Happy Dairy


Happy Dairy has interest in producing flavored whipped cream cheese and supplying the many new local bagel shops with this product. You will be hired as a consultant to help determine if this product has a niche in the State College area and to determine all of the needed information such as flavors, production, packaging, distribution, etc., that the diary would need to get started.

The Company

Happy Dairy is a small owner run and operated company located in a small town in rural central Pennsylvania, selling all natural milk and cheese products to local customers through their dairy store. Joe Meyer and his employees produce and market all of their own products made from ingredients produced from their own herd of cows. Sales for 1996 were $250000 from their dairy products which they were hoping to expand.

Situation Analysis

For the past sixty years the sales of home-made dairy products have helped to sustain the income of the Happy's family farms. The sales had been steadily growing until they stalled at around the $250000 per year mark. With the rising cost of running the family farms, the Meyers were looking to increase the income from their food product line.

Demographics

The main users of the food product line were local people from the surrounding area who traveled past the dairy on a regular basis. stopped by to buy milk, or those from the larger surrounding towns who would buy the products as gifts on a seasonal basis. The current products were well liked by the customers but the distribution was rather limited and the product line needed to be expanded into an easily distributed product that was based on the already established line.

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

First the flavored whipped cream cheese needed to be fully developed, including a full range of sensory testing and techniques. These techniques may include: Objective testing, Preference testing and Sensory analysis considerations. After the initial sensory testing, then the shelf-life of the whipped cream cheese needed to be evaluated. Decisions needed to be made as to the assessment criteria, and conditions for testing. Product integrity was then considered. Next test marketing was done. A test market was decided on along with the where, when and how to market the new product. The results were evaluated and it was decided that conditions were favorable for introduction of the product.

Packaging and Graphics

The new product would bear the name and logo of the already established line of food products that had been around for a number of years and enjoyed a good deal of customer loyalty. The package would need to be easily deliverable at a low cost.

Marketing Objectives

Obtain an increase of overall product distribution of 5% without a cut-in of more than .5% of their other products. Produce a quality flavored whipped cream cheese to maintain the image of the Happy Dairy Farm products. Produce and distribute the product at a price no more than 10% higher than that of Philadelphia Whipped Cream Cheese, a well known national brand currently in the market.

Marketing Strategy

1. Build the whipped cream cheese identity on the Happy Dairy Farms established reputation.
2. Introduce the whipped cream cheese to specialty Bagel shops in the local area.
3. Concentrate first year sales on the Bagel shop sector.
Advertising Objectives and Strategies

1. Position the flavored whipped cream cheese as a premium product similar to the food products already in the market.
2. Obtain a 50% share of local consumer awareness.
3. Build on the Happy Dairy Name.
4. Use Newspapers, flyers, and Radio as the key mediums.