Client description: Global food ingredient company

Practice area: Market Research and Analysis

Geographic scope: US

Industries involved: Food and beverage

Services applied: Voice of the Customer

Business challenge: This company owned a majority market share in Canada for food coating systems, but had not yet been successful in driving substantial market penetration for coating systems in the US. To support a long-term growth strategy the firm required market information trends and competitor offerings, customer needs and market opportunities, as well as impressions of them against their primary competitors.

Methodologies: After conducting secondary research into the market dynamics, we conducted 45 qualitative IDIs with respondents across 5 different segments of the food and beverage industry.

The result: A detailed report that covered market trends, unmet needs, supplier perceptions and willingness to switch suppliers. The analysis indicated strong trending headwinds would need to be overcome and powerful competitors would have to be defeated to gain share in this market. We identified some niche opportunities along with strategic and tactical recommendations for mitigating market challenges and overcoming the barriers to market entry.