{"id":26012,"date":"2026-05-06T12:15:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T19:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tmcfinancing.com\/?p=26012"},"modified":"2026-05-06T12:15:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T19:15:13","slug":"growing-specialty-food-business-sba-504-loan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tmcfinancing.com\/es\/growing-specialty-food-business-sba-504-loan\/","title":{"rendered":"The Caviar Co. Boosts Operations with an SBA 504 Loan from TMC Financing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cAfter looking for years, we found the perfect location for our packing and shipping operations,\u201d says The Caviar Co.<\/a> owner Petra Higby. \u201cOur property broker recommended the SBA 504 loan program and TMC, which made the rest of the purchase easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

In their new Berkeley, CA, location, Petra and her team are building on more than a decade of success as they provide high-quality and sustainably sourced caviar and roe to connoisseurs, first-time tasters, and everyone in between. Here\u2019s how an Pr\u00e9stamo SBA 504<\/a> de Financiamiento TMC<\/a> helped Petra secure her dream property.<\/p>\n

Discovering an opportunity<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>When Petra and her sister, Saska, launched The Caviar Co. in 2015, their inspiration came from one of Petra\u2019s previous roles \u2013 as the marketing lead for a caviar farm in the San Francisco area.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d been working for the farm for a while and loved everything I was learning about caviar and the growing industry around sustainable caviar farming,\u201d Petra says. \u201cWith a caviar farm, though, you\u2019re typically producing one type of caviar and there\u2019s such diversity and richness within the industry. I wanted to explore that and bring that to others, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

She saw a great opportunity to pivot her passion into a business that would broaden long-held perceptions of caviar and introduce it as an affordable luxury for everyone, while teaching people about the industry\u2019s ancient traditions and contemporary aquacultural goals.<\/p>\n

Petra and Saska launched with several business clients and corporate accounts. In 2017, they opened a retail storefront in San Francisco, as well as an online store. After Petra took on sole ownership in 2018, she also opened The Caviar Co. Caviar & Champagne Lounge in the Marin County, CA, waterfront town of Tiburon.<\/p>\n

Growth through vertical integration<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sourcing responsibly farmed caviar and roe of the highest quality was key to the business model and offering it at reasonable prices was essential \u2013 and maintaining exceptional standards meant bringing aspects of the process in house.<\/p>\n

\u201cVertical integration has always been a key element of our business strategy to give us better control over product quality, branding, and customer care,\u201d Petra explains about the decision to handle packing and shipping within The Caviar Co. \u201cWe leased a space for that part of the business but outgrew it long ago and couldn\u2019t find the right property, either due to the location or simply because they were just too big.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the San Francisco Bay region, right-sizing isn\u2019t just a preference \u2013 it\u2019s critical because excess square footage also means extremely high costs, because commercial real estate is at a premium.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The SBA 504 loan and TMC: Securing a dream property<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI worked with an excellent commercial real estate broker, Paul O\u2019Drobinak at Colliers<\/a>, to find the perfect property \u2013 it was the right location, the right size, and turnkey. He also recommended Financiamiento TMC<\/a> y el Programa de pr\u00e9stamos SBA 504<\/a> \u2013 which, I admit, I\u2019d never heard of before,\u201d Petra says, as this was the first commercial property purchase for the business.<\/p>\n

SBA 504 loans are made in partnership between the business owner, a bank, and a certified development company (CDC), like TMC. It\u2019s an outstanding option for small business owners who want to purchase commercial property for their businesses because it offers:<\/p>\n