Characteristics of the Market Essay

a. National market Processing the small specialty foods with a broad product line and sales of $300 million per year which a food brokers represent the company to the retail food chains by the network. This company more focused on ethnic food specialties which including salad dressings, sauces for Italian pasta and condiments such as specialties pickles. b. Two plants produced product One in the Central Valley of California at Fresno and the other in Illinois south of Chicago which they buy the ingredients from other foods suppliers to avoid the peak seasonal characteristics encountered by food packers. The company production has take place in large quantities to maintain low production costs and assure consistent product quality. c. Generally order on small quantity Company has ordered from supplier amounting to five to six cases per order only or about 150 to 200 pounds at a time. d. Poor delivery However, customers have commented that the company have a poor delivery services because of many of ingredients are shipped over long distances and it has depending on the season. e. Two major department management This is include the Marketing and Sales and also has Production department and several staff units for personnel, purchasing and finance. Both of departments are responsible for marketing the product lines such promotion, product inventory at the public warehouses, providing sales support and also merchandising. There is also a national sales manager who responsibility for maintaining contact with food brokers, coordinating public warehouses and arrange for delivery 1) Case Summary (What’s the issue?) Horizon Foods Corporation (hereafter â€Å"Horizon†) is a still-growing, nationwide foods organization that is widely known for its high quality products. With $300 million sales each year, the firm has been relatively successful so far, gaining good reputation and arousing much interest of the public through its brokers and local retailers. However, as the company prospers and customers demand more, Horizon foresees a coming crisis. The distribution issue, which the company has faced for a while, is now causing stock-outs, and increasing competition in the market is threatening the company’s market share. Authorities involved fail to scrutinize the issue and its cause, and they are eager to blame each other for the problems. The division of labor between two major departments – Marketing and Sales, and Production – seems to need a complete rearrangement for a more efficient process. Horizon should also analyze its current brand positioning in the market and rework its strategies if needed. 2) Q1. What are the characteristics of the market served by the Horizon Foods Corporation? Horizon is a specialty foods processor. It has served a national market composed of food brokers who represent retail store chains. The food brokers make orders to Horizon. Generally, the orders are small. The production is done in two different plants thanks to the ingredients from some food suppliers. The plants are located in agricultural areas to reduce the cost of transportation. Moreover, Horizon produces in large quantities, and the food produced is very good in quality. The production is dispatched to several public warehouses. Then, these warehouses use contract carriers to deliver the products to the customers. Because of the small orders, the transportation cost to retail stores can be high. The market is very competitive since many of Horizon’s food competitors also offer a complete production line