Return / Retour / Retorno New books Nouveaux livres

Author: Martin Hilmi Title: The Marketing of Organic Honey Pages: 244 Graphics: 63 E-book: Adobe Acrobat file (1.3 Mo by email) Price : 19 €   Exchange rate Order

TABLE OF CONTENTS	Page
Introduction	3
Introduction to marketing and the environment	9
Chapter 1 Marketing research	25
Chapter 2 Organic honey production	50
Chapter 3 Harvesting and Processing Organic Honey	63
Chapter 4 The Product	76
Chapter 5 Storage	95
Chapter 6 Distribution	103
Chapter 7 Price	135
Chapter 8 Promotion	158
Chapter 9 The food consumer	213

The book is targeted for Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), who operate in the honey industry. It covers an important aspect of the honey industry, that of marketing. This aspect is considerably undermined by many, who feel that the focus should be on production and then simply selling the outcome of production to customers. Certainly production is a very important aspect, especially in the case of organic honey, where procedures and process have to be respected, but equally important, marketing has to be considered and given the same importance. In this specific context what is covered in this book is the marketing of organic honey.

But what is meant by marketing? Marketing can be seen in two perspectives; the first perspective is that of carrying out all those necessary functions to make available a commodity or food product to consumers; it is a system. The second perspective is that of marketing as a philosophy, a way of thinking, that holds that above all comes the customer, and what the customer desires, should be delivered to them, on their terms. Hence we have a marketing system and a marketing philosophy. In the case of food, such as honey, the marketing system is really the entire food system; it starts with the nectar of flowers and trees and ends with the consumer. (In this particular case it goes further than the consumer, for we are concerned with what the consumer feels after having consumed organic honey, but also what the consumer does with the food product packaging i.e. what are the disposal patterns).

The food system / marketing system

As we can see from the previous diagram, the marketing system covers the entire spectrum of honey, from nectars to consumers. There as some important reasons why marketing should be seen in this perspective:

1. It is necessary to view the entire system, from nectars to consumers, as part of Marketing; nectars only become products if consumers like, want and accept them.

2. Looking at the entire system, from nectars to consumers, looks at all functions needed to be carried out in marketing terms, bridging into the marketing philosophy that holds that all parts of an enterprise need to be market oriented.

3. This holistic approach is fundamental for organic production and processes. It enables a careful verification of every phase in the process from nectars to consumers, hence each phases can be verified for environmental concerns. It will enable the "cradle-to-grave” perspective, which is required in the marketing of organic food.

4. The entire system should be seen as a biological system. Food comes from the natural environment, hence marketing food products, involves looking at all the phases of the process. This is especially important when looking at organic food, such as organic honey.

5. Being concerned with food, there is a necessity for insuring that quality of honey arrives in the consumers hands upheld, for example that honey has not been improperly handled, i.e. fermentation, contamination etc.

6. Seeing every phase of the system clearly will enable for a more accurate and focused cost evaluation.

7. Seeing every phase clearly will allow for improvements to be made in terms of better environmental performance and cost performance, rendering the system more efficient.

It is thus important in marketing to consider the whole process, from "cradle-to-grave”. Equally important is looking at marketing as a philosophy; the consumer comes first. If consumers are not interested in a food product or commodity, there is simply no food product or commodity. If consumers do not accept what has been produced, there will be no way in marketing what has been produced. It is this simple philosophy that needs to guide an enterprise in its decisions of what to market to consumers. Drucker, in 1958, expressed this concept clearly: "Marketing is not only much broader than selling. It is not a specialized activity at all. It encompasses the entire business. It is the whole business seen from the point of view of its final results, that is, from the customer’s point of view. Concern and responsibility for marketing must therefore permeate all areas of the enterprise”.

Clearly the focus being the entire enterprise applying marketing involves looking at some of the particular characteristics that pertain to micro, small and medium enterprises and limitations that this may bring to marketing. Typically the size of the enterprise is small. The majority of honey enterprise are typically owned and operated by one or two people, by a family, or by partners, this will affect management, decision-making and hence marketing. The lack of financial resources will put a strain on marketing. The lack of being able to hire specialists or expertise, due to the financial constraints will have an effect on marketing. Importantly the enterprise will be characterized by its owner /manager or entrepreneur, his or her cultural background, character, vision etc, will all have a strong influence on marketing. The lack of a formal structure and process in decision making will influence marketing, as the opportunistic, flexible, changeable and innovative decision making, typical of an entrepreneur will affect marketing.

In the marketing carried out by MSMEs, there is the strong influence of the owner/manager of the MSME, the entrepreneur. The entrepreneur will usually be the centralized power structure and have the final word in decision-making, this will inevitably influence the kind of marketing carried out by MSMEs. There are 7 entrepreneurial factors that will influence marketing:

1. Change-Focused. Entrepreneurs are always on the look out for new opportunities, this will entail decisions that are spasmodic and sporadic, constant innovation and frequent change of business direction. Typically MSMEs focus on small markets, but due to constant changes and opportunities in markets, a MSME, may change completely to a different market from where it was before.

2. Risk Takers. Entrepreneurs are high risk takers, and this factor will influence how they do business and hence marketing.

3. Motivation. Entrepreneurs are highly motivated "go getters” and this can be an excellent drive for the marketing of the firm, for example developing new products, entering new markets, and finding new customers.

