Company/Product Description
Angel wholesale foods are a company that specializes in the supply of vegetables, fruits, and fresh foods. It specializes in the supply of these products to supermarkets at a wholesale price. We purchase fresh vegetables and fruits from our farms. We also outsource other farmers for their fresh products. This practice enables the company to have an adequate supply of the fresh product that meets their customer demands.
Strategic Focus and Plan
Mission
The primary mission of our business, as explained earlier, is to offer quality products to our consumers all over the region.
Goals
It is the company's objective to ensure that there is a supply of fresh vegetables and fruits at a fair price. The outsourcing of other farmers for their product ensures that there is always a reliable supply of these commodities. The quantity of these products is very high, thus enabling them to supply currently to over fifty-five supermarkets with these products. The company faces a lot of competition from other businesses that are in the same field of operations. However, the company aims to provide farm products to local stores within the region, ultimately expanding their markets. This market expansion will ensure that our products are readily available to anyone at any time, hence help to curb the competition we face. In addition to this, we seek to continue to provide fresh quality products, at a reduced price thus, making our products more affordable. The company aims to provide excellent services, efficient operation and value to our customers.
The company has in place SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely) objectives that they seek to accomplish within a given timeline of five years. These goals, in general, include: increased sales, build brand awareness, launch new products, enter new markets both internationally and locally, enhance customer relations, improve stakeholder relations, improve internal communications. All these objectives are made to ensure the realization of increased products. In plan one, it is indicated that the company aims to make a sale revenue growth of up to 2.5 million dollars. By carefully following these objectives, the company is more than capable to archive the growth of income. The increased sale may be through the introduction of new farm products to the market hence lead to the rise in profits.
Core Competency
The company has to make sure that their customers are aware of the company and the products they supply. Awareness will attract more customers, thus increasing the profits obtained. Customer relations have to be enhanced. A business that relates well to its clients acquires an additional number of customers, thus, in the end, increasing the sale and profits obtained from the products. The five-year timeline is granted to ensure the active realization of these objectives. This calendar gives the company ample time to grow its customer base and expand its food supply and therefore ultimately realize all the goals set forth. The distinguishing characteristics of our business are the combination of management experience, sales and distribution experience with high quality and exceptional customer service. The company investors seek to bring the operational administration and marketing and financial skills in the food supply operation.
Situation Analysis
SWOT
The grid below is a SWOT (Strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats) analysis of the company for our new services.
Industry Analysis
The industry analysis entails the evaluation of economic, political and markets factors that influence the development of the industry. The customer base is changing rapidly, and this necessitates the change in customer demands that then force the company to change their ways of doing business. It is evident that the supply of readily available fresh farm supply is on the rise. Thus, overall sale of the agricultural products by the company is doing well as it is meeting these demands. The availability of a market in demand for the products entails an increased supply rate. The quantity supplied is significantly on the rise. Presently, the market is doing very well.
Competitor Analysis
The company’s chief competitor is Dole Food Company. The company has a strong influence on the markets. They have a monopoly in the markets. Customers prefer vegetables and fruits from the company mentioned above. It, therefore, means that they have very loyal retailers and clients. Trying to compete with this group poses significant challenges to our business. They have management strategies put in order. These include having comprehensive programs for food safety, having nutrition education for the public and continuous improvement through research and innovation. These policies give them an advantage over our company, thus, they end up controlling the large part of the food market.
Market-Product Focus
Marketing Objectives
The marketing objectives reflect the desired growth of the company and the actions that are required to ensure this growth is achieved. The following are the marketing objectives for the company
Target Market
At present, the company targets the supermarkets as its main customers. However, the target market requires restructuring in line with the vision to expand the operations of the company. Rather than attempt to serve more supermarkets, the company will also target other segments of the market. In this respect, the segmentation of the market will be done to include segments such as specialized shops (Center for the Promotion of Imports 5). Specialized shops are outlets that specialize in the sale of vegetables, fruits, and farm products that are related. The specialized shops source their products from wholesalers in their local towns.
The other segment that the company will target is the street market segment (Center for the Promotion of Imports 5). These markets are operated by business people who rent stalls adjacent to select street on particular days of the week for the sale of farm produce. The other segment to be targeted by the company is the food service segment. This includes hotels, restaurants, hospitals, and people farm n the catering business. These are avid consumers of fresh produce and could serve as integral new segments of the company. Finally, the company will also target the online segment. This segment is comprised of people who would have their produced delivered to their homes (Center for the Promotion of Imports 5).
Positioning
The company is synonymous with quality products at competitive products. Angel Wholesalers have a functional supply chain which ensures that the products delivered to the customers are fresh. The company also sources the products directly from the farmers so that it has a control of the quality of the product purchase. This also helps reduce the cost incurred at the various points of the supply chain, thereby influencing the affordable prices at which the company products are offered (Vorley, Andrew and Derek 117).
Marketing Program
Product Strategy
One of the needs of the markets targeted by the company is fresh produce at favorable products. The company has several features that enable it to meet these needs directly. One of the features is the fact that it produces its products from its firms. This allows the company to control the inputs to the production phase. This enables the company to control the production costs, a factor that influences the prices at which the products are sold. By extension, this enables the company to sell its products at competitive prices. The fact that the company produces its products allows it to control the quality of the products (Daft 43).
