Hortícola Cimarrón Leverages Pre-Season Financing As Part of its Long-Term Operational Model
“We need to improve our cash flow because we don’t get paid until our products ship, yet we must pay our employees every month.”
– Jorge Alderett, General Manager of Hortícola Cimarrón
Company
Hortícola Cimarrón
Location
Guanajuato, Mexico
Profile
Agricultural production company
Challenge
Manage operational costs before being paid by customer
Solution
Pre-Season Financing
Hortícola Cimarrón is a production company located in Guanajuato, Mexico. They specialize in exporting high-quality sweet peppers, mini sweet peppers and vine tomatoes to the United States and Canada. The company was founded in 2006 and currently employs more than 2,000 people.
The Challenge: Cover Monthly Labor Costs While Waiting for Buyers to Pay for Shipments
“We plan to work with ProducePay for many more years – and we hope to open up our portfolio to many new products.”
Hortícola Cimarrón exports produce to the United States and Canada.
To execute their operations, they employ thousands of workers. However, they have historically struggled to maintain the cash flow required to keep up with payroll.
Why? Because of consistent cash flow gaps between planting and shipping.
In the past, Hortícola Cimarrón sought financing through traditional banks – but the approval process was excruciatingly slow. Moreover, the banks were very rigid; they didn’t offer flexible or dynamic solutions. They always asked for land as collateral, which was a major blocker.
Hortícola Cimarrón wanted a partner who understood their unique needs as produce growers and could provide money at the speed they required without forcing them to use their land as collateral.
“ProducePay’s approval process was much faster than a traditional bank, and they didn’t ask for land as collateral.”
The Solution: A Long-Term Financing Solution Built into its Operating Model
When Hortícola Cimarrón learned that Pre-Season could customize their financing to work with their harvest cycle, they were very intrigued.
With banks, it would take them months to get anywhere. With ProducePay, it took them just three weeks to obtain Pre-Season financing.
With access to working capital, they could finally bridge the cash flow gap between when they plant their harvest and when they finally ship it. They’ve used this financing for several years, and it is a part of Hortícola Cimarrón’s annual operating model.
Jorge Alderett, General Manager of Hortícola Cimarrón, said it wasn’t just the speed of the process that impressed him but the service. He could speak with people who understood how his business worked and his specific challenges as a grower.
Weekly visits from ProducePay’s field representatives helped build a close working relationship and gave them the confidence to plan for the future.
“The process for approving our financing is always easy and fast, even though ProducePay has grown significantly in the last two years.”
– Jorge Alderett, General Manager of Hortícola Cimarrón
