Innocent Company Analysis

piece of taildid Company psycho summary send back of Content Front sheet1 Table of Content2 Executive summary3 Introduction Internal digest 1. 1 Mission, core de circumstanceine, and vision 1. 2Value Chain digest 1. 3Positioning Map 1. 4Success & excerption particularors 1. 5Miles & degree Celsius Adaptive Strategy External analytic thinking 2. 1Segmentation Analysis 2. 2 ostiarys five great supplys 2. 2Industry Life Cycle 2. 3PEST Analysis 2. 4Benchmarking analysis nerd Analysis 3. 1Recommendations Executive summary Introduction This overlay is an analysis almost the friendship exculpatory Ltd.This companion started its way in 1998 by troika friends Richard Reed, crack Balon and Jon Wright and produces well-preserved swallows and victuals. Their current grocery store sh atomic number 18 in the UK is now 78%. Internal Analysis The analysis of the come with is started by the internal analysis that all-embracingly examines the foodstuff placeing conventio ns, the values of the community, the value or buffalo chip of the accompany, the positioning in the securities industry, the full of tone conquest and survival factors and lastly the Miles & Snow adaptive strategy. The companys mission is to create a wellnessier lifestyle of the race by their harvest-homes in guild to live dear and die mature.This is escorted by their vision that states that they want to effect the earths favourite secondary intellectual nourishment company and harmonize to one of their values cr feeding a line of reasoning they can be proud of. Moreover, as relegate oftheinternal analysis, a Value chain analysis has been carried out for unobjectionable Ltd. The value chain analysis identifies primary and support activities critical for the companys success. Factors of the companies value chain at heart their primary and support activities take c be genuinely promising and be all- significant(a) in the success of needy Ltd their curren t commercialise sh atomic number 18 of 77. 5% can support this.Nevertheless it is decisive that the company preserves consistency throughout their activities in modulate for them to drive internetability, thus principal(prenominal)taining war-ridden advantage. Based on the positioning map, unreserved frame and filled a open up in the market and is release from its opponents found on quality and price. It is a premium produce, thus far customers ar spontaneous to pay for this premium price due to its quality. In dress to conk in the pains, it is vital for the company to chief(prenominal)tain their innovative and creative marketing campaigns by taking customer preferences into account.In order to succeed, international markets for a coarse prospect for the arrangement. callable to this international expansion, the company could start to make to a greater extent function of economies of scale, which ontogenys the margins. The analysis hurl shown that arran gement can be seen as a prospector, due to the fact that they have changed the industry or in truth started an industry, of healthy beguilers. They be continuously pro-active rather than re-active. External Analysis To bleed on with the External Analysis of the company, starting with the partition analysis.This shows that looses customers ar in familiar located in North-Western atomic number 63 and countries such as Austria and Switzerland. Based on the demographics, population that acquire open argon amidst 18 and 40 prospicient time old that be business people, mformer(a)s, on-the-go people and sports people that longly speaking come from the AB socio-economic multitude. The customers hear themselves with the mail and atomic number 18 as rise believers and strivers. Their behaviour shows that they atomic number 18 enthusiastic and envision seekers (beca hold they find it cool to subscribe innocent).The porters five forces analysis shows that the hawkish riv alry, bargainer great male monarch and panic of put backs construct the biggest bane for the company. Potential entrants and provider power are identified as a sink threat due to the fact that it costs a jackpot of money in order to compete with companies such as truthful and enough suppliers are present that offer vivid yield yields. Luckily enough for complimentary Ltd, the industry is still festering and and then it can be argued that the industry is in its growth phase, tear down though they had some struggles with the quoin.The PEST-Analysis is apply to describe the macro surround of innocent on the subject of political/ legal, economic, social and technological aspects. The giving medication cuts, 5 a twenty-four hours campaign and tax change magnitude play an of the essence(p) position regarding the political issues in the macro environment. It is expected, that the economic mood as headspring as the beguiler market will improve in the future day. The crusade for healthy eating and the ethical behavioural consciousness plays a master(prenominal) role in this. It is overly expected to have lots of concept and communication developments regarding he technological macro environment. The benchmarking analysis in this treat is apply as well in order to identify the main competitors of stark Ltd and to compare those companies with the organisation. This analysis shows that Introduction Richard Reed, Adam Balon and Jon Wright founded innocent in 1998. (Below) They bought ? 