Zenith Pet Food Case Paper
Zenith Pet Foods, Inc. is a large distributor of show-grade dog food. The company distributes only within the United States. Its plan is to introduce the product in the Boston area. Zenith dog food is a high-grade, frozen dog food made of quality, organic ingredients. The target market has been show-dog kennels in the past, but the entity has recently turned its attention to the dog as a household pet. The product promises to produce a shinier, healthier coat on the consuming animal. Zenith needs freezer space to sell its products, and the plan is to distribute through supermarkets, where the majority of the dog food is sold based on Zenith’s market studies.
The company faces a very large amount of competition within the dog-food market. Some of those competitors include Dog Chow distributed by Nestle Purina Pet Care, which sells 23 percent of dry dog foods in the supermarkets, Kal Kan Pedigree distributed by MasterFoods USA, selling 18 percent of wet dog food, and Kibbles ‘N Bits distrusted by Del Monte Foods, which sells 69 percent of semi-moist dog foods in the supermarkets. Although competition exists in the market, there are no competitors that distribute dog food in a frozen, all-fresh form in the freezer aisle of the grocery store. There is a threat of new entrants into the market or product substitutions, but because Zenith will be a pioneer in the field of frozen dog foods, only time and succession would be able to determine what companies would invest money into creating a replication. The supplier leverage exists, because they have the excitement of introducing a new product. It is assumed that the buyer will be excited about a new product, especially the one that is sold in a unique and improved way. The buyer has most of the leverage of a new product. The distributer can do tests and surveys to estimate how the buyer