Byron Bay Cookies: PESTEL Analysis for Vegan Cookie Launch in Canada

This report presents a PESTEL analysis of Byron Bay Cookies, focusing on the company's planned expansion into the Canadian market with a new line of vegan cookies. The analysis examines the political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors influencing the company's prospects. The economic section evaluates Canada's GDP growth, unemployment, inflation, and foreign direct investment, concluding that the economic climate is favorable for market entry. The political and legal environment sections highlight Canada's stable government, transparent legal system, and favorable tax rates. Social and cultural factors, including Canada's health-conscious consumers and acceptance of diverse cultures, are also assessed. The technological environment analysis highlights the company's use of technology in manufacturing, import/export, and promotion. The report concludes that the Canadian market offers significant opportunities for Byron Bay Cookies, and it provides recommendations for successful expansion and growth.

Running head: MARKETING OF BYRON BAY COOKIES
Marketing of Byron Bay Cookies
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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MARKETING OF BYRON BAY COOKIES
Executive Summary
The paper attempts to analyse as well as monitor the macro-environmental factors of Byron Bay
cookies, since it is planning to launch a new product in the market which is a Vegan Cookie in a
lot of different variations and flavours. In order to launch the new product, a proper PESTLE
analysis needs to be done to figure out the impact that the new product can possibly implement
on the company. The report highlights all the external factors like political, economic, social,
technological, environmental and legal in order to identify the potential presence of any
weakness or threat that the new product may possess. The macro environmental analysis of
Byron Bay will enable the analysis of the strength or weakness of the company and act
accordingly.

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INTRODUCTION
The company, Byron Bay Cookie, started in the year 1900 with an old family recipe by
Maggi and Gary. Their initial aim was to provide Cookies to the local markets under the name of
‘Pickles, Pies and Petticoats’. This report will discuss the external environmental factors, that is,
PESTEL that affect the company (Dockalikova & Klozikova, 2014). This result of this is used to
identify the possible improvements and threat as well as the weaknesses which is then used to
conduct the SWOT analysis (Dockalikova & Klozikova, 2014).
Figure 1: PESTEL Chart
The company offers different types of cookies, which would be liked and preferred by the
Canadians too, so it is planning to extend its business in Canada. The company plans to introduce
the vegan cookies in the Canadian market (Dockalikova & Klozikova, 2014). The reason behind
doing this is that it is often observed that the non – vegetarian as well as the vegetarian people
are becoming health conscious and are converting into a vegan diet, in order to prevent the
PESTEL
Political
Economic
Social
Technological
Environmental
Legal

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MARKETING OF BYRON BAY COOKIES
exploitation of animals and to develop and sustain the environment too. It is a known fact that
the production of animal products poses a heavy threat on the environment (Dockalikova &
Klozikova, 2014). So, the aim here is to target the consumers who are health conscious and fulfil
their needs and wants by providing them with a wide range of vegan cookies.
The company already operates in twenty countries, such as Europe, Singapore, China,
and Canada. Byron Bay Cookie is an Australian company that has been serving for over 25 years
now. The reason for choosing Canada for this report is that there exists a lot of opportunity for
the company to earn profit. Moreover, the company will also have an upper hand as it is Halal –
certified and also due to its brand value.

