Executive Summary
CJ’s Health Foods will be a health food store and will target the entire population as its market. The market will range from twelve to one hundred years old. Not only is CJ’s health foods a very cost-effective concept but will result in significant profits.
The market for healthy foods is already existent and people are much more health-conscious, which in return, a store promoting health is one of the best investment opportunities. One in 10 Americans uses organic products regularly. With demand, the organic and whole foods industry is growing. The market is very existent and existent in high demands. Our main competition is Whole Foods and will remain to be our competition, so this will be a test of our determination and what we can provide and offer to our customers.
CJ’s Health foods will advertise and market significantly through TV commercials, newspaper ads, bi-weekly newsletters, flyers, and becoming team sponsors. The main focus when advertising and marketing are to be personable with customers through advertisements at all times. People need to relate to what is being sold and to the opportunities that are being conveyed with the ownership of CJ’s Health Food’s products.
There are vast franchise opportunities, by becoming an international phenomenon within the next 10 years and creating co-suppliers worldwide for the stores in other countries around the world. With an exclusive and convenient floor plan, the customer is the priority by making the customer’s shopping experience as easy and self-efficient as possible. The store divided into four sections: Daily Products, Packaged Goods, Fresh Products, and Aged Items such as cheeses and wines, making products easy and quick enough to locate.
An extensive detailed budget makes the development of CJ’s Health foods very cost-effective and will result in considerable profits.
The utmost loyalty to 100% of our customers is the number one focus of CJ’s Health Foods. Employees will be as personable as possible, making customer’s shopping experiences easier and more convenient. Through customer relations, following up with all customers via phone or email will be the most personable direction CJ’s Health Foods plans to take. There will be drop-boxes provided for customer comments and problems. Additionally, a customer service 24-hour help-line will be in effect for any concerns a customer may have during any time of any day. Lastly and most importantly, customer service desks will be located in every store, open while the store is open for anything a customer may need.
Mission and Strategy
Our mission will be to deliver competitively priced, quality organic health foods and services for the healthy nation. This will be in line with our aims and objectives. We shall do this through superior capability, innovation, and production. The target customers will be paramount and the focus of our activities.
Our strategy will be concentrated on all target customers, mainly through nutrition knowledgeable representatives, as well as teams who specialize in respective organic food industries
Objectives and Aims of the firm
Our mission will be to deliver competitively priced, quality organic health foods and services for a healthy nation. This will be in line with our aims and objectives. We shall do this through superior capability, innovation, and production. The target customers will be paramount and the focus of our activities.
Our strategy will be concentrated on all target customers, mainly through nutrition knowledgeable representatives, as well as teams who specialize in respective organic food industries
Introduction
History
Traditional farming, the way food crops have been grown for as long as farming has existed, presented some challenges to the farmer. As a steward of the land and a businessman, his success was at nature’s mercy. If insects would eat half of his crop, he would have to be satisfied with only half the revenue. If the soil was poor after many seasons of growing the same crop, he would have to purchase more land to plant, while still paying for the land that produced only dust. By the twentieth century, scientists offered some relief to the farmer in the form of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, which increased his yield to its potential.
In the 1960s came the awareness of the ecological problems associated with agricultural chemicals and synthetic insecticides. Water pollution resulting from fertilizer and pesticide use, and oil shortages in the 1970s provided incentives for farmers to reduce the use of farm chemicals. Pesticides then became regulated (or banned) and consumers had a sudden awareness of a dark side to agriculture.
Looking to put the wholesome back into their fruits and vegetables, consumers turned to organic food and the market surged. In response, standards, certifications, and regulations of organic food were in place as early as 1972. Organic farms couldn’t dream of keeping up with demand and enjoyed prosperous times. During the farm crisis of the 1980s, many acres of farmland fell to disuse because so many farms had gone bankrupt. After seasons of rest, this land could once again be deemed suitable for organic cultivation, and organic operations seized the opportunity to expand. Growing at a higher volume, they could be more competitive with conventional farms.
