Procedure Working - Organic Farming - Essay Example

? PEST Analysis Overview With the modernization taking over the world, every field of life has taken the toll of devastating human practices. Food industry forming the very soul of human business and survival antics has also suffered at the hands of industrialization. With the advent of modern era came the chemicals extremely harmful to both man and his environment. A few of them found their way into the agriculture and food industry to be used extensively in ways harmful to health. Artificial fertilizers are employed to help grow crops in less amount of time, to increase the yield and so on. Insecticides and pesticides are being sprayed extensively on crops without any notice and thus result in a number of medical problems. People suffer from digestion related issues, a number of carcinomas also take their origin from such chemically treated food products. As cited by Dich, Zahm, Hanberg and Adami (1997), arsenic being used in these chemicals has been labeled as the potential carcinogen for humans by International Agency of Research on Cancer. Not only have the crops taken the toll, but the animal husbandry and dairy farming has also been suffering from the consequences over the past few decades. In short there is a dire need for a drastic change that will rid the mankind of this curse of chemicals and artificial products and this is where companies like Eden Food step in. As the changing trends introduced to the modern customer the organic food products, a ray of hope was seen. Organic food according to FDA as cited by Food Marketing Institute (2012) can be defined by taking into consideration that the word organic does not simply refer to the food but also gives an indication as to how it has been produced. It must be noted that such food is different from natural food and also it must not be subject to any amount of irradiation whatsoever. Companies like Eden Food are a way out for the people seeking healthy, environment friendly food which is palatable too. As the awareness of the health conscious clientele is increasing, more questions arise and it becomes imperative for the industries and businesses to be more vigilant in their approach. Luckily enough Eden Foods has been able to cope up with the challenge it is made to face with and there have been introduced a wide variety of organic food products for the customers to choose from. With every passing day, the market for organic food and especially Eden Foods is growing by leaps and bounds. According to the Federal Marketing Institute as cited by Cook (2004), a study conducted in 2000 showed that the global market for organic food was at an estimated 20 million dollars with USA accounting for 39% of it. In short, with the ever increasing demand of a healthy living, the responsibility on the food industry increases manifold and there is a dire need placed in front of Eden Foods to match the demands of the customers if successful business is to be managed in the long run. Procedure working of the product chosen As has been the trend observed over the past several decades, the third world countries are introduced to a new product when some time has been elapsed after the introduction of the same product in the markets of the first world countries. On the same basic principle it has been observed that the trend of organic foods in the first world traces back to the 80s and 90s, whereas the poorer states of the world are now being introduced to this concept and it is comparatively novel for them. On the other hand, when the needs of the two groups of countries are compared, it is seen that the people residing in the third world countries are more in need of pure and healthy food free from contaminants and artificial chemicals. These people are faced with the problems of unhealthy and unsanitary drinking water and the living conditions in general are not as refined as in the first world states (Gadgil, 1998). For that matter, the whole chiaroscuro of unhealthy lifestyle is evident in the form of malnutrition, more gastro intestinal diseases (worldsavy.org 2009), short statures, nutritional deficiencies and a whole spectrum of a number of food-borne and water related diseases and illnesses (Welch, Graham 1999). On the other hand, these people are mostly ignorant of the problem they are faced with, most of them consuming such lethal food products while being kept in the dark about the drastic effects they cause on their mind and body. It is therefore a strong and vehement need of the hour for Eden Foods to spread awareness regarding this matter. As the awareness grows, so will the dependency on such food markets who introduce healthy organic food to the eager masses and thus promising a good market for Eden Foods. Developing countries provide a budding market for the organic agriculture and marketing (Scialabba 2000). In other words, if a company like Eden Foods is vigilant enough to not only market their product but also spread awareness and improve the knowledge of genera public regarding its benefits, a successful business venture can be set upon. This can ultimately lead to a huge amount of profit in the long run. As a new product is launched, its fame grows generally as time passes. Soon there is an increase in the number and spectrum of competitors and this puts a pressure on any industry to work yet more diligently to fulfill their cause. However, the pioneer industry gets an edge over the others coming later on and is also able to gain the trust of its clientele if managed in a proper strategic way. This is a very important factor that should be kept in mind by Eden Foods. As is the case with these under-developed nations, the scope and potential for export of organic food products is also very large (fao.org 1999).Therefore, it is extremely important to keep the entire scenario with all such aspects in mind before moving ahead. Organic food industry is a very promising market as far as the third world market is considered and if dealt with in a wise manner, it promises great success for Eden Foods. PEST Analysis Political Aspects Organic Farming and products have been a center of political debates in developed countries for long now. There has been a rapid increase in the level of acceptance that political setup has towards organic food in Europe (Michelsen 2002) while the concept is relatively new in developing countries. The strength of organic farming towards third worlds politics is that it can bring along new investment and new globalization concept to a developing country which is always productive for its growth. Eden Foods will not only develop a global market but will also stimulate a local investor to come up front and meet the demands of the people once they are well assured of the positive effects the company produce can have in the business of the local investor. This can be done by combining aspects of traditional social organization and modern capitalist enterprises such as that seen in the case of Indigenas de la Sierra Madre de Motozintla (ISMAM), Largest organic coffee producers (Nigh 2008). Such projects would also help the growth of a different kind of fertilizers and other products and hence making such countries political hub for investment and growth.  