Table of Contents

1. Executive Summary        3
2. Company Overview        4
3. Objectives & Goals        5
4. SWOT Analysis        6

1. Strength                                                                                                                   
2. Weakness
3. Opportunities
4. Threats

5. Segmenting, Targeting, Positioning        8

1. Segmentation
2. Targeting
3. Persona
4. Positioning
5. Perceptual Maps                 

6. Product Strategy        11

1. Need of Target Customers
2. Main Features
3. Packaging
4. Branding
5. Warranty

7. Distribution  Strategy        13

1. Channel
2. Transportation
3. Channel Management

8. Promotion Strategy        15        

1. Pull
2. Push        

9. Pricing Strategy/Financials        19
10. Qualtric Analysis        21
11. Appendix        29
12. Works Cited        31

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.0

SLO Veg is a family owned business that is currently in their 10th year of serving as the direct link between SLO county’s farmers and local consumers. SLO Veg offers a weekly or biweekly door delivery service, specializing in boxes filled with local, fresh produce grown by farmers in the greater San Luis Obispo Area.

The produce boxes promote SLO Veg’s goal of making healthy eating convenient, economical, and sustainable. However, alongside the influx of citizens in the SLO area comes the need for parallel adjustments in order to maintain or increase profits. SLO Veg is considering raising their prices to match their competitors. They are also considering releasing a “college box” at a lower price, providing a lighter assortment of produce for students with a smaller buying power. A major challenge for SLO Veg is promoting their service to the Cal Poly campus, specifically students housed on campus. After analyzing their internal and external strengths and weaknesses, our plan for SLO Veg encompasses strengthening and expanding its presence on campus at Cal Poly, in hopes to ultimately increase their number of student subscribers substantially from the 36 current subscribers.

2.0 COMPANY OVERVIEW

2.1 Description

SLO Veg is a produce home delivery service that delivers a variety of produce boxes to subscribers in different cities throughout the Central Coast, reaching from Paso Robles to Nipomo. The company acts as an intermediary between local farmers and the consumer; they collect, build, and distribute fresh produce boxes to their clients. The convenience of having a produce box delivered right to your door eliminates the burden of produce shopping and allows subscribers to spend more time doing other things.

2.2 Mission Statement

The mission of SLO Veg is based on their heightened sense of community and sustainability. Community and sustainability is interlinked within SLO Veg’s advocacy of healthy produce, healthy businesses, and healthy relationships with local farmers.

SLO Veg serves as a direct link between local farmers and the consumer, which aids communal sustainability. Dollars spent at local businesses returns about three times as much money into the local economy than chains,^[1] which results in healthier businesses, increased employment opportunities and economic growth for this community.         

Produce delivered by SLO Veg is healthier than "Supermarket produce” that travels an average of 1500 miles from the farm to your dinner table. The farmers that have partnered with SLO Veg are located between Goleta and Coalinga so the produce is at the subscriber’s doorstep within 48 hours of being picked on the farm. By buying local, the demand for trucking produce into SLO County decreases and the demand for local farmers increases, ultimately benefiting the community.

2.3 Background 

SLO Veg is a locally owned, family run business with a passion for promoting local foods. Rachael Hill, founder and CEO of SLO Veg, strives to highlight the importance of eating local and supporting local business. With Hill’s passion for sustainable, ethical, and healthy produce, she created SLO Veg, which values a “farm to table” mindset of knowing where, how, and when produce is harvested.

2.4 Competitive Advantage 

For the past 12 years, SLO Veg has maintained similar paths in collecting and delivering hand picked produce from farmers. What distinguishes SLO Veg from others is its transition into a company that not only shares partnerships with local farmers, but florists, fish dispensaries, and olive oil companies, further demonstrating their commitment to unite the community by eating local and healthy. Partnering with local businesses provides a point of differentiation between SLO Veg and other local competitors,  such as Talley Farms. This allows for a more customizable box while still eating healthy and supporting the community.

3.0 OBJECTIVES & GOALS

3.1 Overall Objective

SLO Veg’s objective is to continue making eating local produce convenient despite people’s busy lifestyle. By offering a produce delivery service, SLO Veg is an easy and economical way to get fresh produce weekly. With the differing box sizes, SLO Veg makes an effort to reduce waste by  giving consumers enough produce for a week.  They also eliminate the carbon emissions produced by everyone driving to the grocery store all the time.