Today’s dark side pervades the industry, bringing produce, livestock, and processed foods under fire. In 2004, Mad Cow Disease was discovered in American beef, prompting 30 countries to ban the import of US beef. There is also a general concern over the use of hormones and genetically modified feed in the raising of beef cattle and dairy cows. Recently, in two separate outbreaks, spinach and scallions were removed from store shelves for fear they were tainted with E. coli bacteria. Artificial ingredients and molecularly modified sweeteners and fats are being blamed for epidemic obesity, coronary heart disease, and diabetes. Some even come with tiny cancer warnings on the labels. Baby Boomers are battling high cholesterol and high blood pressure, and their children, who are in their thirties, were raised on Twinkies and hot dogs.
The media makes these topics unavoidable, spurring lifestyle changes across the board. There is a heightened consumer conscience brewing over the headlines and a burgeoning market to satisfy. After the Mad Cow Disease scare, demand grew for organic meat. A report in the Organic Monitor noted that the scare caused the Canadian market for organic meat products to expand by 35 percent in 2003. A consumer opinion poll reported that seven in ten Americans express some concerns about the health risks of pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, and other chemicals used in food production. The survey found that consumers felt smaller scale family farms were more likely to care about food safety than large-scale industrial farms and that it was important to know whether the food was grown or produced locally or regionally.
In 2004, more than a quarter of Americans are eating more organic foods than they did a year ago. One in 10 Americans uses organic products regularly. With demand, the organic and whole foods industry is growing. Sales of natural products grew to $51 billion in 2005, up 9 percent over the prior year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture expects organic food sales to hit $23.8 billion by 2010, up 72 percent from 2005. The well-established natural foods giant Whole Foods Market’s annual sales for 2006 increased 21% over 2005.
A trip to the grocery store today is a balancing act. Shopping for food has become a quest for something that will be delicious, healthy and nutritious, easy to prepare, and within the budget. One thing this industry has always counted on is that the customer will pay more if they believe they are getting more. Figure 1 depicts the reasons cited for buying organic foods.
In addition, 54 percent of consumers surveyed believe that organic products taste better, while 42 percent believe organic foods are of better quality.
Target Market
The main target market consists of educated and creative 32 – 40-year-old men and women, with a conscience regarding environmental responsibility, high regard for their health, and a love of the outdoors. They live in suburban bands around the nation’s cities, in apartments and condos, and are typically employed in white-collar settings. With annual earnings between $45,000 and $55,000, they can afford to pay a premium for better food. A secondary target market exists among health-conscious Baby Boomers. Challenged by doctors to change their eating habits, they seek alternatives to the conventional supermarket.
To serve this target market with little free time between careers and outdoor pursuits, offering convenient, easy-to-prepare options alongside the raw basics is an essential that will be further discussed in this plan.
Competition
The mass enlightenment about organic food that is taking place has not gone unnoticed. Years ago, small, independent stores were sufficient for meeting the needs of this market, but now it takes supermarkets, “super-naturals” as they have been dubbed. Giants like Whole Foods and Wild Oats observed this trend early and enjoy incredible success at serving this growing market. Whole Foods is the imperial mover in the industry, buying up stores and chains of health food stores since 1988. Just two months ago, Whole Foods bought rival Wild Oats for about $565 million and is taking over operations of all of their stores. This growth, however, is vital if Whole Foods stands to compete against traditional grocery giants who have expanded their offering of organic and natural products.
In Data Monitor’s Industry Profile on the Organic Food market, Wal-Mart is named one of the largest organic food retailers in the US, and the biggest competition to rivals. Kroger’s, Safeway, and Pathmark have eaten into the market share, as well. These stores take so much of the market share due in large part to volume, and their ability to offer these products at discount prices. Wal-Mart expanded aggressively into stocking organic food and textiles, but the actual performance of this merchandise failed to meet expectations. A recent MSNBC article expressed doubt if giants like Wal-Mart can reach the target organic food market. The core values of the organic food shopper are out of synch with Wal-Mart’s.
