Cowgirl Economic Trends

Economic conditions and trends

Macro:

Europe, specifically in Russia has the biggest chocolate market in the world , followed by United States and the United Kingdom . Analysts have stated that the Russian candy market is almost saturated because of so many candy companies entering the market and tough competition, but inspite of that, it is still expected to grow by 30 percent up to 2010 . The Russian confectionary market has an organization called the Russian Confectioners Industry Association, and according to the organization, it stated that, accounting for about 25 of the confectionery market volume, the chocolate market in Russia is currently developing the quickest of all. Another economic issue is also the increasing price of raw materials in Russia, which can affect the production and cost of the product.

Micro:

Customer:

In terms of customer needs and wants, some customers are reluctant to purchase the product because they complained that some chocolates are too spicy. According to Fiery Food Trends, 1999, "only 10-15 percent of American consumers are currently eating hot foods". In addition, these statistics indicate that the average consumer of fiery foods is male, between 35 and 55 years of age. These people are generally of the high-energy, risk-taking personality type.

Suppliers:

Cowgirl chocolates are manufactured by Seattle Chocolates a private label company well known for working with a Frango chocolatier to create their chocolates.

Competitors:

Cowgirl chocolates offer unique tastes and high quality chocolates that are different from competitors which is the hot and spicy chocolates. Marilyn creatively packages the products into custom tins, bags, buckets and boxes. In addition, their product is unique because it offers wonderful health properties for the heart.

Technology:

Cowgirl company offers online order for their chocolates thru their website. The site currently accounts one third of all sales but they currently have no tracking mechanisms. Marilyn is not able to study the buying process because she wasn't able to track sales volume or visitors.

Cultural and social values and trends

There is a healthy perspective regarding the confectionery business in Russia . Russians take pride in becoming one of the world 's largest chocolate markets and various types of chocolate products are popular in Russia . Nevertheless , recent surveys indicated that most producers are worrisome regarding the increasing competition level as foreign companies entered Russia.

Political