Company Overview Founded in 1993 by Gareth DeRosa Offered healthy pastas and sauces Launched wholegrain pasta, Cucina

ina Fresca, in 2006 Considered expansion into refrigerated pizza market Facilities and resources already in place to support potential initiative

PASTA versus PIZZA Core Points

Pasta
First Mover: whole fresh pasta and deluxe sauce Product development informal and intuitive Initial success despite lack of adequate market testing or business plan

Pizza
New opportunity in existing pizza market whole wheat crust with deluxe sauce Current market research is insufficient Bias against health image of pizza Incomplete business plan; infrastructure investments are already in place

Customer Profiles Gourmet Customer 23 years old Young professional Health conscious Enjoys premium products Supermarket Customer 42 year old mother Health conscious Wants to make a meal everyone can enjoy Wants to feel as though she is making a home cooked meal Price sensitive

Happy she can eat pizza again

SWOT Listing
Strengths Highly selective about ingredients Existing infrastructure for coupons, magazine advertisements, in-store demonstrations Existing formal 4-step process for research and development Incremental investment for pizza less than pasta Higher awareness of pizza product among Cucina Fresca customers Successful market experience in launching new products (brand name awareness) Existing manufacturing equipment and distribution infrastructure to get fresh food to shelves quickly Easy preparation, but gives customers the chance to be involved in the cooking process Permits customers to customize Refrigerated pizza is considered tastier, more authentic than frozen pizza Is a product for the whole family (8.6/10 in mall-intercept) 28% of home-trial users believe there is no need for improvement 33% of respondents in mall-intercept considered the TruEarth name a favourable advantage

Weaknesses Pizza kit only feeds 2-3 people Consumers have to buy toppings separately Limited selection of toppings and varieties offered Considered too expensive ($12.38 vs. $10.09 for other refrigerated options, $11.72 for takeout) Only received 10% favourable to product in overall taste, texture, and quality Limited time to product expiration (similar refrigerated manufacturing issues as Cucina Fresca) If using same equipment, this may lead to bottlenecks in both operating facilities and distribution network

Opportunities

Leverage relationship with North Dakota durum wheat supplier to supply wheat for pizza dough Expand serving size options Offer single serving sizes for individual meals; whole pizzas to feed a family Expand topping offerings Contract with local cafes and other gourmet specialty restaurants to offer products in other store formats Create a packaged bundle which includes Cucina Fresca and the pizza kit Leverage TruEarth brand name to enter the pizza market TruEarth is well-liked and considered to be high quality Utilize this to demonstrate the benefits/product attributes of the pizza product

Threats

Health conscious mindset (e.g. low carbohydrate diet) has hurt key demographics in pizza demand Consumers may not purchase additional toppings Rigazzi has tested a pizza concept and is preparing to introduce it Competitors may quickly replicate whole-grain pizza kit and price them lower to win larger share of the market Nestle and Kraft dominate the frozen-pizza market Our pizza doughs quality may not be comparable to freshly made takeout Pizza market is extremely crowded (options include takeout, delivery, refrigerated) If product succeeds, product facilities may struggle to manufacture two lines (Cucina Fresca placed on back burner, limited production)

If product fails, damage to TruEarth name may make it harder to launch new products in future