Havana 's A Fast Chain Giants Essay

In researching the business culture of another foreign country for the use of an informational memo. I want to let my classmates, know what country has been chosen to research and share some of it's interesting facts on the country of Cuba.

Top executives of Chipotle conscious about the quality of food in its restaurants. Thus, Chipotle did not buy food ingredients directly from farmers and restaurant supplies from manufacturers. Chipotle acquired long-term relationship with food industry suppliers of good reputation that able to meet their quality specification. The company makes purchases from a list of granted suppliers that provide key ingredients. Some ingredients such as beans are organically grown produce. Chipotle uses high quality, nutritious and fresh raw ingredients for their food preparation.

Cuban cuisine has been influenced by Spanish, French, African, Arabic, Chinese, and Portuguese cultures.  Traditional Cuban cooking is primarily peasant cuisine that has little concern with measurements, order

The biggest differences between Cuba and the United States are the government and economic status. The United States has a democracy where as Cuba has a dictatorship. Cuba is one of the poorest countries in the world and yet the U.S. is one of the most powerful countries in the world. The U.S. sets the standards for other industrial nations, however Cuba does all that it can with their national resources and aid from other countries.

This book discusses the fast-food industry and seeks to describe the impact of the industry on the U.S. economy and society. Also, it talks about the guys who has been investigating the fast food industry for many years. From his broad research, he has uncovered an abundance of little-known, frequently unsettling truths about the fast food industry.

Expanding the target market of Panera Bread is a good growth opportunity for them. This can be achieved by product line (menu options) extension or by entering international market outside the American continent so as to increase their geographical coverage. In addition, Panera has an opportunity to get additional market and growth by adapting rapidly to changing market and customer preferences. They need to advertise and market themselves as a healthy option for eating out. Health oriented food or food that are low in calories, sugar, cholesterol, etc. is getting very important as people started becoming very health conscious and selective. Their effort to roll out new products with fresher ingredients such as antibiotic-free chicken needs to be further expanded. Recognizing the health risks associated with transfat, Panera had completely removed all transfat from its menu by 2006. Organic food, non GMO, etc. They could increase number of their franchises. A number of markets were still available for franchise development. The have opportunity in front of them to open more outlets, both company-owned and franchises. They could open within North America and mainly in areas where they are not present now, and those areas where the growth potential is good, like some of the suburban markets. Many good locations for fast casual dining options are available in many of the untapped areas. Panera has a good market opportunity outside the small urban niche where greater growth

Chipotle has opened their stores in few countries such as the UK, the US, Canada, Germany and France. It is now time for the corporation to follow the lead from other companies like Yum. Brands such as KFC and Taco Bell as well as McDonalds expand their footprint in the Asian market like Japan. For example, Chipotle operates less than 2,000 restaurants in only 5 countries, while McDonalds operates more than 35,000 restaurants in 119 countries, and Taco Bell, another Mexican restaurant, operates 6,500 restaurants in 20 countries which shows that the Chipotle could do better if it expands its business.

The fast food, or quick service restaurant industry (QSR), represents approximately 200,000 restaurants and $155 billion in sales in the U.S. alone, they are one of the largest segments of the food industry (Hoovers, 2011). This segment of the restaurant industry is “highly competitive and fragmented… number, size and strength of competitors vary by region, market and even restaurant. All of these restaurants compete based on a number of factors, including taste, quality, speed of service, price and value, name recognition, restaurant location, customer service and the ambience and condition of each restaurant” (Chipotle, 2010).

Multinational companies opt to franchise as a way of expansion strategy (Siebert, n.d.). Chick-fil-A is dominant only in the US market. The firm has only ventured into the Canadian market in the airport of Calgary. Many United States Corporations have engaged in franchising in the United States as a form of the expansion strategy. Laws concerning franchising are neither strict in Canada. Our form of non-equity mode will be franchising, therefore our form of entry will be a small-scale entry. This will allow our company to get exposure in key locations and learn from Canadian consumers. The benefit to franchising at first is that it is less costly and less risky for the franchisor.

Chipotle Mexican Grill is an American restaurant chain that currently has more than 1700 locations, with most of its locations in the U.S. and several in Canada and Europe. Chipotle has been gradually expanding its international presence since it opened its first location outside the U.S., in Toronto in 2008 (International Strategy, 2015). The restaurant now has 17 locations outside of the U.S. including locations in London, Paris, and Frankfurt. However, like all other international corporations, Chipotle strives to grow its business even further and extend global awareness of its brand. The next step in Chipotle’s global strategic plan would be to venture into new waters and enter Asia. Hence, Chipotle is now analyzing the decision of expanding operations into China.

Cuba is a great country, with interesting things all around it. It is a great place to get spicy foods from, and education there is great. It is not how it used to be a century ago. Now, it is a beautiful island with a great coastline. The coastline has deep bays, coral reefs, and wonderful sandy beaches. Maybe one day I will visit Cuba.

Its current objective is to develop and increase its bakery-cafe restaurant locations by more than 2,000 before the year 2010. With this, Panera Bread Company has the opportunity to increase market share by attracting potential customers away from their competition amongst the fast-food casual restaurants.

Panera bread’s growth strategy was to capitalize on Panera’s market potential by opening both company-owned and franchised Panera Bread locations as fast as was prudent (A. A. Thompson). Panera Bread work closely with franchised branches in order for the company to broaden its market penetration (A. A. Thompson). Panera Bread has taken the appropriate measures to gain a competitive advantage to make franchising a successful market for the company to enter. Considering Panera Bread Company keeps interaction with the franchised branches to ensure success gives them the upper hand to ensure continued success.

The threats include external factors that could put Taco Bell’s business at risk. In Malaysia, the main threat rises from its competitor in the same market which is McDonalds. Taco Bell needs to be constantly revising their prices and menus in order to keep up with McDonald’s offers (Fujinaka, 1996). Besides that, the new researches and the raised awareness among the publics about the harmful health impacts of fast food consumption is a threat to Taco Bell’s fast food menus. The ingredients such as sugar, oil and salt which are in the fast foods being offered, are thus consumed in low proportions by the aware and educated consumers (Taco Bell,2010).

Mission – By delivering uniquely flavored Mexican style food at budget prices, Taco Bell seeks to establish an international presence over the next 5 years. The current international fast food markets in Asia, South America, and Africa are dominated by American style fast food which leaves considerable opportunity for competing styles of cuisine, Taco Bell will use an aggressive marketing plan and develop a supply chain network that will enable rapid growth in overseas markets. Newly established restaurants will be able to supply local communities with quality meals at competitive prices while simultaneously creating value for shareholders.