However, these political investments and mortification doesn't come by easy and they take a high price to cope this up with. There will be a huge shift from traditional farming methods leading to unemployment of workers and farmers related to this. Such things cannot be tolerated on political grounds since the governments are ultimately liable to people for what they do and such repercussions are hard to handle (Azadi 2009).  The political governments in third world countries are always in this need to matching up with the consumer demand and meeting their level of satisfaction. This gets to be difficult with rapid increase in population. Such demands can be fulfilled by organic farming which would leave more space for construction for government and increase land to deal with the problem of population explosion. Such is the waste opportunity of growth for organic products in these parts of the world. These also have limited resources and more problems and major part of budget for third world countries is still spent on health problems. Introducing and advertisement of organic food which improve the health status of people and save money for other projects that would turn out to be more important for government. On the other side, this market for Eden Foods would certainly have difficulty to meet up political problems like government instabilities in third world, lack of policy formation and policy implementation etc. Such issues can badly damage organic market since it needs proper long term strong policies for its growth. Economic aspect Organic farming has proved to be beneficial and economical sound according to several studies according and comparison of traditional agriculture methods and all this can not only change the whole economic dimension of the third world countries (Pimentel 2005). Not just for the country as a whole, it is very important for the farmer to increase the productivity by reducing the economic cost of his crops. There is an ever demanding approach towards increase yield by using sophisticated agricultural instruments which are not possible for majority of farmers of third world countries. Adoption new and modified organic methods, when used by local farmers and the companies can modify and improve the economic status of the local farmers producing this at local level increasing the economic productivity of the country (Sartori 2005). Furthermore, organic food industries like Eden Foods would also increase the economic stability since there is decrease per area cost and ultimately equal or even increase per area yield. This ratio is even more increasing and improving with rapid increase in research and development in this field (Francis 2005). In the current market scenario, the organic food and market are earning more profit than traditional farming and would increase the stock value of these products in longer run (Dimitr 2000). However, conversion to organic food would require a complete transition from traditional methods of farming which would be difficult for a large number of farmers on economic grounds.  Economic conversion potential (ECP) is not feasible for all farms and its output and productivity depends to a great extends on the basis of farm type and particular character of a farm. This would means the loss of living source for a large number of farmers and putting their personal economic stability will greatly be hampered and considering the economic state of developing countries, the government would be able to help them either. Moreover, there are high risks and liquidity problems during the period of transition from tradition growth of crops to organic food (Kerselaers 2007). This would make this concept a high risk investment in third world countries. Some people also argue that even if the principle of organic food might sound right but it would still be difficult to think about a transformation towards organic food since this would create a wide gap before demand and supply and the consumers will have to face difficulty in first few years of this transformation (Darnhofer 2009). Considering the economic strength that has been mentioned above, there is very strong opportunity for the growth of organic food and products for Eden Foods in local market and when supported by proper marketing. There is complete lack of proper organic food introduction in third world countries in status-co and so there is this huge room for growth without local competition initially. However, this can get weak if it gets repercussion from local traditional markets especially from those third world countries that have their economy dependent on agriculture and also for people related to this profession.    