Acosta
Acosta is a consumer packed goods company that was founded in 1927 in Jacksonville, Florida. Its mission is to become the leading company that offers the best support in customer service sales. To achieve this, the company offers unparalleled coverage, expertise and strategic insight to all its clients. It combines the use of innovative technology, extensive research and strategic expertise in its marketing sales and services to ensure that it remains ahead of its competitors. The company’s core competencies are its various partnerships, mergers and the ‘hot topic reports’. The mergers and partnership ensure that the company has more control of the market and is able to provide different types of products. The hot topic report provide well researched information that provides data used in the improvement of the company’s products so that they meet the needs of the customers.
The company is able to integrate the voice of the customer and the voice of the market into its strategy through the use of the ‘Hot topic reports’. Research is conducted regularly to identify current trends and those that are developing in the market industry. The company’s ‘the why? Behind the buy’ helps to create a better understanding for customers preferences. A recent study involved research on the changes that have occurred in the eating habits of the American population. It also researched on the snacking trends in the country which revealed that American citizens eat snacks on a daily basis (Acosta, 2016).
The company also partnered with a leading media company, Univision Communications, to study the shopping behavior of people belonging to the Hispanic community. The Hispanic community has been rapidly growing and understanding their needs will help boost sales. The various forms of research that the company conducts provide a channel through which customers can communicate their needs to the company (Acosta, 2016). These studies give the company an idea of the voice of the market it operates in and in doing so puts it in a better position to serve it. By knowing what the customer wants and the types of market the company is operating in, the company is able to integrate both the customer’s and the voice of the market into its strategy.
Some of the company’s sub plans include its supply chain operations, marketing and human resource. The company has supply chains in various areas such as Tampa, Miami, Georgia and Louisiana which enables the company to operate and serve 27 markets. It has also made various acquisitions of companies such as Kelley Clarke and Mai giving it control of 40% of sales in the grocery chains market (Acosta, 2016). Another sub plan is the marketing department which, other than marketing the company’s products also offers marketing services to other companies. Marketing creates awareness for the company products, conducts research on the current trends in the market and comes up with solutions to help solidify the company’s brand in the market. As for the human resource, the company employs more than 2,000 employees who are well trained and highly qualified in offering high quality service to all the company’s clients. They play an important role in ensuring that the clients receive the help and information they need so as to enjoy their experience with Acosta (Danilovic & Leisner, 2007).
When it comes to creating, fostering and maintaining important business relationships, the company takes on various approaches one of which is forming partnership. The company has partnered with various investment companies such as AEA Investments, The Carlyle Group, Berkshire Partners and Thomas H. Lee (Basch, 2011). Such partnerships assist the company in terms of finance and other means that help Acosta to establish and sustain its dominance in the market. Other than partnerships, the company has made various acquisitions of companies like C. Lloyd Johnson Company and brought to an end the military channel. To grow the company’s marketing in store services activation, it acquired Front Line Marketing and also PacNorth (Windsight, 2016). Acosta was able to venture into the food service industry through its acquisitions. The company also acquired Mosaic Sales Solutions, which was one of its largest acquisitions especially due to the fact that Mosaic Sales Solutions is a renowned merchandising and sales company. Such acquisitions make it possible for the company to create, foster and maintain good working relationships.
The companies that Acosta either partner or acquire are dedicated to specific business channels. They are therefore more experienced in their respective fields thus making it possible for Acosta to venture into these markets without the struggle of learning the concepts of entering a new market and researching ways of ho to serve it. Acosta establishes good communication and develops good relationships with its partners to ensure that operations run smoothly and that they all work together to accomplish their set goals (Acosta, 2016). To enhance the progress of the company, the human resource department is tasked with the responsibility of hiring employees that are qualified and willing to work so as to meet the needs of the organization. They are trained so as to equip them with the skills and competence needed to satisfy the company objectives.
References
Acosta, (2016) “About Acosta” retrieved from, http://www.acosta.com/about/
Basch M, (2011) "Thomas H. Lee Partners buys controlling stake in Jacksonville-based Acosta", Florida times
Danilovic, M., & Leisner, P. (2007). "Analyzing core competence and core products for developing agile and adaptable corporation” DSM, Munich
Winsight, (2016) “Acosta expands food service division with acquisition of PacNorth” CSP Magazine
