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, Ltd Background
Appendix A, Page 1
Quality, experience, honesty and prompt service are the major assets of the
company. As the result of the companys concern to improve the quality of rice, the Best
Exporter Award for Agricultural products was conferred on Capital Rice in the year 1987.
Over the years the STC Group has not only increased its production capacity and the
range of its service, but it has also expanded its presence in the international markets. The
corporate philosophy is:
Be responsible to customers.
Treat the staffs as the most important resources.
Recognize our obligation to make a contribution to society
Geographic Environment: 2
Appendix B, Page 3
Cultural Environment: 3
Appendix B, Page 4
Because of most of Singapore citizen is come from China which have rice is the main
food for daily meal. More over Malaysian, Indian and other also use rice for their meal
(although its not the main food). Therefore, this is also another advantage that encourage
we export rice to Singapore. About literacy, Singapore citizen that from 15 years old and
over can read and write (total population: 92.5%)
Economic Environment: 4
When we are dealing with analyzing the economic environment of our target
market, Singapore, the impact of following factors should be considered:
1. Population:
Population is the most important item to consider when we are going to market a
product. It shows both the market size and its potential. Singapore, which is not a big
nation but a small island country, has population of 4,425,720 (July 2005 est.). This
figure shows that our market is not a wide one. Because it is not a wide market, we can
say that there will be fewer competitors compared to other Asian markets such as China.
And less number of competitors brings larger opportunities to us.
2. Income:
Income is another factor determining the purchasing power of the consumers. It
shows how potential the target market is. Based on the facts found, Singapore has the
purchasing power parity or GDP of $120.9 billion (2004 est.), with GDP per capita of
$27,800 (2004 est.).It is even said that this GDP per capita is equal to those of Big 4 West
European country. It is also listed in the top countries with high GDP. Thus, we can say
that although our market is not a big one, but it is truly a potential one with strong
purchasing power or high income level.
3. Consumption Patterns:
Appendix B, Page 6
Appendix B, Page 8
To define the social development, we will consider the Physical Quality of Life
Index Singapore by looking at these 3 factors:
1) Life expectancy at birth - 81.62 yrs for total population
2) Infant mortality rate - 2.29 deaths/1,000 live births for total
3) Literacy rate 92.5% of total population
From these facts, we can see that Singaporeans life expectancy is high, infant
mortality rate is low with high literacy rate. Thus, we can conclude that Singaporeans
have high Physical quality of life or in other words, they have high living standards.
7. Regional Economic Integration:
Singapore is a participant in many international organizations around the world,
including ASEAN6 and APEC7. Thus, Thailand, also one of the members of these
organizations, has some positive relationships with Singapore based on their membership
agreements. Therefore, we can say that these conditions provide us with favorable
economic preferences to get into the market without high level of difficulty.
According to the above discussion of impact of each factor, we can conclude that
the economic environment of Singapore is providing us with positive conditions to enter
the market without restraints and restrictions.
Political Environment: 8
To analyze the effect on political environment, we will consider these following
determinants:
1. Intellectual Property Rights
As it is mentioned above in Economic Stability, it is said that Singapore has a
remarkably open and corruption-free environment. The statement shows that investors no
need to fear about Intellectual Property Rights or lack of safety for ownership of property
as in China.
2. Political risk
Appendix B, Page 9
Appendix B, Page 9
8
Appendix B, Page 12
7
There is low level of political risk in Singapore since it has highly-stable political
conditions. Thus, investors no need to worry about ownership risk, operating risk or
transfer risk. Though they are not completely gone, but still exist in some low level, it is
not having significant impact on companys opportunities.
3. Legal differences
In Singapore, English common law system is applied ad the formal legal system.
For Thailand, they also use Civil law system based on the fact of codification. But the
contents of the code are varied as the major legal system of the world. So, we can see
there is a major difference between two countries legal system, which we must aware of
when we are going to enter its market.
4. Trade Barriers
Since our home country and host country are members of ASEAN organization,
trade barriers such as the degree of impact of tariff and trade sanction are low. ASEAN
members agreed upon to reduce tariff on imported goods of other member countries.
Thus, this will be an advantage for us in entering this market.
