Marketing and Strategy Available Product Lines

Question: Describe about the Marketing and Strategy for Available Product Lines. Answer: SWOT Analysis Breyers Ice Cream has several strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats which are stated as under. Firstly, one of the greatest strengths is that Breyers ice cream has a wide number of product lines available such as low fat ice cream, frozen yogurt and ice pop. This gives the opportunities to a wide customer base to choose from and the product range is not limited to a particular customer base (Breyers.com, 2016). Secondly, a wide variety of ice-creams are available at Breyers such as Half the Fat, Fat Free, CarbSmart, Original, etc which are suitable for different customer groups. The ranges provide customers with wider choices and make their preference based on their lifestyle (Barry, 2013). Thirdly, Breyers ice cream has a strong financial background owned by Unilever. Unilever is a highly reputed brand which gives Breyers the capacity of opening new stores in more locations (Barry, 2013). There are several weaknesses encountered by the company. Firstly, Breyers has a smaller international market in comparison with the competitors such as Baskin Robbins. There is low visibility and market in comparison with competitors thereby leading to a lower market share. Secondly, as Breyers is an ice-cream company, it needs to be transported from one place to another under a very cool temperature. Therefore, the costs of refrigeration while transporting is also added making transportation cost higher. Thirdly, there is very less focus on product innovation. In the competitive world where the companies are coming up with new ideas, a company might not survive in the global competition. With less product innovation, Breyers does not respond to the customers needs in the best manner (Cak?r Balagtas 2014). Breyers has several opportunities listed as under. Firstly, there are adequate opportunities for growth in the Thailand market. Ice cream has gained a lot of popularity with a sales volume of 11.4 billion baht in 2013 (Store.mintel.com, 2016). With improved distribution and retail benefits, the ice cream industry shall obtain a better position. Secondly, it has been observed that there has been a rapid change in lifestyle and trends which increase the demand for high quality and healthier ice cream products. Thirdly, innovation is a never ending process. Therefore, there is an opportunity for developing new flavours in ice-cream which have not been introduced by other competitors (Soukoulis, Fisk, Bohn, 2014). Several threats are posed by Breyers ice cream. One of the significant threats is intense competition. As ice cream belongs to the food and beverage industry, there is high number of substitutes available for the product. Secondly, the prices of raw materials such as milk and sugar are increasing that is increasing the overall cost of product. This affects the consumer purchasing capacity thereby affecting demand. Thirdly, for entering the Thailand market, there might be political instabilities that would restrict Breyers from entering into the market successfully (Barry, 2013). Conclusively, Breyers can consider moving into the Thailand market as it has a great opportunity that would enhance the profitability. References Barry, D. (2013). Remembering When Ice Cream Was, You Know, Ice Cream. Nytimes.com. Retrieved 2 December 2016, from https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/17/dining/remembering-when-breyers-ice-cream-was-you-know-ice-cream.html Breyers.com,. (2016). Breyers Ice Cream and Frozen Dairy Desserts. Breyers. Retrieved 2 December 2016, from https://www.breyers.com/ Cak?r, M., Balagtas, J. V. (2014). Consumer response to package downsizing: Evidence from the Chicago Ice Cream Market.Journal of Retailing,90(1), 1-12. Soukoulis, C., Fisk, I. D., Bohn, T. (2014). Ice Cream as a Vehicle for Incorporating Health?Promoting Ingredients: Conceptualization and Overview of Quality and Storage Stability.Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety,13(4), 627-655. Store.mintel.com,. (2016). Ice Cream in Thailand (2013) Market Sizes - Market size data - retail sales value - sales volume. Store.mintel.com. Retrieved 2 December 2016, from https://store.mintel.com/ice-cream-in-thailand-2013-market-sizes