Class- or Mass
Class – or Mass?
A. Executive Summary: Neptune Gourmet Seafood is currently struggling with what appears to be a temporary problem of excess inventory. A combination of new coastline regulations and an investment in new fishing vessel technology and freezer trawlers has increased their average catch size while demand in the current segment has not grown as quickly. The Neptune management team is faced with a decision of how to clear out its excess inventory that is not moving fast enough under its Neptune Gold branding. My recommendation is to launch a mass-market product under a different product line in order to monetize excess inventory and position Neptune to capture more of the North American seafood market share. Going forward Neptune management must be more cautious in matching investment in production to growth in market demands.
B. Situation Analysis Summary: Neptune Gourmet Seafood is currently North America’s third largest seafood producer with 4% in market share. Tagged “The Best Seafood on the Water Planet”, Neptune has a reputation to maintain and focuses heavily on its product to keep its customers satisfied.
Neptune has done a great job reaching a variety of customer. 30% of revenues from grocery chains, 33% from wholesalers distributing across the U.S., and the remaining third coming from sales to the biggest cruise lines and also choice restaurants within 250 miles of Neptune’s headquarters.
Through the situation analysis it is apparent that the root cause for excess inventory is a rapid growth in production capacity due to technological investment but less significant growth in its single high-end market segment (See Root Cause Analysis in Appendix D). The two sides of the decision to either cut prices or introduce a new line are best highlighted by the interests and concerns of Jim Hargrove and Rita Sanchez: (See full Stakeholder Analysis in Appendix A for details) * Hargrove argued that the company could not sustain
A. Executive Summary: Neptune Gourmet Seafood is currently struggling with what appears to be a temporary problem of excess inventory. A combination of new coastline regulations and an investment in new fishing vessel technology and freezer trawlers has increased their average catch size while demand in the current segment has not grown as quickly. The Neptune management team is faced with a decision of how to clear out its excess inventory that is not moving fast enough under its Neptune Gold branding. My recommendation is to launch a mass-market product under a different product line in order to monetize excess inventory and position Neptune to capture more of the North American seafood market share. Going forward Neptune management must be more cautious in matching investment in production to growth in market demands.
B. Situation Analysis Summary: Neptune Gourmet Seafood is currently North America’s third largest seafood producer with 4% in market share. Tagged “The Best Seafood on the Water Planet”, Neptune has a reputation to maintain and focuses heavily on its product to keep its customers satisfied.
Neptune has done a great job reaching a variety of customer. 30% of revenues from grocery chains, 33% from wholesalers distributing across the U.S., and the remaining third coming from sales to the biggest cruise lines and also choice restaurants within 250 miles of Neptune’s headquarters.
Through the situation analysis it is apparent that the root cause for excess inventory is a rapid growth in production capacity due to technological investment but less significant growth in its single high-end market segment (See Root Cause Analysis in Appendix D). The two sides of the decision to either cut prices or introduce a new line are best highlighted by the interests and concerns of Jim Hargrove and Rita Sanchez: (See full Stakeholder Analysis in Appendix A for details) * Hargrove argued that the company could not sustain