Strategic Analysis

Strategic Plan Analysis Paper

Sunkist is a leading international citrus supplier, but what you might not know is that they do not own a single citrus grove, and although they are a billion dollar a year organization, you cannot buy stock-because there is none.

Sunkist is a cooperative not-for-profit company with over 6,000 citrus grower members from California and Arizona and has joined forces to produce the high-quality Sunkist fruit you have come to know and love. Sunkist is one of the 10 largest marketing cooperatives in America and the largest marketing cooperative in the world's fruit and vegetable industry. In competitive international market today, an independent grower stands alone against the competition. As a member of a cooperative, each individual grower joins with other growers to gain a mutually larger market share.

The Mission Statement

The Sunkist mission statement has been refined to confirm their commitment to "maximizing returns for quality Sunkist growers". This mission guides everything they do. Sunkist has completed a survey of their members and packers to help them better understand their strengths and weaknesses. The board recently reviewed the results and is working to better align itself to be as effective as possible.

SWOTT Analysis

Strengths

The Sunkist brand is known for its high quality product and its customer service, and the Sunkist goal is to respond not only to the demands of our buyers for year round supplies of fruit items, especially citrus, but also to provide a strong marketing and promotional service to other

fruit producers who have the same quality standards maintained by the Sunkist traditional cooperative suppliers. The purpose of forming alliances with sources of high quality seasonal citrus outside our California-Arizona grower base is to service the needs of its worldwide buyer network. These alliances also add value to their famous brand, while providing a strong marketing influence designed to lift overall consumer demand for citrus worldwide

Weaknesses

The weather certainly is a present challenge, particularly in the ability to export oranges. Sunkist growers and packers have worked hard to help fulfill the orders for this very important segment of their business. After noticing increasing numbers of Mexican lemons coming in from groves planted for Coca Cola, Sunkist needs to be proactive with regards to this product and has been working with shippers on new strategies.

Opportunity

Packaging is an indispensable selling tool today. It allows Sunkist to communicate quality and value to its customers and clients by providing solutions to their changing needs in transportation, displays, merchandising and new technologies. Many new packaging concepts under development and are built upon the successes of prior years. The poly bag, printed with the vintage Sunkist crate label, proved so successful in marketing Valencias that this winter Sunkist developed two new holiday bags, featuring a Sunkist snowman and Santa Claus, to sell navels.

Threats

Sunkist is seeing slowdowns in foodservice, retail, club store and wholesale markets. The sales force is working hard on post New Year holiday ads, most focusing on multi-varietal offerings. Sunkist should see volume build early as the eating quality of