MARKETING PLAN FOR

ORGANIC VALLEY
Organic Chocolate in UK

Kunal Gudhka
Student Id-5184154

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Executive Summary
Organic Valley is preparing to enter mature market of UK with its new high quality organic
Chocolate. We can easily compete with non-organic chocolate producers as our product is purely
organic and healthier than them. With other organic chocolate manufacturers, we will be
competitive in price. We will be introducing chocolates in the Countlines segment of chocolates.
We will be positioning our company in price between non-organic chocolate manufacturers and
organic chocolate manufacturers. We are targeting specific segments in the consumer markets
like Tweens (11-14 years), Students and Over 55s. We will introduce 50g bar and After dinner
mint chocolates for Over 55s and 25g minibars for Tweens and Students.
The primary financial objective is to achieve first year UK market share of 0.5% in chocolate
confectionary market. The primary marketing objective is to make Organic Valley as a
sophisticated organic chocolate brand.










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Table of Contents PAGE No
1.0 Situational Analysis 03
1.1 Company Overview 03
1.2 PESTEL Analysis 04
1.3 Porters Five Force Analysis 06
1.4 SWOT Analysis 08
2.0 Objectives 09
3.0 Market Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning 10
3.1 Market Segmentation 10
3.2 Target Market 12
3.3 Positioning 13
4.0 Marketing Strategies 15
4.1 Product Description and Branding 15
4.2 Pricing Strategy 16
4.3 Distribution Strategy 17
4.4 Marketing Communications 18
5.0 Implementation and Controls 19
References 20


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1.0 Situational Analysis
1.1 Company Overview
Organic Valley is a US based organic agricultural Cooperative Company formed in 1988. Initially it
was known as Coulee Region Organic Produce Pool (CROPP). Later Organic Valley brand name
was formed and CROPP was for Cooperative Regions of Organic Producer Pools. Organic Valley
is headquartered in La Farge, Wisconsin, United States. It served its various organic products in
US, Japan and Canada. It is one of USs largest producers and distributors of organic produce,
dairy, soy and eggs. Beef, Pork, Turkey and Chicken products are marketed under Organic
Prairie brand (Annual Report 2012).
Organic Valley is purely owned and run by farmers. Each and every farms of CROPP is certified
Organic by the National Organic Program. Organic Valleys aim is to create and operate a
marketing cooperative that promotes regional farm diversity and economic stability by use of
organic agricultural methods and sale of certified organic products (Annual Report 2012). Organic
Valley is not present in Europe and UK till now. The Chocolate confectionary market in UK is the
largest among the European Union (30 percent of the EU market) with British citizens consuming
more chocolate than any other EU nation (Barnett, 2006). So now they are planning to enter UK
market with a new organic Chocolate products. Also Chocolate confectionery is expected to
increase by 13% in the forecast period 2012-2017 (Euromonitor International 2012).
Organic Valley is already producing organic milk, so now they have to only grow organic cocoa
which is important ingredient for manufacturing organic chocolate. This marketing plan shows how
company extend its market to consumers of the UK.


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1.2 PESTEL Analysis
The Macro environmental factors which affects the Organic Valleys organic Chocolate in UK is
determined by PESTEL analysis as follows
Political/Legal
Agricultural Regulations on
organic farming
Laws on Taxation
Market Regulations
Type of Government
autocratic or democratic
Future Legislation or laws
Export-Import laws of UK
for food industry
Economic
UKs Economy situation
and trends
Consumers purchasing
power
GDP and Disposable
income of consumers
Currency Fluctuation
Social/Cultural
Shift in consumer
preference for organic
chocolate
Perception that Chocolate
do not promote a healthy
lifestyle
Brand name or company
image
Technological
Social Medias influence on
peoples purchasing
decisions
Online presence of
company
Mobile applications
Technology licensing and
Patents
Environmental
Cacao can grow 15-20
degrees below and above
the equator
Cacao is seasonal crop
Climate or weather change
can affect its production



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The key drivers affecting the industry are
1) Global Recession
2) Less disposable income
3) Climate and Weather change
















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1.3 Porters Five Forces Analysis

FIGURE 1: Porters Five Forces Analysis

Source: Adopted by Gudhka K. (2013) from http://www.tutor2u.net/business/strategy/porter-fiveforcesmodel.jpg
Force Information Result
Threat of Substitute
Products
One can easily switch to conventional non-
organic products such as non-organic
chocolates.
High
Bargaining Power of
Suppliers
Have our own farm lands and organic
valley is one of largest organic producer
and acquirer.
Medium
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Bargaining Power of
Buyers (Customers)
Fixed Retail price for most of the products Low
Threat of New Entrants Entry barriers are high as organic farming
is difficult and is less practised.
Medium
Intensity of Rivalry
within the industry
High competition from other organic
producers having a good brand value.
Competition from conventional non-organic
chocolate manufacturers like Cadbury,
Nestle, Mars etc.
High













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1.4 SWOT Analysis
STRENGTH
Healthier chocolates than conventional
non-organic chocolates
Highly nutritive
Very few organic chocolate
manufacturer currently
No use of synthetic and harmful
chemicals like pesticides, DDT etc.
WEAKNESS
Prices are higher than non-organic
products.
Very difficult to change consumers
mentality towards buying organic things
Everyone is not concerned about health
and nutrition.
OPPORTUNITIES
Increasing demand for organic things
Consumers becoming more health
conscious

THREATS
Non-organic producers does not have
to follow organic standards
Due to higher price than non-organic
chocolates, more chances of product
failure.
Increasing cost of raw materials
Use of antibiotics for increasing milk
production





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2.0 Objectives
Financial Objectives-
We are setting aggressive but achievable target for 1
st
year and 2
nd
year of market entry.
1
st
year Objectives- We are aiming of 0.5% of UK chocolate confectionery market share
2
nd
year Objective- Launching of Organic Coffee in UK market
Marketing Objectives-
To market worlds best organic chocolates in UK
To develop Organic Valley as a sophisticated organic chocolate brand
To build a good marketing team that promotes organic chocolate very well in UK
Societal Objectives-
To practice and promote organic farming.
To provide Quality and taste with Health safety.










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3.0 Market Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning
3.1 Market Segmentation
Figure 2- UK chocolate market value

(Source: Business Insights; Chocolate Confectionery Industry Insights, 2008)
Organic Chocolate market is popular among those consumer which focus on health and
environmentally safer ingredients. The current market can be broken down into the following
segments:
Boxed- Chocolate assorted consisting of a selection of high-added-value individual units
(Booth, 1990)
Countlines- Chocolate-covered bars with an individual centre which can be eaten with one hand,
so called named because these items are sold by number rather than weight.
Moulded Bars- Regular bars of chocolate with or without inclusions i.e. nuts or filled centres i.e.
soft caramels
Seasonal Chocolate: Chocolate confectionary specially produced for Easter through eggs and
Christmas in gift boxes and miniatures
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Straightlines- Small items which are identical and eaten as casual snacks on the move i.e.
Cadburys chocolate buttons.
Above figure suggests that Countlines segment is most revenue generating segment generating
2244.44 million yearly. Thus it is a potential area for Organic Valley to introduce into for Organic
chocolate. People prefers on-the-go lifestyles so Countlines which can go easily into handbags,
suit pockets etc. are convenient snacks (UK Essays 2003).















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3.2 Target Market
Children below 10 years are not part of our target segment because it requires awareness to
choose healthy and organic food items. Organic Valleys target segment will be constituting of
Tweens (11 to 14 years), Students and over 55 years (Over 55s) age people. Over 55s are
consumers with higher disposable income so they can spend money on buying organic
chocolates as they become more health conscious. Students and Tweens are biggest consumers
of Chocolates so by making them aware about health and organic chocolates, they can become
our biggest target audience. Also most Tweens use their pocket money on chocolates so by
introducing 25g bar at same price as of Mars 45g, they can be easily targeted (Youth TGI, 2009)












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3.3 Positioning
According to Kotler and Keller Positioning is the act of designing a companys offering and image
to occupy a distinctive place in the minds of the target market. The goal is to locate the rand in the
minds of consumers to maximize the potential benefit to the firm. (Kotler 2012). Positioning is
consumers thinking of our product against competing products and can determined by plotting
graph of Health vs price and taste vs price diagrams
Health
+






- +
Price
C- Cadbury
N- Nestle
G- Green and Blacks
O-Organic Valley
-

As seen from graph, our product will lie between Cadbury and Green & Blacks Chocolates in
pricing and healthier than Green & Blacks who also produces organic Chocolates.

O
G
C
N
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+
Taste


O


- +
Price
C- Cadbury
N- Nestle
G- Green and Blacks
O-Organic Valley
-
Taste is purely individuals perception and is different for different people. We want to be placed
as shown above in taste vs price graph.









G
C
N
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4.0 Marketing Strategies
4.1 Product Description and Branding
1) Over 55s We will introduce 2 types of chocolates for this segment. First will be 50g
weight, average size premium chocolate bar containing individual centres of nut or
coconut. Also it will contain anti-oxidant properties in form of flavonoids, Cocoa and
reduced milk. It will be purely organic with all certificates and standards. Lines will be
premium milk with added cocoa. The differentiating factor with this brand is the fact that it
is organic milk chocolate with added cocoa, for a premium creamy milk chocolaty taste
with all the anti-oxidants of dark chocolate. Second will be After dinner mint chocolate
balls. This will be sold in a packet of 4*25g chocolate balls containing mint and nut along
with cocoa. It will be also organic.
2) Tweens and Students 25g weight mini bar formulated with milk chocolate and will contain
individual centres of caramel, toffee or nuts. It will be also purely organic with certificates
and standards. Lines can be solid milky and nutty chocolate.

The brand and logo will be displayed on our products and packaging as well as in all
marketing campaigns.








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4.2 Pricing Strategy
50g premium chocolate for over 55s will be introduced at 90p and 42p for 25g mini bar for
Tweens and Students. 100g After dinner mint chocolate balls packet will be sold at 95p as it only
contains a nut, mint and cocoa. These prices reflects a strategy of attracting desirable channel
partners and taking share from existing competitors. Green & Blacks organic chocolate of 50g is
of around 1.10 and other non-organic chocolate bars of 50g is for 60-70p. Therefore we have
placed our price between both of our competitors.














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4.3 Distribution Strategy
Over 55s
For this segment, Distribution channels will be very wide. 50g bar chocolate will be available
everywhere from small market to mass outlets. The current trends like internet and mobile
applications will be used to maximise product launch. These distribution channels are very
advantageous as they are very cost effective, can penetrate large market and easy maintenance
once they are set up. Super stores which will scale our products will be Tesco, Morrison, ASDA,
Waitrose and Sainsbury.
After dinner mint will be available to selective three to five star hotels having good reputation.
With this, we will able to create good brand impression to our target segment which will be visiting
those hotels. Hotels will include Holidays Inn, Premier Inn, Feathers Hotel etc.
Tweens and Students
Distribution channel for this segment will be slightly different than above. It will be distributed
through channels like supermarket and small shops as above. Use of internet for distribution will
be must for this segment as current trend is toward online shopping. We will use amazon, ebay
and other online stores for distributing our chocolates. We will also do tie ups with coffee shops
such as Costa, Starbucks etc. and ice-cream outlets as these are students favourite spots.





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4.4 Marketing Communications Strategy
We have planned integrated marketing strategy for all three products which is hitting UK market in
selective ways. Guerrilla marketing tactics is not applied as it a high quality product. We should
use selective media and not shot gun approach as profit margins are lower and we are
introducing a new product.
In initial phase of campaign, we will introduce our product and its benefit to create brand identity.
We will tell consumers about the value which we will deliver. In second phase we will do
promotion and advertisement of our brand. For promoting our brand we will only use integrated
marketing communication strategy tools such as advertising, direct marketing and our own
website.
We will only advertise in print media such as best food journals and newsletter of UK. For e-media
we will make 30 sec advertisement. We will air our ads on music channels for Tweens and
Students and local channels for 55s. As our product is high quality, we will not use sales
promotions as it might create negative impact.
Direct marketing will include venues such as golf clubs, day centres, community centres for over
55s and gymnasiums, coffee shops etc. for students and tweens. E-marketing will be done by
providing special offers and vouchers which can be redeemed by purchasing online from specified
sites.





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5.0 Controls and Implementation
Quality of chocolate will be monitored very closely using tight control measures as our product is
highly qualitative. Quality Control department will be placed in manufacturing plant. Using different
types of research we will find out features and benefits our target market segments value.
Different Surveys, brand awareness feedbacks will help us monitor the effectiveness of our
marketing strategies. Customers attitudes towards competing brands will be also be measured
and analysed. Customer satisfaction will help us to measure market reaction. All the surveys and
feedbacks will be conducted on quarterly basis. All of this will help us to react quickly in correcting
any problems that may occur. As a warning signals, monthly sales and monthly expenses will be
used for deviation of plan or strategy (Kotler 2012).












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References
1) Booth, R (1990) Snack food- An AVI book; Springer
Britons are Europe's biggest chocolate-lovers; Louise Barnett 13/04/2006: Available at:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/britons-are-europes-biggest-
chocolatelovers-473928.html [Accessed: 17 Dec 2013]
2) Cropp Cooperative 2012 Annual Report. [Online] Available at:
http://issuu.com/organicvalley/docs/13-55001_annreprt_2012_web?e=7846503/2805343
[Accessed: 17 Dec 2013].
3) Undefined. Organic Valley - Why a co-op? [Online] Available at:
http://www.organicvalley.coop/about-us/our-cooperative/our-co-op/ [Accessed: 17 Dec
2013].
4) Youth TGI (Target Group Index) [Online] Available at http://kantarmedia-tgigb.com
[Accessed 04/03/10]
5) UK Essays (2003). UK Chocolate Market Analysis Marketing Plan Marketing Essay. [online]
Available at: http://www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/uk-chocolate-market-analysis-
marketing-plan-marketing-essay.php [Accessed: 17 Dec 2013].
6) Philip Kotler. (2012). Marketing Management. 14th ed. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.