Case Study Competition In The UK Ice Market Coursework

Essays on Competition in the UK Ice Market Coursework The paper "Competition in the UK Ice Market" is a brilliant example of coursework on marketing.  The Ice Cream industry in the UK market is so competitive in nature by the last decades. It is seen that a scale monopoly situation exists in favor of Birds Eye Wall's Ltd (BEW), a subsidiary of Unilever, which accounts for around two-thirds of the wrapped impulse market and over half of the total impulse market as defined in our terms of reference. We also found that a complex monopoly situation exists in favor of BEW, Nestle UK Ltd and Mars UK Ltd, which between them accounted in 1992 for 88 percent of sales of wrapped impulse products and a lesser but still very large share of the market for all reference products.Ice cream sales in the UK were worth about  £785 million at retail prices,  £275 million of which comprised reference products. These were mostly wrapped impulse products, the market for which is characterized by a high level of branding, and of associated advertising e xpenditure. Unlike other impulse products such as confectionery, impulse ice cream needs refrigerated storage and transport and a freezer cabinet at the point of sale, not merely as a display device but as an essential piece of equipment that has limited capacity and without which the product cannot be stocked at all. Effective distribution is a key aspect of competition, particularly because demand is not only seasonal but subject to extreme short-term fluctuations as the weather changes. Importance was attached also, by both companies; to the assurance, exclusivity gave of economic drop sizes, effective display, and quality control. (Victorian London - Publications - Social Investigation/Journalism - London Labour and the London Poor; 1851, 1861-2; Henry Mayhew, The Victorian Dictionary, compiled by Lee Jackson, http://www.victorianlondon.org, an internet web site.)The market has changed significantly since 1990. Earlier, Wall's and Lyons Maid shared between them all but a small p art of the market. Thereafter the market share of Lyons Maid significantly declined notwithstanding its insistence on freezer exclusivity whilst that of Wall's increased. Mars entered the market in 1989 with a new product relying on quality and an established confectionery reputation. In four years, Mars ice cream achieved representation in about 50 percent of outlets and a market share of about 16 percent in wrapped impulse products in which at least 20 percent in the chocolate bar sector. Mars, like Treats Ice Cream Ltd (Treats), the next largest supplier, drew attention to the effects on the market of the degree of vertical integration achieved by BEW as a result of freezer exclusivity operating in conjunction with its distribution system through concession.Part 2- THE SWOPT ANALYSISBy the time, during the years of operations, BEW, Nestle and Mars seem to have achieved a great deal. However, it appears that much more can be achieved with the kind of resources.