A case of sweet fruit: An empirical study of marketing strategy development

The Australian fresh food sector is dominated by two large retailers who are constantly looking for fresh convenience foods in order to satisfy constantly changing consumer demand. The traditional approach to pricing such products has been on a cost plus basis with subsequent adjustments as sales develop. This paper looks at a more rigorous method using statistical analysis of survey data and is based on a case study of a company which seeks to differentiate itself by providing products of exceptional eating quality. The company uses a concurrent approach to new product development rather than the linear approach proposed by the literature and wanted a methodology for setting prices that was based on hard data. The methodology adopted here is that which is used in commodity pricing. Using this approach it is possible for suppliers to reduce their time to market and to identify key demographics; reducing the risk of product failure and the launch costs.