Chicken Hotdog in India: A venture by Maple Leaf Food

This document discusses the venture of Maple Leaf Food in India with their Chicken Hotdog product. It covers topics such as domestic market performance, target market, marketing plan, market entry mode, risk assessment, corporate social responsibilities, financing, and more.

Chicken Hotdog in India: A venture by Maple Leaf Food
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Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................3
DOMESTIC MARKET PERFORMANCE....................................................................................3
TARGET MARKET........................................................................................................................4
MARKETING PLAN......................................................................................................................6
MARKETING ENTRY MODE......................................................................................................7
RISK ASSESSMENT......................................................................................................................8
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES AND STRATEGIES...........................................9
FINANCING.................................................................................................................................10
EXPORT-ABILITY ASSESSMENT............................................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The first section constitutes the Domestic market performance. In this section, there is a brief
about the company and its products. A small brief has been given about the product it deals with
and the product it dreams to be the ideal product for the target country. The organization
structure has been detailed with key personnel names and a brief about the past performance of
the company has also been provided. The target market and its resources has been stated in brief
along with the outline of the export objective and goal of the company.
The next segment is the target market. In this section the reporter has stated the conditions of the
current target market. The positive and negatives of the country and the product that needs to be
marketed in the country. A simple SWOT analysis on the target market conditions have been
provided along specifying the target customers. Again, a detail PESTLE analysis is also provided
to understand the external conditions of the target market. The section also includes portray of
the Porter’s Five forces model where the reporter has specified which sections are good for the
venture and bad as well. The reporter has again detailed them with proper suggestion in the
particular sections. The following segment is the market plan. Assessing the target market, the
reporter has suggested a proper plan for the company. The reporter has outlined all the ways
through which the company can gain the best. The reporter has analysed the product and the
variations in the product to sustain in the market. The service section along with the product has
also been considered. The reporter has given a brief on how issues can be mitigated regarding
customer service and the various ways of improving the product as a whole. The reporter has
also considered the top three threats for the company and has provided with proper solutions for
the company.
The next section is Market entry mode. Here, the reporter has considered the factors that are fine
for the market entry strategy. The reporter has described the ways through which a business is
conducted in the target country and the various strengths and/or weaknesses for the company
exports. The after sales and service platforms are also considered and given a proper solution for
the issues regarding the same. The reporter has also taken up barriers related to tariffs,
regulations, and policies in the discussion and has provided proper solutions for the company.
The entry mode options are specifically stated along with their benefits for the company.
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The next section comprises of the risk assessment. In this section the reporter has provided a
discussion on the risk factors that are associated to venture in the target country. The Country
risks have been described with global, political and economic issues. The market risks are
considered, and rates and agreements are considered in the discussion. Product risks are also
stated by the reporter. The barriers for the market entry and the product acceptance have been
considered by the reporter and the specific solutions for all the risk associated issues are also
outlined by the reporter. The next section is Corporate Social responsibilities and strategies
section. Here, in this section the reporter has stated the CSR issues relating to the company
operating in the target market. The reporter has identified the environmental concerns and trends
and has specified that these cannot be done by the company as this is a highly reputed brand.
Along with this the human right issues, unfair or corrupt business practices, health, safety and
labour issues are described along with solutions to the problems.
Following this is the Financing part which includes the investments from different parts of the
world that can be available and be beneficial for the company at the same time. The reporter has
identified all the possible resources from where the company may arrange the finance for the
venture. The next section includes the ability assessment of the company which specifically
states that why and for what reasons the company is able to venture in the particular project. This
is a short description of what the company may achieve through the venture in future. The last
section is the conclusion where the major issues have been stated by the reporter and the issues
have been again considered with suitable recommendations for the benefit of the company. Three
key issues, that may arise, have been identified by the reporter and solution have been provided
too. The complete study has been performed with best ethical practices and the recommendations
by the reporter are authentic. The sources from where the ideas has been extracted are given in
the reference section. All the sections have been provided with authentic solutions by the
reporter.