Thus, due to these factors degree of impact, we can say that the influence of
Political environment on our business is at the moderate level. Anyhow, we can achieve
our goal by making use of opportunities available for us within the market as based on
advantage of being an ASEAN member.
Entry Strategy
Capital Rice Co. should use Direct Exporting strategy to enter to Singapore
market. Capital Rice Co. makes direct contact with company which is an agency
company is located in Singapore. The agency company can be Awards Consolidations
Services Pte Ltd9. Capital Rice Co. and Consolidations Services Pte Ltd should sign the
business contract with duration of 3 years to flexible in any change in policies, economies
in both countries. Moreover, Capital Rice Co. should use foreign sales representatives
rather than foreign distributors because foreign sales representatives do not take title on
the products, they just earn the commission and foreign distributors take title on the
products, earn profit. By that way, Capital Rice Co. can control the selling price also the
market distribution, etc., Rather, sales representatives should have the contracts with
9
http://www.awards.com.sg/
companies that define their commissions, assigned territories, length of agreements and
other detail.
Capital Rice Co. can use many communication tools to interact with intermediaries and
customers such as internet, advertising, sales promotion, etc.
Since the distance between Thailand and Singapore are not so far, Capital Rice
Co. can use the boat instead of airplane or other transportations to reduce the cost.
Moreover, the organic rice can keep for a long time, so the speed of transportation is not
importance. As the result, Capital Rice Co. can reduce the cost to achieve economies of
scale.
SWOT Analysis
SWOT can help you uncover opportunities that you are well placed to take
advantage of. And by understanding your weaknesses, you can manage and eliminate
threats that would otherwise catch you unawares. More than this, by looking at yourself
and your competitors using the SWOT framework, you can start to craft a strategy that
helps you distinguish yourself from your competitors, so that you can compete
successfully in your market.
Strengths:
The organic rice10 of Capital Rice Co. is the only organic rice in Thailand that has
been approach by IFOAM 11
The partners12are all skills in their field, possessing long years of experience in
price production, rice trading and distribution.
The partners are complementary.
Concerns with the regard to health and environmental conversation are well taken
care of.
The high degree of skills and the special production conditions required as an
affective barrier to entry for potential competitors.
Weaknesses:
High development and start-up costs, with regard to R&D, production and market
The product is a commodity and cannot be physically differentiated, which can
easily lead to confusion.
Capital Rice Co.s limited human resource might make it difficult to cope with the
potential big surge in turnover
Since the price of organic rice is higher than normal rice, so it just emphasizes on
the narrow types of customers who has averagehigh income and concern about
the health.
Opportunities:
As Singapore is a small country with high population density, land to produce is
very scarce, so that the demand exceeds supply. It leads to the market gap that the
company can exploit.
10
Appendix C, Page 18
11
Appendix C, Page 18
Appendix C, Page 19
12
The economy in Singapore is growing rapidly. So, the living standard of people
also increases. Hence, they concern more about the health. This is a good
opportunity for Capital Rice Co. to sell organic rice in Singapore.
Threats:
The concept of organic rice is very new with many people, so that difficulties will
arise in their acceptance by government and consumers
The production processes depend on natural factors that cannot easily be
controlled, including the outbreak of epidemics.
Organic rice could be a temporary fashion (even though this is unlikely)
Competitors Analysis
In Thailand: Thanyaluck International Co., Ltd 13
Strengths:
Thanyaluck International Co., Ltd has experience in export organic rice to many
countries such as Singapore, Canada, China, Europe, Hong Kong, ect.
It buys organic rice directly from the farmers, so that it can achieve the resources
with the lowest cost.
Weaknesses:
The website about the company and products is not enough information.
Moreover, customers cannot order products online through internet.
The brand equity of Thanyaluck International Co., Ltd in Singapore market is not
high. Therefore, it is very difficult to compete with Singapores companies or
Capital Rice Co.,
13
14
Appendix D, Page 20
Appendix D, Page 22
10
It was operated in 1930s, so it has a lot of experience in selling rice and the
customers in Singapore believe quality of its products.
Well-organization in distribution channel by providing the network of sellers in all
provinces of Singapore and achieve a wide rage of customers.
