What Are The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Target Costing?

Chris is considering the production of a light beer for Mountain Man Brewing Company as a way to compensate for the recent decline in sales and increase in the market for light beer sales. How can the production of a light beer appeal to a younger demographic. What about their light beer will be different from competitors. How much is this new product going to cost and how will he go about launching the new product. How long is it going to take before the company begins to break even and then make a profit?

Brand plays a key role in the beer-purchasing process, along with taste, price, special occasion,

     In this paper I will be talking about the U.S. beer industry and in short an overview of the brewing industry worldwide. I will talk about the barriers to entry, economies of scale, government intervention, pricing, current market trends, product differentiation, and imports. The focus being mainly on the U.S. brewing industry oligopoly. The U.S. brewing industry has three major players: Anheuser-Busch, SAB Miller, and Coors/Molson. Anheuser-Busch is currently the largest brewer in the world, producing over 100 million barrels a year. Anheuser-Busch currently owns over 50% of the market in the United States, with Miller trailing behind at 20% and Coors at about 11% with the rest of the market occupied by imports and craft breweries. When analyzing any industry, how easy it is for newcomers to enter the market is a great importance. If there are high barriers to entry

Boston Beer Company (BBC) has enjoyed much success with their craft beers with Samuel Adams as their main focus. Being the leader of this segment, overtopping five of their competitors combined (Exhibit 1), the company now must decide how to take advantage of the light beer market. Boston Lightship, their current light beer, had been a small contributor in BBC’s product line. Currently, it is facing dwindling sales with product volumes down from 12 000 cases per month to 3000 cases per month.

According to Epstein and Buhovac, (2014), costing system is a process designed to monitor the costs incurred in a certain business. Costing systems are meant to advise the management on how to choose the most appropriate course of action with cost efficiency and capability. According to Cardinaels and Labro (2009) costing system provides detailed cost information needed by management needs to control current operations with the aim of improving the future. Below are some of the costing systems that are common to many organizations (Epstein & Buhovac, 2014).

Wholesale price per gallon for beers has been calculated on the basis of Study I and H. From Study H we learned that Coors beer is more expensive than the Miller, Miller Lite and Budweiser. From Study I we learned that Miller, Miller Lite and Budweiser is priced at US$ 3.29 per 6-pack and the somewhat more expensive beer Michelob is priced at US$ 3.68 per 6-pack.

The total product and per bottle cost under allocation based on direct-labor hours for Buffalo Ale, Bismark Bock and Four Heads Stout is $450.86 and $0.85, $347.79 and $0.91 and $369.96 and $0.86, respectively. Under activity based costing the total product and per bottle cost for Buffalo Ale, Bismark Bock and Four Heads Stout is $317.58 and $0.60, $615.5 and $1.6 and $379.29 and $0.88, respectively. Calculations can be found in Appendix A.

A price estimate of a 6-pack of bottle Coors beer today is $5.59, and using the Consumer Price Index for 1990 it was determined that a 6-pack of bottle Coors cost approximately $3.43 (see Appendix A-2). Using Study F Cost of Goods Sold is 77.1% of sales. The contribution margin was then calculated as 22.9%. Fixed costs summed up to be about $250,000 including salaries, equipment & land depreciation, utilities, insurance, taxes, maintenance and janitorial services, and other miscellaneous expenses. Break-even Sales computed from the aforementioned figures turns out to be $1,211,790.39 (see Appendix A-4). Variable Costs per unit were determined using the contribution margin and price variables, and the result came to $2.65 (see Appendix A-4). Break-even quantity then was calculated at around 320,513 units, or gallons in 1990 (see Appendix A-5). A 6-pack of bottle beers holds approximately 72 fluid ounces, this makes up about 0.5625 gallons resulting in a price of roughly $5.35 per gallon (see Appendix A-6). Projected demand of beer in 1990 in South Delaware is about 5,400,397 (see Appendix A-1) and the Coors estimated market share of this demand according to Study C is 8.9% which computes to 480,635 gallons, therefore projected sales of Coors in the 2 county South Delaware distribution area is around $2,573,404.10 in 1990 (see Appendix A-7). The break-even market share of Coors in the 2 county distribution area of

