Sandhurst Situational Analysis
Sandhurst Situational Analysis
Sandhurst Situational Analysis
2019
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Table of Contents
Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 3
1.0 INTERNAL ANALYSIS ..................................................................................................... 3
1.1 Business Model Canvas .......................................................................................................... 3
1.2 Functional areas .................................................................................................................... 7
1.2.1 Strategic positioning .............................................................................................................. 7
1.2.2 Products ................................................................................................................................. 7
1.2.3 Promotional strategies .......................................................................................................... 8
1.2.4 Distribution ............................................................................................................................ 8
1.2.5 Capabilities ............................................................................................................................ 8
2.0 EXTERNAL ANALYSIS ..................................................................................................... 8
2.1 Market Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 8
2.2 Competitor Analysis .............................................................................................................. 9
2.3 Customer Analysis ............................................................................................................... 12
2.3.1 Current customers ............................................................................................................... 12
2.3.2 Potential customers ............................................................................................................. 12
2.4 PESTLE Analysis ................................................................................................................... 14
3.0 SWOT ANALYSIS ......................................................................................................... 17
4.0 References .................................................................................................................. 18
5.0 Appendices ................................................................................................................. 21
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Introduction
Sandhurst Fine Foods is well-known for its dedication to producing high-quality condiments
and antipasto products. The family-owned business has focused its efforts in the past thirty
years to be the market leader in the foodservice industry and now wants to pursue a new
opportunity in the retail market. Sandhurst Fine Food’s current issue is emerging into a new
market that already has well-established competitors with resources and expertise, and at the
same time be profitable. To address this current issue, this report will provide valuable insight
into Sandhurst’s existing internal and external background, as well as a SWOT analysis of
their current situation. Collectively, primary and secondary market research has assisted these
analyses and has pinpointed specific market trends including ready-made meals and meal kits
that Sandhurst could explore in the future, depending on the course of action they plan to
pursue.
A business model canvas allows Sandhurst to revisit, reflect and update as they move
throughout this model continually. The elements discussed below will highlight key attributes
that Sandhurst is currently doing as well as constructing a new business model that focuses on
exploring trends in the foodservice industry.
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Value Propositions
Problem
Currently, Sandhurst’s issue is finding a profitable market that is feasible for the brand to
expands and extend its product offerings to preferably retail markets.
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Customer Relationships
Sandhurst’s places a strong emphasis on being responsive and adaptable to their customer needs.
Sandhurst currently spends $1.5 million USD annually on advertising to retain and reach new
customers (Lubrano, 2019). They also offer their customers the service of signing up to a
newsletter that keeps their customers up to date with new products, recipes, promotions and
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special events. Along with this, Sandhurst has a small Instagram following of 1,255 followers
that focuses on brand-related content and food inspiration posts. With over 3,000 followers on
Facebook, Sandhurst uses this as a customer service and educational platform. They also have
their own event ‘Festival of Nonna’ which is a ten-day celebration of Italian celebrity chefs and
their Nonna’s to share recipes and food knowledge to customers. Sandhurst’s new customer
segment will be different compared to their previous customer relationships. While Sandhurst
can apply some of the same elements with their B2B and B2C markets, they will have to adapt
to more customer-centric processes.
Channels
Currently, Sandhurst uses a variety of marketing channels to reach their consumers. Listed below
are the following that they currently participate in:
• Website
• Radio
• Conferences
• Social media
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• Email marketing
• Field marketing
• Word-of-mouth and referrals
Along with some of the channels mentioned above, Sandhurst will also need to introduce new
marketing channels to their B2C markets, including:
• SEO (organic search)
• Paid search (PPC)
• Online display advertising
• Content marketing
• Mobile marketing
1.2.2 Products
Sandhurst produces preserved food products such as pickled vegetables, olives, sardines,
condiments and grains. Sandhurst is capable of understanding their products as their product
range stems from the family’s Italian heritage and is constantly growing. They have a variety
of produce suppliers from both Australia and Europe (Lubrano, 2019), who they have very
strong relationships with, allowing them to thrive without the concern of a supplier’s potential
noncompliance.
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1.2.4 Distribution
Sandhurst’s distribution strategies are focused towards selling to the foodservice industry,
where they can sell their products in bulk amounts. Their selective distribution channels allow
Sandhurst to control the way the product reaches the consumer. Their B2B marketing
techniques are important to their distribution channels, as the company targets other
businesses to use Sandhurst’s products to create their own products. Sandhurst also uses
distributors to sell its products to customers through large supermarkets such as Coles and
Woolworths.
