Kudler Fine Foods Case Study

Best operating level is the volume of output at which average unit cost is minimized.

Answer: Capacity is the maximum rate of output of a process or a system. And utilization is measured as the ratio of average output rate to maximum capacity. In Southwest, capacity can be measured in available seat-miles (AMS) pre month. Therefore, utilization can be measured as the ratio of average seat-mile rate to maximum

convey the information to the sales and marketing division to provide an opportunity to plan future marketing strategy. The ability for Kudler Fine Food to expand its business is part of the successful implementation plan with the potential of adding software and hardware as the need arises.

Kudler Fine Foods has no direct competition with other gourmet grocery stores in their current locations. Kathy chose the locations for this reason and for their accessibility to KFF’s target high income consumers. KFF has been emphasizing direct mail promotions to high income zip codes, word-of-mouth advertising via satisfied customers, and personal sales promotions both in-store and at various community events.

Kudler Fine Foods would need to first analyze their current situation. This would need to incorporate the owner and managers to get an accurate analysis. Some of the items that might want to be evaluated are financial statements, strengths and weaknesses of products, major competitors, outside threats (demographics, economic trends, and customers), and any other items that may present themselves (MacVicar, 1996).

Trader Joe’s is a leading firm that is taking over the supermarket industry. The company completely altered the idea of a traditional supermarket and turned it into a whole new experience for consumers. Through Trader Joe’s strategic planning, they’ve paved a way for consumers to have high-quality products while paying low prices. Trader Joe’s provides fewer products that are health-conscious, unique and privately labeled. Trader Joe’s has utilized this, secrecy, employee job satisfaction, culture and starting trends to its advantage. Within its industry companies are divided into different strategic groups. Aldi, similar Trader Joe’s strategic planning, is apart of the cultured-discount neighborhood market. This firm continues the low-stock, less-waste, small store, and low price method. A Walmart express used a hybrid strategy that made it a cross between a grocery, pharmacy, and convenience store. Tesco is the third that falls with small neighborhood markets strategy and focused on organic products, similar to Trader Joe’s. As the company grows and expands, there is caution in change of Trader Joe’s processes. With growth, there comes new management and employees which can alter the way a specific store is ran and there is worry of change in the stores normal procedures. Change that doesn’t follow the process could ultimately result in a downfall, so this can be considered a key challenge to watch in the future. Increased bureaucracy is additionally a

Kudler role is an oversee of Brenda Wagner the directors of administration and human resources. Mrs. Wagner is responsible for developing policies while directing and coordinating administrative and human resources activities, such as employment, compensation, labor relations, benefits, training, and employee services (University of Phoenix, 2004). Brenda Wagner duties involves working with Harvey Stephens to analyze wages and salary reports to determine competitive compensation rates. Harvey Stephens is also responsible for the financial management, developing, and implementing goals, priorities, policies and procedures related to Kudler Fine Foods.

Kathy Kudler owner and founder of Kudler Fine Foods is looking to expand her company and market her products to new prospective clients, along with improving her services to her current clientele. Since the opening day of Kudler Fine Foods in June 1998 the business has become sustainable and profitable.

The intent behind the development of Kudler Fine Foods Frequent Buyer Program is to increase the level of customer loyalty. The system will be broken down into two different levels; the frequency of a buyers shopping with Kudler Fine Foods and the amount of money that the buyer spends with each purchase. A program like this is typically used as a marketing strategy that is “enabled by point-of-sale technology to record and store customer purchases in exchange for rewards’ (Appel, p. 156, 2006). A web-based shopping program will be used to enhance the Frequent Buyer Program for Kudler Fine Foods.

By observing the purchases made by the customers, and examine the contracts with the distributors, Kudler Fine Foods could cut down on the frequent ordering of products, giving Kathy more time to concentrate on other functions of the business.

Kudler Fine Foods has continued to grow and is now poised to make significant internal changes to increase revenue and customer satisfaction. Kudler Fine Foods is a gourmet grocery store and recent market surveys have shown they have continued to exceed customer 's satisfaction in every area except one: the cost of merchandise. By exploring ways to reduce costs Kudler Fine Foods will experience an increase in customer satisfaction.

Kudler is planning to have an annual revenue increase by 5% within 12 months breaking it down to four categories. A quarter percent gain is anticipated in the projects launch as well as the training of employees’. Profits will increase by a half of a percent during the assessment and alteration of the project with the promotion of the Frequent Shopper Program taking place at this time as well. In each phase of the development customer satisfaction will increase so will revenue, which will lead to an overall increase of 4.75% (Kudler Fine Foods. (2004). Apollo.).

Though Kudler researched and found the most helpful, experienced and knowledgeable workers that will provide all their customers with the very best shopping experience, they still need to market research to compete with other upscale specialty foor stores. They have to market themselves even more now because there is a demand for their stores. A company can not just have a couple stores with demands from customers of more of what they supply. They have to expand the company. Mor market research has to be performed to know where new Kudler stores can be placed. The four locations they have now are not enough. The company needs to branch out and show the world what they are missing. The finest foods, wines, and spirits are all products Kudler have to offer to the world. They need to research upscale areas all over the world and set up trial locations to do group tests. This will give them feedback if they like their products and services they offer like the classes and wine steward assistance. They will be able to pinpoint the areas they want to set up test stores and see if they

This paper presents an analysis of the market structures, strategic planning, market environment, and internal environment of Kudler Fine Food in order to suggest the best market structure which can be helpful for its long-term profitability and recommend strategies which can make it more competitive and successful among its industry rivals.

The liquidity, profitability, and solvency ratios reveal some interesting points about Kudler Fine Food’s financial position. The liquidity ratios revealed that during 2002 and 2003, Kudler was having no trouble paying short-term debt. However, the current and acid-test (quick) ratios showed that during 2003 Kudler had an excess amount of cash that they were not investing properly. These ratios also showed that Kudler was collecting receivables and selling average inventory very quickly. The profitability ratios revealed that during 2002 and 2003, Kudler was using assets efficiently and making a decent profit. The profit margin ratio