Bitter Competition: the Holland Sweetner Company vs. Nutrasweet

The soft-drink industry capitalizing on creating the best product. Each product has a different taste, formula, and color to entice the consumer. It is important for the product to remain innovative in order to keep the consumers interested. The suppliers can easily differ, because they do not hold much value or put

This results from the fact that it is a mature segment with many well established companies vying for market share. The industry is highly consolidated and very fragmented. To grow their businesses, companies rely heavily on mergers and acquisitions to capture additional market share. Historically, the grocery industry has been characterized by slow growth which results in strong price competition and the development of aggressive marketing campaigns between existing firms. Perceived product quality and strong brand recognition by consumers are the basis of competition among firms in the industry. The source of General Mills’ competitive advantage lies in its ability to develop innovative products and highly reputable brands. As a result, they hold cost leadership positions across a number of grocery categories. Exhibit 1 shows the top US companies according to their sale of packaged foods globally. Market leaders include Kraft Foods, PepsiCo, Nestle, Mars, Kellogg, and General Mills, however, neither company possess an overwhelming share of global sales. This is in part due to the large degree of product diversity throughout the industry and the strong brand rivalry of each competitor’s labels.

Ross Dress for Less has been keen to ensure it retains competitive edge where substitutes are concerned. The company through its price strategy coupled with purchasing methods which are unique can be said to be the key factors that counteract the threat of substitutes. There is the need for the company to keep watch of fake commodities in the market which may serve to undercut its market.

(1) Baseline: Product: aspartame was a strong substitute of saccharin with better flavor and low calories, especially for diet soft drink. There was no other competitive product at that time. Market: Aspartame had a great potential

The second force that I will use to analyze the Trader Joe’s company is the “the rivalry among established competitors”. Factors to consider when looking at the rivalries in the industry are industry demand, cost conditions, and exit barriers. Trader Joe’s competitors include The Kroger Co., Whole Foods Market, and Safewat Inc., and all super markets in general (Llopis, 2011). With that said, there seems to be a high demand for what Trader Joe’s offers, private labels. This means that the intensity in the industry is less compared to an industry with a flat demand. Trader Joe’s does not have to fight hard to sell their products because of the service they have created. Trader Joe’s brand can be considered “diversity on steroids” which has somewhat of a cult following among consumers (Llopis, 2011). Consumers that want unique experiences with their food are able to do exactly that at

1. How should Vermijs expect NutraSweet to respond in the Holland Sweetener Company’s entry into the European and Canadian aspartame markets?

According to Exhibit 5, from 1985-1989, Orange crushes’ market share decreased from 22% (1985) to 8% (1989), this data shows that prior to the entrance of Coca Cola’s Slice and Pepsi’s Minute Maid, Orange Crush had more of the market share which at the time, they were positioned toward groups between the ages of 13-40. Since 1985, Crush repositioned itself to target individuals between the ages of 12-17.

• Product: 4-oz children’s multipack • Price: sales price higher at supermarkets • Place: natural foods channel • Promotion: guerilla marketing Strengths: • Compared to Options 1 and 2, there has been significant growth in sales for the children’s multipack o 12.5% growth for children’s multipack o 2% growth for 32-oz cups o 3% growth for 8-oz cups and smaller • Greater profit-earning potential than Options 1 and 2 o Manufacturing cost: $1.15 o Natural foods channel average retail price: $3.35 o Supermarket channel average retail price: $2.85 o Gross profitability: 37.6% • Significantly lower marketing/advertising costs associated with Option 3 o Option 1: $1.2 million per region o Option 3: $250,000 • Strong presence of Natureview in the natural foods channel relative to competitors o Natureview: 24% o Brown Cow: 15% o Horizon Organic: 19% o White Wave: 7% o Other: 35% Weaknesses: • Shelf space/life in natural food channels o

price point than the big 3, the company saw this as the perfect strategy to penetrate the saturated

It can help to pull customers’ needs and preferences in a direction where you want them to go, which is ideally away from the competition’s trends. This has a double effect of you taking market share from them, and making R&D pricier for the competition. It’s also riskier, because at an initial point you have make that same big expenditure yourself, and it may not work, or the competition is doing something equal or superior.

The U.S market remains a major opportunity for Arcor, and their strategy, when entering the county, worked well as it reduced risk and ensured a steady transition into one of the largest confectionery markets on the globe. Moreover, I recommend continually

Both competition and market size are of major importance when one explores the positioning of a product. In the case of Crescent Pure, this is vital as Ryan must determine the level of competition that will be faced if the product is marketed as either an energy or sport drink. In the case of an energy product, it should be noticed that there is heavy market dominance by Together, Freight, Razor, Torque and Steller, as they account for roughly 85% of the market. Despite this, it should be seen that the average price point for a 5oz can is $2.99 which is notably higher than Crescent’s $2.75 pricing. Additionally, the market size for sport drinks is of particular interest as it is estimated to grow to $8.5 billion by the year 2013. This, coupled with the fact that the market had grown 40% between the period 2010 – 2012, makes this sector of particular interest to PDB.

A slow growing market is a great way to characterize the energy beverage category in late 2007. This industry was increasing in profits still but was not increasing in profits as quickly due to factors such as market maturity, increasing in prices, competition and new hybrid products (Kerin & Peterson, 2010). The market was still very small but was dominated by Red Bull due to it being one of the first energy drinks, which caused it to dictate the market and have more of an advantage than the other energy beverages. So in late 2007 the market for energy drinks was still

In 1986, rivals presented a limited risk to the company due to NutraSweet’s monopolistic position in the production of aspartame. However, the development and subsequent introduction of alternative low-cal high intensity sweeteners, combined with the trend of blending, presented a major risk for NutraSweet’s product. Also, as the patents for aspartame expire in the different regions NutraSweet will face competition from alternative producers of aspartame as well.

The sweet and savory spreads market in the last decade has undergone phenomenal changes due to varying economic, environmental and social conditions. Honey in particular, has been one spread that has gone through both prosperous and rough patches. Honey manufacturers and packers have used technological innovation to create a new market niche while strengthening their traditional markets with solid marketing schemes and planning.