Overview and Brief History
Established less than three years ago, Mabu Generation is a successful Taiwanese bar and restaurant. Located in Markham, the establishment specializes in Taiwanese dishes and beverages. The business is known for its unique menu consisting of bubble tea, desserts, cocktails, hotpots, BBQ, and snacks, among others. The restaurant has a rating of 4.5 and currently ranked in the top 200 most successful food joints in Markham (Chdexpert, 2018).
Products/Menu Items and Pricing Structure
The menu items of the Mabu Generation are categorized as lunch specials, appetizers, and meals, drinks, desserts, take-out, and featured. Lunch specials cost $12.99 and come with a dessert and bubble milk or green tea. The food items in lunch specials are categorized by a serial number from LS01 to LS12 (Mabu Generation, 2018). The most common foods served under the lunch special are Taiwanese-style fried pork, chicken, beef, noodles, rice, sausage, potatoes, and vegetables served with a special sauce made of black pepper. The appetizers and meals menu consists of fifteen varieties from L01 to L15 (Mabu Generation, 2018).
The L01 is the most expensive and consists of grilled salmon priced at $11.99. The L02 category consists of Taiwanese-style pork sausage served with a thick garlic or soya sauce priced at $10.99 (Mabu Generation, 2018). The other categories of appetizers are priced at $8.99 and consist of deep-fried tofu, fish cake, and squid ball served with a variety of garlic sauces. The prices for other dishes fall within the same margin.
Target Market Needs, Wants, and Demands
Everyone living in Markham is a potential customer of this restaurant. The target market consists of more than 50,000 people preferring affordable, high-quality, and efficient restaurant services (Markham, 2018). These customers are aware of the existence of perfect substitute products and would sample a series of restaurants before selecting their favorite eatery. The clients are also demanding quick and friendly services when visiting a restaurant. In addition, the customers are conscious of the need to eat healthily and would wish for food joints that serve organic dishes (Chdexpert, 2018). Fortunately, the current business model of the Mabu Generation is tailored to meet these demands.
Company’s Placement in the Niche Market and Competition
Mabu Generation is well placed in the Markham market to reap optimal benefits from the demands of potential customers. For instance, the service line is very quick (15 minutes waiting at peak-hour and 5 minutes at off-peak) (Mabu Generation, 2018). Moreover, the restaurant offers organic dishes that promote healthy living. The business has a quality service charter besides the general warm ambiance in the eating spaces. In addition, Mabu Generation has a series of promotional strategies such as special menus, discounts, and happy-hour free meals (Mabu Generation, 2018). The business faces stiff competition from other specialized restaurants. However, Mabu is the only business with a tailored Taiwanese menu in the region. Therefore, the establishment does not face any major threat to its product line.
Marketing Successes
Mabu Generation has an active online presence through its Twitter, Facebook, and corporate website pages, which are used to market different menus and run promotions. The restaurant also uses local print and mass media channels for marketing its products. Among the notable promotional strategies at Mabu include a happy-hour free meal, discounted vouchers for family meals, and redeemable loyalty points for ‘frequenters’ (Mabu Generation, 2018).
The company has a responsive online and offline customer care service. Mabu Generation has been at the forefront in promoting healthy business practices through a series of corporate social responsibility initiatives. These activities have helped in increasing its visibility and positive perception among potential customers (Clow & Baack, 2014). The current internal marketing strategies include a warm customer experience and high-quality services (Mabu Generation, 2018). Mabu’s direct marketing strategy includes a quick service charter.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
The proactive business management strategy centered on customer satisfaction has been instrumental in propelling Mabu Generation to expand its menus over the years. The business has a series of unique selling points (USP), such as selling Taiwanese menu, quality service, cheap pricing, and emphasis on organic foods. The USP has made Mabu’s products have a competitive advantage in the Markham restaurant sector. The business has a solid knowledge of its market because of its focused menu and being the first of its kind in Markham (Clow & Baack, 2014). These traits have positioned Mabu Generation to reap optimal benefits as a first-mover of large-scale Taiwanese food menus.
Weaknesses
The restaurant is still at the start-up stage with less than two years of active presence in Markham. Thus, it might still face higher chances of failure at the slightest change in customer preference. The concentration in only Taiwanese foods is limiting in terms of potential revenue from diversification. Since the restaurant targets majorly people in Markham of Taiwanese descent, the market niche is limited and might not support an expanded version of the business in the future (Cole, 2015). In addition, the high cost of running a specialized restaurant in terms of contracting suppliers has the potential of increasing the operational costs.
Opportunities
The restaurant has unlimited opportunity for expansion through cooperation with health clubs and corporate organizations within Markham and beyond. The current marketing strategies bordering discounts, free deliveries, and menu specials have the potential of attracting more customers. In addition, the business has a perspective of establishing a strong network within Markham through the current partnerships with health clubs to further increase its revenues (IBISWorld, 2017).
Threats
Since Mabu Generation is a threat to several competitors, they might retaliate through the provision of perfect substitute dishes or start unfair pricing wars. This might hurt the revenues of Mabu in the short and long-term. Moreover, the current conglomerate product diversification strategy might result in losses should the swings in Markham’s business environment conspire against its expansion plans (Cole, 2015). Since Mabu Generation operates in the restaurant industry, which is sensitive to negative feedbacks, consistently bad reviews might result in massive losses through changes in customer preference.
Final Synopsis and Overview of the Operations
Mabu Generation Restaurant has a stable operation management system that is pillared on total quality service charter. The system functions within the parameters of efficiency, optimal resource use, and a healthy organizational culture. There are active communication system litigations supported by periodic strategic plans. Every operational decision at the restaurant is connected to customer satisfaction and quality assurance (Cole, 2015).
The employees have been subjected to service training programs every three months to inculcate holistic work etiquette. The service chain has been computerized for smooth tracking of all activities from a central location. The employees are given monthly targets accompanied by performance feedback trackers in every section. There is a system in place to control the inventory, especially operational costs. This system also audits the internal and external expenditures (Clow & Baack, 2014). Apparently, the restaurant has an effective strategic operations management system that balances speed, quality, cost, and flexibility for business sustainability.
References
Chdexpert. (2018). The Canadian restaurant industry landscape-why is Toronto unique? Web.
Clow, K.E., & Baack, D. (2014). Integrated advertising, promotion, and marketing communications (6th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson Higher Education.
Cole, A. (2015). The implications of consumer behavior for marketing. London, UK: Anchor academic publishing.
IBISWorld. (2017). Full-service restaurants-Canada market research report. Web.
Mabu Generation. (2018). Menu. Web.
Markham. (2018). Statistics and demographics. Web.