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DOMESTIC MARKET PERFORMANCE
Founded in the year 1927, at Toronto, Maple Leaf Food is a major Canadian packaged meat
company. It is headquartered in Mississauga and has more than 30000 employees working. The
company deals with every kind of meat and packaged meat products.
During 1980s the Canada packers began to suffer to sustain in the market and sold some of its
businesses. Maple Leaf Mills was founded in 1961 with the amalgamation of 3 companies
namely- Maple Leaf Milling Company, Toronto Elevators, and Purity Flour Mills. The company
Canada Packers in 1990 purchased Maple Leaf Mills in exchange of its shares and renamed the
combined company as Maple Leaf Foods (Maple Leaf Foods, 2019). Later again the company
got involved into a number of divestitures and thus the only product they deal with is packaged
meat.
Ben Brooks is Senior Vice president and General Manager of the poultry, Rocco Cappuccitti is
the senior vice president and corporate secretary, Curtis Frank is president and chief operating
officer, Adam Grogan is senior vice president of marketing, innovation, research and
development, Ian henry is senior vice president of human resource, Randall Huffman is the chief
food safety and sustainability officer, Josh Kuehnbaum is the Senior vice president of
foodservice sales and marketing, Lynda Kuhn is the senior vice president of Maple food centre
for action on food security, Andreas Liris is Chief information officer, Scott Lorimer is senior
vice president of retail sales, Rory Mcalpine is senior vice president of government and industry
relations, Michael h. McCain is president and Chief executive officer, Debbie Simpson is Chief
Financial officer, Ian Stewart is senior vice president and general manager of pork complex, Rick
Young is Senior Vice president of Supply chain and purchase (Mapleleaffoods.com, 2019).
The company has initiated a venture to explore Indian market through the one product – Chicken
Hot dogs. The Hot dog is one product which is not much available in India and the target market
is huge in India. The company can be fruitful in respect with the venture provided strengths and
weaknesses directing towards opportunities and threats are considered along with all types of
risks and returns. The domestic market though deals in all kinds of burgers, hotdogs, sandwiches
etc. which contains sufficient amount of the company packaged meat. The target market in
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domestic country are children (except infants) and adults. Bacon, beef, poultry are major meat
products of the company.
Maple Leaf Food can have sufficient amount of human labour and finance in country India and
the political conditions say that since it is a developing country the people are excited about the
new avenues in market. Investors are heavy in India and economy of India invites new traders
from foreign countries. The people will get jobs, income and thus the country will be perfect to
venture on (Radulovich, Javalgi & Scherer, 2018). Though the chicken product will only suffice
the market as majority are Hindu and they have least preferences for beef. Again, there are
sufficient amount of Muslims who cannot stand pork meat. Therefore, chicken is ideal product
for business.
The export objective would comprise of 20% of company exports within 3 years. At first the
target markets would be the metro cities and cities with overpopulation. The places where the
country is connected through ports, airports are a must to venture on. Again, places near to the
country boundaries can also be a good idea for a store or export market. The company would ask
finance from the private as well as public investors. The company will also have stores and
products will also be sold in supermarkets and stalls in different shopping-malls.
TARGET MARKET
Maple Leaf Foods has been doing business for more than 100 years and the country India is
perfect for the venture. The venture of Maple Leaf Foods will help the company to gain investors
as it is renowned in United States, Canada and many other countries. Again, chicken products are
highly popular in the segment and growing middle class of India are driver of meat segment
growth. According to researches, by the end of 2022, there will be an 80% growth in demand of
chicken and meat. Due to more urbanization in India and growth of middle class segments, the
country is best for chicken hotdogs (Greer, 2018).
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Below is the SWOT analysis of the target market: Strength (S)
Quality product, increasing demand for chicken products, huge population, and new product.
