Rebecca’s Dairy
[Rationale]
Rebecca’s dairy is a South West based organic dairy farm which aims to move into the artisan ice cream industry in order to fill
gaps in the business financially. Firstly from the information given it can be outlined that the business is suffering from financial issues
due to a range of issues occurring externally from the business. Due to this the business has decided to move to Artisan ice cream to fill
the gap in the revenue stream for the business. In doing so the business has outlined and anticipated a growing demand for the
product with their own research identifying gaps within the market which will be further detailed below. In addition they have also
recognised their targeted demand as Luxury Ice Cream due to the nature of artisan ice cream compared to mass produced alternatives.
For this reason Rebecca's business aims to stimulate the market through promotional methods to generate an interest towards their
new product. They aim to generate this interest through developing new products which can be used to stimulate the current or
upcoming demand.
[Aims and Objectives]
In order for the business to successfully fulfil these goals, Smart aims and objectives are needed to ensure that the business
has specific targets to meet throughout the promotions and product sales. One of these aims and objectives as outlined in the initial
brief is to increase revenue. Over the promotional campaign, which will occur over 12 months, Rebecca aims to fill the gap in her
revenue from ice cream sales. As they are allocating 20% of the milk production it can be assumed that the sales should aim to produce
revenue greater than if the business directly sold the milk standalone.
Another objective in line with the growth of revenue is to build market share. Rebecca's dairy farm currently is small in size
with directly neighbouring farms already being dramatically larger in size. Due to this Rebecca’s should also aim to build its market
share in order to directly compete with close competition consisting of similarly sized businesses attempting to also move into the
industry of artisan ice cream. This objective would be ongoing and should be evaluated every year to identify whether there is a growth
in market share or not
Finally a third objective which Rebecca should aim to achieve is to build brand awareness and loyalty. From the brief it can be
assumed that supermarkets do not healthily support the smaller businesses compared to the larger alternatives and therefore building
brand awareness will result in sales to smaller companies who may treat the business more fairly. Therefore Rebecca should aim to
build brand awareness year on year in order to ensure that she has a steady stream of customers willing to purchase her products.
[Market Research]
As Rebecca’s is new to the market of artisan ice cream it is important to research the market to identify key competitors,
trends and habits which other businesses and targeted customers may do; enabling the business to better target their products. Firstly
the main consideration which needs to be made is the market size and growth. Firstly the size of the market is important as it shows
how important it is for the general population. For the ice cream market currently the research shows it is currently worth just excess
of £1bn. While that may seem considerable, compared to other countries with countries such as Finland selling over four times the
amount. This shows that while it may seem large within a national scale. Going international or global shows the ice cream market
within the UK as fairly modest. This can benefit Rebecca's objective to grow as it shows the UK market is not considerably
overpopulated with research showing the market consists of just over 1000 brands competing, giving a higher chance of being
successful.
Market growth is commonly considered a more important figure due to its impact on year on year growth. While a market
could have a significant market size, if it retains its value and has stale growth then other markets will grow around it until it is
superseded therefore turning into more of a niche market. Within the Boston Matrix these are classed as Cash cows and are sustained
capital income for a business. However for Rebecca this is not the case and within the last five years the market has grown 20%. This is
important as it shows Rebecca's business that the business is growing and investment into the market could give promising returns.
Another important aspect of the market is its internal segmentation. This is because these factors decide who, how and when
you promote a product to your customer base. For example within the research it shows that demographically the products should be
promoted to males more than females and the Mintel research also shows that the ideal age range for this promotion is 16-24 years
old. Another example of segmentation used within the market is psychometric. Due to Rebecca's choice of using artisan ice cream it is
labelled as a luxury product. For this reason this product will be targeted at higher tier social classes including people with significant
disposable income who live luxury lives.
1
, Rebecca’s Dairy
The next aspect for the market is direct competition. These businesses are the people who the business will directly be
competing against for customers and for this reason an important aspect to consider. For Rebecca’s dairy there is a wide range of
competitors who are equally competing within the luxury ice cream market. In addition to this there are also competitors who are
close geographically as outlined in the provided research. More national based competitors include brands such as Haagen-Dazs where
they have significant market share. However initially this should not be a concern due to Rebecca's small size. However the
neighbouring farm which aims to create ice cream will be a direct competitor as they will both be aiming to build brand awareness and
gain traction in interest as their aims and objective.
Another market trend that is important is the forms and flavours of ice cream is preferred by the targeted audience. For
example there is a growing trend for hot sauce within the ice cream which intends the ice cream to be heated up. While this could be
an option for Rebecca to include her idea of natural and healthy ice cream could limit this as an opportunity. However it could also be a
future product which she sells as it is a growing trend within the market.
