Case Study: Ethel’s Chocolate Lounges

Chocolate was previously considered a “delectable symbol of luxury, wealth, and power” (Klein) in the 1500s. Using modern technology, it is now easily produced. While

The premium chocolate industry is a large market in the United States and continues to grow around 10% annually. It is also populated with very strong

The definition of true beauty continues to evolve as generations pass and new ones emerge. Ulta Beauty, a popular cosmetic store, sells products with the aim to make women feel confident in their skin. Their use of advertisements helps spread the word about new, improved product lines and reach out to potential buyers. Selling makeup is the obvious goal of a cosmetic store, but the kind of consumers they attract and how varies between different franchises. When a company displays their products in one shot instead of in a commercial, the task of conveying the message becomes harder. Ulta Beauty persuades women to purchase their products by pointing out buyers’ insecurities while still appearing to promote empowering feminist values.

Some are fine connoisseurs of wine, or aficionados of cheese, and there are degrees for exploring their intricacies. But a childhood of ice cream has led to my refined palate of Ben and Jerry’s flavors. It began when I hated taking pictures. The only way the grumpy four-year old girl would smile was if she knew she was getting ice cream afterwards; the thought of my favorite treat always convinced me to smile.

Its value is that they will be caring and considerate of their employees, customers, suppliers, shareholders, the community and the environment by showing respect to each other and valuing diversity, working together to achieve a safe, friendly and positive working environment, setting clear expectations, recognising contribution and developing their people, leading by example and taking responsibility for their actions, communicating clearly, inclusively, honestly and in a timely manner, having pride in their product and passion for the business, its heritage and its future and contributing to the community through corporate benevolence and environmentally sustainable practices (Haigh's Chocolates).

Clare’s Chocolate Cafes use word of mouth marketing vs. more traditional avenues of marketing. This fits in with the organization’s focus on providing high quality chocolate products to customers. As the perception of a quality product is subjective, people tend to believe the opinions of friends or associates when they describe a product and say that it is good, of high quality, and whether or not it is worth the price paid. It’s about earning the respect and trust of customers and gaining new customers when they refer a product to a friend. Word of mouth is also a good business decision because it reduces the cost of advertising. The organization is duty bound, by this practice, to always been relevant and on top of product quality, service delivery and customer satisfaction.

People are not prone to agree with one another. If you gather a dozen people together for a dinner party and the subject turns to politics or religion, then there is inevitably going to be an argument. There is one thing, however, that there is a near universal consensus on: chocolate is a wonderful and delicious thing.

e) Maintenance contracts - Maintenance costs should be included as incremental cash flows because they could change the NPV of the project if the maintenance costs are significantly different for each of the different projects.

With the increasing trend in healthy diet preference, the underlying drivers of change of competition in premium chocolate industry at the strongest level are the buyers’ preferences for differentiated, refined products, instead of standardized ordinary products that are no longer demanded. In addition, baby boomers - generation with their disposable income are spending a lot on high quality premium chocolates.

The premium chocolate market has been growing at 20% annually, showing that buyers are willing to pay more for a better tasting and better quality chocolate. The declining growth of the overall chocolate market and rapid growth of the premium chocolate market is positive for current producers of premium chocolates in that the decline

Ethel’s Chocolate lounges are chocolate or candy based restaurants that where created by the Mars corporation. The Mars Corporation is the same corporation that makes the famous M&M candy. In the case study on Ethel’s Chocolate Lounges we learn that the mars corporation has made many modifications to better the chocolate lounges. They strive be more like the Starbucks, and to sell the experience of having great atmosphere, gourmet

M&M’s biggest competitor is Hershey’s brand like M&M candies. The competition is fierce among the chocolate industry. Hershey and Mars are rivals and want the opportunity to gain more of the market share. In 1954, Hershey-ettes were introduced to compete against the similar M&M’s. However, they were not successful and are generally only available for consumers around the Holiday season. By the millennium, Hershey extended the popular Hershey Kisses brand in creating the Kissables. Hershey intended for direct competition to M&M small candy coated round tablet of chocolate in multitude of colors. The candy factories started in standard size packs and by the 70’s moved into standard size candy boxes. In the current year and season, you will find M&M’s in candy canes to small snack sizes and inside ornamental objects. The chocolate world becomes difficult to present as it becomes difficult to come up with new ideas in the candy business. As more companies release products similar to the M&M’s, it will become increasingly difficult for Mars to continue to command the level of market share in the chocolate candy industry and the product has a potential to get lost in the supermarket aisle.

Kristen and her roommate are preparing to launch Kristen’s Cookie Company in their on-campus apartment. The company will provide fresh cookies to hungry students late at night. Evaluation of the preliminary design for the company’s production process will be required in order to make key policy decisions, including what prices to charge, what equipment to order and how many orders to accept, and to determine whether the business can be profitable.

Mars Chocolate is one of the world’s leading chocolate manufacturers and employs more than 13,000 people across 110 sites worldwide. Mars is a private, family owned company and is governed by a Board of Directors.  The Directors are members of the Mars family.  The Mars Board of Directors receives independent advice from four external Board Advisors.  The parent company, Mars, Incorporated is run by a global management team that oversees the day to day operations of the business across six business segments – pet care, chocolate, food, Wrigley, drinks and symbioscience.  Mars, Incorporated operates in 71 countries worldwide.  Some of the company’s major markets include Australia, New Zealand,

Jorge’s dream can definitely be a reality with the use of the proper tools that will differentiate him from his competitors. Jorge needs to position Chocolates El Rey in the proper market by conducting research and analyzing who his exact target market is. He needs to display the key attributes about his chocolates in order to build brand awareness and gain new customers. The chocolate industry is a huge industry which entails a large market to which Venezuela could penetrate. Venezuela has some of the best cocoa in the world, and this is exactly what consumers’ need think of when they hear the name “Chocolates El Rey”.