Memorandum: Camu Camu Case Study

From: Group 3

Subject: Navitas Case

Date: 08/07/2018

Situation Analysis:

Navitas Naturals (Navitas) is a U.S company based in Novato California. The vision of the

company is to provide high-quality super-foods, used by traditional cultures, in a socially

responsible manner. Navitas imports their products from Peru, and other countries and has

strong distribution channels throughout North America at specialty food retailers.

Using geographic, demographic and psychographic segmentation, Navitas targets middle

to upper class health conscious North Americans with a disposable income who are

environmentally conscious and want to support sustainable agriculture and fair trade.

Navitas is positioned as an established and trustworthy provider of natural products from

developing countries that are organic, offer various health benefits, and produced sustainably.

To support its positioning strategy, Navitas pursues wide-ranging certification and supports fair

trade practices for farmers that harvest the products.

SWOT Analysis:

Strengths: Navitas has established relationships with customers and is positioned as a trusted

provider of sustainably and ethically farmed functional foods with 26 product offerings.

Navitas’s social responsibility philosophy aligns with both it’s health related offering and the

growing social movement to support ethically minded businesses.

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Weaknesses: Navitas relies on foreign farms to produce the materials for products, including

camu camu in Peru. Navitas distributes only through retailers and does not sell directly to

consumers, which results in a loss of control over part of its promotion.

Opportunities: Super-foods is a $40 billion industry in the USA and functional food and drink

industry growth in outpacing regular beverage global industry. With an established brand,

Navitas can continue to expand in a growing industry using unique materials like camu camu.

Navitas has established relationships with suppliers and a strong philosophy that seeks to

enhance the lives of its farming partners.

Threats: There is a risk that other, less ethically minded businesses could enter the market

using non-sustainable and less expensive materials. Navitas targets a small market segment

and, as a luxury item, it susceptible to negative economic forces. Given the negative publicly

of health food claims, functional foods could face future additional regulation. Existing

regulation in the USA and EU already restricts Navitas’ expansion. Navitas faces competition

from other providers of functional and super-foods and dietary supplements, as well as the

pharmaceutical industry.

Issues:

Navitas needs a marketing strategy to facilitate growth that complies with government

regulation and stays true to its mission.

Opportunities:

As discussed, the North American super-foods market is large and the global market is

growing. Navitas already has a good position with a strong mission and established

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relationship with suppliers and distributors. Navitas needs to continue to build this position

with the following recommendations.

Recommendations:

As an overall strategy, Navitas should continue to build its brand image using a diverse line

of functional food materials. Products featuring materials such as camu camu can be used to

enhance its position as favorable and unique. Navitas should not rely too heavily on one

product in order to protect itself against threats from supplier disruption and other

uncontrollable factors. Camu should be one component of multiple offerings. By maintaining

multiple product lines as it enhances its brand image, Navitas will also protect itself from

entrants to the market that may offer a cheaper, less sustainable but camu camu based product.

Navitas should continue to target the same segments within the North American market.

As it provides luxury product, Navitas should maintain a high price point to reinforce the

quality of the product.

In addition to distribution through specialty retailers, Navitas should build relationships

with trusted health advisors, such as nutritionists, naturopaths, and dietitians, to enhance its

position. These relationships can serve both as new distribution channels, with product

placement in their clinics, and communication channels. Navitas must be careful, however, not

to offend FDA regulation. Finally, Navitas should research other applications for the materials

that it imports. For example, camu camu may be used in cosmetic products. This could offer

addition product lines without engaging addition government regulation.