Seal the Seasons: The Business Case for Expansion into Food Service Markets
Team: Chris Dodson, Richard Hamer, Whitney King, Isabella Lou / Spring 2016
Institutional customers, in particular university food service (dining hall) accounts, are actively seeking sources of locally-grown products. The academic calendar, however, does not align with the summer growing season. Seal the Seasons, a social enterprise located in Hillsborough, NC, and dedicated to creating profitable outlets for local farmers, freezes (IQF) locally-grown product for grocery store sale. The task of this MBA team was to examine the business case for expansion from retail grocery to food service markets. The team examined local market conditions, conducted financial modeling for the institutional market, and made product-specific recommendations.