Designing a New Product for the UK Food Market: Organic Greek Yogurt (Thesis Proposal Sample)

School of Management
Marketing
MBA7003_S2_14
The Date
Designing a New Product for the UK Food Market:
Organic Greek Yogurt
Submitted To:
Student Name:
Student Number:
Table of Contents
TOC \o "1-2" 1.0 Introduction: PAGEREF _Toc291499020 \h 3
2.0 Market Analysis: PAGEREF _Toc291499021 \h 3
3.0 Macro-environment Analysis: PAGEREF _Toc291499022 \h 4
3.1 Political Issues: PAGEREF _Toc291499023 \h 4
3.2 Economic Issues: PAGEREF _Toc291499024 \h 5
3.3 Social Issues: PAGEREF _Toc291499025 \h 6
3.4 Ethical Issues: PAGEREF _Toc291499026 \h 6
3.5 Technological Issues: PAGEREF _Toc291499027 \h 7
4.0 Marketing Strategy: PAGEREF _Toc291499028 \h 8
4.1 Segmentation: PAGEREF _Toc291499029 \h 8
4.2 Targeting: PAGEREF _Toc291499030 \h 9
4.3 Positioning: PAGEREF _Toc291499031 \h 10
5.0 Recommendations: PAGEREF _Toc291499032 \h 10
5.1 Experience: PAGEREF _Toc291499033 \h 11
5.2 Everyplace: PAGEREF _Toc291499034 \h 12
5.3 Exchange: PAGEREF _Toc291499035 \h 13
5.4 Evangelism: PAGEREF _Toc291499036 \h 13
6.0 Conclusion: PAGEREF _Toc291499037 \h 14
7.0 References: PAGEREF _Toc291499038 \h 15
1.0 Introduction:
The world’s eating habits are evolving to accommodate healthier, more organic, and tastier foods. These trends are common with an age group that is commonly referred to as Millennials. These people were born from the 1981 period and 2000. Their population worldwide comprises of about 85 million people aged between 14 and 33 (Sloan, 2014). Sloan (2014) adds reveals that the use of functional beverages and foods is higher among the millennials and decreases with increasing age. They believe that healthy foods provide not only a healthier lifestyle, but also contain the medicinal value (Sloan, 2014).
This report will evaluate the suitability of organic (Greek) yogurt as a healthy snack for adults, children, and its relevance in the UK food market. Organic yogurt is made with regular yogurt although it contains half the amount of carbohydrates and sodium that regular yogurt contains. It has double amounts of protein and fat as compared to regular yogurt (Bell, 2005). It is likely to succeed in the market because it has other uses apart from being a snack. It is also a food ingredient for often cooking as a substitute for mayonnaise or sour cream (TheKitchn, 2015). This product has been increasing popularity in store shelves. In the UK, few people recognize it as a healthy fast food, especially for children and Millennials.
2.0 Market Analysis:
The millennial group is notorious for defining the sustainability of foods with the calorie content that it contains. About 55% of Millennials agree that healthy foods contain around 400 calories while snacks should have a maximum of 200 calories (Sloan, 2014). Together with young parents, Millennials are highly likely to read product labels in retail outlets and eating-places such as restaurants (Sloan, 2014). Sloan (2014) adds more than 60% in this group make a conscious effort in trying to watch their eating habits.
For the last six consecutive years, less than 40% of the adult population had remained inconsiderate about their eating habits as evidenced by their high consumption of high-calorie foods that mainly comprised of meat and sugars. This trend took a twist in 2012, in which there were approximately 61% health influenced food purchases in the UK (The Kitchn, 2015). This percentage rose drastically in 2013, where 65% were more health conscious, 47% were ingredient conscious, and 40% were conscious about food safety (Best, 2012).
3.0 Macro-environment Analysis:
Today’s consumers are concerned with how to enhance marketing available to them to augment their experiences and help them make informed decisions (Sloan, 2014). Marketing is all about positioning the product competitively as well as managing customer experiences. Thus, for the yogurt industry an analysis of the situation should be conducted in order to reach the intended market effectively and without violation of the norms set (political, ethical etc.)