3.2 Marketing Plan Goal

Through this marketing plan, University Mergers aims to increase SLO Veg’s box subscriptions on Cal Poly’s campus by 50% by the end of Winter 2018. This goal will increase awareness of SLO Veg on campus, allowing other students to follow the trend of signing up. This plan will discuss how SLO Veg can accomplish their goal through mass advertising on the Cal Poly campus, revamping its social media and website, and promotion through box pricing and design.

4.0 STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, OPPORTUNITIES, THREATS

4.1 Strengths

Convenience: SLO Veg is convenient because it offers customers an alternative way of getting produce without having to go to the store. The combination of convenience and SLO Veg’s affordability makes it a competitive and efficient alternative to grocery shopping.

Values: Being local and family owned, SLO Veg is internally strong because they exemplify the communal culture that San Luis Obispo upholds. They value working with different organizations in the community and establishing partnerships that benefit both the consumer and the company.

Sustainability: Their partnerships with a variety of local growers makes SLO Veg substantial and reliable because San Luis Obispo’s fertile soil allows the farmers to grow sustainable crops. SLO Veg’s efforts to be environmentally conscious make them a competitive business desirable for consumers who care about the environment.

4.2 Weaknesses

Advertisement: SLO Veg is a small business with minimal advertisement. Its services are primarily unknown on Cal Poly’s campus, shown by comparing their 36 on campus subscribers^[2] to the 66% of students at Cal Poly who are definitely interested in their services.^[3]  This lack of on campus awareness results in a lack of credibility and loss in opportunity for sales.  SLO Veg needs to be more particular in their target market in order to increase sales. By taking on a differentiated market strategy, they could cater to their three of the biggest markets in SLO according to the owner Rachael Hill: Cal Poly students, affluent families, and senior citizens.  A website creates a first impression of a web-based company, and the website has low visual appeal. The website’s home page is busy and confusing which can result in customers not trusting the business. Their social media platforms aren’t getting the exposure they need to reach their target audience. More exposure to their target markets via social media will benefit the brand awareness of the business, especially to the highly uniformed Cal Poly population.

4.3 Opportunities

With close to half of San Luis Obispo’s population being Cal Poly students, and only 36 of them being current SLO Veg subscribers,^[4] there lies a substantial amount of opportunity for SLO Veg in targeting the University. in  Freshmen living in PCV or Cerro Vista who can cook but cannot drive to the store can benefit from SLO Veg’s delivery service. Out of the 100 Cal Poly students surveyed who live on campus, 52% of them find it difficult to find time to go to the store for fresh produce, and can benefit from SLO Veg delivery service. San Luis Obispo is already a health conscious community and with the current trend of healthy eating being popular among college students, there is a large potential market. SLO Veg needs to target this market better, through advertisement at local gyms or the Cal Poly Rec center. Millennials are creating major shifts in the food industry since they gravitate towards natural foods and delivery services and have much less brand loyalty, causing them to engage in different distribution models to find food. This generation is not afraid to purchase food online and to look outside of the traditional grocery store to find what they want.”^[5] 

4.4 Threats

With e-commerce on the rise, SLO Veg faces a number of large scale, well funded competitors such as Hellofresh, Amazonfresh, Talley Farms, Farmbox Direct and Blue Apron.^[6]  Because SLO Veg sources its produce locally and doesn’t have a large portfolio, SLO Veg ability to deliver its product is very dependent on a good harvest.  A bad harvest is a potential threat that could significantly harm their business.

5.0 SEGMENTATION, TARGETING, POSITIONING

5.1 Segmentation

SLO Veg’s world of prospective customers is divided into two groups. The two groups are on campus college students aged 18-25 and families with parents/legal guardians aged 46-65.

Of all the adults that purchase online groceries in the last 6 months, 24.97% are between the ages of 18-24. In the past 6 months their counterpart of families with legal guardians/parents aged 45-64 are only 17.79% of the market.^[7] 

Additionally, college shoppers aged 18-24 are 28.8% likely to grocery shop once a week; their counterpart, affluent families, is 30.1% likely to go grocery shopping once a week.^[8]

The data suggests an above average willingness in the 18-24 age range of college students to implement a vegetable delivery service into their grocery regime. This makes the 18-24 college students an attractive target market for SLO Veg.

