Managing Global Competition _ Food Industry_

Group 11
There is no sincerer love than the love for food George
Bernard Shaw
Ever since the evolution of mankind, the world struggled towards three things, food,
clothes and shelter. In order to meet that, man developed trade, and with trade man
evolved business and that too in terms of wealth. So what did the world trade? The
answer to this question is everything! And here food is not out of question. Cultures
evolved, people evolved and so did the taste bud. With every kilometer in India the
taste bud changes and so in other cultures.
Food is fundamental and yet our eating styles have become complex. With the
changing nutritional needs and informed civilization, the food industry has observed
major shifts with the evolution of Human Kind. The whole paradigm of different
facets of this industry has changed from mere harvesting of seeds to distribution
and marketing. World is experiencing the new regime of processed food. Companies
are shifting its gears; new entrepreneurs are leaping in for some bites of market
share. In the USA food industry is termed as food system. The industry has not
confined itself to some border line, but everything produced is eaten everywhere.
So is the businesses going outside the national borders and place is just not the
barrier anymore.
The introduction the course on management of global competition made us deep
dive into the industries where the market dynamics are changing rapidly. After a
detailed discussion and some of the ongoing research on various other dynamics of
food industry across the globe we chose to understand more on this industry as to
where the choices lie with consumers as well as producers or manufacturers. Food
Industry is one such industry where the manufacturers are leaping in serving not
only to a state or region but to nation. For Example various fast food networks have
swamped the global market with rich variety of processed food. Demand is shifting;
the production systems are getting more and more efficient to make the food
available at the lowest prices. The food requirement of one nation is fulfilled with
the production and agriculture of some other nation. Very good example will be
China leading in the rice exports with 28.4% of production, followed by India 21.4%.
Same with the Sugarcane where Brazil is the largest producer. These are just few
examples. When we see food inflation levels, government across some countries are
struggling with the daunting task to bring this in control. Example can be Tunisia
and Egypt. Global cereal prices have increased sharply with export prices of major
grains up at least 70 per cent from February 2010, owing to a decline in world
cereal production last year and growing demand. The competition is intense and the
way to create competitive advantage over others is daunting for not just the

enterprises dealing in the system but it is the source for national competitive
advantage as well.
Some of the important questions that we are trying to analyze with our project on
food industry
1. Industry Analysis Porter Five Forces.
2. Competitive Advantage On what grounds companies are trying to compete
against one another.
3. National Competitive advantage of one nation over others Factors (Porter
National Diamond)/ PEST / Heckscher-Ohlin etc.
4. Business Operations Local and Global (Industry Standards) Applied
concepts of VUCA.
5. Supply Chain Activities Marketing and Distribution
6. Food Industry and its Social Impact.
7. Consumer Segments & Increasing demand/ Cost Advantages.
8. Threats and Opportunities ( SWOT )
With the project shifts we are also intending to assess different industries, like
agriculture (Seeds in particular), food processing, wholesale and Distribution, Retail,
Food Industry Technologies and latest innovations, global marketers and
distributors, Labor, Research and Development. We would like to know as to why
some nations have abundant forces to compete even when they are not endowed
with natural resources. What are the market dynamics existing in the VUCA
environment. How consumers eating and lifestyle is affecting the shape of the
Industry. With the continuous shift in paradigm what are the key essentials for the
producers to compete and add value to the same time where various diseases are
so rampant. Foods habits have changed but human biology has not, with increasing
risk are we actually building a solid foundation of sustainable competitive
advantage. Through this project we want to see what can be a future like, what the
major threats and challenges. Some of the key learning that we wish to derive out of
this project are;
1. Implement strategic theories under dynamic environment.
2. Understanding related and non-related industries which can impact the
growth.
3. Checking the pool of related industries whose formulation in some other way
can bring out more customized and innovative products