Whittaker's Case Analysis

3. Introduction

J.H. Whittaker and Sons is a confectionery company based in the Wellington suburb of Porirua. Whittaker’s long history in New Zealand has made the company stand out from other companies of its kind and the business has remained both family owned and operated since it was established in 1896. (Whittakers, 2011) Whittaker’s is renowned for the production of its superior quality chocolate products, with over ninety products in the Whittaker’s range currently for sale on shelves around New Zealand. Whittaker’s is a big player in the national confectionery market, currently holding more than a third of the New Zealand chocolate market share. (Crossley, 2013). In addition to its production of chocolate confectionery, Whittaker’s product range also includes a selection of ice creams and chewy confectionery bars.

This report will analyse J.H Whittaker and Sons internal and external business environment. In doing this, potential market segments will be identified with the intention of guiding Whittaker’s as to how they should communicate the benefits of their products to potential customers. Limitations occur in regards to the data collected throughout the report, as some of the most recent figures to be found on the Internet are from 2010. Therefore we must assume that these figures are still accurate to present day.

4. Situational Analyses

4.1 Market analysis

4.1.1 Market Size

Every year 120 million chocolate bars are sold in New Zealand with about 60 million of these produced by Cadbury and 40 million produced by Whittaker’s. (Margolin, 2014). The New Zealand chocolate market size equates to approximately $490 million dollars annually, with the average New Zealander consuming 4kg of chocolate confectionery ever...

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...y chocolate, premium chocolate and seasonal chocolate. (Morkel, 2014)

4.2 Competitor analysis

In New Zealand and around the world, the confectionery market is highly competitive. Whittaker’s largest domestic competitor is Cadbury, an international company also renowned for its production of chocolate products that currently holds around fifty percent of the domestic market share. (Adams, 2012) In addition to Cadbury, Whittaker’s competes for market share with other New Zealand based confectionery producers such as RJ’s and the Natural Confectionery Company. Because there is a large number of smaller, “emergent” firms in the market, it suggests there must be comparative advantage. (Coriolis, 2014) Most of these confectionery producers including Cadbury and Whittaker’s compete in the retail market, selling their products at supermarkets and other food retailers.