The document analyzes promotional activity and brand positioning for natural and processed cheese products at Retailer X. It finds that: 1) National brands promote cheese products more frequently and offer steeper discounts than private label brands. 2) For most categories like chunks, shreds, slices, and sticks, multiple national brands have similar average prices, indicating redundant offerings. 3) Based on pricing and lower sales, Crystal Farms and Borden brands are most redundant. The conclusion recommends removing these brands and replacing them with private label SKUs to optimize profit and increase assortment variety for customers.

1. Brands Positioning
For Cheese At Retailer X
Slices, Shreds, Sticks, and
Chunks

2. Brands Positioning

3. 47% 42%
21%
23%
8% 7%
7%
6%
6%
6%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
LY Share (rolling 52) Current Share (rolling 52)
Natural Cheese Share - Top 5 Brands
CRYSTAL FARMS
BORDEN
SARGENTO
KRAFT
PRIVATE LABEL
Natural Cheese Private Label Share Shift
Volume has grown YOY by 2% but Private Label has lost 5% share to
national brands (KRAFT)
-5%
Source: IRI – Rolling 52 weeks – 11/30/14
Natural Cheese Volume 19,814,467
Natural Cheese Volume LY 19,366,857
% Change 2%
Rolling 52 Volume View

4. Promotional Activity
For Chunks, shreds, slices, and sticks

5. Methodology: Food For Thought
Upon reviewing the slides please keep in mind the following:
• Purpose: To identify the promotional strategies of National Brands vs.
Private Label
• Key Variables:
1. How steep the National Brands’ discounts are compared to Private Label
2. How frequently the National Brands are promoting compared to Private Label
• Measures used in the analysis are:
• Average Price Per Unit
• Average Promoted Price Per Unit
• Difference between the Avg. Price Per Unit and Avg. Promoted Price Per Unit =
Average Difference
• Please note: If the Average Promoted Price Per Unit is zero, the difference
between Avg. Price Per Unit and Avg. Promoted Price Per Unit is zero
• Scope of Analysis
• Natural Chunks, Shreds, Sticks, and Slices
• Processed Slices
Source: IRI Data – Weekly Sales Data Dec. 8th, 2013 through Nov. 30th, 2014

6. Average Promotion Price – Natural Chunks Cheese
Private Label promotions are less frequent than the National Brands
Diff. Between Avg. Price
and Avg. Promo Price
-$2.50
-$2.00
-$1.50
-$1.00
-$0.50
$0.00
$0.50
$1.00
$1.50
$2.00
$2.50
$3.00
12/8/2013
12/15/2013
12/22/2013
12/29/2013
1/5/2014
1/12/2014
1/19/2014
1/26/2014
2/2/2014
2/9/2014
2/16/2014
2/23/2014
3/2/2014
3/9/2014
3/16/2014
3/23/2014
3/30/2014
4/6/2014
4/13/2014
4/20/2014
4/27/2014
5/4/2014
5/11/2014
5/18/2014
5/25/2014
6/1/2014
6/8/2014
6/15/2014
6/22/2014
6/29/2014
7/6/2014
7/13/2014
7/20/2014
7/27/2014
8/3/2014
8/10/2014
8/17/2014
8/24/2014
8/31/2014
9/7/2014
9/14/2014
9/21/2014
9/28/2014
10/5/2014
10/12/2014
10/19/2014
10/26/2014
11/2/2014
11/9/2014
11/16/2014
11/23/2014
11/30/2014
Promotional Variance - Chunks
Kraft Foods Crystal Farm Sargento Food
Private Label Borden Average Difference for Chunk

7. -$3.00
-$2.50
-$2.00
-$1.50
-$1.00
-$0.50
$0.00
$0.50
$1.00
$1.50
$2.00
$2.50
12/8/2013
12/15/2013
12/22/2013
12/29/2013
1/5/2014
1/12/2014
1/19/2014
1/26/2014
2/2/2014
2/9/2014
2/16/2014
2/23/2014
3/2/2014
3/9/2014
3/16/2014
3/23/2014
3/30/2014
4/6/2014
4/13/2014
4/20/2014
4/27/2014
5/4/2014
5/11/2014
5/18/2014
5/25/2014
6/1/2014
6/8/2014
6/15/2014
6/22/2014
6/29/2014
7/6/2014
7/13/2014
7/20/2014
7/27/2014
8/3/2014
8/10/2014
8/17/2014
8/24/2014
8/31/2014
9/7/2014
9/14/2014
9/21/2014
9/28/2014
10/5/2014
10/12/2014
10/19/2014
10/26/2014
11/2/2014
11/9/2014
11/16/2014
11/23/2014
11/30/2014
Promotional Variance - Shredded
Kraft Foods Crystal Farm Sargento Food
Private Label Borden Average Difference for Shredded
Average Promotion Price – Natural Shredded Cheese
In the 2nd and 4th quarter, Private Label is not promoting as frequently or steeply
as the National Brands
Diff. Between Avg. Price
and Avg. Promo Price

