Rodopa Milk Diary

W​‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‌‌‍‌‍‍‌‌‌‍‍‍‍​orking in teams, students will prepare a short case study of an organization in Bulgaria (5 pages, plus attachments, charts and references). The organization must be real, and information can be obtained through both primary and secondary sources. For a sample, see the Software Team Six case. For other sample cases and formats, see Deliverables: (1) Project identification sheet: Paper indicating the name of the company, the issue, and the names of the students collaborating on the project. (2) Team authored mini-case about a Bulgarian organization facing a managerial issue or opportunity, 5 pages long. (3) Case analysis of your case. (4) 3 to 7 “Discussion questions” about the case, with summary answers to the questions. The story as I know it so far… Ivaylo Yordanov was an employee in Carlsberg Bulgaria for a period of time till 2013-4. His family has a dairy in the small town of Smilyan near Smolyan in the heart of Rhodopi mountain. After he left the corporation he started to think of a way through which he could sell the milk products (cheese, milk, yellow cheese, etc.). The situation in the market was quite hostile so he decided to open his own stores where he can sell the goods. He started with 1 shop with 2 employees and him in the city of Varna. Both were women. Besides milk products he enlisted a long portfolio of different niche products like meat, appetisers, wine, different spices and many others. What was common for all of them is that they originated from Bulgaria and most of them could not be found on the market. His main advantage is the service he is providing – each of his employees know all the substances of most of the goods and are advising clients on what they should choose. After a year(or shorter/longer) he started to sell bread which he was buying from a local bakery. Every morning he was taking the goods and transferring them to the store. In a period of time (to define how much exactly) he opened a second store. He was again alone in transferring the bread to both of them. His business was flourishing so he started searching for a 3rd store. He found it in …?. The places which were chosen were near marketplaces or crowded areas with a lot of people. The 3rd store didn’t turn out that well. Most of the time it was surpassed by consumers probably because of the place and the neighbourhood. After a year (to define it) he closed it. In 2019-20 very satisfied clients asked him to open a store in Plovdiv, bigger city which was 400 km away from Varna but nearer to the dairy – around 120 km. He agreed and gave them the trademark under the contract of franchising and paying some part of the turnover/profit. At the beginning the store was functioning well but after a period of time the new owners started to offer different products and stayed out of stock of main goods. After a period of time the store closed. At the same time Ivaylo opened a third store, his biggest one, in Varna. His business model stays the same in years with good strategy – best products, best service, only women employees. He doesn’t have a website but has a Facebook page where promotions are published and different articles on food. The interior in each store is similar. Shelves made of wood, Rodopa milk branded coolers and so on. Lately, he started initiatives with partners to have happy hours in which a promoter is giving clients the opportunity to try different wines, cheese and appetisers. He is also involved in different social activities such as planting trees and others. Questions for the interview: History Who are you? Brief introduction and some background of the person. How did you decide to get into the business? Why? When did you start? What trouble did you meet along the way? How did your family sell their products before you opened the first store? What challenges were they facing? Products What are your products? What is their unique selling point? How are they different from a regular product in the supermarket? How do you obtain your products? Do you produce? If you have suppliers – who are they, do you have any issues? How do the prices of the products sold in your shops compare to those of competitors? Business How many stores do you have? Where? How many employees do you have? What is the prospect of the business in your view? Organisational culture How do you go about hiring your employees? How do you keep them motivated? Competitors What are your biggest competitors – is it large chains, other small shops, something else? Has competition changed in recent years, especially with the rise of online shopping? Have you considered offering your products online (through apps or your own website)? Substitutes What are the closest substitutes to Rodopa milk on the market? Clients and their power Who are your clients? What do you know about them – age, social status, values, things they find important? How do your clients make purchasing decisions? Are they loyal? Price sensitive? Suppliers Is it easy to find the right suppliers? Are they generally trustworthy/good partners? When negotiating, who has more power – them or the shops? How fast do you have to pay them? Do you have to make large prepayments? New entrants Do you believe it’s easy to enter this industry? If so, why? If not, why? What does it take to be successful in this industry? Knowing the right people, having product knowledge, having