Traditional Cakes

“Sweet and Coffee”

GROUP MEMBERS:JeanCarlo ÁlvarezLuis Menéndez.

Fernanda SanungaJorge Villamarín

TEACHER:Maria Cecilia Moreno

DATE:4/12/2023

EXECUTIVE SUMMER

Our market research Project is about the introduction of a new desert line in Sweet and Coffee that we named “Traditional Ecuadorian’s deserts”

By using different process of observation, investigation, gathering such as the qualitative and observations techniques we established some important parameters about the design of the new desert line according to the preferences of potential customers.

We have used qualitative research technique for the purpose of obtain information about customers preferences and to know their opinions about introducing new flavors of cakes.

We have used observation technique in order to know how the behavior of the employees with the customers is.

In order to collect our secondary information, we extract data from electronic source, and internal reports of the company.

As a result of our investigations we identified that the target market should be the young and the adults between 15 and 25 years old; and that the traditional Ecuadorian’s deserts preferred by the customer was the corn cake followed by the ripe plantain cake, that’s how we kwon the cakes that will be implemented in the final menu.

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TABLE OF CONTENT

EXECUTIVE SUMMER....................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................4

HYPOTHESIS OF THE RESEARCH...................................................................................................5

THE PROBLEM STATEMENT......................................................................................................5

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM...............................................................................................5

GENERAL OBJECTIVES...........................................................................................................5

STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES................................................................................5

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES...............................................................................................................5

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES..........................................................................................................5

DESCRIPTION OF THE COMPANY..................................................................................................6

RESEARCH METHOD.....................................................................................................................6

DESCRIPTION OF THE METHOD................................................................................................6

SECONDARY DATA........................................................................................................................7

ADVANTAGES.......................................................................................................................7

DISADVANTAGES..................................................................................................................7

INTERNAL SOURCES..................................................................................................................7

EXTERNAL SOURCES.................................................................................................................7

ABOUT SWEET AND COFFEE.....................................................................................................8

ABOUT THE COMPETITION.....................................................................................................11

ABOUT THE PRODUCTS..........................................................................................................11

CARROT CAKE.....................................................................................................................11

CORN CAKE.........................................................................................................................12

PUMPKIN CAKE...................................................................................................................12

RIPE PLANTAIN CAKE..........................................................................................................12

SWEET POTATO CAKE.........................................................................................................12

PRIMARY DATA...........................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................13

ADVANTAGE...........................................................................................................................13

DISADVANTAGE......................................................................................................................13

METHODS...............................................................................................................................13

FOCUS GROUP....................................................................................................................14

BLIND TEST.........................................................................................................................17

OBSERVATION TECHNIQUE................................................................................................19

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SURVEYS.............................................................................................................................23

SUMMARY AND CONCLUTIONS.................................................................................................26

MARKETING RECOMMENDATIONS............................................................................................27

METHODOLOGICAL LIMITATIONS..............................................................................................27

REFERENCES...............................................................................................................................28

APPENDIX...................................................................................................................................29

CASRO ANALYSIS....................................................................................................................29

RESPONSE RATE FORMULA................................................................................................29

QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN.......................................................................................................30

SPSS........................................................................................................................................32

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INTRODUCTION

The globalized world where we live has changed the eating habits of the people, the time that we have at the actuality is short compared to with years ago, and the pace of life is more accelerating. The time to perform various daily activities is very short; therefore it is important to find a balance for these changes to be coupled to our lives, this change has resulted in a change in consumption patterns for all the people around the word.

One of the most profitable businesses is the fast food. In recent years the demand of fast food has grown, this effect is reflected in the great number of businesses that have sprung up around the world. In our country, those restaurants are expanding the number of stores in the major cities such as Guayaquil and Quito. In Ecuador there are many fast food restaurants that have arisen in recent years an example of this is Sweet & Coffee.

Businesses that succeed are those who constantly reinvent themselves and change their characteristics to be more competitive and not lose market share; for this reason we need to consider whether to introduce a line of cakes based on traditional ingredients such as pumpkins, corn, breadfruits and carrots. We will do our project with a company that is already established in the market such as Sweet & Coffee, which was founded in 1997 as the first coffee shop specialized in gourmet coffee and sweets in Ecuador. Sweet & Coffee is a company that is successful in the Ecuadorian market; this is due to the quality of their product and good service they provide to their customers.

It is becoming more common that consumers require companies to make constant changes in products or services they offer to maintain their loyalty to the company. To introduce a new line of cakes in this company could be a great strategy for Sweet & Coffee for this reason we want to do a project in which we have to do a market study of a business that is in constant growth how is the enterprises of fast food.

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HYPOTHESIS OF THE RESEARCH

Many people enjoy eating deserts in a comfortable and relaxed place, especially those “traditional deserts” of Ecuadorian kitchen such as: clog cake, sweet potato cake, pumpkin cake and rip banana cake.

However there’s not a lot or places that satisfies this demand; that’s why “Sweet and Coffee” has a strategy plan to determine if the customers will consume this new deserts line, by evaluating their preferences among the different kinds of deserts that could be offered, in order to find the most accepted deserts to be included into our products.

THE PROBLEM STATEMENT

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM

Sweet and Coffee is a company specialist in the production of coffee and deserts, but it has not a line that includes the Ecuadorian’s kitchen deserts that are not been exploded in consideration of the consumer’s preferences.

The research is needed to study and determine the level of acceptance of a new line of deserts that includes the Ecuadorian’s kitchen deserts we going to use different marketing strategies to know the consumer’s preferences that are not been exploited by the company.

GENERAL OBJECTIVES

To increase the variety of products that Sweet and Coffee offers. To determine if the consumers are disposed to consume Ecuadorian’s kitchen deserts

at Sweet and Coffee To know which the percentage of the participation that Sweet and coffee have in the

market.

STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES To determine if the new “traditional deserts” line will be accepted by the

consumers.

To know which are the “traditional deserts” preferred by the consumer, in order to design a new menu.

