This Is Why You're Here
Why Food & Beverages Come to Us Instead of Their Bank
A regional grocery chain awarded you a distribution contract — $80K/month in recurring orders. Initial cold storage stocking and route setup cost $150K. They pay net-45.
Your refrigerated delivery truck needs a new compressor unit — $18K repair. Without it, you lose 3 restaurant routes worth $12K/week in revenue.
A seasonal demand spike for beverage products means you need $100K in extra inventory before summer. Your supplier wants prepayment during peak season.
Your walk-in cooler compressor failed on a Friday night — $22K replacement. You've got $180K in perishable inventory that'll spoil by Monday if the temp isn't back down by Saturday morning.
A national restaurant chain wants you to supply 40 locations — $35K/month recurring. But their purchasing dept requires a $90K initial product stocking across all sites before the first PO drops.
We landed a $180K contract with a regional grocery chain but needed $95K for cold storage inventory upfront. Basecamp got us funded in 2 days — we filled the order and locked in a 3-year renewal.
Marcus T., Food Distribution Manager, Milwaukee, WI
Food & Beverage Financing
Get Your Food & Beverage Business Funded in 60 Seconds
Slide the calculator to see your estimated approval range. Then answer 3 quick questions to lock it in. No documents needed. Soft-pull pre-qual.
See What You Could Qualify For
Slide to your average monthly bank deposits.
Estimated Approval Range
Based on 100-150% of monthly revenue
Soft-pull pre-qual · No obligation · Estimate only
Built for Your Business
Why Food & Beverage Businesses Choose Basecamp
Cold Chain Gaps Kill Your Margins
Your compressor dies on a Thursday and $40K in frozen product is at risk. Banks don't do emergency funding. We get you the $18K repair capital in 24 hours so you don't lose a truckload of inventory.
Net-45 Grocery Terms Drain Your Cash
You delivered $80K in product to a grocery chain three weeks ago. They won't pay for another 25 days. But your produce supplier wants COD on Monday's shipment. We bridge that gap same-day.
Route Expansion Without the Wait
You landed 12 new restaurant accounts but need a second refrigerated truck to service them. That's $65K sitting in a bank approval queue while your competitors pick up the routes.
Perishable Inventory Waits for Nobody
Summer hits and your beverage orders triple. Your supplier wants prepayment during peak season. You need $100K in product that expires in 90 days. Slow funding means spoiled inventory and lost shelf space.
Bobby's Take
Bobby's Playbook for Food & Beverage
Most food and beverage wholesale distributors carry receivables that banks treat as collateral but don't actually finance against. What specialist lenders see is that weekly grocery-chain net-30 receivables with predictable refrigerated-delivery turnover are one of the most reliable cash-flow signals in commercial lending — and they fund against it differently. Invoice factoring, asset-based lines, and stacked working capital all start from your receivables, not from your balance sheet. Here's how to position your transaction so the right specialists see it first.
Three things determine whether a food and beverage wholesale transaction closes: customer concentration (top 5 grocery and foodservice accounts), inventory turnover, and cold-chain logistics capacity. Not your personal FICO. Not your time in business. Specialist food and beverage wholesale lenders care about whether your monthly account revenue supports a $4,000-$7,000/month payment — and whether your cold-chain operations and account roster give the file the recurring contracted-revenue floor it needs.
The biggest mistake food and beverage wholesale operators make: applying without showing inventory-aging on perishable versus shelf-stable SKUs. Lenders see inventory and apply general aging assumptions, missing the cold-chain perishability premium. The fix: produce a SKU-aging breakdown by category. Specialist wholesale food lenders price perishable inventory cycles correctly. Generalist lenders apply shelf-stable assumptions and miss the operational premium.
regional grocery rollout revenue lost without cold-chain capacity
Where this gets interesting at scale: a food and beverage wholesale distributor adding cold storage, expanding delivery-fleet capacity, or buying a building doesn't need ONE loan. They need equipment financing for refrigerated trucks and cold-storage equipment + a working capital line for inventory floats + invoice factoring on the longer-paying grocery and foodservice net-30 to net-45 accounts + sometimes a SBA 504 for a refrigerated facility. Four products, multiple lenders, one application — that's how single-facility food and beverage distributors scale into multi-region operations.
The food and beverage wholesale operators who scale fastest aren't the ones who waited for the next grocery-chain contract before adding cold storage. They're the ones who had cold-chain capacity ready when a regional grocery chain offered a new SKU rollout. Turning down a regional grocery rollout because you can't add cold capacity is $100,000-$250,000 in monthly recurring contracted revenue. Run the numbers in 60 seconds — see what 70+ specialist lenders will offer your food and beverage wholesale business this week.
Bottom line:
Food and beverage wholesale operators get blended into shelf-stable assumptions when cold-chain perishables have a different cycle. Separate the SKU aging by category — that's how a specialist prices each cycle correctly.