Regardless of the longevity of Wal-Mart’s massive share of the organic foods market, this and other conventional grocers, and the slick and popular Whole Foods Market pose a certain challenge to a new contender in this venue.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
CJ’s Health Foods is a viable concept in an industry that has seen growth in all sectors. Consumers want and are actively engaging in the natural, organic, and fair trade market of goods. CJ’s Health Foods will have an advantage as a new competitor because the observed growth and development of this industry through infancy indicates that it is time to cash in on an expanding and high-growth market. CJ can objectively consider what works and what doesn’t. The best use of this plan would be to create a model that plays off the faults of the competitors. CJ needs to question what Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods do wrong and exploit those traits to our advantage. CJ’s Health foods has identified the need to get down to an individual consumer level, and our concept should employ some aspects of mass customization, bringing the shopping experience away from mega-marts and into the home with basic decisions on the foods our customers eat.
Weaknesses
CJ’s Health Food faces a difficult entry. The industry is dominated by these organic giants. However, because the industry is new and the organic movement hasn’t touched every household in America, as indicated by the number of stores and states our competitors reach, there is a great portion of the consumer base that we can tap into that has no prior exposure to mainstream health foods. Even in areas and hot spots where saturation is high, it’s still relatively low compared to the supermarket backbone. It appears that consumers are making a conscious effort away from mass commercialization and inexpensive albeit unhealthy products. The weakness is that we don’t have the learned experience of the giants, but rather than walk-in blind, we have research resulting from the actions of our competitors to support our actions.
Opportunities
Our competitors are new to the game as well. The modern health food store is a merger of the existing health nut shopping list and the American lifestyle. As presented, stores have stretched the services they offer – who would even think about pairing grocery shopping with massage therapy? The American values and objectives of comfort and convenience prevail and these outfits have attempted to cash in on the perks of all-in-one shopping without necessarily offering everything, but specializing and individualizing the experience. We can take a hint and develop a strategy that makes CJ’s a prime location for healthy food shopping and other tailored services.
Threats
Our main threat is direct competition with other national health food retailers. We may beat them in service, but they will beat us with the numbers. The large chains already have the leverage to purchase at discounts for the most popular brands. Therefore we should tailor our stores by picking up local brand items in addition to selling national health favorites. It will be important to develop the parameters of our operations. How far are we willing to go for our customers? Home delivery? Online shopping? Community development projects? Where is the store going to stop in the chain of consumption? Do we get thrown out with the bag or are we the subject of conversation at the dinner table over a meal made with our products?
Additionally, the American market is recessed as a whole. The global trends are shifting to business hotspots outside the US. We are also in the middle of deadly political war in the Middle East. The financial makeup of our consumers is varied and difficult to gauge but the following assumptions can be made. The Boomers have the means to eat and live healthily. Their children, Gen Y, share the graces of this increased disposable income. The ones stuck in the middle, not so much. They are facing a tough job market where outsourcing is a big issue. Educational and technological standards have shifted drastically and a highly qualified employee 10 years ago is probably going back to school for another degree or specialization in their field. The youth of today are enjoying exposure to the specialty food market and will likely be the carrier of this trend in the future, as other environmental and health concerns will also take precedence in daily life. The full potential of the health food industry has not yet been realized. It is in the next 10-15 years that the consumer base will change drastically and the mega-marts will suffer if they don’t clean up their business practices. The threat of an unstable economy right now has indications on multiple levels of strident improvement in the future. The question lies in whether things will get worse, mainly, how bad is the War on Terror going to get and what the US is going to do about reviving the economy. These concerns open the opportunity of expanding CJ’s abroad in Europe and elsewhere. However, outside the US, standards of quality and source of the product will weigh heavily on our operations.
