Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppe
Introduction
Found in approximately 1000 supermarkets and 300 restaurants, Azalea Seafood and Gumbo Shoppe is among the largest producers of ready-to-eat gumbo with annual revenues in 2000 of more than $1 million. The company's gumbo was their best selling item earning nearly 90% of yearly sales. Although Azalea has a competitive advantage with its tasty gumbo, Azalea is looking to maintain long-term growth and obtain a sustainable competitive advantage. In order increase its profitability, the company needs to consider options to improve its business strategies.
Currently Azalea's facilities are located in a small country side building and many large restaurants do not find it at par with their standards. This causes Azalea to lose sales from businesses like Applebee's and Cracker Barrel. In addition, major highways for the rapid distribution of their product are not available and easily accessible. Despite the location, Azalea's owners are satisfied with the new facility and its improved capabilities, compared to that of their old location.
In order to increase sales by 50% and help Azalea to obtain a sustainable competitive advantage, the company needs to develop four strategic plans. The first one includes staying in their current location. Staying at this location will maintain their satisfaction with the facility and allow them to maximize their efficiency. Next, Azalea should implement a Total Quality Management (TQM) operation to focus more on the product and less on profit. Targeting smaller restaurants and focusing mainly on the Southeast region will further help to increase sales.
Implementation Plan- TQM
Adopting a Total Quality Management strategy will allow Azalea to focu ...