Theo chocolate case study
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The document discusses the principles and values that Theo Chocolate Company adheres to, emphasizing its commitment to fair trade, sustainability, and social justice as key factors for its success. It outlines potential growth opportunities through expanding to mainstream markets, enhancing brand awareness, and increasing distribution, suggesting that leadership should maintain its core values while exploring these avenues. Challenges in managing both B2C and B2B brands include balancing demand with production capacity, workforce issues, and differing focuses of brand strategy.
Theo chocolate case study
- 2. Question 1. Going forward, should Theo compromise the principles on which it build its reputation and value preposition? Can it be made profitable doing so? Answer The success pillar of Theo chocolate company is his principle which they are following. This is the first company which is using the main organic, having fair trade and bear to bar chocolate factory in us. Theo is fair trade certified by the IMO (institute for market ecology), a Swiss-based independent international agency that claims to inspect, certify and guarantee quality assurance for a wide variety of “eco-friendly” consumer products. The USP of this company is that Theo’s customers are committed to sustainability and social justice. They are willing to pay a premium for a product that doesn’t damage the environment, that is healthy to eat and that is just in dealings with farmers, farm workers and workers along the production/supply chain. For the workers at Theo chocolate in Seattle, it wasn’t just a job. They believed in The fair trade mission of the company. Theo chocolate’s states that its “fair Trade” practices include: Using only pure ingredients that are grown sustainably. They source ingredients locally whenever possible. Partnering with growers by ensuring they earn a living wage and have access to Education for their families. Honoring and respecting our employees and suppliers. This is possible due to the Unique fact that we control every step of our own manufacturing process. Using green energy sources to power our factory. So if Theo compromises these factors then it will decrease their brand value and ultimately it will be overall loss to company. So according to me he should not compromise these factors.
- 3. Question 2. Where do you think the opportunities for growth for the company lie? How do you analyze the option? Which would you choose? Answer Firstly the opportunities for the success of company’s lies on his segmentation i.e niche market, as they only targeted the young, well-educated and socially conscious population. The company should not only considered into niche market as it is not profitable but it has also target main stream and then might be the profit ratio will go high. Secondly the seasonal nature of chocolate. Large competitors shifted to high- margin health- based chocolate products by acquiring other niche/organic chocolate producers. Another thing they can do is that they can expand their distribution channels in the United States or in international market as like as Starbucks are doing and with the bigger market they can produce more and also price can be lowered. I would like to go through the decision of expanding my brand into the main stream with a new name/brand under the Theo chocolate company. Question 3.a) What should be the objectives for the Theo consumer brand over the next five years? Answer 3.a As the company is totally based upon his principles and following his mission. So , rooted in passion. Grounded in beliefs. Put into practice every day. It’s what makes Theo chocolate the best in the world. So their objectives should be They should be dedicated to using that knowledge, and that responsibility, is what drives them to do things differently, to help make the world a better place. They think about every choice they make, every action they take and how they will impact their interconnected world, developing new markets to drive production and sales over the next five years. Second objective should be to convert the current performance into desired performance. Theo should concentrate on spreading awareness of its brand by marketing their CSR activities
- 4. Theo chocolate should expands distribution nation and worldwide as they are going to expand to Canada company’s high-quality, ethically sourced products now available in all 50 US States and four Canadian provinces . They should launch various new chocolate bar series nationwide. They can also open their coffee cafes where they can provide variety of coffees and this will also work their own retailing stores. Even Theo was too small and not well known enough to attract class a food broker. So to have that they should expand and should get popularity so that they can generate profit from same class a food brokers. They should also change into main stream so that they can get more money from same product. Question 3.b) Based upon your choice above, how should Debra Music manage the consumer brand? What marketing and sales tactics should she employ to achieve these objectives? Answer 3.b First of all to manage the consumer brand, she has to more and more focus on the company’s main principles that’s their USP which provides the best value to the consumer and satisfy their need. She should expand the distribution and the availability of her product. Overall Theo has been very successfully driving sales through its factory store in Seattle.(store sales accounted for about 40% of Theo’s total revenues.) In order to build Theo’s brand awareness and develop new markets, Debra music should open retail stores in other major US. Cities, such as New York city and Chicago, using Seattle as a model. Debra music was VP sales and marketing she can manage their consumer brand by upgrading the product like they can produce flavors with wine or alcohol to attract consumers. And emphasizing more on health benefits of product in market can also provide them lead. She can use marketing 4 P’s Product: - expanding product line, capture all markets for chocolate buyers, and one market at time. Place: - expansion of distribution channel Price: - price can be lowered with bigger market. Promotion: - intensify marketing campaign.
- 5. They can also target chocolate influencer buyer consumer to increase their sales like hotels, restaurants beauty salons, spa, teens, and dermatologist. Beside this she can also improve the consumer brand by improving • • • • • • • • • • Taste Varity Price Unique flavors Availability Health benefits Packaging Melting temperature Brand image Package size Question 3.c) Should Debra Music attempt to build a B2B brand? Why? If so, how should she go about doing this? Answer 3.c Yes she should, as the chocolate market in America has huge potential so Debra music should attempt concentrating to build a b2b brand that can generate a big revenue for the company. She can also collaborate with other companies and retailers too that is purely b2b which can also increase their distribution and availability. The Theo brand has not been well known enough to attract "a" class brokers to open its new markets in the Midwest, the southwest and the south, so it's a good strategy for Theo to build a b2b brand in order to open new sales channels, such as supermarkets and big chain stores. A strong b2b brand will drive Theo’s sales and revenue. It’s good for Theo, especially when the Theo factory is not running at full capacity. As to how Ms. Music should go about building a b2b brand, building a strong b2c brand is the first step and will assist in achieving the ultimate goal of building a b2b brand. Some other strategies such as co-branding with supermarkets or private labelling should also be considered.
- 6. Question 3.d) What are the challenges Theo might face in managing brands in both the B2C and B2B spaces? Answer 3.d The challenges Theo might face in managing brands in both the b2c and b2b will be on increasing the more demand in future, lesser work force, poor staffing already is a problem. More demand might lead to more raw material input, more cost involved in production, lesser working capital leads to low supply. Even though both b2b and b2c are important, but, building a b2b brand is quite different from building a b2c brand. B2b brand mainly focus on services, channels and managing the products whereas building b2c brand focus more on packaging and marketing and people. But the most important thing is to always focus on the consumers’ needs and wants.