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PESTEL ANALYSIS
Economic and Financial Environment Analysis:
Economic variable –
Taking into consideration the economic environment of Canada, it can be deduced that
the country is the world’s 11th largest economy, where the growth in GDP of the Canadian
economy is seen on a monthly and quarterly basis (Cho, Park & Lee, 2014). The country also
ranks at 77.7 in terms of economic freedom which makes it the 8th freest economy in the year
2019. Even though there has been an increase in the government integrity, fiscal health, and
labor freedom, the overall score remains unchanged (Cho, Park & Lee, 2014) (Goodwin,
Freeman & Blackmore, 2013). In addition to this, there was a decline in the judicial
effectiveness, government spending and trade freedom (Cho, Park & Lee, 2014). It will be
beneficial for the company to expand its business here, in Canada, as the government is placing
an importance on trade diversification and export promotion (Olive, 2015). Also, the
unemployment rate seems to have increased from 5.4 % to 5.7 % while the inflation rate is 2 %
(Cho, Park & Lee, 2014). The foreign direct investment was averaged at 21668 CAD Million
(Cho, Park & Lee, 2014). The purchasing power of the customers was found to be increasing
over the years after having a look at the GDP (Cho, Park & Lee, 2014). This eventually shows
that it will be feasible for the company to launch its product in the country (Olive, 2015).
Financial variable –
The TSX (Toronto stock exchange) rate increased by 15.20 % since the start of the year
2019 (Brake, 2013). The current annual GDP was valued at 1647 billion US dollars and the
combined value of imports and exports was seen to be at 64.1 per cent (Brake, 2013). The
banking sector in the country remains sound where a wide range of non – bank financial

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companies operate in the business environment (Brake, 2013). In addition to this, the country
also has a transparent governmental framework (Goodwin, Freeman & Blackmore, 2013).
Considering the future expectations of the country in terms of employment and GDP growth
(Brake, 2013). Hence, it can be noted that the financial variable is in favor with the launch of the
new vegan cookies in Canada (Cho, Park & Lee, 2014). From Appendix A, it can be seen that
the likely economic growth in Canada for the year 2019 is of 1.3 %, since the odds of economic
contraction is unlikely (Conteh, 2013).
Political and Legal Environment Analysis:
Political variable –
The political system of Canada is categorized into three levels of government where each
level has different responsibilities (Botha, Kourie & Snyman, 2014). According to the ‘Rule of
Law’, 89 % of Canada’s land area is owned by the state itself and only that the 11 per cent which
is privately owned is properly taken care of (Conteh, 2013). Moreover, in Canada, the
enforcement of contracts is extremely secure and the expropriation is highly unusual (Botha,
Kourie & Snyman, 2014). In addition to this, the country also has an independent and transparent
judiciary system that enthusiastically prosecutes corruption (Conteh, 2013). Hence, the country
has a low level of corruption rate and a good reputation for clear governance (Botha, Kourie &
Snyman, 2014). This transparent bureaucratic framework within the country facilitates
commercial activities that eventually allows business formation and operation to be dynamic and
extremely efficient (Conteh, 2013). The personal income tax rate in the country is 33 per cent
and the corporate tax rate is at 15 per cent which makes the overall tax burden a 31.7 % (Botha,
Kourie & Snyman, 2014). Therefore, it can be said that the nation has a sound political system
which will perhaps ensure the growth and sustenance of the company.

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MARKETING OF BYRON BAY COOKIES
Legal variable –
Canada has the most unique approach to the legal system in the world. The country is a
bilingual state, that is, it has two official languages, that is, English and French and two legal
traditions as well, that is, the common – law and the civil – law. All the provinces except,
Quebec has a hybrid legal system. The country is open to new opportunities and the government
of Canada has a comparatively low level of intervention in terms of commerce. Furthermore, the
country has a low tariff rate with a transparent border administration with a strict country tax
code. Although, Canada has a strict policy for copyright, patents and employment law. So, it can
be inferred that the Canadian legal system is quite strong.
Social and Cultural Environment Analysis:
Social variable –
The social variables of the country is quite adaptable in nature (Barker & Branson, 2014).
Canada is the world’s second largest country in terms of surface but relatively small when seen
in accordance of population (Arku, 2014). Both the English and French enjoy official status in
the country. In addition to this, the country has a 4 per cent rate that makes up for the indigenous
people (Du & Bstieler, 2016). Considering that the country is counted as one of the richest
country, its service sector is quite flexible and dominant. Other than this, Canada is rich in terms
of natural resources too and is noted to be a major exporter of energy, minerals and food. It also
ranks as 12th in terms of Human Development Index (Thomas, 2013). The government of Canada
also provides free education and medical benefits to its citizens (Barker & Branson, 2014). As it
has already been mentioned that people in the country are turning into vegan and that everyone is
becoming more health cautious than they already were (Hillary, 2015). So, it will be a wise