Created Home Direct service which provide free delivery and ensure the
customers that they will always get the freshest products delivered right to their
doorstep
Weaknesses:
See Ho Chan Pte Ltd has to import organic rice from Thailand and resell in
Singapore market. As the result, the cost would be high due to the transportation,
tax expenses, etc.,
Since the cost that spent for organic rice was so high, the company just imported a
limited quantity that was not enough to supply for its customers in Singapore.
Marketing Strategy
Target Market
To analyze whether out target market has favorable characteristics or not, we will
consider factors based on these dimensions:
1. Demographic perspective:
From the facts that we found, we can see that our target market, Singapore, has
very well-developing characteristics. The population is around 4 million with growth rate
of 1.56%15. And from the statistics, we can see that among different ethnic groups,
Chinese, Malaysians and Indian are the majority. People derived from these cultures
include rice in their main and common food. Also having higher birth rate over death rate
assures population growth. And result of higher population, food consumption will
15
Appendix B, Page 4
11
2. Geographic perspective:
Singapore is located in Southeast Asia and it constitutes islands between Malaysia
and Indonesia. It has an area of 692.7 sq km16 in total, of which 682.7 sq km17 is land. Its
climate is composed of hot and humid weather, but it is also rainy most of the time. Its
terrain is classified as low-land. Fish and deep water ports are only natural resource
available for Singaporeans. Among the land used area, 0% is for permanent crops,
meaning they have very low emphasis on agriculture and plantation. Thus, rice and other
crops are mostly or almost entirely, imported.
3. Psychographic perspective:
Because majority of people in Singapore are Buddhists 18, they do not have much
cultural differences with other Asian countries or Thailand. Thus, we believe there will
not be much difficulty in dealing with Singaporeans. And the statistics shows that they
have high literacy rate, meaning people are most likely to be open-minded. So, we can
assume that they are willing and open for foreign goods. From these facts, conclusion can
be made that there are less obstacles regarding culture difference and against-foreigngoods-actions in entering the market.
Product Strategy
Objective:
To be able meet world wide standard health issues
To fulfill customers satisfaction at the highest possible extent
16
Appendix B, Page 3
Appendix B, Page 3
18
Appendix b, Page 5
17
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1. Product type:
The companys main exporting product is rice, and has a lot variety of product
types. But, in entering Singapore market, we focus only one type of product, Organic
rice. And we will target only this product to get penetrated into this particular market.
2. Quality issues:
Capital Rice Company puts a great focus on quality of the product to satisfy its
customers. The global rice trade is very complex, especially regarding the differences
between standard and quality of the rice accepted by different countries. This has
prompted Capital Rice to make constant improvements and to move consistently into the
quality sector.
First grown in the highlands of northern Thailand at the village of Mea-loy in the
Tung-Lor valley, where fertile soil and rainfall are abundant, the organic rice produced by
Capital Rice is of premium quality and meets all EU standards 19. To guarantee the finest
quality, the complicated production process requires intensive care, as well as close
cooperation between Thailands Department of Agriculture and the Boagircoop20, an
Italian independent organic survey institution.
To provide a consistent supply of premium quality rice, the company also has
applied the most advanced equipment and most modern facilities in the production lines.
This includes a spacious wharf which can conveniently accommodate large ocean-going
vessels for direct and speedy shipment.
3. Design and Packaging:
The company provides its goods in colorful and attractive packaging. But,
packaging not only provides attractiveness, but also the
convenience of customers by offering different sizes.
Package size varies from 50kg pack,
25kg pack, 10kg pack and upto 5kg pack. Since the products
have to be delivered from one source to another and
19
Appendix E, Page 24
13
sometimes, even for long-time transportations, the packaging also serves as protection for
the product inside.
4. Branding:
Capital Rice Company uses and distribute its products under its common name
Cap Rice. But, for the organic rice, they produce it under two names, Thai-Thai and
Harvest, where the former is used for domestic market and the latter is for foreign
markets.
The firm uses this brand name so that it can particularize its products characteristics and
relates them to an attractive and clearly identifiable brand image. Once a brand has been
brought to customers attention, selling costs diminish because:
- Advertising attracts custom to the firms own brand rather than to attract class of
product generally
- Distributors and retailers are more willing to handle the goods on account of known
demand for the firms particular branded output.