To determine the target market of the “traditional deserts” To determine if the customers will be interested in another kind of deserts other

than those offered yet and the “traditional desert” that we’re trying to introduce.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES To know the opinions of the people about the company.

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To determine if the customers think that “Sweet and Coffee” is an income-producing company.

To establish the kind of people who go to “Sweet and Coffee” To establish the conclusions, recommendations and the project’s limitations.

DESCRIPTION OF THE COMPANY

Sweet and Coffee it's a cafeteria and gourmet bakery with more than 14 years on the market. Founded by Soledad Hanna and Richard Peet, Sweet & Coffee it’s a well-known brand now days, with more than 200 employees, 21 establishments in Ecuador and 1 in Panama. Attending almost 200 clients per day, Sweet & Coffee was not the same young cafeteria that opened its first establishment in Mall del Sol.

Focused on quality and internal development of its employees, Sweet & Coffee has created its own center of capacitation, known as “Universidad Del Café”. When its future workers learn how to elaborated the most delicious and renowned variety of products made with coffee, milk, cocoa or cream. They also offer to its customers a large number of cakes, pies and sweet or salt desserts.

RESEARCH METHOD

DESCRIPTION OF THE METHODThe Marketing Research helps to have strategies in the market for determining the best techniques for specifics goals. It is a good way to design the new target market in the enterprise. We want to introduce the new line in Sweet & Coffee based on traditional ingredients such as pumpkins, breadfruits, carrots and corn.

The foremost objective is determining the methods and the techniques that we need to use. In the exploratory research we will perform the techniques such as the blind test, focus group and the observation about the company. The descriptive research method to be used is the surveys obtaining additional information.

The first step is to collect information, it is really important to know how to obtain the information that we want for market research. We will determine which are the products consumed regularly by the Sweet & Coffee customers, we also want to know which would be their preferred cake.

The observation techniques will help us to do a good job in our Marketing Research. We are going to collect data to know the behavior and the preferences of the costumers. It will also identify new marketing opportunities with the new line of traditional cakes of Ecuador. These techniques are necessary to explain and determine the results about the marketing research.

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Illustration 1 Founders of Sweet and Coffee

We need to identify the information effectively and to achieve our objectives we will realize some techniques such as focus groups, surveys and observation to establish the information we want to analyze, this is the most important step to do our project. Actually the most important step is to establish the marketing problem, not this one. Each method will provide different information, but all conclusions that we get with each technique will be essential to obtain the information we need.

SECONDARY DATA

Secondary data is the information that has previously been gathered by someone other than the researcher and for other purpose than the research project at hand, this has many uses in marketing research as applications in economic-trend forecasting, corporate intelligence, international data, public opinion, and historical data.

ADVANTAGES Are obtained quickly Are inexpensive Are usually available Enhance existing primary data May achieve research objective

DISADVANTAGES Reporting units are incompatible Measurement units do not match Class definitions are not usable Data are outdated

INTERNAL SOURCES

Data that have been collected within the firm

http://www.sweetandcoffee.com.ec

EXTERNAL SOURCESDatabases supplied by organizations outside the firm for public distribution.

http://www.eluniverso.com//

http://www.americaeconomia.com/

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http://www.facebook.com/sweetandcoffee?sk=wall

https://twitter.com/#!/sweetandcoffee

ABOUT SWEET AND COFFEE

Sweet & Coffee ® was founded in 1997 as the first coffee shop specializing in Coffee and Sweets Gourmet Ecuador. Sweet & Coffee ® features premium coffee for the perfect area of Ecuador, a team first, candy gourmet and of course determined to be a pride to Ecuadorians. By combining these resources are the favorite cafe of Ecuadorians and for all who try it first.

We are pleased to have created a family business where customers are proud of our success transparent and where the team work of Sweet & Coffee ® has cultivated a fun work environment demanding but very rewarding because of the growing and learning opportunities offered. Our enthusiasm for product quality, customer service and creating positive impacts in communities it’s our clue to beyond all limits.

For over 10 years we have had the pleasure to educate, entertain, serve and of course celebrate each of our traditions with thousands of our customers who visit us daily in our stores, website and social networks. 

History about the company

When Soledad Hanna and Richard Peet met while they were working in the People's Bank building, located at the corner of Luque and Pedro Carbo, they did not expect that years later, in the same place, would be located one of 29 locals of Sweet and Coffee they have in Guayaquil.

They were not thinking about a chain, it was just a good idea they had since Soledad prepared desserts to Richard when they were dating. They married and decided to start Sweet and Coffee after a month, but the idea was so good that, after 13 years of its creation, it is ready to transcend borders.

To mount the business, they used their own capital. He owned some clubs that hit in the 90s until one day he said "or the clubs or marriage", then they took so seriously that union which were not only a family of three children, but also a business group of three businesses: Sweet & Coffee, the River Park playground and Mambo Juice, a chain of juice in Guayaquil.

Sweet & Coffee is a place that offers desserts and coffee which gives equal importance to both products. The idea required a $ 50,000 initial investment and for its entire career they have used their own funds, they have never needed a loan to grow because Richard and Soledad chose to expand their cautious way, just as they prepare their delicious food: with low heat. Therefore, although the business had a lot of customers from the beginning and generated good profits, the organization and structure of the company were adapting their size. Just two

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years after they created Sweet and Coffee, Peet family began to open their own kitchens and after five years, they organized their employees into 10 departments and built one kitchen where all products were cooked, in order to make a quality control. Other improvements were buying quality coffee growers from Loja, and the creation of a training center for its employees, the Coffee University, located in River Park facility, where the barmen learn about customer service and preparation of products.

Philosophy

Sweet & Coffee began as a small company that made coffee and desserts. The values of Sweet & Coffee are reflected in the operational and administrative team of the company. We put our heart and desire in everything we do and the following principles are our foundation for further growth and achieve our goals:

• Our client is the most important From the beginning we have strived to provide the best possible experience in our stores. We are always mindful that our actions are to serve you and want you to enjoy every moment you share with us the most. If necessary, we get out of the routine to satisfy the most demanding.

