Kraft Food Inc's Hostile Takeover of Cadbury

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

Both potential and existing competitors influence average industry profitability. The threat of new entrants is usually based on the market entry barriers. They can take diverse forms and are used to prevent an influx of firms into an industry whenever profits, adjusted for the cost of capital, rise above zero. In contrast, entry barriers exist whenever it is difficult or not economically feasible for an outsider to replicate the incumbents’ position (Porter, 1980b; Sanderson, 1998) The most common forms of entry barriers, except intrinsic physical or legal obstacles, 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.

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.

Because of the amount of substitutes on the market, the premium chocolate industry is also has a high level of competition engrained in it. Rival companies with similar products consistently offer an alternative for customers.

Bargaining power of supplier: High levels of competition among suppliers act to reduce prices to producers. This is a positive for Ford Motor Company. Standardization of parts allowed Ford to reduce dependency on fixed supplier/vendor which goes into producer’s favor.

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.

Threat of Substitutes: Few substitutes such as bars for hard liquor, restaurant for food, etc. The threat is low because product sold depends upon customers taste and preference and there is minimal product differentiation.

One important underlying driver of change in the chocolate industry is the large manufacturers lobbying to change the definition of the term "chocolate" under USFDA guidelines, if they are successful in doing this then this could potentially have a dramatic impact on the competitive environment, with lots of cheaper products

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

Industry Analysis: Cadbury Schweppes (CS) is comprised of a global confectionery and beverage company. For the purpose of this case we will maintain our focus on the confectionery business and the assessment of adding to their sugar confectionery portfolio. CS is number three in the beverage business but see the opportunity to become the largest confectionery in the world. The categories are chocolates, sugar and chewing gum. At this time Adams is the number two sized in the gum business. This industry operates on “bigger is better in confectionery”. Their strategic discussions and ambitions appear to stay true, in mentality, to this mantra. This mantra could be potentially dangerous to the business. CS had a presence in over 70

The Cherry Lady falls under the premium chocolate industry. Thus, the porter’s model can be utilized by The Cherry Lady as a framework to structure and analyze its industry. According to the Model, the premium chocolate industry can be impacted by five distinct forces such as rivalry among existing firms in the industry, threats from substitutes, bargaining power of buyers, threats of new entrants, and bargaining power of

‘’organisations exist and function within society and consequently are subject to a variety of social influences. These influences, which include demography, social class and culture, can change over time and affect both the demand and supply side of the economy. Marketing organisations recognise and make use of these factors when segmenting markets for consumer goods and service’’ Worthington, I (2009) p.135.

Market volume for the confectionery industry is flat due to the changing trend in consumption driven by the changing age in distribution of the population. Growth is only driven by price increase at 10%. Distribution / availability and visibility are seen as important elements in influencing the sale due to the nature of its products, impulse items. In addition to this, the bargaining power of the retail trade has been shifting away from the suppliers (i.e. manufacturers like Adams) and is in favor of the

The threat of new entrants: According to our text, the threat of new entrants is the possibility that the profits they make in an area may be eroded by new competition. The McDonald’s by me competes with Burger King, Wendy’s, Dairy Queen, and other smaller places like Zel’s. Each time a new place opens the less business they will have. For the other company, there will be a barrier to entry. They will have to use product differentiation to bring in the customers…to make them overcome their loyalty to McDonald’s (Dess, p. 53).