Fresh Growers, marketing strategy

Assignment Taken

Create a Marketing brochure. (Marketing Department)

Case Understanding

Fresh Growers being a new start-up aimed at providing consumers with freshly grown and unadulterated produce to its customer has found itself in contention with other businesses who claim to provide fresh produce too. The standard of freshness set in the market is pretty low as the traditional model followed by competitors has a number of middlemen and long period of storage involved about which the general populace is not informed or has become used to. The farmers aren’t willing to harvest according to demand or to use organic alternatives to pesticides and other chemicals. The increase in number of subscriptions represents that the current business model viable and BTL activities being undertaken were successful to some extent as consumer found Fresh Grower to be the next best service. But the post lockdown fall is an indicator that the customer value of the service provided by Fresh Growers are not at par with the competition and must be improved. Current service must be customized to be quicker, more flexible and provide better value in order to increase the market share of Fresh growers. Fresh Grower is yet to win the trust of its customer and gain customer loyalty as trends suggest they returned to buying from their previous agent.

BCS Solution Summary

The businesses Fresh Growers is in contention with are being able to increase the customer value of the service by providing faster service and purchase flexibility by compromising on the freshness. Hence the standards set for freshness in customer psychology is pretty low. Fresh Growers must run campaigns to sensitize the masses about the health benefits of freshly grown food and how traditional delivery model compromise on the freshness, therefore taking a toll on their health. The company must take its costumers into confidence as to how his produce is being grown and handled, and provide them with live tracking of their produce from farm to home while striving to shorten the delivery time. The fall in active subscription post lockdown shows low retention and an immediate need to increase engagement with the community by increasing BTL activities and providing better value than competitors by setting higher standards of freshness, quick delivery and competitive pricing. The segment focused on will be the health conscious and young generation. The marketing campaigns will be focused on sensitizing the masses about the benefits of fresh and unadulterated produce and will then broaden our focus to more segments in the future. The company must implement contractual farming which will help the company to increase the quality and freshness of produce it delivers to its customers and enjoy better pricing. The company must further employ hybrid JIT harvesting process in order to stick to its commitment of delivering within 3 hours.

Solution

To improve the market share of Fresh Growers we will focus on improving the 7Ps of marketing in a systematical manner in order to increase the value of the service and gain a competitive advantage.

1. Product

The user will be made available to customize his order on the bases of ripeness, firmness, pre-cut and portion size. An option to put additional instructions will also be made available allowing a greater degree of flexibility.

We will provide faster and more accountable delivery by allowing the customer to track his order live. The quality of produce will be higher than the market standards set in Pune and neighbouring locations.

No contact delivery will be executed just in 3 hours of order confirmation with the help of amalgamation of use of refrigeration units and just in time inventory. This will be instrumental in increasing the service value.

Subscription-based delivery of orders should be promoted among consumers which will help the upper management to predict future demand more accurately. After studying the previous trends, subscriptions taken and growth rate of the country they will be able to introduce and promote a contract farming model which will be mutually beneficial for the farmers and the business. The business will be able to secure produce at a cheaper price while the farmer will be ensured that no matter the demand, he will be paid in full and will also have insurance against the crops which will promote the use of organic alternatives like urea and pesticides.

Given the limited resources to deliver the service to the customer. We plan to introduce markdowns and complimentary produce (ginger, lemon, chilis etc) which will be directly proportional to the order size thus persuading the customer to put bigger orders which will be easier to deliver in the given time constraint.

1. Price

Although incurring higher cost because of harvesting on demand, Fresh Growers will be able to enjoy competitive prices by eliminating all the middlemen involved in the traditional method. By introducing periodic subscription-based delivery, they will be able to more precisely predict the demand and promote contract farming with producers which will help them stabilise the revenue and mitigate the farmers' risk and associated concerns. Moreover, in harvesting season Fresh growers will enjoy the ability to undercut the market prices and attract higher market share. Reward points and complimentary produce will help the business to preserve this boost in market share as customers will order again to retain the large number of points received during the harvest gala.

 

1. Promotion

In order to incentivise customer to use our services and to meet with high supply of produce during the harvest season, we aim to undercut the market prices for the particular produce and introduce new dishes, do collaborations with local restaurants to boost the demand thus utilising the increase in supply to boost subscriptions and reach.

 

Collaborations with local influencers from the food-related industry will be taken up to spread awareness among their followers and they will be able to avail complimentary offers on their first order. These influencers will also be promoted to share associated benefits and new recipes of a produce in its harvest season. The company will take up CSR activities aimed at sustainable development to increase its brand reputation and awareness.

Printed advertisement will be periodically published to spread awareness to the older generation. The company will promote industrial visit by professionals and students for their holistic development and opening the scope for more advancement in the future. Free sampling and exhibitions will be held near fitness centres in the city

 

1. Place

Locations with higher population density and close to fitness centres in Pune will be the initial focus of all marketing campaigns like produce sampling and exhibitions to raise awareness about our offering and the benefits of fresh produce. During the Harvest season, the marketing activities will be increased to ensure consumer engagement and increase reach.

 

1. People

Initially, a dual demographic behavioural strategy to target the young health-conscious consumer of Pune will be focused upon as the psychographic segment of the market have already started becoming a customer of Fresh Growers as they are major innovators. Simultaneously efforts to sensitize the other segments will be taken up which will allow expanding the aware segment of the market across all demographies.

 

1. Process

The process of execution of service will be highly transparent and the company will conduct routine third-party audits to maintain standards. An order is confirmed when the customer pays for the order. If the produce is in inventory then it is cleaned and packed and sent for delivery, if not then the farmer harvests it while a field team reaches him, tests and packages the fresh produce and transports it directly

flow chart

 

 

The companies maintain a just in time inventory to meet demand. The freezers are stocked every 4 hours. A harvested produce is called to be fresh for 8 hours in normal condition and last 13 hours when refrigerated. If the inventory cannot meet the order, the produce is freshly harvested, cleaned and tested by a mobile team of packaging employee and invigilator. Then it is directly sent to be delivered to meet the time committed i.e., to be delivered in 3 hours.

 

1. Physical Delivery

The order is delivered in oxygenated biodegradable packaging and is handed with minimum human contact. The packaging is sealed and the customer has the right o return if found torn. A strict no contact delivery policy is followed. The customer is also called once the delivery is complete to make sure they are satisfied and note issues experienced if any. The issues are addressed immediately and a personal message of thanks.

Conclusion

Conclusion Fresh Growers must improve their product design as suggested and focus on spreading awareness through exhibitions and campaigns. They must focus on aggressive promotion through incentivizing, free sampling, and collaborations. The implementation of the contractual farming model will further help the company to increase the quality and freshness of produce it delivers to its customers and enjoy better pricing. It is empirical that the company sticks to the hybrid JIT harvesting process in order to stick to its commitment of delivering within 3 hours thus becoming a far valuable proposition for the consumer than other similar services of competition. Addressing the issues of the consumer will further help the organization to improve and enhance the customer value of the service

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