Marketing Of Ag Products Essay, Research Paper

After being left with 2 million dollars from my long lost great aunt, I was provided with the capital necessary to begin to develop and market my own product. Having been raised on a small dairy farm in western New York, the only logical product to me was one having to do with the dairy industry. In an attempt to make my product unique, I have decided to target the organic foods market. Producing organic string cheese seemed to be my best solution.

Organic string cheese is a good product because first of all, it is a differentiated product. By this I mean that it is different because it is organic. Organic foods are more popular today then ever, as people are seeking a healthier means of living. Organic farms constitute for only 0.2% of US farms, with there being only 4,050 of their kind in the US. Secondly, the cheese has a wide consumer market. Of the 248,709,873 people that live in the United States, about 1/8 nare consumers of some sort of organic food. String cheese is unique as it is an attractive product to many different ages, genders, incomes, religions, and social classes. String cheese is enjoyed by people of all ages, though I am going to target the younger generations, ages 5-17 years. This small age group counts for 45,249,989 Americans, a plenty big target market. The cheese is also being marketed towards both genders, it is not a gender-biased product, nor is it aimed for any specific education level. Race wise, the product is designed for typical Americans, rather than for a foreign market, though it is aimed towards Catholics, Christians, and Jews. It is targeted toward an income of and also toward the middle class to upper class.

This cheese is made to be eaten on the go, which makes it appropriate for the busy city regions of the country. String Cheese also has the advantage that it is fun to eat, and as an added benefit it is healthy too. This is important as most food choices are made for young people by their parents. Food must be attractive to both adult and child. This food can just as easily be seen as an after school snack and lunchbox food to a snack for a college student or adult. It is portable, though as a downside it is also perishable. Being portable, it can be taken anywhere, and as a greater advantage it is also a very mess free food. The food is aimed toward the middle to upper class income ranges because of its cost. Organic foods normally cost 3-4 times more than non-organic foods. The people that normally would be interested in this type of food are people who are health conscious, active people that have busy lifestyles.

I have decided to name my organic string cheese after my home farm, Conrow Farms. For packaging, I decided that the traditional plastic packaging was ideal. For the label, I am using a picturesque scene of barns, green grass, and cows grazing. I feel that this labeling suggests a high quality product from a small well-maintained dairy, which is a perfect image for an organic product. A familiar label promotes brand loyalty, as it is easily distinguished by consumers from other products. A seal on the label that states that the product is organic is another key factor of the product, as is a small informational paragraph on the benefits of organic foods that is on the side. The current price of organic foods is high, as supply is low and demand is high, but in time the prices should be more reasonable, and as the price goes down, the volume of usage will also rise.

Competitor-wise, there isn t much competition. Most organic dairies produce a variety of different products, while mine specializes in only the string cheese. The organic market is only just starting to become popular, so the specialization in only one product is still possible. I have further plans to produce several more kinds of cheeses over the next few years. Right now my biggest competitors are the larger farms that produce more than one product, and also produce more of my product, because they can do it cheaper than me. Another competitor that I have is the non-organic food market. They are competitors because no matter how cheap I can try and produce my organic food, they can do it cheaper, and most consumers want to buy the cheaper product.

Consumers want a cheaper, better, safer, and more convenient product. Marketing my product of organic string cheese is the perfect product in which to fit the consumer s needs.

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