Characteristics of the Market Essay

a. National grocery storeProcessing the small specialty foods with a broad product line and gross sales of $300 million per year which a food brokers instance the company to the retail food chains by the network. This company more focused on cultural food specialties which including salad dressings, sauces for Italian pasta and condiments such as specialties pickles.b. both plants produced productOne in the of import Valley of California at Fresno and the other in Illinois south of Chicago which they buy the ingredients from other foods suppliers to revoke the peak seasonal characteristics encountered by food packers. The company output has take place in voluminous quantities to maintain low production costs and assure consistent product quality.c. Generally order on small quantityCompany has ordered from supplier amounting to five to six cases per order only or about 150 to 200 pounds at a time.d. Poor deliveryHowever, customers carry commented that the company have a poor delivery services because of many of ingredients are shipped over long distances and it has depending on the season.e. Two major department managementThis is include the Marketing and Sales and also has Production department and some(prenominal) staff units for personnel, purchasing and finance. Both of departments are responsible for marketing the product lines such promotion, product stock-take at the public warehouses, providing sales support and also merchandising. There is also a national sales manager who responsibility for maintaining contact with food brokers, coordinating public warehouses and arrange for delivery1) Case drumhead (Whats the issue?)Horizon Foods Corporation (hereafter Horizon) is a still-growing, nationwide foods organization that is widely cognize for its high quality products. With $300 million sales each year, the firm has been relatively successful so far, gaining good reputation and arousing much interest of the public through its brokers and loca l retailers. However, as the company prospers and customers enquire more, Horizon foresees a coming crisis. The distribution issue, which the company has faced for a while, is now causing stock-outs, and increase competition in the market is threatening the companys market share. Authorities involved give-up the ghost to scrutinize the issue and its cause, and they are eager to blame each other for the problems. The division of labor amid two major departments Marketing and Sales, and Production seems to need a complete rearrangement for a more effective process.Horizon should also analyze its current brand positioning in the market and rework its strategies if needed. 2) Q1. What are the characteristics of the market served by the Horizon Foods Corporation? Horizon is a specialty foods processor. It has served a national market composed of food brokers who represent retail store chains. The food brokers make orders to Horizon. Generally, the orders are small. The production is through in two different plants thanks to the ingredients from some food suppliers.The plants are located in rude areas to reduce the cost of transportation. Moreover, Horizon produces in large quantities, and the food produced is very good in quality. The production is dispatched to several public warehouses. Then, these warehouses use contract carriers to deliver the products to the customers. Because of the small orders, the transportation cost to retail stores post be high. The market is very competitive since many of Horizons food competitors also carry a complete production line