• Quality is better than quantity Sweet & Coffee ® attaches great importance to the small details that create a positive impact in your life. We appreciate that you chose as your favorite cafeteria and we want to give you always the best of the best.

• We can be professional without wearing a tie Our founders created Sweet & Coffee ® with the idea that work should be challenging, and challenges should be fun. The Sweet & Coffee ®team consists of energetic people with creative approaches to work, leisure and life itself. Our work environment is fun and challenging and we value diversity.

• Good is not good enough For us to be excellent is only the beginning and not the ultimate goal. We set our goals pretty high because that way we know more we will strive to achieve and thus go further than we expected. Aim to undertake innovation in the creation of new cafes and the best tasting sweet and always top quality and you can not only satisfy all tastes but also exceed expectations.

Social responsibility

Since 2007, Sweet & Coffee ® has been recognized as a highly responsible café society. We work with FASINARM to promote employment and educational inclusion of children and youth with intellectual disabilities through our campaign Let Your Mark.

We are currently working on projects to support national art talent and also seek to educate and raise awareness among our customers about the importance of our natural resources and environmental stewardship.

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Leave Your Mark

For every cup of coffee we sell Sweet & Coffee donates a penny to FASINARM for employment and educational inclusion of children and youth with disabilities intellectual as Albert Einstein said we architects of our own destiny and we know that working together in harmony but mostly with love is the only way real progress there.

Mission

May all our customers enjoy a very special moment with our friendly service and our wide variety of coffee and sweets made for the most demanding tastes.

Vision

To be leaders in the food market and rely on a brand positioned and a growing business, opening new outlets across the country and selling franchises in Ecuador and in other countries of the world.

Environmental

Live our philosophy! We are making a change in our packaging to reduce our ecological footprint.

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ABOUT THE COMPETITIONWe have identified three different types of competitors:

Frist; the brand competition, this is competition with companies offering the same products; in this case one of the biggest competitors of Sweet and Coffee is Juan Valdez Café, this cafe offers the same products that Sweet and Coffee, such as: variety of coffee, milkshakes, sweet, salt products, chocolates, among others. We can also include the location as one strong point to considers, because Juan Valdez has started to locate their cafes at the same places, or near that Sweet and Coffee does. La Española is other competitor of Sweet and Coffee but the people considerate La Española as a bakery. And others competitors such as: Cafetería Casa Tosi, McCafé (McDonald’s), among others; but most people don't know these places as point of sale of coffee because they are well-known and specialized in selling food.

The second, is the substitute products; integrated by the companies that meet the same need, in this case can be all the shops that generally offer coffee or/and sweets, the sweet shops such as: Bombon’s, Dolupa, Dolche Incontro, etc. These companies are specialized in sweets, cakes and others. Although they have a different approach, meet the same needs.

The third is the general competition; each company competes with others, it means that the consumer's money is limited, therefore costumer have to choose adequately how it will distributed.

ABOUT THE PRODUCTSAll our products were prepared following old recipes provided by one of our grandmother’s member of our team. Those recipes are well-known between general populations. Some of the ingredients are season products, something that could be an advantage and disadvantage at the same time if we consider the cost. Anyway, all of them are easy to find and they belong to our traditional food.

CARROT CAKEIt’s a cake based on carrot. It’s the only one of our line that uses flour in its preparation.

Among the principal ingredients we have: natural oil, brown sugar, flour, eggs, nuts and raisins. An important aspect about

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this cake is that carrot is not cooked, so it helps to preserve its nutrients and benefits such as carotene, an antioxidant with effective anti-cancer properties. Conventional wisdom is considered very good for the eyes, gut healing, diuretic and astringent.

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CORN CAKEThis cake is based on corn which has been shelled and ground in order to prepare the cake.

Some of the ingredients are: cheese, butter, brown sugar, eggs and raisins. Corn wasn’t precooked, so it helps to keep the natural flavor and make it fresher. The preparation is really healthy and can be incorporated into any diet or weight loss maintenance plan balanced.

PUMPKIN CAKEA cake based on a precooked and mushed pumpkin. The process of precooking pumpkin is really important because it gives pumpkin the consistence needed and enhance the flavor. The ingredients are: cheese, butter, eggs, milk and brown sugar.

Its principal ingredient, pumpkin, is recognized worldwide for its high nutritional content of carotenoids, which are

responsible for giving its yellowish color. It is a vegetable that helps to eliminate fat from the body, prevents constipation, and reduces inflammation due to its copper content, vitamin C and carotene. It is anthelmintic, making it essential to combat the intestinal worms.

RIPE PLANTAIN CAKEPrecooked with some spices and mushed ripe plantain is the principal ingredient of this cake, which also need: butter, brown sugar and milk to complete the recipe.

Among the benefits of ripe plantain, we have: is rich in carbohydrates which constitute one of the best ways to nourish our bodies’ energy plant. Be very suitable for the diet of children and athletes.

SWEET POTATO CAKEThis is a cake based on precooked and mushed sweet potato. To complete the recipe we also need: milk, butter and sometimes sugar.

Sweet potato is a source of great health benefits. The sweet potatoes helps stabilize blood glucose levels and reduce insulin resistance. These characteristics have led some researchers to classify as anti-diabetic food. The sweet potato

is rich in carotenoids and antioxidants, vitamin A (as beta carotene), and manganese.

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PRIMARY DATA

INTRODUCTIONThe primary data is the information that we observed and gathered directly, it means from first-hand experience.

This type of information is collected specifically to this project, which is going to help us to solve the problem and achieve the goals we established from the beginning of it. How first-hand information, we can assure that the information collected won’t have any bias or subjective problem, because was gathered for this specific situation and own opinions won’t be include.

It was usually obtained through clinical trials, case studies, true experiments randomized controlled studies. This information can be analyzed by other experts who might decide to test the validity of the data by repeating the same process we followed.

ADVANTAGE Information collected is unique. No one else has access to it. Information gathered suits our own purpose.

DISADVANTAGE It takes time. It’s expensive.

