Switz Food
Switz Foods Private Limited
3
SWITZ FOODS PRIVATE LIMITED
It was 9 a.m. Alok Dey, General Manager of Switz Foods Private Limited (SFPL), was in his favourite office chair sipping a cup of hot coffee. But the chair was no longer comfortable for he saw a competitor outlet open on his way to the office. The words of last evening from his finance manager, Sarkar, echoed in his ears:
The growth in profits for this year (2004-05) will be less than expected. This is the first time in the last five years we are not able to meet our numbers!
Thoughts began to flow as to how the company had grown over the years. SFPL had been the best in cakes and bakery business. His team had delivered the right product, in the right quantity, at the right time and with optimal cost. But Dey knew that the times ahead would be hard with increasing competition from domestic players and global heavy weights. He was deliberating on how to meet the newer challenges. Two possible solutions emerged. The first was to reduce cost by decreasing the uncertainties in the system, and the second was to increase volumes by entering new markets. “Monginis, The Cake Shop” was the name by which Kolkatans knew. SFPL was jointly owned by T.F. Khorakiwala and Arnab Basu. It manufactured and distributed savouries, pastries, cakes, birthday gateaux, cookies, breads and other bakery items. Products were divided into two categories: 1) pastries and cakes and 2) savouries. As a craft bakery, Monginis needed manual skills to give the desired shapes to its hot selling cakes. The products reached the customers through franchisee outlets all over the city. Switz paid royalty to Monginis Foods Limited, Mumbai, for using the brand name. The bakery industry in Kolkata was highly competitive. Monginis led the market followed by Sugar & Spice. Other players were Kathleen, Flurys, Upper Crust, Cakes ‘N’ Bakes, Hot Breads, Ambrosia, Modern Bakery and Kookie Jar (Exhibit 1 gives market share of dominant players).
3
SWITZ FOODS PRIVATE LIMITED
It was 9 a.m. Alok Dey, General Manager of Switz Foods Private Limited (SFPL), was in his favourite office chair sipping a cup of hot coffee. But the chair was no longer comfortable for he saw a competitor outlet open on his way to the office. The words of last evening from his finance manager, Sarkar, echoed in his ears:
The growth in profits for this year (2004-05) will be less than expected. This is the first time in the last five years we are not able to meet our numbers!
Thoughts began to flow as to how the company had grown over the years. SFPL had been the best in cakes and bakery business. His team had delivered the right product, in the right quantity, at the right time and with optimal cost. But Dey knew that the times ahead would be hard with increasing competition from domestic players and global heavy weights. He was deliberating on how to meet the newer challenges. Two possible solutions emerged. The first was to reduce cost by decreasing the uncertainties in the system, and the second was to increase volumes by entering new markets. “Monginis, The Cake Shop” was the name by which Kolkatans knew. SFPL was jointly owned by T.F. Khorakiwala and Arnab Basu. It manufactured and distributed savouries, pastries, cakes, birthday gateaux, cookies, breads and other bakery items. Products were divided into two categories: 1) pastries and cakes and 2) savouries. As a craft bakery, Monginis needed manual skills to give the desired shapes to its hot selling cakes. The products reached the customers through franchisee outlets all over the city. Switz paid royalty to Monginis Foods Limited, Mumbai, for using the brand name. The bakery industry in Kolkata was highly competitive. Monginis led the market followed by Sugar & Spice. Other players were Kathleen, Flurys, Upper Crust, Cakes ‘N’ Bakes, Hot Breads, Ambrosia, Modern Bakery and Kookie Jar (Exhibit 1 gives market share of dominant players).
Bibliography: Bostjan, Antoncic, and Robert D. Hisrich. (2001) “Intrapreneurship: construct refinement and cross-cultural validation,” Journal of Business Venturing, 16: 495-527. Dey, Aloke, and Avra Banerjee. (2004) SFPL franchisee POS: application and its integration with head office ERP system (SRS, Version 1.0) – POS design analysis, Cogentech Management Consultants (P) Ltd. Drucker, P.F. (1985) Innovation and entrepreneurship. New York: Harper and Row. Manimala, Mathew J. (1992) “Entrepreneurial innovation: beyond Schumpeter,” Creativity and Innovation Management, 1(1), January-March: 46-55. Ramachandran, K., and Sougata Ray. (1998) “A Framework and entrepreneurial typology for developing a comprehensive theory of entrepreneurship” in Rabindra N. Kanungo (ed.), Entrepreneurship and innovation: models for development. 40-63, Sage Publications. Sasser, Jr., W. Earl, and David C. Rikert. (1998) “McDonald 's corporation.” Boston, MA: Harvard Business School. Case No. 9-681-044. Sasser, Jr., W. Earl, and David C. Rikert. (1998) “Burger King corporation.” Boston, MA: Harvard Business School. Case No. 9-681-045. Schumpeter, Joseph. (2000) “Entrepreneurship as innovation.” In Richards Swedberg (ed.) Entrepreneurship: a social science view. New Delhi: Oxford University. -------- (2004) Switz Foods Enterprise Management System (SRS, Version 1.1) Requirement analysis for Switz captured by Matrix Infosystems Ltd. ___________