is charged as a separate line from Year 2. Workers' compensation sits in the insurance line.
- Rent covers about 4,200 square feet of leased food-production space at about $13.80 a square foot a year with cold storage included, rising 3% a year. About 1,000 more square feet for dry packaging is added from Year 4. Insurance covers product liability with recall cover, commercial auto for two vans, property, workers' compensation and key-person life cover on both founders. Insurance and utilities are planning figures until broker and utility quotes are in hand. Depreciation is straight-line: 8 years on the press line, 10 years on the cooler and build-out, and 6 years on the van.
- The model taxes the company as a corporation at a 21% federal rate and a 6% Virginia rate, a combined 25.74% on income once the Virginia rate is applied after federal tax. The 21% federal rate is set in federal law. The 6% Virginia rate is a planning figure and may change. Losses are carried forward. Start-up costs are not deducted in the tax line, which is the cautious choice.
- Owner distributions are $300,000 in Year 4 and $400,000 in Year 5, split 60/40 between the founders and the investors. They are paid only from cash the model shows the business can spare after both loans run on schedule. While the bank loan is outstanding, EBITDA covers interest and principal 4.9x in Year 4 and 5.9x in Year 5, which is what makes those payouts affordable. Cumulative profit before start-up costs over Years 1 to 5 is about $1.03 million, so retained earnings finish positive.
Revenue by account type
| Revenue stream | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent grocers and natural-food stores | $364,800 | $583,392 | $880,971 | $996,567 | $1,080,488 |
| Cafes, coffee shops and restaurants | $219,300 | $362,457 | $541,059 | $613,020 | $660,111 |
| Gyms, studios and corporate wellness | $132,500 | $234,737 | $371,103 | $422,776 | $465,285 |
| Hospital cafeterias and university dining | $81,700 | $287,885 | $492,682 | $610,834 | $677,556 |
| Regional distributor (net of distributor margin) | $39,000 | $200,850 | $384,788 | $498,611 | $579,412 |
| Total revenue | $837,300 | $1,669,321 | $2,670,603 | $3,141,808 | $3,462,852 |
| Growth on prior year | – | 99% | 60% | 18% | 10% |
Grocers carry Year 1 at 44% of revenue and fall to 33% by Year 3 as the other lines catch up. Institutional contracts start in May and reach 18% of revenue in Year 3, because a hospital or campus buyer takes months to qualify a supplier. The distributor starts in September and reaches $384,788 in Year 3 at the lowest margin of any line. Growth is 99% in Year 2 because Year 1 opens with a build-out month. It slows to 60% in Year 3 and 10% in Year 5.
Month by month in 2027
| Month | Independent grocers and natural-food stores | Cafes, coffee shops and restaurants | Gyms, studios and corporate wellness | Hospital cafeterias and university dining | Regional distributor (net of distributor margin) | Total revenue | EBITDA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2027 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ($50,063) |
| Feb 2027 | $8,530 | $6,416 | $3,138 | $0 | $0 | $18,084 | ($38,595) |
| Mar 2027 | $13,648 | $10,999 | $4,940 | $0 | $0 | $29,587 | ($31,300) |
| Apr 2027 | $19,335 | $14,284 | $6,509 | $0 | $0 | $40,128 | ($24,616) |
| May 2027 | $25,590 | $17,874 | $9,879 | $1,495 | $0 | $54,838 | ($15,287) |
| Jun 2027 | $32,414 | $22,915 | $11,855 | $996 | $0 | $68,180 | ($6,827) |
| Jul 2027 | $37,816 | $25,971 | $13,831 | $664 | $0 | $78,282 | ($420) |
| Aug 2027 | $40,944 | $26,124 | $14,877 | $5,812 | $0 | $87,757 | $5,588 |
| Sep 2027 | $43,503 | $25,971 | $16,737 | $17,934 | $5,909 | $110,054 | $19,728 |
| Oct 2027 | $48,337 | $24,443 | $18,597 | $19,927 | $9,455 | $120,759 | $26,516 |
| Nov 2027 | $47,768 | $22,915 | $16,272 | $18,266 | $11,818 | $117,039 | $24,157 |
| Dec 2027 | $46,915 | $21,388 | $15,865 | $16,606 | $11,818 | $112,592 | $21,337 |
January has no sales: that month goes to the kitchen build-out, validation runs and test batches. Deliveries start in February. EBITDA is negative from January to July and positive from August, once institutional contracts are ordering. The distributor starts in September. The campus accounts in the institutional row drop out in June and July, while the hospital contract runs through. The lowest month-end cash is in Sep, at about $85,000, after setting aside the receivables the business is still waiting to collect.