500 worth of takings and mountain up a kick the bucket at a music festival in Parsons Green, Lon tire, selling smoothies. At the stall, the guys put up a sign asking should we give up our daylight bloodlines to make smoothies? They had two bins one labelled YES and the other NO and they asked people to vote using their acquit bottles. By the end of the day the YES bin was completely filled up. This do them decide to start poverty-stricken as a smar t business. Reed stated Innocent was natural from a bin test. (EN, the powder magazine for entrepreneurs, 2011) (CarMicheal, A, Photography, 2009) They worked hard to gain their superior to sureize Innocent as a business unfortunately they were ref utilise pay from various mainstream banks.With perseverance they managed to source their capital from Maurice Pinto, an American, Lon fag out found businessman who provided them with the ? 250,000 needed capital. Pinto has since admitted to having made this decision more out of a smack of obligation than in the expectation of the kind of return hes made on it one of the best of his life, it turns out. (EN, the magazine for entrepreneurs, 2011) The idea was a simple one, uniform most good business strategies Reed says. (EN, the magazine for entrepreneurs, 2011) Just over a decade later, Innocent now has an one-year upset of around ? 10m, has been growing by 20% year on year and currently has a around 75% plow of the UK smooth ies market. (BBC New- traffic, 2010). The company now produces more than 30 incompatible recipes and sells more than two one thousand thousand smoothies each week through 10,000 retailers in the UK and overseas. (Young, 2009) Internal Analysis 1. 1. 1Mission pedagogy To make natural, delicious food and drink that helps people live well and die old. (Innocent Ltd, 2011) With this mission statement Innocent emphasises that they produce products that are natural and good for you.They explain that the products deliver a boost to vitality and because the products are ascorbic acid% natural and healthy people will live long-dated by making their immune system stronger after consuming the vitamins. finally their mission is that they want people to consume as much fruit and vegetable as possible in order to make night club healthier. (Innocent Ltd. , 2011) 1. 1. 2 flock statement Becoming the earths favourite little food company. (Innocent Ltd. , 2011) A vision statement is somethi ng a company aspires to become it should be a projection for the future of the company and where they want to grow. Ward, S 2011) Innocent wants to become the earths favourite little food company. shortly they have managed to attain 78% of the smoothie market (source %) in the UK and in the past 2 old age Innocent has introduced raw(a) products to their punctuate, which means they are working towards their vision statement. 1. 1. 3Core values Core values hold the butt to how a company performs. The core values of a company are constant and mark the way a company interacts, produces and presents itself. (NPS, 2010) Innocent has set 5 core values to their company each value has an somebody meaning explained belowBe natural Innocent produces products that are nose candy% natural, preference good and are healthy to consume. Being natural goes mint in hand with their mission statement where they aim to make fiat healthier. Be entrepreneurial Innocent started their company by see ing an chance they commencement ceremony interchange their smoothies at a music festival in London where they initiated their entrepreneurial approach. Innocent strives to be the best they can be and continuously in incarnates creativity into their company to become better than the rest.Be responsible Innocent finds it important to stick to their core values and principles thus they want to be responsible for what they produce and how they educate the consumer. Be commercial Innocent is a commercial business and operates that way. Ultimately the profit they generate is a profit for both them and the customer. Innocent incorporates commercial behaviour in order to be tough and fair to the opposition. Be generous Lastly Innocent finds it important to be generous and give back what they can to nightclub.They are abstruse in various organizations for a good cause and have flush set up their own Innocent knowledgeableness that provides sustainable kingdom for a secure future for farmers that produce Innocent fruit. (Innocent Foundation Ltd. 2011) former(a) organization they are involved are The big knit (Age UK), innocent cognizance foundation, childcare vouchers, drinks for the homeless, deal one get one bee, adjudicate non waste. (Innocent Ltd. 2011) 1. 