METHODS Focus Group Blind test Observation Technique Surveys

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FOCUS GROUPIt’s a discussion that develops to find the answers of problems detected by the company about their products. It also helps to know what costumers are looking at the time of buy a product; in that way we’ll find the best ideas and suggestions to put them into practice.

The objective of our project is to introduce a line of cakes based on traditional elements of a development such as carrot, pumpkin, sweet potato, corn, ripe banana. Thereby determine whether these would be accepted by the patrons of Sweet & Coffee.

PARTICIPANTSNAME CARRIER AGE SEMESTER

Andrés del Valle International Business 20 4Andrea Flores International Business 20 6Manuel Cepeda Marketing 19 4Gabriela Sarmiento International Business 21 6Andrea Vallejo International Business 20 6Maria Villamar Commercial Engineering 21 7Karin Aray International Business 20 6Lissett Panchi International Business 19 6

QUESTIONS1. Are you Sweet and Coffee regular customers?2. When you hear Sweet & Coffee, which is the first thing that comes to mind?3. Which are the Sweet & Coffee products you eat the most? Why?4. Which product can identify Sweet and Coffee?5. Have you ever eaten traditional Ecuadorian cakes suck as corn, ripe banana, etc.?6. Among the products you have tasted, which one(s) do you prefer? Could you identify

the flavor? 7. Any suggestion about the products you liked the most and which you dislike.8. How much would you pay for the products?9. Would you like Sweet & Coffee sell these products?10. Which would be the ideal beverage to consume with these products?

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CONCLUSIONSFor this topic we selected a group of young people from 19 to 21 years old, enrolled between 4st. and 7st. semester of our faculty FEN.

We divided the focus group in two parts, after and before tasting. In the first part we asked general questions about Sweet & Coffee and how they look the brand. At the second part we focused our attention about the new line and the products. Here we are the most important issues we noticed:

The majority of participants go to Sweet and Coffee regularly but they don’t define themselves as a regular consumer of that company. They identify the company as an expert in cakes and coffee and its most famous product is “Torta Mojada de Chocolate” (this product identifies the company) but they also mentioned some type of cold drinks based on coffee suck as: “Frapuchino” and “Nevado Frío”.

Before they tasted the product we asked if they have ever eaten traditional cakes such as the ones we propose in our project, they said they have only eaten at home, not in a bakery or cafeteria.

At the beginning of the taste test, it was pretty difficult to the participants identify the correct principal product of each cake. They wanted to know it before the taste test. The more recognized flavor was corn, carrot and ripe plantain; the less one was pumpkin and sweet potato. The most accepted was carrot cake.

About preference, we noticed people don’t like sweet potato cake because they cannot identify the product and its appearance. The pumpkin cake was rejected by its consistence (not solid). Raisins were not accepted by participant and they suggest more nuts.

They suggested a price rank between $1.50 and $2.50 but they said it’s going to depend of the quality and also the side of the cake’s piece.

Each of the participants sees Sweet & Coffee as the perfect place to sell this kind of products, because they know they have different options to choose and the appropriated beverages, hot or cold, to complete their order such as tea, coffee, milk, etc…

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RECOMMENDATIONSSweet and Coffee has diversity type of cakes and beverage in its current menu. But some of its regular costumer would like to have the opportunity to also eat Ecuadorian traditional cakes in the menu.

How it’s important to take the appreciation of our consumer we believe that is better to launch the whole products as a new line improving some of the characteristic of each cake, for example: pumpkin cake must be more solid, sweet potato cake should be sweeter and have a better appearance, so we can incorporate a decoration to make it more attractive. Corn cake should not have raisins (the majority of participants don’t like it) and the carrot cake should have more nuts.

We strongly believe that our line would fix perfectly with Sweet and Coffee brand. Our line could be consumed with the some of the beverage that Sweet & Coffee offers, which could help to strengthen the current products by creating and adding new desserts. The brand is committed with Ecuador and its traditions, so our line could be the perfect piece to complete the company image.

Why not enjoying all homemade desserts at a well-known, friendly and homely place like Sweet & Coffee? It was the first question we established at the beginning of our project and now we know we’re not the only persons who would like to have those kinds of products in a comfortable and strong Ecuadorian brand.

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BLIND TESTThe blind test technique is usually used when the researcher want to know the criteria of consumer about the characteristic of one specific product without paying attention about the brand or the appearance.

In our case, it was basically conducted to determine if consumer would accept our line without knowing the principal ingredient of each cake or watching how the product looks like, which is important in order to analyze why consumer like or dislike each of our products.

PARTICIPANTS1. Kevin García2. María Isabel Satán3. Ana Paola Rodríguez4. Karen Condo5. Andrés Faicán6. Mario Artos7. Nelson Guerrero8. Lourdes Aguilar9. Lissette Castro10. Jahir Abudeye11. María Teresa Serrano12. Iván Pisco13. Nicolás Garzón14. Sara Rivera15. Lourdes Crespo

QUESTIONS1. Could you identify the flavor?2. Did you like it?

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CONCLUSIONES AND RECOMMENDATIONSThe principal objective when we decided to conduct a blind test was determine if people can recognize the flavor of each of the cakes and if they could accept them despite their appearance.

The majority of people like all the cakes, except the pumpkin cake. They said it was inconsistent; which confirm their preference about this cake and the result we obtained from the focus group. But a difference we founded was the criteria about sweet potato cake, because all the blind test participants liked it, but they mistook it with that of ripe plantain. So, it’s easy to understand how perceptions can change tastes and preference. Appearance it count also and we should replace purple sweet potato with yellow one or maybe design a nice cover cake. The cake they like the most was carrot but also corn, they appreciated its flavor and consistence.

Something reliable to say it’s how easy was recognizing the corn cake and ripe plantain. The majority of participant could guess those flavors, some of participant could identify some flavors and a minority couldn’t do it at all. This could be a problem if people don’t feel the principal ingredient in each cake. For that reason we propose to design covers for each cake in order to identify them. For example, we should have a carrot cake with little carrot as a cover. A changing in the recipe isn’t recommending because it could damage the consistence, flavor and the basically characteristics in general.