Who is on payroll
| Role | Annual wage | Starts | Year 1 end | Year 2 end | Year 3 end | Year 4 end | Year 5 end |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marcus Hale, co-founder (sales, finance and routes) | $70,000 | Month 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Elena Ruiz, co-founder (production and food safety) | $70,000 | Month 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Production associate (press and bottling) | $38,000 | Month 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Route driver and account service | $43,000 | Month 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Part-time collections and billing clerk (20 hours a week) | $18,720 | Month 10 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Sanitation and packing associate (part time, 20 hours a week) | $17,680 | Month 12 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Account manager (grocery and institutional) | $56,000 | Month 26 | – | – | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Second production associate | $38,000 | Month 19 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Second route driver | $43,000 | Month 21 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Third production associate | $38,000 | Month 32 | – | – | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Relief driver and packer (part time) | $19,240 | Month 44 | – | – | – | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Total payroll incl. on-costs | $265,521 | $364,863 | $510,702 | $553,999 | $566,906 |
Marcus drives the first route himself until the route driver joins in month 5, and Elena runs the press with one production associate from month 2. A part-time collections and billing clerk arrives in month 10, ahead of the fall invoice peak, and a part-time sanitation and packing associate in month 12. The second production associate follows in month 19 and the second route driver in month 21. The account manager joins in month 26, a third production associate in month 32 and a part-time relief driver in month 44. Both founders are paid from month 1, $140,000 between them in Year 1, so the profit lines show what remains after they are paid. The weak-year case cuts that pay only from Year 2.
Earnings year by year
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $837,300 | $1,669,321 | $2,670,603 | $3,141,808 | $3,462,852 |
| Cost of goods (produce and packaging) | ($306,330) | ($610,728) | ($977,051) | ($1,149,444) | ($1,266,899) |
| Gross profit | $530,970 | $1,058,593 | $1,693,552 | $1,992,364 | $2,195,953 |
| Payroll incl. on-costs | ($265,521) | ($364,863) | ($510,702) | ($553,999) | ($566,906) |
| Rent | ($58,000) | ($59,700) | ($61,500) | ($78,400) | ($80,800) |
| Utilities | ($19,000) | ($26,000) | ($32,000) | ($36,000) | ($39,000) |
| Marketing | ($34,000) | ($36,000) | ($38,000) | ($40,000) | ($42,000) |
| Insurance | ($22,000) | ($26,000) | ($30,000) | ($33,000) | ($35,000) |
| Professional fees | ($16,000) | ($14,000) | ($15,000) | ($16,000) | ($17,000) |
| Software subscriptions | ($7,000) | ($10,000) | ($12,000) | ($13,000) | ($14,000) |
| Food-safety plan upkeep, lab testing and shelf-life checks | ($22,000) | ($18,000) | ($20,000) | ($22,000) | ($24,000) |
| Toll processing (high-pressure), per case | ($51,900) | ($106,605) | ($171,866) | ($203,247) | ($224,539) |
| Pallets, freight and spoilage, per case | ($31,140) | ($63,963) | ($103,119) | ($121,948) | ($134,723) |