Bobby Friel
Founder, Basecamp Funding
What You're Up Against
The Real Challenges Food & Beverages Face
Pricing Transparency
What Food & Beverage Funding Actually Costs
Rates and terms depend on credit, revenue, time in business, and lender. Every business is unique — see what 70+ lenders will offer you in 60 seconds. Soft-pull pre-qual.
These are industry averages. Your actual rate depends on your revenue, credit profile, and time in business — it could be lower. Run your specific numbers in 30 seconds.
Calculate Your Real Cost →Food distributors live and die by fill rates. I've seen a $95K working capital advance turn into a $180K recurring grocery contract — that's the math that matters. If you've got the purchase order, we'll get you the inventory capital.
Bobby Friel
Founder, Basecamp Funding
How It Works
From Application to Funded in 5 Steps
No paperwork avalanche. No bank lobby. No guessing.
60-Second Intake
Tell us about your operation, product category, and monthly revenue. No inventory aging report yet.
Soft Credit Screen
We screen options with no impact on FICO or supplier credit lines.
Wholesale-Specialty Lenders Compete
70+ lenders who fund distributors, importers, and wholesalers review your file in parallel.
One Specialist, Multiple Term Sheets
Your funding specialist walks through inventory finance, PO finance, and factoring structures.
Choose Your Offer, Sign, Get Funded
E-signature. Capital lands in time to fund the next inventory buy or PO.
Food & Beverage Capital Uses
What Food & Beverage Businesses Use Funding For
Working Capital & Cash Flow
Bridge the gap between paying suppliers and collecting from customers. Keep operations running.
Inventory & Purchase Orders
Fund large inventory buys. Fill purchase orders without draining your cash reserves.
Warehouse & Facility
Expand warehouse space, add racking, or purchase a facility with SBA financing.
Fleet & Delivery
Finance delivery trucks, vans, and logistics equipment to expand your delivery radius.
Invoice Factoring
Convert net-30/60/90 receivables into cash in 24 hours. Stop waiting on slow-paying customers.
Import & Export
Bridge ocean transit cash gaps. Finance containers, customs bonds, and international freight.
Full Transparency
What Kills Your Qualification (And What Doesn't)
Most lenders won't tell you this upfront. We will.
✅ These Won't Stop You
These Can Be Deal-Breakers
Need commercial insurance for your food & beverage business?
Inventory and warehouse insurance is required for most business loans. InsuranceService365.com covers distribution companies across 29 states.
Don't Wait Until You Need Funding to Get Funded
Distribution is a working capital business. Customers pay net-30/60, suppliers want deposits, and the season's biggest buy hits before the season's biggest revenue. The distributors who scale pre-qualified BEFORE the next big PO arrived. By the time you're scrambling for $500K in inventory, the lender wants to see why you didn't plan ahead. Pre-qualify when turns are steady.
Ready?
See What Your Food & Beverage Business Qualifies For
Slide the calculator, answer 3 questions, and a specialist pulls your options within the hour.
See What You Could Qualify For
Slide to your average monthly bank deposits.
Estimated Approval Range
Based on 100-150% of monthly revenue
Soft-pull pre-qual · No obligation · Estimate only
Other Wholesale & Distribution Companies Specialties We Fund
Click any specialty for tailored financing options.
Recommended Products
Recommended Funding for Food & Beverage Businesses
Working Capital
Fund inventory purchases and warehouse costs. Funded in 24 hours.
Learn More →Invoice Factoring
Get paid on customer invoices today instead of waiting 30-60 days.
Learn More →Business Line of Credit
Revolving access for inventory replenishment and seasonal buys.
Learn More →Equipment Financing
Finance forklifts, racking, and warehouse equipment — asset-backed.
Learn More →FAQs
Food & Beverage Business Loan FAQs
Food & Beverage Distribution Loans — $10K to $20M+
Look. Food distribution is a brutal cash flow business. You're buying perishable product on Monday, delivering it by Wednesday, and the grocery chain doesn't pay you for 45 days. And your supplier? They want COD during peak season. That 45-day gap eats distributors alive. We've funded over $8M to food and beverage wholesalers — cold storage stocking, reefer truck repairs, seasonal inventory surges. Same-day available.
Here's the thing. Your product has a shelf life. Your funding shouldn't take longer than your yogurt lasts. We match you with 70+ lenders who actually understand food distribution. $20K produce order or a $500K cold chain expansion — 60-second application, soft-pull pre-qualification, and we don't waste your time with bank committees.
Stop Letting Inventory Cycles Outpace Customer Payments. Get Your Food & Beverage Operation Funded Today.
60 seconds. Soft-pull pre-qual. No obligation.
See What You Qualify For →Soft-pull pre-qual · Free to check · Nationwide