Former portfolio company, Vermont Smoke and Cure, paid off their two loans with the Flex Fund in 2014, and we are proud to refer to them as a Flex Fund company. A producer of high-quality premium and natural smoked meats and fresh sausages, Vermont Smoke and Cure sells primarily in the health food, grocery, convenience store and food service channels. The company sells into wholesale channels on a widespread basis inside and outside of Vermont and is one of a few federally licensed, USDA-inspected smokehouses in Vermont, making them a crucial link in Vermont’s agricultural infrastructure.
The Flex Fund invested in Vermont Smoke and Cure as part of an overall financing package that helped them expand into the former Saputo cheese manufacturing plant in Hinesburg. Vermont Smoke and Cure’s USDA-inspected facility gives them much greater production capacity and efficiency, bringing more products to market made from Vermont-grown meats. The facility increases the breadth and volume of processing services it carries out for Vermont small-scale commercial and backyard farmers.