Validating Growth Potential and National Expansion Feasibility at Family-owned Specialty Foods Manufacturer
Conducted Customer and Market Due Diligence to establish/validate that company could support 10+% CAGR growth and expand nationally. Analyzed IRI/Nielsen data, conducted extensive secondary research, built and ran scenario models, conducted field research and customer interviews to establish positioning and outlook of premium product companies overall and the target specifically, as well as feasibility and requirements for growing the brand nationally. Gotham team identified 4 growth levers for the company.
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Establishing Growth Prospects, Margin Risk, CapEx Risk, and Operations Improvement Opportunities at Private Label Canned Food Manufacturer
In sync with the needs of each stage of the deal process, conducted phased customer, market, and operational due diligence, initially focusing on: 1) growth outlook – established the target’s category presence, identified key market trends, and built a model to project category growth; 2) competitive positioning – interviewed 27 PL and category buyers from supermarkets, wholesalers, food service companies, and brokers; and 3) CapEx and operational risk – visited the target’s 3 plants, assessed capacity, and reviewed operational improvement plans. After the client signed the LOI, Gotham conducted: a deep dive assessment of margin risk, using 7-year SKU-level price/margin data and outlook for major input cost drivers; and an in-depth operational diagnostic of material yield, direct labor, and inventory costs.
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Validating National Expansion Opportunity for a Regional Refrigerated Mexican Food Brand
Conducted a 2-phase due diligence to: (1) validate the national expansion opportunity in grocery, (2) validate the growth opportunity in foodservice, and (3) assess operations risks and opportunities. Gotham interviewed ~70 retail and foodservice buyers and surveyed ~4,000 consumers to establish target’s brand positioning and growth opportunity. We also leveraged Nielsen data to build an MSA-level market sizing model to establish a $2B addressable market size. To support national expansion, Gotham established second plant economics and profiled the competitive landscape to identify acquisition candidates. Our operational assessment did not reveal any significant commodity pricing margin risks and, in fact, identified material yeild and labor savings opportunities. These fact-based conclusions gave the client the conviction needed to submit an aggressive bid to win this hotly contested auction.
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Deciphering Nascent DTC Frozen Foods Fulfillment Market
Conducted 3-week customer & market due diligence to establish: frozen DTC fulfillment market size and the ability to sustain COVID-19 bump; the target’s competitive positioning in the frozen DTC fulfillment market; and the target’s reputation/positioning with foodservice distribution customers. Gotham: mapped universe of 350+ frozen DTC food companies; built bottom-up frozen DTC fulfillment market model; conducted 11 DTC fulfillment customer interviews; established competitive landscape of frozen DTC fulfillment services providers; and conducted 13 interviews and 73 online customer surveys of foodservice distribution customers. Gotham’s findings enabled our client to move forward confidently with the potential acquisition.
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Establishing Consumer Conversion Opportunity by Quantifying Available Whitespace of In-store Bakery Supplier
Conducted a 2-phased due diligence to:(1) determine the penetration levels and conversion opportunity of the target’s bakery supply products; (2) establish the retail bakery market dynamics; and (3) establish the target’s growth potential. Gotham conducted: a Phase I consumer panel survey of 1,116 consumers to validate ingoing thesis on consumer penetration opportunity; a Phase II survey of 2,233 consumers to establish buying behaviour and test potential concepts for driving consumer conversion. We also interviewed 37 retailer bakery executives/category buyers and surveyed 276 in-story bakery employees to establish their decision-making criteria, plans for the category, and requirements for growth, and modeled a complex market size matrix for 34 occasions and 7 product types to estimate the current penetration of the company's products and establish whitespace and conversion opportunities. These fact-based, actionable insights and reliable numbers gave the client the conviction needed to win this hotly contested auction.
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Establishing Growth Outlook and Competitive Positioning at Retail Damage Prevention Product Manufacturer
Conducted a 3-week customer & market due diligence to: (1) establish growth outlook of the target’s market and products; (2) establish target’s competitive positioning; and (3) validate target’s pipeline and growth projections. The effort included: 90+ interviews with customers and influencers; extensive market research to establish retail channel trends, strategy, retailer location dynamics, and risk; profile of major competitors’ product portfolio and positioning; and bottom-up market sizing model by product segment, spend type, and channel. Gotham’s comprehensive, fact-based assessment indicated that despite the increasingly challenging brick and mortar retail environment, the asset damage prevention product market continues to be robust. Furthermore, the target has strong positions by product and channel, enhanced by strong customer relationships and long-term contracts. As a result, our client felt confident to move forward and closed the transaction successfully.
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