After analyzing the market size and having a better understanding of the competition, the next step was to decide if it would be profitable to become the distributor for Coors. In order to begin the analysis, selling price must be determined. To find selling price the team looked at the average 6-pack price wholesalers were selling to retailers, which ended up being $3.16, the prices used for the average were found in Table I. To determine the most feasible price for Coors to sell to retailers, analysis was performed on the average price of $3.16 as well as 5% below the average ($3.00) and 5% above the average ($3.31). Price per keg was determined using the information gathered from discussions with wholesalers. They said keg prices were 45% of 6-pack price per gallon (which is 177% more than the wholesaler price), making the average keg price per gallon $2.51. Since there are 15.5 gallons in a keg, the average keg price is $38.96.

Boston Beer, in response to consumers’ preference changes to more flavorful and bitter tasting brews, was founded in 1894. Boston Beer implements a “quality at any cost” strategy with a strong emphasis on product differentiation and implementing quality ingredients into its products. For instance, Boston Beer was the first company to employ a stamped freshness date on its bottles and ingredients are imported from around the world. Additionally, Boston Beer relies heavily on contract brewing to gain competitive advantages. Boston Beer’s contract brewing strategy results in lower overhead and transportation costs, as well as

Within the craft beer market, consumers have many products to chose. A product is anything offered within a market that which fulfills a want or need (Armstrong & Kotler, 2015). In 2012, over 1,750 breweries operated in the United States (U.S.), with over 1,920 the following year (Brewers,

Craft beer should not only be sold as premium beer among graduates and people with income of more than 75000 USD but also to people with moderate income.

Molson Coors ability to create loyal customers contributes to the company being one of the worlds largest brewery companies bringing in $5.6 billion a year in sales. The company employs 11,000 employees with 10 breweries in 3 different countries. Although the company only produces 40 brands of beer, two of them, Coors and Coors Light, were appointed top beer brands form the national customer loyalty study for three consecutive years. SABMiller, who acquired the Miller Brewing Company in 2002, produces over 200 beer brands and brews in over 60 countries. The company decided to specialize in premium brands of beer and were compensated in 2006 with a 19% increase in revenue. The company prides its self on emphasizng the fewer carbohydrates and better taste its line of beers has compared to its competitors. The company proves this with winning the Miller Light Taste Challeng, a point-of-sale taste test. Another competitor of Anheuser-Busch is Heineken NV. Heineken produces 170 beer brands and owns 115 breweries in 65 different countries with 65,648 employees. The company specializes in lagers, speciality beers, light beers, alcoholic-free beers, and soft drinks. Although competition with these companies is combative, Anheuser-Busch (ABI) continues to be the leader in brewery with higher revenues and net income. The company employs over 30,183 in 27 breweries compared to the industries average of 480

Although sales of premium brands have fallen in a steady response to the growing popularity of the craft beer. The industry revenue has been stable over the past 5 years. As a result, from 2011 to 2016 the industry revenue is expected an increase and growth annually at 6.7 percent over the five years,with a total of $39.5 billion . (IBISWorld iExpert) In the long-term, these numbers are expected that grow 0.9 percent annually within the next five years. The potential growth will be seen in the traditional and premium beer sector. As a response, the giant companies in the industry Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors look forward into the merges and acquisitions as a strategy to maintain market dominance. The strategy is based on the

Beer Company 2 is a brewer of “seasonal and year-round beers with smaller production volume and higher prices” that “outsources most of its brewing activity” (pg. 120). It is financially conservative, and has undergone a “major cost-savings initiative to counterbalance the recent surge in packaging and freight costs” (pg. 120).