The Situation Analysis of B and G Foods Company - Case Study Example

Strategic Planning Report of Executive Summary The strategic plan report will present the situation analysis of B&G Foods Company. The report will present the company overview and its current strategies. It will also analyze the need of the specific product and service outlet. In order to increase the customers’ focus towards the B&G Products it is necessary that there must be some promotional and marketing strategies. It will help the company to maintain the brand image and brand recognition within the customers market. As B&G Foods Company is from Russell 2000 Index, which means that the shares of B&G are stable in the market. However, a good amount of investment can increase the profitability and revenues from the company products. It is a very old company in the processed food market that is the reason due to which people are used to buy their products as in their daily use groceries. The possible risks to the company and its products which is due to the unavailability and lack in marketing strategies are highlighted in the report. In addition, the suggested recommendations and contingency plans will help investors to understand the opportunities, possible solution plans and implementation strategies. Need to hire more employees for promotional activities and requirement for more budget investment is highlighted in this report. However, the maximum revenue generation and profit maximization opportunities are visible in this report for investors. It is because the B&G foods Company already have a good brand image and people are found of using its products. Strategic Planning Introduction The purpose of the paper is to analyze the current strategies of the B&G Foods Inc. and suggest improvement in their strategic planning. It will help to propose investors to invest in the project to maximize the sales and profits. In addition, by providing the details about the current strategies, company background and other details of the strategic plan of the company, it will be easy to attract the investors about the trustworthiness of the B&G Company. The focus for strategic planning will remain on the recommendations to the board or venture of the capital firm to obtain approval for funding of the suggested plan. Company Background The selected company from Russell 2000 Index is B&G Foods, Inc. It is the distributor, manufacturer and seller of shelf-stable food products and household products in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada. The Bloch and Guggenheimer founded B&G in 1996, and it is headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey. B&G grew its business by building large retail and food service within the Processed & Packaged Goods industry. After the acquisition, the name of B&G Foods and holdings corporation changed by B&G Foods, Inc. It deals with consumer goods sector, and its market leadership continued until today (Company Profile, 2011). The company is offering a wide range of food products. There are all types of processed food items under one parent brand of B&G. It includes Ac’cent, Baker’s Joy, Cream of Rice, Cream of Wheat, Joan of Arc, Las Palmas, Molly McButter, Maple Grove Farms, New York Flatbreads, New York Style, Original Tings, Spring Tree, Smart Puffs, Sugar Twin, Wright’s and Vermont Maid and much more. In addition, there are two branded household products that B&G is selling and distributing such as Kleen Guard and Static Guard (Company Profile, 2011). Organization’s Vision B&G Foods Inc. is focusing on their vision and increasing their business since 1996. The vision statement of the organization can be stated as “To be a leader in Processed & Packaged food industry by increasing the profitability and by focusing the consumer goods sector grow the business.” Mission The goal of the organization is to continue the increase sales and cash flow with the help of organic growth. In addition, continue the acquisitions of branded businesses and development of new products to maximize the profits. Value Statement “Follow the diverse portfolio of branded and high-quality products.” Goals aligned with the proposed strategic plan: The goal of redesigning the strategic plan is to convince and attract the investors that the organization has strong strategies and management that can increase the sales and profitability. In addition, the individuals of B&G Food Inc. are trustworthy and successfully selling the various products and brands. Environmental Scan i. Internal Environment In order to investigate the internal environment of B&G Food Inc, it can be said that the secondary resources such as company website is being used. It can be analyzed that the culture of B&G Food Inc. and systems are organized by the management. The people working under the organization are following the policies, and the entire force is fully trained and experienced. From past few years, the organization is selling and distributing household products. Thus, it has a good partnership relationship with the Static Guard and Kleen Guard brands (Company Profile, 2011). The system that they are following is technologically upgraded to manage the production, sales, and distributions (Plunkett, 2009). ii. External Environment In order to investigate and analyze the external environment of the company it can be said that the use of secondary resources such as company website and researches done by writers for their book helped to find out the information. The B&G Foods is dealing in various food products it is the reason due to which the products are available in almost majority of stores in US, Canada, and Puerto Rico (Company Profile, 2011). The company delivers its products through different trustworthy distribution channels. The regulatory requirements are being handled in an appropriate manner (Plunkett, 2009). SWOT Analysis • Strengths: B&G Foods Inc. strength is its strong brand image and a wide range of food products. It attracts the customers due to the variety and quality. It covers all types of processed food items; it is the reason due to which customers prefer their products. In addition, B&G is also offering branded household products. The brand image and brand recognition is very strong in US and Canada. Their distribution channel is also very large that covers all cities and all large and famous stores for their products. The products of B&G are available on the website, and customers can order any item online (Plunkett, 2009). • Weaknesses: the products of B&G foods are comparatively on higher prices than any other brand. In addition, the low debt rate and too many taxes is the weak point for B&G Company and its products. It can be noticed that there is love investment in the research and development area of B&G Company. The existing distribution level is large but due to the low productivity the products are going unavailable, and it is the weakness of this brand (Plunkett, 2009). • Opportunities: the income level is at a constant increase it is the reason due to which the growing demand for more products and growth rates is an opportunity for the company. In addition, global reach of business is increasing the chances of the new acquisition and opportunity for new venture capital investment (Plunkett, 2009). • Threats: B&G Company may face the possible threats and risks from external business. The private label products may hurt the premium products because of the low pricing strategy of private label products. It will lead to decrease in profits. In