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OBSERVATION TECHNIQUEAt the moment to make business is important to do an excellent marketing research for obtain information; the information is indispensable to get the necessary tools to have success with our project.

Over time Sweet & Coffee has created a positive perception from its consumers, which is very beneficial for the company. The image projected by the company is to be the pioneer in Ecuador in service offering, being a coffee company specializing in gourmet coffee and sweets. Sweet & Coffee is one of the companies with the highest positioning in the main cities of Ecuador.

In this project we need to do some techniques such as focus group, observation about the company and the blind test, these are some techniques that we need to apply because each one of these techniques are essential for obtain information. Each technique would give us different information, the information that we can obtain with each technique is specific and different, but all are really important so we will know the information necessary to solve a specific questions about our project for this reason we want to research the market with the different methods.

In this case we are going to explain one the techniques that we need to do for our research market, it is the observation about the company with this technique we can know the service that Sweet & Coffee offers to their customers, we also can observe the products and the behavior of the costumers in the enterprise.

OBSERVATION ABOUT SWEET & COFFEE

The observation was made in one of the main shopping centers in Guayaquil, San Marino; we thought to do the observation there because it is one of the largest malls in the city. The objective of this technique was to observe to analyze customers behavior before, during and after the purchase.

Sweet & Coffee offers to its consumers an extensive line of products, their products are varied, and therefore, we want to know which of their products are the most sold.

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The atmosphere in this place is warm and welcoming, the facilities are adequate clean at all times, it is easy to identify the menu offered, it is well differentiated from desserts and beverages, the classification of these can help to decide quickly what their customers need.

The site where it is located the company was full, people who came to Sweet & Coffee are people of all ages, so people who are your customers have different characteristics that must be satisfied. We believe it would be a good strategy to implement a new line to meet all needs which may have by their customers because the market of this company is very broad and may cover more market segmentation.

The care provided by its staff was cordial and respectful. It should be noted that it is a good strategy by the company to have a staff trained to meet all expectations of its customers, thus reducing the waiting time to receive the order.

All the information that we could obtain with the observation about the company was important and we could conclude that Sweet & Coffee offers a really good service, everything is organized, the atmosphere is relaxing, enjoyable, is a place to spend with friends and family and we could determine the preference of the costumers with the products that this enterprise sells. Also, we could observe the preferences that consumers have with the cakes Sweet and Coffee offers. The most demanded products are the ones that are derivatives of

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chocolate and coffee in all presentations offered. This is the information that we could obtain with our visit to Sweet & Coffee.

This technique proved to be very helpful because it helped us to determine what products are of high quality, taste good and variety of drinks that Sweet & Coffee sells, that’s why consumers have lot of products to choose from this company.

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SURVEYSStatistical survey is a method for collecting quantitative information about items in a population. In order to obtain the information for our project we took a representative sampling of 400 people. We conducted our surveys at Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral ESPOL, in Sweet and Coffee located at Universidad Católica de Santiago de Guayaquil, at the Av. 9 de Octubre in Guayaquil downtown and in “Mall del Sur” Shopping Center.

SAMPLE SELECTIONPopulation: Ecuador.

As we know, conduct this technique could be quite difficult if we include all the population, which would be desirable but not possible.

Sample provides precise results and offers practical considerations such as cost, time and population size. We should select a representative part of that population if we correctly choose our sample.

Reason for using a sample:

Practical considerations Inability to analyze huge amounts of data Precise results

SAMPLE METHODWe’re going to use a non-probability sample, the one in which the chances of selecting members from the population into the sample are unknown.

Non-probability samples are faster and cheaper than probability samples which make our research easier.

SAMPLING TECHNIQUEWe’re going to use a convenience sampling technique to select the people we’re going to interview, because we need to determine the acceptance of people about the new line of cakes, so we need to get as much as different opinions from different people at different places.

A convenience sample is a sample where the respondents are selected according to the convenience of the researcher, because they’re easier to recruit for the study. The researcher makes no attempt, or a limited attempt, to insure that the sample is an accurate representation of some large group of people.

The classic example of a convenience sampling is standing by at a shopping center, street or out the store and select she shoppers as they wall to fill up the surveys.

Most researchers prefer convenience sampling, the most common of all sampling technique, because it is fast, inexpensive, easy and the subjects are really available.

n=1,962(0,5∗0,5)

0.,052 =384

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As the formula shows, we chose a 95% of level of confidence, so we have 5% of error, that took us to find a z=1.96. As we don’t have any previous study that shows us a specific preference or demand, we used the worst scenario (p=0.50). The formula’s result told us we should interview 384 people.

Once we have the number of people we should interview, we decided to round it to 400 for practical reason and also to try to prevent inaccuracy results, cause we know that larger the sample, more accurate the results are. We’re going to interview people from all ages but how it would be difficult to travel long distances; we’re going to do it just in Guayaquil.

TYPE OF DATA ANALYSIS Frequency Statistical graphics T-tests Correlations Regressions Chi-squares

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STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

FREQUENCIES 1. ¿Con que frecuencia consume cakes?

As a result of our 399 valid surveys, we see that 63,7% consume cake from 1 to 2 times per month, a high percent, which indicates that regardless the type of cake, they have an important place in people’s diet. It also shows there’s actually a potential market that would be willing to consume frequently the cakes we’re trying to introduce in Sweet and Coffee.

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2) ¿Qué lugar usualmente frecuenta para consumir un cake?

From 374 valid surveys, we can observe that 61,6% of people prefer to go to Sweet and Coffee to eat a cake, which demonstrates that we’re leaders in this market. In addition, we conclude that our idea of introducing a new line of traditional cakes is going to be well-known quickly by most of people because our establishment is the most visited than our competitors.

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3) ¿Con que frecuencia acude a ese lugar?

From 400 valid surveys, we observed that 61.8% of respondents attend between 1 and 2 time per month to their favorite place to eat some cake. This percentage is related to, or is very similar, the table number 1’s percentage (63.7%), which showed how frequently the respondents consume cakes per month. This relation demonstrates the reliability of data, because there’s agreement between how many time people consume cakes and how frequently they visit their favorite places.

