Name Gaganpreet Kaur

Question 1

Answer:
The process followed for the market research for Whole Grain Pizza and Fresh Pasta & Sauce were similar yet differentiated.
While both the products sought to use a 4-step product development product, different segments of Nielsen BASES® were
activated to test and validate. This can be understood through the table below:

4-Step Process Fresh Pasta & Sauce Whole Grain Pizza

Idea Generation Inception through, Inception through,

1. Home Meal Replacement 1. Pizza was a popular food

trend category with $53bn sales
2. Growth of refrigerated 2. Health concerns & diet
pasta segment popularity hitting demand
3. Growing awareness of of pizza
whole grains

Concept Screening Using BASES® I, mall intercepts Using BASES® I & II, mall
& surveys intercepts & concept tests

Product Development & Testing Testing through Focus Group Taste tests through Home Kits to
without actual tasting pegging on identify product acceptance and
product perception adaptability

Quantification of volume Minimum Business Minimum Business

Requirement: Requirement:

$21mn retail market ($14mn $12mn wholesale

wholesale)

Question 2

Answer:
The top 3 observations from Exhibits 3 & 7 are as below:

1. Being a brand with no legacy, Cucina Fresca had a 76% purchase intent from which surpassed the industry median at
62%. This clearly showcases the brand’s first mover’s advantage in the category.
2. While existing customers of TruEarth (N=75) showed purchase intent at 76%. However, for the new customers, the
purchase intent is at 54% which means more money would have to be spent on marketing collaterals to create demand.
3. While Mean Likeability for both the brands stands at 4.2 and 3.6 respectively, however, the mean price/value rating is
lower than industry median at 3.2 and 3 respectively. This means product benefits will have to be driven through value
creation while asking the consumers to pay a the premium addition in the price.
Question 3

Answer:
Basis the table shared and the excerpt where Eckstein believed that true penetration could vary in the range of 5% to 15%, the
aforementioned range has been considered as the worst-case scenario since the pizza segment is also 30% bigger than pasta 9as
mentioned in Table B).

Additionally, as a second parameter, the %age of households repurchasing in the area average production rate is 21%.

Excel Template:

Non- Customers Source

Customers
Definitely would buy 15% 26% Exhibit 7
% of "Definites" who actually buy 80% 80% Exhibit 5
"Definite" Purchases 12% 21%

Probably would buy 39% 53% Exhibit 7

% of "Probables" who actually buy 30% 30% Exhibit 5
"Probable" Purchases 12% 16%

Trial Rate ("Definite" + "Probable") 24% 37%

Target households (MM) 58.8 58.8 Table B

Penetration, % of target households 5% 5% Table B
Awareness of pizza product 12% 50% Table B
ACV distribution 40% 40% Table B

Adjusted Trial Households 0.6 0.2

Total trial households (Non-Customers + Customers) 0.8

% of households repurchasing 21% Exhibit 5

Repeat purchase occasions Table B

Total purchases (Trial + Repeat) 0.8

Retail selling price $12.38 Table B

Retail sales revenue $10.1M
Retailer gross margin 35% Case text
TruEarth sales revenue $6.6M

Answer:
The predicted sales revenue in the best-case scenario of Whole Grain Pizza is 15% as quoted by Eckstein.

Additionally, as a second parameter, the %age of households repurchasing in the area average production rate in best-case scenario
is 49%.
 Excel Template:

Non- Customers Source

Customers
Definitely would buy 15% 26% Exhibit 7
% of "Definites" who actually buy 80% 80% Exhibit 5
"Definite" Purchases 12% 21%

Probably would buy 39% 53% Exhibit 7

% of "Probables" who actually buy 30% 30% Exhibit 5
"Probable" Purchases 12% 16%

Trial Rate ("Definite" + "Probable") 24% 37%

Target households (MM) 58.8 58.8 Table B

Penetration, % of target households 15% 15% Table B
Awareness of pizza product 12% 50% Table B
ACV distribution 40% 40% Table B

Adjusted Trial Households 0.1 0.6

Total trial households (Non-Customers + Customers) 0.7

% of households repurchasing 49% Exhibit 5

Repeat purchase occasions 2 Table B

Total purchases (Trial + Repeat) 1.5

Retail selling price $12.38 Table B

Retail sales revenue $18.6M
Retailer gross margin 35% Case text
TruEarth sales revenue $12.1M

Question 4

Answer:
The top two pizza categories competing with TruEarth Whole Grain Pizza are as below:

1. Takeout & Restaurant accounted to 70% of the market share roughly basis the last 10 pizza consumption and the next 10
pizza consumption segments.
2. This was followed by Frozen pizza at a share of 19% basis the last 10 purchases and the next 10.

Advantages over its competitors are as below:

1. Healthier and wholesome option for the family which neither compromises on nutrition nor on taste
2. Each serving could serve 2 -3 with customizable toppings despite being a healthy alternative,

Disadvantages due to its competitors are as below:

1. The price of this gourmet pizza as compared to its competitors in the mix is quite unfavorable. While a favorable price for
the pizza is at $10.75 (as per exhibit 10), Whole Grain Pizza is currently at a package of $11.50 along with the toppings.
 2. Crust can be a source of worry since their direct competition is with a freshly made takeout.

