Marketing at Kudler Fine Foods

Introduction

Kudler Fine Foods is an upscale, high-end gourmet food retailer with three stores located in the San Diego, California area. “Kudler Fine Foods is committed to providing our customers with the finest selection of the very best foods and wines so that your culinary visions can come true” (University of Phoenix, 2007). In keeping with their company philosophy, Kudler has decided to enhance business by offering catering services. Successfully marketing the new catering services will be critical to the successful operation of this new venture. This paper will outline the important concepts and factors Kudler should be aware as they expand into catering. Market research, marketing mix, use of technology, and integrating organic produce into the catering business will be discussed and their impact on Kudler.

Market Research

Marketing research can be defined as “the process of defining a marketing problem and opportunity, systematically collecting and analyzing information, and recommending actions” (Kerin, Hartley, Berkowitz, & Rudelius, 2006). Kudler conducted two internal market surveys, in 2006 and 2007, which can be used to assess the future success of their new catering service. While the surveys contain useful information regarding customer satisfaction at the stores, they do not contain information relative to the proposed catering service. The studies did not ask basic questions such as, “If available, would you use a catering service provided by Kudler?” or “How much would you be willing to pay for a catering service provided by Kudler?” The company should create and implement a survey that is more specific to the services they are exploring. However, Kudler has budgeted for other market research that should provide useful information to management. The research includes market size/opportunity studies, food marketing trend studies, and services benchmarking studies. The market research data should prove valuable to validate Kudler’s proposal to move forward with the catering business.

Marketing Mix

Since Kudler has decided to enter the catering business, they must market this part of the company and satisfy the consumer’s needs. The tools to accomplish this task are known collectively as the marketing mix. The marketing mix can be thought of as those factors that are under the control of Kudler Fine Foods. The four elements or controllable factors, also known as the four P’s, are product, price, promotion, and place (Kerin, 2006).

Product

The product is “a good, service, or idea to satisfy the consumer’s needs” (Kerin, 2006).

In Kudler’s situation, the catering service should provide different foods for different occasions, including various menu choices. Such as made-to-stock and made-to-order food choices should be offered to allow customers the ability to customize their catering service experience. A buffet style as well as a sit down or full catering format should be offered as well. Also, a choice of organic and non-organic prepared foods could also be offered on the catering menu.

Kudler can determine which type of products they should offer by benchmarking other catering services in the area. There is no need for Kudler to experiment with different products to find out what the local catering customers want. This technique of experimentation is costly and can be inefficient. Kudler should simply research the competition and find out what is working best for them.

Price

The second marketing mix factor is price. Price is Kudler’s decision on what to charge for their catering service. Kudler should do market research on what other companies are charging for similar catering services and what consumers are willing to pay. Based on this research, Kudler can logically and competitively price their new catering services based what on the market. Although Kudler is considered a high-end specialty grocer, the company should keep catering prices low at first until the business becomes established. This strategy will help Kudler form a solid catering business at its inception. Of course, menu items which are organic foods will command a higher price and their prices should be set accordingly.

Promotion

Promotion is defined as “a means of communication between the seller and the buyer” (Kerin, 2006, Chap.1, p.18). In terms of Kudler’s catering service, several possible means of promotion can be used. Promotions through television and radio could be used, but these