Just Us

* It is a global coffee brand built upon a reputation for fine products and services. It has almost 16,000 cafes in almost 40 countries.

The Intensity of Rivalry among Competitors in an Industry (High): Equally balanced competitors exist within the industry such as BCF and KMD; these firms also face competition from retailers and wholesalers. The growth of the industry is relatively agile in both financial and technological aspects. The intensity or rivalry is further accentuated by relatively high storage and fixed rental costs, extensive product differentiation and minimal switching costs.

Bargaining Power of Suppliers: The bargaining power of suppliers in the industry is low. There are numerous suppliers in this industry, and the large department stores have the ability to negotiate for the lowest prices. In addition, the switching costs are low, as the products are not highly differentiated. There are a large volume of purchases in the industry, allowing the department stores to exert even more power over the suppliers.

The competition among rivals is very high due to price and non-price factors. Companies try to attract customers to their products by introducing

High level, intense rivalry may result with profit lost for the company. In most cases, new entrant barriers are high due to the intensity of rivalry (Porter, 2008).

One reason the supply of carpenters is greater than the supply of physicians is because:

The coffee industry is an extremely competitive one. However, the market structure of the coffee industry and specifically the coffee bean industry that provides the raw materials for Yuban could be described as an oligopoly. The specific characteristics of this oligopoly are, however, more reminiscent of a cartel because a relatively small number of suppliers control the supply and distribution of coffee beans globally (Igami, 2011). Consequently, Yuban, which is a brand within the Kraft Foods umbrella, has limited choice in selecting its supplies. The coffee bean industry was controlled officially through a cartel structure until 1989 under the International Coffee Agreement or ICA but thereafter market competition with new entrants such as Vietnam eroded the control of this official cartel organization (Igami, 2011). Yet, because coffee bean production is largely limited to certain geographic regions, these countries’ governments express a great deal of control over which entities control production and distribution.

Just Us is an independent Canadian co-operative coffee roaster with a small chain of own cafes in Nova Scotia and a large network of distribution throughout Canada and in the USA. Apart from coffee, their products include tea, cocoa, sugar and various supplementary products. All of Just Us main products are fair trade certified and some of them are organic.

Supplier Power: This highlights that it is easy for suppliers to rise up their prices. This is determined by the number of suppliers, the uniqueness of their product, their control over the buyer, and the cost of changing from one buyer to another. The scarcer the supplier choices you might have, and the more you need the help and that

Existing Competitors. Rivalry among competitors within an industry use price discounting, new products, marketing, and other techniques to be competitive. Profitability of an industry suffers from high rivalry. The intensity with which companies compete and the basis on which they compete determine to which degree rivalry brings down an industry’s profitability (Porter, 2008). Pure competition is considered by economists as a competition with a high

The market greatly depends on how powerful buyers are in terms of their willingness to pay certain prices. The following determines the bargaining power of buyers

Starbucks is undoubtedly an international brand. The history of coffee traces back to Ethiopia, Africa, India, Arabia, and Europe, and has been traded abroad since the 11th century. Understanding the demand and widespread market for coffee, Starbucks has triumphantly capitalized both the domestic market, and the varied international markets as well. Possessing about 6,500 retail sites worldwide, Starbucks’ net is spread across thirty countries and has been found as one of the most recognized brands all over the globe in equality to McDonalds and Toyota. This organization’s ability to build an international brand has been unprecedented- particularly since it represents a specialty

This is where you are able to determine the price with your suppliers. This can happen if there are a large amount of suppliers and you are buying in bulk. This may force suppliers into a price war.

A supplier group have even more power over an industry if it is dominated by a few companies, there are no substitute products, the industry is not an important consumer for the suppliers, their product is essential to the industry, the supplier differs costs, and forward integration potential of the supplier group exists. Labor supply can also influence the position of the suppliers. These factors are generally out of the control of the industry or company but strategy can alter the power of

A. The company has the opportunity to expand its global operations. Some new markets for coffee such as India and the Pacific Rim nations are beginning to emerge.