Slide deck for final round presentation to BASES analysts

1. Comet Meals
WWSD Solutions
Shelby Fletcher, Michael Greim, Rebecca Schultz, Laurie Sites

2. Overview
Recommendation
Current Situation
Strengths of Current Concept
Challenges Facing Current Concept
Rationale
Implementation
2

3. Recommendation Comet
Meals
Should Not
Launch in
Half Foods
Reposition as
Alternative
to
Restaurant
Meal
Product Tests
to Choose
Distribution
Channel(s)
Improve
Clarity of
Value
Proposition
3

4. Industry Trends Send Mixed Signals to Comet
 Frozen Food Trends
 Frozen food dollar and unit sales are decreasing: dropped to $8.1 billion in 2012; expected to steadily decline to
$7.6 billion by 2017
 Frozen foods prices steadily increasing
 Restaurant brands had 13% increase in $ sales vs. 2 years ago
 Grocery Trends
 Niche grocery stores increasing
 Buyer Trends
 41% purchase frozen food exclusively through one channel
 Hot topics: natural/organic, local, low-fat, no MSG
 12% buyers say they will buy eco-friendly even if its more $
 Consumers are switching to value channels
 34% of shoppers say they will decrease grocery spend
3-Year Annual Dollar and Unit Volume Trend (MM) – Total Single-Serve Frozen
Dinners
Source: Nielsen Scantrack, US Food/Drug/Mass w/out Wal-Mart
4 Weeks Ending 7/12/010 to 4 Weeks Ending 8/6/13
✗
✔
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✔ ✗
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4

5. Dominant Competitors Pose Relatively Low
Threat to Comet
 3 main competitors
 Amy’s (13/53)
 Natural and organic option
 ~1% market share
 Alexia (7/53)
 Banquet (42/53)
 Low-budget option
 42% market share
2011 Unit Sales 2012 Unit Sales 2013 Unit Sales
Amy’s 3,535,506 3,671,894 3,939,431
Banquet 219,524,134 190,892,275 174,364,015
2011 $ Sales 2012 $ Sales 2013 $ Sales
Amy’s $ 15,815,291 $ 16,367,795 $ 16,669,140
Banquet $ 236,196,437 $ 196,184,091 $ 177,195,112
5

6. Demographic Comparisons:
More Mixed Messages
Half Foods Shopper Demographics
Income $70,000+
Age Under 35
Spectra BehaviorStage Young Transitionals or
Start-up Families
Spectra LifeStyle Cosmopolitan Centers or
Affluent Suburban Spreads
Education College graduate
Race Non-white, Asian
Occupation Professional/Managerial
Region West
Comet Restaurant-Goer Demographics
Income $70,000+
Age 45+
Spectra BehaviorStage Established Couples or
Empty Nest Couples
Spectra LifeStyle Cosmopolitan Centers or
Affluent Suburban Spreads
Education College graduate
Race White
Occupation Full-time
Professional/Managerial
Region East
6

7. Comet’s Wins with Respondents
 Analyzed verbatim
responses to the
question “Based on
the product
information you just
saw, what is there
about Comet frozen
foods that you think
you’d like?”
 Top Three
 Flavor
 Price
 Easy Preparation
7

8. Strength: Flavor Concepts
 Consumers are excited about the proposed varieties and the overall concept
of frozen Asian Cuisine
 Mentioned 85 times in verbatim responses
 42% of respondents thought that the flavors available were either much better or
somewhat better than competitors products
#1 Pad Thai Noodles
with Grilled Chicken
8

9. Strength: Price
 Price was consistently listed as
something the consumers liked in
the verbatim answers
 Consumers that believe the price is
better are more likely to be buyers
 Current price situates Comet as a
premium product, positioned well to
increase perception of value
Current Price = $6.49/ entrée Note: Numbers listed are frequencies of respondent answers
9

10. Strength: Quick Preparation
 Analysis of “Easy to Prepare” and “Quick to Prepare” show that
more respondents believe that the product would be quick to prepare than it
would be easy to prepare.
 If consumers believe that the overall ease of preparation is much better or
somewhat better than alternatives the consumer is more likely to be a buyer.
Belief of Easy Preparation= More likely to be buyer
55% Agree the dish would be quick to prepare
10

11. Comet Faces Challenges with Consumers:
Low Value, Low Purchase Frequency
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Frequency of Purchase
Once a Month All other Categories Never
Customers perceive low value
Value Rating
0 – 32%
Purchase Intent
67-100%≠
• Intuition:
• 88% said it offered better nutritional value
• 78% said there were few to no alternatives
• 97% said it was easier to prepare than competitors
products
• 91% said your price compared to your competitors was
about the same or better
11

12. Challenge: Limiters to Volume Potential,
Trial Concept Issues
Comet
Restaurants
Half
Foods
Low brand recognition due to differing Regions:
• Half Food heavily located in the West
• Comet Restaurant Group heavily Located in the East
12