Because we are selling our products to foreign customers via a long chain of distributors,
sale intermediaries and retailers, we need to ensure that our product retains its unique
brand identity right up to the moment of dales to final consumers.20
Price Strategy:
Objective:
To be competitive among rival firms within the market
To achieve significant market share of at least 20% in the end of year 2006
20
Refer to Trade marks and Branding , International marketing: Strategy, planning, market entry &
implementation
14
21
The strategy that firm combines a low price with aggressive advertising in order to gain larger share of
the market.
15
Internal factors
Product quality to set high quality, we need to have skilled force, advanced
technology and standardized raw materials, which will draw up our cost level
high enough, which in turn force us to set our price high. Thus, quality level of
the product has a direct effect on its price.
Labor factor in case that workers demand high salary and payments due to
social problems, there will be an increase in our cost structure. Thus, we must also
set our price high to cover the cost. Hence, this is also an influencing factor over
price,
Determining Price
In setting up a price, the company practices cost plus method. Here, we find out
all the costs incurred for a unit product and add our desired profit amount per unit to cost
to get unit product price. The desired profit amount is determined by applying mark-up
on cost which is in terms of percentage. But, this percentage amount of mark-up desired
will be varied according to the situation the company faces. If it needs to lower its
product price, they will reduce this percentage and if they demand high profit level, they
will use high mark-up on cost percentage.
Direct material cost per unit
Direct labor cost per unit
Factory overhead cost per unit:
Utilities
Rent
Insurance
Maintenance
---------------------------------------Total cost of production per unit
Selling price
16
INCOTERMS applied
The company applies two types of incoterms or export delivery systems in the
business. And the cost structure varies with each incoterm and price also varies. In each
business transaction, different incoterms are favored by different customers. Two types of
delivery system that the company applies are :
Cost and freight (CFR)22 - where the company pays for all the expenses
concerning transportation, but these exclude insurance cost.
Cost, Insurance and freight ( CIF ) 23 where the company pays for all expenses of
transportation , plus insurance.
Distribution Strategy:
Objective:
To provide] product availability in the market
To have an easy entering to the market
To make products reach to customers in easy way
4) To get easy access to market information
In entering Singapore market, we need to set up specific channels of distribution
which will support our marketing strategies to be effective. In this case, we are exporting
Thai organic rice to Singapore, where we have little market knowledge and experience.
Thus, we choose to allocate one Singaporean company as our long-term wholesaler. This
firm must be one that has reliable financing conditions and market knowledge. Through
this firm, we can distribute and push our products into the markets.
When dealing with this wholesaler, we are not going to let it take title over our
products. Thus, this wholesaler does not need to buy goods from us, but help us distribute
our products by earning commission fees. By applying this strategy, we still have control
over our products price and do not lack information regarding its condition in the market.
Also it means this wholesaler is not fully authorized to every function regarding our
22
The exporter pays all the transport charges ( excluding insurance, which is the customers obligation)
required to deliver good by sea to a named destination.
23
The same as CFR but includes the requirement that the exporter and not the customer insure the goods to
their final destination.
17
products and mostly control remains in our authority. This particular wholesaler will
again sell our products to wholesalers and retailers, such as super markets and other minimarkets. Then, our products will reach to customers or end-users though these retailers.
Following is a diagram showing channels of distribution applied:
Wholesaler
Capital Rice
Company
( in Thailand)
Wholesaler
(Consolidations
Services Pte Ltd
in Singapore)
Retailer 1
(super
market )
Retailers
Customers
or
End-users
(Singapore)
Retailer 2
( mini
market)
Promotion Strategy:
Objective:
To make our products well-known
To have a good start in entering this market
To maintain good relationships with both customers and sales intermediaries such
as wholesalers and retailers.
1. Discount strategy:
To apply promotion in entering this market for our product Organic rice, we
consider market factors. Singapore rice industry is a competitive market with a lot of
competitors both from Thailand and other countries as well. Since we are new to this
particular market, we need have effective promotion strategy to make our product known
by the customers in the market. Also to have a significant share in market is an essential
goal. Thus, the company decided to offer discounts for first operating months. During this
period, price will be lowered as a special offer for customers.
18
24
http://www.capitalrice.com
19
20
opportunity to get sale volume from organic rice that shows a better quality than
other country.
Our company gets the Best Exporter Award for Agricultural products and also
expands its presence in the international markets that it is going to be a high
opportunity for us to export in Singapore
21