5.2 Targeting

SLO Veg focuses on the “Scholar and Patriots” Esri Tapestry Segment as the target market for this product. Scholar and Patriots have a median household income of $28,000, and often times college aged kids with a limited income try to focus their money on necessities.^[9]

Of this market segment, SLO veg specifically targets on campus students living in Poly Canyon Village and Cerro Vista who are  44% more likely to buy a subscription box than off campus or traditional dorm students.^[10]

On campus students in PCV or Cerro are part of this demographic. Socioeconomically, they do not eat the healthiest foods, nor do they see a doctor regularly. Without having a car, their nearest access to off campus produce is inconveniently over a mile away.  These students do not have the means to eat the way they wish do, and SLO Veg can solve this problem.

5.21 Persona

Peyton is a 18 year old freshman, living with 5 other roommates in the Cerro Vista Apartments. He does not have a car on campus and he has only $1180 plus dollars, $400 less than his friends that live in traditional dorms. He has a desire to cook; however, the grocery markets on campus have a lackluster amount of produce and the produce that is available is highly overpriced. Peyton had a healthy diet in high school and students of his age range are more likely to pursue healthy eating habits, which he feels hindered from due to difficulty accessing produce at an affordable price. For these reasons, Peyton is the ideal customer for SLO Veg.

5.3 Positioning

SLO veg enters the produce subscription market with competition from Amazon Fresh and Farmbox Direct. However, 80% of our target market has an inclination towards companies associated with San Luis Obispo.^[11] Qualtrics data supports that the target market rates SLO Veg higher in sustainability than its  competitors, because SLO Veg gets all of its products from farms in the San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles area, allowing it to be fresher and more seasonally oriented than its competitors.^[12]

SLO Veg’s Promotions offers convenience, affordability, and flexibility when it comes to their delivery service. They offer door delivery, they have a $10 referral program to lower the price for new and existing customers, and they work with their customers by delivering on days they request.

Furthermore, according to our qualtric data, 74.53% of people are highly concerned with flexibility, convenience and affordability.^[13]  These are all matters that are expressed as areas of importance by our target audience. SLO Veg ranked higher than its competitor in those 3 areas, this is vital to SLO Veg’s success.

POSITIONING MAPS

Figure 5.1

Figure 5.3 (Qualtrics)

Figure 5.3 (Once We Implement Plan)

6.0 Product Strategy

6.1 Needs of Target Customers

SLO Veg provides a more convenient alternative to purchasing groceries. This service saves time and is more efficient for its target customers by eliminating the time and effort required for purchasing fresh produce.

6.2 Main Features

SLO Veg offers pre-packaged boxes of vegetables grown by San Luis Obispo County farmers. Four different sized boxes are available for delivery to customers’ doorsteps on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. SLO Veg’s mission to be sustainable and community oriented ties into the values of the customer. Customers can receive high quality produce and while supporting a local business and re-circulating money within the San Luis Obispo community. The product also fulfills the target customer’s need for convenience by delivering to their doorsteps, saving them time that would have been spent at the grocery store. Home delivery is a fast growing trend in grocery shopping, and SLO Veg combines this convenience to consumers along with the satisfaction that they are eating healthy through supporting a sustainable, ethical, and local business.  

6.3 Packaging

SLO Veg makes conscious efforts to use sustainable packaging.  The packaging is a direct reflection of its product: local and sustainable. SLO Veg’s use of their local farms farm boxes demonstrates the locality of the produce customers are receiving. This aligns with SLO Veg’s positioning strategy, emphasizing locality.  SLO Veg has multiple sizes of boxes, including: Itty Bitty (Serves 1 person), Small (Serves 1-2 people), Medium (Serves 2-4 people) and Large (Serves 3-5 people).

Although SLO Veg’s target market values sustainable packaging, qualtrics data taken from a survey of 100 Cal Poly campus residents concluded that 68% of respondents would be more likely to purchase a box if it was specifically branded to SLO Veg.^[14] In order to increase brand awareness, it is recommended that SLO Veg creates custom harvest boxes. SLO Veg should continue to utilize sustainable packaging however incorporating its brand in external packaging will benefit overall success.

6.3.1 Box Example

Figure 6.0 below represents an example of branded SLO Veg produce box. Consumers value a specialty box to have produce delivered in; utilizing the company’s logo as well as incorporating a green box will fulfill this need and increase brand exposure.  

