Over the past eight years, Wendy Morgan has overseen all of accounting and finance for the largest Hispanic cheese manufacturer in the United States. Cacique produces high quality cheese, cream, chorizo and yogurt products and distributes product nationally through a combined network of distributors, their own direct-store delivery system and warehouses. Morgan has utilized her extensive experience in the food manufacturing and distribution industry to implement best practices at Cacique and has contributed in so many ways to their continual growth and success.
Morgan introduced and implemented the first company-wide budget system to streamline the budget management process. The system she selected includes work flow management, allowing managers to prepare their own annual budgets, monitor their monthly progress and adjust accordingly. Furthermore, she led the effort to improve and standardize Cacique’s monthly closing process resulting in more accurate and timely financial statements, which Cacique uses to make immediate strategic decisions. This is crucial in a business that purchases ingredients with broad price fluctuations. Morgan and her team also successfully shifted Cacique’s year-end to December 31, which ultimately reduced the reconciliation and reporting workload for her staff and aligned the company’s timeline with its strategic goals.
Morgan has dedicated herself to analyzing key business data to improve profitability and reduce risk. Through her analysis, Cacique has been able to properly assess product costs and categorize products by profitability, which has resulted in a 10% reduction in SKUs for unprofitable products. This product information also allows the sales team to focus efforts on specific high margin product targets resulting in higher profitability. Morgan also constructed a commodity risk program to reduce cost volatility for the largest component in their cost of goods, thus reducing risk and allowing for strategic buying and consumption.
