Case study · Food & drink
$410k freed from stock, and a loan for a second roaster.
A profitable roaster that was always short of cash. We freed $410k from inventory, cut payment times and won a $1.6m loan for a second roaster.
Results
$410k
cash freed from green coffee and packaging stock
Source: balance sheets, Mar vs Sep 2025
31 days
wholesale payment time, down from 52
Source: receivables ageing, Dec 2025
$1.6m
10-year equipment loan for a second roaster
Source: loan agreement, Sep 2025
We were profitable and still worried about payroll. Mara showed us the cash was sitting in our own warehouse. The bank said yes to the first pack.
Lena Marchbank
Founder, Fenwright Coffee Roasters
Client
Fenwright Coffee Roasters
Industry
Food & drink
Stage
Profitable, founder-owned
Team size
38
Engagement
Finance foundations, then Board pack & reporting · 2 days/month
The challenge
Fenwright roasts for 140 wholesale accounts and runs three cafés in Brooklyn and Queens. Revenue was $6.8m with a 9% operating margin, yet the bank balance kept dipping below payroll.
Green coffee was bought a year ahead in large contracts and paid for on arrival. Wholesale customers paid in 52 days on average. The roaster ran at 92% of capacity, and the bank wanted reviewed accounts, a forecast and monthly reporting before it would fund a second one.
What we did
We spent the first 12 weeks on foundations. I rebuilt the chart of accounts around wholesale, cafés and online, costed every coffee per pound roasted, and set up a six-day close with Lena’s bookkeeper.
Then we worked on cash. Green coffee moved to staggered contracts, with the importer holding stock until each roast week. Wholesale accounts moved to 30-day terms with autopay. I built the lender pack: three years of accounts, a three-statement model and a capacity plan for the new roaster.
Outcome
By September, $410,000 had come out of stock and back into the bank. Wholesale payment time fell from 52 days to 31. The bank approved a $1.6m, 10-year equipment and fit-out loan on the first pack, and the second roaster was running by February 2026.
I prepared the monthly lender and owner pack until March 2026, when Fenwright’s new finance manager took it over.
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