Cowgirl Chocolates

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 marketing strategy of Haigh’s chocolate has been identified through detailed analysis of the external and the internal environment of the present market conditions and development of the Haigh’s. There has been complete detailed SWOT analysis of the company on the basis of research conducted from several secondary sources. It has been conducted in order to determine the important strategies and the key strengths of the company. Talking about the chocolate sector which has been further segmented into several categories in which Haigh holds the important position and have captures the major chunk of the market. Such markets range from chocolate blocks, bars and other diet varieties like gluten and eggless products. The demand in the chocolate market is also divided on the basis of the geographic location markets like that in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide chocolate markets. Other factors affecting demand in the market includes demographic, behavioural and psychographic segmentation.

At Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker, Jim Harris was the COO (chief operation officer) and was with the company for about 18 months and was observing the increased demand for their chocolate. “America’s finest dark chocolate” company wanted to increase production by equipping factories with new machineries and equipment but did not want any difference in the taste of the chocolates they produced. As the company totally agrees on not compromising the taste of chocolates and increase the production in order to meet the rising demand for their chocolates they should probably get into customizing chocolates blend for the mass-market retailer in order to grab huge market share, increase accessibility of the chocolate to customers and provide variety of choice to the customers by maintaining the taste they are known for. As the demand is increasing from 50%, 100%, to 150% by the start of 2006, Harris has to make a significant decision in order to invest Scharffen’s capital budget in expansion of the Company. Harris is recommended to acquire the required machinery in order to fasten the production and increase the capacity of the plant and should be careful about the quantity to be produced as the acquiring of machinery will increase productivity multiple times but the initial demand for

The basic characteristics of the marketing concept that could be identified in Clare’s Chocolates are as follows:

Hershey’s and Cadburys are moving towards the premium chocolate market through the acquisition or upmarket launches (Zietsma, 2007). The profit potential present in this sector supported by its 20% annual growth rate make it very attractive for large organizations to come forward and avail this opportunity. There is a low threat of new entrants prevailing in this chocolate industry because of the high capital requirements and expected retaliation by current manufacturers. Current players in the industry also possess some barriers to entry for new entrants by maintaining economies of scales with their large production capacity and keeping their product differentiation with their specialized and novelty chocolate products. Even though there are low switching costs and easy access to distribution channels, but still the brand loyalty of the customers including the Rogers’ Chocolate itself make it harder for new firms to come into the competition.

While Europe and the United States account for most chocolate consumption, the confection is growing in popularity in Asia and market forecasts are optimistic about the prospects in China and India (Nieburg, 2013, para 9). According to the CNN Freedom Project, the chocolate industry rakes in $83 billion a year, surpassing the Gross Domestic Product of over a hundred nations (“Who consumes the most chocolate,” 2012, para 3).

The website has allowed consumers to learn more about recipes using cheese, how to pair cheeses with wine and other foods, increase relationships with their consumers, allow guests to find where to purchase products, increase sales through coupons, offer games for children, and push logo awareness. This, keeps consumers thinking about products and making more purchases. In addition, consumers will search their website after discovering the product or hearing the Happy Cow commercials.

10. To achieve 1 million hits on the Cocoa Delights ‘Get in touch with your dark side’ microsite by the end of the campaign.

The transportation cost of chocolate was high and small mom and pop stores commonly supplied chocolate made locally. Today you would be hard-pressed to find local chocolate in the United States, with the shelves dominated by four major brands. The

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 target market is Women on the go with no children who want a small personal treat. The data revealed that this target market were the heaviest buyers of premium treats, this focused the team to advertise towards “her” and “What does she

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

The following statistics stated in the case indicate that “23% of respondents would definitely buy the Montreaux dark chocolate with fruit product and 40% would probably buy the product.” These average ratings strongly suggest that this product should be introduced into the market very gradually. This strategy would enable the company to evaluate consumer buying patterns so that the company could determine future production levels and future marketing strategies that benefit both the company and the consumer. Financial information given in the case also indicates that the company needs to introduce this product very conservatively. Exhibit 1 informs that with 5.98 million total purchases, low awareness, low ACV and mediocre product, Montreaux would gross $17.44 million. Exhibit 2 shows that with medium awareness, medium ACV and an average product Montreaux would gross $25.1 million. These figures do not meet Montreaux’s objective of earning at least $30 million in its first year. Exhibit 3 shows a slightly improved situation: with high awareness, high ACV, and an excellent product, Montreaux would gross

Dream Chocolate (D.C.) is a small company trying to survive in an industry with many competitors. The competitive environment comes from some factors. Firstly, D.C. bars are sold in specialty markets, fine gift stores and also available online. However, the competitive companies can also provide various chocolate bars for customers with the low price on the Internet. Secondly, comparing to the big chocolate company like Mars, D.C. is a small company that has the lower brand reputation. Therefore, there may be not many people would trust their products.

After a thorough analysis of Apollo Foods business situation, a decision plan regarding the launch of a new chocolate product for its new branch acquisition Montreaux Chocolate USA has become clear. This decision plan is based on the following key challenges and marketing issues that need to be addressed. These challenges and marketing issues can be best summed up by a decision on what brand the product will be home to, whom the product will be marketed to, the ingredients and formulation of the product, the packaging of the product, can the product perform well enough in a sales forecast plan to exceed a $30 million dollar hurdle rate, and finally to launch or to test market the product. After reviewing Apollo Food’s data, their market research findings, and sales forecasts. A decision plan that addresses all of the key issues and marketing points has been created and will be