Buss Plan Essay

Secondary markets c. Tertiary markets d. Prospective customers 8. Proposed locations 9. Action Plans a. Brand awareness action plans b. New location action plans c. Organizational structure action plans d. Remote locations action plans e. Local advertisement action plans f. Pricing issues action plans g. Competition with industry leaders action plans 10. Sales projections a. Pessimistic b. Optimistic c. Realist 11. Exhibits a. Materials Costs b. Sample Rent Comparison c. Vanilla Cupcake Cost Breakdown d. Coconut Cookie Cost Breakdown e. Sample Media List f. Sample Vegan Recipes g. New York Times Article 12. Appendix Executive Summary Executive Summary The proposed company, Bon Bon Appetit, is in the early stages of development. Bon Bon Appetit will be a specialty bakery, focused on providing organic, vegan, and gluten-free baked goods to the community. It is expected that the majority of revenue in the first year will be derived from in-store retail purchases. However, once the bakery has established a good reputation within the community, its primary revenue will most likely be from custom orders for special events. Bon Bon Appetit competes in a sub market of the baked goods, desserts and health food industries. Competition will range from large supermarket bakeries, such as Publix or Sweetbay, to smaller independent bakeries in the community. Bon Bon Appetit will be able to set itself apart by offering superior ingredients, hard-to-find specialty items and exceptional flavor. Since Bon Bon Appetit will be able to differentiate itself from its supermarket competitors, it will not be forced to rely on low cost pricing. This will enable the bakery to maintain a decent profit margin in a growing industry despite the competition. Thorough analysis has shown Bon Bon Appetit to have multiple strengths in terms of utilizing sociocultural desires and trends, meeting needs of under-served specialty consumer markets and taking advantage of Tampa Bay’s growing population. Weaknesses for Bon Bon Appetit arise in overcoming consumer stereotypes about health food not tasting good and in business expenses. Tampa Bay’s most desirable locations have extremely high rental rates, which means that the bakery would be unable to survive unless it achieved great success quickly. Overall, Bon Bon Appetit shows good potential as a local business, given that its weaknesses are addressed in a way that minimizes their negative impact on the bakery’s bottom line. Compromises on the bakery location which allow for lower overhead, but also maintain visibility and foot traffic, could be the difference between success and failure for this business. Situa tion Anal ysis Situation Analysis Gluten-free foods pushed through the recession in 2009 to achieve a global value sales growth of 11 percent, according to Euromonitor International. The same source also found that in 2009, gluten-free food registered global value sales of $2. 3 billion and also accounted for 27 percent of food intolerance sales. Bakery products, which traditionally are the most affected category of food, experienced half of these sales. Gluten-free products were originally intended for people with celaic disease, who experience a dangerous intolerance to gluten. Recent reports from Packaged Facts suggest that many people who have not been formally diagnosed with celiac disease have chosen to avoid gluten because of a self-diagnosed allergy. The findings of the report show that only 8 to 12 percent of gluten-free consumers indicate that they or someone in their household has celiac disease or gluten intolerance. Packaged Facts predicts that the gluten free market will continue to grow in the next five years, approaching $5. 5 billion by 2015. Current pop culture is creating a new perspective on veganism. Oprah Winfrey and her 378-person staff recently took on the challenge of eating vegan for one week, and also committed to â€Å"Meatless Mondays† at the Harpo station. Vegan authors, Kathy Freston, Kim Barnouin and Rory Freedman, have landed at the top of many book lists in the past few months and have also made a number of television appearances touting the benefits of a vegan diet. In addition to the increased popularity of special diets, demand for organic food products has increased rapidly. An article published by CNBC noted that in 2003, organic food sales at the retail level totaled $10. 4 billion, according to Katherine DiMatteo, executive director of the Organic Trade Association. According to the Organic Trade Association’s 2010 Organic Industry Survey, U. S. sales of organic food and beverages have grown from $1 billion in 1990 to $24. 8 billion in 2009. Market/Company Situation Bon Bon Appetit bakery will first and foremost provide delicious baked goods, with an emphasis on healthful indulgence. By providing organic, gluten-free and vegan baked goods, the bakery will expand its market beyond that of a typical bakery. These specialty offerings will encourage brand loyalty in target markets normally excluded and ignored. The increasing popularity of gluten-free, vegan and organic food is the core motivator for creating a bakery like Bon Bon Appetit. Other specialty bakeries exist around the country, but no such bakery has established itself in the Tampa Bay area. Most well-established and successful vegan bakeries are situated in young, urban areas, such as New York City’s BabyCakes, Portland’s Black Sheep bakery or Asheville’s West End bakery. Of Tampa’s population of 4,094,530 people (as of 2009), 49 percent have completed at least some college and 41 percent are under age 34, according to the Tampa Bay Partnership. Females make up 51 percent of Tampa’s population, according to ESRI, Inc. These demographics indicate strong potential for a specialty bakery, since young and educated people tend to be more likely to be interested in health foods and alternative lifestyle options. For example, according to a study conducted by the Vegan Research Panel, 69 percent of American vegans adopt the lifestyle before age 24, and 78 percent of American vegans are female. The 2008 Food Institute Report also concluded that, â€Å"In general †¦ those with more education and income are more likely than average to try to eat healthy. †