Question

Sunburst Veggies is a vertically-integrated company which both grows[1] and processes organic vegetables. Their company-grown vegetables are canned and then sold wholesale to grocery stores. The company began their operations in San Marcos, Texas in the mid-1990s and the corporate headquarters remain there. Sunburst grows a wide variety of organic (non-GMO) vegetables in greenhouses, some of which cover more than 200 acres. The vegetables are shipped from manufacturing facilities near the greenhouses. This assures the vegetables are processed as quickly as possible after being picked which inspired the company’s marketing tag line: “fresh from the field.”

Consumer demand for organically-grown vegetables has increased tremendously since Sunburst began operations 10 years ago. Gross revenues have increased 500% since year 1. The firm now has five greenhouses and processing plants in locations near the following cities: Sacramento, CA; San Marcos, TX; Baton Rouge, LA; Montgomery, AL; and Jacksonville, FL. They employ nearly 600 people.

Potential Sites: Sunburst is at maximum capacity in all locations and must add another greenhouse and processing plant in order to continue their sales growth to new customers (and to assure they have no out-of-stock issues for existing customers). Both the greenhouse operations for growing the vegetables and the canning facility require large volumes of fresh water. It is essential to locate near an interstate highway because all shipments are shipped via semi-trucks.

Two sites are being considered near the towns of Gulfport, Mississippi and Little Rock, Arkansas. Because of extensive damage caused in Gulfport by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 (and more recently by Hurricane Harvey), the cost of real estate in that area is significantly lower than in Little Rock.

Estimated Operating Costs: Estimates of operating costs for the two locations are as follows:

                                                                                        Gulfport             Little Rock

         Life of greenhouse & processing plant                        50 years                  50 years

         Expected annual sales (# cases)                                   300,000                  300,000

         Selling price (average per case)                                         $90                         $90

         Variable costs (average per case)                                  $60.00                    $60.00

        

         Fixed Costs (annual):

       Salaries & fringe benefits (labor is higher in L.R.)   $1,300,000              $1,500,000

       Depreciation* (see calculations on pg. 2)                   $455,000                $485,000        

       Other fixed costs                                                      $655,000                $655,000

         Total Fixed Costs                                                  $2,410,000              $2,640,000

*Straight-line depreciation on buildings is over 50 years, based on the initial investment with -0- salvage. Equipment is depreciated using straight-line over 20 years with -0- salvage value. Land is not depreciated. Calculations have been simplified more than would be in business (only for use in this problem).

Estimated Capital Investment: Sunburst owns some used greenhouse equipment that they could transfer from one of their existing locations to either Gulfport or Little Rock. The book value of that equipment is $1,900,000 and requires some modifications up-front (cost of $300,000) to get it ready for use in either location. They already own some used manufacturing equipment that can be transferred to either new location; this has a book value of $1,000,000 (and, does not require any modification). Both types of equipment have been sitting idle (unused) for the past year. There is no other alternate use for the equipment.    The summary of estimated initial capital investment in each of the two locations follows:

                                                                               Gulfport                      Little Rock

         Land                                                            $4,000,000                       $7,500,000

        

         Greenhouse Buildings                                   $3,500,000                       $4,000,000

         Manufacturing Building                              $10,000,000                     $11,000,000

                    Sub-total for Buildings                     $13,500,000                     $15,000,000

        

         Greenhouse Equipment (used):

              Book value (transferred)                           $1,900,000                       $1,900,000

              Modifications (up-front)                              $300,000                         $300,000

         Manufacturing Equipment (used):

              Book Value (transferred)                          $1,000,000                       $1,000,000

         Other equipment (to be capitalized)                  $500,000                         $500,000

                    Sub-total for Equipment                     $3,700,000                       $3,700,000        

              Total                                                     $21,200,000                     $26,200,000

Depreciation Calculations (as shown in *total on previous page):

Gulfport Buildings              $13,500,000 / 50 years = $270,000  

Gulfport Equipment              $3,700,000 / 20 years = $185,000

                             Total Depreciation – Gulfport = $455,000

Little Rock Buildings                                                 $15,000,000 / 50 years = $300,000

Little Rock Equipment                                                 $3,700,000 / 20 years = $185,000

                                                                Total Depreciation – Little Rock = $485,000

Other Relevant Information:

Minimum desired rate of return is 11%.

All current locations are earning an average 14% return on sales.

Payback period for all prior capital investments has been not more than 3.75 years.

For simplicity, assume there are no income taxes.

REQUIREMENT #1 - QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS (MUST be in Excel & use Excel functionality for ALL calculations):

Prepare an Income Statement in the Contribution Margin format for each location.

Identify which of the items on the Income Statement are “relevant” for each location.

Calculate Breakeven Point (in Sales Dollars) for each location

REQUIREMENT #2 – RECOMMENDATION & QUALITATIVE FACTORS: (MUST be in Word and must use 1-inch margins on all sides and Times Roman 12-point font.)

Based on the quantitative analysis, which location would you recommend and why?

Would your recommendation change based on qualitative factors? These might include available workforce, logistical considerations, risk from weather events, potential impact of global warming. Students must do some research of their own to identify the difference in such factors for the two locations. Because qualitative factors cannot be quantified, how would you evaluate the importance of such non-financial items?

Do the qualitative factors impact your recommendation? If “yes,” in what way?

- Dont worry about excel file not being attached. I only need help with qualitative analysis.(#2 of the question).

Answer 1

Please find answer to requirment 1.

	Gulf Port	Little Rock
Sales	27,000,000	27,000,000
Variable cost	18,000,000	18,000,000
Contribution	9,000,000	9,000,000
Salaries	1,300,000	1,500,000
Depreciation	455000	485000
Other Fixed Cost	655000	655000
Net Profit	6,590,000	6,360,000

Breakeven Point	Gulf Port	Little Rock
Total Fixed Cost	2410000	2640000
Contribution Margin	30	30
Break even point	80333	88000

Requirment 2

Based on Quantative analysis gulf port is better option

However there are othe factors like availibility of workforce, labour , weather condition which should be considered.

Gulfport is prone to to hurricane so this should be considered at time of taking the decision. There can be substantial loss if any such event is repeated.

The Highway connectivity should be checked for both location as this will help in saving significantly on logistic cost.