FireFly Farms Inc., Accident, Md., financed additional working capital through the RSF Social Finance’s Food System Transformation Fund to fund the expansion of its goat cheese manufacturing operations and increase production of its larger wheeled and longer aged cheeses for wholesale distribution in 2019.

RSF Social Finance, a San Francisco-based financial services organization, launched the Food System Transformation Fund to provide financing to organizations with replicable strategies creating impact across the food and agriculture supply chain.

“Firefly is a perfect fit for this fund because they’re a creamery effectively serving as a regional food hub,” says Casey Johnson, senior associate of social enterprise lending at RSF. “By sourcing fresh, raw milk from a growing local farming community in rural Appalachia, they are helping to lift the rural economy and instill value in sustainable methods of farming.”

The Food System Transformation fund is seeded by program-related investments (PRI) from foundation partners who share RSF’s goal to rebuild local food systems.

“Our partnership with RSF Social Finance has helped FireFly Farms flourish, and will help us achieve our expansion goals in the coming years,” says Mike Koch, co-founder and president of FireFly Farms. “We are excited to see what develops from this relationship and the value that we can create for regional farms and dairy manufacturers.”