47398573 Carvel in Beijing

Carvel In Beijing

Supervised By

Prof. Dr. Ahmed Shalaby

Prepared By

Eman Essa

Naglaa Ali

Amir Nazir

Mohamed Nasr

Khalid Abdel Salam

Part (1)Diagnosis

Company HistoryCarvel Corporation had one of the oldest and most endearing histories of all the ice cream companies in the U.S.

Thomas Andreas Carvel as was born July 14, 1906, in Athanassos Greece 1910 his family immigrated to Danbury, New York City in 1920. When he was a child he has always dreamed of owning his own frozen custard shop. Mr. Carvel used a combination of fresh ice cream and innovative products and manufacturing techniques to establish himself as the local, family-oriented ice cream parlor in the New York City area.

In1934 when he borrowed $ 100 dollars from his future wife Agnes Stewart, and bought a trailer load of custard ,The first year he grossed $3,500

1939 his yearly gross income was $6,000 a year and he became known as the "Ice Cream King of the East"

Tom Carvel developed his own freezer model, known as the batch freezer under the trade name "Custard King" he sold about 71 freezers for $2,900 each

Carvel makes the “creamiest” ice cream on the market and maintains itself as the fourth largest ice cream chain in the United States.

in 1947, Mr. Carvel used a combination of fresh ice cream and innovative products and manufacturing techniques to establish himself as the local, family-oriented ice cream parlor in the New York City area. Mr. Carvel franchised his first store and proceeded to become one of the pioneers in

fast food franchising. In fact, it was only after Tom Carvel refused his partnership offer that Ray Kroc used Mr. Carvel’s store design as the model for his McDonald’s chain.

1960s and 70s, Mr. Carvel used his folksy and savvy style to dominate the greater New York area. By standardizing procedures and providing franchisees with exclusive product designs and marketing

1980s, there were over 800 Carvel stores in operation along the East Coast and in some Midwestern states such as Ohio and Wisconsin. Included in the company chain were over 40 stores in California.

Phil Fang (yang Dengsheng), the Taiwanese general manager of the Beijing operation, faced similar pressure. Slow sales reduced the company’s opportunity to break from the myriad of small brands and establish itself as the first truly national brand in China. Moreover, with Baskin-Robbins, First, as a Taiwanese manager of a three-part joint venture, Fang was pulled by each partner’s differing business perspectives. Most important, though, Fang questioned the American management’s decision to price and market the product as strictly an American ice cream. At times, Fang felt that the Americans did not appreciate the complexities and subtleties of doing business in China. Now, as the company faced its first summer sales period, Fang would have to make some long-lasting business decisions. Each manager quietly felt he understood the problem. Demadis believed that the product was by far the best quality ice cream in Beijing; the company simply needed to improve the marketing and retailing of the product. He wanted Carvel Beijing to increase the products price and, in turn,

Performance indicators1980s, the recession and the strain on Tom Carvel to manage his business began to take its effect on the franchise. Sales and quality control began to decline, and events forced Mr. Carvel to consider changes.In 1989, at age 88, faced with diminishing sales and increasing store closures, Tom Carvel reluctantly sold his company to Investcorp, a Bahrainian-based investment banking group. The Investcorp strategy centered on acquiring previously gainful companies whose profitability had diminished in recent years due to

recession. Following that strategy, between 1988 and 1992 Investcorp had purchased Macy’s, Sax Fifth Avenue, Tilecorp,

. Exhibit 1 shows Carvel’s organizational arrangements in Asia.

Market Share & Growth1994, in the face of industry-wide declines, It was Steve Fellingham who decided to bring Carvel to China. After an initial backing by Investcorp of $4 million, Fellingham negotiated a joint venture in which Carvel Corporation established two new enterprises. These two new enterprises were Carvel Asia, headed by Tony Wang (Wang Da Dong), and Carvel Beijing, headed by Phil Fang, Financially, Phil Fang did not anticipate reaching break-even sales until 1996, and the company’s slow start in 1995 jeopardized even that prediction.His biggest problem continued to be slow sales growth and slow customer attachment to the high margin cakes. As the Income Statement for 1994 in Carvel Beijing operated at a net loss of nearly (¥1,070,000) in 1994.For 1995, Fang had requested an additional $800,000 from the joint venture partners and set the following objectives for the year:

Sales of ¥13 million 100,000 cakes sold

68 total sales outlets by year end

As mentioned earlier, the company’s poor cash flow forced Fang to reconsider his growth strategy. He would not be able to count on large retail stores like in the U.S. Instead, he planned on operating many smaller outlets that would demand less initial cash investment. His budgeted breakdown for projected outlets by the end of 1995 underlined this strategy. By the calendar and fiscal year end of 1995, Fang aimed to have the following outlet distribution:

These goals, however, were jeopardized by continual negative cash flow, which in February 1995 totaled (¥400,000).