 Weakness (W)
Limited operation, political imbalance, tax system and government policies Opportunities (O)
Job opportunities, technology, development of inter country relations, market expansion. Threats (T)
Huge competition, limiting operations within country, expand cost due to tax payment.
Below is the PESTEL analysis for business with the target country, India.
Political and economic events in India are vivid. The policies change with every new ruling party
arrival. The prime minister changes after 5 years and people incline according to policies. The
economy changes according to politics, income, tax and other rates within the country. Since it is
a developing country rates change within short span of time and therefore the prices of the raw
materials are influenced (Singh & Negi, 2018). The people of India are aware of globalization
and culture of the country with internet savvy generations. Therefore, the influence changes the
culture and lifestyle of people. With vibrant changes in the culture and social factors the lifestyle
transformation factors are quick in change. Technological factors are both good and bad for the
country. The people are not comfortable with the use of computers and technology in the
production business (Chhabra & Kiran, 2015). India has tax policies and export-import policies
which are prone to change every 4 to 5 years. The government and other official bodies have
dispute relationships with its neighbours and thus challenge is the persistence of the product
inside the country (Jha & Bhattacharyya, 2018).
Environmental events are also varied in the country as the poultry production may get hampered
due to the environmental effects of high humidity, heat conditions and heavy rain.
Threats of New
Entrants
Threat of
Substitute
Power of
Buyers
Power of
Suppliers
Competitive
rivalry
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products
High High Low Low Low
Table 1: Porters Five Forces model
(Source: Created by author)
The target market of the company are the teenagers, adults and old age people. The company
cam expand the business only it has proper aligned operation plans along with cost efficiency.
The analysis clearly tells that though the company is highly efficient for the business
(Mohapatra, Choudhury & Ganesh, 2017). The country is no doubt business friendly and has
numerous opportunities for the growth of the business. The agreements and contracts can
enhance the safety of the company within the country which may restrict it from policy changes.
The labour force is not much educated and require sufficient amount of training which envelops
a cost for the company. Again, the cost of the products needs to be wiser as most people
comprise middle class. Otherwise the country is okay for a venture of chicken hotdogs. India is
a safe country for the travellers and the company personnel would not face any discrepancies
during the visits. The legal personalities take care of the safety of the travellers and the
government does everything possible for the foreigners. The Canadian representative are present
in the country and the trade commissioner support system is highly improved in India.
MARKETING PLAN
Hotdog is one product which has still not entered in the markets of India. Though there are few
competitors within the country who sell the product, yet they are small players and the product is
also not up to the mark. The juicy chicken hotdog along with preferred bun and topping
according to the customer preference would definitely do the trick. The company is new in
market and though there is a huge risk for competition, therefore, service should be high to
broaden the loyal customer base (Amoo, 2017). The buyers can choose their preferred toppings
every time they buy. Along with these the packaging and service would be good quality and this
would entail an extra cost. The product can be customised according to the buyers’ preferences
and price should be okay for the customers to pay (Bentley,et al, 2016).
The three competitive threats are as follows
 Substitute products
 Better customer experience with great service
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 Intellectual property (for example patents and trade secrets)
The competitive analysis needs to be considered as the competition is high in the particular
market and foreign as well as native businesses have the tendency to produce better substitute
with a good combination of services. Therefore, recipe will be kept a secret and only the
company officials will know about it. The recipes will be exported, and top-level delegates will
handle the distribution and management of the materials. A contract with government will again
limit company sufferings from governmental policy changes and fluctuating tax rates (Bruneel &
De Cock, 2016).
MARKETING ENTRY MODE
As stated earlier that Maple Leaf Food may have vans and stalls for the sell. The buyers may
order from home through applications as well with a software available in different food delivery
company applications. Now the packaging should be good so that the toppings are intact. Thus,
the company needs to have farms for the poultry production and the recipe through which they
can be produced into finished products will be exported from Canada to India (Schellenberg, et
al., 2018). There will be sufficient tax redemptions as the countries through which the products
will be exported are an ally with Canada in different.