| Van fuel, maintenance, tolls and registration | ($14,000) | ($28,000) | ($36,000) | ($42,000) | ($46,000) |
| Second delivery van lease (from month 21) | $0 | ($5,800) | ($17,400) | ($17,900) | ($18,400) |
| Retail promotions and distributor allowances (4% of sales) | ($33,492) | ($66,773) | ($106,824) | ($125,672) | ($138,514) |
| Bad debt allowance (0.8% of sales) | ($6,698) | ($13,355) | ($21,365) | ($25,134) | ($27,703) |
| Sanitation chemicals, uniforms, small tools and lab supplies | ($8,000) | ($13,000) | ($17,000) | ($19,000) | ($21,000) |
| License, registration and inspection fees | ($3,500) | ($4,000) | ($4,300) | ($4,600) | ($4,900) |
| Equipment replacement and added filling capacity | $0 | ($5,000) | ($7,000) | ($25,000) | ($10,000) |
| Pulp hauling and wastewater charges | ($4,000) | ($7,500) | ($10,000) | ($11,500) | ($13,000) |
| Phones, office and dues | ($4,500) | ($6,000) | ($7,000) | ($7,500) | ($8,000) |
| Annual pay raises (3% a year) | $0 | ($10,946) | ($31,102) | ($51,371) | ($71,152) |
| EBITDA | ($69,781) | $173,088 | $441,374 | $545,093 | $659,316 |
| Depreciation | ($36,467) | ($36,467) | ($36,467) | ($36,467) | ($36,467) |
| Interest | ($42,900) | ($42,900) | ($39,748) | ($32,427) | ($24,360) |
| Income tax | $0 | $0 | ($79,725) | ($122,574) | ($154,051) |
| Net income before start-up costs | ($149,148) | $93,721 | $285,434 | $353,625 | $444,438 |
| Start-up costs expensed at opening (test batches, legal, permits, launch) | ($66,500) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($215,648) | $93,721 | $285,434 | $353,625 | $444,438 |
Year 1 loses $149,148 before start-up costs and $215,648 after $66,500 of start-up costs expensed at opening. Year 2 earns $93,721, a 5.6% net margin. Year 3 earns $285,434, a 10.7% margin after $79,725 of income tax. Year 4 reaches $353,625, an 11.3% margin, and Year 5 $444,438, a 12.8% margin. Product margin, after produce and packaging but before toll, freight and production payroll, is 63.4% in every year. After toll and freight, and still before production payroll, Year 3 keeps 53% of revenue. Production wages sit in payroll, so a lender who wants them in cost of goods should read the 63.4% as a ceiling. Income tax starts in Year 3, when the Year 1 and Year 2 losses are used up.
Cash in and out
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash from operations | ($338,637) | $1,548 | $167,092 | $317,239 | $431,268 |
| Press line, cooler build-out and van | ($281,000) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Funding received | $857,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Loan principal repaid | $0 | $0 | ($71,788) | ($79,108) | ($87,176) |
| Owner distributions | $0 | $0 | $0 | ($300,000) | ($400,000) |
| Net change in cash | $237,363 | $1,548 | $95,304 | ($61,870) | ($55,908) |
| Closing cash | $237,363 | $238,912 | $334,216 | $272,346 | $216,438 |
Closing cash is positive in every year: $237,363 at the end of Year 1, $238,912 at the end of Year 2, $334,216 at the end of Year 3, $272,346 at the end of Year 4 and $216,438 at the end of Year 5. Year 1 cash is stated on the annual receivables basis. On December receivables at 60 days, Year 1 closing cash is about $142,000: December's cash before receivables of about $367,000, less $225,000 of receivables. That is the figure a lender should test. Principal repayments begin in Year 3. Year 5 closing cash is less than one month of revenue. The bank loan is not prepaid, so about $202,000 of it is still outstanding at the end of Year 5.
