Roger's Chocolate

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

At Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker, Jim Harris was the COO (chief operation officer) and was with the company for about 18 months and was observing the increased demand for their chocolate. “America’s finest dark chocolate” company wanted to increase production by equipping factories with new machineries and equipment but did not want any difference in the taste of the chocolates they produced. As the company totally agrees on not compromising the taste of chocolates and increase the production in order to meet the rising demand for their chocolates they should probably get into customizing chocolates blend for the mass-market retailer in order to grab huge market share, increase accessibility of the chocolate to customers and provide variety of choice to the customers by maintaining the taste they are known for. As the demand is increasing from 50%, 100%, to 150% by the start of 2006, Harris has to make a significant decision in order to invest Scharffen’s capital budget in expansion of the Company. Harris is recommended to acquire the required machinery in order to fasten the production and increase the capacity of the plant and should be careful about the quantity to be produced as the acquiring of machinery will increase productivity multiple times but the initial demand for

The transportation cost of chocolate was high and small mom and pop stores commonly supplied chocolate made locally. Today you would be hard-pressed to find local chocolate in the United States, with the shelves dominated by four major brands. The

Moreover, consumers and employees are also demanding chocolate companies to follow good corporate social responsibility practices in addressing the environmental concerns in terms of how to design its packaging, procurement and operational decisions. Human rights concerns are also high in terms of consumer expectations of chocolate companies with respect of forced child labour in West Africa. All of these driving forces - societal concerns, attitudes and change in lifestyles, are strong enough to shape up the competition and impose the constraint on chocolate industry profitability and competitive survival.

For over one hundred years, there has been only one company that has been on top of the candy industry in North America; Hershey. With over 14,000 employees, serving 70 countries worldwide and net sales of $6.6 billon, Hershey has come out on top. The Hershey company began in 1894 by Milton Hershey. The company has over 8 factories, but their main headquarters resides in Pennsylvania. The beloved Hershey milk chocolate bar has been a favorite by many, but would it still be if more people knew how it came to be that? One of chocolates main ingredients is cocoa. Cocoa, or cocoa beans come from tropical areas around the world, but is mostly found on the Ivory Coast in West Africa. Hershey, along with Mars and Nestle are the three major companies that buy their cocoa from West Africa, but with further investigation, it has been known that over 4,400 children work on those cocoa farms that they buy from.

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

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.

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 Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker is experiencing an exponential year over year growth rate of their premium product. This is a situation that all new businesses strive for and although Scharffen Berger is pleased with their growth, they are facing a potential dilemma. The company must consider how they will keep up with growing demand while having enough capacity to handle the increase in production and maintain their high quality standards.

From the standpoint of the original Hershey milk chocolate bar, Milton Hershey is the original creator of developing an efficient chocolate manufacturing process during the late 1800s. Milton Hershey developed a method to produce chocolate that tasted delicious, could be created in bulk, and sold to consumers at competitively affordable price. This process begins with obtaining ingredients used to create a chocolate base. Though Hershey’s main factory is in Pennsylvania, the cacao bean is the main ingredient used that needs to be imported outside of the United States. The cacao beans from cacao trees only thrive in tropical climates. These trees grow in tropical rain forests of Brazil and Indonesia. Once the trees produce a significant amount of cacao beans, Hershey hires farmers to pick the cacao beans off of trees. When

-No barrier to entry because it is very easy for new firms to enter into the business of producing premium chocolates

By October 2012, it had been over 15 months since Apollo Foods, a global consumer packaged-goods firm, had obtained the rights to distribute the well-known European chocolate company, Montreaux, in the United States. Andrea Torres, the director of new product development at Montreaux Chocolate USA, is presented with the

Askinosie Chocolate was established by Shawn Askinosie in 2005. Askinosie was then a practicing criminal defense lawyer for twenty years in Springfield, Missouri. He left his job and used his lawyer skills to learn all that he could about chocolate: where it originated in the botanical, historical, and cultural sense; how it’s made; and how to use all its properties to produce something that people would love. Askinosie visited many places in the different continents just so he can learn the proper techniques that would influence the flavor of his finished products (“An Ozark’s Sunrise”). Askinosie started small, building the company from scratch. Now, Askinosie Chocolate, with only seventeen employees, earns up to two million dollars in revenues and is named by Forbes as one of America’s 25 best small companies (“Small Giants: America’s Best Small Companies”).

After a thorough analysis of Apollo Foods business situation, a decision plan regarding the launch of a new chocolate product for its new branch acquisition Montreaux Chocolate USA has become clear. This decision plan is based on the following key challenges and marketing issues that need to be addressed. These challenges and marketing issues can be best summed up by a decision on what brand the product will be home to, whom the product will be marketed to, the ingredients and formulation of the product, the packaging of the product, can the product perform well enough in a sales forecast plan to exceed a $30 million dollar hurdle rate, and finally to launch or to test market the product. After reviewing Apollo Food’s data, their market research findings, and sales forecasts. A decision plan that addresses all of the key issues and marketing points has been created and will be

Cadbury Schweppes was a global force in chocolate and sugar confectionary, had plants in 25 countries and sold products in more than 170 countries. The company defended its position with many power brands, like Lion for instance. In 1996 the company had two major objectives: to grow internationally and to get bigger. For example, the confectionary branch’s goal was to sell 1 million tons of consumption by the year 2000.