Cowgirl Chocolate Analysis
Cowgirl Chocolates Analysis
Cowgirl chocolates are the design of Marilyn Lysohir and her husband, Ross Coates in 1997. Marilyn is a ceramicist and lecturer who is internationally known and has a successful ceramic art business. Ross is a sculptor and a professor of fine arts at a nearby University. As a labor of love, Marilyn and Ross began publishing a once-a-year arts magazine called High Ground. More a multimedia product than a magazine, the 600-copy production of this product does not pay for itself, so
Marilyn and Ross have continually sought other ways to provide income to cover the costs of production for High Ground. Cowgirl Chocolates began as one of those ways. “Cowgirl Chocolates” offer three types of products; chocolate bars, truffles, and hot caramel dessert sauce, which all come in a variety of flavors.
Problems:
After I familiarized myself with the plight of Cowgirl Chocolates, I saw some problem areas that could use some improvement. The chocolate industry is a thriving one but with the addition of hot and spicy chocolates, this product quickly becomes a niche market. Right off the bat I see problems arising out of this “spicy chocolate” concept. First, not everyone likes spicy food let alone mixed with something as ubiquitous as chocolate. Second, Marilyn needs to be more conscious of her business' financial and product figures in order to become as cost efficient as possible. Third, Marilyn should seek business advice from professionals. The second problem is the most urgent and important, followed by the third choice, being less important than the first but still pretty important. The first problem is a given but is still a challenge.
Data Analysis: Cowgirl chocolates is unfortunately not much of an opportunity. There is no need for this product and its market is very small. Competition is not necessarily there since cowgirl chocolates is not competing against other spicy chocolates but against regular, non-spicy chocolate. As
Cowgirl chocolates are the design of Marilyn Lysohir and her husband, Ross Coates in 1997. Marilyn is a ceramicist and lecturer who is internationally known and has a successful ceramic art business. Ross is a sculptor and a professor of fine arts at a nearby University. As a labor of love, Marilyn and Ross began publishing a once-a-year arts magazine called High Ground. More a multimedia product than a magazine, the 600-copy production of this product does not pay for itself, so
Marilyn and Ross have continually sought other ways to provide income to cover the costs of production for High Ground. Cowgirl Chocolates began as one of those ways. “Cowgirl Chocolates” offer three types of products; chocolate bars, truffles, and hot caramel dessert sauce, which all come in a variety of flavors.
Problems:
After I familiarized myself with the plight of Cowgirl Chocolates, I saw some problem areas that could use some improvement. The chocolate industry is a thriving one but with the addition of hot and spicy chocolates, this product quickly becomes a niche market. Right off the bat I see problems arising out of this “spicy chocolate” concept. First, not everyone likes spicy food let alone mixed with something as ubiquitous as chocolate. Second, Marilyn needs to be more conscious of her business' financial and product figures in order to become as cost efficient as possible. Third, Marilyn should seek business advice from professionals. The second problem is the most urgent and important, followed by the third choice, being less important than the first but still pretty important. The first problem is a given but is still a challenge.
Data Analysis: Cowgirl chocolates is unfortunately not much of an opportunity. There is no need for this product and its market is very small. Competition is not necessarily there since cowgirl chocolates is not competing against other spicy chocolates but against regular, non-spicy chocolate. As