1.2.5 Capabilities
Sandhurst has been in the food industry for decades, and thus are in tune with changes in the
market such as competitors’ moves, and technological revolution (Adel Saleh M, 2014).
Understanding these changes can allow Sandhurst to develop new products or features to
meet the current and potential needs of customers to ensure that they are not impacted by new
influences of competition. Venturing into the ready-made meal or meal-kit industry, as further
discussed below, will allow Sandhurst to expand its product range, and focus on a developing
market. As the company has strong relationships with its suppliers, it can use them to create
new meal alternatives for consumers, using their existing products.
Sandhurst is currently a market leader within the foodservice industry using distributors like
Bidfood, PFD and Countrywide, but also service the retail market (e.g. Woolworths and
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Coles). Their key success factors within those markets are the high-quality products and the
advanced preserving methods that keep the food fresh for longer.
As food trends are changing, Sandhurst should consider the new, emerging Grocerant market
or the meal-kit market, which is predicted to experience a growth of 850,000 customers in the
next year (Lubrano, 2019). The demand for both healthy and convenient food is rapidly
growing (Sengar, 2018), which makes these markets highly potential for Sandhurst Fine
Foods as consumers generally perceive "grab-and-go" meals to be both healthier and cheaper
than restaurant meals (Charlebois, 2017).
Sandhurst's intended market position is to provide high quality gourmet meals to customers
with a fast-paced lifestyle. Australian grocerants like Woolworths, Coles, Aldri, Harris Farm
etc. might be the future market for Sandhurst following the ready-made meal market trends.
In the global scenario, supermarkets lead the distribution channel of ready meals (Mordor
Intelligence, 2018).
Coles revealed in October 2018 that it wants to change its strategy following the rapidly
changing food trends. According to Managing Director Steven Cain, the new strategy is
inspired by the popularity of meal kits and is therefore looking to include more convenient
options like ready-made meals/kits and express deliveries (Hogan, R., 2018).
Research has shown that ready-made meal/meal-kit market have had huge success overseas,
which makes it seem like a sustainable solution for Sandhurst. In the U.S., the meal-kit sales
experienced a growth of 40.7% in 2017, where HelloFresh represented about 33%, according
to Earnest Research (Molla, 2018). In Australia, the company has had a decent increase in its
customer base recently and predicted a revenue of $200 million last year (Koehn, 2018),
which indicates an increasing interest in this market.
Assuming Sandhurst’s future plan to enter the grocerant market, we have taken into
consideration the current competitive scenario which will provide us with a clear perspective
of the market before making the final decision. The following includes a competitor analysis
of potential competitors of Sandhurst in the meal-kit and grocerant market based on primary
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research, secondary research (Lubrano, 2019) and observations made from company websites.
Our primary research shows that HelloFresh (competitor 1) and Lite N Easy (competitor 4)
are the most recognized brands among our respondents (appendix 3), however very few have
actually purchased from any of the following competitors (appendix 4).
HelloFresh:
• Description: Founded in Berlin in 2011, HelloFresh was one of the first companies to
offer meal kit solutions to households. HelloFresh provides fresh, healthy and
personalized partially made meals to households without any planning, shopping or
stress. These meal kits contain fresh locally sourced ingredients and recipe instructions
which are delivered at a convenient time to the customers’ door (HelloFresh, 2018).
• Market position: Australian sales are now running more than $200 million a year
after having 50 percent rise in global growth and delivering more than 550,00 meals a
week. Making it the largest meal kit provider in Australia and the biggest competitor
to Sandhurst (Mitchell, S. 2018).
• Goals: To increase geographical reach by focusing on regional areas starting with
NSW and Victoria. To expand product scope by offering premium meals with larger
portions and other extras. And finally, to include more meal personalization options by
including more weekly recipes to choose from.
• Pricing: The meal boxes are divided in three categories; Veggie plan from
$9.68/serving, classic plan from $ 9.80/serving and family plan from $7.99/serving.
• Marketing strategy: Their primary market is busy households, mostly families with
both parents as working professionals. HelloFresh uses a customer centric approach by
allowing customers to co-create content on social media and enabling two-way
conversation with the customers. It believes in long term approach to relationship
utilizing data driven marketing campaigns to constantly provide customers what they
asked for (Kwittken, A. 2018).