3.1 Political Issues:
All organic products in the United Kingdom have to be certified by different bodies before consumption by the public (Beaumont, 2011). These regulatory agencies ensure that food manufacturers and distributors conform to European Union standards and regulations (As Nature Intended website, 2012). The guiding principle is that all the organic foods must be produced in accordance with the European laws and regulations concerning the processing and distribution of organic food products (Bell, 2005). The UK law requires that every manufacturer and distributor of organic foods observe high levels of hygiene.
Other groups that are expected to act ethically and professionally include processors, suppliers, and distributors. These bodies are registered for organic registration under the environmental department and the department of organic food consumption and nutrition, or a body with the same level of responsibilities in European Union, specifically Food Standards Agency (Beaumont, 2011). Other institutions that are registered in the United Kingdom are the Organic Farmers and Growers, the Organic Foods Federation, and Soil Association Certification Limited (About organics, 2012).
3.2 Economic Issues:
Agriculture in the UK is very efficient, highly mechanized and has very high yields. It is capable of producing around 60% of the food needs of the country with less than 2 percent of the nation’s workforce (Webb, 2002). Since 2008, The tax burden on consumers has gone down and in 2010, the gross domestic per capita in terms of consumer buying power in the United Kingdom was 112 (Blythe, 2006). The high purchasing ability of the UK market is profitable and ideal for a business venture. It declined by 0.2% in 2012 due to low investment rates but it is recovering rapidly, with a 0.5% increase in 2014 (Bell, 2005).Therefore, this proves an excellent prospect for the yogurt company.
The Unit of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) provides a report that shows an overview of the statistics on issues concerned with foods in terms of economic, political, social, cultural, and environmental factors of the food consumed in the UK market (Beaumont, 2011). Marketers thus easily detect patterns in the sales patterns of the consumer food market and use such knowledge in decision-making (Revella, 2014). The report indicated that the agro-food sector made up for 7% of the national market share in the year 2010. This shows that the consumption of yoghurt prospects an increase in the UK market.
3.3 Social Issues:
The United Kingdom has a high population of approximately 63 million inclusive of both citizens and foreigners (Grishankova, 2010). The population comprises of 60% of people aged between 15 and 64 years. People who are aged over 65 years of age consist of around 16% of the total population (Webb, 2002). The population in the United Kingdom has been growing steadily. The UK market has a high likelihood of increasing to about 71 million by the year 2030 (Sloan, 2014).
This product will be aimed at the millennial generation, specifically those who are thirty-five and below. This is because they comprise approximately 35% of the population (Sloan, 2014). This group also takes up about 51% of the food and groceries spent as well as 80% of the disposable income that is used (Sloan, 2014). In order to get the attention of this group, it is important that their product be packaged in clearer, smaller packages with healthy product formulations. It is also of great importance that they get quality customer service as well as the ease of shopping for the product (Ferrell and Hartline, 2008).
3.4 Ethical Issues:
Ethical buying has also continued to be popular. It promotes the sale and purchase of products that have been produced by the homegrown industries or the rainforest alliance. Ethical issues dictate that human beings should consume foods that promote animal welfare. These categories have become very popular, and this is clearly reflected in their sales (Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade’s website, 2012).
Consumers feel the need to promote local economies and the community during financially hard times and often opt to buy local products (Bio Space, 2012). Research by the Institute of Grocery Distribution (2013) indicates that the market for locally produced goods and services will grow significantly in the future (Mintel, 2013). It also indicated that over 40% of consumers are ready to pay a little bit more for local products, a number that has risen from 2010 when it was at 35% (Hague and Morgan, 2004).
Free-from foods are also a very popular section in the United Kingdom. According to research carried out by the Life Sciences and Food Sector (2012), food products that contain no allergens are called free-from foods. Allergenic products (gluten, eggs, and nuts) are usually extracted during the manufacturing process. These foods with health benefits have become very popular with shoppers. Designing the yoghurt product in this dimension, therefore, proves imperative in capturing the market of the UK in respect to the ethical esteems according to Lawton, and Parasuraman, (2000).).
3.5 Technological Issues:
Technology has been causing rapid changes in many fields and especially the food-processing sector. According to West (2015), a business having a decent intranet or extranet-based communication shows the difference between the surviving and the closure of a business. Internet sales account for approximately 64% of the total sales for consumer goods. The United Kingdom has a substantially reliable online retail market in the global market (Hobbs, 2004).
4.0 Marketing Strategy:
4.1 Segmentation:
Segmentation refers to the process of division of the target market...