In early 2011, Sherry Tryssenaar led the conversion of the Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Income Fund from an income trust to a public corporation.
Tryssenaar did more than just change the structure of the company as a necessary requirement of changing tax laws, she embraced the challenge and created a brand new entity with a brand new name.
Ten Peaks Coffee Company Inc. saw the diversification of the entire organization from simply being a decaffeinator to emerging as a diversified specialty coffee company.
And, when the company’s primary commodity, coffee, appreciated by approximately 70%, requiring Ten Peaks to reconsider its commercial banking requirements, Tryssenaar was again at the ready.
“Sherry determined what modifications were required in light of current commodity prices and potential risks, modified the company’s commodity price risk management policy and practices, and worked with the company’s commercial bank to modify the facilities to meet the needs of the business going forward,” said Doug Huxter, relationship manager at CIBC.
Aside from restructuring Ten Peaks, in the two years she has acted as CFO, Tryssenaar has been lauded for managing the company through the recession and increasing sales to $37 million in 2010 from $31 million in 2007.
This was achieved through the development of a sales incentive program which helped increase sales volumes.
She was able to make sales exceed budgets and the prior year’s returns in a highly volatile marketplace that saw coffee supply shortages and sharply increased prices.
Huxter, who nominated Tryssenaar for CFO of the Year, concluded, “Sherry has helped position the company for significant future growth and diversification of earnings over time. She also effected the change in structure in a cost-effective manner, completing the transaction at a far lower cost than comparative transitions of other income trusts.” •