Question 5

Answer:
As per Exhibit 9, the following observations could be made from consumer set,

1. Only 9% people consider it good priced

2. 45% people consider it to be too expensive as a reason for unfavorable purchase followed by 23% who find it more expensive
than restaurants or takeout

3. 26% people find it favorable for the product to lower prices.

As per Exhibit 10,

1. After home trails, audience set favorable to the product would not mind paying $10.75 while those who are unfavorable can
offer up to $8.86.

2. The mean price for frozen and takeout ranges from $7.43 to $11.72 respectively.

As per Table B for TruEarth Whole Grain Pizza,

1. Unit price per pizza along with 1.25 toppings roughly estimated to be around $12.38 which was way above the price warranted
for even those who favored the product.

Hence it becomes imperative for TruEarth to rework on the pricing which makes healthier options more affordable for the masses
and 58.88mm household it wishes to capture as a market.

Question 6
Answer:
I believe that for TruEarth launch of their Whole Grain Pizza segment will be a good addition to the portfolio along with a few
tweaks to the product and its marketing mix. The same is elaborated below for your reference.

Strength: Weakness:

An established market share of truEarth with Cucina Pricing is one of the reasons due to which the
Fresca gave them the kind of brand awareness they segment could be a failure. However, the same can be
required to expand their portfolio. Which meant they modified with product tweaks and production
would comparably have to spend lesser on brand capability. This also meant TruEarth will have to
awareness. invest in optimizing their projections to meet the
demand and equalize their quality & prices.

Opportunity: Threat:

The segment of healthy food showed a clear skew Competitors such as frozen pizza, takeouts and even
basis their research for the product. Demand could be restaurants offered cheaper but less healthier
coupled with variants pushing the product line options for the audience to pick from.
further. Possibility of creating a niche product.

Quantitatively, we can understand the following things from Exhibit 8,

Attributes Total FAVORABLE UNFAVORABL

(N=300) TO CONCEPT E TO CONCEPT
(N=181) (N=119)

LIKES
Food Qualities
Whole grain 19% 25% 10% A majority of the target group was
Freshly made and dated 31% 35% 26% skewed towards liking the concept
LOOKS APPETIZING 24% 31% 13% and considered it to be standing
true to its claim.

Preparation
Product selection 16% 20% 9% Majority of people were in favor of
Can purchase all items in one place 27% 35% 15% the product due to the
CAN BUY TOPPINGS SEPARATELY 23% 31% 11% customizability and option it
provided along with the ease of
CAN ADD AMOUNT & TYPE OF TOPPINGS DESIRED 18% 24% 9%
preparation it offered.
EASY TO PREPARE 16% 20% 9%

Other
TruEarth brand name 24% 33% 11% TruEarth being a recognizable
Good price 9% 13% 3% name offered to the authenticity
of the offering making it more
purchase friendly. Price however
appeared to be a deterrent to an
amazing product

DISLIKES
Limited selection 23% 18% 31% Demand for an extensive product
Too expensive 27% 20% 38% offering along with dip is price is
LIMITED TIME TO PRODUCT EXPIRATION 12% 3% 25%
 what the product needed before
launch.

Additionally, from Exhibit 6, we could deduce,

Measures Takeout Pizza, based REFRIGERATED PIZZA, FAVORABLE

(based on 10-point scale where on past experience BASE EVALUATION OF
10 = "Agree Strongly") (N=300) ON PAST EXPERIENCE TRUEARTH PIZZA
(N=137) CONCEPT
(N=181)
Usage attributes
Is a product for the whole family 8.9 7.1 8.6 Keeping up to the trend of
Is convenient 9.3 7.3 7.3 involving the user in the
IS EASY TO PREPARE N/A 7.4 7.7 process, TruEarths ratings
better and at par with
Refrigerated Pizza

Taste attributes
Would taste fresh 9.4 7.2 7.9 Variety was a factor which
Comes in varieties I like 9.1 6.3 6.7 could be corrected through
product portfolio
diversification post launch

Quality attributes
Is made from high-quality 7.1 6.2 8.1 Standing true to its claim,
ingredients TruEarth's offering was the
Is made from healthy ingredients 6.5 5.9 9.1 best rated when it came to
healthy variants

As a final decision, TruEarth should proceed with the launch of Whole Grains Pizza post making the following tweaks in their plans,

1. Competitive Pricing – The pizza should have a competitive pricing structure with regards to its competitors since data
depicts customers apprehension on the budget it currently is placed at.
2. Product Portfolio Diversification – In the longer run, TruEarth should look at adding more variants and flavors to the
mix which provides something for everyone.
3. Process Enhancements – TruEarth should focus on optimizing their supply chain through robust projections. This will
also help them optimize their costs bringing the retail price further down and closer to the customer’s sweet spot.