Market Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Market Plan - Assignment Example Clearly these figures when taken in context with the vast market available for fresh growing and fresh cut herb are indicative of the fact that the market is far from saturation and can be exploited by utilize a clear and concise marketing strategy which combines the individual companies which import their herbs with the cost saving potential of exposing those companies to fresh grown and fresh cut herbs within our region. Within Europe alone, there are thousands of hectares that are strongly committed to the production of organic herbs. This is usually done collaboratively with marketing collectives as well as a co-op of processing plants. Within the UK alone there are only a few hundreds of these arrangements. Additionally, there are very few productions in place. The statistics indicate that there is a burgeoning market for individual companies which produce both fresh growing and fresh cut herbs. In within the UK there were nine hundred and thirty-five (935) stores selling fresh cut herbs and eight hundred and eighty-one stores selling fresh grown herbs during the time period of 1 November 2004 and 31 October 2005. These figures represent a total sale of 22,532,730 units annually, total revenue of 14,343,372, 4,433,970 customers served annually and a customer penetration of 26.05%. In the demographic region of East of England, there were only eighty-seven (87) stores selling fresh cut and fresh gr owing herbs combined. These stores sell 2,521,410 units with a total of 1,643,243 being generated from their sale. The customer penetration within this area is a mere 22.58%. Clearly the market for herbal products exists and there is a dire need for production systems as much of the production is done externally and the products are imported. Additionally, there has been a growth in the number of consumers who rely on medicinal herbs as well as herbs utilized for body care and hygienic needs. This has prompted an increase in the number of organic farmers and growers. Even in light of this, the market remains very far from saturation. As a commercial organic herb production company, Canfield Farm Fresh Herbs Ltd is in a unique position of being one of the very few companies to utilize horticultural advances as a means of establishing a brand that surpasses much of the industry standards. Organic Herbal Market Sectors Currently there are six distinctive sectors within the organic herbal market. These sectors include culinary, cosmetics and body care, health care/medicinal, veterinary, transplant and seed. The culinary sector includes pot grown and fresh cut herbs utilized by restaurants, food processing enterprises as well as hotels. The cosmetics and body care industry represents one of the fastest growing segments of the organic herbal market. In this sector herbs are sold as dry leaves or roots, essential oils, creams, lotions, bath oil and the like. Within the health care/medicinal sector, herbs are predominantly utilized in the form of dried leaves, fruits, roots, flowers and seeds. They are utilized by traditional herbalists as well as other consumers as an alternative to non-organic medicinal treatment. The veterinary segment represents a very small but potentially lucrative segment. The organic herbs within this segment