Cuppy's Coffee & More, Inc. Review (Term Paper Sample)

Cuppy's Coffee & More, Inc. Review
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Cuppy's Coffee & More, Inc. Review
Company Information
Cuppy's Coffee & More, Inc. is a coffee company that was established in July 2006 and is based in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, with about 145 employees. Dale Nabors, who is also the owner of its parent corporation called Medina Management & FranSynergy Inc., owns the company. The corporation’s President is Dough Hibbling; also each of its stores has a manager.
Marketing Mix
Product
Cuppy's Coffee & More, Inc. specializes in espresso-based beverages like Americano and latte. The espresso and coffee drinks at the company are made from mixture of Caffé D’arte beans and some additives from Monin and Ghirardelli. In their menu, there are also smoothies made with one hundred percent real fruit. Besides the smoothies and coffee, the company offers various products like Italian Soda, sandwiches and pastries.
Price
Cuppy's Coffee & More, Inc. is expected to slightly review the price of its products upwards due to the increased cost of coffee beans and dairy products. The prices of tea offered by the stores, unlike coffee, are not determined by size, but the number of tea bags because water is quite cost-effective if it is not bottled.
Place
Cuppy's Coffee & More, Inc. is headquartered in Fort Walton Beach, Florida and was incorporated in 2006; it operates as a Medina Enterprises, Inc.’s subsidiary. The company is still local with relatively few franchise locations but plans to go international in the next few years.
Promotion
Cuppy's Coffee & More, Inc. is advertised on billboards, posters and in newspapers in Florida and several other parts of the country. In their advertisements, the company puts emphasis on quality and price of its products, and it intends to introduce the Cuppy’s Card, a stored-value card that clients can use and reload.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
The major issue that initially kept people away from taking coffee was the assumption that it had some harmful effects; however, this is currently not the case. Several studies have been conducted to establish the link between coffee and some diseases like hypertension and cancer, but no evidence has been found to link coffee to such illnesses, which is good for the people of the United States and Cuppy's Coffee & More, Inc. The company uses this aspect by including some of the advantages of drinking coffee in their promotions. In addition, positive health dangers or risks are apparent drivers of consumption; therefore, this is good news to the company since customers are happier to take more beverages that are caffeinated. The company also has a good employee management as it gives its workers many benefits and pays them well in order to avoid losing them to their competitors. Another strength of the company is that it sells its coffee at a much lower price as compared to its rivals because the industry is a competitive one and it is important that it finds its way into the hearts of the customers, since it is not easy competing the likes of Starbucks.
Weaknesses
Just like growing any other crop, there are uncertain elements that will always affect the production of coffee and thus raising its cost. When it comes to the conditions of growth, the coffee plant is usually selective, and due to hedge funds, it affects several other factors, thus the Cuppy's Coffee & More, Inc. cannot be in a position of approximating the cost of coffee as well as the profitability of the company. The company also offers great coffee for the best customer experience in order to improve its image and standing within this competitive industry, however, this results in some increased expenditure considering that the price of their coffee is low, hence lowering profit margin. Being a new company, Cuppy's Coffee & More, Inc. still does not have that financial might to set and dictate the price itself and make huge profits like its competitors; this affects it negatively and it will take a few years before it becomes a household name in the industry. The company has been involved in negative publicity, which might affect its image negatively; for instance, the corporation has been accused of fraud in its transactions or engagements with potential franchises and this even caused the arrest of Nabor in Alabama in May 2009, where he was charged of fraud.
Opportunities
Cuppy's Coffee & More, Inc. does not grow its own coffee beans, but instead purchases from different suppliers that mainly come from Africa, Arabia and South America. For the company to make sure that there is a steady supply of coffee beans, which is at times affected by bad harvests, as well as to save on the costs of shipping, it should extend its supplier network. The company also has an opportunity of competing most established stores outside the United States in countries such as China, India and even countries of African continent. This is because these regions do not have a lot of big coffee stores and Cuppy's Coffee & More, Inc. can venture there to build a name for itself.
Moreover, not all people drink coffee products; therefore, diversification would be fundamental for the company in order to reach a broader client group. This can be done by establishing more stores that offer beer and wine, as well as the presentation of some new products that may be appealing to a wide range of customers. Cuppy's Coffee & More, Inc. does not only manage franchises together with coffee stores but also uses other retailers to sell some of its products. Therefore, the company should increase such partnerships so that the products can reach regions where their presence has not been felt. Also, increasing the number of stores and partnerships will improve customers’ awareness about company’s products and consequently improve its standing in the industry.
Threats
The ever-increasing cost of dairy products and coffee beans is a serious threat to the operations and growth of the company since it is not in a position of controlling or even predicting it. The company may experience serious losses if there is an increase in the cost of such products because they may not want to extend the same to the customers for the fear of losing them; customers are always disturbed by constant adjustment in the prices of products and could always be forced to change their consumption habits. The company also faces the threat of competition from the local coffee stores and stores of other specialization; for instance, the local stores can offer prices that are much lower and menu that is more suited for their clients, which leads to the loss of market share. Another challenge is the fact that in the developed countries, coffee markets are already saturated, and considering the increasing rivalry, the company may find i...