International Business Essay: Food-Bridge's UK Expansion Strategy

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Food-Bridge Ltd's potential expansion into the UK market. It begins with a company overview and then delves into a detailed PESTLE analysis, examining the political, economic, social-cultural, technological, legal, and ecological factors influencing Food-Bridge's operations in the UK. The report highlights key considerations such as trade regulations, economic growth, health consciousness, and technological advancements. Furthermore, it develops a global marketing strategy tailored for the UK market, emphasizing brand culture and social media utilization. The report concludes with actionable recommendations to guide Food-Bridge's expansion and sustain its competitiveness in the international market.

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International Business Essay Paper: Food-Bridge’s Expansion to UK
Student
Institution

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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Company Overview.....................................................................................................................................3
PESTLE Analysis...........................................................................................................................................4
Political....................................................................................................................................................4
Economic.................................................................................................................................................6
Social-cultural..........................................................................................................................................7
Technological...........................................................................................................................................9
Legal......................................................................................................................................................10
Ecological/ Environmental.....................................................................................................................11
Marketing Strategy for the SME................................................................................................................12
Creating consistent and strong brand culture.......................................................................................12
Use of social media................................................................................................................................12
Recommendations.....................................................................................................................................12
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................13
References.................................................................................................................................................15

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Introduction
Taking business global is a strategic goal that every Small Market Enterprise (SME) in Ireland
wants to achieve, and the United Kingdom has been a preferred destination for nearly all Irish
SME players. The nature of business environment has greatly changed, and business managers
have to be proactive, aggressive, innovative, and focused to achieve in order to remain relevant
in this highly competitive market (Brian, 2015, p. 20). There exist multiple nuances that drive
decision making by business, and the key factor to consider business environment. In global
business operations, a company must consider the culture, legal and regulatory barriers, foreign
government factors, and business case before making foreign business expansion decisions. In
this paper, the situational analysis of Food-Bridge Ltd business operations in the UK will be
primarily done. In the paper, the PESTLE analysis for the UK and their impacts on the potential
of Food-Bridge’s global market expansion will be done. Also, the paper will develop a global
marketing strategy that Food-Bridge’s should use in the UK market so as to thrive and maintain
its position and competitiveness in the international markets.
Company Overview
Food-Bridge Ltd is an Ireland based company and a distributor of meat and meats products that
operates in the food industry. Started in 1999, Food-Bridge engages in the importation,
exportation, distribution, and retailing of meat and other meat related products, serving the
catering, manufacturing, retail, and wholesale industries in Ireland and other international
markets. As an SME, Food-Bridge is backed by robust in-house processing capabilities and
produces unique consumer products to its markets. The consumer foods division in particular, is
the leading producer and marketer of value added and customer branded chilled ingredients to
the UK markets and other key EU markets. In 2018, the company reported a €5.5 million profits,

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and it employs approximately 14 employees. The business environment in the UK has been very
influential to the strategic decision making of Food-Bridge, and this is the key determinant to its
current position in the food and beverage market in the UK.
PESTLE Analysis
In this paper, situational analysis will be limited only to the PESTLE analysis of Food-Bridge in
the UK market to understand the business environment (UK) in which the company operates. In
the external business analysis, the political, economic, social-cultural, technological, legal, and
ecological factors existing in the UK market that affect Food-Bridge in its food business
operations will be done.
Political
There are various political factors in the UK that affect the food and beverage operations of
Food-Bridge in the country, and these include:
Trade regulations and tariffs
In the UK food and beverage market, local and international players are required to adhere to the
trade regulations and business tariffs (Thomas, 2019, p. 1). There are anti-trust laws set by the
UK government in relation to food and beverage that Food-Bridge strictly adheres to. Being an
Irish SME operating in the UK market, Food-Bridge is required by the government of UK to
respect the tax laws ad standards set to be followed by international firms. There are also pricing
policies for consumer goods that Food-Bridge follows in the UK. Industry safety regulations,
trading partnership laws, and intellectual property laws also exist in the UK political
environment, and Food-Bridge has greatly benefited by the existence of these laws.
Food safety controls by the government

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The increasing number of scandals in the foods safety, the strategies of setting the minds of
target customers at rest and winning their trust is becoming a major trouble to Food-Bridge in its
food and operations in the UK market (Thomas, 2019, p. 4). In this perspective, the controls by
government are vital, and strongly influence the food and beverage producers and retailers in the
country. In the 2011 summer, there were lots of people who lost their lives after consuming the
E. coli cucumber, and this market the sector of food production the worst in the country because
the EU nations had banned the import of vegetables and most firms were compelled to stop
vegetable production, and this led to lack of raw materials.
Again, production process controls and regulations greatly impact Food-Bridge’s food operations
in this sector. The 2011 Audit report by PWC on meat establishment, the Food Standard Agency
(FSA) UK was seen to have raised the standards for meat establishment, and this undoubtedly
led to rise in processing cost. In such a scenario, Food-Bridge must deeply consider the political
risk because government controls and regulations are set to enhance food safety.
Labeling transparency controls
Customers have always been confused by mislabeling of products. Nevertheless, bringing
transparency in labelling requires higher costs to both the government and the industry players,
and in this case Food-Bridge (Alava, 2018, p. 21). The UK government has always endeavored
to make foodstuff worth trusting, for example, the FSA has come up with a guidance note to
assist industry players in the labelling and composition of foodstuffs suitable for human
consumption. To food players like Food-Bridge, transparency in labelling and food processing is
profitable for these controls and regulations compel food and beverage producers to invest more
capital to the food and beverage compositions. This has helped Food-Bridge avoid mislabeling