Marley Spoon:
• Description: Founded in 2014 in Germany, Marley spoon is a subscription based
meal kit service that similar to HelloFresh, delivers meal kit with ingredients to cook
and step by step instructions to a customer’s home. Marley Spoon uses professional
chefs and nutritionists to design a range of varied recipes based on customer demand
and offers different weekly plan according to their needs (Marley Spoon AG, 2018).
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• Market position: Marley spoon Australia represents 35 percent of the total revenue
generated globally. Due to the rising demand for meal kits in Australia its revenue
grew by 74 percent to $34.5 million in the Australian market. It competes against
HelloFresh for market leading position and thus making it the second biggest
competitor in the ready meals industry (Marley Spoon, 2019).
• Goals: To create and provide meal recipes containing healthy and fresh ingredients to
promote a healthy lifestyle. Offer price conscious consumers an affordable alternative
by expanding Dinnerly brand while maintain high quality (Marley Spoon AG, 2018).
• Pricing: Its weekly plans starts from as little as $8.95 per serving.
• Marketing strategy: Its value proposition is targeted towards promoting health and
wellness and it targets consumers with similar lifestyle. It also prides itself in
committing to reduce food waste through its meal kits and wants to be perceived as an
alternative to supermarkets as their model is wasteful and throws away up to 30
percent of the fresh products (Roebroek. S, 2017).
Youfoodz:
• Description: Youfoodz is a ready-to-eat meal delivery company started in 2012 in
Brisbane, Australia. Along with ready-to-eat meals (pre-cooked) it also offers partially
prepared meal kits similar to HelloFresh and Marley Spoon. Unlike subscription-based
model, it offers meal kits in the form packs having 3 to 6 meals per pack. To make it
more convenient, its ready-made meals are available in supermarkets like ALDI and
IGA (Youfoodz, 2019).
• Market position: Due to its affordable offering, it has positioned itself as a healthy
alternative to Hellofresh and Marley Spoon and is considered a prime contender in the
ready meal market.
• Pricing: Most of its ready-made meals are available for less than $10 a meal and meal
kits start from $7.5 per meal.
• Marketing strategy: Youfoodz’s target market consist of office workers, young
families and fitness conscious people who are mainly between 20-40 years old and
almost 75 percent are female. It attracts customers by posting creative content on its
social media platforms, thus constantly engaging with their followers. Along with
offering free delivery and no-lock in contracts, it allows customers alternative
payment options through AfterPay and ZipPay making it a more desirable option
(Internet Retailing, 2016).
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Lite N Easy:
• Description: Lite N Easy is a personalised ready-made meal delivery service with a
prime focus on helping people with weight loss, weight management and for those
who wants an alternative to cook healthy and nutritious meals. The meal plans are
based on a calorie count and can be adjusted according to personal preference which
helps in managing weight and living a healthy life.
• Market position: Lite N Easy has been in the ready meals market since 1986 when its
primary focus was helping people with weight loss. Since then, it has become a major
player in the ready meals market all over Australia. Even though it does not provide an
option for meal kits unlike others in the competition, it is a market leader in offering
ready-made meals.
• Pricing: As the meal plans are based on calorie count and number of meals per week,
its pricing varies from $49 to $300 a week.
• Marketing strategy: As Lite N Easy initially started as a weight loss program based
on proper diet and nutrition, its marketing strategy revolved around creating a perfect
diet for consumers. Today, it considers itself as a go-to ready meal option with superb
food quality and great value for money (Anon, 2017).
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The segment, which is people born between 1981-1996 (22-37 years old),
is based on an interpretation of the information collected and a statistical analysis of the
survey data, where correlation between different demographic and behavioural variables got
tested. We assume that the identified segment is homogeneous within, and heterogeneous
from post-millennials (younger segment), generation X and baby boomers (older segments) in
their needs, preferences and market responses.
Millennials (22-37-year-olds)
This segment is considered to be our primary segment, with the majority of our respondents
being young, single females. These individuals will either be working professionals, students
or both and earn an annual income between $37, 000 - $90, 000 (appendix 5). Mostly, these
young professionals and students have less time to go grocery shopping and cook at home.
57.45% of participants said that they purchase ready-made meals either once a week or less
(appendix 6), and they all responded that they were most likely to buy either dinner or lunch
as a ready-made meal (appendix 7 and 8). Our research shows that ready-made meals in
general received a more significant response to popularity compared to meal kits. However,
both our interview and focus group candidates at the age of 25 mentions that the current
brands on the market neither have the preferred quality or delivers value for money.
