TECHNOPRENEURSHIP MARKETING PLAN

GROUP MEMBERS:

NEWTON TAKAWIRA H160424R

KUDZAISHE CHISI H160038E

BRANDON MAWERE H160139H

TATENDA CHIPUNDO H160200F

LIZWE SIGAUKE H160357A

JUNIOR A MEREKI H160055E

KEITH T MAGAKA H160203W

ABEL KUSOTERA H160199E

TAKUNDA MUTUPURA H13114077L

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

COMPANY NAME : LOBELS

PRODUCT : BREAD

1.0 BACKGROUND

Lobels company is a leading competitive bread manufacturing company that was found by
Mr W.Lobel and Mr B.E.Lobel over 50 years ago in the 1940s. It is located in Harare and
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and works in food retailers and bakers business activities. It is a family
business and up to now it has Mr.J.Lobel as the head of the company. Lobels company is one
of the first companies to introduce the automation in the bread manufacturing industry as
back then bread production was done by hands. It started off producing simple bread and later
diversified into producing different types and kinds of bread. It now produces four types of
bread which are the prime white loaf, Wholemeal loaf, whole wheat loaf as well as the Hi
fibre loaf. Furthermore Lobels has also ventured into producing bread of different sizes like
the half roll loaves, half bread and the full sized loaf.

2.0MARKET OVERVIEW

As the companys mission statement says, We aim to be the best and innovative customer
oriented public listed company producing, manufacturing, distributing and retailing
uncompromised quality and value for money The Lobels bread market is entirely
Zimbabwean and hence the strategy has been and is focused on a strong aspiration to
contribute significantly to the growth of the Zimbabwean economy. The current market
situation for this reason creates a need for a marketing plan in order to enlarge the companys
market base. Like any other product, Lobels bread is aimed at producing quality products
and better save the population.

2.1 COMPETITION

Lobels faces its greatest competition from Bakers Inn, Plaza Bakery and Proton
Bread hence it holds a market share of 34.5 percent. Retail shops such as OK and TM
The competition is a result of other suppliers who have established a good market
base in certain areas for example Plaza Bakery located in Kwekwe has a good market
base in areas like Kwekwe, Gweru and Gokwe.
Bakers Inn is aiming to increase the market share to 50% by end of this year.
2.2 PRODUCTS
Lobels has a variety of tasty bread products which are super white bread, whole wheat
bread, low fiber bread.

2.3 DISTRIBUTION
Lobels has two operating plants in Harare and Bulawayo keeping a constant supply
of fresh bread daily to all the ten provinces of the country
The company has depots in Gweru, Chivhu, Mutoko, Kadoma, Murewa Mutare and
Masvingo
Distrubutes to over 200km outside Harare

2.3

2.4 MACRO ENVIRONMENT

High fuel prices have resulted in a huge increase of expenditure for the company
because deliveries to depots are made on a daily basis.
There is shortage of locally sourced flour and this has resulted in the importation of
flour.
The consumer demand has weakened because of the cash shortage in the country

2.5 MICRO ENVIRONMENT

Stiff competition from other suppliers for example Bakers Inn
The company is operating at 70 percent capacity utilization.
There is shortage of substantial workforce.
Customers tend to choose the brand with promotions

3.0 OPPORTUNITY AND ISSUE ANALYSIS

The analysis covers strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (S.W.O.T). Strengths
and weaknesses are generally internal attributes. Opportunities and threats are generally
external.

The current economic situation is unstable and with ever increasing technological
developments thus making it a perfect situation for survival of the fittest

3.1STRENGTHS

The company has years of experience and has made lot of profits and also it was well
known for its competence in the execution of jobs.
Lobels tends to adapt to better and new ways of advertising their product to increase
their profits as this product is basis of everyday life
 It has many branches of its organization which are located all over Zimbabwe. The
main ones are in Bulawayo and some are in Gweru.
The organization is well networked through having spent many years in the industry.
Semi auto-machinery which produces over 300 000 loaves
Lobels bread at most 4 days before getting stale and the introduction of half loaves

3.2 WEAKNESS

The industry does not have a proper team for marketing their product which makes it
weak in terms of marketing strategies.
2. The harsh economic situation has led to a downsized staff count hence the
operations are not running as efficiently as they should be.
3. Loss of highly technical and experienced personnel hinders development in the
organisation.
4. Also the company had few investments in terms of capital and poor handling of the
accounts led to it becoming bankrupt.
Failing to get tooling funds and support opperations.

3.3 OPPORTUNITIES

Due to increase in companies in the 2008 period, there was an increase in the
customer base hence theres a need for better marketing methods
With the world becoming a single global market theres a gap to enter the
international scene.
Consulting is becoming popular with most companies moving from employing full
time employees
For the industry to prosper, it should have branches all over the country so as to
increase product awareness.

3.4 THREATS

Theres well established competition from OTHER companies that can afford to lower
the cost of their services
With increase in uprising companies which sell bread it highly threatens the industry
as their product maybe liked by the people which may cause a drop in sales.
 In 2015 Bakers Inn sales improve to 36% increase sales volume which 340000 loaves
per day from 250 000 loaves which put their market share to 35%.

Lobels also faces threats from the government in the importation of flour which
allows only 25% importation outside the country and the rest made local and this
increases costs since the nations economy is degrading. Hence importations outside
the country are cheap. The company faces threats from Bakers Inn which is aiming to
producing 600 000 loaves a day which will hence increase the market share to 50%.
Also the Buy and Win Promotion of Bakers Inn in 2016 spured sales to 15% which
increased the market share to 44% to date. This has also been achieved by the use of
confectionery products.

4. OBJECTIVES

To increase market share from 34.5% up to 55%

To increase daily sales volume from 370 000 to 600 000.
To increase brand awareness , therefore reduce customer resistance in buying the
product by the end of year 2017.
To increase profits by the end of year 2017.
To target new customers by creation of a new distribution by the end of year 2017.
To improve good customer relations by end of year 2017.
To increases sales in the confectionery company