Business Buying Decision Process Of BD Foods LTD

Executive Summary

Our assignment is on the “Decision making process of a corporation”. Here we have discussed Buying Decision making process and the marketing of the BD FOODS LTD. It consists of few chapters.

Chapter -1 is the prefatory part of the report. Here we talk about the objectives of the study, scope, background, limitation of the report.

In Chapter-2 we've discussed about the profile of the company.

In Chapter-3 shows the product lines and products of the BD FOODS Ltd.

In Chapter-4 shows the model of buying decision making process of BD FOODS Ltd. and other factors that influence it.

 In Chapter-5 highlights the target market, positioning strategies and about the branding strategies.

In Chapter-6 we've discussed about the pricing strategy and the supply chain of the company.

In Chapter-7 there are promotional activities of BD FOODS Ltd.

Chapter – 8 has built to show the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the company.

And last of all, chapter – 9 is the part for drawing conclusion and   

recommendation.

Acknowledgement

First of all, we would like to offer all of my gratitude and respects to our honorable course teacher Ms. Rubina Maleque.

We are also grateful to some other peoples who have helped us to make the assignment. The identities of those peoples are given below -

Managing Director

BD FOODS Ltd.

He permitted us to gather information from the company.

General Manager

Sales & Marketing Department

BD FOODS Ltd

Deputy General Manager

Finance Department

BD FOODS Ltd

They have given us essential information.

Brand Manager

BD FOODS Ltd.

He has helped us by providing the required information. Without his help it would be just impossible to make the assignment.

Finally, we want to mention that we tried our level best to prepare this assignment properly. We hope that it will be beneficial for all.

For Preparing this Assignment we made up a interview and prepared some questions that will help us preparing this report. Those interview questions are given in the Introduction part of the

Introduction

1.1 Authorization:

We, the students of BBA in Management studies of University of Dhaka are required to prepare an assignment for the course “Fundamentals of Marketing ", course no (106).  We concern glad to inform you that we are entitled to prepare this assignment by our course teacher Ms. Rubina Maleque, Department of Management Studies, University of Dhaka.

1.2 Objectives of the study:

           

Bangladesh is a developing country. Its environment of Business is changing society in Bangladesh and find the solutions or important measures that should be taken in the near future so the general people can get the proper knowledge about how to make a decision and the factors that influence it.

*    To learn how the business buying decision process takes place in a company.

*    To know about a company’s pricing, distribution, advertising etc.

*    To make a perfect knowledge about marketing by working practically.

*    To Know the factors and other forces that affect the company.

1.3   Background:

              Human performance in decision-making terms has been the subject of active research from several perspectives. From a psychological perspective, it is necessary to examine individual decisions in the context of a set of needs, preferences an individual has and values they seek. From a cognitive perspective, the decision making process must be regarded as a continuous process integrated in the interaction with the environment. From a normative perspective, the analysis of individual decisions is concerned with the logic of decision making and rationality and the invariant choice it leads to.

Decision making can be regarded as the mental processes (cognitive process) resulting in the selection of a course of action among several alternatives. Every decision making process produces a final choice. The output can be an action or an opinion of choice.

                Practical work makes the theoretical knowledge perfect and appropriate for the real life. A perfect co-ordination between theory and practice is very important in the perspective of the modern business and economic world. It brings the students closer to the practical world and helps to substantiate their practical knowledge.

We were assigned to prepare a report on Business buying decision making process and the marketing of a company.  We selected “BD FOODS Ltd.” to complete our report assignment.

We, the group members tried our level best to bring the relevant facts and figures about marketing strategies of that company.

1.4 Scope:

This assignment is going to cover the following scopes regarding BD foods ltd.

      

 -   Short description of BD FOODS Ltd.

 -  Decision making process of BD FOODS Ltd.

 -   Pricing policies of BD FOODS Ltd.

       -   Advertising & distribution channels

       -   Competitive environment

       -   Current position and their future strategies.

1.5   Sources and Methods of Data Collection:

In preparing this report we have collected the necessary information from the following sources:

          1.5.1  Primary Sources:

We have had face-to-face conversation with the G.M, D.G.M, Marketing Manager and employees of this company. We've also used official documents of this company.

          1.5.2  Secondary Sources:

            Necessary information was received from the Web Site.

          1.5.3 Interview Questions:

            For Preparing this Assignment we made up a interview and prepared some questions that will help us preparing this report. Those interview questions are given below. Our assignment is prepared by the basis of these questions and the information collected. They are :

              1) What BD foods ltd. offer to the mass consumers in Bangladesh ?

              2) What are the new products of BD foods ltd. ?

              3) How the New product is launched and what are the factors ?

              4) What is their buying decision making process and how does they do that ?

              5)  What factors they consider while making these decision ?

              6) What is their marketing strategy considering their new product line ?

              7)   Pricing and Promotion strategy of BD foods ltd. ?

              8) Their supply chain and Raw materials for the product ?

              9) How do they implement the decision making process)

            10) Limitations of BD foods while doing business in Bangladesh and future aspects?

            11) Production and Delivery of their product to the final consumer across the Bangladesh ?

1.6 Limitations:

            There are some limitations we faced in making this report:  

            First of all, BD FOODS Ltd. doesn't agree to provide us their official papers & documents as they are one of the new companies in Bangladesh and they hardly compete with their competitors.

Secondly, they don't provide their financial report for some obligations, for which we had to collect it only by personal interview.

Thirdly, we got the information after a little bit late than we expected. For that, we have to make the report in a very short time.

Finally, as this organization is a government organization. They were not interested to help us by giving information.

But all after that we have tried our best to ensure clear and perfect information on the assignment.

Profile of the company

2.1 Company Profile

                           

                             BD FOODS LIMITED made its entry into the agro-products market with various powdered spices, Pickles, Sauces, Chutney and savories like Chanachur, Fried Dal etc. Their account has been on quality with assurance of world class hygienic standards. Building on the close to three decades capacity of its parent company, BD Group, the largest exporter of Bangladeshi white fish to the international market, BD FOODS LIMITED is simultaneously marketing its products at home and abroad.