Figure 6.1

6.4 Branding

One of SLO Veg’s strongest branding opportunities is to emphasize the fact that it is a local business.  Among U.S. adults 18 and up, 53% of respondents to a survey of 2,271 people said they, especially seek out locally grown or locally produced foods^[15].  Spending money at local businesses and supporting the community is valued for the target market. SLO Veg can emphasize the “SLO” aspect of its name to market its product as local.  This has been a common tactic by retailers, foodservice operators, and food marketers.  In their market, “‘local” has become a shorthand descriptor that makes food sound high quality, fresher, more authentic, trustworthy, environmentally friendly, and supportive of the local community.^[16]

6.5 Warranty

SLO Veg guarantees fresh items, but if an item goes bad the day of delivery, SLO Veg will replace the item that very day, helping build strong customer loyalty. When a customer cancels, SLO Veg automatically offers a personalized tailor box, so clients can pick and choose the produce they want which pulls customers back in. This helps SLO Veg retain customers and helps resolve issues they may have with the boxes.

7.0 DISTRIBUTION (PLACE) STRATEGY

7.1 Channel Strategy

SLO Veg works to purchase produce, spices, fish, and olive oil from a variety of distributors in order to package and sell of their boxes to consumers.  Although they follow a business to consumer strategy with the delivery of their boxes straight to the clients front door, they purchase their merchandise from a variety of farmers (distributors) in San Luis Obispo.  SLO Veg acts as an intermediary. Produce flows straight from the farmers to SLO Veg to the consumer.  Subscriptions and orders are placed online through the SLO Veg website.

7.2 Transportation

SLO Veg has their operations and warehouse managers deliver straight to the customer based on the different times requested to have the produce arrive. This creates inefficiency and costs SLO Veg not only time, but gas money.

Figure 7.1

SLO Veg has different days of delivery for different locations in the greater San Luis Obispo area, such as Los Osos (Thursday), Nipomo (Tuesday), Atascadero (Wednesday).

Figure 7.2

SLO Veg distributes through a commercial van without any kind of advertisement or logo. Boxes are packaged and placed in the travel van at the warehouse every morning. SLO Veg’s driver follows a route to drop off designated boxes at customers doorsteps. In order to increase efficiency, Rachel Hill mentioned implementing a zoning system in which boxes are delivered to certain parts of the county on specific days.^[17]  This would allow for better time management, gas conservation, and efficiency, which reduces emissions, preserving the environment by () She is also considering creating a communal drop off zone where customers can pick up their boxes for a lower price.^[18] Students at Cal Poly in the age range of 18-25 would prefer an option to pick up their produce box from a communal location for a lower price.^[19]  This provides an economical alternative to dropping the boxes off at student’s doorsteps that increases profit per box for SLO Veg by eliminating delivery costs.  It also opens the option for SLO Veg to increase the price of their boxes for home delivery.

8.0 PROMOTION STRATEGY

8.1 Pull Strategy

SLO Veg can rely on a variety of pull strategies such as increasing media presence and improving community outreach. In order to reach more of the target market, SLO Veg can connect with the Cal Poly Parents page, the Cerro Vista and PCV apartment pages, and student pages on Facebook. SLO Veg has seen great success through advertisements in local newspapers and magazines such as the SLO Tribune, Mustang News, and SLO Life. SLO Veg can extend its pull strategy by placing posters around campus housing and the Rec Center and get exposure to a large number of students. Posters are powerful advertising tools because they propel the viewer to take action as soon as possible.^[20] A branded box acts pulls customers in by Coming up with a new logo coloration or image, creating a slogan for people to share and remember, and setting up booths around campus to give samples and share their business with students would be beneficial for the growth of the company.  SLO Veg also has opportunities in personal selling through partnering with the Cal Poly Real Foods Collaborative club to showcase themselves as an organization and what its product offers in terms of price and substance.

8.1.1 Example of logo

Figure 8.1

The logo design in Figure 8.1 incorporates the values SLO Veg holds true to and also sprouts from some creativity.  SLO Veg is focused on creating a sustainable produce shopping culture,^[21] which is exemplified through the word “Sustainable”.  They are also dedicated to the locality of their produce, which falls in line with the world “Local”.  On top of this, 69% of students at Cal Poly are more likely to buy locally grown produce,^[22] so this appeals to the target market.  Lastly, the world “opportunities” exemplifies the opportunities that SLO Veg customers will have with the time they are no longer spending shopping!  This vegetable car design incorporates some fun and creativity as well, which when incorporated on the SLO Veg box, Cal Poly students are 68% more likely to buy.^[23]  More about the proposed new logo can be found in Appendix 11.3.

