Doodla Farms is facing a building project financing gap after a bank loan shortfall left them short of funds needed to complete a new facility they've already committed to. To avoid selling family land (held for three generations, ~800 acres), they are pursuing a sales-first approach: liquidating approximately 1 million pounds of white popcorn from existing inventory to generate the cash needed to close the gap.
This is primarily a sales project with marketing support components — the goal is to identify and reach buyers for a commodity product at scale, not to build long-term brand awareness.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Inventory available | ~1,000,000 lbs white popcorn |
| Target price | $0.50+/lb |
| Potential revenue | ~$500,000+ |
| Grant available | ~$250,000 (popcorn-specific grant) |
| Grant use | Fund project work (agency fees, packaging, production) |
The ~$250k popcorn-specific grant is a new funding source Doodla Farms did not previously have. It can be used for project work, packaging, bags, and production runs — not exclusively for agency fees. The liquidation project will be scoped and priced to draw from this grant rather than from the client's existing retainer.
Note from discussion: Mark flagged that the building project itself may be a distraction from getting the core business cash-flow positive, but acknowledged the decision is already made and the focus now is on helping them execute.
The project is a sales engagement, not a traditional marketing retainer. Key components will likely include:
Karly's involvement is expected to be limited until marketing documents or support materials are needed.
Old World is a separate brand under the Doodla Farms umbrella. The popcorn grant and liquidation project are specific to the Doodla Farms white popcorn inventory and are distinct from Old World's retail/ecommerce operations. However, both share infrastructure (e.g., potentially the same Google Merchant Center account). See [1] for Old World-specific work.