DES BANANA CHIPS MARKETING PLAN

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Des Banana Chips will be the leading chips in Philippines, or with a rapidly developing consumer brand and growing customer base.  The signature line of innovative, premium, banana chips include the real taste of fresh Saba banana.

This banana chips will reinvent the chips experience for individuals, families, and take out customers with discretionary income by selling high quality, innovative products at a reasonable price, designing tasteful, convenient locations, and providing industry-benchmark customer service. 

In order to grow at a rate consistent with our objectives, Des is offering an additional $500,000 in equity.  Existing members will be given the first option to subscribe to the additional equity to allow each of them to maintain their percentage of ownership.  The portion not subscribed by existing members will be available for prospective new investors.

SITUATION ANALYSIS

Des banana chips is close to entering their second year of operation.  The store has been well received, and marketing is now critical to its continued success and future profitability.  The store offers an extensive offering of banana chips.  The basic market need is to offer individuals, families, and take out customers fresh, creative, attractive, crunchy and desserts.  Des uses homemade banana, fresh banana, and premium milk and sugar.

MARKET SUMMARY

Des Banana Chips possess good information about the market and knows a great deal about the common attributes of our most prized and loyal customers.  Des Banana Chips will leverage this information to better understand who is served, their specific needs, and how Des can better communicate with them.

Market Analysis
		2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
Potential Customers	Growth						CAGR
Individuals	8%	12,457	13,454	14,530	15,692	16,947	8.00%
Families	9%	8,974	9,782	10,662	11,622	12,668	9.00%
Take out	10%	24,574	27,031	29,734	32,707	35,978	10.00%
Total	9.27%	46,005	50,267	54,926	60,021	65,593	9.27%

 

MARKET DEMOGRAPHICS

The profile for Des Banana Chip's customer consists of the following geographic, demographic, and behavior factors:

GEOGRAPHICS

·         Our immediate geographic target is the city of Trece Martirez with a population of 130, 00.

·         A 15 mile geographic area is in need of our services.

·         The total targeted population is estimated at 46,000.

DEMOGRAPHICS

·         Male and female.

·         Ages 25-50, this is the segment that makes up 53% of the Trece Martirez market according to the Trece Martirez Chamber of Commerce.

·         Young professionals who work close to the location.

·         Yuppies.

·         Have attended college and/or graduate school.

·         An income over $40,000.

·         Eat out several times a week.

·         Tend to patronize higher quality stores.

·         Are cognizant about their health.

BEHAVIOR FACTORS

·         Enjoy a high quality meal without the mess of making it themselves.

·         When ordering, health concerns in regard to foods are taken into account.

·         There is value attributed to the appearance or presentation of food.

 

MARKET NEEDS

Des Banana Chips is providing its customers with a wide selection of high-quality chips dishes and salads that are unique and pleasing in presentation, offer a wide selection of health conscious choices, and utilizes top-shelf ingredients.  Des Banana Chips seeks to fulfill the following benefits that are important to their customers.

·         Selection. A wide choice of snacks and dessert options.

·         Accessibility. The patron can gain access to the store with minimal waits and can choose the option of dine in or take out.

·         Customer service. The patron will be impressed with the level of attention that they receive.

 

MARKET TREND

The market trend for stores is headed toward a more sophisticated customer.  The store patron today relative to yesterday is more sophisticated in a number of different ways.

·         Food quality. The preference for high-quality ingredients is increasing as customers are learning to appreciate the qualitative differences.

·         Presentation/appearance. As presentation of an element of the culinary experience becomes more pervasive, patrons are learning to appreciate this aspect of the industry.

·         Health consciousness. As Americans in general are more cognizant of their health, evidenced by the increase in individuals exercising and health club memberships, patrons are requesting more healthy alternatives when they eat out.  They recognize that an entree can be quite tasty, and reasonably good for you.

·         Selection. People are demanding a larger selection of foods, they are no longer accepting a limited menu.

