Lichtenburg Nut Company Business Plan — Go-to-Market Strategy

Winning retail listings and industrial contracts, and the commercial sequencing behind the volume ramp.

Section 12 of 37

Go-to-Market Strategy

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11.1 Sequencing

The go-to-market plan is sequenced to match cash. Channels that require investment ahead of revenue are deferred until the plant is producing reliably and the business has cash to spend.

Table 28. Go-to-market sequencing

Phase	Timing	Channels activated	Investment required	Volume contribution
Anchor and prove	Months minus 4 to 15	Anchor private label contract signed pre-close; industrial and institutional accounts developed during construction; first despatch month 13	Sales manager and two account managers; R0.6m of listing and trial costs	1,180 t in Year 1
Broaden the industrial base	Months 13 to 30	Second national private label account; six to nine industrial accounts; two institutional contracts; regional wholesale	Third account manager; sampling and technical support	1,840 t in Year 2
Launch the brand	Months 20 to 36	Tsala mainstream launch in North West, Free State, Northern Cape and Limpopo; Tsala Pure into selected national accounts	R1.8m brand build in Year 2 and R2.2m of listing and range review fees	400 t of own brand by Year 3
Add snacks and extend reach	Months 37 to 60	Snack nut listings; Gauteng own brand distribution; SADC bulk export enquiry	Phase 2 capital of R17.3m; trade activation at 7% of snack revenue	3,000 t in Year 5

11.2 Sales funnel and conversion assumptions

Table 29. Sales funnel and conversion assumptions

Stage	Industrial and institutional	Own brand retail	Basis
Identified prospects	180 qualified targets in the addressable region	Approximately 3,400 outlets in the launch provinces	Trade directories and retailer store lists
Contacted and sampled	120 (67%)	2,300 (68%)	Field sales capacity of three representatives
Technical or category approval	44 (37% of sampled)	1,900 listings (83% of contacted)	Sample approval cycles of 6 to 14 weeks in industrial; range review outcomes in retail
Converted to first order	26 (59% of approved)	1,900 outlets	Industrial conversion is slow but sticky
Active at Year 5 above 50 t	14 accounts	n/a	Attrition of roughly 25% over the period
Average annual volume per account	57 t	33 kg per outlet per month	Derived from the Year 5 volume plan
Estimated customer acquisition cost	R38,000 per industrial account	R790 per retail outlet listed	Sales payroll, travel, sampling and listing fees divided by conversions

Funnel figures are planning assumptions, not model outputs. They are shown so that the Year 5 volume plan can be tested against a realistic view of sales capacity rather than accepted as a growth rate.

11.3 Pricing strategy

Pricing is anchored to three references: import parity after the July 2026 duty, the observed retail price band for local brands of approximately R39 to R55 per 400 gram jar, and the cost of the nearest credible domestic alternative.

Table 30. Pricing architecture

Stream	List price	Trade deduction	Net realised	Implied retail	Positioning
Certified bulk and industrial	R52.00/kg	1.5%	R51.22/kg	n/a	Below the R50+ landed cost of imported paste; premium to commodity domestic paste
Retail private label	R58.00/kg	2.5%	R56.55/kg	R37 to R40 per 400 g	R3 to R6 above commodity private label supply, justified by assurance
Own brand blended	R76.00/kg	11.0%	R67.64/kg	R43 to R48 per 400 g mainstream; R62 to R70 per 375 g for Tsala Pure	At the value end of the branded band; the premium tier sits with natural brands
Snack nuts	R95.00/kg	12.0%	R83.60/kg	R13 to R16 per 100 g	Mainstream snack nut pricing

Trade deduction covers settlement discount, volume rebate and co-operative advertising. Own brand carries a materially higher deduction because branded retail requires promotional participation. Escalation of 4.4% a year is applied from Year 2.

11.4 Distribution

Primary distribution is outsourced to a third-party logistics provider running full loads from Lichtenburg to retailer distribution centres in Gauteng, and to a Gauteng cross-dock for onward national movement. Blended cost is R2.40 per kilogram for packed product.
Bulk distribution moves in full pallet or full load quantities directly to industrial customers at R1.60 per kilogram, reflecting the absence of secondary handling.
Regional own brand distribution in North West, Free State and Northern Cape uses the company’s own light delivery vehicles for independent trade and wholesale, with national accounts served through their own distribution centres.
Export to Botswana and Namibia is an unmodelled option. Lichtenburg is approximately 120 kilometres from the Botswana border, and SACU membership means no duty applies. This is deliberately excluded from the base case so that it does not flatter the volume plan.