¼ of the respondents have heard of Sandhurst and most are aware of the competing brands on
the market (appendix 3). The majority follows some type of dietary trend, the most common
being low-carb, low-sugar, low-calorie, organic and vegetarian (appendix 9). Despite these
trends, as much as 46.15% say that they prefer Italian cuisine in a ready-made meal (appendix
12) which makes them a truly beneficial segment for Sandhurst. The majority also agrees that
healthy eating will be the biggest trend in the future (appendix 10) and that digital media is
the most influential platform when it comes to product promotion (appendix 11).
Limitations
A possible limitation of using only one segment is that the “millennial” category does not
directly represent those two age groups used for our quantitative research. In addition, we
mainly reached the younger customers through our research and identified very few
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differences in needs between the two main age groups; 18-25 and 26-35, hence why we chose
to merge them.
By cause of time constraints, we conducted one focus group instead of several in-depth
interviews as initially stated in the proposal. The focus group candidates (6 people) were
between 25 and 76, but this research did not significantly stand out from our survey
responses. A few responses from older people got collected through both methods, however,
the information did not meet our requirements to consider them a profitable segment for
Sandhurst’s future market penetration.
Political
Looking at today's food trends in Australia, the government are pushing on adding healthier
options to people's everyday diet and ensuring there are sufficient information on the
products. Even though many Australians are conscious about their diet, the country have one
of the highest rates of obesity in the world with 63% of adults and one in four children being
overweight (Australian Government, 2019).
Most products in the Australian supermarkets carry a Nutrition Information Panel which
provides information about the contents of the food (Australian Government, 2019). But to
make it easier for busy shoppers, the Australian state and territory government has in
collaboration with industry, provided the Health Star Rating on packages to make it easier for
consumers to make healthier choices. As Sandhurst does not currently have the Health Star
Rating on their products, they can consider implementing it in their future production.
Economic
It is not uncommon that buying healthier foods are pricier than fast food and ready-made
meals in most countries, including Australia. Based on our survey, as much as 90.3% of the
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respondents answered either “yes” or “to some degree” when asking if eating healthier or
following a specific diet is more expensive (appendix 14). Additionally, as today’s society is
moving at a fast pace, it is much more convenient for many people to buy ready-made meals.
In many cases, buying ready-made meals can outweigh cooking food from scratch - which
can be a contributing factor to why fast food restaurants have expanded so much over the last
decade. Statistics show that between 2015-2016, meals out and fast food in total food
expenditure increased with 34% in Australia, and the total spend on eating out is continuing to
increase (Hogan, L. 2018).
Socio-cultural
Australians love having breakfast at cafes (Lubrano, 2019), hence why the market is
massively expanding. We can see a shift in especially the younger generations when it comes
to eating more organic and whole foods. It is becoming more important to be environmentally
conscious which will be addressed later in this analysis. We can also see a trend where more
people are leaning towards eating a vegetarian, vegan or “pescetarian” diet, and making more
healthy lifestyle choices (Frue, 2017). This shift in diet is making more fast food restaurants
change their branding and menus in order to keep up with the trends and maintain their
customers.
Another socio-cultural factor is the power of social media nowadays. Our findings through the
survey, interview and focus group clearly show the power and influence social media has on
our purchase decisions (appendix 11).
Technological
Today, there are endless platforms where you can market your products and sell them. When
it comes to exposing new products and marketing of these, it is essential for Sandhurst to keep
up with technological development in terms of creating packaging, food labels etc. (Frue,
2017). With the new and advanced technology, it helps food corporations to have easier
access to customer preferences and to reach them. This simplifies the potential
implementation of a meal-kit service.
Legal
The Australian government are involved in and have responsibilities for parts of the joint food
regulation. These include the setting of food policy; the making of food standards; and the
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Environmental
Big corporations are getting more conscious about how they can contribute to and create more
environmentally friendly products and packaging, as this is highly requested from consumers
in many parts of the world (Byington, 2018). “81% of millennials expect companies to make
public commitments to good corporate citizenship” according to a study from Horizon Media.
According to the Nielsen Global Corporate Sustainability Report, as much as 66% of
consumers are willing to pay a higher price for a brand that is committed to environmentally
friendly practices (Nielsen, 2015).
As we keep consuming, the world is becoming a toxic environment for the coming
generations. Plastic pollution is slowly breaking down the earth, with Australia's rich marine
life being no exception. According to the Australian Marine Conservation Society, more than
8 million tons of plastic is dumped into the ocean every year (Australian Marine Conservation
Society, 2019).