The trade agreement barriers are Export subsidies and domestic support, standard testing
labelling and certification, and import licencing. Restrictive goods face problem in the country.
Though researching about the standards for India would solve the problem. Though these are a
problem there are also some strengths for the company. Export strengths of the company are a
benefit for the company growth. The service and after sales should also be present in order to get
enough loyal customers. The trade agreements and the tariffs need to be rechecked in order to
reframe the service of the products. Direct export and representatives may be the options for the
country as they can save the cost of the country. The strategic partnership with various contracts
with main investors (both inside and outside the country) can be perfect to limit the hasty
changes within the country (Lal, 2017). There is also a requirement of the customer support
officials who can deal with the issues of the customers regarding the product as well as the
service and packaging.
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RISK ASSESSMENT
India is a country with a lot of avenues for a better market and human resource availability. The
country also invites investors and job opportunities which is good for the business fortunes. The
markets are already too squeezed with a lot of competition and innovation inside the country.
The list of risks are as follows:
 Country risks: The global political distress is obviously one risk to consider. The
rejection and renegotiation of key trade deals, recessions, tariff and non-tariff barriers etc.
are the sort of global risks that are associated with the objective. Though it is obvious that
this has to be fought within the country as well as outside the country (Anderson &
Sutherland, 2015). This risk is an external risk which can be only mitigated through
strategic risk-mitigations. The relation with India’s neighbouring countries such as China,
Pakistan, and Bangladesh are distressful which result is severe policy changes and it
affects the whole economy of the country (Rao & Tapp, 2015).
 Market risks: India has a business environment ranking of 57 out of 82 and an economic
freedom score of 52.6%. The country invites newer opportunities which states that they
have a good score in economic improvements. Though the rates are fluctuating
vigorously every year there is enough growth for any business. The policies have been
reformed in India and the country is expected to overtake china within 2024. The country
has recently passed new tax bills which exempts the business form a lot of payments. The
GST and the monetary policies change very often the company should therefore prepare
to face the problems beforehand with proper strategies (Malik & Velan, 2016).
 Product risks: The product is chicken hotdog which attracts the teenagers (school and
college goers) and adults (working and non-working adults). The country has huge
population amongst which most are Hindus and Muslims. Still modern people are
inclined towards consuming meat and poultry as they are healthy as well as nutritious
(Singh, 2016). The Muslim culture believes that halal meat is worthy to consume though
many cannot maintain so and have chicken outside. If the company can control these two
factors, then there should not be any major product risks. Though the fact remains that
the poultry should be maintained in ideal temperature conditions with adequate amount of
food and grains for the poultry which may turn to be difficult in India.
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 Commercial risks: Competition is exclusively high in the country and the native and
foreign competitors are able in making products with combination of various services to
excel the business. Therefore, the ingredients and the seasonings will be exported with
high security. The loyal company officials will be given the duty to do so. The service
should be great, and the feedback system would be a spinal cord for an excellent service
(Lea, 2018). The great combination of unique product and super service is ideal to win a
market.
 Barriers to market entry and acceptance: Hotdogs are English products and the culture of
India may limit the acceptance of the products. The company will have a number of
barriers regarding the acceptance of the products as the old people and people who are
educationally inferior will have issues for acceptance (Agrawal et al., 2016). Though they
can be attracted with unique offers. The legal factors, as mentioned earlier, can be
restricted through efficient contracts with the country and dealers. The geographic issue-
factors include harsh temperatures and vivid landscapes which can be harmful for the
poultry production.