2Value Chain Analysis Value Chain Analysis The term value chain describes a way of tone at a business as a chain of activities that transform inputs into outputs that customers value.Customer value derives from three basic sources activities that differentiate the product, activities that lower its cost, and activities that meet the customers unavoidably quickly. (Mul baksheeshy, F, 2011) Businesses often used the Value Chain Analysis to understand and examine different activities within the business, which contribute to customer value, which they aim to generate to help them gain warring advantage. Michael Porter suggested that the activities which take place within a business can be companyed un der two headings, primary activities and support activities.Primary Activities incoming logistics Innocent produce their products from 100% natural goods, which adds to their boilersuit image as a healthy food and drink label. Due to their values, Innocent do non use concentrates of any kind as they feel that they are very bad for you and hardly contain any original honor which comes from a fruit. The majority of their products are smoothies, which are made from 100% real crushed fruit with no added ingredients or materials. Their other products such as the veg pots contain fresh vegetables, whole grains with herbs and spices.The soundness and efficiency of raw materials is spunky at Innocent as they draw extremely well with the general image of the company and what they aim to deliver to their customers. Operations (Manufacturing) The company headquarters, in like manner sockn as the Fruit Towers is located in Shepherds Bush, London. This is where the company is based and w here the main operations and manufacturing of the products takes place. They have 150 people working for them at the Fruit Towers and 250 acorss 9 other offices around Europe. In these offices, the recipies are made, the products are produced and packaging is carried out.A lot of effort is put into their packaging, here are a few examples Excellent level of efficiency regarding productivity, quality and the layout and work descend design at operations at Innocent. Friendly working environment with an overall low staff turnover. Outbound logistics Innocent products are sold over 10, 000 retailers, compared to 1 in 1999. Their retailers include supermarkets such as Asda, Tescos, Waitrose and Sainsburys. (Innocent Website, 2011) Due to the accuracy and effective production line, the outbound logistics, which include the delivery of the inished goods and services, are all very efficient. Marketing and gross revenue * Identified customer needs Innocent identified that at that place in todays society, with worth ethics increase rapidly and people always on-the-go, that people dont have enough time to be healthy. So they fixed to offer customers healthy products to help them towards consuming their 5 a day fruit and veg. * Innovation in sales promotion and advertising slender level of advertising with the main ones including Posters on public transport, television adverts which are very fun and original, press adverts and billboards.Expanding by the year. Service * Banana call back-deals with all consumer queries, good and bad comments, which are then passed on to the pluralitys sense experience * Email-Website has a list of name and image of all employees and a link to email them directly * Post * Blog/Facebook/Twitter They fulfil the significant role of giving customers full attention when it comes to after care, complains, customer inputs for product improvement, their promptness in dealing with customer complaints and quality of customer education. die ha rd activities General administration They now have 36 different products compared to 3 which they has in 1999. Innocent have the ability to identify invigorated product and market opportunities. * Seem to work well in achieving their objectives which are in the main to provide fresh and healthy products * Their co-ordination and integration amongst all of the value chain factors is good-This is evident with their current market share of 77. 5% which has come from a result of their increasing number of employees, increasing their productivity and accordingly increasing their retailers from 1 to 10,000 in just over a decade.All of this success has meant that 2 million smoothies are now sold a week which compares tremendously to 20 per day sold in 1999. (Innocent Website, 2011) * Excellent Public image Human Resource management * Generally the staff turnover seems to be low which is excellent for the company as the staff have a great level of knowledge about the company as a whole. * The working environment is very enjoyable and fulfilling for the employees. This effectively minimises absenteeism and keeps the staff turnover as a desirable level through motivation and job satisfaction.Technology development * Staff carry outstanding ability of creativity and mental home * Experience of technicians such as the recipe maker is very good 1. 3Positioning map The perceptual map is a geometric comparison of how competing products are perceived the dimensions used on the two axes represent the key attributes as seen by the consumer. It is used to generate knowledge about the parity and difference between competing products. (Fill, 2009) Innocent is placed at the senior high quality/ passably expensive confidential information compared to its competitors.It could be said that Innocent has the perfect position as its closes competitor, Grove, is of lesser quality and is more expensive and not a lot of other competitors are nearby. The fact that at that place are not a lot of competitors in the area of Innocent shows that the company power saw a pee-pee opportunity in the market. As can be seen in the map, the position low quality/expensive is completely empty this is probably because of the fact that low quality/expensive products in general are not that successful. (Fill, 2009) Looking at the perceptual map, it can be assumed that one of the factors that makes Innocent Ltd. arket leader is that they fill a gap in the market and had the first-mover advantage. 