£7.8M
Annual FX Volume
Case Study: Perishable Food Import
UK Food Importer Saves £87,000 Annually
Importing fresh produce from Morocco, Turkey, and Europe.
Eliminated £24k spoilage losses with demurrage alerts and instant settlement.
Key metrics
£87k
Annual Savings
82%
Cost Reduction
0
Spoilage Incidents
Company Profile
Business
UK-based food importer supplying supermarkets and foodservice with fresh produce, olive oil, and specialty foods
Sourcing
Morocco (citrus, tomatoes), Turkey (dried fruit, olive oil), Spain/Italy (olive oil, cured meats), Netherlands (dairy, cheese)
Currency Exposure
GBP/EUR (65%), GBP/MAD (20%), GBP/TRY (15%)
Critical Factor
Perishable goods—container delays = product spoilage = total loss
The Challenge
In food import, time isn't just money—it's the difference between sellable product and waste. The company faced three critical challenges:
Spoilage from Delays
Bank payments took 2-3 days. Twice in one year, containers of Moroccan oranges sat at port waiting for payment clearance. Total spoilage loss: £24,000.
Volatile TRY Exposure
Turkish lira swings of 10-15% were common. No visibility into exposure meant ordering dried fruit at one rate and paying at another—margin destroyed.
High FX Costs
Bank charging 2.8% on GBP/MAD, 3.5% on GBP/TRY, 1.5% on GBP/EUR. Exotic currency markups killing margins on North African and Turkish imports.
“We lost £24,000 in spoiled produce because our bank took 3 days to clear a payment. The oranges were sitting at port. By the time payment cleared, they were unsellable. That can never happen again.”
— Managing Director
The Solution
For perishable goods importers, Unicorn Currencies provides capabilities that are literally business-critical:
2.3-Second Settlement
When a container of perishable goods is ready for release, waiting 2-3 days for bank settlement isn't an option. Unicorn's wallet-to-wallet settlement clears in 2.3 seconds.
The moment they receive notification a container is ready, they pay port charges instantly. No more spoilage from payment delays.
Zero spoilage incidents since switching. That's £24k+ saved annually.
FREE Container Tracking + Demurrage Alerts
All containers tracked in real-time. 48-72 hour advance warning before demurrage kicks in. For perishables, this isn't about demurrage fees—it's about product survival.
The operations team gets alerts: "Container MSKU1234567 arrives Felixstowe in 48 hours. Prepare payment." They pre-fund the wallet. The moment it arrives, they pay instantly.
Logistics platforms charge £3k/year for tracking. We include it FREE.
Real-Time FX P/L on Orders
Turkish lira volatility used to destroy margins unpredictably. Now they upload supplier invoices and see live P/L as TRY moves.
When GBP/TRY strengthened 8% last quarter, the dashboard showed £12,000 in paper gains. They locked the rate immediately with a 15-second hold.
Captured £15k in FX gains last year vs losing money to rate movements.
0.5% Spread on Exotics
Bank charged 2.8% on GBP/MAD and 3.5% on GBP/TRY. Unicorn: 0.5% across all 40+ currency pairs, including exotic trade currencies.
On £7.8M annual volume with heavy exotic exposure, that's direct savings of £48,000+ annually in spread reduction alone.
Same rate for EUR, MAD, and TRY. No exotic currency penalties.
The Results
£87,000
Total Annual Savings
FX + spoilage prevention + tracking
£24,000
Spoilage Eliminated
Zero incidents vs 2 per year previously
£48,000
FX Spread Savings
0.5% vs 2.8% on exotic currencies
£15,000
FX Gains Captured
Real-time P/L tracker + rate locking
Zero spoilage incidents in 18 months (vs 2 per year previously)
100% on-time payments to suppliers—improved relationship and terms
Operations team saves 8 hours/week on container tracking
Finance team saves 6 hours/week on FX monitoring and reconciliation
Margin improvement of 0.9% across all product lines
Customer quote
“In perishables, 2.3-second settlement isn't a nice-to-have—it's survival. Our Moroccan oranges used to rot at port waiting for bank payments. Now we pay the moment containers arrive. We haven't lost a single shipment to delays since switching. That alone justifies everything.”
Managing Director
UK Fresh Produce Importer
Frequently asked questions
By using Unicorn Currencies' 2.3-second settlement, the importer pays port charges instantly when containers arrive. Previously, bank payments took 2-3 days, causing £24,000 in annual spoilage losses from perishables like Moroccan oranges sitting at port waiting for payment clearance.
Import Perishables?
If you're a food importer with $1M+ annual FX, our instant settlement was built for you.
Minimum: $1M annual FX volume · 3-week deployment · No long-term contracts