Marketing

Marketing MMPBL502 – Rick Johnson University of Phoenix March 6, 2011 Marketing Introduction Kudler Fine Foods opened their first store on June 18, 1998 by the founder Kathy Kudler. She decided to change careers from being Vice-President of Marketing for a large defense contractor to opening up an up scale grocery store. They carry a specialty selection of bakery and pastry products, fresh produce, fresh meats and seafood, condiments and pre packaged foods, and cheese and specialty dairy products. In this paper we will discuss some of the marketing business aspects of Kudlers Fine Foods trying to branch out into catering. This will cover the three main pieces of marketing research and the marketing mix, which covers product, place, price, and promotion. We will also need to determine what types of products should be offered. It will also be important to be able to compete with other catering companies in the area. We also need to establish the places that will be covered to be able to be catered. Getting the Kudlers Fine Foods catering services name into the catering market will need to be made into a strategy. Also they technology that is needed to make this possible. We will need to go over the pro and cons of utilizing the local organic farmers. Before we can discuss the marketing strategy we must first define what marketing means. Marketing is defined by business dictionary.com as, “The management process through which goods and services move from concept to the customer.” The first thing that we will need to discuss is the three pieces of marketing research, according to the Marketing textbook they are defined as “Specifying Constraints- The constraints in a decision are the restrictions placed on potential solutions to a problem. Identifying data needed for marketing action- Often marketing research studies wind up collecting a lot of that are interesting but irrelevant for marketing decisions that result into marketing actions. The data should be able to provide manager with information that allows them to make clear choice of action to take for their product. Determine how to collect data- Determining how to collect useful marketing research data is often as important as actually collecting the data. The two key elements in deciding how to collect data are concept and method. Concepts are ideas about a product or service. To find out about consumer reaction to a potential new product, marketing researchers frequently developed a new product concept, that is, a picture or verbal description of a product or service the firm might offer for sale. Methods are the approaches that can be used to collect to solve all or part of a problem." Before Kudler fine foods has the opportunity to start their catering business they need to come up with the marketing mix, which covers product, place, price, and promotion. This will help to ensure that this will be the right course for Kulder Fine Foods to take. The products that will be offered will a an arrangement of many types of totally organic meals. There will certain packages that will be available, such as certain Cultural diverse foods. This would include Kosher menu, a Vegan Menu, and of course a plan menu. The venue will be where ever the client would like this to be set up. The ideal place would be setting this up in a conference room or banquet hall setting when having to set up a bigger party. Smaller party will be available to be done at more personal venue such as homes. The prices will be based on what the customer would like served at their event. There will be certain promotion available during the holiday seasons, such as Easter, Valentines, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Having a very successful up scale grocery store Kudler Fine Foods catering business should be no different from the store. Having a very diverse menu will help differentiate from other catering companies. Being a grocery helps when trying to make sure the ingredients are always available. An example of this would be if there is to be prime rib roast having a meat department will help make sure that they only receive the best cut especially when the catering business is the one that is supplying all the ingredients. Making sure everything is totally organic will also give the extra incentive to choice Kudler Fine Foods catering service. Coming into a market that is very competitive it is important for them to be able to compete. Many of the top catering agents charge about fifteen dollars person. Being able to supply it’s own ingredient means that they are able to get it at the wholesale price. That means that it will cost less for Kudler Fine Foods to be able to provide the top fine foods available. Being able to provide totally organic foods from local farmers will also ensure the freshness of the ingredients. When a client ask where did the ingredients came from Kudler Fine Foods will be able say from the organic farm not too far from here. That will win a lot cliental to choose our catering. Since the ingredient to all of the menu are being purchases wholesale the prices will be a little bit lower then the normal caterer. The average price per persons will be around ten dollar per plate on the average menu. The price for more specialty menu will be based off the price of the ingredients. Many caterers have their own venues where the clients can rent for larger events, such as weddings and anniversaries. Being a catering business there is going to have to be the ability to set up anywhere and make it look and taste great. Where ever the customers needs to be that is where it will be set up. For larger events it will be best for a larger venue to be the place for the it or there might not be enough room to set everything up. Having an event coordinator working with Kudler Fine Food to help with the catering will help ensure that everything goes smoothly. It will also be helpful to the clients to have a list of places that will have the adequate space needed for the event. If the event is going to be something smaller, such as a birthday or a baby shower. These will be able to be set up at smaller more persons venues like the clients home or even church. Opening a catering company is the easy part, which leaves the hard part of actually getting Kudler Fine Foods Catering name out there. The best way to promote is during big event where many catering companies have a chance to show off their menus. That would be a great way to get peoples attention with an all organic menu. Another great way to get their name out would be and any event that has to do with children and babies, such as children’s consignment sale where many new parents might be looking for caters to cater their baby shower. Putting an ad in the local paper with a coupon will also help get the name out to the people who are looking for a caterer. Being able to keep the food hot and fresh will take some of the newest technological cookers and warmers available. Some food will need to be prepared on site where the even will be. Not sure if the equipment needed will be a problem, especially when some items will not have the right taste if prepared before hand, such as friend stuffed mushrooms. Cooked fresh will be crisp and light if cooked fresh, but will be soggy and oily if cooked before hand. It will also be hard to know when the people will actually start eating the food prepared. Other items such as mash potatoes or macaroni and cheese will be able to be made before the event. Deciding to go with an organic grower will be one of the biggest ways to help attract clients. Some of the pro will be the ability to say that they items are the freshest available anywhere. Most are shipped from many miles away in a special bag that has something in it to help keep the product fresh. Taking that out will ensure that it is really fresh. One of the cons is that it might not be easy to obtain the needed ingredients all the time due to the seasons. During the summer strawberries will be available, but during the winter they will not be as available. Not having the needed ingredients would be the only con I can see in making the decisions to go organic or not. In conclusion, Kudler Fine Foods seems to be continually succeeding and growing. Opening a catering business will just continue the success by broadening their business into a different market. It is important to thinking about the marking mix to ensure that this will be the best market to go into. Being able to supply the ingredient to their own catering will cut the cost by being able to purchase wholesale. Having the ability to be versatile to be able to cater where, and being able to provide the proper venue will also make the clients life easier. Being able to prepare some of the items on site will help to ensure that the items are at their freshest. Having the technology to be able to cook onsite will help keep everything to go smoother for the caterer and the client. Going through these steps will help make the decision to go with the catering a bit easier. References Gomez-Mejia, Luis R. & Balkin, David B. (2002). Management. New York: McGraw-Hill Company The Advantages of Organic Food http://www.organicfoodinfo.net/ Aquilano, Nicholas J., Chase, Richard B., and Jacobs F. Robert. Operations Management for Competitive Advantage, 11th ed. New York. McGraw - Hill Company Kerin, R.A., Hartley, S.W., Berkowitz, E.N., Rudelius, W. (2006) Marketing. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies