Prêt A Manger. A Business Model Analysis E-Book

E. Dimant

• Herausgeber: GRIN Verlag
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

Project Report from the year 2010 in the subject Business economics - Offline Marketing and Online Marketing, grade: 100%, Ottawa University, course: Multinational Business Policy, language: English, abstract: A passion for food was the driving force for Sinclair Beecham and Julian Metcalfe, two college friends who were hungry for tasty and healthy sandwiches, when they opened the first Prêt a Manger in 1986. The company was founded in London, England on the basis of making proper sandwiches while avoiding obscure chemicals, additives and preservatives that were common for prepared food in the market at the time. This one of a kind restaurant blossomed, as it offered consumers a product that could not be found anywhere else. Prêt a Manger has differentiated itself in three main categories: the menu, the level of customer service and the dedication to sustainability. A soup, sandwich or salad from Prêt a Manger is made with all natural ingredients. There are no artificial colours or no additives, just good taste. They get their supplies from local vendors and are always looking for new flavours in the area. Poor service cannot be found in a Prêt a Manger store. The staff are all exceptionally trained and treated for the best overall customer experience. Prêt a Manger's sustainability goals, which are primarily to reduce their environmental impact, are updated regularly as they want to continuously decrease their environmental footprint. The food industry leaves a lot of room for waste, but not for Prêt a Manger. They donate all their unsold sandwiches, salads and baguettes to the homeless at the end of each day. Prêt a Manger is privately owned, and thus does not have the pressure to grow as quickly as a public company does. However, they are continuously growing. There are over 200 stores in the UK and Prêt a Manger has expanded to New York City, Chicago, Washington DC and Hong Kong. Prêt a Manger is synonymous with good taste.

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Table of Contents

1.0.Overview

2.0 Business Model

2.1 Segmentation

2.2 Screening and Corporate Social Responsibility

2.3 Growth Strategy

3.0 Canadian Market

3.1 Canadian Eating Habits

3.2 Canadian Competitors

3.3 Prêt a Manger’s Core Values in Canada

4.0 Options

4.1 Toronto, Ontario

4.2 Montréal, Québec

4.3 Vancouver, British Columbia

5.0 Recommendation

5.1 Assumptions

5.2 Final Recommendation

6.0 Implementation

6.1 Location

6.2 Recruitment

6.3 Marketing

6.4 Suppliers

6.5 Adaptation to Canadian market

.0 7Future Outlook

Appendices

Bibliography

1.0.Overview

A passion for food was the driving force for Sinclair Beecham and Julian Metcalfe, two college friends who were hungry for tasty and healthy sandwiches, when they opened the first Prêt a Manger in 1986. The company was founded in London, England on the basis of making proper sandwiches while avoiding obscure chemicals, additives and preservatives that were common for prepared food in the market at the time.[1] This one of a kind restaurant blossomed, as it offered consumers a product that could not found anywhere else.[2] Prêt a Manger has differentiated itself in three main categories: the menu, the level of customer service and the dedication to sustainability. A soup, sandwich or salad from Prêt a Manger is made with all natural ingredients. There are no artificial colours or no additives, just good taste. They get their supplies from local vendors and are always looking for new flavours in the area.[3] Poor service cannot be found in a Prêt a Manger store. The staff are all exceptionally trained and treated for the best overall customer experience. Prêt a Manger’s sustainability goals, which are primarily to reduce their environmental impact, are updated regularly as they want to continuously decrease their environmental footprint. The food industry leaves a lot of room for waste, but not for Prêt a Manger. They donate all their unsold sandwiches, salads and baguettes to the homeless at the end of each day. Prêt a Manger is privately owned, and thus does not have the pressure to grow as quickly as a public company does.[4] However, they are continuously growing. There are over 200 stores in the UK and Prêt a Manger has expanded to New York City, Chicago, Washington DC and Hong Kong. Prêt a Manger is synonymous with good taste.

2.0 Business Model

Prêt a Manger’s underlying value proposition is to serve great-tasting freshly made sandwiches with a business model that is dedicated to social responsibility. Prêt a Manger offers a wide selection of products with over 200 sandwiches, salads and soups of highest quality. Therefore, not only does the quality play an important role, but so does the commitment to a comprehensive service. A 2010 London survey, conducted among immigrants in the company, founds that Prêt a Manger was the most desirable place to work. Consequently, Prêt a Manger “won the 2010 award for best retail company in the UK. The company earned this award through a commitment to its people and to its fresh preservative free food.”[5] While combining sophisticated service with high-quality food, the company tries to maintain their three coremerits throughout their value chain: “First and foremost, we are passionate about food and keeping it fresh and interesting. This is our core product and we work hard to produce the best we can [...]. The second Prêt a Manger passion is their staff, all 2,200 of them spread across 116 stores (25 outside London) in the UK [...]. The third and final part of Prêt a Manger’s sandwich success story is to be passionate and proud of the business and what they have achieved.”[6]

2.1 Segmentation

Unlike their direct competition (e.g. Subway), the company is aiming for a high-price- high-quality segment. “Its French name and comparatively adventurous menu all helped create an aura of exclusivity - instead of ham and tomato sandwiches, Prêt a Manger offered Brie, tomato and basil baguettes.”[7] As this is especially the case for their main business in London “at £1.20 for a tiny bottle of orange juice, it is targeting urban professionals with little time on their hands.”[8] The commitment to sophisticated service can also be experienced by the service speed. “Customers spend just 90 seconds from the time they get in line to the time they leave the shop.”[9] Although Prêt a Manger never truly engaged in extensive market research, the mix of delightful and more expensive sandwiches with low-priced products, like their 99 cents coffee, reveals the company’s ambivalent business model, which applies to heterogeneous needs of their equally heterogeneous clientele. “We like to maximize the space we have in our shops and use this to help promote our food. We use large “gilt frames” which sit in our windows. These help spread the message of our seasonal product launches.”[10] By that, Prêt a Manger was profiled as “an excellent example of an organization that creates a unique experience for a clearly targeted group of customers and delivers value everyday through its people and products. It has good processes and customer friendly policies. What Prêt a Manger does not do is advertise, but there is little need to do this because its customers promote the organization.”[11] This clearly emphasizes the fact that the company is able to successfully adapt their business model to their customers’ needs. The great challenge for each company is to match their own perceptions and expectations about how to create sustainable value with the customer’s perceived value recognition. In the 2001 Forum Survey a great volatility in both, companies’ and customers’ value acknowledgment, was identified (Appendix A)[12]

There are often perception differences between customers and companies in the features and response to problems. To ensure a feasible convergence of both, the company established a close interaction with their consumers through communication channels, anticipating that 19 out of 20 unsatisfied customers would rather leave the store quietly than voice their complaint.[13]

“On average, 60 per cent of feedback received by the Prêt a Manger customer service department is either positive or neutral.”[14] The emphasis on high-quality service is no coincidence. As discovered in a survey, “Customers who rate you a five on a scale from one (poor) to five (excellent) are six times more likely to buy from you again, compared to those who rate you a four on the same scale. The economic benefits of retaining repeat customers and building repeat business are compelling.”[15] The people make the difference and retaining customers by satisfying their needs not only saves costs, as attracting new customers can generate three to ten times higher costs than holding old clientele, but it also impacts the company’s outward perception through customer’s loyalty and positive word-of-mouth marketing, intrinsically generated by the very same satisfied people.[16]

2.2 Screening and Corporate Social Responsibility

To maintain a high level of quality in their personnel, the company implemented an attentive screening procedure to screen their job applicants. “There is a rigorous assessment for each potential employee. We make them work in a shop for a few days, they have several interviews and, in each case, we try to get to know them as individuals.”[17] As a result, the company has become very passionate about their staff and the types of individuals they hire. The company believes that they are an important part of the company’s culture and has always been eager to treat them exceedingly well. The company does not only incorporate their voice in business matters, but also pays them fair salary and wage for their hard to keep them continuously motivated.[18]

The company’s attitude to engage in corporate social responsibility is becoming apparent in how they treat their employees’ and in their solicitousness towards fresh food. All of their offered menu dishes are completely free from any preservatives and consist solely of natural ingredients. In addition, the daily-prepared sandwiches are not stored overnight, but are given away to charities if they are not sold that day.[19]

2.3 Growth Strategy

Prêt a Manger’s did not just start their business in London because both founders, Sinclair Beecham and Julian Metcalfe, graduated at the Polytechnic of Central London, but did so because they were driven by a growing resentment towards the regularly served “soggy sandwiches and mush for lunch, often served with a snarl, from local sandwich shops.”[20] With having found this untapped market niche, they decided to step in and fill the gap with a business that was committed to serving high-quality food. Starting their business in Victoria, the company has successfully established over 200 stores worldwide to date.[21] The company’s understanding of growth is research based and the company tries to incorporate as many business impacting variables as possible into their business model. “When positioning on a busy high street, we need to make sure we cater for the range and diversity of people who may enter one of our shops. We therefore have a large range of food products to suit different tastes.”[22]