MARKET GROWTH

In 2010, the global chips market reached 1million.  Banana chips sales are estimated to grow by at least 10% for the next few years.  This growth can be attributed to several different factors.  The first factor is an appreciation for health conscious food.  While not all banana chips is "good for you," particularly the sugar, banana chips can be very tasty yet health conscious at the same time.  Banana chips is seen as a healthy food because of its high percentage of carbohydrates relative to fat.

Another variable that is contributing to market growth is an increase in the number of hours our demographic is working. Over the last five years the number of hours spent at work of our archetype customer has significantly increased.  As the number of work hours increases, there is a high correlation of people that eat out at stores.  This is intuitively explained by the fact that with a limited number of hours available each day, people have less time to prepare their meals and eating out is one way to maximize their time.

SWOT ANALYSIS

The following SWOT analysis captures the key strengths and weaknesses within the company, and describes the opportunities and threats facing Des Banana Chips.

Strengths

·         Strong relationships with vendors that offer high-quality ingredients and fast/frequent delivery schedules.

·         Excellent staff who are highly trained and very customer attentive.

·         Great retail space that is bright, hip, clean, and located in an upscale mall, suburban neighborhood, or urban retail district.

·         High customer loyalty among repeat customers.

·         High-quality food offerings that exceed competitor’s offerings in quality, presentation, and price.

Weaknesses

·         Des name lacks brand equity.

·         A limited marketing budget to develop brand awareness.

·         The struggle to continually appear to be cutting edge.

Opportunities

·         Growing market with a significant percentage of the target market still not aware that Des Banana Chips exists.

·         Increasing sales opportunities in takeout business.

·         The ability to spread overhead over multiple revenue centers. Des will be able to spread the management overhead costs among the multiple stores, decreasing the fixed costs per store.

Threats

·         Competition from local store that respond to Des Banana Chips’ superior offerings.

·         A slump in the economy reducing customer's disposable income spent on eating out.

MARKETING STRATEGY

 

Des advertising budget is very limited, so the advertising program is simple.  Des will do direct mail, banner ads, and inserts, with inserts in the Register Guard likely to be the most successful of the campaigns.

Lastly, DES will leverage personal relationships to get an articles of Des in the Register Guard.  Previous friends who have had their store featured in the Register Guard has seen a dramatic increase of sales immediately after the article was published in the RG.

MISSION

Des Banana Chips’ mission is to provide the customer crunchy and relaxing experience.  We exist to attract and maintain customers.  When we adhere to this maxim, everything else will fall into place.  Our services will exceed the expectations of our customers.  

MARKETING MIX

Des marketing mix is comprised of these following approaches to pricing, distribution, advertising and promotion, and customer service.

·         Pricing. Des pricing scheme is that the product cost is 45% of the total retail price.

·         Distribution. Des product will be distributed through a takeout model where customers can call in their order and come to the store to pick it up, come into the store, place the take out order and wait for it to be completed, or come in and dine at the store.

·         Advertising and Promotion. The most successful advertising will be banner ads and inserts in the Register Guard as well as a PR campaign of informational articles and reviews also within the Register Guard.

·         Customer Service. Obsessive customer attention is the mantra.  Des philosophy is that whatever needs to be done to make the customer happy must occur, even at the expense of short-term profits.  In the long term, this investment will pay off with a fiercely loyal customer base who is extremely vocal to their friends with referrals.

MAKING OF BANANA SAUCE

               

As an additional information, I have read an article about processing banana sauce using saba variety. And these are the procedures for banana sauce making in a simple and very adaptable to the village level enterprise.

1.       Select ripe and undamaged bananas.

2.       Wash the fruits very well with running water to remove dirt and other foreign matter.

3.       Peel the bananas, skin the onions and remove the pepper seeds (both hot and sweet pepper).

4.       With the use of blender, mash the bananas until a very thick consistency is obtained.

5.       Add ¼ teaspoon “clavor”, cinnamon, paprika, salt, sugar, vinegar and hot pepper and osterize the mixture.

6.       Boil the mixture for one hour.

7.       Add food coloring and flour to the mixture and boil again for 30 minutes.

8.       Filter the mixture to remove hardened substance.

9.       Cool and place in a cleaned and sterilized bottles.

10.   Store in a cool and dry place away from direct sunlight.

I was very curious about this and I want to make it in my own. I have read also that this banana sauce can be prolong for only 40 days and it can be used as a substitute in the previous brand of banana sauce that we are using.