Assessments, Recommendations and Conclusions
The biggest challenge to the success of CJ’s Health Foods will be competition. The growth of the industry is encouraging, however, and there is plenty of territories not yet served by “super-natural” market stores. Those areas are, however, likely to have a Wal-Mart selling organic products. So the strategy develops to undermine traditional grocers and stores like Wal-Mart by being better at enticing that core target market and doing so in growing suburbs overlooked by established health-food stores.
Dip into the advertising budget to devise informational television commercials – presenting the best reasons to eat organic food, and enticing the consumer to do so, at CJ’s. Host weekend seminars on nutrition, cooking demonstrations, and other educational events to grow greater interest and to help the uninitiated become familiar with sometimes-strange health food. Email newsletters to customers, featuring stories about responsible farming, healthy recipes, and stories about exotic vegetables. The consumer will recognize CJ’s Health Foods as the source, and come to rely upon it. Sponsor local sports teams and events, such as charity foot races, and publish photos and results in the newsletter. Again, the goal of these recommendations is to concentrate efforts on appealing to our target market; incidental consumers will be buying their organic food at Wal-Mart.
After careful marketing entices people to come to one of our stores, stellar customer service will be critical to retain this market as customers. This goes back to the basic observation that people will gladly pay more if they believe they are getting more. Sometimes the value of a certain organic product is not obvious. Our staff will receive ongoing training about the products on our shelves, with the intent that the knowledge is passed on to the customer in the aisles. Not only will the customer better understand the value of the product itself, but they will also have enjoyed the courteous and professional attention of one of our staff.
A Budget expenditure that is critical in making that goal a reality is salary and benefits packages for our employees. CJ’s Health Foods needs to offer a competitive wage to attract good performers, and more importantly to retain them once they are trained and knowledgeable employees. Profit-sharing inspires workers by allowing them to see their dedication reflected in the bottom line.
The one thing most perilous to the success of CJ’s Health Foods is integrity. The quality of our food, the conditions at the source of our products, keeping high organic standards, and ethical business practices can never be sacrificed to boost reported performance. Shady business practices will completely negate the major investments made in marketing and advertising by alienating our conscious and responsible target market.
CJ’s Health Foods’ dedication to providing high-quality products and an outstanding customer experience will create a loyal customer for years.
Review of Budgetary Distribution
The goal is to utilize the funds and implement a four-year policy of growth for CJ’s Health Foods Division. Our projected costs for each year are approximately $2.5 million annually. The first year’s cost is higher to compensate for initial startup reasons. Each year’s budget is broken down into 3 main divisions of operation which are: Business Management Leadership, Functional Operations Leadership, and the Technology and Systems Requirement category.
Business Management Leadership
The Business Management Leadership division accounts for about 17% of the annual cost. This division’s goals include making industry contacts, securing corporate deals, offering credit options to our producers and manufacturing operations’ customers as well as supporting the day-to-day management. Business Operations is the portion of this division that focuses on finding and securing corporate deals which is why its initial annual cost is comparatively high. Over time, the goal is to reduce the cost of the Business Operations to focus on growing the brand through advertising instead of the initial necessity to gain awareness of the brand through corporate deals. The Financial Operations focuses on offering credit to our producers and customers. This division will also help offset the cost of purchasing new permanent assets such as land and machinery that we are unable to immediately pay in full at the time of purchase. The Day-to-Day Operational Leadership includes management that is responsible for Business Operations and Financial Operations activities.