Consumer Relations

Their success depends upon the satisfaction, trust and goodwill they create with the millions of consumers who buy and use their products each year. Because the reputation of their brands is paramount, they always value feedback from their consumers. BD FOODS Ltd. endeavors to serve the needs of our consumers by being consistent, fair and responsive in all communication and interaction. The Consumer Relations team is staffed with professional representatives who are knowledgeable about BD Food's products and who welcome the opportunity to hear from our consumers.

Corporate Head Office & Sales Office

Ali Bhaban (3rd Floor),

9 Rajuk Avenue

Motijheel C/A, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh.

Phone:  880 2 7175005-7, 9551823.

Fax:  880 2 9565702, 9888758.

E-mail: info@bdfoods.net            WEB: www.bdfoods.net

Factory:

Bhawal Mirzapur,

Gazipur-1703,

Bangladesh.

Phone:  880 2 9289545

E-mail: factory@bdfoods.net

2.2 Mission & Vision OF BD FOODS Ltd.

                At BD FOODS LIMITED however, their vision goes beyond merchandising and export. Their product line-up as well as the international trust and coverage in marketing stems from our corporate, sense of belonging to Bangladesh and all that its stands for a commitment to capacity-building at home, value added promotion of indigenous products and showcasing of Bangladesh to the high-end global market place. They believe in the prospect of Bangladeshi products, especially agro-products for accessing and competing in the mainstream global market.

The social commitment and confidence they feel, is a part of their corporate responsibility. Beyond this, they want also to inculcate in all segments of society, this sense of bonding with this laud, its resources, the pegged and strengthen faith in their National prospect and potential, they none a mission to link enterprise with a focused social bias. They are conduced that development is past of a social continuum encompassing wealth minds, healthy commits and a healthy nation. They sell food products but the main motivation is we package our social bonding and responsibility with every product we sell.

The vision that motivates BD FOODS’S people and drives their operations is the desire to gain the market leadership through world class performance across all areas of their business.

Four Guiding Principles

-          Strength from Diversity

-          Open minded

-          Freedom through Responsibility

-          Enterprising Spirit

Product Lines & names

3.1 Product lines of BD FOODS Ltd.

BD FOODS Ltd. has five product lines. Those are –

·        Spices

·        Snacks

·        Pickles & Chutney

·        Sauce, Ketchup, Jelly

·        Oil

These product lines have five different products in average.

                             Spices –

                                                Turmeric 15gm

                                                Chili 50gm

                                                Curry Power 1000gm

                                                Haleem Mix 100gm

                                                Cumin 200gm

                                                Coriander 400gm

                                    Snacks –

                                                Chanachur        50gm

                                                                        100gm

                                                                        200gm

                                                                        400gm

                                                Fried Dal 40gm

                                                Fried Peanut 40gm

                                                Lachcha Semai 250 gm

                       

                                    Pickles & Chutney – 

                                                Garlic pickle 400gm

                                                Mango pickle 400gm

                                                Olive pickle 400gm

                                                Mixed pickle 400gm

                                                Tamarind Chutney    500gm

                                                Mango Chutney          20gm

                                                                                    400gm

                                                Boroi Chutney            20gm

                                                Boroi Chutney          500gm

                                                Mixed Fruit Chutney 20gm

                                                Olive Chutney            20gm

                                                Net Mango Chutney   20gm

                                                Mango Bar                 15gm

                                                Mixed Fruit Bar         15gm

           

                             Oil –

                                                Mustard Oil 200ml

                                                                        250ml

                                                                        500ml

                                                                        1000ml

Spices	Snacks	Pickles & Chutney	Sauce, Ketchup, Jelly	Oil
Turmeric	Chanachur	Garlic 400gm	Tomato 340gm	Mustard Oil
Chili	Fried Dal 40gm	Mango 400gm	Tamarind 340 gm	200ml
Curry Powder	Fried Peanut 40gm	Olive 400gm	Chili 340gm	250ml
Haleem Mix	Lachcha Semai 250gm	Mixed 400gm	Orange Jelly 500gm	500ml
Cumin		Chutney all category	Pineapple Jelly 500gm	1000ml
Coriander		20 gm

Table no. 1

3.2 Specific Product

          BD FOOD Ltd. has about 24 items. It has four types of snacks items. From these we have selected ‘BD Chanachur’ to complete our assignment on marketing strategies.  

Ingredients of BD Chanachur

Chickpeas Flour

·         Peanuts

·         Green Beans,

·         Split Chickpeas

·         Rice Flake

·         Palm Oil

·         Salt

·         Citric Acid

·         Spices:

      - Red Chili Powder

                                    - Turmeric Powder

                                    - Clove Powder

                                    - Cinnamon Powder

                                    - Black Pepper

                                    - Jain Powder.

3.3 Feasibility Study

                          In this part of the world which is Asia the people are more interested in fried snack items than any other part of the world. As Asians we are also used to various forms of fried snacks. It’s also very popular in our culture. As an evening snack we prefer taking the fried chanachur with tea or making the all time favorite jhalmuri with it. It goes in almost every household in our country. Because of its low price and frequent availability it eventually becomes a part of our lives. Also we see the street vendors who sell this product frequently in almost every recreational spots. People are buying the product from them as they are used to it as taking everyday snacks. They are using this product to earn their livelihood. It’s giving them the low cost profession which they can avail very easily. So this product has a sociological effect on the country also.

Various companies marketed the product in the past and earned a huge amount of profit in producing this product. Still they are engaged in its production. Some small confectioneries also go for this product under their own brand name. But that production goes for a certain locality or area. It doesn’t cover the whole nation. As BD Foods is a comparatively large company it goes for the coverage of the whole nation as well as the international market. Experiencing the past and present market for this product and gathering all the primary and secondary data the company made a research plan to understand the feasibility of the product in the present market and also in the future.