SECOND CHANCE FOR OLD COFFEE TREES

                Researches from the University of Southern Mindanao reported that coffee trees which are 20 years or more and no longer bear berries can be rejuvenated to become productive again. Rejuvenation can be done by simply cutting the old coffee trees 30cm above the ground just before the onset of the rainy season. This procedure allows the production of new vertical shoots which can serve as the root stock in grafting. Branches of high yielding coffee varieties can be grafted or united to the newly developed vertical shoots. For easy management, only two to three shoots per plant are allowed to grow to a height of 1.5 m. flowering and fruiting of the grafted coffee shoots occurs six months after rejuvenation.

                High yield can be obtained by fertilizer application. Trees applied with 400 grams of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium per year can produce 1.11 kilograms of dried berries per tree in one harvesting. With nitrogen alone, fertilized tree can produce 800 grams of dried berries per tree in one harvesting. Rejuvenated coffee trees can produce a 200 to 400 percent yield increase in coffee berries from 25 to 60 months after rejuvenation. Using this technology, a coffee farmer can earn a net income of ₱52,262.00 per hectare in one year operation.

                With this technology, coffee farmers will not only save time planting new coffee seedlings but also earn higher income from their coffee production. Thus when you see old and unproductive coffee trees, why not give them a second chance. They deserve it after all.

SWINE CASTRATION

Swine production is my parent’s business that’s why sometimes they let me to join with them in performing some practices with regards to our swine health benefits. And there is one thing that I really enjoyed in doing and that is when we castrated some of our piglets, I was very curious about this before that’s why my father teach me how to do this in a very simple ways. Castration is a simple operation, requiring only a few materials but a lot of practice. However, due consideration should be given first to the body condition of the animals and the environment. Otherwise, it could fatal. Thus, consider not only the age of the piglets but the health status and susceptibility to stress as well. In addition, the operation should be performed when the weather condition is favorable, that is, when the day is clear and cool. And the procedures of castration is as follows:

1.       Sterilize all materials before using them. Wash hands thoroughly to prevent infection.

2.       Hold the pig with its back on a castrating stand, a bench or a table. Hold its hind legs with abdomen facing the operator. If the pig is quite old (2-3 months old), a helper should pin the head and the shoulders in between its legs.

3.       Wash the scrotum and the tail with water to remove dirt. Disinfect the scrotal area with tincture of iodine.

4.       Following the one-slit castration method, make a one to two cm incision with a razor sharp blade along the midline of the scrotum in between the two testicles. Make the incision deep enough for easy removal of testicle from the scrotal sac.

The two-slit method is recommended for beginners because it is easier to accomplish. Two-slits instead are made on the scrotum through which each testicle is drawn out. Press the testicles on the scrotum when making an incision to produce a clean slit and to minimize pain.

5.       Cut through the thin membrane enveloping the testicles to expose them. Press the testicles through the incision and pull them lightly to draw out the spermatic cord.

6.       Crush the spermatic cord with a pair of forceps or twissors, continuously twisting the spermatic cord to one direction until the cord is cut from its connection. If no forceps or twissors are available, tie the cord with piece of thread. Cut the cord a few cm below the thread knot. Apply tincture of iodine on the cord stump.

7.       Clean the wound with cotton to remove blood clots. Apply antiseptic powder in the incision. Place the newly castrated pig in a clean and dry pen. Inspect the slits from time to time to check for any infection. No further special treatment is needed since healing is sure in young animals.

Castration prevents undesirable individuals from pertuating their kind. Also meat from castrated hogs is found to be more palatable, tender and without the distinct bad odor of meat from intact boars. In short, castration improves the quality of meat.