Ben & Jerry Case
Strategic Position
Ben & Jerry's strategic position is to offer an all natural approach in the preparation of their super premium ice cream. Through the use of pure, natural, and socially conscious products, Ben & Jerry's positions its products as high quality with unique flavors which ultimately differentiates it from the competition. They market their products through cause generated marketing , practicing social consciousness to present the values and goals of the company. Ben and Jerry's maintains a full-time research and development team dedicated to the development of original and unique cutting edge flavors. Ben & Jerry's strongly emphasizes taste as a differentiator of its product from its competitors through its use of pure, natural and socially conscious milk from Vermont dairy farmers and aggressively promotes its products' purity on its packaging. Their products are distributed through the media of supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores and restaurants that demonstrates corporate consciousness.
Company Issues
The major problems facing the company highlights the rising trend to health consciousness and the aging demographic of the baby boomers. There is also a rising competition with the super premium ice cream giant Haagen Dazs and small ice cream manufacturers that copy the Ben & Jerry menu. Ben & Jerry's distribution is also facing limited growth, they will need to expand to other channels. The company organizational structure is weak and will need to be redesigned as this creates poor employee morale. In terms of supply, Ben & Jerry's have a cost inefficient strategy, as they only buy from small farms for ingredients and is very time consuming and expensive.
Liquidity Ratios 1993 1994
Current Ratio (Current Assets)/(Current Liabilities) 3.239 3.589
Quick Ratio (Current Assets-Inv.)/(Current Liabilities) 2.211 2.658
Cash Ratio (Cash+Marketable Securities)/(Current Liabilities) 1.124 1.436
Based on the acid test
Ben & Jerry's strategic position is to offer an all natural approach in the preparation of their super premium ice cream. Through the use of pure, natural, and socially conscious products, Ben & Jerry's positions its products as high quality with unique flavors which ultimately differentiates it from the competition. They market their products through cause generated marketing , practicing social consciousness to present the values and goals of the company. Ben and Jerry's maintains a full-time research and development team dedicated to the development of original and unique cutting edge flavors. Ben & Jerry's strongly emphasizes taste as a differentiator of its product from its competitors through its use of pure, natural and socially conscious milk from Vermont dairy farmers and aggressively promotes its products' purity on its packaging. Their products are distributed through the media of supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores and restaurants that demonstrates corporate consciousness.
Company Issues
The major problems facing the company highlights the rising trend to health consciousness and the aging demographic of the baby boomers. There is also a rising competition with the super premium ice cream giant Haagen Dazs and small ice cream manufacturers that copy the Ben & Jerry menu. Ben & Jerry's distribution is also facing limited growth, they will need to expand to other channels. The company organizational structure is weak and will need to be redesigned as this creates poor employee morale. In terms of supply, Ben & Jerry's have a cost inefficient strategy, as they only buy from small farms for ingredients and is very time consuming and expensive.
Liquidity Ratios 1993 1994
Current Ratio (Current Assets)/(Current Liabilities) 3.239 3.589
Quick Ratio (Current Assets-Inv.)/(Current Liabilities) 2.211 2.658
Cash Ratio (Cash+Marketable Securities)/(Current Liabilities) 1.124 1.436
Based on the acid test