VESTEY FOOD COMPANY

Vestey Food Company

Vestey Food Company

Introduction

This paper is based on a case study that involves an edible food (meat) retailer firm called, Vestey Foods. The company's headquarters are located in London. The company has enjoyed a formidable position in the edible food (meat) sector, being the leader, and committed to provide top quality edible food (meat) to its customers. Since its inception in 1897, the company has practiced its core values of providing standardised food to their customers not only locally but also on the global scale. This philosophy is particularly evident in the mission of the company, standardised food for all. In this paper, company's marketing strategy is discussed focusing on the marketing strategy and persisting trends in the market, which has seen a tremendous growth in contemporary times due to presence of potential competitors, striving to make their mark in the ever-growing industry. This paper is divided into two parts. The first part covers the marketing strategy of the firm and the second part covers the impact of globalisation on the overall food industry and the company as well (Sforza, 2007, 20).

The U.K. market is in dispute over the European market due to its label "edible" (without direct equivalence with the EU regulation on bio-products, is booming and now accounts for nearly 35 percent of U.K. food market. According to a recent report published by the British Dietetic Association, entitled "Eating Habits of British Citizens", 2010, three-quarters of U.K. consumers buy edible products. The unprecedented growth of the sector is creating real problems. It is estimated that edible food (meat) sales reached U.K. £15.7 billion in 2006. Although this sector is only 35 percent of total food sales, its growth rate is outrageous compared to an industry almost frozen. And continue to grow thanks to large retailers (Sforza, 2007, 20).

Trends in British Food Market

A rate of double-digit growth simply means that there are not enough edible farms and organically raised animals in the United Kingdom to meet demand of the consumers. The result is a tremendous pressure to increase supply, which in many cases is leading to questionable practices and processes.

Despite the confusion of the consumers and the economic downturn, health continues to influence food purchases by consumers in the U.K. However, taste is king for consumers regardless of the benefits of a health product. Food manufacturers can not compromise on taste when developing healthier versions of existing products or when they introduce new.

This pressure has forced the edible food (meat) retailing companies, such as Vestey Foods to reconsider their options and get back to focus on the quality of the product. Edible foods with high fibre rate are becoming more popular these days. Thus Vestey Foods should opt for a more suitable strategy to attract these health-conscious customers by introducing new range of fibre-rich products with low-calorie content.

More importantly, Vestey Foods should be aware of the false marketing campaigns, which are now becoming a usual trend for the competitors to make ...