8.1.2 Example of promotion posters to be placed in on campus housing:

Figure 8.2

8.2 Push Strategy

8.2.1 Push Strategy Off-Campus

SLO Veg can advertise its subscription services with partnerships at the San Luis Obispo Farmer’s Market. The company embodies a business to consumer distribution channel.  Their target market already purchases produce at farmers market; by directly advertising the subscription service alongside the farmers that grow for them, SLO Veg will further promote their service. By attending trade shows SLO Veg can also develop their business. Opportunities for networking and building strategic partnerships will give SLO Veg the necessary edge needed in order to compete with bigger companies in the market.^[24] Currently, SLO Veg has alliances with a variety of local businesses throughout San Luis Obispo, further branding the company and public exposure. Partnerships include Dockside in Morro Bay, Rock Front Ranch, and One Cool Earth. Both Dockside and Rock front Ranch contribute to the SLO Veg boxes by distributing their products in each of the produce boxes. Customers have the option of adding on fresh fish or local honey to their weekly box. Creating strategic partnerships with other local businesses is vital for the success of SLO Veg when having to compete against larger competitors.

        8.2.2 Push Strategy On-Campus

To promote these boxes on campus, SLO Veg should hire an on-campus ambassador or intern, who would make tabling and promoting on campus much easier.  “Outside of the pharmaceutical and liquor industries, most companies can have a positive experience using brand reps at universities.”^[25]  Seamless, an online food and delivery company in New York City, implemented an on-campus ambassador program as they tried to expand into new markets in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and various other cities.  Their on-campus ambassador program increased their monthly online orders by 320%.^[26]  Referring to the data retrieved in a qualtrics survey that studied Cal Poly Students, specifically 66% of students who responded saying they would definitely be interested in SLO Veg’s services,^[27] SLO Veg could see similar results with if they hire on-campus ambassadors.  

The brand ambassadors would market primarily through Facebook on Cal Poly class Facebook pages, since 72% of respondents to a Qualtrics survey given to Cal Poly Students said they would expect to hear about SLO Veg on a Facebook page.^[28]  Other on-campus marketing mediums like tabling and posters can be explored as well.  The brand ambassadors will also distribute the veggie boxes via a communal pickup at the University Union on campus, since 63% of the target market would rather pay less for a box with a pickup here than pay more for a door delivery service.^[29]

8.3 Strategic Alliances

SLO Veg has alliances with a variety of local businesses throughout San Luis Obispo, further extending their brand and public exposure. Partnerships include Dockside in Morro Bay, Rock Front Ranch, and One Cool Earth.  More local specialty products from these partnership contribute to the differentiation of SLO Veg from larger competitors, which can help them be more successful.  It also opens them up to new markets, as these other companies already had a market.  Asking these companies to promote SLO Veg to their customers could help SLO Veg expand their subscriber base.

9.0 PRICING STRATEGY AND FINANCIALS

9.1 Pricing Strategy

Costs for the company lie primarily in purchasing produce from farmers, packaging, and delivery. SLO Veg bases the prices of its boxes on other competitors in the market. Boxes are priced based off the quantity of produce they hold and the addition of optional items (fish, olive oil, honey, and flowers).  While SLO Veg is profitable with their current prices, through changing their prices they can increase revenue and attract new customers.  Sections 9.1.2 and 9.1.3 further explain what University Mergers suggests SLO Veg does to better their pricing strategy.

9.1.1 Current Prices

The current SLO Veg prices as found on their website are listed below

Figure 9.1^[30]

9.1.2 Proposed Prices 

The proposed SLO Veg prices are listed below.  These prices increase SLO Veg’s profit margin on each box and offer the option for subscribers to pick up their boxes at a lower cost.  This pricing strategy is based on Hill’s claim that SLO Veg can increase its prices by $7 and remain competitive,^[31] and the fact that Talley Farms, SLO Veg’s main competitor, is still priced significantly higher, whose delivery service is priced at $42.^[32]  It is further supported by calculating the discount for intent from a qualtrics survey sent out to Cal Poly students.  The result of these calculations (in appendix 11.1) shows that higher priced boxes will bring in more revenue.  

