Konkurrenssituationen för den svenska morotsbranschen

Abstract: The Swedish carrot market is dominated by a few big companies and three of them stands for 50 % of the market. During the last twenty years the number of growers has decreased, the area and the harvest have increased. The big producers have invested in advanced and expensive postharvest equipment that fulfils the high standards of the food industry. Few carrot producers are members of an organisation and they keep contacts with there buyers one by one. The buyers are mostly wholesalers and these have during a long period of time decreased the number of suppliers. Today the three big Swedish wholesalers of fruits and vegetables have only got 3-4 suppliers of carrots each. Together with the high costs of investment this creates high barriers to new entrants. The aim of this study is to explain the Swedish market of carrots today and try to see what's in the future. The aim is also to give an better understanding of the consumer buying process. The latest available statistics show that there are 453 producers of carrots in Sweden and that they are located from Skåne to Norrbotten. The main location is in the south and the middle of the country and especially in Skåne and Gotland. The statistics also show that the rate of self- sufficient is permanent above 90 % and that consumption has been around 8 kg pro person and year during the last years. To different research methods have been used. The first one is a quantitative study where 100 consumers have been answering questions at the moment of purchase. They have answered questions about product choice, labelling, origin and use of the product. The second study is a qualitative study where eight producers and twelve other persons have given there view of competition, today's situation and the future. All together this has created a picture of the carrot market structure, conditions and future opportunities. The consumer study showed that the consumers firstly choose to buy prepacked carrots and in most cases the choice of the product was the result of the packaging size. Carrots proved to be a typically habitual buying product. At the purchase of carrots sold by the piece an interesting observation was made. It was obvious that consumers in the supermarket Willys and Kooperationen bought carrots by piece to a higher extent than as the case at ICA. I believe that it is a result of brand familiarity. When it comes to labelling, few of the consumers note any label on the package and only 12 % notifies a label of origin. 53 % of the consumers state that they prefer to buy Swedish carrots. The use of carrots is traditional and not seasonal. Porters five forces show the result of the qualitative study. The interviewed persons have given there opinions about existing rivals, threats from new entrants, and the bargaining power of buyers. The producers do not see foreign competition as a threat. The domestic competition vary among the companies. The producers believe that the competition leads to innovation and upgrading of there companies. The threat from future entrants is also small because there are high barriers to enter into the market. The buyer's bargaining power is getting stronger by demanding certifications, creating retail brands and gathering there purchase. The producers think that gathering of purchase is the biggest threat. Most of the producers I've talked to produce retail brands and don't think of it as a problem. Porters Diamond model describes a nation's capacity to create competitive advantage for its industries. The Diamond helps to describe the Swedish carrot market's weakness and strengths from related and supporting industries, factor and demand conditions and firmstrategy. There are shortcomings in related and supporting industries and the strength is mostly due to the strong domestic rivals. A SWOT-analys gives answers about what are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of an industry. The strengths of the Swedish business is a good climate and closeness to the market which allows low transportation costs. Difficulty in co-operating and a small market are weaknesses. The opportunities lay in developing new products and finding new markets. The biggest threats are increased imports and non-loyal buyers and consumers. The quality study showed that there has been a rationalisation during recent years and many producers have had to give up there production. Everyone that I've talked to believes that this will continue in the future. Within a five year period of time the market will be concentrated around two or three groups. Smaller and medium sized companies will have to give up there production or become sub suppliers to the big producers. The production will be concentrated to the southern parts of the country and to Gotland. For small and medium sized companies the future looks dark because they will face harder competition and problems to sell there products. The bigger producers believe in a bright future and are optimistic about it but they will also face strong competition and a more difficult market. strengths from related and supporting industries, factor and demand conditions and firm