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4) ¿Qué otros productos consume en el lugar que usted eligió en la pregunta # 2?

Otros productos que consume en este lugar

Frecuencia Porcentaje

Porcentaje

válido

Porcentaje

acumuladoVálidos Cafe 43 10,8 10,8 10,8

Cafe Frio 33 8,3 8,3 19,1Milkhakes y Helados 69 17,3 17,3 36,4Chocolates 34 8,5 8,5 45,0Dulces 61 15,3 15,3 60,3Productos de Sal 16 4,0 4,0 64,3Otros 17 4,3 4,3 68,6cafe y cafe frio 5 1,3 1,3 69,8cafe y milkshake, helados 9 2,3 2,3 72,1cafe y chocolate 3 ,8 ,8 72,9cafe y dulces 7 1,8 1,8 74,6cafe y productos de sal 4 1,0 1,0 75,6cafe y otros 2 ,5 ,5 76,1cafe frio y milkshake , helados

3 ,8 ,8 76,9

cafe frio y dulce 3 ,8 ,8 77,6cafe frio y otros 1 ,3 ,3 77,9milkshake, helados y chocolate

11 2,8 2,8 80,7

milkshake, helados y dulce

13 3,3 3,3 83,9

milkshake, helados y productos de sal

4 1,0 1,0 84,9

milkshake, helados y otros 3 ,8 ,8 85,7chocolates y dulces 2 ,5 ,5 86,2dulces y productos de sal 3 ,8 ,8 86,9dulces y otros 1 ,3 ,3 87,2cafe, cafe frio y milkshake, helados

1 ,3 ,3 87,4

cafe, cafe frio y chocolates 1 ,3 ,3 87,7cafe, cafe frio y dulces 1 ,3 ,3 87,9cafe, milkshake, helados y chocolates

3 ,8 ,8 88,7

cafe, milkshake, helados y dulces

1 ,3 ,3 88,9

cafe, milkshake, helados y productos de sal

1 ,3 ,3 89,2

cafe, chocolate y dulces 3 ,8 ,8 89,9

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cafe, chocolate y productos de sal

2 ,5 ,5 90,5

cafe, dulces y productos de sal

2 ,5 ,5 91,0

cafe, productos de sal y otros

1 ,3 ,3 91,2

cafe frio, milkshake, helados y dulces

2 ,5 ,5 91,7

cafe frio, milkshake, helados y otros

1 ,3 ,3 92,0

milkshake, helados, chocolates y dulces

6 1,5 1,5 93,5

cafe, cafe frio, milkshake helados y chocolates

4 1,0 1,0 94,5

cafe, cafe frio, milkshake helados y dulces

3 ,8 ,8 95,2

cafe, cafe frio, milkshake helado y productos de sal

1 ,3 ,3 95,5

cafe, cafe frio, milkshake helado y otros

1 ,3 ,3 95,7

cafe frio, milkshake helados, chocolates y dulces

4 1,0 1,0 96,7

cafe frio, milkshake helados, chocolates y otros

1 ,3 ,3 97,0

milkshake helados, chocolates, dulces y productos de sal

2 ,5 ,5 97,5

chocolates, dulces, productos de sal y otros

1 ,3 ,3 97,7

cafe, cafe frio, milkshake helados, chocolates y productos de sal

3 ,8 ,8 98,5

cafe, cafe frio, milkshake helados, chocolates y otros

1 ,3 ,3 98,7

" chocolates, productos de sal y otros "

4 1,0 1,0 99,7

" cafe, cafe frio, chocolates y dulces "

1 ,3 ,3 100,0

Total 398 99,5 100,0

Perdidos milkshake, helados, chocolates y otros

1 ,3

chocolate, dulces y productos de sal

1 ,3

Total 2 ,5

Total 400 100,0

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From 398 valid surveys, it possible to conclude that Sweet and Coffee most preferred products are milkshakes and ice creams. An idea to help our idea of traditional cakes in its introductory stage, would be selling both products together o located then strategically in hangers in order to induce the clients to buy them together.

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5) ¿Cuál es la razón por la cual usted eligió ese lugar?

From 354 valid surveys, the 58.5% of respondents chose quality as the principal reason why they go to their favorite place.

As we previously established (according Table 2), Sweet and Coffee is the interviewer favorite place, we can conclude that the costumer show this company because it conveys an idea of quality in its products. This is a good indicator to assure that people enjoy eating at our stores.

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6) ¿Cuál es el sabor del cake que usted prefiere?

The study shows that from 376 valid surveys, the 56.1% of respondents preferred the chocolate as preferred for cakes.

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7) Siendo 1 muy bueno y 5 muy malo ¿Qué le parece la idea de introducir en Sweet and Coffee cakes típicos de zanahoria, zapallo, choclo, maduro y camote?

From 394 valid surveys, the 33% of people say that the idea of introducing the new line of traditional cakes in Sweet and Coffee seems regular, this indicates that the idea is not rejected but before the implementation, we should formulate a marketing plan in order to get people’s attention to assure the product’s success.

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8) De entre los siguientes sabores, indique ¿cuál es su preferido?

From 360 valid surveys, we observe that the preference of people about the different flavors is varied. There are similar percentages between corn (34.7%) and ripe plantain (32.2%), but also low percentage to sweet potato (10.6%) and pumpkin (2.2%). So, the line should just include corn, carrot and ripe plantain because they are the most desired by costumers. It would be assure us that the idea will be welcomed by costumer with positive critics.

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9) ¿Cuánto está dispuesto a pagar por estos cakes?

From 390 valid surveys, the 60% of people would we willing to pay for traditional cakes between $1.50 and $2.00. However, the cumulative percentage shows that 89.2% would be willing to pay a price of up to $2.50. Because of this, we conclude that the price shall not be greater than $2.50 to assure the acceptance of people.

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10) Indique su género

From 395 valid surveys, we noticed that 41.5% were men and 58.5% were women. This shows that the surveys’ results can be applied to both genders.