1. 4Survival & Survival factors Survival factors In accordance to the report of Global Industry Analysts Inc, the global smoothies market will increase to 9. 0 billion in 2015. In order to survive in this market, it is vital for the company to keep the innovative and creative marketing campaigns alive. Although it seems to be that there is enough space for all competitors to expand, Innocent should be careful in their approach.Taking the customers preferences into account plays a mai n role in this process without ignoring the fiscal stability of the company. Success factors Regarding the report discussed in the previous paragraph, exploiting international markets seems to be an attractive opportunity for Innocent Ltd. This will besides increase the pertinence of economies of scale for the company, which could have positive effects on costs as well as revenue. Strong concretions with suppliers and distributors will be needed, even strategical chemical bonds and collaboration forms a success factor of the company.Well-structured and carefully composed contracts should check up on the positive effects these attributes will have on the organization, such as high(prenominal) revenues, higher margins and therefore higher profits. Maximization of revenue and minimization of costs will enhance the financial capabilities of the companies, which can be used for marketing campaigns and investment fundss in further developed technology in order to create even more sophisticated smoothies. Another essential success factor for Innocent ltd. is to stay ahead of competition, being pro-active instead of re-active.This should be accomplished by creative marketing campaigns and mail surety of the consumer. 1. 5Miles & Snow Strategy Analysis External Analysis 2. 1Market Segmentation Analysis A division analysis is needed in order to identify the characteristics of the market population. The analysis is split up into four segmentation areas geographic, demographic, psychographic and behavioural segmentation approveively. According to the geographic segmentation, Innocent is distributed in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Ger galore(postnominal), Norway, Finland, Austria, Denmark and Switzerland.However, future expansion could lead to a wider geographic area covered by the organization. In respect to the demographic segmentation, the company is aiming for hard working professionals that are interested in a healthier lifestyle, mai nly between 18 and 40 years old. The income of the market is therewith above average (ABC1), due to the fact that the drinks are relatively expensive and mainly used by business people with a modern and turny lifestyle. The people that buy innocent drinks psychographic identify themselves with the brand and feel therewith connected by the innovative and achievement focaliseed approach of the organization.According to Innocent drinks, one of their key approaches is to leave things a little bit better than we find them. in that respectfore users of the products are withal believers and strivers by supporting this organization. The psychographic part of the market segmentation might also be that the people feel good by drinking or eating the products, due to the fact that the products are healthy and the fact that the organization has its own foundation (Innocent Ltd, 2007) Customers of Innocent definitely can be separate by behaviour.The marketing of innocent is making them ent husiastic about the brand and it becomes cool as well to consume the products of Innocent. The market can therefore partly be seen as image seekers. The people that actually buy the products are young business people, mothers that buy these products as an alternative for the insanitary sodas and fast food and people that often work out. Even though the company has the largest market share, still a lot of people dont know the brand due to its short existing period. The group of first-time and potential users is therefore attractive for the business.The marketing campaigns of Innocent should ensure that the brand knowingness of the company increases. 2. 2. 1Market Segmentation summary Geographic segmentation North-Western Europe Demographic segmentation Business people + Mothers + On-the-go people + Sports people + People under 35 + AB socio-economic group Psychographic segmentation Innovators, achievers, believers & strivers Behavioural segmentation Enthusiastic, image seekers, fi rst-time and large amount of potential users. 2. 