TruEarth should go ahead and try out the new pizza product in the market in spite of the competition they are likely to face from Rigazzi. TruEarth has a stronger marketing plan that saw it successfully launch the pasta product and gain a significant share of the high potential market. There is no doubt that home meal replacements are becoming common among the households that are always busy looking for income hence have less time to prepare food at home. Customers are always on the lookout for better products that offer greater diversity as well as freshness so that they are assured that the food they consume is healthy and has a considerably long shelf life. TruEarth, therefore, should go on with the launching of the pizza line and take advantage of the growing demand for quicker home meal replacements.
TruEarth will not need much of capital and infrastructural expenditure since it already spent a significant amount when launching the pasta products. The only expenses to be incurred include the ones to be used to carry out strategic marketing undertakings in the high priority areas identified. Having managed to remain stable in spite of the competition it faced from Rigazzi, it is highly likely that TruEarth will be able to match the competition when Rigazzi moves to launch the Pizza product line. However, there is need for TruEarth to go slow on its launching plans since it is likely that Rigazzi could be waiting to check the characteristic of TruEarth’s pizza and then adopt the styles to launch a similar product. As a core component of the Italian-American food, TruEarth will with no doubt achieve a significant sales revenue from the over $ 53 billion sales achieved from the sale of Pizza. The market research performed by TruEarth reveals that 77 % of the consumers eat Pizza at least once in a month. A significant two thirds of the pizza products are for take outs, restaurants and delivery where TruEarth has already made significant impact.
The refrigerated pizza exceeds the revenues and market share for pasta such that the 11% market share for pizza generates $ 5.8 billion compared to pasta’s 4.4 billion within the same duration. The key features that make the pizza a key admiration for the consumers is the fact that customers will be allowed to enjoy a customized product with their preferred tastes. The consumers also have a range of toppings to choose from that include cheese, mushroom and chicken sausage crumbles. The prices for pasta and pizza vary as pizza is to be priced higher than pasta. A 9 ounce package of pizza sells at $ 5.75 at retail stores while a 12 ounce package of pasta goes for $ 4.5 compared to a kit of pizza that sells at $ 8.00 while the toppings are sold at $ 3.50 each. Through sales projections and considering that there is currently limited competition in the market, pizza is likely to bring in more sales revenues compared to pasta. The toppings included in the purchase also address the needs and expectations of consumers who raise concerns on food offerings that are only focused on carbohydrates. This makes pizza preferred to pasta products that mainly consisted of carbohydrate-rich ingredients due to the toppings included and the customized tastes by the cooks.
References
Rangan, K., & Yong, S. (2009). TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction. Boston: Harvard Business School.
Scholderer, J., & Grunert, K. (2005). Consumers, food and convenience: The long way from resource constraints to actual consumption patterns. Journal of Economic Psychology, 108-125.
