The Russian ice cream industry had high economies of scale and new competitors faced high initial costs for the production facilities. Product differentiation was also high, and the brand names were well established. Despite these high barriers to entry, threat of entrants was high (especially from regional producers). After the financial crisis in 1998 and the subsequent decrease of imported ice cream, the market offered good opportunities for new domestic entrants. Luckily this was countered by Gorbachev’s anti-alcohol campaign when he assigned alcohol factories to ice cream production.
One main reason was that socks were regarded as an unexciting category by the retailers and there was high price sensitivity, which led to limited opportunities for product differentiation. Also, the industry saw an increase in demand for tube socks, which the consumers felt were more flexible. The Issue in the Case - In order to attain higher margins, CU wanted to venture
For example, Wal-Mart uses some their most popular toys as a loss leader which is leading to the potential ruin of toy-only competitors like Toys-R-Us. There are several characteristics of loss leaders presently used by Wal-Mart. First, Wal-Mart typically places loss leaders at the back of a store, so that customers must walk past racks of other displayed goods which have higher profit margins in order to get to the stores toys displays. Second, Wal-Mart’s loss leaders are usually products that customers purchase frequently: thus they are aware of the usual price and that the offered price is a bargain. Third, items normally offered as loss leaders are often large or fragile, making it difficult for the customers to buy in bulk so as to avoid repeat visits to Wal-Mart and lastly, in some instances, loss leaders are displayed on the floor or left dirty, scratched, or broken so potential customers are enticed to buy the model that is a “step up”.
A major increase in sales between 2000 and 2006 has made Hotel Chocolat’s competitors eager to find the key to the company’s success, leaving the founders to face the challenge of how to protect the business from plagiarism. Trademarking its name and all its products, although a widely-used defence mechanism, is not a satisfying solution here; with 30% of its products replaced by another annually in order to meet the demands of its customers and continuous product range expansions, it would become a burden, adding administrative costs and bureaucracy. Now a luxury provider, the company started in 1980s supplying mints, before moving to chocolate and, finally, rebranding in 2003 as Hotel Chocolat. With own cocoa plantation, 11 retail shops in popular tourist locations, a call centre and an online store, Hotel Chocolat is now reaching customers in the UK, USA and in Europe, with aspirations to become one of the world’s top chocolate brands. Despite these developments, Hotel Chocolat is not interested in offering department store concessions or own-label goods and wants to keep the number of its high street shops to the minimum in order to retain its premium brand image and uniqueness as well as keeping full control over staff training and storing conditions of its products.
Comparing the Nutritional Values of Ice Cream versus Frozen Yogurt Contents Introduction 1 Data Section 1 Ingredient Differences 1 USDA Nutritional Values 1 Cold Stone Nutritional Values 3 Calcium Content 4 Additional Factors 6 Conclusion 6 Summary and Interpretation of Data Gathered 6 Recommendation 6 Works Cited 7 Comparing the Nutritional Values of Ice Cream versus Frozen Yogurt Introduction Health problems are constantly on the rise with our increasing population and unhealthy food consumption. Such problems would be dramatically reduced if companies such as Cold Stone Creamery were to reduce or replace their ingredients or menu items with healthier options. As a leading franchisor of premium ice cream parlors, switching to healthier options would have a positive impact on customers and would set an example for other companies to follow. One possible solution is a partial substitution of ice cream menu options with frozen yogurt. Frozen yogurt is the closest dessert to ice cream in terms of taste and build.
Also the low switching cost and consumer awareness of shopping around to find the best bargains increased competition around stores to capture customers. Corporate stakes were high for Wal-Mart, this can be seen in its earlier years (Ben Franklin stores) where they were losing
Colleen Kennedy FIN4596 T-TH 8:00am-9:20am Ben & Jerry’s: Whose Offer is “Scoop Worthy” Executive Summary: Ben & Jerry’s Homemade is facing a number of takeover offers as a result of the increased competitive pressure in the ice cream industry, Ben & Jerry’s (B&J) declining financial performance, and high prices of cream and milk. This document will analyze each proposal and weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each decision, with the support of exhibits following the report and other external resources which will be referenced at the end. Analysis: This analysis will be broken down into two parts: Analysis of B&J ability to satisfy the mission statement and Analysis of B&J takeover offers. Mission Statement analysis: In order to arrive at a decision, I first evaluated B&J against the mission statement and whether or not the mission has been fulfilled. The product portion of the mission statement has been fulfilled as demonstrated by the variety of flavors that B&J produces using Vermont Dairy products.
The launch that Lora has to decide on goes against typical United Cereal (UC) strategic, operational, and organizational standards that have been put in place for many years. “The UC Way” is an iconic phrase that has been embedded in the corporation. From an operational standpoint, UC was a pioneer in the use of research and focus groups. UC puts a very high value on extensive market testing prior to launching a new product. Because of the initial unsuccessful testing of the blueberry based cereal, Healthy Berry Crunch was not put through the normal testing to ensure complete customer acceptance, it did show good results in limited testing.
As a means of countering counterfeiting, eleven out of thirteen factories that made Louis Vuitton bags were in France, as the quality control standards in France were very high. Also partnering with the local artists in Japan and the production of limited editions, has demonstrated that innovation plays a crucial role in Luis Vuitton business model in Japan. Price: Louis Vuitton products are expensive, but what makes the brand stand out from the rest is the value. During the 2008-2009 economic crisis, where the brand was facing a weak economy and a shift in consumer preference, Louis Vuitton adapted its strategy in the Japanese market, the brand launched relatively low-priced collections to boost sales. Place: The case mentions that Japan had been known for a group-oriented culture in which there was a real pressure to possess luxury status-driven brands.
Our analysis will focus on examining the strengths and weaknesses of the environmental and general corporate strategies in light of its internal resources and external competitive and non-market forces. MARKET DESCRIPTION Ben & Jerry’s operates in the highly competitive super premium ice cream, frozen yogurt and sorbet business. Super premium ice cream is generally characterized by a greater richness and density than other kinds of ice cream and commands a relatively higher price. The company’s two primary competitors include Haagen-Dazs (a member of the Ice Cream Partners organization) and Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream Company, which introduced its Godiva and Dreamery super premium ice cream line in the fall of 1999. Other significant competitors include Healthy Choice, Nestle and Starbucks (SEC Report, 1999).