In order to understand the present situation BD Foods engage a highly professional group of people to study the whole market. They conduct different types of surveys and experiments regarding the product concerned. They prepare questionnaire, hold face to face conversations, and engage more people to extract more information. The information includes primary and secondary data. They collect it from different sources or from first hand experience. They also adopt various methods except these. They provide the management with their findings about the market. The management is then left with the choice to produce or not to produce the product. They make the decision after careful consideration and lots of judgment. If the consideration is positive the management consults with its factory consultants for the purpose of production and quality related issues. Markets need oriented production and quality maintenance is ensured thus. The product is supposed to do well in the market and usually it does. Then the marketing executives chalk out the plan on how to effectively market the product so as to position the product in the minds of the consumers. At that point they develop different marketing strategies and policies regarding the particular product or the company at large. 

In case of BD Chanachur the above mentioned study was carried out in order to have an effective implementation of marketing strategies and plans involving it.

Decision Making Process of BD Foods Ltd. and Other factors

4.1 Everyday techniques

           Some of the decision making techniques people use in everyday life include:

• Pros and Cons: Listing the advantages and disadvantages of each option, popularized by Plato and Benjamin Franklin
• Simple Prioritization: Choosing the alternative with the highest probability-weighted utility for each alternative (see Decision Analysis) or derivative Possibilianism: Acting on choices so as not to preclude alternative understandings of equal probability, including active exploration of novel possibilities and emphasis on the necessity of holding multiple positions at once if there is no available data to privilege one over the others.
• Satisficing: Accepting the first option that seems like it might achieve the desired result
• Acquiesce to a person in authority or an "expert", just following orders
• Flipism: Flipping a coin, cutting a deck of playing cards, and other random or coincidence methods
• Prayer, tarot cards, astrology, augurs, revelation, or other forms of divination

4.2 Decision-Making Stages

                  Developed by B. Aubrey Fisher, there are four stages that should be involved in all group decision making. These stages, or sometimes called phases, are important for the decision-making process to begin

Orientation stage- This phase is where members meet for the first time and start to get to know each other.

Conflict stage- Once group members become familiar with each other, disputes, little fights and arguments occur. Group members eventually work it out.

Emergence stage- The group begins to clear up vague in opinions is talked about.

Reinforcement stage- Members finally make a decision, while justifying themselves that it was the right decision.

4.3 Decision-Making Steps

                When in an organization and faced with a difficult decision, there are several steps one can take to ensure the best possible solutions will be decided. These steps are put into seven effective ways to go about this decision making process (McMahon 2007).

The first step - Outline your goal and outcome. This will enable decision makers to see exactly what they are trying to accomplish and keep them on a specific path.

The second step - Gather data. This will help decision makers have actual evidence to help them come up with a solution.

The third step - Brainstorm to develop alternatives. Coming up with more than one solution ables you to see which one can actually work.

The fourth step - List pros and cons of each alternative. With the list of pros and cons, you can eliminate the solutions that have more cons than pros, making your decision easier.

The fifth step - Make the decision. Once you analyze each solution, you should pick the one that has many pros, and the one that everyone can agree with.

The sixth step - Immediately take action. Once the decision is picked, you should implement it right away.

The seventh step - Learn from, and reflect on the decision making. This step allows you to see what you did right and wrong when coming up, and putting the decision to use.

4.4 Buying Decision Process of BD FOODS LTD :

                    Lets assume that bd foods corporation, responding to increased concerns about diet and nutrition, is considering introducing a line of confectionary goods using a sugar substitute.The buying decision process in business markets is a sequence of five steps. BD Foods Ltd also follows these process to purchase their goods for their production. For example, lets assume that BD Foods Ltd are concerned about nutrition’s in their product. So they want to introduce a new product or goods using other raw materials.

1. Need Recognition :

                              BD food marketing research has found that a growing number of consumers are concerned about sugar and calories in their diets. for some it is related to a medical condition such as diabetes. For others , it is simply a matter of trying to lose weight gains without changing their lifestyle. BD Foods marketing research has found that growing number of consumers are more concerned about nutrition’s and taste. The opportunity to produce high-quality, good-tasting etc is very important. So the first job of BD food is to find the need and realize the need.

2. Identification of alternatives:

                            So now the BD foods is going to conduct research and development managers draw up a list of product-performance specifications for the sugar-free and notorious good. To appeal to consumers they must taste good, be competitively priced, meet their needs. To satisfy production requirements the ingredients must be easy to use, available in sufficient quantities, and reasonable in cost. And the identification of alternatives are searched.

3. Evaluation of alternatives:

                              The marketing, production and research people jointly evaluate the alternatives. Suppliers that meet some preliminary qualification are invited to make presentation, and knowledge sources such as university food science researchers are contracted for information. The evaluation goes beyond performance and price to consider the supplier abilities to meet delivery schedules. So the alternatives are evaluated by the research and development.

4. Purchase and related decisions:  

                    Based on the evaluation BD food managers decide on a specific ingredient supplier. Next the purchasing department negotiating the contract. Because large sum of money is involved, the contract will likely include many details. After evaluation of the alternatives the necessary products are purchased.

5. Post purchase behavior:

                                    BD food managers continue to evaluate the performance of the sugar substitute and the selected supplier to ensure that both meet expectation. future dealings with the suppliers will depend on the performance evaluation and how well the supplier handles any problems that may arise involving its product.

4.5 Buying motives of business users:

                   Business buying motives are the needs that direct the purchasing behavior of business users. They fall into two broad categories – organizational and personal. Generally business purchases are methodical and structured. Thus business buying motives are presumed to be, for the most part, practical and unemotional. Business buyers are assumed to be motivated to achieve organizational goals by securing the optimal combination of price, quality, and service in the products they buy.

An opposing view is that business buyers are human, and their business decisions are certainly influenced by their attitudes, perceptions, and values. In fact, many sales people would maintain that business seems to be motivated more toward personal goals than organizational goals, and the two are often in conflict.

The truth is actually somewhere in between. Business buyers have two goals – to further their company’s position and to protect or improve their position in their terms. Sometimes these goals are mutually consistent.

However, there are often significant areas where the buyer’s goals do not coincide with those of the firm, such as when the firm insists on dealing with the lowest price suppliers, but he buyer has developed a good relationship with another supplier and does not want to change. As the assignment is about BD food that is why their buying motives are organizational.

