Optical Distortion inc
Introduction Optical Distortion, Inc. (ODI), is a small, new company that has developed contact lenses designed to impair the vision of egg-producing farm chickens. This development came after an accidental discovery that partially blind chickens demonstrate more manageable and productive behaviors that are valuable to chicken farmers.
Market Trends As within many industries, the poultry and egg production market has evolved dramatically in the last century— from small backyard barnyards to today’s high-production farms of more than 2.5 million birds.i Due to the varied demands and operations necessitated by this current, broad spectrum of customers (here, chicken farmers), the current market is best understood by segmenting it first by flock size. As shown in Exhibit 4 of the case study, we see the percentage growth (decline) of each flock size segment as it relates to farm size and chicken count from 1964 to 1996. Based on this data, farms with flock sizes less than 10,000 chickens have dramatically reduced in this time period while farms with flock sizes larger than 10,000 have consistently grown in each of the four high-volume segments. Additionally, the market data also demonstrates a significant progression of concentration both regionally as well as in the nation’s number of industry producers. In 1974, 80% of the laying hens in the United States were housed in just 3% of the country’s chicken farms.ii Regionally speaking, the farms have evolved into concentrations in where just three states—California, North Carolina, and Georgia—account for more 25% of the nation’s chickens.iii Finally, additional research projects continued growth in the U.S. chicken population in the following five years (1975-1979). The projection estimates a steady population growth of 4.0% within this timeframe. Coinciding with this projected population growth is the parallel expectation that the trends of large-flock farms will continue to realize the highest industry
Market Trends As within many industries, the poultry and egg production market has evolved dramatically in the last century— from small backyard barnyards to today’s high-production farms of more than 2.5 million birds.i Due to the varied demands and operations necessitated by this current, broad spectrum of customers (here, chicken farmers), the current market is best understood by segmenting it first by flock size. As shown in Exhibit 4 of the case study, we see the percentage growth (decline) of each flock size segment as it relates to farm size and chicken count from 1964 to 1996. Based on this data, farms with flock sizes less than 10,000 chickens have dramatically reduced in this time period while farms with flock sizes larger than 10,000 have consistently grown in each of the four high-volume segments. Additionally, the market data also demonstrates a significant progression of concentration both regionally as well as in the nation’s number of industry producers. In 1974, 80% of the laying hens in the United States were housed in just 3% of the country’s chicken farms.ii Regionally speaking, the farms have evolved into concentrations in where just three states—California, North Carolina, and Georgia—account for more 25% of the nation’s chickens.iii Finally, additional research projects continued growth in the U.S. chicken population in the following five years (1975-1979). The projection estimates a steady population growth of 4.0% within this timeframe. Coinciding with this projected population growth is the parallel expectation that the trends of large-flock farms will continue to realize the highest industry