8. Average Promotion Price – Natural Sliced Cheese
For the majority of the time Private Label promotions are in-line with National Brands,
however, they are not offering as steep of a discount as the National Brands
Diff. Between Avg. Price
and Avg. Promo Price
-$0.80
-$0.60
-$0.40
-$0.20
$0.00
$0.20
$0.40
$0.60
$0.80
$1.00
$1.20
$1.40
12/8/2013
12/15/2013
12/22/2013
12/29/2013
1/5/2014
1/12/2014
1/19/2014
1/26/2014
2/2/2014
2/9/2014
2/16/2014
2/23/2014
3/2/2014
3/9/2014
3/16/2014
3/23/2014
3/30/2014
4/6/2014
4/13/2014
4/20/2014
4/27/2014
5/4/2014
5/11/2014
5/18/2014
5/25/2014
6/1/2014
6/8/2014
6/15/2014
6/22/2014
6/29/2014
7/6/2014
7/13/2014
7/20/2014
7/27/2014
8/3/2014
8/10/2014
8/17/2014
8/24/2014
8/31/2014
9/7/2014
9/14/2014
9/21/2014
9/28/2014
10/5/2014
10/12/2014
10/19/2014
10/26/2014
11/2/2014
11/9/2014
11/16/2014
11/23/2014
11/30/2014
Promotional Variance - Sliced
Kraft Foods Crystal Farm Sargento Food Private Label Borden Average Difference for Sliced

9. -$1.90
-$1.60
-$1.30
-$1.00
-$0.70
-$0.40
-$0.10
$0.20
$0.50
$0.80
$1.10
$1.40
$1.70
$2.00
$2.30
$2.60
12/8/2013
12/15/2013
12/22/2013
12/29/2013
1/5/2014
1/12/2014
1/19/2014
1/26/2014
2/2/2014
2/9/2014
2/16/2014
2/23/2014
3/2/2014
3/9/2014
3/16/2014
3/23/2014
3/30/2014
4/6/2014
4/13/2014
4/20/2014
4/27/2014
5/4/2014
5/11/2014
5/18/2014
5/25/2014
6/1/2014
6/8/2014
6/15/2014
6/22/2014
6/29/2014
7/6/2014
7/13/2014
7/20/2014
7/27/2014
8/3/2014
8/10/2014
8/17/2014
8/24/2014
8/31/2014
9/7/2014
9/14/2014
9/21/2014
9/28/2014
10/5/2014
10/12/2014
10/19/2014
10/26/2014
11/2/2014
11/9/2014
11/16/2014
11/23/2014
11/30/2014
Promotional Variance - Stick
Kraft Foods Crystal Farm Private Label
Sargento Food Average Difference for Stick Saputo Cheese
Average Promotion Price – Natural Snack Cheese
Kraft dominates the segment. There is little to no promotion activity from
Sargento, Crystal Farm Saputo or Private Label
Diff. Between Avg. Price
and Avg. Promo Price
Stick and String cheese

10. Average Promotion Price – Processed Sliced Cheese
For the majority of the time Private Label promotions are in-line with
National Brands
Diff. Between Avg. Price
and Avg. Promo Price
-$2.00
-$1.50
-$1.00
-$0.50
$0.00
$0.50
$1.00
$1.50
$2.00
$2.50
$3.00
$3.50
12/8/2013
12/15/2013
12/22/2013
12/29/2013
1/5/2014
1/12/2014
1/19/2014
1/26/2014
2/2/2014
2/9/2014
2/16/2014
2/23/2014
3/2/2014
3/9/2014
3/16/2014
3/23/2014
3/30/2014
4/6/2014
4/13/2014
4/20/2014
4/27/2014
5/4/2014
5/11/2014
5/18/2014
5/25/2014
6/1/2014
6/8/2014
6/15/2014
6/22/2014
6/29/2014
7/6/2014
7/13/2014
7/20/2014
7/27/2014
8/3/2014
8/10/2014
8/17/2014
8/24/2014
8/31/2014
9/7/2014
9/14/2014
9/21/2014
9/28/2014
10/5/2014
10/12/2014
10/19/2014
10/26/2014
11/2/2014
11/9/2014
11/16/2014
11/23/2014
11/30/2014
Promotional Variance - Sliced
Kraft Foods Borden Private label Average Difference for Slice

11. Brand Positioning
For Chunks, Shreds, slices, and sticks

12. Methodology: Food For Thought
Upon reviewing the slides please keep in mind the following:
• Purpose: To identify the relative pricing of brands sold to discover
redundancy
• Key Variables:
1. The Average Price gap between the National Brands (Borden, Crystal Farms,
Kraft and Sargento) and Private Label
2. Which brands are consistently redundant
• Measures used in the analysis are:
• Average Price in OZ ( Calculated based on Average Price divided by Oz)
• Dollar Sales
• Scope of Analysis
• Natural Slices, Shreds, Chunks, and Sticks
• Processed Slices
Source: IRI Data – Weekly Sales Data Dec. 8th, 2013 through Nov. 30th, 2014

13. Brand Positioning – Natural Chunks
Chunks – Brand Positioning
4 brands in the
same pricing
segment
Redundant
brands

14. Brand Positioning – Natural Shreds
Shreds – Brand Positioning
All 5 brands are
in the same
pricing segment
Redundant
brands

15. Brand Positioning – Natural Sliced
Sliced – Brand Positioning
Redundant
Brands
3 brands in the
same pricing
segment

16. Brand Positioning – Natural Snacks
Stick– Brand Positioning
Sales are
Negligible:
Brand Serves
Little Purpose
Stick and String cheese

17. Brand Positioning – Processed Sliced
Processed Sliced – Brand Positioning
3 brands in
the same
pricing
segment

18. Conclusion
Key Insight:
• Seeing as both Crystal Farms and Borden generally fall in the same pricing
brackets as the other brands AND the sales of the two brands are, relative
to the others, rather small, we would recommend removing the brands
and replacing with Private Label SKUs
This would allow Retailer X to optimize their profit and increase variety
in assortment and customer loyalty