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11) Indique su edad

From 398 valid surveys, the majority of respondents with a cumulative percentage of 89.4% are in an age range from 15 to 25 years old. This indicates that there are a lot of young-adult people that go to Sweet and Coffee, like cakes and to whom the idea of introducing a line of traditional desserts were ranked as regular or very good.

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CORRELATIONS If the price of products is related with the gender.

The matrix shows that the correlation index (0.052) is higher than the level of significance (0.05), so there’s actually a correlation between the price and the age of respondents. This analysis gives us information useful to determine the strategy we need to apply with our potential customers.

If the price is related whit the frequency of consumption.

The correlation index (0.044) is lower than the level of significance (0.05). Therefore, there is any correlation. This information relieves that the frequency of consumption of cake does not depend on the price the costumers are willing to pay. It means, people are indifferent about the price. The demand would be inelastic or not too sensible.

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Favorite flavor or cakes and age of consumers.

The correlation index (-0.111) is lower that the level of significance, so we can assure there’s any relation between flavor preference and the age of respondents. The favorite flavor to be introduced and the age of respondents are unrelated variables; it means that the idea of introducing this new line is insensitive to the age of costumers.

Favorite flavor cake and gender.

The correlation index (0.046) is lower that the level of significance (0.05) which means there is no relation between the preferred flavor and the gender of respondents. The cake’s flavor is not dependent on gender of respondents. It means, there’s no favorite flavor, so gender doesn’t determine or changed the preference.

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The idea of the traditional cakes and the age of consumers.

The correlation index (-0.2) is lower than the level of significance (0.01). Therefore, there is no correlation between the idea of introducing the line in Sweet and Coffee and the age of respondents. As a result of the analysis we can say that the idea of this introduce this new line is not dependent on the age of respondents. It means, the target audience in Sweet and Coffee could be all the clients of this company regardless of their age.

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T-TESTS The price of cakes related with the gender of consumers.

According to the table, we have a level of significance (0,804) which is higher than the significant level for the test (0.05). Therefore, the null hypothesis must not be rejected and it means no significant differences between the average price that consumers are willing to pay for the cakes and the gender of respondents.

The frequency of consumption and how often consumers go to their favorite place.

According to the T-test analysis, we have a significance level of (1) which is higher than the significance level for the test (0.05). So, the null hypothesis is accepted and it indicates no significant differences between the mean frequency of consumption of cakes and how often consumer go to their favorite place.

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The favorite places for the consumption of cakes and the reason for consumer choice.

According to hypothesis test table for related samples, we have a level of significance (0.000) which is below the level of significance established for the test (0.05). Therefore, the null hypothesis is rejected and we can say that there are significant differences between the means of the favorite places for the consumption of cakes and the reason for consumer choice.

About the idea of introducing a new line of traditional cakes and the flavor preferred by consumers.

According to the table, we have a level of significance (0.000) which is lower than the level of significance established for the test (0.05). So, the null hypothesis is rejected and we can assure that there are significant differences between the means about the idea of introducing the new line and the most preferred flavor.

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REGRESSIONS Study conducted to determine if there is any relationship between how often

consumers go to their favorite place and the frequency of consumption of cakes.

There’s statistical evidence that proves there’s a significant relationship between how often consumers go to their favorite place and frequency of consumption of cakes. This means that every time customers come to their favorite place (Sweet and Coffee), they consume at least one cake.

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Study conducted to determine if there is any relationship between the reasons for consumer’s choice and the favorite places for the consumption of cakes.

There’s statistical evidence showing that there’s no relationship between the reasons for consumers’ choice and the favorite places for the consumption of cakes. It means, to go to a favorite place to consume cake does not depend on the reason for consumers’ choice. In other words, the individual comes to that a place because its transcendence, brand or taste. This is positive to Sweet and Coffee because the result of marketing reason shows that consumer has a preference for this company.

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Study conducted to determine if the flavor is related to the idea of introduce a nwe line of product.

There’s statistical evidence showing a relationship between the preferred flavor and the idea of introduce a new line of cakes. It means the idea of the line depends on the flavors to be introduced; costumers accept the idea according their preference. According to consumers, the corn cake must be introduced in order to meet their wants.

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Study conducted to find out if there’s any relationship between flavor and the gender of respondents.

Variables introducidas/eliminadasb

Modelo Variables

introducidas

Variables

eliminadas Método

dime

nsion

0

1 Género de los

encuentadosa

. Introducir

a. Todas las variables solicitadas introducidas.

b. Variable dependiente: Sabor preferido para ser

introducido

Resumen del modelo

Modelo

R R cuadrado

R cuadrado

corregida

Error típ. de la

estimación

dime

nsion

0

1 ,046a ,002 -,001 1,471

a. Variables predictoras: (Constante), Género de los encuentados

ANOVAb

Modelo Suma de

cuadrados gl

Media

cuadrática F Sig.

1 Regresión 1,658 1 1,658 ,766 ,382a

Residual 770,490 356 2,164

Total 772,148 357

a. Variables predictoras: (Constante), Género de los encuentados

b. Variable dependiente: Sabor preferido para ser introducido

Coeficientesa

Modelo

Coeficientes no estandarizados

Coeficientes

tipificados

t Sig.B Error típ. Beta

1 (Constante) 3,341 ,264 12,673 ,000

Género de los encuentados ,138 ,158 ,046 ,875 ,382

a. Variable dependiente: Sabor preferido para ser introducido

No statistical evidence showing a relationship between the flavor and the gender of respondents. The flavor to be introduced not depends on the gender of clients, man and women have equal preference or similar about the flavors of cake to be introduced.

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CHI-SQUARESStudy conducted to determine if there is any relationship between age and place.

Resumen del procesamiento de los casos

Casos

Válidos Perdidos Total

N Porcentaje N Porcentaje N Porcentaje

Edad de los encuestado *

Lugares predilectos para el

consumo de cakes

370 92,5% 30 7,5% 400 100,0%

Pruebas de chi-cuadrado

Valor gl

Sig. asintótica

(bilateral)

Chi-cuadrado de Pearson 77,759a 21 ,000

Razón de verosimilitudes 52,292 21 ,000

Asociación lineal por lineal 11,897 1 ,001

N de casos válidos 370

a. 19 casillas (59,4%) tienen una frecuencia esperada inferior a 5. La

frecuencia mínima esperada es ,05.