Clearly, as the Projected Budget for 1995 , nearly 60 percent of Fang’s investment from the joint venture partners would go toward rent and the purchase of new equipment. In fact, by April Fang had already realized that the cash crunch he was under was going to force him to revise his budget

plans or to request more capital from the joint venture partners. Fang’s Projected 1995 Profit & Loss Statement reveals several factors that contributed to this problem.

Customer SatisfactionThe most striking fact to emerge was that Chinese consumers were very intelligent shoppers who valued quality and long life in their purchases. For example, only 29 percent of consumers bought on price alone, whereas 63 percent bought on quality. As for consumer tastes in food, rice, tea, and pasta are the most common foods in the Chinese household. However, 17 percent of those polled had dairy products in their house, and 13 percent regularly kept frozen foods at home. Chinese were very well aware of foreign brand names.

Brand equityCarvel Asia then provided 50 percent of the equity for Carvel Beijing. Wang Meng, president and owner of New Continent Dairy, a local dairy and producer of low end ice cream in Beijing, contributed 30 percent of the capital financing for Carvel Beijing. By creating both regional partners and joint venture partners, Carvel U.S. attempted to meet two objectives

Demadis felt it was crucial for the company to take advantage of its first over status to establish the brand as the premium ice cream cake and novelty company against which all subsequent competition would be compared.

Accordingly, Demadis had to defend his position to market the product as a premium ice cream demanding a premium price. Inherent in the corporate long term marketing strategy was the need to establish the brand as a premium product to which a Chinese rank and file with increasing disposable income would aspire.

Performance Gaps Bad external environmental factors study (PESTC) Bad External Environmental Factors study (PESTC):

Cross Cultural Barriers: Chinese don’t like the dairy product (Lowest in the world). Considering cold food as unhealthy food

Economical studies (gaps in the pricing) Demographical and social studies. (gaps in

segmentations) Technological applications to reduce the costs Competition studies Consumer reluctant to globalization Here are below the explaination:

Carvel failed to study culture in Beijing that it is known that Chinese people are the lowest people in the world using the dairy product and also they are lactose intolerance

-Economically carvel ignored that a lot of Chinese people has low income

-Politically also carvel found that salary of Chinese labour is very high due to the Chinese government give 17% taxes and 32%medical care and child care to labour

Also carvel had gab in studying competitions in china so competitors like

Walls as a Holland based company and one of the market leaders in Europe.

Buds: was a San Francisco based Ice cream company that enjoyed a wide presence and brand awareness in Beijing

Baskin Robins was Carvel’s chief rival in US and its products enjoyed more national brand awareness than Carvel’s.

Bad STP:

Bad Market segmentations must lead to a bad targeting and off course bad positioning which means you lost your direction as a marketer.

Bad studying and Applying of STP

Bad Segmentations (due to bad economical and demographical studies)

Right Targeting

P ositioning (by the right product Mix (4Ps).

Bad Sales representatives management

4Ps

Gap in deciding right Positioning

Products (big quantity) and attracting for the kids segments

pricing for the targeted market segmentations

promoting and communications due to bad segmentations (confused message). Limited budget

Placing of the products mixing between the high and low quality wholesales channels (150 accounts)

Bad management of the 10 retail stores

Action Taken Proper Segmentations Right Targeting Middle and upper class (Young Chinese Professionals) Little emperors (single child for each family) Foreign employees at the multinational communities Right Positioning Product and Pricing Smaller and cheaper cakes like the little love to attract new segment. Applying Technology to drop the prices by applying over run process

(forcing air during manufacturing of ice cream process to increase the size and give the creamy texture)

Attracting kids through delightful designs of the products Right Promotion (communication):

Big Print Media promotion to communicate a uniform message to attract the Chinese for the new Ice cream food behavior by Who they are and what they are about and the benefits of their products

Focusing at Clubs and Schools Right Placing (distribution Channels):

Reject the low quality Wholesales accounts Focusing on the foreign people compounds Focusing to place close to the Clubs and Schools Better cost management:

Exchanging to Chinese supplier to reduce the cost

Using guan xi (exchanging favors)

The performance drivers (the factors that lie behind the performance gaps):

1- Cultural Factors: The cultural complexities of being a Taiwanese manager for an

American firm in China further complicated his role. The presence of Guan Xi concept (meaning relations and

connections) in China would affect the entrance of Carvel into Beijing market.

Chinese enjoyed various types of traditional dried fruits and they often ended each meal with a platter of fresh fruit and tea, which is considered cheaper and more widely recognized than Carvel product line.

The traditional Chinese shapes such as the bear were inherently strong sellers, while American-style cakes seemed too foreign.

2- Environmental Factors: There are several factors in Beijing environment that exacerbate

quality control efforts, just as:1. Dust, pollution and coal ash.2. The water supply in Beijing is not potable, so it must be boiled

and filtered.3. The traditional Chinese cultural aversion to waste. Carvel used

several single-use items in its production process for sanitation reasons. For their part the Chinese resisted certain procedures and standards as too costly or wasteful.

3- Political Factors: The apparent stability and growth in the Chinese economy offered

good opportunities for business, but political uncertainty clouded the future.

The ailing health of the Communist leader Deng had set the stage for another succession struggle in the party.

While the Communist government assured of improved business conditions in China, the recent events reflected a risk in the Chinese market.

McDonald’s Case: The communist government’s recent summary decision on McDonald’s lease on its celebrated Chang An Avenue store reflected this intrinsic risk. Although he government cited legal clauses in the lease agreement, the move caused shock waves in the business community trying to establish long-term commitments in China.

4- Financial Factors: 90% of Carvel Beijing input products were imported from the U.S. at

a relatively high cost. Customs taxes and regulations were the largest daily problem for

Carvel Beijing. Tariff rates averaged 50% of the net value of the item, and

sometimes it could reach 80% of the original value. Although the average Chinese employee earned 800 yen per month,

there were other hidden costs involved, raising labor expense to 149% of its actual cost (17% government payroll tax and 32% for health care).

5- Internal Factors: The different point of views in Carvel Beijing strategy between Greg

Demadis (Director of Business Development for Carvel Corporation) and Phil Fang (the Taiwanese general manager for Carvel Beijing)

Non using Ultra High Temperature pasteurization process would deprive Carvel Beijing of producing long shelf life products (90 days).

Carvel Beijing experienced several power problems in its retail stores and factory.

Two small refrigerated trucks transport only 150 cakes. So, as the company grows it will need greater delivery capacity.

The lack of accurate and centralized information hampered efforts to determine the cause of high costs.

Key environment trends & their likely impact on company performance1. Power problem: Description:

Rollhards, ice cream machines & shock boxes produce large flows & consumes of electricity.

Carvel Beijing’s operations had already experienced several power problems in both its retail stores & factory.

Impact: Once the product begins to melt, its creaminess & smoothness are lost.

Also placing a melting cake or novelty back in the shock box caused ice to form on the product; the result is a blander, less tasty ice cream.

Solution:Consequently a dependable supply of electricity is essential, such as:

Generator

Solar Cells1. Carvel can use a permanent power source (government’s electricity)

with a backup power supply using one of the above two alternatives of power source; or

2. Using one of the above two alternatives of power source as an own power supply.

To control the source of the electricity supply & ensure of the dependable supply of electricity.

2.Dirty environment problem: There are several factors in the Beijing environment that resist quality control efforts:

2.1 Pollution problem:Description:

Huge amount of dust, pollution & coal ash (Firewood powder) found in the city.

Impact: This dust contaminates floors & working surface areas.

Solution: Carvel must continually monitor cleaning places.

2.2 Water Problem:

Description:

The water supply in Beijing is not potable. Therefore it must be boiled and filtered before use it in any product.

Impact: Water can’t be uses without boiling & filtering

Solution: Like its electrical needs, Carvel must continually monitor water quality.

3. Traditional Chinese culture problem:

Description: American management had a difficult time adapting to the traditional

Chinese culture hate to waste. When working with dairy products, at time it was necessary to dispose

of uncertain products or tools. Carvel also used several single-use items in its production process for

health reasons.

Impact: The Chinese resisted certain procedures & standards as too costly or

wasteful.

Solution: Carvel Beijing established hard quality control standards & continual

internal inspection program. Weekly bacteria reports were done on the mix batches, & biweekly coli-

form counts were checked in the retail outlets.

4. Traditional Chinese consumers problem: Description:

Fang believed that the conventional Carvel approach (Carvel U.S) didn’t attract the tradition Chinese consumers for the following:

a. Some cakes didn’t attract Chinese consumer, who expected a more complicated.

b. Fang got comments from customers that the ice cream was too sweet, but Chinese traditionally didn’t like very sweet desserts.

c. On the other hand Demadis assert that consumer awareness was the issue, not consumer taste.

Impact: According to Phil Fang it was an unwilling, unfamiliar consumer, that

was behind the slow sales.

Solution:

It was existed a different point of view between Fang & Demadis regarding the solution for this problem to increase the sales as follow:

Fang; changing the mix formula might increase sales, but Demadis; strongly opposed change the traditional success of the

company in any form.