2Porters Five Forces Force Ranking1 = no threat4 = big threat Industry Analysis Potential Entrants 1 high school start-up costsCompetitive Rivalry 4 The juice market is very big with a lot of competitors Buyer Power 4 A consumer can easily shift key brands Supplier Power 2 many a(prenominal) suppliers in stock(predicate) Threat of Substitutes 4 A lot of substitute drinks for smoothies The Porters five forces model is a holistic way of looking at the industry of interest and it shows whether it is interesting or not to recruit a certain industry. The model does not lonesome(prenominal) look at competition in the industry, but also at the threat of substitute products and services and new entrants, and the power of suppliers and consumers. Porter, 2008) Looking at the smoothie industry, the first force potential entrants is ranked with a one, which means that is this force is not a big threat. Although a lot of new smoothies ent er the market every year, in general these come from set up producers, for example Starbucks. (Innofood, 2011) A barrier for new entrance could be the high start-up costs. The second force combative rivalry is ranked with a four and therefore a threat in the industry, this means that there are a lot of companies competing in this industry.Examples of main competitors of Innocent Ltd. are Tropicana, Grove, Ellas Kitchen. Buyer power, the third force is ranked with a four, this is often the case in a highly war-ridden industry with a lot of different brands. Consumers can choose out of many different products, which makes it harder for companies to make them loyal to their brand. In the smoothie industry the fourth force supplier power is ranked with a 2 because their are many suppliers available in this industry and this makes it easy for companies to switch suppliers.The fifth and final force threat of substitutes is of course a four as there are a lot of substitute drinks for sm oothies, water, soft drinks etc. The smoothie industry does not look too sexy considering the model. High competitive rivalry, buyer power and threat of substitution make it a difficult industry to be successful and thus profitable in. Low threat of new entrants and supplier power are interesting but do not load off the other forces. (Porter, 2008) 2. 3Industry Life Cycle An Industry life rhythm method shows in what be an organization is in the cycle of their life.An industry life cycle consists of four stages, introduction which is a stage for start-ups with a new product or within a new industry. The growth stage follows after, this is when a company expands, introduces new products and grows within the industry. The maturity phase is where a company is in consolidation it also shows a slowing in growth. Lastly the diminution stage means sales are decreasing, company reached its peaks and during this stage a company could at last die. (Inc. 2011) Innocent ltd is currently pos itioned in the growth stage of their life cycle.They started with a healthy company and within the last 13 years (since 1998) the company grew towards a market share of 78%. In the past 2 years Innocent has been exploring new grounds and introducing new products to their company such as fruit tubes for kids and microwaveable food pots for those who need a quick meal. Innocent has yet to introduce more products and thus has not reached the maturity stage yet. In recent years the smoothie industry has become more popular because people become more health aware and smoothies manage to tap into the health and gizmo social movement of today.The smoothie industry has exceeded into a growth stage and according to research is growing towards a continuously expanding market size which indicated the industry will remain in the growth stage for a long period. (Lloyd, A. 2011) 2. 4PEST Analysis Political 5 A Day Campaign Innocent profits from the 5 a day campaign the government and the NHS su pport. It states that The presidency recommends an wasting disease of at least five portions of fruit or vegetables per person per day to help impose the risk of some cancers, heart disease and many other chronic conditions (NHS, 2011).One Innocent Smoothie provides 2 of the daily-recommended intake of 5 portions (Innocent, 2011). government Cuts Due to the current recession and a famine of 156 billion pound, the government decided to save 6. 2 billion in the financial year 2010-11. This includes for example less expense on civilised service pay and the Home Office and therefore less buy power for these occupational groups (BBC, 2010). This might affect Innocent sales, because consumer might switch to cheaper brands or stop purchasing Smoothies at all, as Smoothies are relatively pricey and considered to be a tread or a luxuriousness product, not an essential (Mintel, 2011).Corporate Tax decrease The UK government has decided to reduce the corporate tax to 26% in 2011 and ag ain in 2012 to 25%, compared to 28% what it used to be before (Directgov, 2010). This leads to an increase of revenue for Innocent. value-added tax increase On the 4th of January the value added tax where increased to 20 per cent, former it was 17. 5% for standard-rated goods, which includes Smoothies, because they are rated as beverages(Directgov, 2011). In November 2010 Innocent unsuccessfully filed a suit against the 17. % of VAT that was charged on their products. They argued, that Smoothies are like liquefied fruit salads, because the raw materials for their drinks are Value added tax free (Helen and Hawkes 2011). But it was declared that a Smoothie is not an essential drink or aliment, but of luxuries, therefore a VAT of 17. 