Figure 9.2^[33]

This strategy also includes an option for subscribers to keep their costs the same and pick up their box instead, which could prevent subscribers from canceling their subscription.  It separates those who subscribe for the both produce and delivery from those who subscribe solely for the produce, and offers the latter the option to save money on delivery.  This could both incentivize more people to subscribe and retain subscribers during the transition of price.

Figure 9.3

9.1.3 Additional Box Price

To expand SLO Veg’s subscription base on Cal Poly’s campus, SLO Veg should add two additional delivery only boxes specially for college students.  One box for a single student and one box for a student and their roommate to share.  By doing so, they can target the college student market with a box specially made for them, and offer them a smaller box at a lower price which they would be willing to pay.  Using price discrimination and charging students less for a “student discount box” can also bring in more customers because businesses that offer student +discounts often enjoy the luxury of boosted revenue.^[34]  Students are more likely to buy products that have “student discounts” than they are to buy those without.^[35]

Based on a qualtrics survey taken on Cal Poly students, SLO Veg should price their college box for a single person at $25 and their student share box at $45.   A discount for intent calculation will show show that these prices will provide SLO Veg with the largest revenue stream.  Also, since 59% of people would be willing to pay $45 for a shared box and 74% of students would be willing to pay $25 for a single box, the price is fairly inelastic and should not deviate far from the suggested prices.  The results from our qualtrics to support this pricing are shown in the two graphs below.

“Q10 - How much would you be willing to pay for a weekly or biweekly Vegetable box delivery contained a weeks worth of produce to share with a roommate?”

Figure 9.4^[36]

“Q9 - How much would you be willing to pay for a weekly or biweekly Vegetable box delivery contained a weeks worth of produce for 1 person?”

Figure 9.5^[37]

9.2 Financials

9.2.1 Marketing Plan Cost Breakdown

University Mergers recommends that SLO Veg allocate $6,000 to a new marketing plan to reach a new market of students on Cal Poly’s campus.  The breakdown of these costs is listed below. 

Figure 9.6

Qualtrics data concluded that 68% of consumers in the target market are more likely to buy a SLO Veg box in packaging with SLO Veg’s logo.^[38]  It is suggested that $3,050^[39] is utilized to order 750 specialized produce boxes to increase branding and satisfy customers values.  This comes out to just about $4 per box.  This is an initial cost SLO Veg will incur to run a Beta test on the new packaging.  Based on customer feedback and the number of new subscribers that are attained during this test, SLO Veg can decide to continue incurring the cost of this specialized box or to go back to their current boxes.

Part of the budget is dedicated to re-designing SLO Veg’s website to make it more modern and user friendly. 66% of the target market says that a company’s website design affects their willingness to buy their product.^[40]  The budget for contracting out a new website design will be $2,000^[41].  This aim of this is to add value to SLO Veg’s product through having a more efficient, user-friendly and professional website that will draw more customers into SLO Veg’s services.

The remaining $950 will be allocated to launching an on-campus brand ambassador program.  These ambassadors will be compensated at the discretion of SLO Veg and their primary responsibilities will be advertising on campus and distributing SLO Veg student boxes to subscribers on campus.  

Figure 9.7

9.2.2 Income Statement

Figure 9.8

Figure 9.9

10.0 QUALTRICS ANALYSIS

10.1 Demographics and Importance

Figure 1

Figure 1 shows how the target market views SLO Veg’s attributes compared to its competitors. This shows that SLO Veg outranks its competitor, Talley Farms for all five major attributes. The most important attributes are convenience and flexibility.  While SLO Veg outranks Talley Farms, it only does so by a small margin.  SLO Veg needs to focus on increasing this margin to stay competitive^[42].         

Figure 2

Figure 2 shows how the survey respondents within age range of SLO Veg’s target market views their attributes compared to its competitors. Similarly to the overall survey results, respondents ranked SLO Veg higher than its competitor Talley Farms, in all categories (Qualtrics, 2017)

10.2 Pricing

Figure 3: Would you buy SLO Veg for $26

Figure 3 shows what the target market would be willing to pay for a SLO veg box made for a single person. It is shown that the majority of the respondents would be willing to buy a SLO Veg box at the price of $25 (Qualtrics, 2017).

Figure 4: Would you buy shared SLO veg for $42

Figure 4 shows what the target market would be willing to pay for a SLO veg box made to be shared by two people. It is shown that the majority of the respondents would be willing to buy a sharable SLO Veg box at the price of $45 (Qualtrics, 2017).

