The Australian market and SMEs

It can be said that international marketing is the gateway to success on a global level. Once a company achieves an international stature, they are well and truly on the way of attainment of corporate governance. The latter is the goal of every company and the international business gives them opportunities to elevate and propel their performance to international levels of competence. The small and medium sized enterprises or SMEs are gaining popularity in Australia (Chan, 2013). The SMEs offer various solutions at lower prices than the bigger and highly recognised players of the market, thus the rational consumers of the country choose to stick with the products and services provided by such companies and the same has been recognised as the rationale behind the success of the SMEs in the country (Brunswicker and Vanhaverbeke 2015). The aim of the paper is to critically evaluate the scope of international growth of The Australian Super Food Company. The scope of the company in international and domestic market will be evaluated using Porter’s Five Forces model and the customer profiles will be enumerated.

The Australian Super Food Co is a company that offers wild fruits, vegetables to the Australian community (Austsuperfoods.com.au 2019). The products that are offered by the company are native to the Australia and there lies the USP of the company. The company was founded in the year 2012 and have been accredited several times for their sustainable initiatives aimed towards the conservation of the indigenous communities of Australia. (Austsuperfoods.com.au 2019). The company has identified that the behaviour of the consumers are changing. Thus, they have devised a mission that incorporates the idea of supplying a varied range of products that have nutritional value and that would enrich the health and living standards of the people of the community while informing the consumers about the indigenous fruits and vegetables and herbs found in the country. The products that are offered by the company are healthy substitutes to the unhealthy snacks and synthetic flavours that people love. The products of the company are marketed as super foods and range from products that incorporate healthy ingredients such as KAKADU plum, DAVIDSON plum, QUANDONG, RIBERRY, FINGER Lime and others. All the products are wild fruits and herbs that are available in Australia. Thus, the rarity contributes to their Unique Selling proposition (Quintana 2013). It can be opined that the company are one the right track to achieve success in the international markets as a result of the nature of products that are offered by the company.

The scope of The Australian Super Food Company in domestic and international market

The company supplies the market with products that fall in the category of Fast Moving Consumer Goods, thus the scope and opportunity for the operations of the company is huge. The efficacy of the industry in accordance with the operations of the company in international and domestic terms can be critically evaluated and determined using the 5 forces model that was propounded my Michel Porter.

Company rivalry (LOW)

The products that are offered by the company are appealing to the health conscious section of the country. The number of companies that can rival the products of the company are zero to none (Minifie 2017). Hence, the company rivalry is deemed to be LOW with existence of no rival companies.

Power of the Suppliers (LOW)

The products offered by the company are rare. Thus the number of suppliers supplying the same is negligible. Accordingly the power of the suppliers is LOW.

Power of the buyers (MODERATE)

The power of the buyers of in the country is MODERATE since they cannot completely influence the prices of the products that are offered by the company. The customer base is not high, however, it is on rising verge. Additionally, it has been discovered that the customers are not sensitive to price that is the buyers of the products income inelastic in nature (Divisekera and Nguyen 2014).

Threat of Substitution (LOW)

As mentioned above, no other companies are offering similar products in the market. Thus there are no close substitutes. Hence, the threat of substitutes is LOW.

Threat of new entrant (MODERATE)

The sector in which the company is operating can be termed as blooming. Thus, it is assumed that various companies have identified the opportunity to gain profitability. However the products are rare. Hence, the threat of new entrants is MODERATE.

Company rivalry (LOW)

Once the company enter the Chinese market, it is expected that there will be existence of no competitors in the market. Furthermore, the products are native to Australia and can come across no competitors (Neubert 2013). Thus, company rivalry is LOW.

Power of the Suppliers (LOW)

If the company intends to operate in international levels, they would have to ensure that they rely on more than one supplier for the raw materials that are needed for the operations of the company (Buckley 2014). Australia boast supply of huge number of wild herbs and flowers. However, it is not available in China. Thus, power of the suppliers is LOW

Analysis using Porter’s Five Forces model

Power of the buyers (LOW)

There are large number of companies that the buyers can choose from. However, they do not have the power to influence the prices and strategies of the company. That is why, the power of the buyers in international markets is deemed to be LOW.

Threat of Substitution (LOW)

On gaining international stature, a company develops an USP which determines the position of the company on the minds of the consumers. Even if there are high number of customers in the market, exact substitution or close substitution cannot take place. Accordingly threat of Substitution is LOW.

Threat of new entrant (LOW)

Entrance is in the Chinese market is subject to various regulations (Crescimanno and Galati 2014). Furthermore, no other companies supply similar products to the community. This is the reason behind LOW threat of entrant in the market.

Figure 1. (Source: As created by the author)

The consumers both in the Chinese markets and the domestic market of Australia have been subject to changing tastes and preferences in the modern time (Pulker et al 2018). When it comes to consumption of food, the consumers have been on the receiving end of awareness about the negative implications of junk food and appreciation for organic food and food supplements. Various companies across the world have spread initiative regarding awareness that preach about awareness of conservation of indigenous communities by consumption of organic and indigenously grown food (Millar et al 2013). Furthermore, as a result of consumption of the synthetic and processed food, there has been an increase in unfavourable health effects such as diabetes and obesity. Thus, the mission of The Australian Super Foods Company to supply varied products that offer nutritional value to the users has been categorised as a sustainable view from the part of the company. Following are some of the bases or segmentations and trends in the Australian and the international market;

The appreciation of unhealthy processed food has been the characteristic of people over the years. However, with awareness campaigns that enumerate the ill effects of such food and snacks, there have been a decrease in consumption of such items (Davila and Dyball 2015). People across countries are showing favourable acceptance to the organic foods that are also contributing to the sustainability of the Country flora.

There has been an increase in the number of people who are associated with fitness and healthy lifestyles. Thus, the products that are offered by the company are supposedly appropriate for the consumers of the community. People, both in Australia and China are opting for healthy alternatives and thus the products are expected to perform well in the market.

Changing trends in the Australian and international market

There have been outburst of various ill effects to health. There has been rise in diabetes, obesity and strokes. Thus, the rational consumer of the country are continuously looking for better alternatives. As a result the demand for organic products have increased.

Hence, the changing tastes and preference of the consumers that is characterised by shift to healthier alternatives of the processed, increased consciousness about health and rise in enthusiasm for fitness and healthy activities pose opportunities to the company. Consequentially, it has been assumed that the product that are offered by the company are deemed to perform well in the domestic and Chinese market, provided the marketing expertise the company already incorporates in their activities.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it can be said that the company aims to expand to international markets. With the help of the 5 forces model, it has been found that out that the operations of the company can face low levels of competition, with low power of the suppliers, low power of the buyers, low threat of substitute and low chance of new entrants. Along with the above, the changing tastes and preferences of the consumers would boost the performance of the company as there has been a witnessed increase in acceptance of products of similar nature.

References

Austsuperfoods.com.au, 2019. Home – The Australian Superfood Co. [online] The Australian Superfood Co. Available at: https://austsuperfoods.com.au/ [Accessed 30 Mar. 2019].

Austsuperfoods.com.au, 2019. Superfoods – The Australian Superfood Co. [online] The Australian Superfood Co. Available at: https://austsuperfoods.com.au/superfoods/ [Accessed 30 Mar. 2019].

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