13. Challenge: Message Clarity
8%
10%
12%
55%
15%
How well was the Product Explained?
Extremely Well
Very Well
Somewhat Well
Slightly Well
Not Well at all
Issues with Message Clarity:
• 26% - Noted an absence of Nutritional Value facts
• 8% - Noted an absence of cooking Instructions
*Note : 47% said: “Nothing”, “Don’t like frozen Meals”, “Don’t like Asian food”,
these are personal preferences and were not taken into account.
13
Eco-Friendly Purchasing
I will buy eco-friendly
option even if it is
more expensive
I prefer to buy eco-
friendly products, but
they are more
expensive, so I buy
non-eco-friendly
I buy whatever is
cheapest/better
value
I do not like or buy
eco-friendly products

14. Message Clarity Aids Value Perception,
Increases Purchase Intent
Message
Clarity
Value
Perception
Purchase
Intent
Poor Message
Clarity
Positive
Message
Clarity
139
respondents
58
respondents
More likely to
view product as
“poor value”
More likely to
have low
purchase intent
More likely to
view product as
“good value”
More likely to
have high
purchase intent
Respondents who thought
“poor clarity” more likely
to think “average value”
Message clarity
adds to value,
which adds to
purchase intent
14

15. Highlighting Nutritional Content
Important for Purchase Intent
Association exists
between perception of
healthiness/nutritional
content and purchase
intent.
Consumers that believe
nutritional content is
much or somewhat
better than competition
are MORE likely to
purchase.
$48
$42
$36
$30
$24
$18
$12
$6
$0
Label Claims Dollar Sales (Billions)
Note: Y-axis scaled in billions
15

16. Concerns with Half Foods Demographic
Alignment
Frequency Annual
Income
Education Region Usually
Shop For?
Race Age
Most
frequent
$50k-$75k
(24.3%)
Some
college
(36%)
East north
central
(20.6%)
Grocery
store/super
market
(55.9%)
Caucasian
(80.9%)
48-57
2nd most
freq.
<$25k
(19.9%)
Complete
college
(28.7%)
South
Atlantic
(19.9%)
Wal-Mart
(33.1%)
African
American
(6.6%)
37-47
3rd most
freq.
$75k-$100k
(14%)
Complete
high school
(21.3%)
West north
central
(14.0%)
Asian
(6.6%)
Of customers reporting top-two box purchase intent…
16

17. Implementation Plan
Improve Clarity
of Value
Proposition
Reposition as
Alternative to
Restaurant Meal
Product Tests to
choose
Distribution
Channels

18. Improve Clarity of Value Proposition
 Give consumers a clear picture of WHY they should buy Comet frozen
foods
 Nutritional facts highlighted on package
 Use sustainability as a secondary selling point
100% Sustainable
+
Low Sodium
No MSG!
High Protein
All Natural
Nutritional Facts

19. Reposition as Alternative to
Restaurant Meal
 Portray in advertising and marketing materials as gourmet food brought into
the home
 Improve package quality to further enhance the feeling of a fancy meal
 Explore idea of multi-serve frozen entrées to cater to the needs of families
“I like the convenience of being able to prepare a restaurant style
meal in my own home at a reasonable price” –Survey Respondent
“I am always looking for good Asian/Chinese food that I do not have
to go to my favorite restaurant for” –Survey Respondent

20. Comet Foods
Frozen
Entrees
Retailer #1 Retailer #2 Retailer #3
Most Likely
Purchasers
Product Tests to Choose Distribution
Channels
 Administer product tests to top box CPI to determine most likely customers
 Test in groceries other than Half Foods that align with most likely customer
 Select several top performers
Comet Frozen
Entrees
Half Foods
Stores
Most Likely
Purchasers?
Current : Proposed:

21. Redesigned Implementation Readies
Comet for Launch
Comet
Frozen
Meal Ready
for Launch!
Improve
Clarity of
Value
Proposition
Reposition as
Alternative
to Restaurant
Meal
Product Tests
to Choose
Distribution
Channels
21

22. Comet Meals
WWSD Solutions
Shelby Fletcher, Michael Greim, Rebecca Schultz, Laurie Sites
Appendices
Appendix A: Affect of Region on Purchase Intent
Appendix B: Purchase Frequency and Number of Units
Appendix C: Clarity-Value Association
Appendix D: Value-Purchase Intent Association
Appendix E: Nielsen Learnings on Premium Priced Products
Appendix F: Price- Purchase Intent Association
Appendix G: Ease of Preparation- Purchase Intent Association
Q&A
22

23. Appendix A: Affect of Region on
Purchase Intent
23

24. Appendix B: Purchase Frequency and
Number of Units
Consumers’ perception
of value positively
affects purchase
frequency
Consumers’ perception
of message clarity
positively affects
number of units
purchased on first trial
24

25. Appendix C: Clarity-Value Association
• Product explained well -> more
likely to rate value positively
• Product explained poorly -> more
likely to rate value poorly
25

26. Appendix D: Value-Purchase Intent
Association
• People not interested in buying -> more
likely to rate value poorly
• People interested in buying -> more
likely to rate value positively
• People who rate value average -> more
likely to not buy
26

27. Appendix E: Nielsen Learnings on
Premium Priced Products
27

28. Appendix F:Price-Purchase Intent
Association
• Believe price would be much
better More likely to be a
buyer
• Believe price is somewhat
better More likely to be a
buyer

29. Appendix G: Ease of Preparation –
Purchase Intent Association
• Believe preparation
would be much
better More likely
to be a buyer
• Believe preparation
would be somewhat
better More likely
to be a buyer