4. Power and influence. Entrepreneurs have a lot of decision power and influence within the firm, this will heavily influence marketing. For example, the entrepreneur will not delegate important decisions. A further example is that via networking, contacts for marketing will be made and these contacts will be chosen by the entrepreneur him or her self.

5. Task orientation. Typically entrepreneurs are focused on determined tasks, they will focus on operational or tactical issues, which are of current importance and will not have a focus on the long term, for example renegotiation of prices with a client.

6. Generalists. Typically entrepreneurs will be involved in all activities of the firm, included that of marketing. This will make the marketing activity generalist, rather than specialist in nature.

7. Culture and background. Typically the culture and the background of the entrepreneur will influence enterprise marketing, for example the marketing carried out could be structured, aggressive, but haphazard.

The entrepreneur will heavily influence the management of the marketing activity. Being a generalist for necessity, the entrepreneur will probably chose the preferred aspects of marketing in a haphazard fashion; he/ she may focus on the product and the price, more than on marketing research, promotion and strategy planning in a formal manner. Typically this will create a unique marketing style typical of the particular firm. Other aspects of management may be that of analyzing marketing opportunities, via information gathering that is informal and not formally carried out by marketing research, as found in large enterprises. Typically closeness to customers will allow for good information collection, followed by informal analysis of opportunities, threats, strengths and weaknesses, but they will be heavily influence by the entrepreneur carrying out the marketing function.

MSMEs have marketing limitations, but there are advantages to this:

1. Loyalty. Due the small size of MSMEs and their work force, relationships within are informal and typically workers are motivated more by pride in doing their work then by economic incentives. This commitment and pride are great assets to the marketing function

2. MSME/Customer interface. Typically MSMEs serve local markets and channels of communication between the MSME and clients are short. It maybe that the owner/manager of the MSMEs, knows the customers personally, this enhancing customer trust and loyalty

3. Flexibility. Due to its small Size, MSMEs can respond better to customer requests and inquiries and changes in markets.

4. Speed of response. Typically MSMEs are very fast in their changes due to their closeness to customers and markets, and small organizational structure within.

5. Opportunity focused. MSMEs, being close to customers and markets can "grab hold” of opportunities faster and quicker than larger firms and concentrate on small markets that may be unprofitable for larger business organizations.

6. Easy access to market information. Typically MSMEs are close to markets and their customers; this will allow access to a great deal of information. This information will be collected using informal ways, such as conversations with customers, and owners of local retailers, carried out by the owner/manager.

Cleary the marketing carried out by MSMEs will be particular and may be different from what is known as conventional marketing or that as exposed in many text books on the subject matter. Here marketing is viewed in the wake of MSMEs.

The book is subdivided into various sections and chapters. The introduction chapter will look at marketing and the natural environment more in depth.

The first section is devoted to information gathering. Chapter 1 looks at how MSMEs can collect information, marketing research, from their markets, customers, competitors etc, to help them make more informed decisions, hence lowering the risk of making a bad decision. Information derived will enable enterprise’s to look at what customers there are in a particular market, segmenting, decide on which customers to serve, targeting, and how to make an enterprise’s offering different from that of competition, positioning. A part of the chapter will also be devoted to strategy.

The second section will look at the Organic honey production, harvesting and processing. In chapter 2 an organic production method will be introduced, that is a general guide line to organic honey production. Clearly as organic standards change, according to the country an enterprise is in, and to respect the natural environment of the particular country, it is not possible to cover all the specific standards and how they vary from country to country. A part of the chapter is devoted to the process of certification for organic production. In chapter 3 harvesting and processing are focused on, still proposing a general organic method.

In section 3, what will be considered is the marketing mix. The marketing mix is a set of tools that enterprise’s can use to pursue their marketing objectives. Typically the tools are the enterprise’s Product (chapter 4), how the enterprise decides to make the product available to consumers, distribute, (chapter 6), how an enterprise might want to promote its product, promotion (chapter 8) and how an enterprise may want to price its product, price (chapter 7). The elements of the marketing mix are typically referred to as the 4 P’s, Product, Price, Promotion, Place (distribution).

The last section looks at the typical profile of food consumers. In chapter 9, not only food consumers are analyzed and looked at, but importantly organic consumers are profiled and viewed.

This book derives from experience of working and studying in the food sector and a recurring problem that has always surfaced; simply the "lack” of how to get valued food products to market. Support is always found for production, processing, financing etc, but little support is found for the vital marketing function, and even less support is found for the marketing of organic products. The marketing function does change for marketing organic products and does depart from the traditional marketing function.

Admittedly the book is long and at times can get complicated, this has not been done purposely, so that you have to sit down and read for many hours and suffer! It is to give you a full picture of what marketing of organic honey is all about. As no one becomes an experienced beekeeper or entrepreneur over night, nor can you expect to become a good marketer over night. There are no magic wands included in this book!
If parts of this book do get a little bit over the top, I have purposely inserted my e-mail address, martinhilmi@hotmail.com, so that if in need, do not hesitate to contact me. Comments on this writing will also be much appreciated!

And 242 other pages...

Order the complete e-book

Realization / Réalisation / Realización   / Realisierung: Gilles RATIA Last update / Mise à jour / Actualizado el / Letzte Bearbeitung: 17/03/01 APISERVICES - Copyright © 1995-2005

Top of the page Haut de la page Alto de página Seitenanfang