Social Aspects          This has been the main concern and the issue of debate between organic food and traditional food that has been going on in third world countries. One of the biggest advantages that organic food brings is the environment and health benefits to the consumer. Organic food not just only increases yield for many crops but will also reduce the energy consumption. There would be a whole lot of diversity in flower, insect and bird population along with the stronger and better field management (Stockdale et al. 2001). Organic farming and organic food industry promotes the ides of sustainable consumption in such markets thus providing a resourceful opportunity to the country (Seyfang 2006). But this alternate method of greener economics comes hand in hand with the concept of ecological citizenship. It has been seen that by consuming local organic food, the idea of organic farming and food industry can further be strengthened in the minds of the local population. Keeping in mind the broader aspects of organic farming and selling these products, Eden Foods can provide a number of job opportunities can to the local people (D’Amario et al. 2005). It should be noted that by employing the local people in the manufacturing and packaging of organic food products, employment opportunities can be provided to the people of third world countries (Zander, Hamm 2010). It will help improve the image and attract more market for the company. Not only this but also Eden Foods can collaborate with the local food companies and food chains, thus becoming a source of income for such local and small scaled businesses. The company can be a source of social cohesion for the local communities (Mosesorganic.org 2008). In all the settings, health is the major concern of the communities (Zanoli, Naspetti 2011), this should be kept in mind and used in a positive approach to expand the horizon for Eden Foods. By employing strategies focusing on promoting good health and environmental sustainability, Eden Foods can progress in a social setup. On the other hand, keeping in mind the SWOT strategy of analysis, there comes the problem of certain weaknesses as far as the social context is concerned. Being a foreign company, Eden Foods are faced with a giant obstacle that they have to overcome before venturing successfully in the third world states. Due to comparative ignorance in the matter of organic marketing, it becomes a major part of the whole plan to first introduce this novel concept and help the people understand the importance of good, healthy organic food. Keeping in mind the opportunities this business can provide, as mentioned earlier, a number of jobs can be offered and economic strengthening can be guaranteed to the general public. Torjusen, Kj?rnes and Jensen (2005) express their concern that while marketing organic food in a community it is to be noted that the consumers choose their food by focusing on the products that appeal to their nature and preferences. It is therefore important that Eden Foods should first get firsthand knowledge of the food preferences and the palatal choices of a local community before venturing out to sell their produce in the third world states. Technical Aspects While it is important to keep in mind the political, social and economic aspects of organic food marketing, it is equally vital to consider and bring to notice the technical aspects of the marketing policy while introducing a product in the third world countries. The way and mode of approach to the people determines the success rate of a product after its launch. Since the targeted market is lacking in well-established organic food base, it is imperative and unavoidable for Eden Foods to be very vigilant and careful in their strategic planning. The formation of a sound business and marketing base is not an easy task but rather a cumbersome one with a great chance of failure if laxity is shown. For this matter, Siderer, Maquet, Anklam 92005) are of the opinion that research is needed before practically launching the product. Moreover, according to them, a sound marketing and strategic planning should be done along with other steps to finalize the product launch and marketing. According to Achilleas and Anastasios (2008) quality assurance forms the basis of a successful marketing plan. It should be guaranteed by Eden Foods that their clientele is being provided with fresh and healthy product free from impurities and that the organic food is the purest available. With better quality conformance, it is ensured to Eden Foods that the product sales would be good and yield will increase. Cost of production appears to be high worldwide for organic foods, for this matter the number of consumers of organic products is comparatively low as compared to those of normal food products. Not only this but also the processing and distribution of such food items have also left a dent as far as the product sales are concerned. It is not easy for every person to consume healthy food owing to these obstacles in the way. Eden Foods while venturing in the poorer countries must keep in mind these factors and make plans to bring the cost of the entire procedure within a reasonable range. Only in this way can they achieve profit in this market. Several steps can be taken to achieve these targets. By incorporating the local hands in the process of food production, agricultural process, Eden Foods can cut back the cost of production. Studying the various aspects of local agriculture and keeping in mind the potential local factors, be them environmental, cultural or any other, effective and economic-friendly produce can be obtained. Moreover, collaboration with the local businesses can be done to achieve the common goal of healthy food consumption and pollution free food for the local people. Profit can further be made by wise thinking on part of the team of Eden Foods and exports can be included in the action plan at some later stage when a firm base has been achieved. Conclusion In the context of this business strategy document, PEST and SWOT analysis have been used to help focus on the vital points that may help Eden Foods to market their organic food products in third world countries. These poorer countries provide a promising future for Agro-Food industries like Eden Foods. Through proper strategic planning and implementation of their marketing plan, people at Eden Foods can set up a sound base in these states. For this matter, a number of actions need to be taken starting from research into the local food practices, prospect of organic agriculture and marketing, preferences of the local people and so on. Moving onwards, a sound business plan needs to be formed by taking into consideration the PEST analysis thus focusing on the political, economic, social and technical aspects of such a business venture. Not only this, but it is also important for Eden Foods to ponder on the SWOT analysis results thus balancing the pros and cons. Later on through proper action plans, collaboration with local businesses and attractive advertising Eden Foods can ensure for themselves a glowing market and a bright future in the underprivileged countries of the world. 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