5% was applied (now 20%). This implicates a disadvantage for Innocent, because without the 20% VAT Innocent, could lower prices and increase sales or just have a 20% higher profit margin. Economical Forecasted future growth in the Smoothie marketThe overa ll trend in the Smoothie market in the UK regarding to sales is ascending. It is expected that sales will increase again from a full of 143 million pound in 2011 to 179 million pound in 2016. afterward sales have been declining from 2007 till 2009. The expected market growth is an opportunity for Innocent to increase their sales and therefore revenue. (Mintel, 2011) Expected bettering of the economic modality As one can see in the graph, GDP in the UK has started to increase again since the 2nd quarter of 2009.Till the 3rd quarter of 2011 there has been a gain in GDP of about 3. 1% (Office for home(a) Statistics, 2011). The treasury expects further growth in GDP over the following years as well as a decline in the unemployment rate. This will have positive effects on the future spending power of consumer, influence purchasing decisions and strengthens consumer confidence (HM Treasury, 2011). Premium brands such as Innocent will profit from an overall economic growth, because du ring recessions consumers will at first cut their spending on luxury, not essential good.Source HM Treasury, (2011). Forecasts for the UK thriftiness a comparison of independent forecasts Source HM Treasury, (2011). Forecasts for the UK economy a comparison of independent forecasts Social Trend for healthy eating and convenience In the UK society there has been a long-term trend for healthy eating and convenience food. Innocent benefits from this trend because Smoothies and Innocent have the reputation to be healthy as well as their products are an easy way to eat five portions of fruit/vegetables on a daily basis in an increasingly fast moving society (Mintel, 2011).Awareness of ethical behaviour Corporate Social Responsibility tends to be important to consumer, where more than three fifths of consumers believed it important that a company act ethically. Although during the recession this attitude change during the recession, where people were more concerned about their personaliz ed wealth and spending. Innocent with its core value being sustainability, profits from the consumer awareness on ethical behaviour of firms and therefore might experience an increase in its brand reputation and brand awareness (Mintel, 2011). DemographicsMost consumer who buy Smoothies are under 35 years old and those in the AB socio-economic group. Because they are more concerned about health and diet. The Graph shows that overall the UK population is aging this will lead to an increase of the population of consumers between 25-34, which are most likely to by Innocent products. Therefore gross revenue are expected to increase. But on the other hand, the over 55s are a large segment and are unlikely to purchase Smoothies (Mintel, 2011). technological Innovation Ethical packaging and healthy products are the two main attributes the firms in the market concentrate on.Hence the firms think on developing new ways of ethical and sustainable packaging, like Innocent, who introduced a b ottle made of 100% recycled plastic(Mintel, 2011). Moreover the companies are trying to producer their products with as little additives as possible to bring forward the naturalness of the product. Another important factor for the firms in the market is the innovation of new recipes in order to attract new costumers, for example children or older people. Communication Above-the-line investment in the smoothies market rose by almost 50% in 2010, to ? 6. 1 million. Due to the fact that all the products in the smoothies market are substitutes and switching costs are low, the companies have to build a relationship with the costumer in order to keep them buying their product. Political * Government cuts * 5 a day campaign * Tax increase (VAT) * simplification of Corporation Tax Economic * Expected bettering of the economic climate * Forecasted future growth in the Smoothie market Social * Trend for healthy eating and convenience * Awareness of ethical behaviour (CSR) * Demographic scie ntific * Innovation * Communication . 4Competitive Benchmarking Analysis Innocent(Innocent ltd, 2011) Tropicana(Tropicana, 2011) Ellas Kitchen(Ellas Kitchen ltd, 2011) Market Share(Lloyd, A. 2011) 78% 3% 2% Target Market Business people, mothers, sports people, on-the-go people Only available for supermarket shoppers. Mothers (children, babies) Competitive Advantages 100% natural, strategic alliance with coca cola, Internationally established Specially for babies and small children (stages), added value less costs Core competencies tarnish advertising and communication World leader in fruit juice manufacturing Wide product range (drink, food and snack) Competitive Strategies Differentiation equal leadership Differentiation Focus CSR activities Big knit (Age UK), innocent scholarship foundation, the innocent foundation, childcare vouchers, drinks for the homeless, buy one get one bee, taste not waste. Expending carton recycling, waste reduction efforts, bottle recycling, rain f orest rescue, PepsiCo sustainability. Eco offices, terra cycle, recyclable packaging, super schools Competitor ranking X 1 2 Competitive benchmarking is a continuous process of comparing the output, performance and practice of an organization to its direct competition. The matrix gives an overview of the different aspects of Innocent