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES AND STRATEGIES
All strive towards a better future. The company thus have some social responsibilities. The
responsibilities include the following:
 Environmental concerns: Carbon footprint in transport is an environmental concern
around the world. The company has its own share of responsibilities towards a better and
greener world. Therefore, trucks or vans which will be used during the business will be
battery run vans. The power will be used from solar cells over the vans that would act to
give electricity and fuel for cooking or producing the palatable product. The resources
would be recycled as after grazing the grains would be again produced (Pavelin &
Casson, 2016). Water and fuel use would be limited and within the norms of the country.
All the ingredients would be natural, and the company will take care of the health of the
customers.
 Human right issues: All the workers would be permanent abiding the rules of the
government they will be given benefits and overtime as directed by the government.
Immigrant workers would also get jobs if they have proper ID and will be treated equally
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as all other workers (Moratis & Cochius, 2017). The issue will be taken care of the
management as soon as it will be launched to th. Equal working and payment
opportunities will be provided by the company irrespective of age, gender, culture etc.
(Baumol, 2016).
 Unfair business practices: Maple Leaf Food is a dedicated and fair company which
believes in legal ways of achieving goals. Thus, the company will take serious actions
against the people found guilty in taking any kind of bribery, misuse of the assets of the
company (Coteanu, 2017). The company will not make any false advertisements in any
kind of platforms to attract customers and the audit of the company will be checked twice
independently by various teams of officials inside the team and an external audit would
be performed to check false financial statements and transactions (Allen, 2018).
 Health, safety and labour issues: the safety issues ought to be taken care of the country
and thus the labour unions would be present in the company (Jain, Leka & Zwetsloot,
2018). The company would provide proper training before the labours are properly
employed so that they do not have to suffer any damage. The company will provide the
labours sufficient amount of benefits and incentives. The company will also provide
scholarships, to workers, for studies related to the business (Leva et al., 2019). The duty
would be in shifts and there would be a total of 3 shifts in 24 hours (each comprising of 8
hours).
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FINANCING
The company had been doing business in Canada for more than 100 years and many other
countries though the company has suffered serious loss in the previous years of the business.
Finance is one most important key to any business (Tripathi & Bhandari, 2015). The company
has a certain amount of capital which will be employed in the venture along with investors of
Canada will employ a certain amount of money for the business. They will have a certain amount
of hare in the business and therefore they will employ some aid to the company in regard to
transport, export and similar other activities (Solomon, 2019). The company has managed to take
a loan amount from a few banks and Letter of credits from some banks of Canada as well. The
company also has managed some investors from India and well as its neighbouring countries
such as Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Myanmar and China. Alongside there are some private
investors as well who are interested in the project and has offered certain capital in exchange of
shares of the company (Sen, Sharma & Shrimali, 2016). India is also a partner of a number of
allies in the world organizations and the ally countries have also happy to help.
EXPORT-ABILITY ASSESSMENT
Maple Leaf Food has thought of a great initiative to diversify its business in different countries.
In the age of globalisation, it is highly important to explore every demography after estimating
the risks and returns and India is a developing country with a huge number of population and
economic growth. Of course, there are difficulties in the business venture though the company, if
applies proper strategies, can gain a great deal through this exploration.
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CONCLUSION
The three key arguments revolving around the idea is that India is a saturated marketplace with a
huge population though chicken hotdogs are unique in the business. The competition is high in
the particular market still the company may excel with a combination of better service and
quality product. There are export barriers, training costs and other barriers as well yet India is a
cost friendly country for any business and even after sufficient expenses there will always be a
high profit margin. The investment would be huge and the regional and central political parties
would invite newer projects with benefits offered to the foreign investor for the improvement.
The people are prone in taking and accepting new culture and ideas which would drive them to
buy the hotdogs. Concluding lastly, the company can benefit largely if India is chosen for the
target country with chicken hotdogs as the labour cost is less, huge target market, no proper
brand selling hotdogs in the market, developing economy, tech savvy and internet savvy
population, rising demand for poultry and meat, export benefits etc. are ample reasons to explore
new market.
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