Question

Our waist lines are trying to keep up with the snack industry! Or is it the other way around?

Utz, a family-owned potato chip maker, is growing fast and going public for even faster growth. Over the past few years, acquisitions have proved valuable for the company, but what seems to be an aggressive, offensive strategy may actually be a defensive one. Small, unique brands build a loyal following and eventually get bought up by large corporations. Utz’s CEO is betting that becoming a giant is the best way to keep the company independent and thriving.

articles to read first:

Exclusive: Utz CEO Talks Family and the 99-Year-Old Company’s Plan to Go Public on Monday

Consumer Snacking Habits Shift as Unprecedented Summer Approaches

State of the Industry 2020: Meeting Snack Market Demands

Discussion Questions:

1. Have snack habits changed during the pandemic? If so, how? Based on your findings, do you think that Utz’s acquisition of other snack companies matches current demand trends?

2. Does the proliferation of new products create challenges for production planning?

3. How can an injection of capital through public trading benefit operations?

Answer 1

1. Individuals withdrew to their homes and ate more and new snacks with COVID-19. They even stocked them up for the different occassions and nutritional needs. Nutritious bites and those advancing prosperity are particularly mainstream. Given the interest changes both regarding volume and assortment, Utz's move to scale up and add more brands to its portfolio bodes well given the demand changes in terms of volume and variety. As individuals return to work, request shifts among items may happen, making it basic for the organization to stress inventiveness and deftness.

2. The demand forecasts are typically for families of snacks. Likewise, total plans additionally set up yield rates and limit requirements for item families.If the number of product families increases, new forecasts and plans will have to be generated. On the off chance that the quantity of item families increments, new figures and plans should be produced. Be that as it may, in procuring different firms, Utz is purchasing their staff's aptitude and capacity to create limit plans for explicit families and update them varying. A significant test is to create economies of scale by solidifying material buys and revamping scattered creation limit with regards to greatest productivity. Besides, disaggregating the total plans into ace creation timetables will be more intricate and require a tight coordination of client orders, stock levels, and creation levels for an a lot bigger number of items.

3. The additional capital will enable Utz to square away its obligation and put resources into new creation innovations, for example, advanced mechanics. It will likewise enable the organization to create and extend new product offerings just as building the creation limit needed to draw in huge clients, for example, Walmart.