There’s statistical evidence that shows that there’s significant relationship between the age of respondents and the favorite places for the consumption of cakes. It means that different range of age go to different places. In other words, the age can determine the place chosen to enjoy a cake.

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SUMMARY AND CONCLUTIONS

It’s quite important to get the best information we can get, it means the must trustable and accurate information in order to conduct a right marketing research. The effectiveness of our new line of traditional cakes in Sweet and Coffee is determined by the analysis of our principal competitors and our ability to identify the right way to meet the needs of consumers.

This study helped us to get more information about the preference of Sweet and Coffee’s clients and general population, about the idea of introducing a new line of traditional cakes.

The information we collected is:

The number of people who go to Sweet and Coffee (57,3%) is higher than the other companies in the market, which are our principal competitors, such us: Juan Valdez (4,5%) and Dolupa (11,5%).The study shows that 57,3% of people we interviewed go to Sweet and Coffee, it means that Sweet And Coffee is a company with good reception in the Ecuadorian market. According to our study, the principal reason why the clients prefer Sweet and Coffee is the quality of its service and products.

The idea of introducing a new line was ranked as regular by the costumers; it means that among 400 surveys, the majority approves the idea.

The techniques we used at the first part of the project (Focus Group, Blind Test and Observation) ranked in the top the idea of introducing the new line. Also, it was helpful to determine which of the cakes the people like the most. The results we got from surveys agree with the one gotten by the techniques we already mentioned. The favorite flavors are corn, ripe banana and carrot.

The flavor they dislike the most was sweet potato in the two part of the study. That shows their disapproval of consumers about including it in the line.

Dislike the results we got from the first part of the project, the idea of introducing the line was ranked between regular and very good.

With the information previously got it, we can assure that the results are positive and with a right marketing strategy and good product presentation, the idea would be good and profitable for the company. The research also helped us to determine the potential clients of this new line. Most of the people between 15 and 25 years old used to go to Sweet and Coffee and ranked the idea as good, so we can consider those people as our target market.

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MARKETING RECOMMENDATIONS

The new line of traditional cakes named as “Traditional Ecuadorian’s deserts” could be carried out with a great success due to the considerable level of possible consumer.

The line should include the following flavors: carrot, corn, ripe banana and pumpkin.

The possible actual product offered by Sweet and Coffee which could be perfectly consumed by the clients would be hot and cold coffee, milkshakes or any other beverage based on chocolate or coffee.

The sweet potato flavor should not be included or it could be part of a future marketing research project, because at the moment is not viable in regards of the wants and needs of the population.

METHODOLOGICAL LIMITATIONS

We interviewed common people with not distinctions. Due to our limited budge we only interviewed people from Guayaquil, creating

uncertainness about the preferences of consumer in the rest of the country. We must consider that maybe there were committed some interviewer errors like:

misunderstanding, guessing, attention loss or distractions. So maybe some answers did not reflect the reality.

For future studies there should be considered questions related to the increase consumption specifically in the area of study, which were omitted in these surveys.

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REFERENCES

RecipesPilar Tutillo Méndez.pili_tutillo_68@hotmail.comPhone: (+593) 4-2017293

Sweet and Coffee Websitehttp://www.sweetandcoffee.com.ec

Slides and information analyzed and learned at classesIng. María Cecilia Moreno.

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APPENDIX

QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN

Sweet and coffeeEsta encuesta se la realiza con el fin de determinar si es factible introducir una línea nueva de cakes tradicionales en sweet and coffee. Por esta razón solicitamos su colaboración para poder realizar este estudio de mercado. Seria de gran utilidad que conteste las siguientes preguntas para poder recolectar la información que necesitamos. Le agradecemos de antemano por su ayuda.

1. ¿Con que frecuencia consume cakes? __ 1 a 2 veces por mes

__ 2 a 4 veces por mes

__ 4 o mas veces por mes

2. ¿Qué lugar usualmente frecuenta para consumir un cake? (seleccione uno)

__ JUAN VALDEZ __ DOLUPA

__ SWEET AND COFFEE __ DOLCHE INCONTRO

__ BOMBOM’S __ GOURMET DEL HOTEL ORO VERDE

__ OTROS: _____________________

3. ¿Con que frecuencia acude a ese lugar?

__ 1 a 2 veces por mes

__ 2 a 4 veces por mes

__ 4 o mas veces por mes

4. ¿Qué otros productos consume en el lugar que usted eligió en la pregunta # 2?

__ CAFÉ __ CHOCOLATES

__ CAFÉ FRÍOS __ DULCES

__ MILKSHAKES Y HELADOS __ PRODUCTOS DE SAL

__ OTROS

5. ¿Cuál es la razón por la cual usted eligió ese lugar? (elija una)

__ CALIDAD __ SERVICIOS

__ PRECIO __ UBICACION

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__ VARIEDEAD DE PRODUCTOS

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6. ¿Cuál es el sabor del cake que usted prefiere? (elija uno)

__ CHOCOLATE __ FRESAS

__ VAINILLA __ MANJAR

__ COCO __ OTROS

7. Siendo 1 muy bueno y 5 muy malo ¿Qué le parece la idea de introducir en Sweet and coffee cakes típicos de zanahoria, zapallo, choclo, maduro y camote?

1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__

8. De entre los siguientes sabores, indique ¿cual es su preferido?

__ ZANAHORIA __ CHOCLO

__ ZAPALLO __ MADURO

__ CAMOTE __ OTROS

9. ¿Cuánto esta dispuesto a pagar por estos cakes?

__ $1.50 - $2.00 __ $2.50 - $3.00

__ $2.00 - $2.50 __ más de $3.00

10. Indique su genero

__ MASCULINO

__ FEMENINO

11. Indique su edad

__ 15 -20 años

__ 21- 25 años

__ 26-30 años

__ MÁS DE 30 años

Gracias por su atención – Tenga un buen día

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SPSS

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