addition, it will have a long-term negative impact on the entity (Plunkett, 2009). Strategies and Situation Analysis The company is distributing its products throughout the United States and Canada through a nationwide large distribution network of independent brokers. The distributors deliver the products to food service outlets, supermarket chains, warehouse clubs, mass merchants and non-food outlets. In addition, B&G Foods Company offers online order facility for their products. It is the strategy to continue their sales if any of their items are not available in any store (Company Profile, 2011). It can be noticed that nationwide there are no specific product and service outlets of B&G Foods. Although, the distribution network is very large but, there are no promotional and marketing strategies for the company to increase the customer focus towards its products. In addition, there are no presenters and marketers who promote their products in the market. It will not be incorrect to state that the company workforce is not enough to deal the promotional and marketing activities. There are many competitive products available in the market that diverts the customer focus from one product to another. For that the customers should be loyal to the brand that they only prefer B&G Foods products. In addition, due to no marketing strategies many customers are unaware of B&G household products availability in the market (Plunkett, 2009). Recommendations • It can be recommended that the company should open a specific product and service outlet. Where, the entire range of their products should be available. It will increase their sales and profits. In addition, it will also increase the number of customers towards their products because of the availability of all products under one roof. • Hiring of employees is also a crucial step for those outlets and for promotional and marketing activities. For this reason, there should be more employees hired who can make marketing strategies and handle the promotional activities. • The employee and especially marketing department employees should be skilled and experienced that can introduce different and most attractive marketing strategies. • The company should also increase the product line and introduce new items in the market to increase the customers flow towards the brand and products. • A heavy budget will be required to complete the tasks above. Customers will be motivated to buy all products from one store by investing around five million dollars in store construction and decoration. Risks People prefer those products that they can find easily, and unavailability of the products provide competitive advantage to other companies and their products. Although there are shelves in stores where the B&G Foods products can be found, in any case if the shelf is found empty and the most required stuff is missing from there then it will leave a bad impact on customers. It will damage the brand image and reputation. In addition, the other competitors in the market will attain the competitive advantage. Thus, it can decrease the sales and minimize the profits. Decrease in sales and profitability will lower the market share of the products, and it will impact the B&G Foods shares in the Russell 2000 Index. Lesser use of technologies to maintain the product quality and availability assurance can damage the clientele of the company. Contingency Plans The contingency plan for a business provides a set of instructions to deal with the current and possible problems. The contingency plan is necessary for any organization to overcome the issues and problems (Barksdale & Lund, 2006). It is the reason due to which, B&G Foods Company has a contingency plan for its current situation. • Monitoring programs In every city of US, Canada and Puerto Rico there should be a B&G Foods outlet that makes sure the product is being distributed to all other stores in the city. It can only be possible if the company starts monitoring programs for each product in each store. For that few employees will be responsible to monitor the needs and requirements of the product (Grünig, Clark, & Kühn, 2011). • Increase use of technology It can be possible that the each product sale and availability can be tracked by introducing the latest software and technological use in the stores. The use of software and machines at outlets and stores will work as a checklist and a monitoring program. It will provide the accurate information about the product availability (Grünig, Clark, & Kühn, 2011). Implementation In order to implement the strategic and contingency plan, the heavy budget will be required. After that, the opening of new stores and more employees will be required to fulfill the plan requirements. For that, firstly, the location selection is highly a crucial step. The reason is that the right location will provide the company a better chance to attract the customers. Secondly, the selection of the employees in the store and the promotion of the store will be required. The selection and hiring of new employees training to deal with the new technology will be the third step. Designing of the new marketing strategies and then implementation of those strategies is also a crucial step (Steiner, 2010). In the marketing strategies the unique promotional activities and use of media, billboards and brochures will grab the customers’ concentration. Store promotions by offering discounts will attain the competitive advantage. In addition, friendly environment of the store workers will be a positive way to improve the customer loyalty for the brand. Conclusion While concluding the strategies and recommendations provided above, it can be said that the investors should invest in the B&G Foods Company and its products. The reason is that the company and brand already has a good name and recognition. Majority of people are brand loyal, and they like to use B&G. It is the reason due to which the investors should consider investing in and make sure the availability of the product in the market. The idea to open new store will increase the profits and sales. When, the B&G store will come in the market it will increase the customer flow towards the store because whole food range will be available there. It will also provide a competitive advantage to the company. With the help of this competitive advantage, the company and the investors will get the maximum profit shares because the market share will increase. In addition, the contingency plan and implementation plan will minimize the possible risk, and it will make the performance more efficient. The suggested implementation plan is effective and efficient because the company needs improvement only in some areas. Thus, it can be said that a specific budget will be required to mitigate the risk factors and to implement the suggested recommendations. With the investment of around five million dollars, the strategic plan and idea for a new store will be successful and generate the revenues. References List Barksdale, S., & Lund, T. (2006). 10 Steps to Successful Strategic Planning. New York: ASTD Press. Company Profile. (2011). Retrieved 01 20, 2015, from B&G Foods: http://ir.bgfoods.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=176473&p=irol-homeProfile&t=&id=& Grünig, R., Clark, A., & Kühn, R. (2011). Process-based Strategic Planning. New York: Springer. Plunkett, J. W. (2009). Plunketts Food Industry Almanac. Texas: Plunkett Research Ltd. Steiner, G. A. (2010). Strategic Planning. New York: The Free Press. Read More