10.3 Packaging and Distribution

Figure 5: Would you prefer direct delivery to dorm or communal University Union pickup?

Figure 5 shows where the target market would prefer to pay for delivery service of SLO veg. 63% of respondents would rather pay less for a communal University Union pickup.

Figure 6: SLO Veg is company that delivers fresh produce to your door in reused farmers boxes, would you be more likely to purchase their produce box if

Figure 6 shows that 68% of the target market is more likely to buy a SLO Veg box if it was packaged in an official “SLO Veg” box with a creative logo and fun design. Likewise, 28% of the target market would be more likely to buy a SLO Veg box if it was packaged in a reused farmers box with a SLO Veg Sticker of Stamp on it.  Only 4% of people would be most likely to buy a SLO Veg box in its current state.

10.4 Convenience

Figure 7

Figure 7 displays the views of students on Cal Poly’s campus on the accessibility of healthy food.  79% of students find healthy food either not accessible at all or accessible but inconvenient.  Both of these issues with the accessibility of healthy food can be solved with SLO Veg’s services.

        Figure 8

Figure 8 shows the distribution of Cal Poly students who find it inconvenient to go to the store and buy produce.  91% of students find it inconvenient, and 57% of them do not go to the store because of the inconvenience.  This inconvenience can be avoided with SLO Veg’s services.

Figure 9

Figure 9 displays the proportion of students at Cal Poly who would be interested in paying to have a fresh produce box delivered to them on campus.  66% of students would definately be interested and another 29% of students would possibly be interested in this.

10.5 Locality

Figure 10

Figure 10 displays the type of produce students at Cal Poly are more likely to buy.  69% of students said they would be more likely to buy produce that is locally grown, which falls in line with SLO Veg’s produce box since their produce comes straight from local farmers.

Figure 11

Figure 11 shows the proportion of Cal Poly students who are more inclined to buy a product that is associated with the San Luis Obispo community.  80% of respondents would be more inclined to buy a product if the company was associated with the San Luis Obispo community.

10.6 Online and Social Media Marketing

Figure 12: Where would you expect to hear about SLO Veg

Figure 12 shows where the target market would expect to hear about SLO Veg.  72% of respondents expect to hear about SLO Veg primarily through Cal Poly Facebook pages over Mustang News.        

Figure 13

Figure 13 shows the proportion of Cal Poly students whose willingness to buy a product from a company is affected by a companies website design.  66% of respondents said that if a company has a cool website design, there are much more likely to buy their product.

11.0 APPENDIX

11.1 Discounting for Intent

According to our qualtrics data, raising the price of the delivery service by $7 will decrease the number of sales on individual boxes, however it will ultimately increase revenue. Qualtrics data collected from Cal Poly students living on campus concluded that 27 students were willing to purchase the “Itty Bitty” box at $26, bringing in a revenue of $702. When asked about the likelihood of purchasing the small box for $41 that includes home delivery, 19 students responded that they were very likely to pay the additional charge, bringing in a revenue of $798. Focusing on selling the small box to Cal Poly students living on campus will overall increase revenue. By increasing the delivery fee by $7, it will allow SLO Veg to bring in more profit per box despite the initial increase in price and decrease in subscribers.

11.2 Price Elasticity of Demand

Price elasticity of demand for our product works out to -.73, so the demand is inelastic. This number was calculated using starting quantity of 27 people and price of $26 and the final quantity and price of 19 people and $42.

11.3 Logo

A new logo is an essential component to enhancing SLO Veg’s website and brand. Market research proves that blue, red, and green are colors that increase sales.^[43] Blue is viewed as trustworthy and calming, and is the most effective when mixed with complementary colors like red.^[44] SLO Veg would also benefit from a logo that is descriptive of their service. The new logo that we designed embodies both an effective color scheme and a more accurate depiction of the service that SLO Veg offers by being simple, memorable and versatile.

                         Original logo                                     New SLO Veg Logo

11.4 Figures

Figure 5.1

Figure 6.1

Figure 7.1

Figure 7.2

Figure 8.1

Figure 8.2

Figure 9.1

Figure 9.2

Figure 9.3

Figure 9.4

Figure 9.5

Figure 9.6

Figure 9.7

Figure 9.8

Figure 9.9

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