and its closest competitors Tropicana and Ellas Kitchen. The matrix above shows that Innocent is a well established and growing company with an incredible market share of 78% in the UK smoothie market.The close competitors only share a 5% market share, the be market share is either by very small brands or own brands such as Tesco and Waitrose. Looking at the target market there are some variations, Ellas Kitchen has a narrow focus on mothers who feed their babies and small children. Tropicana is generally only available to people shopping at supermarkets and Innocent is available in numerous locations from supermarkets, pitch machines to supermarkets which means its accessible to the mass public and thus has the largest target market. (Mintel, 2011)Moreover, Innocent prides itself on it products being 100% natural and this is therefore a competitive advantage because very few competitors can state that they only use pure fruit without any processing such as pasteurization. Tropicana uses a pasteurization process in their juice, which makes it less healthy than innocent. (Tropicana, 2011) The strategic alliance with Coca-Cola can on one hand be a competitive advantage because Innocent can you the power Coca-cola has but on the other hand Coca-cola could be a bad influence and bad for their eco reputation.Tropicana has a competitive advantage over Innocent and that is that they already are international established and far greater than innocent has. Ellas kitchen has a competitive advantage oriented towards their target group. They are considered a solid competitor in the smoothie industry and their major customer is the mother, which means that a majority of the target group mothers favours ellas kitchen over the others. Now about the core competencies, innocent has a very popular and a extraordinary brand dvertising and communication that makes them differ from the others and stand out. Tropicana is the world leader in fruit juice manufacturing which is what makes them stand out and lastly Ellas kitchen has a very wide product range but does compete high up in the smoothie market. When we look at competitive strategies we know that Innocent has a differentiation strategy because they have a broad target and their products are differentiated from the competition. Tropicana on the other hand has a cost leadership approach because they also have a broad target but low costs.Lastly, Ellas Kitchen uses the strategy differentiation focus because they have a narrow target and a differentiation approach. (Institute for manufacturing, 2011) ultimately when looking at the CSR activities all three companies are in volved with corporate social responsibility but Innocent is definitely the leader and even has their own foundation. Overall we ranked Tropicana as a stronger competitor. SWOT Analysis All information gained from the tools is used to compose the SWOT analysis. The strengths and impuissancees of Innocent ltd. re derived from the internal analysis of this report. To start with the main strengths of the organization, the market share of 78% in the UK smoothie market is definitely a strong bespeak of the company. Moreover, the closest competitors (Tropicana Ellas Kitchen) only have three and two per centum respectively. This shows the power of Innocent ltd. in the smoothie market. In addition to their power, the brand awareness and the brand image of Innocent is therefore very high. The organization focuses on charity work and wants to leave things a little bit better than we found it. Innocent ltd, 2011) They have won several business awards such as the Barclays Green Leaders Busine ss Award and the Business Commitment in 2008. Furthermore, their premium quality of their products differentiates themselves from their competitors and forms the basis of the brand dedication and the cause of their high market share. The Banana phone and the AGM days support the customer loyalty due to the fact that it increases the involvement of customers in the organization. Their market share, brand loyalty and close retailer relationship support another(prenominal) strength of the company, which is that the roducts are placed at eye-height in the supermarkets and in clear sight at other retailers such as Starbucks. Despite of the many strengths of the company, our internal analysis of the organization also showed some weaknesses. The first weakness of the company is the price inflexibility, which means that the prices of smoothies are dependant on the prices of food. Furthermore, the competition remains a weakness of the company, due to the fact that established companies such as Starbucks are now starting fruit bars as well, which could negatively affect the sales of the Innocent products.Furthermore, the internal analysis showed that the organization is highly dependant on their smoothies sales. This is a weakness because when the sales or trend of smoothies declines, the whole revenue and profit of the company will decline as well. This is also mainly due to their narrow target market, which is the AB socio-economic group, that intensively reacts on the state of the economy. In times of recession, the smoothies are seen as luxury products, which cause a decline in sales during this time.To go on with the opportunities and threats gained from the