THE ‘JERK’ COMPETITION HEATS UP!!

Chelsea’s Jerk Centre

The Chelsea Jerk Centre was founded by Cecil Williams in 1977, serving up only jerk pork on a platter at 9 Chelsea Avenue. The aim was to give Kingstonians the opportunity to eat authentic jerk without having to drive over 60 miles to the famous Boston jerk centre in Portland, the premier spot for jerk pork at the time. Soon after, an innovative Williams expanded into jerk chicken, carving out himself, a niche market.

"It was basically intuition...Jerk pork was not established away from Boston yet and jerk chicken was actually not known," says Williams. After a few years, he expanded the physical facilities to include a bar and an area for patrons to sit and eat. By 1988, he says Chelsea Jerk Centre was one of the top eating spots in Kingston. "It was a lot of hard work... I didn't even do any (paid) advertising; just word of mouth," he notes.

Now, in 2010, a relatively new company, Scothie’s, is challenging Williams’ ‘Chelsea Jerk Centre’. They have opened up right across from where he has operated for over 3 decades.

Competition doesn't faze the 62 year-old owner of Chelsea Jerk Centre, who proudly states that his joint is the first established jerk spot in the nation's capital, Kingston. Admittedly, over the last 33 years of operations, the Chelsea Jerk Centre has faced competition before. Williams declares, "In the early 1980s, there were a lot of competition and before Scotchie’s now, I remember the company called ‘925’ coming," the latter in reference to ‘925-JERK’, the now defunct delivery jerk service that was a hit

in the early part of the last decade. Williams recalls, “Everybody said, bwoy Cecil, you have to be careful about 925”, and I said “Boss, all I'm doing is what I know best, and now? ‘925’ is out of business," he said, not boastfully, but confidently.

Now however, there is Scothie’s and many consider it, serious competition. At Scotchie’s, the open-air aura and general infrastructure of Scotchie’s in Ocho Rios and Montego Bay has been duplicated. The tables, benches and chairs are made from hardwood, the thatched roof of Pagoda timber, and so, the rustic country ambiance has been brought into the heart of the city. Such a difference from the typical ‘jerk spot’. Scothie’s in Kingston is much larger than its two previous eateries, highlighting the intention of the investors to go full force in pursuit of Kingston's high-traffic jerk diners. And the target group is responding well. Throughout the week there is a steady stream of patrons – picking up their ‘take away’ orders or sitting down to dine. Yes, from all indications, Scothie’s is off to a solid start and Friday and Saturday nights are their biggest hits. The operators of Scothie’s are keen on the consumers enthusiastically ‘adopting’ their market offering and becoming regular patrons within a year.

Even so, Williams is unperturbed. A confident Williams says he hasn't even been to his rival's place across the road but he was told that "it has a good ambiance", probably in reference to the distinct garden-like quality of the new Scotchie’s. He insists that he's not at all threatened by Scotchie’s, saying that many jerk centres have come and gone without posing any serious challenge. "I've seen it all before... over the years, there have been a lot of competition," Williams told Jamaica Observer Sunday Finance, when they visited his offices last week. Against this background, Williams scoffs at any talk of Scotchie’s possibly running him out of business. He cites his 30-odd years of experience, trade recipe secrets and brand recognition of delivering "high quality food" and "excellent customer service" to diners. In fact, he insists that, "Since Scotchie’s came to Chelsea Avenue, I haven't seen any fall off in business."

According to Williams, over 100 customers go to his dinery and bar daily. But he's not staying complacent, and plans to at least "perk up" his jerk business. "In business you always have to plan and we are setting up a more family-like atmosphere here," says Williams.

It's still early days yet and there's no telling what the future will hold in this jerk war. But at the end of the day, the consumers of Kingston's jerk will win because competition drives quality up and prices down. At Chelsea Jerk Centre, a pound of jerk pork goes for $980, at Scotchie’s it will set you back $1,200 a pound.

Nobody wants to see a casualty in this battle, but, ‘let the games begin’.

Adapted from article in Jamaica Observer.

 Questions:

1. In terms of the stages of the Product Life Cycle, how would you categorize with justification, Scothie’s entry into the Kingston market? Recommend a marketing strategy for the Kingston based Scothie’s? [20 marks]

2. Identify and describe with justification, the type of consumer buying decision behaviour which consumers engage in when deciding on a meal of jerk pork/chicken at Scothie’s? [10 marks]

3. Exploring the full range of the four typical market segmentation variables, identify which are the main ones that Scothie’s in your estimation focused on in segmenting the market? [15 marks]

4. What stage of the adoption process is Scothie’s aiming to be at in a year’s time? [5 marks]