After reading about McCain’s expansion into India from Stephanie Poon’s Blog,  I would like to comment on McCain Foods’s product strategy and how it has lead to a brilliant expansion into the Indian market. McCain Foods is the world’s largest producer of French Fries and other oven-ready frozen food products. Its product lines are very consistent, mainly focusing on frozen food products that serve as convenient and easy-to-make meals. McCain Foods has reached a maturity stage in its product life cycle and it is now modifying the market for its frozen foods through finding new users in a new and seemingly strange market: India. In pursuing market development as its product growth strategy, McCain Foods has pinned down the core customer value for the Indian market: convenience. McCain’s frozen foods delivers convenience to the growing work population in India and their fast-paced life style by offering a frozen food product that is easy to make and fun to eat. Although McCain Foods India’s frozen food products have not changed greatly from the original, it has adjusted its frozen foods to local tastes in India to ensure a more welcoming adoption of its products. I believe that McCain’s efforts in India will go far and that this may be their first step in its market development into the Asian market.

Among the unbelievably long line-ups at McDonald’s and other local food shops, I found a place with no line-ups in Guangzhou, China: McCafé. I was delighted that there was an absence of line-ups at McCafé but I also found the coffee-based drinks mediocre and the environment of McCafé too modest. Perhaps I have adapted to Starbucks and Blenz Coffee all too well and anything different seemed not up to standard.  I agree with Heena that  McDonald’s needs to renovate its brand image and I have focused on McCafé, the coffee-house-style food and drink chain owned by McDonald’s:

In terms of geographic segmentation, McCafé has chosen to target urban cities in well-established countries such as Australia, the US, Japan, China, Spain, etc. Demographically, McCafé considers young adults with relatively high disposable income and adults in the working population. These consumers look for  a laid-back environment with comfortable surroundings, exquisite furnishings, and an artistic ambiance in a coffee house. Also, consumers have a need for coffee especially in the morning, and sometimes during lunch and dinner to accompany their meals. In locations near universities, there is a need for a 24 hours coffee house with wi-fi where students can do late night studying or work on projects on their laptops.

Coffee house is a lucrative business considering the current and future market size of coffee-drinkers and the consumer trend towards espresso coffee. In order to target its consumers, McCafés are situated within or adjacent to existing full-service traditional McDonald’s restaurants. I think that this is both an advantage and a weakness. If McCafé’s objective is to create profit as a side business, it has done well in placing its chains besides McDonald’s, which generate a huge amount of traffic. However, if McCafé’s objective is to establish itself as a well-known, top-of-the-mind coffee-house-style  brand, it needs to break apart from the fast food brand image and improve on its product line and store environment. I believe that it is a brilliant strategy for McCafé to renovate its Canadian locations because an improved appearance and storefront layout will help McCafé become a more urban and stylish coffee house brand in consumers’ minds.