About Bay Point Food Group

Started in 2013, founder Paul Schneider had the vision to grow access to sustainable food by partnering with leading food companies. The first product was cheese trading.

In 2014, Bill Van Beek, joined BPFG as President to grow trading, establish an order fulfillment process, and build a team to support the growth. The Dairyland Food Group brand was established to create solutions to meet unsatisfied customer demands for products and help manufacturers address excess supplies. The Company was adept at hedging to price product futures and managing market risk using traders at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. BPFG continued to build capabilities by providing other services, including transportation and storage.

In 2014, the Company added snacks to pair with dips such as soft pretzels and cheese dips. These products were packaged in Green Bay and distributed to entertainment venues, including movie theaters and concessions providers.

In 2015, Bay Point entered the fast-growing easy-prep market. The Company made a significant investment to add private label manufacturing and packaging by building a plant in Atlanta. Initial operations supported private label food companies, including Costco, Jewel Supermarkets, Sprouts Farmers Market, Weight Watchers, and McClane FoodService with souffles, frittatas, and pot pies. The Company made an even more significant investment by creating its first brand, Chef Stephen Foods (CSF). The CSF brand had ready-to-make fresh products and ready-to-bake frozen products such as casseroles, vegetable side dishes, and desserts. After major food manufacturers dominated the market with large scale distribution, the Company made the difficult decision to divest of its Atlanta-based food manufacturing business.

With the lessons learned from the easy-prep market, BPFG focused on supplying niche products such as aged cheddar cheese and providing custom solutions. The Company invested in executive personnel to drive new business development. This led to various projects, including an international partnership to provide U.S. dairy products to Asian dairy markets.

BPFG led the development of an integrated dairy product operation that created a U.S. based farm to production facility of dairy products for specific, high-value international markets. Financial partners supported the engagement of industry leaders at farm operations, dairy processing, and global logistics, leading to an integrated solution. Current trade issues have put a hold on implementation.

Financial pressures faced by farmers coupled with tight credit requirements created an opportunity for BPFG to work with SLK Finance to originate unique financial solutions to monetize historically illiquid assets of farmers. BPFG created a discounted cash payment in exchange for the future flow of funds, that banks would not tradionally view as collateral on a loan. BPFG served as both a strategic advisor and originator of a unique financial solution.

Today, BPFG is focused on its mission of expanding access to sustainable food by investing resources and capital in food and agribusinesses. The industry is seeing a fundamental shift to foods that are fresh and have natural ingredients. BPFG is positioned to lead this revolution with capital and expertise.

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