SWOT analysis

Strength Weakness

Carvel’s patented DL and DH ice cream machine series

Carvel has the best ice cream cake & best Quality/ taste of product unique offerings of ice cream cakes in different shapes/designs

Carvel had received +ve reviews from its customers

Training & Operations had progressed well & the company was ready to increase production higher overrun translates into lower unit costs

Vaguely defined management roles & objectives hampered definitive marketing policies

Disconnected management, and problems with the joint venture with New Continent

Lack of brand awareness in Beijing Very high operating expenses Perception of Carvel as a purely “American” brand Inability to source inputs

locally continued to hamper the bottom line

Too many potential customers still did not know of Carvel Beijing

Opportunities Threats New offers to imports vending carts and freezers much cheaper could help

get around the imports taxes Involvement of foreign embassy community in its sales promotions as a means of increasing both sales and potential outside business contracts The approaching summer allowed Carvel to have a seasonal grand opening to reintroduce the brand to first time customers

Competition from other established Ice Cream companies, both local and

American, that are cheaper The cash flow & sales problem threatened to scuttle the proposed business plan for 1995 The competition including Wang Meng

wear quickly realizing the potential of Ice cream cakes In Beijing & Carvel's competitive advantages in this area would be challenged

The dynamics political and economics environment in China presented inherent uncertainty

Part (2)

SolutionsIncreasing sales by investing in

wholesales accounts

Alternative:

1- Each account can produce there own products according to the product line like McDonalds do in its branches

2- many smaller outlets that would demand less initial cash investment3- Request more capital from the joint venture partners4- An aggressive push campaign for outside accounts would create brand

awareness and drive sales Delivery trouble due to that they decided to produce only from the

factory

Alternative:1- Return to the concept that each account can produce there own

products according to the product line like McDonalds do in its branches2- Company need greater and more flexible delivery capacity ( > 150 truck

capacity ) The high competition range due to the number of competitors that

produce the same type of products

Alternative:

1- They can concentrate on cake makings and reduce the ice cream makings due to the storage and delivery and labor problem and also will reduce the competition to be only with Baskin and Robbins.

2- Use the way of UHT rather that HTST in making the ice cream to be differentiated than other competitors

Problems to be resolvedCommunication

A big problem is that the Chinese people are not familiar with the type of product Carvel offers: ice-cream cakes.

In general China’s consumption of dairy products is among the lowest in the world.

Unfortunately the Chinese are also showing a high incidence of lactose intolerance.

Another trouble is the fact that some folks do believe that cold food is unhealthy.

That is why Carvel has to start a big communication program. In terms of the limited budget, manager Wang will use print media to communicate, who they are, what they are about and the benefits of their products.

Products and pricing

The major part of the Chinese population has a quiet low income. This is why Carvel has to adjust their prices and their product line to the market.

Smaller and cheaper cakes like the little love or the piece of cake are examples how one could reduce the purchase risk and attract new customers.

Wholesale accounts

Carvel’s wholesale accounts are showing great differences in terms of quality. This is a result of the mismanagement of the sales representatives who are compensated by the number of accounts they develop and not by the quality of the accounts.

A radical surgery is needed to ensure that the existing accounts are worth the effort

Technologies to be applied

One goal of the strategy is cost reduction. This can also be achieved by a technology, which is called over-run. The over run describes the proportion of air that is mixed with the ice cream during the manufacturing process.

An over-run increase from 30-40 to a 45-50 per cent level could lower variable costs about 5 per cent. This saving can be passed directly to the consumer.

Submarkets and customers to be served

There are three important customer segments in Beijing that hold the greatest promise for increased sales:

Middle and upper class Chinese professionals

Thanks to the fast growing economy there are more and more people who made it to a high-income level. The group of these young professionals is aged 25 to 45 and seeking for novel products and experiences. 70 per cent of the cake sales come from these yuppies.

Little emperors

In the 80’s the Chinese government started a program called one child policy in order to counteract the rapidly growing population. The sense of this program was that every family should only have one chid. As a result of this

policy, there grew up a generation of pretty spoiled children and young teenagers, who have no brothers or sisters. Parents spent up to 60 per cent of their disposable income on their children who are getting everything they want.

Expatriate residents

The third group of potential customers are the expatriate residents who consist mainly of foreign business and embassy employees and their families. They are responsible for 10 per cent of Carvel’s sales. There are around 100.000 people, which are easy to reach, because of their English skills.

Restructure supply chain - specialty ice cream parlor

Carvel Beijing must be improved its delivery systems Finished cakes were placed in Styrofoam boxes that could hold nearly

ten cakes. Large refrigerated trucks to transported Styrofoam boxes to the

accounts. Increase trucks Capacity.

47398573 Carvel in Beijing

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