4.6 Types of buying situation:

                 Consumer purchase can range from routine to complex buying decisions, termed low involvement and high involvement, respectively. In the like manner the buying situation in business organizations vary widely in their complexity, number of people involved, and time required. Thus, not every purchase involves all five steps of the buying decision process. The three buy classes are new task buying, straight rebuy and modified rebuy:

   1. New task buying:

                     This is the most difficult and complex buying situation because it is a first time purchase of a major product. Typically more people are involved in new task buying than in the other two situations because the risk is great. Information needs are high and the evaluation of alternatives is difficult because the decision makers have little experience with the product. Sellers have the challenge of discovering the buyer’s needs and communicating the products ability to provide satisfaction. Here it is likely that there will be wide and more formal involvement of the DM, particularly where substantial expenditure or significant issues of policy are involved. For BD foods the new task buying can be the machine they purchased for production.

  2. Straight rebuy:

                This is the simplest type of purchase, with authority usually being delegated to the purchaser. This is a routine, low involvement purchase with minimal information needs and little or no consideration of alternatives. Typically the buyers have had extensive, satisfactory experience with the seller, so there is no incentive to search. For BD foods the new task buying can be the package they purchased for production.

  3. Modified rebuy :

                     In this type there are perhaps some minor changes to specifications or other terms and conditions of purchase which may entail the input of other members of the
BD foods Ltd.. The buying situation is somewhere between the other two in terms of time and people involved, information needed, and alternatives considered.

Understanding how the buyers view a buying situation is very important to a seller. The allocation of sales resources, the nature of the presentation made to the buyer and even the prices offered should be influenced by the buyer’s perception of buying situation.

4.7 Multiple buying influences-the buying center :

                       A buying center consists of all the individuals or groups involved in the process of making a decision to purchase. This includes the individuals within and outside an organization that influence the buying decision as well as the person ultimately responsible for the decision. Typically the members of a buying center are not formally identified. That is, there is no list of the buying center members to which a supplier or sales person can refer. One of the biggest challenges in business-to-business marketing is identifying the members of the buying center and their roles a particular purchase.

                

                USERS:  The people who actually use the business product, perhaps a secretary, an executive, a production – line worker, or a truck driver.

                Influencers:  The people who set the specifications and aspects of buying decisions because of their technical expertise, their organizational position, or event their political power in the firm.

                 Deciders:  The people who make the actual buying decision regarding the business product and the supplier. A purchasing agent may be the decider in a straight-rebuy situation. But someone in top management may make the decision regarding whether to buy and expensive computer system.

                Gatekeepers:  The people who control the flow of purchasing information within the organization as well as between the firm and potential vendors. These peoples may be  purchasing agents, secretaries, receptionists, or technical personnel.

              Buyers:  The people who interact with the suppliers, arrange the terms of sale, and process the actual purchase orders. Typically This is the purchasing departments role. But again, if the purchase is an expensive, complex new buy, the buyers role may be filled by someone in top management.

4.8 Buyer-Seller Relationship :

                              A purchase can be looked upon as an isolated transaction or as part of a larger relationship that involves more parties than the buyer and seller and more interaction than the specific exchange. There are two dimensions pf this relationship perspective –the supply chain and loyalty.

          Rather than focus only on the immediate customer, many marketers approach marketing as a series of links between buyers and sellers. This supply chain approach considers the roles of suppliers, producers, distributors, and end users to see how each adds value  to and benefits from the final product. This perspective leads to a recognition and understanding of the roles played by the entire value network in successfully bringing a product to market.

4.9 Buying Practices of BD FOODS :

         Buying practice in the business market are similar to situational influences in consumer behavior. These practices, which are described below, stem from the nature and use of the products and characteristics of the market.

             Direct Purchase:

                                    In the consumer market, consumer rarely buys directly from the producer except in the case of services. In the business market, however, direct purchase by the business user from the producer is quite common even for goods, this is true especially when the order is large and the buyer needs much technical assistance. Bd foods imports large number of products from abroad.

Frequency of Purchase:

                                   In the business market, firms buy certain products very infrequently. Large installations are purchased only once in many years. Small parts and materials to be used in the manufacture of a product may be ordered on long-term contracts, thus a selling exist as seldom as once a year. Even standard operating supplies, such as office supplies or cleaning products, may be bought only once a month.  

                Size of Order:                                                                                   

                              The average business order is considerably larger than its counterpart in the consumer market. This fact, coupled with the infrequency of purchase, spotlight the significance of each sale in the business market.

         Length of Negotiation Period :

                                  The period of negotiation in a business sale is usually much longer than in a consumer transaction. Reason for extended negotiation includes:

                                    * The number of executive participating in the buying decision.

                                           * The large amount of money involved.

                                           * The customization of the product to meet the buyer’s needs.

            Reciprocity Arrangements :

                                   There has been a significant decline, but not elimination, of reciprocity: the practice of “ I’ll buy from me. ”This decline has occurred for two reasons, one legal and the other economic. Both the federal trade commission and the antitrust division of the department of justice have forbidden the practice of reciprocity in any systematic manner, particularly in large companies.     

            Service Expectation :

                                   The users desire for excellent service is a strong business buying motive that may determine practices. Frequently a firms only differentiating feature is its service, because the product itself is so standardized that it can be purchased from any number of companies. Consider the choice of suppliers that provide elevators for a major office building or hotel.

           Dependability of Supply :

                                    Another business buying practice is the users insistence on an adequate quantity of uniform quality products. Variations in the quality of materials going into finished products can cause considerable trouble for manufacturers. They may be faced with costly disruption in their production processes if the imperfections exceed quality control limits.

                                                                                                                                                                          

 

 BD foods Buying decision Process

Target Market, Positioning and Branding Strategies

 

5.1 Target market selection

               Market can be segmented in four ways, Geographic, Demographic,Psychographic, and Behavioral segmentation. Here we have described in which way BD FOOD Ltd. has segmented their total market and targeted which group of peoples as their target consumers or target market.