An aspect to consider however is the validity of the research. The initial secondary research provided was sourced from Mintel
which is a commonly used source, commonly praised for its accurate information. For this reason this information should be
considered correct and valid to the time it was taken. However, Rebecca’s primary research could be limited in its reliability. This is for
multiple reasons with some including the use of a small sample size and irregularities with the Mintel information. For example the
Mintel research suggested male consumption values would around 58% once a week however Rebecca’s primary research suggest
values closer to 30%. This suggests that due to the small sample size that her research could be inaccurate and therefore not reliable
enough for use in justification. In addition the research was done in the city centre late morning on a Monday. Many people with high
disposable income are commonly working at this time and therefore this survey only contained people who are; unemployed, have
part time roles or are retired. This makes the survey irrelevant for luxury ice cream as the majority of these people are not the targeted
audience of high earners with disposable income.
[Justification]
In order to better enable Rebecca to use this information to make a suitable promotional campaign a SWOT model can be
used to outline key areas where there is a strength opposed to the threats. Following is a SWOT Model for Rebecca’s Dairy:
Strengths: Weaknesses:
•Rebecca's Dairy already has the staff and resources to produce •In comparison to other farms Rebecca’s dairy is small and
ice cream; limiting upfront costs therefore has not got the capacity to compete on a larger scale
•The ability to produce milk in house will reduce costs of •Rebecca’s business lacks large scale funding or cash surplus and
purchasing it from elsewhere therefore has to start on a smaller scale
•The use of ‘organic’ milk will boost interest in the product as it •The dairy from the research has a limited following and
makes the product more environmentally supportive. therefore will make the launch of the product even harder
•Rebecca’s Dairy has a moderately high budget for the campaign •The information given states cash flow issues and therefore
so this should boost the ability for it to achieve the desired goals could limit the ability to expand in the future with limited sales.
Threats: Opportunities:
• Geographical neighbours are also moving into the market and • Rebecca's dairy is organic while her neighbour is not therefore
therefore will compete for local customers. could possibly have better performance
• Rebecca is aiming to compete against large brands with pre- • The dairy is located in the south west allowing for boosts of
existing brand loyalty so her success could be limited. sales from tourist seasons
• Larger companies have better funding to develop new flavours • Online access allows Rebecca to sell her products to the niche
faster keeping up with customer trends. market of luxury ice cream, away from the mass produced
• Rebecca can only make a small amount of flavours reducing products sold in supermarkets
her ability to market to larger audiences • Local products commonly get more shelf allocation and
therefore gives her an advantage over large international
products
2
[Rationale]
Rebecca’s dairy is a South West based organic dairy farm which aims to move into the artisan ice cream industry in order to fill
gaps in the business financially. Firstly from the information given it can be outlined that the business is suffering from financial issues
due to a range of issues occurring externally from the business. Due to this the business has decided to move to Artisan ice cream to fill
the gap in the revenue stream for the business. In doing so the business has outlined and anticipated a growing demand for the
product with their own research identifying gaps within the market which will be further detailed below. In addition they have also
recognised their targeted demand as Luxury Ice Cream due to the nature of artisan ice cream compared to mass produced alternatives.
For this reason Rebecca's business aims to stimulate the market through promotional methods to generate an interest towards their
new product. They aim to generate this interest through developing new products which can be used to stimulate the current or
upcoming demand.
[Aims and Objectives]
In order for the business to successfully fulfil these goals, Smart aims and objectives are needed to ensure that the business
has specific targets to meet throughout the promotions and product sales. One of these aims and objectives as outlined in the initial
brief is to increase revenue. Over the promotional campaign, which will occur over 12 months, Rebecca aims to fill the gap in her
revenue from ice cream sales. As they are allocating 20% of the milk production it can be assumed that the sales should aim to produce
revenue greater than if the business directly sold the milk standalone.
Another objective in line with the growth of revenue is to build market share. Rebecca's dairy farm currently is small in size
with directly neighbouring farms already being dramatically larger in size. Due to this Rebecca’s should also aim to build its market
share in order to directly compete with close competition consisting of similarly sized businesses attempting to also move into the
industry of artisan ice cream. This objective would be ongoing and should be evaluated every year to identify whether there is a growth
in market share or not
Finally a third objective which Rebecca should aim to achieve is to build brand awareness and loyalty. From the brief it can be
assumed that supermarkets do not healthily support the smaller businesses compared to the larger alternatives and therefore building
brand awareness will result in sales to smaller companies who may treat the business more fairly. Therefore Rebecca should aim to
build brand awareness year on year in order to ensure that she has a steady stream of customers willing to purchase her products.
