SA Best Peanut Butter Business Plan — Implementation Roadmap

The phases from plant construction and certification to two-shift operation, dependencies, and the gate at each stage.

Implementation Roadmap

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12.1 Development programme
12.2 Critical dependencies
12.3 Conditions precedent to drawdown

Figure 24. Implementation roadmap — certify before the first commercial batch.

12.1 Development programme

Phase	Activities	Duration	Gate — do not proceed without
1. Site and approvals	Factory lease, zoning, effluent permit, Certificate of Acceptability application	3 months	Municipal approvals confirmed in principle
2. Supply contracting	Supplier qualification, audits, kernel contracting with certificates of analysis	3 to 4 months	70% of Year 1 kernel requirement contracted
3. Customer commitment	Private label negotiation, own-brand listing presentations	4 to 6 months	50% of Year 1 volume committed
4. Construction	Building fit-out, line installation, laboratory, utilities	6 to 8 months	Fixed-price contracts with retention
5. Commissioning	Trial production, shelf-life testing, sensory panels, line validation	2 months	Aflatoxin results consistently below 4 parts per billion on trial batches
6. Certification	FSSC 22000 audit, retailer technical audits, recall test	2 months	Certification achieved and recall procedure tested end to end
7. Ramp	One shift to two; own-brand listings built out	Years 1 to 3	Second shift added in Year 2 against contracted volume

12.2 Critical dependencies

Dependency	What it gates	Why it cannot be accelerated
Contracted kernel supply with certificates of analysis	The control programme and the economics	Kernels are 45.4% of revenue and supplier qualification takes an audit cycle, not a purchase order
Certificate of Acceptability and business licence	Any production at all	Regulation R638 requires inspection of a completed premises
FSSC 22000 certification	Retail and private label listings	An audit assesses a system in operation; certification cannot precede trial production
Private label commitment for half of Year 1 volume	Filling the plant	Fixed costs are R15 690 142 from day one and own-brand listings take longer than the plant takes to build
Aflatoxin results below 4 ppb on trial batches	Commercial production	The internal limit is the control. A plant that cannot hold 4 will not hold 10
Retail listing fees committed	Shelf space	Listings are bought, not won, and R3 600 000 is required before a jar is sold
Working capital facility committed at drawdown	Trading through the ramp	Retail chains pay in 48 days and kernels are held for 42; the facility is drawn to R25 689 744
Second-shift volume contracted	The second shift	It adds R2 700 000 of fixed cost. Adding it before demand exists deepens the loss

12.3 Conditions precedent to drawdown

Four conditions, and the first two are settled before construction begins

One. Contracted kernel supply with certificates of analysis per lot and pre-shipment testing at the supplier’s cost, covering at least 70 per cent of Year 1 requirement. Two. Private label agreements or letters of intent covering at least half of Year 1 volume, because own-brand listings take longer to win than the plant takes to build and a plant that opens without committed volume pays R15 690 142 of fixed cost against nothing. Three. FSSC 22000 certification and a documented, tested recall procedure in place before the first commercial batch, since without certification the plant is limited to food service and industrial channels at roughly R21 a kilogram less. Four. Equity of R33 120 000 and the R26 000 000 working capital facility both committed at drawdown, with debt covenants first tested at the end of Year 4. The first two occupy the first six months and cost professional time rather than capital; they are the cheapest points at which this venture can be tested.

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