Functional Operations Leadership
Functional Operations Leadership identifies the cost of internal and external staff that is required to run CJ’s Health Foods. The Legal & Industry Counselors protect our brand and ensure that we are not treading on any dangerous situations. The first year will be dedicated to making sure the incorporation of CJ’s Health Foods meets with as little resistance as possible. The consecutive years will are for protecting our brand and patents. The advertising portion that consists of over 50% of Functional Operations Leadership is encompassed in three categories under Functional Operations Leadership which are: Sales & Marketing, Marketing/PR, and Advertising/Marketing Specialties. Sales & Marketing are directed towards the consumers via in-store promotions of products. Marketing/PR is aimed at companies and potential stock investors and Advertising/Marketing Specialties will be spent on actual advertisements like television commercials or newspaper circulations. Lastly, the Food Prep, Test, Kitchen Staff is a division that we intend to grow annually because of our continual necessity to find the newest healthy flavor or freshest organic fruit that has caught the eye of the consumer.
This division utilizes the largest of the funds annually because it is paramount that it is understood where industry trends are heading and ensuring that our product is either the leader or close follower of that trend combined with the advertising’s role of gaining consumer awareness of our trendy products.
Technology & Systems Requirement
The final division accounts for equipment and production activities. In this division, land costs are about 1/3 of the costs because of office and warehousing costs that will be accumulated. Other activities that are initially costly are the website design, specialized kitchen and testing equipment, and manufacturing consultation and design. For the website, the cost is meant to completely design a new site with our target market in mind and then decrease annually to accommodate incremental changes. The manufacturing design and specialized kitchen and testing equipment will both be a major initial design with minor incremental changes in the following years with reducing costs. Lastly, the only major increasing cost item in this division is the Product Development that works alongside the chefs and market researchers to discover new products to increase our line of products.
Analysis
The current makeup of the budget averages to 17% of the funds going towards Business Management Leadership, 56% of the funds dedicated to Functional Operations Leadership, and the remaining 27% directed towards the Technology and Systems Requirement category. After establishing the brand through the business management leadership roles, the hope is to redistribute the funds from that category into advertising to establish a connection with the consumers.
Marketing Strategy
For us to achieve our objectives, this company will hire well-respected advertising consultants to assist us in marketing products to the customers and kick-start us in the market. We allocate some funds for marketing. The website will be designed and put the products for all customers on the website.
Placing
The town and its environs host several middle-class young people conscious of their health and many of whom require organic food. Our target market will include residents, visitors, and any person conscious of their health.
We are also targeting international markets by entering strategic alliances with other enterprises operating in North America and Europe by the end of the year 2012.
Promotion Sales and Advertising
Our main objective to increase our sales to a level that will sustain us for fifteen years and this is through a study growth rate of 10% for the next 10 years. To be able to achieve this we need to be able to make sales of 20 million per annum. This will be possible through proper advertising and promotional activities.
We will hire a renowned consultant in advertising to give us insights on how to advertise and have good promotional techniques. The consultants will advise us to make advertisements on television, offer an executive retreat for corporate clients, put billboards and one-page flyers in the town center.
The budget is prepared using the overall objective of the firm for the firm to raise funds for its survival, the budget allocated to marketing is very important. We have allocated 300,000 for marketing. The amounts will be used as follows:
- Advertising – 80,000
- Printing of T-Shirts – 45,000
- Organizing a walk – 30,000
- Organizing retreats – 30,000
- Organizing seminars – 75,000
- Consultants fee – 100,000
- Tournament sponsorship – 20,000
- Miscellaneous exchanges – 15,000
Positioning
CJ’s Health Foods will have a wide variety of organic foods in New York City. Most organic food health shops offer organic tomatoes, lettuce, and other common vegetables. CJ’s Health Foods will go a mile higher by offering organic tropical fruits to New Yorkers. In achieving this, we will need to find Fair Trade farmers in the Caribbean region to be our partners in supplying organic tropical fruits to our wellness consumers. CJ Health Foods wishes to be known as a store that offers hard-to-find organic foodstuffs so that people will just come through word-of-mouth of past customers.
We will have very attentive customer care and all our customer’s complaints will be taken care of and all questions answered. Once the customer complaint has been received, it is handed to the customer’s service officer who forwards it to the concerned department.