[Market Research]
As Rebecca’s is new to the market of artisan ice cream it is important to research the market to identify key competitors,
trends and habits which other businesses and targeted customers may do; enabling the business to better target their products. Firstly
the main consideration which needs to be made is the market size and growth. Firstly the size of the market is important as it shows
how important it is for the general population. For the ice cream market currently the research shows it is currently worth just excess
of £1bn. While that may seem considerable, compared to other countries with countries such as Finland selling over four times the
amount. This shows that while it may seem large within a national scale. Going international or global shows the ice cream market
within the UK as fairly modest. This can benefit Rebecca's objective to grow as it shows the UK market is not considerably
overpopulated with research showing the market consists of just over 1000 brands competing, giving a higher chance of being
successful.
Market growth is commonly considered a more important figure due to its impact on year on year growth. While a market
could have a significant market size, if it retains its value and has stale growth then other markets will grow around it until it is
superseded therefore turning into more of a niche market. Within the Boston Matrix these are classed as Cash cows and are sustained
capital income for a business. However for Rebecca this is not the case and within the last five years the market has grown 20%. This is
important as it shows Rebecca's business that the business is growing and investment into the market could give promising returns.
Another important aspect of the market is its internal segmentation. This is because these factors decide who, how and when
you promote a product to your customer base. For example within the research it shows that demographically the products should be
promoted to males more than females and the Mintel research also shows that the ideal age range for this promotion is 16-24 years
old. Another example of segmentation used within the market is psychometric. Due to Rebecca's choice of using artisan ice cream it is
labelled as a luxury product. For this reason this product will be targeted at higher tier social classes including people with significant
disposable income who live luxury lives.
1
, Rebecca’s Dairy
The next aspect for the market is direct competition. These businesses are the people who the business will directly be
competing against for customers and for this reason an important aspect to consider. For Rebecca’s dairy there is a wide range of
competitors who are equally competing within the luxury ice cream market. In addition to this there are also competitors who are
close geographically as outlined in the provided research. More national based competitors include brands such as Haagen-Dazs where
they have significant market share. However initially this should not be a concern due to Rebecca's small size. However the
neighbouring farm which aims to create ice cream will be a direct competitor as they will both be aiming to build brand awareness and
gain traction in interest as their aims and objective.
Another market trend that is important is the forms and flavours of ice cream is preferred by the targeted audience. For
example there is a growing trend for hot sauce within the ice cream which intends the ice cream to be heated up. While this could be
an option for Rebecca to include her idea of natural and healthy ice cream could limit this as an opportunity. However it could also be a
future product which she sells as it is a growing trend within the market.
An aspect to consider however is the validity of the research. The initial secondary research provided was sourced from Mintel
which is a commonly used source, commonly praised for its accurate information. For this reason this information should be
considered correct and valid to the time it was taken. However, Rebecca’s primary research could be limited in its reliability. This is for
multiple reasons with some including the use of a small sample size and irregularities with the Mintel information. For example the
Mintel research suggested male consumption values would around 58% once a week however Rebecca’s primary research suggest
values closer to 30%. This suggests that due to the small sample size that her research could be inaccurate and therefore not reliable
enough for use in justification. In addition the research was done in the city centre late morning on a Monday. Many people with high
disposable income are commonly working at this time and therefore this survey only contained people who are; unemployed, have
part time roles or are retired. This makes the survey irrelevant for luxury ice cream as the majority of these people are not the targeted
audience of high earners with disposable income.
[Justification]
In order to better enable Rebecca to use this information to make a suitable promotional campaign a SWOT model can be
used to outline key areas where there is a strength opposed to the threats. Following is a SWOT Model for Rebecca’s Dairy:
Strengths: Weaknesses:
•Rebecca's Dairy already has the staff and resources to produce •In comparison to other farms Rebecca’s dairy is small and
ice cream; limiting upfront costs therefore has not got the capacity to compete on a larger scale
•The ability to produce milk in house will reduce costs of •Rebecca’s business lacks large scale funding or cash surplus and
purchasing it from elsewhere therefore has to start on a smaller scale
•The use of ‘organic’ milk will boost interest in the product as it •The dairy from the research has a limited following and
makes the product more environmentally supportive. therefore will make the launch of the product even harder
•Rebecca’s Dairy has a moderately high budget for the campaign •The information given states cash flow issues and therefore
so this should boost the ability for it to achieve the desired goals could limit the ability to expand in the future with limited sales.
Threats: Opportunities:
• Geographical neighbours are also moving into the market and • Rebecca's dairy is organic while her neighbour is not therefore
therefore will compete for local customers. could possibly have better performance
• Rebecca is aiming to compete against large brands with pre- • The dairy is located in the south west allowing for boosts of
existing brand loyalty so her success could be limited. sales from tourist seasons
• Larger companies have better funding to develop new flavours • Online access allows Rebecca to sell her products to the niche
faster keeping up with customer trends. market of luxury ice cream, away from the mass produced
• Rebecca can only make a small amount of flavours reducing products sold in supermarkets
her ability to market to larger audiences • Local products commonly get more shelf allocation and
therefore gives her an advantage over large international
products
2