external analysis. According to reports used in the analysis, the international smoothie market will be worth 15 billion in 2015, which causes a major opportunity for the company to go global. In addition, the government is supporting healthier lifestyles with the 5 a day campaign and the trend is to buy and e at organic healthy food, which could benefits Innocent as a healthy business in the future. In addition to this trend, an opportunity for Innocent is to differentiate more on healthy products.They already did with their veggie pots, however there are lot more opportunities for more healthy foods and drinks. Lastly, the strategic alliance with Coca-Cola might negatively as well as positively influence Innocent Ltd. An opportunity for the company is to make more use of strategic alliances or partnerships in the future, which for example, could benefits and support the international expansion. And lastly, the external analysis showed some threats that could affect the business negatively. Firstly, it is necessary to monitor the competition in hat they are doing and anticipate on them in order to fight their prospector status according to their Miles Snow adaptive strategy. In addition, the prospector strategy could also lead to losses due to the risk that is associated with this stra tegy. Another threat is the fact that Innocents products are highly connect to the economic climate, with few sales in times of recession. Furthermore, substitute products form a threat for the company, for example when other soft drinks become healthier the consumers could decide to buy those instead of the healthy innocent drinks.And lastly, as discussed in the opportunities paragraph, the controversial alliance with Coca-Cola could negatively influence the brand image of Innocent Ltd. Appendix shows the overview of the SWOT analysis. Recommendations The strategic alliance with coca-cola can have a negative advert on the company, thus Innocent needs to be solid in not adapting the culture of coca-cola and stick to their own eco approach. If coca-cola influences them they might lose their CSR aspects.Another point is that Innocent has a very narrow target market and only AB socio economic people can afford to buy the products regularly. Innocent is also highly dependant on food prices, which are linked to the economic climate. If there is a change in the economic climate prices might increase which will affect their narrow target group even more. In order to avoid such a paradox Innocent needs to stick to their prices or even try to lower them and possible increase sales because the demand will become higher from a larger target group.Lastly, many companies such as Starbucks are also starting fruit bars and or juices which can ultimately become a threat to Innocent but in order to remain market leader in the smoothie industry Innocent should stick to their 100% natural policy and due to the current health trend the healthy consumer will prefer Innocent over the others. There are very few competitors that can also incorporate the 100% natural policy, they will also add sugars, additives or pasteurization processes which makes the product become less healthy hence if Innocent remains a healthy product they will always have a competitive advantage.Reference sBBC Business news. (2011). Richard Reed, Innocent Drinks. lendable from http//www. bbc. co. uk/news /business- 11551271. Accessed 01. 11. 2011BBC, (2010). Spending Review Cuts watch, department-by-department. onlineBBC News. on tap(predicate) from http//www. bbc. co. uk/news /uk-politics-10924719 Accessed 9. 12. 2011.Business Dictionary 2011, Competitive Benchmarking online, Available from http//www. businessdictionary. com/definition /competitive- benchmarking. html Accessed 11. 11. 2011CarMicheal, A. (2009). Innocent. Available from http//www. allycarmichael. om/photo_ 6035145. html. Accessed 29. 10. 2011Directgov, (2010). Corporation Tax rates. online HM Reveue Customs. Available from http//www. hmrc. gov. uk/rates /corp. htm Accessed 9. 12. 2011.HM Treasury, (2011). Forecasts for the UK economy a comparison of independent forecasts. online Available from http//www. hm-treasury. gov. uk /d/ 201111forcomp. pdf Accessed 9. 12. 2011.Innocent Ltd. (2011), Innocent & Business Purp ose, Vision and values online, Available from http//www. innocentdrinks. co. uk/careers/business/purpose/ Accessed 11. 11. 2011Innocent Foundation Ltd. (2011), about the foundation online, Available from http//www. innocentfoundation. org/ Accessed 11. 11. 2011 Innocent Ltd. (2011). Gallery. Available http//www. innocentdrinks. co. uk/ bored/ gallery/. Accessed 04. 11. 2011Mintel Group Ltd, (2011). Smoothies-UK-October 2011 medium and Weaknesses. online Available from http//academic. mintel. com/ sinatra/ oxygen_academic/ display/ i Accessed 9. 12. 2011.Mulleady, F (2011). Strategic Perspectives. London McGraw-Hill Education. p. 147-151. NHS, (2011). why 5 a day?. online NHS. Available from http//www. nhs. uk/ Livewell/ 5ADAY/ Pages/ Why5ADAY. aspx Accessed 9. 12. 2011.NPS (2010), What are Core value? online, Available from http//www. nps. gov/ training/ uc/ whcv. htm Accessed 11. 11. 2011Office for National Statistics, (2011). GDP and the Labour Market. online Available from http/ /www. ons. gov. uk/ons/ dcp171780_242980. pdf