Price
Our products will be priced at a reasonable rate which is acceptable to our customers. The prices will not be too high or too low but meeting the customer’s needs and satisfaction. Possibly, we will make prices of our goods to match the prices of our competitors because we are at initial stages.
Desired Market Share
CJ Health foods market share is expected to start growing from the second year by 10% this as compared to the industrial growth rate. This is possible through the promotional and advertising strategy that will be used.
Strategic Alliance
We will liaise with other health foods companies offering in various parts of the country and beyond for strategic alliances. We will also acquire companies that operate in various parts of the globe through mergers and acquisitions.
Porter’s Five Forces Analysis for the Sector
Buyer Power
The company will face the threat of buyers shifting their loyalty to other rival companies after the first year of operation. This phenomenon according to porter is referred to as backward integration. To curb this threat, CJ Health foods will come up with three generic strategies to counter the threat.
- Cost leadership: – after a while, it will reduce the price of some of its products including the cost of offering services such as packing.
- Differentiation strategy: – The Company will come up with alternative products that are differentiable from the rival firms.
Supplier Power
CJ Health foods will be faced with the threat of the suppliers being able to control the price of some of the foods they supply. The labor laws are also stringent and the workers are so unionized that treating employees fairly and equitably is inevitable. To counter this force, the company will extend its supplier chain by making the prices of supplies come through alliances with suppliers.
The generic strategies that will be adopted by the company against supplier power are by increasing the price of their products. In essence, the extra prices charged for the raw materials are borne by the customers. This is the differentiation strategy. Another strategy to insulate itself from this force is that of focus. Because of the higher material prices, CJ Health foods will take on the differentiation-focused strategy. In this strategy, the methodology will be improving the quality of their products. By so doing, the prices would be increased without harm being made to the customers.
Barriers to Entry
The other force challenging the industry is the entry of new companies with similar products. This would pose the threat of neutralizing the company’s profits as well as its market share. The generic position that the company will take is cost leadership. Through lowering its production costs and increasing operational efficiencies, the company will be able to lower its product prices while maintaining its profitability. This will deter potential investors/ entrants into the industry.
The company will also produce Health foods for people with special nutritional Diabetic and others. This kind of focus strategy that also encompasses the differentiation strategy makes entry difficult.
Lastly, the company will be faced with the threat of rival companies accessing its premises and imitating their production methods. However, the company will make its headquarters and kitchen, inaccessible to foreigners to safeguard its mix. In addition, they will compensate their employees are well. Therefore, they will not have thoughts of leaving for rival companies.
Rivalry
This force emanates from other companies within the same Walmart. The threat here is that these companies capturing the market. However, the company’s framework/ strategy will be reducing prices whenever faced with such a threat. Prices are then reverted to normal after the exit of that company in the specific market segment.
Consequently, CJ Health products that will be adopted will mean reducing rivalry. The focus will also be used as the generic strategy to solve these problems- rival companies cannot effectively meet differentiated as well as focus on the needs of the customers. Still, so long as food products are not 100% substitutes for one another, the problem of switching costs arises.
Threat of Substitutes
From the economist’s point of view, the threat of substitutes arises when the demand for that good is likely to be affected when the price of the substitute changes. This elasticity of price has formed a real force that the company has to fight if it has to be sustained shortly. If CJ increases the price of its products. This bars the company from effectively increasing the price of its products whenever the need arises.
To reduce the strength and danger of this force, the company will strengthen its differentiation generic strategy as its framework. Customers would then be loyal to the uniqueness of their products even if the price increases in price.
Financial overview
Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Axentiou Jr, Adra, Joseph, and John own the company. It is registered as a privately owned company with a majority shareholding in the hands of a family. Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Axentiou Jr, Adra, Joseph, and John own 42%, 25%, 10%, 8%, and 15% respectively. The initial capital injection from the owners will be $ 1,200,000. This will be contributed in proportionate to their contributions. The company proforma financial and cash flow statements are as follows (excel attachment). The cash flow statement shows how the cash will be applied in the first year in business.