Geographic segmentation – BD FOODS has segmented their market in two                                                                     categories which are –

                                                                                    Domestic market

                                                                                    International market.

Domestic market – They have divided their domestic market on the basis of urban – rural identification. The company selected both urban and rural people as their target consumers. People from cities, towns, villages; in one word BD Chanachur targeted maximum people from maximum regions of the country.

International market – BD Chanachur has targeted countries of UK and Middle East as their target market. They are exporting Chanachur to almost every countries of Middle East.

Demographic segmentation – BD FOODS has different demographic areas to segment their market. Like – age, family life cycle, gender, income, occupation, education etc.

Age – BD Chanachur targets ages from all groups of people. Children, teenagers, young people, middle age group, and the older people, all likes chanachur as well, but they exclude children under seven years. Because chanachur is a little bit spicy, and children wants to take sweets or chocolates in stead of chanachur.

Family life cycle – BD Chanachur targets the extended family as their target consumers. In cities and towns it is rare but in villages and small towns there are large families. It is so because family members usually eat chanachur together.

Gender – BD Chanachur targets both male and female as their target customers. It can be taken with tea or some other foods. People take it while chatting, gossiping, entertaining guests, and sometimes in leisure.

Income – There are a lot of income groups in the market. BD chanachur targets almost all income groups as their target customers. The price of Chanachur is not very high, so a huge amount of people from different income groups has the ability to buy chanachur. That’s why BD Chanachur targets all income groups.

Occupation – BD Chanachur targets peoples from different occupations. Maximum people have the ability to buy chanachur, so from high class posh people to the wage earners in the lower level can afford to buy it.

Religion – BD Chanachur targets peoples from all religion groups. The ingredients used to make chanachur are not any such things, which are forbidden in any religion. So people from all the religion can avail the chanachur from BD FOOD.

Education – BD Chanachur don’t target only educated persons as their target consumers. They consider both the educated and non-educated persons.

Psychographic segmentation – The total market can be segmented and targeted by different psychographic elements, such as life style, personality and values. BD Chanachur targets all the people, whatever their life style and values are.

Behavioral segmentation – BD Chanachur segments the buyers into groups on the basis of their knowledge of, attitude toward, use of, or response to a product. Occasions, benefit sought, user status, usage rate and loyalty status are the best starting points for constructing market segments.

Occasion – Occasion segmentation helps the company to expand product usage. BD Chanachur considers different occasion to sell their product in a large volume.

Benefit sought – Buyers can be classified according to the benefits they seek. BD Chanachur segments the consumers on the basis of the wants or needs they are seeking for.  Consumers can want a lot of things from BD Chanachur. Like –

1.      a tasty food

2.      a healthy food

3.      can be eaten anytime

4.      can be carried easily/anywhere

5.      can be bought by any income group

User status – Markets can be segments into nonusers, ex-users, potential users, first-time users and regular users of the chanachur. We have seen that in this existing market 40% are nonusers, 10% are potential users, 30% are first time user, 20% are regular user. It is a new company that is why there are no ex-users.

Usage rate – Markets can be segmented into light, medium and heavy users. The consumers of BD Chanachur are light users maximum in number. There also exist medium and heavy users but not more than 20%

Loyalty status – As the product BD Chanachur is from a very new company, high loyalty can’t be expected from consumers. Maximum of the consumers are first time users so there is still no matter to segment the market on the basis of loyalty status.

5.2 Product-Mix Strategies/ Positioning the Product

                   To be successful in marketing, a company needs carefully planned strategies for managing their product mixes. BD FOOD Ltd. is not exceptional of this. They develop the image that a product projects in relation to competitive products. Marketing executives choose from a variety of positioning strategies. BD Chanachur uses more than one strategy for their product. Here are several major positioning strategies.

Positioning in Relation to a Product Class or Attribute – As the BD FOODS Ltd. is a newly formed company, it is very much effective for them to position in relation to an attribute of a particular product. BD Chanachur has an attractive attribute :-

“BD Chanachur –  gPg‡P ¯^v` , Kzogy‡o fvRv Ó|

Positioning in Relation to a Target market – Another important strategy of BD Chanachur is to position their product in relation to a target market. With this strategy BD Chanachur emphasizes in positioning the target market rather than emphasizing another factor such competition.

Positioning in Relation to a Competitor – BD Chanachur has a very few competitors in Bangladesh. In stead of this advantage they don’t position their product in Relation to the competitors. It is so because the offerings of BD Chanachur and competitor’s chanachur are almost the same.

Positioning by price and quality – In today’s market lots of companies position their product in relation to price and quality, like they can focus on low price in comparison to the competitors or can focus on high quality of their products. BD Chanachur has no chance to position their product on the basis of price. Because in which price they are offering their product is almost the same with their competitor’s price.

So, what they do, they simply focus on positioning in relation to an attribute or positioning in relation to the target market.

5.3 Branding Strategies

                       For making easy to identify goods, giving assurance of the quality and adding prestige, a company should have branding strategies. BD FOODS Ltd. has strategies with respect to branding their product mixes and branding for market saturation.

While branding within a product mix three different strategies are used by companies that sell more than one product.

            *          A separate name for each product.

            *          The company name combined with a product name.

            *          The company name alone.

The strategy to give a separate name for each product is employed by BD FOODS Ltd. Like – Tamarind Chutney, Mango Chutney, Boroi Chutney, Mixed Fruit Chutney, Olive Chutney and Net Mango Chutney.

BD FOODS Ltd. adds the name of their company with the name of each product.

Like – BD Chanachur, BD Chutney, BD Dal vaza etc.

To increase their total sales BD FOODS Ltd. also brands for Market Saturation. They have more than one brand of essentially the same product. To reach other segments of the total market, the company uses more brands. Like – BD Mango Chutney and BD Net Mango Chutney.

PRICING STRATEGY

6.1 Pricing Strategy OF BD FOODS Ltd.

                                 Every company has its separate pricing policy or strategy for its products. When it has a diversified and rather large product line it opts for individual pricing strategy for each particular segment of the product line. BD Foods is no exception. It also goes for a total pricing strategy as well as separate pricing strategy for individual products. BD Chanachur is a part of the huge product line it has. It is a part of the snacks category. It is priced in a totally different strategy from all the other products. As it is different from other products it needs separate attention. 