Additionally, it can control the production cycles to ensure that there is a constant supply. Moreover, the company sources directly from the farmers in order to boost its supply. The benefit is that it allows the boost of the supply of produce, thereby ensuring that the company has products to deliver to its customers. Additionally, the company can choose the farmers from which to source additional produce on the basis of the quality and the price of their products (Daft 43). These elements ensure that the company provides quality products at favorable prices.
Pricing Strategy
Pricing is important in the marketing a product or a company. Various factors affect the pricing strategy used by various companies. Considering the fact that the company harbors intentions to target other segments of the domestic market and expand into the international market, the preferred pricing strategy is the pricing strategy. The choice is also influenced by the fact that there is a need to recoup some market share from the main competitor who has a firm grip on the domestic market. Ferrell and Michael (247) argue that penetration pricing allows an organization to increase its acceptance in the market, improve its sales, gain an increase market share rapidly, and also improve brand recognition. This is appropriate because the company also hopes to introduce new products into the market. The pricing strategy will allow the new products to compete with similar existing products in the market (Ferrell and Michael 247). The penetration strategy will allow the company to gain a bigger market share and compete more favorably with Dole Food Company.
Distribution Strategy
The placement of the product in the market has an influence on its performance. Seeing that the company is targeting a bigger market with more segments, an efficient distribution strategy is required. The company is a business-to-business operator because it deals with other businesses rather than individual consumers Gupta, Surya and Umaran 166). The company is also a primary producer of most of the products it sells. However, the company also sources some of its products from the farmers to boost its supplies. Considering these factors, the company will use two distribution channels. This first distribution channel entails the supply of the products from the company’s farms to the business in the various segments. The second distribution channel entails the sourcing of the products from the farmers and transporting them to the company premises for sorting and packaging, and then to the business in the various segments. The use of the two distribution channels will allow the company to manage the demand for its products as well as the supply of the farm produce from both its farms and the independent farmers who replenish its produce.
Promotional Strategy
Promotional strategies are meant to increase the visibility of the company and communicate its products to its target market. Considering that the company is a business-to-business operator, the promotional strategy chose should reach to the targeted segments effectively. The preferred promotional strategy for the company is direct selling. This will entail the direct and personal presentation of the company pitch to businesses in the targeted segments by the sales personnel of the company.
The preference for this promotional strategy is based on its ability to elicit direct feedback from the targeted businesses, explain the benefits of the company’s products in detail, address any concerns, as well as find out the competitors in the targeted segments. Lamb, Hair and McDaniel (427) find that direct selling is an appropriate promotional strategy when the targeted market of the company is found in specific places. The use of other promotional strategies would not meet the need to communicate the products of the company to the other businesses effectively.
Financial Projections
Five-Year Projection of Sales
The expected sales from both existing operations and the new ventures are 2.5 million dollars in the first year. In the following year, the sales are expected to grow by 15%. The expected growth in the sales in the third, fourth, and fifth year are 25%, 35% and 50% respectively. Of note is the fact that the projected growth is based on the sales from the sales posted in the previous year rather than the base figure for the first year of the implementation of the business plan. Based on these projections, the following are the figures for the expected sales over a five-year period
Five-Year Projections of Primary Expenses
Action Plan
The action plan entails establishing more operations in the domestic market before launching international operations. The first activities will involve a market survey of all the businesses in the market segments highlighted above that sell the products produced by the company. The market survey will involve a direct approach where the agents of the company will visit the business premises to determine their needs, suppliers, demand, frequency of sales and their market size. This information will be used in the planning phase for the targeting of the businesses in these market segments. The timeline below highlights the specific details of the activities to follow
Controls
Various controls shall be put in place to ensure that the projected growth and the expansion plan are successful. For instance, metrics will be used to track the growth in sales over the five-year period. During the second year, sales are expected to grow by 15%. The growth of sales in the third, fourth, and the fifth year is 25%, 35%, and 50% respectively. Specific metrics derived from the yearly projections will be used to monitor the monthly growth in sales to ensure that the cumulative growth in the final analysis amounts to the projected values. The company will also seek increased brand recognition as evidenced by the recognition by 75% of a randomly selected sample. The company will also seek entry in five new markets.
Works Cited
Center for the Promotion of Imports. CBI Market Channels and Segments: Fresh Fruit and Vegetables. 2015. 27 Mar. 2016.
Daft, Richard. Organization Theory and Design. Mason, OH: Thompson-South Western, 2006. Print.
Ferrell, O C, and Michael, Hartline. Marketing Strategy. Australia: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.
Fine, Lawrence G. The SWOT Analysis: Using your Strength to overcome Weaknesses, Using Opportunities to overcome Threats. New York, NY: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform;, 2009.
Gupta, Phalguni, Surya Prakash, and Umarani Jayaraman. IT Infrastructure and Its Management. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill Education, 2010. Print.
Lamb, Charles, Hair, Joe, and McDaniel, Carl. Marketing. Boston. Cengage Learning. 2010. Print.
Vorley, William, Andrew Fearne, and Derek Ray. Regoverning Markets: A Place for Small- Scale Producers in Modern Agrifood Chains? Aldershot, England: Gower, 2007. Print.
