The product manager for coffee development at Kraft Canada must decide whether to introduce the company's new line of single-serve coffee pods or await results from the United States. Key strategic decisions include which target market to focus on and what value proposition to signal. Important questions are also raised as to how the new product should be branded, which flavors to offer, whether Kraft should use traditional distribution channels or direct-to-store delivery, and what forms of advertising and promotion to use. The case provides a basis for discussing consumer decision making, and stresses the importance of providing a clear incremental benefit when introducing a new product in an established category.
Decision
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Kraft planned to sell pods under Maxwell House label at a lower point than rival brands, retailing a pack of 18 pods for US$3.99. Folgers charges $3.99 for a pack of 16 This pricing would give retailers a 25% margin on Maxwell House, and at $0.22 per cup, revenue that was more than four times the $0.05 per cup from ground coffee Issues arose when deciding to follow the U.S. lead on pricing: On one hand, low prices could serve to drive sales volume and establish Kraft as market leader, but this strategy risks eroding brand image. Given the failure rate of new products in Canada, Herzog suspected that store would be willing to carry one or two brands of coffee pods Herzog was unsure of the best wholesale and retail selling price to recommend Distribution: Most products were delivered to retailers via warehouse distribution; which essentially made Kraft responsible for delivering all merchandise to the customers’ warehouses. From there, retailers then distributed the goods to individual stores Retailers were responsible for stocking products, refilling shelf space, maintaining inventories, and maintaining displays—services for which Kraft paid in excess of $200,000 for national listing fees. Their system eliminates the need for Kraft to constantly monitor and track inventories, distribution, and stock The alternative was to use direct-to-store-delivery
Green Mountain Coffee Roaster’s Keurig Single Brew system is dominating the U.S. market with an overwhelming market share. Analysts expect sales of single-cup brewing systems to continue to grow in the U.S. and competitors are eyeing a piece of the pie. An analysis of Keurig’s current position, based on Michael E. Porters 5-Forces, highlights a number of key areas of opportunity and risk for the company. Handled correctly, the Keurig product line should continue its growth, however, a number of significant pitfalls threaten its dominance.
Costco buys the majority of its merchandise directly from manufacturers for shipment either directly to Costco’s selling warehouses or to a consolidation point where various shipments are combined so as to minimize freight and handling costs. As a result, Costco eliminates many of the costs associated with multiple step distribution channels, which include purchasing from distributors as opposed to manufacturers, use of central receiving, storing and distributing warehouses, and storage of merchandise in locations off the sales floors. (1)
Starbucks uses price targeting to identify customers willing to pay more by charging different prices for products that cost essentially the same to produce. Starbucks’ menu has products ranging from $2.20 to $3.40. This price difference stems not from a $1.20 difference in production cost, but rather a subtle way of encouraging customers to signal their willingness or ability to pay higher prices, and therefore allow Starbucks to increase its profits.
The specialty coffee industry had seen steady growth for years and the trend was expected to continue until at least 2015. Of the various segments within the specialty coffee industry, most of the growth was attributable to beverage retailers “Coffee and kiosks”. In 1979 there were approximately 250 specialty coffee retailers. The number quadrupled by 1989 to approx 1000 outlets, and it exploded to roughly 15000 by 2002. Nationally, specialty coffee sales totaled over $ 10 billion in 2005.
A recent primary research survey has found that 70% of occasional coffee drinkers view the Mr. Coffee brand as an inferior or budget coffee brewing device that does not make a superior cup of coffee (Appendix, Opinion survey). Brands such as Keurig, Cuisinart, and DeLonghi inspire more thoughts of quality coffee than Mr. Coffee. Other consumers are opting to spend several dollars per cup of coffee at coffee houses such as Starbucks, Caribou Coffee, Dunkin Donuts, and even McDonalds (Appendix, Opinion survey).
Kraft Foods Group is a top fortune 100 company founded by James L Kraft in Chicago, Illinois 3 years ago. They specialize in food and beverage products categorized by beverages, frozen and refrigerated meals, dairy products, and other grocery items. Kraft products are known worldwide and can be found in almost every home in the world. Even though Kraft brand has been around for decades Kraft Foods Group is a type of business subsection that adheres separately to each demographic in the world. Since they provide for over 170 countries, they must divide and conquer to stay successful. Although the company has been very successful they face many challenges including broad competition and target markets.
Different retailing businesses have very different distribution methods based on the types of product that they sell, some arguably more effectively than others.
i. With regards to suppliers delivering goods, they simply sent the goods without any prior notification. This led to a variable rate of arrival of stock in the ware houses.
In looking at our product, Folgers Coffee, a sure way to see where a product is going sometimes is to look at where it has been. In 1992, Kraft’s brand of coffee, Maxwell House, had gained the lead in market share and appeared to be poised
When it comes to price, I do agree you get what you pay for, but I do feel it should not cost you an arm, and a leg for a single cup of coffee. Regardless where you get your coffee from your going to have to pay for it, some places are just priced more then others With that being said let's discuss, Dunkin’ Donuts extra large coffee before tax sits at $2.09 per cup, and their large ice coffee at $2.79. Starbucks large coffee before tax starts at $2.45 per cup, and their large ice coffee at $2.95. Although, Starbucks prices may not seem to be to much higher, if you are like me, drinking these coffees every day, and are not made of money, that change difference can definitely add up.
In October Bunn, a leading commercial beverage equipment producer, launched its home version of its single-serve coffee machine called MyCafé. Unfortunately for Keurig, the MyCafé is the first to capitalize on the expiration of Keurig’s patent on
The specialty coffee business is growing at a robust pace. During the last two decades, specialty coffee sales have grown every year despite economic obstacles such as war and recession. No coffeehouse chains have failed during this time, although the list of fatalities in other businesses is
Money is often a challenge for many Americans; Peet 's doesn’t help feed the cause by keeping above-average priced drinks. While their in-store coffee costs is only a bit over-average priced, average being two to three dollars, their online two pound bags of grounded coffee are well over forty dollars. Since the average coffee drinker spend about a hundred and fifty dollars yearly on coffee, they need to make sure to get their money 's worth. While many coffee-drinkers love the excellent flavor of these somewhat high-priced espressos, several people find it hard to purchase them on a regular basis.
In order to be able to serve a quality coffee, we need to get a good price per pound, the Hotel is currently under close scrutiny of its costs and even though we’re really interested on Anderson’s coffee, we can’t pay any price, we need a competitive price (at least under $7.40 per pound) to justify the higher expense.
Because products could be produced in large quantities, a need for largescale distribution arose. Mail-order houses, department stores, and other