PONTE VEDRA, Fla. — North Avenue Capital, a specialized commercial lender funding USDA Rural Development loans, closed a deal with high-tech shrimp farmer, Royal Caridea, LLC, lending $2.2 million for the acquisition of new equipment and to provide working capital for the aquaculture farm in Gila Bend, Arizona.
Royal Caridea is a shrimp farming company focused on reconstituting the shrimp farm industry by raising a variety of fresh and frozen shrimp products for distribution among regional grocers and restaurants. Operating from two adjacent properties southwest of Phoenix, the loan will help make strategic upgrades to the existing ponds, allowing the Company to scale and establish itself within the United States shrimp market. Overall, the Gila Bend locations house over 40 shrimp ponds varying in size with the combined production capacity of roughly 300,000 pounds of shrimp per year.
Within the past couple of years, consumers have become increasingly health conscious and have turned to the seafood industry for low-calorie, low-fat content sources for protein to lose weight and avoid health complications associated with high fat foods.
Local farming operations cannot meet the demand for fresh, live, and/or frozen shrimp. With seafood consumption expected to increase across the country, the loan from NAC will fuel revenue growth within the region and curtail U.S. reliance on international shrimp production and import. Royal Caridea’s farm is poised to transform the local shrimp industry, all the while addressing unmet market needs.
Royal Caridea will provide jobs to 18 men and women within the first three years that, on average, pay higher than state and federal minimum hourly wage requirements. Because of the breadth of Royal Caridea’s supply chain, the loan will also serve businesses and consumers through increasing employment opportunities in the rural communities surrounding the Phoenix MSA.
About North Avenue Capital
North Avenue Capital is a specialized commercial lender exclusively originating, underwriting, and funding USDA Rural Development loans. The 4th largest B&I lender in the country, NAC uses its expertise, capital, and relationships to build businesses, grow economies, and create jobs in rural America. Learn more about NAC and its Borrowers at www.northavenue.com.
About Royal Caridea, LLC
Royal Caridea is a high-tech shrimp farming company focused on bringing its transformative shrimp farming technology to the market. Their patent-pending production provides innovative and sustainable methods, and most importantly, supports raising shrimp close to the consumer free of antibiotics and toxic chemicals. To learn more about Royal Caridea, visit: www.royalcaridea.com/.
