Question

a) What is the biggest threat the truffle industry is facing?

b) How should the industry respond to such a threat? Support your argument by using theories, principles

Answer 1

A) Threats

1. Food Industry (Truffle) are being targeted by number of local organizations operating in the same domain.

2. Since Food Industry (Truffle) are global players means they have to take care of political problems and instabilities of the countries they are operating in.

3. The commitment to high quality natural and organic foods leads to higher prices than non organic and natural foods.

4. As the world is becoming more aware of how important it is to eat healthy, Food Industry (Truffle) need to be there to pull those consumers in to the stores.

5. Many consumers have the misconception that healthy foods are more expensive then other foods, when in fact they do provide a store brand that is comparable in price to other grocery chains. Therefor Food Industry (Truffle)s needs to change the attitudes of those consumers.

7.During a time when the economy is in a downturn, Food Industry (Truffle) has to find a cost effective way to give a little something back to customers that do buy on a regular basis and try to get new customers in the same tactic.

B) Strategies / Opportunities to respond Threat

1.The new technology can  provides an opportunity to Food Industry (Truffle)to practices differentiated pricing strategy in the new market. It will enable the firm to maintain its loyal customers with great service and lure new customers through other value oriented propositions.

2. Government green drive also opens an opportunity for procurement of Food Industry (Truffle) products by the state as well as federal government contractors.

3. Organization's core competencies can be a success in similar other products field. A comparative example could be - GE healthcare research helped it in developing better Oil drilling machines.

4. New trends in the consumer behavior can open up new market for the Food Industry (Truffle). It provides a great opportunity for the organization to build new revenue streams and diversify into new product categories too.

5. The market development will lead to dilution of competitor's advantage and enable Food Industry (Truffle) to increase its competitiveness compare to the other competitors.

6. Opening up of new markets because of government agreement - the adoption of new technology standard and government free trade agreement will provide Food Industry (Truffle) an opportunity to enter a new emerging market.

7. Decreasing cost of transportation because of lower shipping prices can also bring down the cost of Food Industry (Truffle) products thus providing an opportunity to the company - either to boost its profitability or pass on the benefits to the customers to gain market share.

8. Stable free cash flow provides opportunities to invest in adjacent product segments. With more cash in bank the company can invest in new technologies as well as in new products segments. This should open a window of opportunity for Food Industry (Truffle) in other product categories.