Two Seasons Garlic Business Plan — Risk Analysis

Tariff dependence, market ceiling, agronomic and price risk, with the controls and trigger points governing each.

Risk Analysis

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  • 16.1 Risk heat map
  • 16.2 Prioritised risk register
  • 16.3 The downside case and the management response

Two risks dominate, trade policy and agronomy, and both are addressed before capital is committed rather than after; everything else is second order and manageable.

16.1 Risk heat map

Risk heat map: probability against impact
Figure 9. Risk heat map: probability against impact.

16.2 Prioritised risk register

#

Risk

Prob.

Impact

Rating

Mitigation

Owner

1

Anti-dumping duty lapses or is materially eroded

3

5

15 – Critical

Cost and mix that survive a 34% price fall; association participation; accelerate peeled mix; trade-remedy opinion as a CP

Chair / CEO

2

Crop disease or failure in one block, compromising next season’s seed

3

4

12 – High

Two separated blocks; seed stocks held separately; certified protocols; rotation; crop insurance from FY2027

CEO

3

Yield below assumption

3

4

12 – High

Cultivar trials before scale planting; own seed selection; agronomy is the largest overhead line; a 10% shortfall costs R5.4m

Ops director

4

Retail listing not secured or later lost

3

4

12 – High

Packhouse audited before listing sought; no retailer above 35%; wholesale and export valves

Commercial director

5

Origin substitution erodes protection without formal change

4

3

12 – High

Quarterly monitoring of imports by origin; support industry compliance monitoring; plan not built on top of price range

FD

6

Input-cost shock (fuel, fertiliser, electricity)

4

3

12 – High

Forward purchase; irrigation efficiency; solar pumping from FY2030; a 10% rise costs R2.2m

Ops director

7

Lease not renewed or water allocation reduced

2

5

10 – High

10-year leases with renewal options; water verified as a CP; alternative blocks identified

CEO

8

Market saturation as the company scales

3

3

9 – Medium

Channel diversification; area capped by absorption; halt option

Commercial director

9

New entrants compress local prices

3

3

9 – Medium

Head start in seed, packing and listings; move up the value chain faster

CEO

10

Funding risk: Series A or B not raised

2

4

8 – Medium

Rounds timed to planting windows with 3-month lead; halt option limits required capital; DFI engagement

FD

11

Key-person loss

2

3

6 – Medium

Succession for agronomy; key-person insurance; trust-based retention

Chair

12

Interest-rate rise

4

2

8 – Medium

Fixed-rate option on 50% of facility; DSCR headroom from FY2030

FD

13

Labour cost regulation and social compliance

3

2

6 – Medium

Mechanised planting and lifting; ethical audit before listing

Ops director

14

FX on imported inputs and equipment

3

2

6 – Medium

Rand-denominated sales; equipment ordered with forward cover

FD

15

Working-capital squeeze in heavy season

2

3

6 – Medium

Inventory days budgeted at 80; R3m overdraft line to be arranged FY2029

FD

Table 32. Risk register ranked by rating (probability × impact, 1–5 scales).

16.3 The downside case and the management response

If the duty is withdrawn or realised prices fall by more than a fifth, the correct response is to stop expanding planted area, hold the seed bank at its then level, and shift as much volume as possible into peeled and value-added product where imported garlic competes least effectively. The company would settle at a smaller scale with thinner margins and would not return the modelled multiples, but it would not be loss-making at the 34% threshold. Halting expansion is the intended response to price deterioration, and it is available at low cost because most of the cost base is variable and the land is leased rather than owned. Section 23 quantifies the downside case on this basis.