As it is a FMCG its pricing is done on the basis of the existing competitive products. It depends somewhat wholly on the existing price. Its pricing should meet the competition. There is no scope for market penetration or market skimming as it is already available through other companies. Penetration is when the company tries to capture the market with a low price at the starting level. But it is not possible with this product as the cost of production is somewhat same for all the other companies producing it. Also as BD Chanachur is striving for a position in this category it cannot ask a high price at the starting level which is the characteristics of market skimming strategy. Also it’s not totally a unique product in the market. It will loose its consumers in this manner. So the company is left with only one choice and that is competitive pricing.

BD Foods pricing procedure is comprised of several steps. The procedure starts with estimating the total cost incurred by the company. If it’s not close or even equal to the cost incurred by other companies then the management seeks the problem and fixes it to reduce production cost. Then the company sets a price for the distributors, keeping reasonable profit margin for the company. They then fix a price for the retailers preserve a margin for the distributors and the last step is establishing a price for the ultimate customers securing an attractive profit margin for the retailers. This procedure is called the "Inject system". All these are done keeping in mind the final price of the competitors. What the other competing companies are asking is an important concern of the company competing with them. Price should not be below competition so as to having a risk of incurring loss. Also it shouldn’t be way beyond the current market price if it doesn’t have any kind of specialty or uniqueness. The profit margin for the company is flexible so that the ultimate price of the product can be kept stable. In this channel, the retailers enjoy the highest profit margin.

Practically BD Foods add a 5% markup to the price of the competing company and set their price of BD Chanachur in that manner. From that point of view BD Foods asks a bit high price for their Chanachur. This high price does not affect their sales volume as they assure certain qualities and ensure a bit higher the expectation. These specific conditions are

o   Excellent Quality

o   Better Taste

o   Proper Hygiene

o   Fresh Ingredients

o   Attractive Packaging

o   Adequate Labeling

o   Goodwill

o   Brand Image

The consumers are willing to pay an extra amount of money when they are assured of these qualities in the product. Nowadays people are more health conscious rather than being financially conscious. They don’t want the good product; they search for the better or the best. They are more aware of the quality not the quantity. As BD Chanachur ensures the superior quality than any other brand it enjoys a healthy sales volume as well as huge profit margin though they are charging a bit above the going rate price in the market.

The pricing strategy is thus put to an effective implementation.

6.2  Supply Chain OF BD FOODS Ltd.

                           BD Foods Ltd ensures a supply chain worthy and fulfilling the current market situation. It supplies its products through a series of marketing intermediaries who play vital roles in reaching the final consumer. These intermediaries vary with the domestic and international market. The supply chain also changes side by side.

BD Foods puts emphasis much more on the domestic market rather than the international market. It is a nation oriented organization. It is engaged in reaching the consumers on the farthest corners of the country through effective supply chain. For that reason they have a strong distribution facility which ensures timely and effectively reaching the final consumer.

The supply chain of BD Foods in the domestic regions comprise of certain layers of market intermediaries. The following chart reveals the total domestic supply chain.

 

  Factory                    ISO                    Institutional

Sales

 

Dealers

 

            Wholesaler                                                                                         Retailer

 

Consumer

                                                 Figure no. 1

The product is developed and produced in the factory. Judging from the market needs the product is produced in a certain quantity per day. It’s called the PPD or Production per Day.

The products are then delivered to the dealers all over the country. The dealers are mostly located in the District headquarters or thanas. The wholesalers and retailers buy products from the dealers. They wholesalers are the people who sell the product at a bulk to the final consumer. Sometimes they reach the final consumer through direct selling process. But most of the times the retailers collect or buy the products from the wholesalers and sell those to the final consumers. Sometimes the retailers don’t go to the wholesalers; they collect the product from their nearest dealer.

There is another kind of supply chain which involves only the factory and the institution willing to purchase. This is called Institutional Sales. This includes an ISO (Institutional Sales Officer). He works as the middleman in this process. He collects information from the institutions about their needs of the product and the due delivery time. The quantity needed is also very important as these institutional sales are generally of high volume. He collects this information and provides them to the factory management. The factory management then produces and delivers to the specific orders from the institutions. They usually order at bulk.

The institutions include various types of organizations. Such as

·         Super Store

·         CSD

·         Hotels

·         Restaurants

·         Canteen

·         Hostels

                    In Bangladesh there are superstores like AGORA, NANDAN, PQS, PACIFIC, MEENA BAZAR etc. There are lots of other superstores blooming in the country. In the hotels and restaurant category there are lots of names which due to time constraint cannot be mentioned here. This is also true in the case of canteen, hostels, CSD.

In the International market the supply chain stands like the following chart.

 

Factory

 

Local dealers in

Foreign grounds

 

Foreign outlets

 

Figure no. 2

BD Foods exports its products to the international market on a regular basis. Up to this point it has exported its products to the countries in the Middle East and the UK. They have local dealers over there that have affiliation with different stores and superstores. They collect the demand list from them and send them to the local factories over here in Bangladesh. Then the factory produces the quantity demanded and processes them in a proper packaging, so that the product stays fresh throughout the delivery process. Proper packaging and labeling is very much needed in this process. From the producers point of view this is a direct supply relation with the consumers.

Promotional activities

7.1 Promotion

                               Promotion is a very important issue for any manufacturing company. Every company secures or sets a separate specific budget for promotional activities. BD Foods is no exception. It has a separate budget allotted for promotional activities. As it is a relatively new company it puts its utmost emphasis on the product quality. It is striving to get to the close position in the market with good quality product. The main portion of the total budget is directed at the production. Promotion covers a relatively a medium portion. BD Foods direct its budget effectively and implements efficiently to have a proper promotional activity. It is one of the strength of BD Foods that it can utilize its small resources in a proper manner to compete in the huge market of promotion and media technology.

BD Food’s promotional activities are directed in different categories.

