Opportunities for Food Company to Develop Healthier Eating Products - Assignment Example

Teacher’s Opportunities for Food Company to Develop Healthier Eating Products Introduction The aim of this study is to identify specific opportunities and mechanisms to develop or re-launch products for the healthy eating market through a sound theoretical framework. The framework identifies a research direction that highlights some basic dimensions that form up a testable hypothesis. The study would explore these trends and recommendations further through tailored research into the healthy eating market. The research would collect data through case studies and interviews to effectively analyze it further through cross-case search for patterns and coding is chosen as the analysis technique. Background With growing efforts by the government and a high level of media interventions, the arena of healthy foods is becoming an important side for the research day by day. Not only that, but it is also becoming an increasingly important factor for the consumer as well as the retailers. This movement has thus worked as an advantage for the food manufacturers and processors as the demand in the product areas such as organic, vegetarian, and low-fat/low-sugar foods has increased to a great extent. In the recent years, there has been a change in the mind-set of the manufacturers and processors in dealing with the demand generated for these products and the need to develop new and innovative ways before-hand. Nowadays, these manufacturers and processors are becoming more and more proactive in dealing with these issues. The reasons for such a shift can be attributed from various reasons. To begin with, it has been realized that there has been an increase in the amount of disbelief by the consumers over the current health claims presented by the manufacturers. This means, that the consumers are now deciding for themselves; the market has now presented the manufacturers with various dimensions to market themselves to as the market has now segmented to those who fall to such claims generated by the manufacturers and those who do not. Evidently it has also been observed that there has been an increase in the overall rate of consumers who are likely to read the labeled ingredients as compared to previous years. Other than that, it has also been observed that since lifestyles of each age group have now changed, there has been a decline in the formal lunch times which has, hence, increased in snack food market; for instance day time is spent on the office desk and night time is spent playing games (case study). On top of that, consumers are being more interested in healthy foods. Therefore, there has been an increase in consumers as well as the retailers that favor healthier low fat, low salt, and low sugar products. This is so, because there has been an increase in the time pressures in the lives of the consumers. The term ‘grazing’ can effectively be applied here as there has been reported an increase in the frequency of smaller meals in the day. The number of consumers carrying hand held snacks while simultaneously being health conscious have also increased during the years. This means, that the manufacturers must learn to anticipate demand quickly of this growing market and thus think of innovative ways in all areas to improve quality and grasp the already expanding market share. As far as the changes in the healthy eating environment is concerned, Winson (71-82) mentions in his study about a healthy eating movement that is gradually picking up pace. According to the paper, the author states that “this movement is directly related to and is a collection of various small food movements. The list includes the likes of the slow food movement, the movement promoting organic foods and the re-localizing food. The latter is one of those movements that has been on the rise lately and has held the attention of various researches. The overall food movement has also been closely related to food security initiatives that gathered attention after the era of nineties. Other than the general food movements, an increase in the study of food markets has also increased in the recent years (2)”. According to French et al. and Story et al (1507), “youth and children are one of the emerging segments in the market whose nutritional needs must be met. These movements and study groups present a huge opportunity for the manufacturers and processors for developing new and innovative ways to deal with their customer base”. Other than anticipating demand, the manufacturers and retailers must find new and innovative ways to handle this market. With the introduction of several innovative ways like the category management, shopping buddy system (ABC news), big eating options, and exotic alternatives (case study), there has been an increase in the need for technological innovation in this area. Problem Definition  The arena of a healthy food market is becoming an increasingly important factor for the consumers as well as the retailers and manufacturers day by day. On the consumer side, a change in the mindset regarding the consumption of healthier foods has been observed. This movement has thus worked as an advantage for the food manufacturers and processors as the demand in the product areas such as organic, vegetarian, and low-fat/low-sugar foods has increased to a great extent. This means that a need to identify various opportunities and mechanisms to develop or re-launch products for the healthy eating market does exist. The current study also aims to deal with this clause. Research Objective The study would be carried out as an exploratory research and thus proposes to use research questions that are to be explored rather than formally measured in a conclusive manner. The research objectives are as follows: Identify specific new technologies as opportunities for Food Company to offer the consumer a healthy eating product. Identify innovative ingredients as opportunities for Food Company to offer the consumer a healthy eating product. Identify improved product presentation and marketing ways as opportunities for Food Company to offer the consumer a healthy eating product. Identify recipe modifications as opportunities for Food Company to offer the consumer a healthy eating product. Identify an overview of the requirements of four of the leading retailers and four of the leading catering/food service companies to include policy towards the provision of healthy eating products. Identify market trends and perceived gaps in the health food market.  