Gourmet Food Store Business Plan

Our strategy will exploit our advantages over the competition (location, convenience, and high quality) with carefully-tracked milestones for growth.

Marketing
Initial marketing efforts for opening will be geared towards generating name recognition and making a clear distinction between Sarrica’s and other local competitors. Follow-up marketing programs will encourage repeat visits and assist customers in the understanding, appreciation, and preparation of our products.

Sales and Pricing
We will gear prices towards our competitors in the nearest cities and online, with a small “convenience” increase for offering them locally. This will offset our distribution costs. Local discounts, daily specials, and new products will satisfy customers they are getting a good value, while keeping them intrigued. Our emphasis on consistently good service, from special orders to recipe help, will make new customers repeat customers.

Alliances
Sarrica’s Market will aggressively pursue relations with local sporting goods outfitters (picnic lunches for hikers), restaurants (featured gourmet ingredient of the week), and local farmers and artisans (fresh local foods and souvenirs).

5.1 Competitive Edge

• Location is critical to success.  Our store needs to be on Main Street or just off Main Street so we can take advantage of walk-by and drive-by traffic. We also need adequate parking to make shopping at our store convenient for drivers.
• Convenience. Moab residents and visitors are willing to pay a little bit more for good food and the convenience of being able to get what they want without having to travel out of town or order over the internet.  Our customers will purchase our food because it is authentic and delicious.
• High quality.  Focusing on high quality international food will draw customers from the competition, as well as create a local market that has not existed before in Moab. If the prices are reasonable and the food is good, we will have growth through repeat business.

5.2 Marketing Strategy

Our marketing strategy consists of promotional advertisements in local newspapers, the yellow pages, and at local businesses, postcards & flyers sent through the mail, and promotional coffee mugs given to local customers that can be filled and refilled at a discount.  We also plan on supporting the community radio station in exchange for mentioning us as an underwriter; giving free product samples to our customers; and offering cooking classes and recipes that introduce customers to our products.

5.3 Sales Strategy

Sarrica’s Market most important sales strategy is developing an environment in which customers will return time-after-time because our market provides knowledgeable, friendly staff, quality products, and a comfortable atmosphere that fills their needs. 

When customers visit our store, they will know they are entering a clean facility with the best service in the industry. Our pricing strategy will focus on providing high quality, hard to find international products and services at a fair price.  Because our closest competition is far away, we will be able to charge a little more for some products, but must be careful not to price our items too high or customers will continue to stock up on specialty foods when they visit large cities or will buy over the internet.

We will make use of local discounts, daily specials, and new products to keep customers interested and to help them feel they are getting a good value. Sarrica’s Market intends to listen to its customers and collect their feedback through surveys and friendly conversation, in order to determine areas where we can expand and/or improve.  We want Sarrica’s Market to become a staple in the local community, as well as a “must stop shop” to vacationers visiting Moab.

5.4 Strategic Alliances

Sarrica’s Market will work to form strategic alliances with local businesses, including: outfitters, hotels, and restaurants.  We will also form relationships with local produce growers and artists to customize the food/gift items we sell and enhance our presence in the community.

5.5 Sales Forecast

The following assumptions, table and chart illustrate our conservative sales forecast.

Assumptions:

• The average item sold in the market will cost $4.50
• $20.00/average sale x 40 people/day x # of days in January, February, November, and December (slow season).
• $30.00/average sale x 75 people/day x # of days in each month from March-October (busy season).

5.6 Milestones

The following table presents important events, their scheduled start and ending dates,and the person(s) who will accomplish the task.