Here's how Healthy Foods could solve some of its marketing and business-related problems:
Notes on Healthy Foods Inc.
“We
will can or freeze any vegetable or fruit we think consumers might want.”Policy
that stores must carry all 65 products if they want to carry one.
(line-forcing policy)Accountant
became president.Sales
VP: “It’s not our fault.” – problem started in 70s.Considered
trying new inventive products but never did because of low volume sales
potential and high new product development costs.To try
to fix company, Don Warren focused on low profits.Only
recently broke away from parent company – still follows same general
principles.Spend
lots on advertising like all major canned goods suppliers.Price
per can from manufacturers is set by chain stores as well as the retail
price.
Ideas about case
Healthy
Foods, Inc. needs to focus on what the consumers want rather than just
what they think will produce a high sales volume. This is the reason why
other companies have introduced other items such as frozen dinners and
gourmet veggies.Line-forcing
policy excludes the market of smaller stores. Basically all of these
customers become a dead-weight loss that could be turned into a profit.
Many small stores could still add up to extra profit.The
Sales VP claims the problem happened in the 70s, but there is obviously
poor communication within the company – the managers need to work together
better to improve anything.Need
to be willing to front R&D costs to introduce new products, etc. The
number of suppliers in this market is too large to gain buyer loyalty.Should
spend less money on advertising (since customers mostly ignore it) and
invest in facilities, etc. to lower future production costs.
Should restructure the company as a “new” company with
its own principles instead of following the ways of the parent company. What
works best for the parent may not be best for the child.