Year-end receivables, inventory and suppliers
| At year end | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | $237,363 | $238,912 | $334,216 | $272,346 | $216,438 |
| Accounts receivable | $137,638 | $274,409 | $439,003 | $516,462 | $569,236 |
| Packaging inventory and finished juice on hand | $45,316 | $60,536 | $78,853 | $87,472 | $93,345 |
| Press line, cooler build-out and van (net) | $244,533 | $208,067 | $171,600 | $135,133 | $98,667 |
| Total assets | $664,852 | $781,924 | $1,023,671 | $1,011,413 | $977,686 |
| Supplier balances (produce wholesalers and packaging vendors) | $23,499 | $46,850 | $74,952 | $88,176 | $97,187 |
| Bank term loan | $440,000 | $440,000 | $368,212 | $289,104 | $201,928 |
| Paid-in capital | $417,000 | $417,000 | $417,000 | $417,000 | $417,000 |
| Retained earnings | ($215,648) | ($121,927) | $163,507 | $217,133 | $261,571 |
| Total liabilities and equity | $664,852 | $781,924 | $1,023,671 | $1,011,413 | $977,686 |
Break-even and loan cover
| Measure | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EBITDA margin | -8.3% | 10.4% | 16.5% | 17.3% | 19.0% |
| Net margin (before start-up costs) | -17.8% | 5.6% | 10.7% | 11.3% | 12.8% |
| Payroll incl. pay raises as share of revenue | 32% | 23% | 20% | 19% | 18% |
| Revenue per full-time equivalent at year end | $167,460 | $238,474 | $296,734 | $330,717 | $364,511 |
| Average monthly revenue | $69,775 | $139,110 | $222,550 | $261,817 | $288,571 |
| Monthly revenue needed to cover operating costs | $78,945 | $116,365 | $164,549 | $190,186 | $201,930 |
| Debt service cover (EBITDA / interest + principal) | -1.6x | 4.0x | 4.0x | 4.9x | 5.9x |
Operating costs are covered when average monthly revenue exceeds the figure in the second-to-last row. That figure is operating costs other than cost of goods, divided by the gross margin and by 12. Year 1 averages $69,775 a month against $78,945 needed. Year 2 is the first year the average month clears the line, at $139,110 against $116,365. Debt service cover is negative in Year 1, 4.0x in Year 2 while the loan is interest-only, and 4.0x in Year 3 as principal starts to repay.
Weak year: a fifth fewer cases and dearer fruit
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $669,840 | $1,335,457 | $2,136,482 | $2,513,446 | $2,770,282 |
| Net income before start-up costs | ($282,135) | ($31,253) | $173,022 | $253,608 | $287,218 |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($348,635) | ($31,253) | $173,022 | $253,608 | $287,218 |
| Closing cash | $133,701 | $39,416 | $57,377 | $111,993 | $210,110 |
This case cuts every revenue line by 20% in every year and adds 4 points of revenue to direct costs, which stands in for a 15% rise in produce costs. The response starts in Year 2, after the shortfall shows. Year 1 keeps the base-case cost lines, because the engine spreads annual costs evenly across the months, and a Year 1 cost cut would make the weak year look better than the base case in January, a month with no sales. From Year 2 the account manager, the third production associate and the relief driver are never hired, and the second production associate and second route driver start six months later. Marketing falls 20%, fuel and sanitation 15%, utilities 10%, and equipment replacement and filling spend by 60%. Toll, freight, promotions and bad debt fall with the cases. Inventory is held at 4% of cost of goods rather than 5%. Marcus takes a 20% pay cut and Elena a 10% cut from month 13. Distributions drop to $100,000 in each of Years 4 and 5, and the Year 4 larger office is not taken. On these terms the business loses $31,253 in Year 2, then earns $173,022 in Year 3 (an 8.1% margin against 10.7% in the base case), $253,608 in Year 4 and $287,218 in Year 5, against $444,438 in the base case. Monthly EBITDA is no higher than the base case in any month of Year 1. Year-end cash runs below the base case in every year, from $133,701 at the end of Year 1 to $210,110 at the end of Year 5, and its lowest month-end cash after receivables is about $39,000, in October of Year 1. That cushion is thin, and a lender would ask for more of it.
Sources
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Juice HACCP: the federal hazard-analysis rule for juice processing (21 CFR Part 120). The rule text governs; this plan does not reproduce it.
- Juice labeling: the federal juice labeling rule (21 CFR 101.30) governs the juice percentage declaration. The plan does not rely on it for any figure.
- Federal corporate income tax: 26 U.S.C. section 11. The 21% rate is the statutory rate; confirm it with an accountant before filing.
- Virginia corporate income tax: Va. Code section 58.1-400. The 6% rate used here is a planning figure and may change; confirm the current rate with the Virginia Department of Taxation.
- Virginia food-facility registration and inspection: confirm requirements with the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The plan states permit and inspection requirements only in general terms.
- Prices, per-case costs, toll and freight charges, the distributor discount, insurance and utilities, account sizes and loan terms in this plan are the plan's own planning figures for an example business, not published benchmarks, supplier quotes or lender quotes.
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