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4.0 References
Online sources:
Anon. (2017). Marketing Audit Lite N’ Easy New York Essays. Available at:
https://newyorkessays.com/essay-marketing-audit-lite-n-easy/ [Accessed 3 May 2019]
Byington, L. (2018). How sustainable is the food packaging industry? Available at:
https://www.fooddive.com/news/how-sustainable-is-the-food-packaging-industry/539089/
[Accessed 29 Apr. 2019]
Charlebois, S. (2017). The Grocerant: How smart grocery stores are becoming hybrids -
Inside Retail. Inside Retail. Available at: https://www.insideretail.com.au/news/the-grocerant-
how-smart-grocery-stores-are-becoming-hybrids-201711 [Accessed 12 Apr. 2019].
Frue, K. (2019). PEST analysis example for the food industry. Available at:
https://pestleanalysis.com/pest-analysis-example-for-the-food-industry/
[Accessed 29 Apr. 2019]
Hogan, L. (2018). Food demand in Australia: trends and issues 2018. Available at:
http://www.agriculture.gov.au/abares/research-topics/food-demand/trends-and-issues-2018
[Accessed 28 Apr. 2019]
Hogan, R. (2018). Coles MD plans overhaul of convenience offering - Inside FMCG. Inside
FMCG. Available at: https://insidefmcg.com.au/2018/10/25/coles-md-plans-overhaul-of-
convenience-offering/ [Accessed 27 Apr. 2019].
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Internet Retailing. (2016). More online retailers tipped to open stores. Available at:
https://internetretailing.com.au/more-online-retailers-tipped-to-open-stores/ [Accessed 3 May
2019]
Koehn, E. (2018). How HelloFresh is growing beyond $200 million in revenue by watching
customers closely - SmartCompany. SmartCompany. Available at:
https://www.smartcompany.com.au/industries/retail/hellofresh-australia-200-million-
revenue/ [Accessed 28 Apr. 2019]
Kwittken, A. (2018). Food for thought: How HelloFresh is on a mission to make us less
‘hangry’ after work. Available at:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/aaronkwittken/2018/03/27/food-for-thought-how-hellofresh-is-
on-a-mission-to-make-us-less-hangry-after-work/#549cfabb5dc1 [Accessed 3 May 2019]
Marley Spoon. (2019). Marley Spoon Annual Report 2018. Available at:
http://www.openbriefing.com/AsxDownload.aspx?pdfUrl=Report%2FComNews%2F201902
27%2F02080347.pdf [Accessed 3 May 2019]
Mitchell, S. (2018). HelloFresh eyes new markets, recipes after reaching critical mass.
Available at: https://www.afr.com/business/retail/hellofresh-eyes-new-markets-recipes-after-
reaching-critical-mass-20180405-h0ydqn [Accessed 2 May 2019]
Molla, R. (2018). HelloFresh is now bigger than Blue Apron in the U.S.. Recode. Available
at: https://www.recode.net/2018/3/26/17165030/hellofresh-blue-apron-meal-kit-delivery-
marketshare-acquisition-organic-green-chef [Accessed 27 Apr. 2019].
Mordor Intelligence (2018). Global Ready Meals Market - Growth, Trends, and Forecast
(2018 - 2023). Researchandmarkets.com. Available at:
https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/jn73x3/ready_meals?w=5
[Accessed 12 Apr. 2019].
Olive Exposium. (n.d.). Mimmo Lubrano – Sandhurst Fine Foods. Available at:
https://oliveexposium.com/speakers/mimmo-lubrano-sandhurst-fine-foods/ [Accessed 30 Apr.
2019].
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Roebroek, S. (2017). Growth story: How Marley Spoon grew fast by focusing on slow growth.
Available at: https://thenextweb.com/business/2017/04/13/growth-story-marley-
spoon/ [Accessed 3 May 2019]
Sengar, Y. (2018). Convenience Foods Market Headed for Growth and Global Expansion by
2020. MarketWatch. Available at: https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/convenience-
foods-market-headed-for-growth-and-global-expansion-by-2020-2018-09-06 [Accessed 28
Apr. 2019]
Book:
Adel Saleh M, A. (2014). The Role of Marketing Capabilities in Firm’s Success. The
International Journal of Management Science and Business Administration, 2(1), pp.57-64.
[Accessed 17 Apr.]
Company presentation:
Lubrano, M. (2019). UTS Presentation Research and Recommendations - Sandhurst Fine
Foods. [Accessed 22 Mar. 2019]
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5.0 Appendices
Appendix 1: Survey Questionnaire
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Appendix 13: Key Data from Sandhurst Fine Foods’ company presentation
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