Marketing Mix of Food4u

“Food4u” is a Latin American Restaurant, located in the country of Mexico. It aims to provide quality services to numerous customers at an affordable cost. The restaurant serves different types of foods, including seafood, traditional Mexican dishes, chicken-made foods, and beef-made foods. The main dishes of the restaurant are guacamole and carne asada. The core purpose of the company is to outsell the competitors by providing high quality and hygienic food.

The company comes up with unique sales strategies, attracting a number of customers. It provides a comforting and soothing environment to the people. There are numerous competitors of the restaurant within the area and it strives to deliver food to consumers in a proper way in order to get a competitive edge in the business market. Tourists also visit this restaurant and the management endeavors to treat them in a gentle way.

Goals and Mission

Food4u is specifically centered on consumers. It is determined to satisfy the needs of consumers for the purpose of retaining key customers. The waiters and managers are trained and they listen to all the queries of the customers. The core mission of the restaurant is to increase the sales and revenue through the provision of quality services.

The core goal of the restaurant is to achieve customer satisfaction while maintaining profitability. The goals of the restaurant may be divided into 2 elements, financial and non-financial goals:

Financial goals

Increase sales by 25% in the next year

Increase revenue by around 30% at the end of 2019

Introduce new dishes and increase salaries of the employees

Non-financial goals

To capture the food market in Mexico City

To achieve customer satisfaction and retain key customers

Develop a fundraising program for the needy and encourage the whole community to take part

To generate traffic through the use of the website

Core Competencies

Food4u focuses on utilizing its competencies (core) for attaining a sustainable competitive advantage. The restaurant has been successful in developing certain core competencies. One of the competencies includes the provision of high-quality food and services, which increases its customers through Word of Mouth (WOM) marketing (Goi, 2009). The second competency includes that it aims to initiate a fundraising program and provides the option to donate on its website. Due to this competency, it is becoming popular among youth and the elderly. The 3rd competency involves that the restaurant has maintained a proper website and it focuses on initiating social media campaign. The use of social media has enabled the company to increase the customers.

Situation Analysis

The situation analysis includes the SWOT analysis, through which certain opportunities and strengths can be evaluated (Helms & Nixon, 2010). This analysis is critical for the restaurant in order to improve weak areas and utilize strengths in an effective way. It is noteworthy to consider that Food4u has certain strengths, which enables it to become a leader in the industry. The restaurant has been able to capture the market in the region of Mexico, through the provision of quality services. However, there seem to be issues regarding the financial management of the restaurant. This area needs to be improved and salaries should be released on time. The opportunities include that the restaurant can make sufficient use of the internet and enable Pay-per-click (PPC) marketing to generate lead and improve profitability.

Figure 1 SWOT Analysis (source: self-made)

The above figure clearly indicates the analysis of Food4u restaurant. The threats involve that there seem to be a number of competitors in the industry and they possess the ability to come up with unique strategies. Further, rules and regulations of the Mexico country can also influence the profitability of the restaurant. Hence, these factors should be considered while implementing tactics and strategies.

Target Market

The target market of Food4u includes the individuals between the ages 16 – 60. Families generally come for dinner at weekends and it also generates sufficient revenue. The major targeted audience resides in Mexico City. Considering the demographic segmentation, married and single people both visit the restaurant. The people belonging to middle-class and upper-class families avail the services. Further, people of different races and religion order food and enjoy the environment.

The core focus is to target young people living in Mexico City. The social media campaign actively focuses on placing ads, which the youth view and they interact on the social media pages for further information regarding the restaurant. The major focus is to promote the restaurant and increase its visibility among the targeted audience.

Marketing Mix

The proposed marketing mix involves the following elements pertaining to Food4u (Luan & Sudhir, 2010):

Product

The products of Food4u include seafood, chilaquiles, guacamole, tacos, and enchiladas etc. Certain types of drinks are also provided to the consumers, including PinaColada, Berry rush, Apple Juice, and other fresh juices. There are meal deals for kids too, which involves meals for children at a discounted price. For improving profitability, special promotions and deals on food products are utilized. Provision of quality products is the utmost priority of the restaurant in the quest of achieving excellence.

Price

The competitive pricing strategy is utilized by Food4u in order to increase the number of customers and generate sufficient revenue. The restaurant evaluated what prices are being charged by the competitors and it has set the prices accordingly. Further, promotions on special food items enable the restaurant to attract a large number of Mexican customers. Moreover, for tourists, there are also discounts which allow the tourists to enjoy food and help the restaurant to improve profitability.

The pricing on certain items has been set while considering the competitors’ approach towards pricing. Drinks like PinaColada are provided to the consumers at a discounted price since this drink tends to be popular among the youth. Therefore, techniques have been regarded to set the prices on specific items.

Promotion

Promotion packages are offered by Food4u on certain food items. The guacamole product is being offered at a 20% discount to the customers. This strategy has enabled it to increase product sales. The restaurant also utilizes its website and enables PPC marketing. It spends a considerable amount of money on PPC marketing for promoting the products.  Moreover, certain campaigns are initiated by the restaurant, which increases its visibility.

The use of social media is necessary in order to increase the customers. Certain campaigns will be run on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. This would enable the youth to view the ads and they would be attracted to visit the restaurant. Moreover, the restaurant also gives the option of online-delivery without any charges. This makes the customer order favorite food without any delivery charges.

Place

The location of Food4u is near San Angel. This location has a number of foreigners and Mexican citizens. The place is perfect for attracting a number of customers and also the restaurant has put banners on certain walls and places. There are competitors near the location and they pose certain threats to the restaurant. The location is suitable for people to come by and enjoy the soothing environment provided by Food4u restaurant.

The location is on the busy street, which attracts the attention of consumers. There are also other restaurants, which gives tough competition to Food4u. The location is considered one of the most critical aspects in terms of a restaurant. The core focus of Food4u is to become prominent within the area through utilization of proper marketing techniques.

Budget

Items

Total Cost

Guacamole

20$

Seafood

Starting from 10$ to 40$

Chilaquiles

15$

Enchiladas

12$

Drinks

Starting from 5$ to 30$

Table 1 Food menu pricing (source: self-made)

The above table indicates the pricing of food items and drinks. The cost has been indicated in the right column. The prices are average depending on the area and people can afford it.

Financial Projections

Figure 2 Financial Projections (source: self-made)

The above figure highlights the financial projections pertaining to the restaurant. It is predicted that the revenue will increase up to $30,000 in the year 2022. The projected revenue has been decided while considering the opportunities and strengths. Initiating successful marketing campaigns can eventually benefit the restaurant and can help to achieve the desired profitability. The salary and other expenses amount to around $3,500. Moreover, on renovation, the estimated cost is around $2,000.

References

Goi, C. L. (2009). A review of marketing mix: 4Ps or More?. International journal of marketing studies, 1(1), 2.

Luan, Y. J., & Sudhir, K. (2010). Forecasting marketing-mix responsiveness for new products. Journal of Marketing Research, 47(3), 444-457.

Helms, M. M., & Nixon, J. (2010). Exploring SWOT analysis–where are we now? A review of academic research from the last decade. Journal of strategy and management, 3(3), 215-251.