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scandals like the scandal of Daybreak’s mislabeling children’s breakfast cereals where “Ready-
to-go” lost a considerable number of consumers. In the UK government, transparency in
labelling has been a two-side blade whereby industry players must invest more funds in their
product composition or risk losing market relevance, competitiveness, and profitability.
Economic
In UK, the macro economic factors such as savings rate, inflation rate, foreign exchange, and
economic disparities and cycles determine the aggregate demand and investment for Food-
Bridge in the UK economy and market (Oraman, 2014, p. 1032). The economic factors present
in the UK that impact the food industry where Food-Bridge operate are:
Growth in disposable incomes
The general trend in the UK is that the population is becoming richer. This means that the
population in the lower, middle-class, and upper classes have more than enough money to use on
luxuries; including hotel and restaurant foods (Oraman, 2014, p. 1035). As a result, the overall
revenue in the foods industry where Food-Bridge up operates is constantly increasing, for people
cook less and eat out more often in restaurants. Food-Bridge supplies and delivers food and
beverage products in these food providers. In turn, there is a positive impact on all corners of the
space, including food and beverage manufacturers, restaurants, individual workers, and food
distributors who play a major role in these businesses.
Rising labor costs
There is a reason why disposable income is growing in the UK: nowadays laborers are earning
and receiving more salaries and wages. As a result, the cost for employee recruitment has
increased in the food (Alava, 2018, p. 22). The cause for this is the increasing demand for

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workers, and also the high expectations that government has set for minimum wages and salaries.
The effect of rising labor costs is very simple in the foods industry: fewer margins for the
company owners and thus minimized profit. For the case of Food-Bridge, the management is
compelled to adhere to the minimum wage expectations by the UK government and this has
contributed to productivity growth in the economy.
Exchange rates and currency stability
The other economic factor that greatly impacts on Food-Bridge performance in the UK market is
exchange rate and currency stability. In the last few years, the Euro has been very stable in the
UK and this has favored Food-Bridge in ensuring stability of prices. The exports from Ireland to
UK have been unionized due to this fact, as the host currency is much stable and flexible to their
business needs (Haakon, 2014, p. 2). There has been also efficiency in financial markets as the
UK government invests a lot into this area, and this has given Food-Bridge a comparative
advantage of host country and consumer goods in the UK market.
Social-cultural
The culture of the UK society and the manner in which business is done within the country has
greatly impacted Food-Bridge’s business operations in this market. In the UK, there exist shared
norms, attitudes, and beliefs towards the food and beverage manufacture and delivery, and this
has highly impacted to the company’s business decisions as far as consumable products are
concerned as explained:
Health consciousness
Today, the UK government in partnership with the ministry of health is more focused to enhance
food safety than ever before. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) regulates the food hygiene and

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safety in England, the UK. The FSA employs scientists and nutrition officers who care more
about the relationship between the food that people consumer and their health, and food and
beverage consumers in the country are conscious on the same (Haakon, 2014, p. 90). Food-
Bridge has hence been compelled to understand that the UK consumers endeavor to find
healthier ways of fueling their bodies; the company has thus adapted in order to remain relevant.
For example, Food-Bridge has stopped using traditional and high calorie food products and now
sells healthier products such as salads.
Dietary restrictions
In every society, there are dietary restrictions. People are bound by religion, conservative beliefs,
and food patterns. For example in the UK, the Christian segment does not consume pork
products, and thus Food-Bridge should not and must not advertise its pork consumables in this
region. Other than the UK societies understanding the types of foods that are not healthy,
consumers are still more knowledgeable of their personal dietary restrictions (Oraman, 2014, p.
44). For instance, most people today understand the adverse impact of gluten to those with
Celiac disease. As a result, consumers in the UK are expecting advanced understanding on behalf
of those who operate in the food industry. Again, this is not actually a bad norm, but it implies
that Food-Bridge will need to make changes to keep the UK market happy.
Level of education
The government of UK has been very focused to promoting food and beverage safety education
to the society. This education is guided by public opinion and focus to food safety. Still, there are
environmental consciousness measures set by the UK government that food and beverage players
must comply with. This has been recommended by the class structure, power structure, and