1.      Electronic Media

§  TV Commercials

o   Local Channel – Almost 70% of people having a Television set watches the local government channel in Bangladesh. It is wise to place an advertisement on government TV channel. BD FOODS has placed advertisement on BTV.

o   Satellite Channel – More than 30% people having TV set watches different Bangla TV channels. BD FOODS has been advertising their products on satellite channels from the beginning of their journey.

                                               

§  Internet Advertisement – Now-a-days, a lot of educated people have an access to the internet. So, BD FOODS places advertisements on different web sites.

2.      Print Media

§  News Paper – News paper is the oldest and a popular media for advertisement of a product. BD FOODS Ltd. advertises some of their products in news papers.

§  Magazines – BD FOODS uses magazines also to place their advertisements.

3.      Hoardings – Hoarders helps to advertise of the products of BD FOODS.

4.      Billboards

§  Electronic – BD FOODS uses electronic billboards in the big cities.

§  Normal – In all over the country normal, which are not electrical billboards are used by BD FOODS to place their advertisements.

5.      Vehicle Advertisement – In cities we can see maximum buses are being used to place advertisement of different products by different companies. BD FOODS has placed some advertisement on the buses which are large.

6.      Wall painting – BD FOODS places advertisement in walls of different boundaries situated in the highways and in different towns at various regions of Bangladesh.

7.      Leaflets – Sometimes they distribute leaflets among peoples at different locations to advertise their products.

8.      Campaigns

§  Competitions

§  Sports Sponsoring – Sponsorship is a modern way for advertising products. BD FOODS Ltd. sponsors on sports like cricket, football etc. which takes place inside or outside of the country.

§  Occasional Sponsoring – BD FOODS sponsors occasionally also. They sponsors on different types of programs organized by different organization. They also sponsor on the TV programs. 

                         Different companies use the medias to promote their products in different rates. Here we have shown the rate in which companies use medias.

Competitive Environment

&

SWOT Analysis

8.1 Competitive Environment

                                   BD Foods is a relatively new company in the Bangladeshi market. It has entered the snacks market with lots of competitors prevailing there. They hold strong position in the market and have a considerable amount of market share. The main players except BD Foods of the snack product like Chanachur are listed below:

1. Bombay Chanachur-------------------------------------Bombay Sweets
2. Ruchi Chanachur----------------------------------------Square
3. Pran Chanachur------------------------------------------Pran
4. Shaad Chanachur----------------------------------------Abul Khair Group
5. ARKU Chanachur---------------------------------------Lalmai Food Products

Out of these prevailing competitors Bombay Sweets is the oldest chanachur manufacturer in Bangladesh. It holds most of the market share. Its quality and taste has the consumer drawing capability. It is proved to be the most successful marketer of this product. People are more loyal to this brand than any other brand in the market. As it is in the top spot it poses the biggest threat to BD Foods as a competitor. BD Foods is trying their level best to compete with this product giant.

In the second and third category Ruchi and Pran chanachur of Square and Pran respectively poses medium threat to BD Foods. They are not as old as Bombay Sweets. They are newer but rather older in regards of BD Foods. Their product still hasn’t reached the quality as of Bombay Sweets. They can be included in the striving class also. They are also trying their best to reach the level of the top company. They are the ones with whom BD Foods is fighting side by side and also fighting for the least second position.

Shaad is a brand which is still operating in the preliminary stage of their production and marketing. It opposes a little threat to BD Chanachur. ARKU is a potential product yet to come into the market. So it has the potential to pose a threat if it can ensure the quality and price.

Also the huge scope of investments in Bangladesh has lured so many industries that there is a threat to BD Chanachur as more and more companies are entering into the market. BD Foods ensures some qualities, which help it to maintain a good condition and position in the market. They are adopting state of the art technologies just to make the promotion going and keep up with changes made by the competing companies. 

BD Foods has separate action plans against all these competitors. They are improving their competency in respect of product quality, promotion, distribution and other relative issues. For the topmost competitor their plan is what is called follow the leader. They follow the footsteps of the topmost competitor. They try to understand the strategy and policies of the top competitor. They also lookout for the administrative and managerial excellence and learn from that. Its actions in favor of them and against all the other competitors are also one of the priority concerns of BD Foods. The strategies of the top company are the stepping-stones for BD Foods.

For the moderate competitors BD Foods take actions with the motto as such beat them to the top. That is they are the closest rivals in the race for a better position in the market. They are always on the lookout for any kind of faults or flaws in their rivals actions, strategies and policies. They try to make the best use of the lacking of their rivals as in favor of them. BD Foods is also aware of this and they try to conceal important information so that the competitors can’t get the information about their weaknesses.

Though the competitors falling in slightly or low competence level BD Foods doesn’t care less about them. They put equal or slightly less equal emphasis on their policies. They (BD Foods) tend to learn new things from them. Useful information can be brought about in that way.

As we have mentioned above BD Foods is also aware of the future competitor in the domestic and international market. Those policies and strategies are developed by a separate team of experts specialized in that field.

The competitor’s strengths are considered as the weaknesses of the company concerned.

The total market is covered by these companies in this rate.

Chart no. 1

8.2 SWOT Analysis

Strengths of the company

1.      Good quality:

BD chanachur boasts of having the best quality product in the market. As it is a relatively new product it tends to put much more emphasis on the quality so as to sustain in the competitive market. There are other various brands competing in this particular product segment. Through highly developed research and production facility and also being hygienic it creates a quality product for the entire market.

2.      Strong marketing network:

BD Foods is a sister concern of BD Group. It has a large marketing network almost all over Bangladesh and overseas especially in the Middle East and the UK. It has affiliation with the major companies in the country and abroad. It can gather information regarding the current market situation from them and act according to that.

3.      Strong monitoring system:

Through strong management system it monitors the production as well as the distribution of its products. It also ensures proper management and effective utilization of scarce resources and maintaining a good working environment.

4.      Sales plan and implementation:

Proper sales plan ensures a hefty amount of product sale. BD Food ensures a market wise sales plan and implements the plan through effective marketing policies and strategies.

