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• Teaching Note | HBS Case Collection | March 2019

  Zespri Grows

  David E. Bell and John Masko

  Controlling about a third of global kiwifruit exports by volume and nearly half by value in 2018, Zespri was a grower-owned “corporatized cooperative” with the exclusive right to export New Zealand-grown kiwifruit (except to Australia). Zespri did not grow fruit, but rather managed an integrated marketing system across the value chain. This coordinated structure enabled Zespri to control quality, build a brand, and command premium prices in export markets. In 2018, Zespri had a strategic goal of marketing the world’s leading portfolio of kiwifruit year round, with a target of nearly doubling sales, to NZ$4.5 billion, by 2025. This would require Zespri to vastly increase its kiwifruit supply in New Zealand, as well as from overseas suppliers, who currently accounted for a relatively small portion of its volume. Rapid growth presented several challenges, including the need to preserve product quality and consistency while working with new growers, prioritizing customers and markets as demand outpaced supply, considering Zespri’s position vis-à-vis the crucial China market, and developing new capabilities as Zespri transformed from New Zealand-centric into a global organization. At the same time, the Zespri team aspired to launch new products that met consumer demand for sweeter taste and convenience—an increasingly urgent priority as global competition in kiwifruit intensified. Zespri had been the first to introduce a high-quality proprietary gold kiwifruit to the global market, and it continued to dominate the gold segment. Could it do the same in the emerging red-flesh category? As with many questions facing Zespri in 2018, there are risks of moving too fast as well as too slow.

  Keywords: Agribusiness; kiwi; kiwifruit; Agriculture; Global Supply Chain; branding; produce; coordinated industry structure; industry coordination; countercyclical supply; New Product Development; Product Strategy; differentiation; Food; Quality; Trade; Brands and Branding; Marketing; Strategy; Global Strategy; Change Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Globalization; Globalized Firms and Management; Competitive Strategy; Resource Allocation; Product Development; New Zealand;

  Citation:

  Bell, David E., and John Masko. "Zespri Grows." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 519-069, March 2019.  View Details

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• Teaching Note | HBS Case Collection | March 2019

  OCP Group

  Kristin Fabbe and Natalie Kindred

  Teaching Note for HBS No. 718-002.

  Citation:

  Fabbe, Kristin, and Natalie Kindred. "OCP Group." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 719-063, March 2019.  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | November 2018 (Revised February 2019)

  Almarai Company: Milk and Modernization in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

  Kristin Fabbe, Esel Çekin and Natalie Kindred

  With SAR 14 billion ($3.7 billion) in 2017 revenues, Almarai was Saudi Arabia’s largest dairy producer, distributor, and marketer, with a large portfolio of branded dairy products, juices, bakery goods, and infant formula and a sales presence across the Gulf region, Jordan, and Egypt. Almarai employed some 42,000 people across its operations, from its massive dairy farms to its processing plants to its vast sales and distribution operation that reached over 100,000 outlets. Notwithstanding its diverse portfolio, the core of Almarai’s business was (1) sales of branded fresh/chilled dairy products, (2) in Saudi Arabia, (3) distributed through the traditional retail channel made up of thousands of small neighborhood shops called bakalas. In October 2018, all three of these focal points were under pressure. Under the economic-restructuring programs of Saudi Arabia’s new crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, new taxes and subsidy cuts were squeezing household budgets. Concurrently, changes to other government policies were causing expatriates—who made up about a third of Saudi Arabia’s population and were a key consumer of Almarai’s dairy products—to leave the country in droves. This case finds Almarai’s management team, led by soon-to-retire CEO Georges Schorderet, debating how the company can defend and grow its position in Saudi Arabia while also finding new sources of future growth (e.g., bringing its production model to new markets with fragmented dairy sectors or entering new product categories such as fish or ice cream). The decision of how to move forward will be based on an assessment of Almarai’s strengths, how they can be best used to drive future growth, and how relevant they will remain in a market that is changing so dramatically. The note “Saudi Arabia: A Brief Background" (HBS 719-043) is essential supplementary reading for this case.

  Keywords: Dairy; Agriculture; Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Almarai; Schorderet; food security; public policy; self sufficiency; Gulf; GCC; Business and Government; Agribusiness; Marketing; Distribution; Change Management; Leading Change; Strategy; Government and Politics; Policy; Diversification; Integration; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Food; Brands and Branding; Growth and Development Strategy; Business and Government Relations; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Saudi Arabia; Middle East;

  Citation:

  Fabbe, Kristin, Esel Çekin, and Natalie Kindred. "Almarai Company: Milk and Modernization in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia." Harvard Business School Case 719-020, November 2018. (Revised February 2019.)  View Details

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