Business_Marketing

Kudler Fine Foods Market Research MKT/421 July 5, 2012 Robert Spotswood Kudler Fine Foods Market Research Kudler Fine Foods is a food store specializing in the specialty foods market. They have three stores that are located just north of San Diego California along the sandy Californian coast. Krudler concentrates on a fine selection of bakery and pastry products, fresh produce, fresh meat and seafood, condiments and packaged food, and cheese and specialty dairy products. They boast on their company website having “the very best domestic and imported fare.” The founder of Kudler Fine Foods is Kathy Kudler who, before opening her own business was the marketing vice-president for a large defense contractor. Soon after Kathy created her business plan in 1998 the first Kudler Fine Foods opened in La Jolla California and two more in Del Mar, and Encinitas shortly after. This growing business has been founded on a firm and sound bedrock of understanding of the market it is currently sitting on. However there are always ways to improve on a good thing to make it a great thing. This paper will discuss some of the areas where additional market research is needed at Kudler Fine Foods as well as analyze the importance of competitive intelligence and analysis regarding the development of the company. First there are many good things one sees when looking at the company website. One notices that there is a page for customers to take a survey of how they feel about the company and what kind of service and quality of food they felt they were getting. This, while a good idea, may not be enough and may be an excellent way for the company to gather more market research from the consumers of their product. This will also be a way for Kudler to track how well any of the marketing tactics it may want to implement are working. One tactic that would seem to work swimmingly for a fine foods establishment such as Kudler would be the introduction of the notion of the health food trend. Consumers nowadays are becoming increasingly aware of how and in what manner their food is picked, shipped, and prepared. A growing number of Americans are opting for what they perceive to be the healthier choice in foods, often paying more for what is essentially the same product. Kudler may be able to capitalize on this trend by introducing and heavily marketing organic food products to their customers. The food that Kudler sells as it stands is already a premium product with a premium cost. And in America the thought is if it cost more it’s usually better for you. Kudler could use this to their advantage by listing certain nutrition facts along with the food items either on the company website or the menu itself comparing the Kudler food products to other less healthy, less expensive products. This will give the customer a sense of value in the product letting them know that they are paying extra for the quality and the healthiness of the food. Another plan that might work well with the company would be in-store events. These kinds of events could be used alongside the organic and health food movement to gain awareness and introduce new products to their customers. Having such events in the store and perhaps parking lot not only generate more sales for the company but also give a tremendous opportunity to gain loyalty within the community and create a customer fan base that Kudler will be able to count on. As of today Kudler has a loyalty program in the works that would help facilitate this fan base as well. Another aspect of such a flashy event would be to provide customer feedback. Just like the online survey on the company website Kudler could at these events give customers small prizes or promotional coupons for filling out a short survey and sharing their thoughts on the company. Kudler as a chain of three stores in doing well enough, however there is another aspect of the sale of fine foods that they seem to be missing at that is catering. Many companies that are simply just restaurants supplement the income that they might be receiving from only walk in customers with a catering service that serves primarily the same food. Kudler would have to employ the use of an enhanced online survey and the in-store event to provide them with certain data to help them proceed. Such data that might be helpful would be customer’s favorite items from the menu in each category, customer’s favorite items to purchase, and which items are the most money making items that are currently sold and also relatively easy to convert to a catering concept. Kudler must also be aware of competitive intelligence when enacting these strategies. Competitive intelligence is defined as “[a] systematic and ethical program for gathering, analyzing, and managing external information that can affect your company's plans, decisions, and operations” (Mirum, 2011). What this means is that Kudler as a company must have a way of enhancing the company through a substantial understanding of its rivals and the competitive marketplace. Kudler must to research on any and all fine food institutions in the area that might compete with their business and potentially take away their customers. This does not mean to gather dirt to run a political smear campaign against Kudler’s competitors. A key word in the definition of competitive intelligence is “ethical”; any program implemented must be an ethical one. This will help the company in more ways than one. It will help Kudler to stay on top of the competition by tracking what items the competitors are selling most. It will also keep an eye out for any threat or smear campaigns that may be coming Kudler’s way by some shady company. Finally it will help spot trends in the marketplace that may not have been visible to the company if competitive intelligence was not applied. These are tactics that would and can work for the majority of companies whether they are small mom and pop stores such as Kudler or gigantic conglomerates. With the help of these techniques Kudler Fine Foods should be able to grow from a financially successful company into a multi-million dollar business with many more than just three stores in the San Diego area. References Mirum. (2011). Competitive Intelligence. Retrieved from http://competitive-intelligence.mirum.net/business-intelligence/definition-competitive-intelligence.html Univerity of Phoenix Virtual Organizations. (2011). Kudler Fine Foods. Retrieved from https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/cist/vop/Business/Kudler2/internet/index.asp