Therefore, the hypothesis developed for this study is: H1: Opportunities exist for the food company to offer the consumer a healthy eating product H0: No Opportunities exist for the food company to offer the consumer a healthy eating product Research Design  The research design to be adopted is exploratory as the research aims to find opportunities in the food market and aims to prove a testable hypothesis. According to Philips and Pugh; Webb; Ghauri et al: “exploratory research acts as one of the most useful approaches for the ground work for any study. In other words, uncertainty and ignorance about the subject is at its peak and the problems presented in the study are not implicit and understandable. Webb explains further that this kind of research maintains flexibility of the highest form which is driven from the urge to discover and investigate certain variables. This is done in order to pass up the usually adopted fixed approach by the researchers. The main aim of this study is to explore those areas in the field of marketing that present opportunities for the food market manufacturers and processors. So, taking the form of exploratory research, this design would be exposing certain variables that are necessary for the study. Sample, Sampling plan and its characteristics: The sample size chosen for the research is the number of food companies. In order to reduce the chances of sampling error, the study will use random sampling to select the subjects for the research. Therefore, precise information regarding the study is collected because this sampling technique assures that all of the possible samples will be collected from a population that holds equal and fair chances of being selected. According to Barreiro & Albandoz (5), each sample will have equal chance of being chosen and every unit belonging to the population would hold the same probability to be included in the sample, thus yielding better results. Fieldwork/Data Collection  Companies must continuously monitor and predict the changing preferences of the customers and due to the ever changing environment presented, market research must be given preference. The authors further state that the study must consider all available sources of data before conducting a research such as questionnaires, interviews, sampling, survey, case studies etc. To conduct the study, both primary, and secondary data will be used. In order to obtain secondary data, a literature review will be performed so that an insight into the nature of the problem can be effectively gained. The study mainly relies on reliable secondary sources, including newspapers, books, court cases, journals, and websites to find opportunities in the food market for manufacturers and processors. Mainly the information would be collected through case studies. According to Axinn & Pearce, the process where data is collected is usually carried out through various resources. This is the first of any research carried out and can be done through various resources that may present relevant data. As for the case study method, the case studies would be used to analyze and identify the trends to aid the research hypothesis and objectives. It will be an extensive inspection over the chosen topic. This would enable the research to determine various opportunities available in terms of technological innovations and many more. The case study method would thus explore and unravel all of these clauses. The method would begin by first understanding the current situation, then the conditions and setting of the variables under study would be identified. Furthermore, the developed hypothesis would be tested for which the information collected would be verified. This would thus justify the existence of hypothesis by eliminating possible conflicts and increasing confidence. Primary data will also be used in this research in order to support the hypothesis. Primary data will be collected through interviews. The study will also comply with the ethical standards where it is conducted objectively, where necessary protecting the identities of those concerned. The sources from where data is collected are credited appropriately and permissions for duplication of materials sought where necessary. A research team would be established to collect the required data. Data Analysis  The raw data collected for the research would be interpreted in order to find the relation between the variables through regression analysis. During the analysis process and after it, it would be made sure that reference to the original research objective is maintained. Bogdan and Biklin (1998) suggest that the interview transcripts must always be arranged chronologically or with another criterion before any analysis. As for the case study method, the aim is to gather accurate and reliable findings by moving from the initial question to a well-developed pool of findings. The case studies would first work towards sorting the data in various ways. The data would be sorted, tabulated and recombined to support the objectives. At this stage, the use of interviews comes in which adds to the findings and justify the objectives stated. The evaluation of the data collected would further continue with creating matrices of categories. Another technique that the study proposes is the cross-case analysis where the investigated data is divided by type across all cases. Reporting The reporting procedure of the report as deliverables will be presented as follows: After the necessary data has been collected and analyzed, one intermediate report would be presented during the study process. The report would present the major finding(s) of the study and will serve as a milestone. The final report would be concluded after the necessary hypothesis; the results and recommendations have been proven and mentioned. The final step would be a presentation of the final report along with an oral presentation of the results that were made. Cost and Time:  Duration Course work Dissertation Write-up proposal development PHASE1 PHASE 2 PHASE 3 PHASE 4 PHASE 5 Proposal approval Review of literature Conceptual framework Research design/data collection Findings and conclusion ; Budget The entire research project is divided into 5 phases of the project. Beginning with phase 1, the proposal is up for approval that costs up to $25,000; the next phase begins when the Review of literature and development of Conceptual framework starts. This phase is very costly and would thus cost about $50,000. Phase 3 and phase 4 will be the Research design/data collection and the intermediate report presentation which would cost up to $4 million and $25 million. The last phase of the process requires a total of 6 million with the analysis and conclusion along with the conducted presentation. Works Cited: ABC news, retrieved from; http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/NewYearNewYou/story?id=4081198#.T0Q0IIdODJg, [Accessed 20th Feb, 2012] Axinn, W.G., & Pearce, L.D., “Mixed method data collection strategies.” UK: Cambridge University Press, 2006 Barreiro, P. L. and Albandoz, J. P., “Population and sample. Sampling techniques,” University of Seville, 2001 Bogdan, R. B. & Biklin, S. K., “Qualitative Research for Education: An Introduction to Theory and Methods,” Third Edition. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 1998 French, S., Story, M., Fulkerson, J. A., and Hannan, P., “An environmental intervention to promote lower-fat food choices in secondary schools: outcomes of the TACOS study.” American Journal of Public Health 94(9): 1507-1512. 2004 Ghauri, P., Grnhaug, K. and Kristianslund, I., “Research Methods in Business Studies: A Practical Guide,” Prentice Hall, Hemel Hempstead, 1995. Philips, E.M. and Pugh, D.S., “How to get a Ph.D.,” Open University Press, Milton Keynes, 1987 Story, M. Kaphingst, K. and French, S. “The Role of Schools in Obesity Prevention,” Future of Children, 16, no. 1, Spring, 2006. Webb, J., “Understanding and & Designing Marketing Research.” The Dryden Press, London, 1992. Winson, A., “Spatial colonization of food environments by ‘pseudo food’ companies: precursor of a health crisis”, In Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Food Studies, Toronto, Canada: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Press, pp. 71-82, 2007 Read More