Birds Eye Case Report

Quick Freezing, a revolutionary food preservation process, was developed in the early 1900’s. The quick freezing process enables perishable foods to be frozen fresh and distributed to consumers any time of year regardless of their geographic location. This process led to the introduction of the frozen food industry in the early 1920’s. Bird’s Eye is an example of a successful frozen food company. Bird’s Eye originated in the U.S. with a focus to become a fully integrated company within the frozen food industry. The organization’s core competitive strategy was its national distribution center. In 1938 Bird’s Eye expanded into the U.K., which lead to the incorporation of Bird’s Eye Food, Ltd. (owned by General Food Corp, Robert Ducas, and Chivers and Son, Ltd). The need for vertical integration increased along with high consumer demand and an increasingly saturated industry. Bird’s Eye embraced the vertical integration opportunity because the frozen food industry was relatively immature and forward integration would stimulate market development. Additionally, vertically integrating allowed Bird’s Eye to capitalize on its market power to raise industry entry barriers, enhancing its competitive advantage.
The opportunity to vertically integrate provided Bird’s Eye the ability to develop several industry innovations. Some key innovations include: an open-top refrigerated display cabinet, food processing and freezing techniques. Additionally, Bird’s Eye made improvements in vegetable varieties, cultivation techniques and harvesting equipment. In 1942, Unilever recognized the value Bird’s Eye could bring to its subsidiary companies that focused on the fish, peas and poultry food markets. Bird’s Eye also sought the opportunity to develop its own sources of raw materials such as chicken broilers and cod to try to reduce purchasing costs and improve efficiencies. Unfortunately, both assets were sold soon after acquired due to economic issues. Although vertical