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decision to launch this product in the country with a wide range of flavors (Barker & Branson,
2014).
Cultural variable –
The culture of Canada and the United States is more often than not indistinguishable (Du
& Bstieler, 2016). The Canadians of today’s era are more inclined towards an orderly central
government (Arku, 2014). The Canadians live in a society where primary as well as the
secondary form of education is found to be compulsory and is borne by the government to ensure
every child is literate (Pugh, 2014). The culture also embeds a sense of peace, justice and
democracy (Arku, 2014). Furthermore, the country whole heartedly accepts the Indian culture
particularly, the Punjabi culture (Arku, 2014). This not only shows how advanced and flexible
the country is, but also that it adapts and welcomes the new cultures (Pugh, 2014).
Technological Environment Analysis:
Technological factor is a huge determining factor in any business that dictates a proper
way by which things should be done (Henderson & Wakeham, 2013). I believe over the past
couple of years, Byron Bay Company has ensured to implement right kinds of technological
equipments ahead of their competitors and that too in an innovative way (Thomas, 2013).
Although the company still uses traditional method of handmade, yet it is a differentiating factor
that makes Byron Bay stand out from others (Johnston & Marshall, 2013). Maintain a traditional
method did have a toll on the growth of the company, which is why technological capabilities
related to manufacturing, importing and exporting along with the promotion needs to be perfect
for scaling up the production (Hamilton & Webster, 2018).
For efficient manufacturing as well as importing and exporting, 3D technology is
required, that is present in Byron Bay (Thomas, 2013). There is a strong security implemented on

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their cartography, engines of machines are efficient and the high internet connectivity enables the
company to promote their products, specifically new ones like Vegan Cookies, in a wider range
(Hamilton & Webster, 2018). The internet connectivity enables the Byron Bay of Canada to
overcome the geographical barriers and grow outside the boundaries of Canada (Thomas, 2013).
The task of Automation has not entirely taken up in the company, for I what believe, is because
Byron Bay depends more on traditional methods for baking (Hussein, 2015).
However manufacturing machines are kept in order with efficient engine
capability and the providence of better internet infrastructure has paved a way of easy consumer
access to the company’s website that is supported by its own App. The R&D team is seen to
work on innovatively over the technological skills to make the marketing of Byron Bay cookies
easily available (Yoon, Park & Kim, 2013). In order to stimulate the innovation of the R&D
team, the company also provides them with technological incentives in order to motivate them
more and stay ahead in terms of technological advancement (Arku, 2014).
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Conclusion –
From the above report, it can thus be concluded that the company, Byron Bay Cookie,
offers a wide range of cookies that covers a variety of texture that ranges from gluten free, vegan
to café cookies. Furthermore, the company also provides a lot of different flavours. Taking into
consideration, all the 6 factors that were discussed above, it can be deduced that it would not
only be feasible to conduct the operations in Canada, but it would also be profitable. This also
shows that there exists opportunity for the company to expand and further grow its business in
the country. The legal environment, the political environment and the financial environment is

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quite strong and offers a decent rate of interest. In addition to this, the country also provides top
quality infrastructure and extremely skilled labourers.
Recommendation –
In order to be able to grow and develop further down in the future, the company should perhaps
do the following –
a. The company should develop a product standardization strategy
b. It should make proper use of the IMC model
c. It should develop a social media presence
d. It should also provide seasonal offers and discounts
e. The company could partner up with gymnasiums to concentrate on a larger consumer
base


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REFERENCES
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APPENDIX
Appendix A
Appendix B