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hierarchy that govern the UK societies at the community level (Haakon, 2014, p. 16). This
education has resulted to the sparking of entrepreneurial spirit and broader nature of the society.
The UK society encourages entrepreneurial spirit, and this has impacted on the strategic goals of
Food-Bridge who now invest more to creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
Technological
There is fast disruption of the food and beverages industry by technology all over the world. In
the last 10 years, the food and beverage industry has been leading when it comes to technology
use and investment (Bresciani, 2017, p. 2292). The UK government in particular has been
encouraging all companies to invest in technology to become competitive, and this has impacted
on Food-Bridge operations as explained below:
Automation
In the food and beverages industry where Food-Bridge operates, we are witnessing various
automation types more and more. The UK government has particularly encouraged diffusion of
technology and the innovation of new brands to favor consumer needs, tastes, preferences, and
wants. Perhaps the best example is the use of self-checkout screens at fast food venues such as
Food-Bridge, although it is not the only one. Very recently, social media platforms such as
Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram went crazy while the viral footage of a hotel’s robot
cooking up omelets started to spread (Montgomery & Jeff, 2016, p. 18). As the UK government
continues to use robotics technology for instance, in the food and beverage sector, this will cut
costs for Food-Bridge as there will be less need for chefs. Generally, this technology has been
helpful to Food-Bridge ds, for it has enabled the company improve profitability, lower human
errors, and cut labor costs.

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Research and development
The UK recognizes research and development (R&D) as a core department in the foods
production and delivery in the market. The recent technological developments by Food-Bridge
are the result of R&D and the innovative projects pioneered by the company for the interest of
UK and Irish consumers. The scale of R&D in UK is normally set by the external technology, for
instance Irish technology, and the scale of food and beverage companies themselves
(Montgomery & Jeff, 2016, p. 25). The aim of R&D is making the product more competitive to
the products offered by other companies in the market such as McDonalds and DuPont. For
Food-Bridge, R&D and led to the production and supply of more nutritional, delicious, and safer
foods and beverages to the UK based consumers.
Legal
In UK, the legal institutions and frameworks are not good enough to protect the IP rights of Food
and beverages players operating in the country (Notta, 2015, p. 486). To Food-Bridge, the
management has to do a careful evaluation of the market before expanding its food and beverage
solutions to this country. However, there are safety standards by the UK government that favor
all industries as explained:
Safety standards
There are high standards and safety measures established by the UK government to promote food
and health safety by food and beverage players. Particularly, these safety standards center on
matters food and beverages storage, transportation, and preparations. These guidelines include
aspects of food temperatures and food cleaning (Alava, 2018, p. 22). Although this is largely a
political matter, it remains a legal affair in case a company breaches any of the regulations. As

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such, Food-Bridge needs to extremely remain careful in order to ensure that it stays within the
bounds of these laws, regulations, and rules so as to avoid costly lawsuits.
Ecological/ Environmental
The UK foods and beverages market has unique standards and norms which highly impact on the
profitability and viability of foreign businesses in the country (Nwokah, 2018, p. 279). The main
environmental factors existing in the UK that impact Food-Bridge ‘s business operations include
weather, change of climate, environmental pollution laws, endangered species, water and air
pollution laws, ecological products, waste management, recycling and renewable energy
attitudes and this is expounded below:
Dilemma of new food techniques
In the UK, there exists a big dilemma as far as new food techniques are concerned. To Food-
Bridge, the main question is ‘whether or not new food techniques such as GMO foods should be
used’? This dilemma has been increased by the existence of ecological products and the need to
recycle food products because if this is allowed GMO’s should also is used (Brian, 2015, p. 7).
Environment wise, GMO’s have potential health risks that are both known and unknown in the
society. In the context of UK markets, Food-Bridge already complies with environmental
pollution laws, waste management laws, and climate change laws. However, the company is also
under the same dilemma on the question of genetically modified foods.
Marketing Strategy for the SME
For the Case of Food-Bridge, an Irish based food and beverages retailer, the management needs
to adopt the best marketing strategy in order to thrive in the UK market. The marketing strategy

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to use must conform to the PESTLE factors that exist in this country. In this paper, we
recommend the following marketing strategies:
Creating consistent and strong brand culture
In order for Food-Bridge to expand its food and beverage business in the UK market and thrive,
the management must make it a priority that for its products/ brands to be consistent and familiar
in the country (Colby, 2010, p. 92). The company should rely on the internet expansion and
brand structure to become more of a brand culture. On top of this, Food-Bridge should design an
effective website that consumers consistently access their products.
Use of social media
Food-Bridge needs to market its food and beverages products as if there were no borders. Due to
digital platforms proliferation, brands always cannot adopt different strategies per country. In
such a way, due to internet, Food-Bridge needs to use social media marketing tools such as
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter which are highly used by a larger number of consumers all
over the world (Colby, 2010, p. 98). Using these social media platforms will enable Food-Bridge
make its food and beverage products well known to the UK target market. Here, the company
needs to use standardized advertising messages and ensure coordination of product launches in
the market.
Recommendations
Based on the PESTLE analysis of United Kingdom, in the context of food and beverages
industry, the management of Food-Bridge should take the following actions: