Environmental Analysis: Jamba Juice

Environmental Analysis Paper

MBA580

University of Phoenix

Environmental Analysis Paper

As the world changes, forces and trends change as well. In the United States there are several forces and trends that are affecting just about everyone. One of the biggest forces in the US currently is the economy. The unemployment rate is up and consumers are spending less, which is having a direct impact on businesses. Another trend we are seeing is the rising fuel cost. The price of fuel has significantly increased over past two years and is predicted to go even higher. In an effort to reduce the impact of higher gas prices, farmers have started to grow more corn for the purpose of creating ethanol. Although the ethanol may aid in slightly decreasing fuel cost, it raises the prices for vegetables and fruit, which still hurts American consumers. This paper will address trends and forces that are affecting Jamba Juice, and are likely to continue affecting the organization in the future. The paper will also address the organization strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and possible threats. Next the paper will discuss Jamba Juice’s market structure, its current situation, current position, and the primary product and service line. Lastly the paper will identify long-term goals and revisit the mission and vision statements.

Jamba Juice’s primary product is an “all fruit” smoothie and they pride themselves on using the freshest ingredients. The drinks contain soy milk, sherbet, yogurt, or sorbet. The customers have the option of adding boosts to their drinks, which are basically scoops of calcium, fiber, and even energy. The boosts are actually free. Jamba Juice also offers fresh wheat grass shots and freshly squeezed juice shots. The stores also sell pretzels, t-shirts, hats, and cookbooks with healthy recipes. The stores are very popular and continuously busy but there are signs of slowing. Jamba Juice has been negatively affected by the all of the previous mentioned trends. Being that Jamba Juice needs fresh fruit on a regular basis that also means that they need shipments on a regular basis. The organization has already been forced to raises their prices in order to compensate for the higher cost of shipping and the good themselves. With farmers converting normal crops such as strawberries and soy to corn crop, there is significant impact on pricing as supply decreases and demand goes unchanged. Jamba Juice sells fruit and veggie smoothies and as the economy slows their profits slow. While profits slow, the trends are showing that the cost of gas, produce, and food in general in increasing at an alarming rate.

Macroeconomic forecasts

Future forecasts look very good for the continued success of Jamba Juice. While there was no specific category for smoothies, soft drinks forecasts were used as a guide. Based on the forecast for next five years, significant growth is expected. As American drinks more and more soft drinks and flavored beverages, the consumption of tea and coffee are expected to be nearly unchanged. That is good news for Jamba Juice because the organization would like to tap into some of the coffee shop customers and market to a whole new demographic. There are also positive forecasts for energy consumption, including fuel, and personal income. Fuel consumption is expected to decrease, while personal income is expected to increase. New technology comes about everyday and attempt to reduce the amount of fuel dependency in America and around the world. Alternative fuel sources have come about, as well as hybrid vehicles. As far as income, it naturally increases over time but so does the cost of living. Hopefully personal income will exceed the cost of living and provide consumers with more disposable income. Either way, both fuel consumption and personal income, economic indicators favor a business like Jamba Juice.

There are non economical factor that can affect and be affected by the strategic plan for Jamba Juice. This paper will analyze the social and cultural, political, technological, and demographic remote environments. “Environment presents firms with opportunities, threats, and constraints, but rarely does a single firm exert any meaningful