2015

Praxis Business School

Ayapparaj SKS

[POSEIDON EPICURE]
Managerial Communication Written Analysis and
Communication Assignment
1

Praxis Business School

Assignment No: 1
Written Analysis and Communication
Poseidon Epicure
A report
Submitted to
Prof. Charanpreet Singh
Executive Dean
Praxis Business School
In partial fulfillment of the requirements of the course
Managerial Communication
On 09-09-2015
By
S.K.S.Ayapparaj

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

Poseidon Sea Foods Pvt. Ltd.

09th September, 2015

To

Prof. Charanpreet Singh

From

Ayapparaj SKS

Subject:
I am enclosing my report on analysis of Problems faced by Poseidon
Sea Foods Pvt. Ltd., and the strategies to come over those problems.

Ayapparaj SKS

Executive Summary
Poseidons finished goods inventory has shot up to twice the normal
level. Mainly because they neglected the problem for quite some time,
new ships got added with latest technologies that will increase the
supply.
Situation here is to come up with a solution for this problem.
There are two problems one is temporary regarding inventory pile-up
and the other permanent problem of increase in supply in the near
future.
Profitable solution would be to drive additional sales without making
any problem to the pricing or with the rivals and for the future and to
introduce their product to the new regions taking advantage of their
brand image and quality.

[Total Word Count - 110]

Table of contents
SERIAL
NO.

CONTENTS

PAGE NUMBER

Situational Analysis

Problem Statement

Options

Criteria

Evaluation of options

Recommendation

10

Action plan

10

Exhibits

11

Situational Analysis
Poseidon is believed to be the most upmarket player in the $20 billion
industry and it has earned a reputation for producing the best quality
seafood.
Poseidon generated about 30% of its revenues by selling frozen and
processed fish products to U.S. grocery chains.
Poseidon had emerged as the supplier of choice to the best restaurants
as well as to the biggest cruise lines, which together accounted for a
third of the companys sales. Another 33% came from wholesalers
that distributed the companys products to restaurants all over the
United States. Approximately 4% of Poseidons sales came from a
fish market that the company owned and operated [1].
Poseidons Gold canned salmon, tuna, sardines, mackerel, herring,
and pilchard enjoyed a 30% higher price point, on average, than other
brands and Poseidons Gold lump crabmeat, anchovies, clams,
lobster meat, mussels, oysters, and shrimp commanded a 25%
premium over rival products[2].
Poseidons finished goods inventory has shot up to twice the normal
level. Stocks have risen because the company has added ships to the
fleet which could process catches more efficiently than before and
more over the new laws have reduced the access to fish near the coast,
because of which the inventories are going to keep growing unless
they do something radical.
If Poseidon sell some old ships and stuck to its plan of launching
ready-to-eat, fish-based meals, its inventory will soon fall to normal
levels. The over-all problem here is to tackle the present inventory
problem and to come up with the profitable solution to the increase in
supply in the future.

Problem Statement
Strategy to solve the inventory Problem which is already present and
the increase in supply in the future.

Options
Lowering the Price.
Introducing the Low price Brand (Poseidon Silver) in the same
market segment.
Introducing the Same Brand in New Regions.
Introducing a New Brand in the new market segment.
Approaching Private-label Markets with Lower price products.
Giving discounts to the 66%.

Criteria
Poseidon is serving the high-end market through quality goods,
investing in new technologies. Its hard earned brand equity is its
important asset. Solution should not cause problem for any of the
above and it should also provide profit to the company in a long run.

Evaluation of options
Lowering the price:
Temporary solution to tackle the inventory problem.
Reducing the price will be reactive and rivals bound to retaliate
with even deeper price cuts, and then they will be in a price war
none of them can afford.
Moreover trying to gain market share through pricing alone will
destroy the value they gained among the customers.

Introducing Low price Brand (Poseidon Silver) in the same

market segment:

Will get new customers.

Less expensive.
Can use the same product-line.
Reduction in inventory.
Damage to the Hard-earned brand equity.
It will move some old customers to low price markets and the
rest to move to the competitors product and it is like
cannibalizing your own product.

Introducing the Same Brand in New Regions:

New Customers.
Increase in market Growth.
Deals both the inventory and the excess capacity problem.
Increase in Business Value as it already has reputation
nationwide.
Can sustain its competitive advantage, good in the long run.
Initially it will cost more to introduce the product, getting
dealers, creating new market, etc.,

Introducing a New Brand in the new market segment:

Introducing the new product to the new market segment with
same quality and at a cheaper rate, will boost new segment
customers to try their product.
Tackles increase in supply in the future.
But it is like cannibalizing your own brand.
It has an advantage in the future of introducing
their gold line products to those segment
customers thereby expanding the premium base
in the future.

Approaching Private-label Markets with Lower price products:

Will tackle the current situation.

Good marketing can get you shelf space.

Your product needs to "sell itself" on the store shelf to do well in
a private-label program and it would be hard for a new brand,
particularly for a low-priced product that might go head-to-head
with the grocers own private-label offerings.
Giving discounts to the 66%:
Best way to tackle inventory problem without causing anything
worse to the current situation.
Since Poseidons product has
Increased shelf life
33% percent of its customers are from
Restaurants and to the cruise lines.
33% of its customers are wholesalers who
supply sushi bars to the restaurants.
They can give discounts to this segment as many customers will
come forward to buy more in quantity as the products have
increased shell life and also for the quality.
It could only post additional sales and not profit and moreover it
tackles the current situation better.

Recommendation

10

As I said before, Poseidon is facing two problems. Since they were

negligent about increasing inventory, solving the current problem will
be costly for them. If both problems handled properly, it will be a
great advantage for them to make profits in the future.
Solution for the temporary problem: Giving discounts to the 66%
Solution for the future problem:
Introducing the Same Brand in New regions.
Introducing a New Brand in the new market segment.

Action plan
Provide discount to the restaurants and wholesalers, it will
increase the sales for its quality and increased shelf life and it
can also bring more customers in that segment, thereby getting
rid of the inventory stock-up. They can also motivate restaurants
to introduce Fish-based-meals and Ready to eat items.
Introduce the same brand to the new region,
Do campaign with new ideas and give
Promotional Offers. They can use the
inventory in the warehouse for this.
Take advantage of the brand image and
introduce the brand.
Find appropriate dealers, grocers, shipment
for the new region.
Introduce the new brand at lower price with same quality in a
new market segment, thereby increasing the customer base in
that segment and later they may move to the gold line products
and the future holds good.
[Total Word Count 1038]

Exhibits

11

[1] Market Proportion for Poseidon

4%
30%
33%

Selling Frozen and

processed Fish to the U.S.
grocery chains
Supplying to the
restaurants and the cruise
lines
Supply to the wholesalers

33%

From Company owned fish

markets

[2] Price Point between Poseidon Premium Range products

and its Rival products