capital, sth else? Sustainable competitive advantage – VRIO Market share and market growth How do you define your market? What are your ambitions in terms of market share / positioning? Issues – beginning, 2nd store, 3rd store, closed stores Plans Turnovers through years – what is the decision making process to open new stores Is there a cause? How are they advertising? Any budget for marketing or only FB? https://www.facebook.com/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D0%B3%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B8-%D0%A0%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%B0-%D0%BC%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%BA-373370192774487/ Kala: 1. There is fierce competition in this industry. Many players are fighting for a share of the market. Can you explain more about the strategies/measurements you have taken to fight back? 2. Have they been successful so far? What challenges are you facing with the strategies/measurements you have implemented? 3. What are the consequences of going this route? 4. Is there a niche you have been trying to explore but did not due to constraints such as time? Unfortunately, I do not have the answers to the questions right above in English. The owner is Bulgarian and do not speak English . I have a script of the interview but it is in Bulgarian. I do not think how google translate will translate it. I can try just in case. here it is: Note that the translation may not be the best but at least will give you an idea what this business is about. Speaker 1 We’re about to do a project that’s related to your business, and I’m just starting with the questions. Tell me who Rodopa Milk and who Ivaylo Jordanov are, if you could do a brief introduction and history before the stores and for themselves. Speaker 2 The begging Business generally started 1993. My family took advantage of the opportunity to develop a business that is related to support from the Swiss Government and was on a programme that the Swiss Government wanted to provide assistance to Bulgaria and mountain areas in general. It started everything, and their aid was in the form of technique and know how with the recipes of products that were originally made. The idea was to produce Swiss cheese with Bulgarian milk. However, it has appeared that Bulgarian milk is not the best thing for Swiss cheeses. It started to be produced at the very beginning, as the raw material indicators did not meet the requirements for the Swiss cheese. However, in the aftermath, our technologist managed to adapt their recipes to the qualities of Bulgarian milk, and so we started making Swiss cheeses. Both Swiss and gouda parmesan, which are Dutch, Italian, and edem, which is French cheese. He managed by improving the technology to make those products. Personal background I subsequently directed my education after high school graduation, to a manager’s major. I graduated from the Varna Economic University, and my master’s on the same subject. This in modern and current specifications of specialities is what is called business administration / management. Since 2006, after I finished my education, I worked in Carlsberg in Bulgaria, first as a sales representative for two years and then as a supervisor for five years. I had a lot of experience in the commercial field, in realising production and execution of targets, I learned a lot from this company, but in general, it was always in my mind that I had to develop the business that is about dairy products and family business. So in 2013, I left Carlsberg and decided to open my own stores. Industry context One of the reasons I did it is that they entered a lot of trade chains in Bulgaria, which began to twist their hands in quotes, to the small and medium producer, because they have very large requirements, trade marketing, concessions required by producers and in general. This leads to a deterioration of the quality of products because producers pressed by having to give large concessions over 25 percent, even the minimum that they give as a discount to these chains – they are pressured to compromise with the quality of their production. Ingredient inputs are inputs, raw materials that are of questionable qualities are not so good for health, palm oils. Company ideology/culture So, in general, many manufacturers and some went bankrupt, and we decided to go our own way, where we would continue to make the products with the same qualities, to use mountain milk from the area of the village of Smilyan. Whose qualities are very very good, since the animals themselves are grazing. The breed is very good, which adapted to the area, but to Smilyan and the Rhodope Mountains along the upper reaches of Arda. Where we buy our milk. And the animals themselves graze over 300 species of herbs. Around And the milk itself becomes very strong aroma. Very nice very nice for with a pleasant yellow color and is ideal for producing yellow cheeses and yellow cheeses. Speaker 1 How’s the trial itself? These animals are from the very area, and you buy the milk from the people themselves who raise them? Speaker 2 The animals In the area where the animals are. It’s a breed that’s grown there in the area. It has been selected since the 50s as a cross between a local breed called raw rodope cattle and Jersey, simply adapted to local conditions. They’re smaller animals with the typical structure. Yellow color and very beautiful animals. Another specific to them is that