Annotated bibliography
- “Developing A Business Concept” 2005. Expat Media Group. Web. This source served as a general guideline to develop a business concept. It served as a checklist and starting point for research on the potential for our idea.
- “Gourmet Foods Company.” Business Plan Handbook. Volume 8. Thomson Gale. 2001. This business plan presented the details of what it would take to build a brand-focused line of food products in the gourmet category. As a business plan, it was hinged on the popular points and highlights of the market. It entailed the background in the industry and described why the industry is profitable. The document is considered reputable, however, it avoids any risks or downfalls of entering such an industry. It supported our statements that the industry is moving toward “partially prepared specialty items” and “ready for mass market, customizes, organic food products” (246).
- “Grocery Store.” Business Plan Handbook. Volume 9. Thomson Gale. 2002. This business plan was examined in order to draw comparison between the large-scale commercial grocery outlets to small-business organic start-ups, mainly what the financials and demographics looked like. It was considerably longer and detailed some of the intricacies in constructing a physical food distribution market. While it did acknowledge the risks and pitfalls, it was not directly applicable to an organic food market.
- “Health and Natural Food Store Market.” Packaged Facts. 1996. In order to establish a foundation for our proactive stance on the industry, we returned to this article from the very beginning of the commercial organic movement in order to develop the differentiating qualities we wanted to include in this new food market. The market research proved to quantify the initial success of the industry and to offer a preliminary focus of the stores that exist today. By determining the faults in the initial speculation, we can build our store without the faults that the big chains had to plow through a decade ago.
- Horovitz, Bruce. “A Whole New Ballgame in Grocery Shopping.” USA Today. 2005. Web. Horovitz’s article is a walking interview with Whole Foods founder John Mackey. This article conveys the Whole Foods philosophy, and how its new stores make shopping an exciting adventure where nothing is off-limits. The article discusses many of Whole Foods successful strategies, the general market environment, general predictors for future growth, all of which was valuable for assessing CJ Health Foods feasibility.
- “Market Research Shows Rapid Growth of Organic Food.” Organic Consumers Association. 2003. This website provided statistics about the popularity of organic foods with consumers. It highlighted the demographics which are more interested in organic food. It also provided past and expected sales projections for the market as a whole. This information was used to determine a target market for organic foods and food services, and to get an idea of the overall profitability of the organic foods based on consumer interest.
- “Organic Food Marketing.” Organic Food Marketing. 2006. Web. This web site had in-depth information about the type of consumer who would be most interested in organic food products. It gave qualitative information about the growth in demand for organic food, and also highlighted the potential constraints of the organic food business. This information was used to cover every angle of possible marketing towards our target market. Also, the information regarding the negative aspects provided a guideline of what not to do.
- Schiffman, Leon G., and Leslie L. Kanuk. Consumer Behavior. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. By understanding the psychology behind the consumer, we can better serve our audience by facilitating communication and determining the most effective marketing techniques to reach our target demographic. This reference serves useful in the creation of an efficient advertising plan.
- Steen, Karen E. “Organic Food Merits Green Design.” Businessweek.com. 2007. This article epitomizes the state of mind of the current organic movement and the consumers that follow them. Although the article describes a chain of “Slow Food” organic restaurants, the application of “knowing where your food comes from” will be essential to enticing our customers to try their own hand at organic culinary preparation.
- “Whole Foods Market Opens First Store in Greenville, S.C.” Whole Foods Market. Web. This press release is integral in assessing the competition in terms of where Whole Foods, the largest natural foods store, is placing their resources and what features they are installing in their markets. It offers supported facts and information about products and services as well as the operations of the store in relation to consumer needs. It serves to guide the creation of the CJ’s brand.
Appendix A
Additional Materials
Table 3. Budget Detail