5.      Proper distribution system:

BD Foods has a wide array of distribution channels all over Bangladesh. It maintains good working relationship with various dealers to have a proper distribution of its products. It engages dealers in the main districts and towns in the domestic region and also local dealers in foreign countries.

6.      Proper promotional activities:

BD Foods arranges regular promotional activities and campaigns to promote the company image and the products it produces. It sponsors different TV programs and airs different TV commercials in regular intervals.

7.      Good marketing information system:

BD Foods engages a highly skilled research team to gather the latest marketing information in order to change their own plan according to the current marketing needs. It arranges a research team to build a marketing information system which fully satisfies the market and the company.

Weaknesses of the company

1. Insufficient media promotion:

As BD Foods is new in the consumer goods production it emphasizes its budget on ensuring the product quality. It has a relatively low budget on the media promotion and other promotional activities.

2. Insufficient product penetration:

As there are lots of consumer foods manufacturing companies prevailing in the market there is no scope for market penetration. There is a huge competition in the market and the strategy in this case cannot be market penetration.

3. Lack of SKU wise product focus in the market:

SKU (Store Keeping Unit) wise product focus in the market is not possible. Because there is a certain or fixed SKU for a particular company. Also the market needs fluctuates time to time and the SKUs also change according to that.

4. Insufficient product delivery as per market demand:

The market is huge in Bangladesh for the FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods). The market demand is also very high. The company alone can’t satisfy the whole market demand by delivering their products to the consumers.

5. Packaging materials bought from other company:

As an FMCG producer the BD Foods company engages in the particular production. It puts emphasis on the production of FMCG only. It doesn’t have a different segment for packaging materials. It has to bring in the packaging materials from other companies. So as to it depends on other companies in the packaging aspect.

6. High price of the raw materials:

The prices of raw materials are on the rise. Its constant rise creates havoc in the production of the goods. It decreases the total production rate and it affects the supply.

7. No rise in MRP:

Though the prices of raw materials are sky rocketing, the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) doesn’t go up in the same manner. It affects the companies’ profitability or total profit margin.

Opportunities of the company

1.      Huge scope in Bangladesh:

Bangladesh is a country full of opportunities. There is a huge market for snacks and other consumer food items. BD Food wants to seize the opportunities by producing various new products and modifying the present products.

2.      Huge scope in neighboring countries:

Asian neighboring countries of Bangladesh like India, Pakistan, Srilanka, Nepal, and Bhutan hold bright prospects for snack items produced by BD Foods.

3.      Huge promotional activities in various satellite channel:

Satellite channels are mushrooming in our country. The scope of advertisement in those channels and improving, accelerating the promotional activities also rise with the increase of the satellite channel.

4.      Market penetration opportunity:

BD Foods is constantly engaged in developing new and unique products for the future. Unique products hold the prospect for market penetration.

5.      Market share gain able:

Through effective penetration, huge market share can be gained. Larger the market share higher the opportunity for the company to flourish.

6.      Brand loyalty:

People in this country are exposed to a few known brands for the product like chanachur. By improving the quality and holding a suitable price for that particular product brand loyalty can be obtained easily.

7.      Reference group influence:

BD Foods is affiliated with lots of CSDs, super stores, hotels, restaurants and other companies. It can use the reference from them in order to improve their company image and improve its goodwill also.

Threats of the company

1. New competitors:

Bangladesh holds huge prospect for FMCG industries. Various companies whether domestic or foreign are becoming interested in investing in this country. They also want a share of the profit or a portion of the market share. New competitors are thus arriving in the scene of the market.

2. Good promotional activities:

Nearest competitors and superior brands are improving their promotional activities day by day. They are coming up with new ideas and other promotional campaigns. They use state of the art technology in media and promotion. BD Foods need to cope with the changes that are present and that are to come.

3. Raw materials procurement by using sub-contract system:

Raw materials are the input for any production. Procuring them is a very complex method. Using the sub contract system procuring the raw materials gets even more complex and hectic.

4. Price fluctuation:

Ø  Raw Materials: Price fluctuation in case of raw materials cause the increase or decrease of production cost thus affecting the pricing of the product. Increased pricing happens with the rise of the price of raw materials and vice versa.

Ø  Others: Price fluctuations of the competitors also affect the pricing and other conditions of the company concerned.

Conclusion

And

Recommendation

9.1 CONCLUSION OF the report

                     BD FOODS Ltd. is one of the Promising companies in Bangladesh. This company is now becoming one of the leading companies of snacks and chutney. By Adding new brands, maintaining the quality, applying modern machineries, improving worker’s skill, they are serving peoples in the whole nation and also in abroad.

BD FOODS holds product concept as their marketing philosophy. According to product concept, consumers will favor those who are always announcing that they will ensure better quality at a minimum and affordable price. So BD FOODS Ltd. strongly focuses on the quality of their products.

It is selling their goods to the consumers of both rural & urban areas. It is trying to keep their quality intact & satisfy the customers through various promotional efforts. It is also trying hard to gain the first position among the competitors. To perform these activities this company gives appointment to the highly qualified, efficient & experienced employees. It is ready to face any challenge. So BD FOODS Ltd. is trying to perform well like other companies in Bangladesh.

9.2 Recommendation:

After analyzing the total report we can say that BD FOODS Ltd. has just started to earn profit as it is a very new company doing business and competing with renowned, well organized companies in Bangladesh. It is developing its products day by day. Although it is developing but it has some problems which have to be recovered.

1.                        In stead of having an organized distribution channel, they have a haphazard distribution network. So their product is not equally distributed to all over the country. People can’t easily get the product wherever they want. This is one of the main reasons for the low sales in the growth level of BD Chanachur.

2.                        They should emphasize on their promotional activities.

3.                        The price of BD Chanachur is a little bit higher than the other chanachur made by the competitors. So it should be reasonable.

4.                        Sometimes it faces the losses in rural areas. They should be careful about it.

5.                        They should increase their investment to capture the whole market.

Actually all business activities of organizations are affected by internal and external environment. BD FOODS Ltd. needs to improve their marketing planning. We believe and wish that BD FOODS Ltd. will be able to break free from all limitations and can perform its activities very well.