International Business- Global Chocolate Wars Between Mars and Ferrero

International marketing or business is uniquely different from the local market because the product price, place and promotion is vastly different from what is been offered to local customers (Johansson, 2000) With the emergence of the information technology, cross border marketing has never been a distant dream. However, it has never been easier even for giant multinational companies to face challenges that come in international business. The biggest challenge comes from the culture which varies from country to country.

Headquartered in Mount Olive, New Jersey, U.S., Mars Chocolate is one of the world’s leading chocolate manufacturers and employs more than 15,000 Associates across 19 countries. They have thirty-four brands in total, including five billion-dollar global brands - M&M’S®, SNICKERS®, DOVE®/GALAXY®, MARS®/MILKY WAY® and TWIX®. Other leading brands include: 3 MUSKETEERS®, BALISTO®, BOUNTY®, MALTESERS® and REVELS® .

The internationalisation process of the firm has been a subject, which has been motive of study for a number of

The business internationalise means a company’s production and business activity are not only confined to one country, but also integrate the different countries’ raw material and labour and technologies to

In a time of global commerce, new business ventures can take on many forms. What used to be local or even national companies have become world-wide. International growth of a business can be extremely beneficial but is not without its challenges. Different countries have different peoples and different cultures - different ways of doing business altogether. If a venture is to be successful, these differences must be well understood.

Cadbury is a British multinational confectionery company wholly owned by Mondelez International since 2010. It is the second-largest confectionery brand in the world after Wrigley's. Cadbury is internationally headquartered in Uxbridge, West London, and operates in more than 50 countries worldwide. It is famous for its Dairy Milk chocolate, the Creme Egg and Roses selection box, and many other confectionery products. Cadbury was established in Birmingham, England in 1824, by John Cadbury who sold tea, coffee and drinking chocolate. Cadbury developed the business with his brother Benjamin, followed by his sons Richard and George. George developed the Bournville estate, a model village designed to give the company's workers improved living conditions. Dairy Milk chocolate, introduced in 1905, used a higher proportion of milk within the recipe compared with rival products. By 1914, the chocolate was the company's best-selling product. Cadbury, alongside Rowntree's and Fry, were the big three British confectionery manufacturers throughout much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Stages of company Internationalization (Uppsala Model) 1. International Marketing – Ethnocentric Orientation 2. Multinational Marketing – Poly centric Orientation 3. Global marketing – Geocentric Orientation 4. Transnational Marketing – Glocal

Success of any businesses organization is determined by factors such as financial, management & operational. Financial factors address use of capital in business and flow of cash through various processes within the organization. Management factors are linked to organizational structure of the enterprise. Whereas operational factors address how available resources are used to achieve objective of the organization. Apart from these three factors, environmental factors like competition also determine success of any business organization. This paper explores transformation that Rogers’ Chocolate Company has undergone since its establishment. The paper also investigates competitive strategy of the company against its close

The main threat to Rogers’ chocolate is the competition. Not being able to keep up with the competition or current trends can lead to lost market share. With Godiva having superior packaging, distribution, and price points, and Bernard Callebaut having superior packaging and seasonal influence, Rogers’ Chocolate could be falling behind soon if they do not join the ranks. Rogers’ must find their niche in order to be able to compete not just locally, but globally.

The chocolate industry operates in an oligopoly market. An oligopoly is when a small number of firms dominate the market. While not a quite a monopoly, an oligopoly market is still controlled by a select number of companies and the market can be directly impacted by one or two major firms (Oligopoly Investopedia). Hershey’s has control of the largest market share, holding 44.4% (U.S Market Share). Mars Incorporated follows behind in second by holding 28.9%. While these two companies hold much of the control and power within the industry, LIndt/Ghirardelli and Nestlé maintain a combined share of 15.1% of the industry’s market. This means that four companies hold a combined 88.4% of the market, with two of them holding a combined 73.3%. The market was not always this way however. Up through the 1960s many candy suppliers were regional.

A firm 's international marketing program must generally be modified and adapted to foreign markets. This international marketing program uses strategies to accomplish its marketing goals. Within each foreign nation, the firm is likely to find a combination of marketing environment and target markets that are different from those of its own home country and other foreign countries. It is important that in international marketing, product, pricing, distribution and promotional strategies be adapted accordingly. In order for an international firm to function properly, cultural, social, economic, and legal forces within the country must be clearly understood.

International strategies are plans that are made by organizations to guide them in different commercial transactions that take place in different countries. On the other side, the organizational structures highlight how an organization plans its hierarchy, identify tasks to its personnel and ensure that workforce collaborate to reach a common goal. For a company to be successful in the international venture it has to properly organize its human resource, support devices as well as how it will group its products, services or brand so that it can increase its effectiveness. Therefore identifying the proper international strategy and organizational strategy for Whole Food Market will assist it to accomplish the goals that it has set and clearly

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.

We have seen since 19th century people and later on companies from all over the world have been investing trillions of dollars into the food and beverage market. Recently we saw this demand nearly double within the last few years. Large numbers of corporations are leaving their home country and opening headquarters abroad in China, India, Mexico and other place do to wide success. These companies come from all types of industries. For example Software, Mining and Cosmetics industry, many big names such as Google, Microsoft and Apple also have their offices in China and other places. Coca – Cola have also joined in on some of the profit making them my focus of this paper. Thought this paper I am going to speak on the positive and negative

The world offers significant business opportunities for every company, however, opportunities are accompanied by significant challenges for managers. Managing global operations across diverse cultures and markets represents a big challenge and opportunity for companies. To compete in the global market and be successful, companies must learn the strategies, policies, norms and technology necessary to conduct international business. The opportunities for global expansion are numerous, and attaining success is a matter of developing the right strategy to win local markets and its consumers.