Snow Monkey: Revolutionising the Ice Cream Industry

Rachel was born to parents of Chinese and German descent. Raised in Hong Kong, she was enterprising and started her first business in the entertainment industry at the early age of 16. She also gained experience working with Pepsi China, the Peninsula Hotel in Shanghai and the Hilton Queenstown. Rachel was a sportswoman as well and a member of the Hong Kong National Field Hockey team. Hence, she was conscious about her food and nutrition. At the age of 20, however, Rachel unfortunately was diagnosed with celiac disease. The food allergy drove her to explore alternative diets and natural ingredients.

Scaling Up

In 2005, Rachel acquired some funds from the money and capital market. The funds helped Rachel and Mariana, her business partner, to upgrade their creation. However, their lack of experience in the food business posed a great challenge for them. Pepsi China and the Hilton Queenstown specialised in food but not ice cream production. Rachel said, "Manufacturing the ice treat was our greatest challenge. We went online to hunt for manufacturers, sourcing directories from every association we found." The two of them started making calls to convince manufacturers to work with them. Moreover, changing the ingredients of an ice cream required working with food scientists and changing the manufacturing process. Rachel and Mariana eventually found a few manufacturers and packers who agreed to help them in scaling up. They had to shift to Los Angeles to be in proximity to the manufacturers and buyers. In January 2017, Snow Monkey was finally launched and hit the shelves of whole foods market stores in the southern Pacific region.

Increasing Demand for Healthy Options

Over the years, growth in the ice cream market had encountered challenging situations like competition from other categories (e.g., yogurt), consumers' growing concerns about health and dieting, etc. During 2013-14, Mintel, in its report stated that the focus of consumers was shifting to absence of negatives which included GMO -free, hormone-free, preservative-free and low calorie, as far as ice creams and frozen novelties were concerned. According to the reports of Technavio, growing health consciousness among consumers had led to a change in their demand. This in turn pushed manufacturers to offer ice creams of smaller portion sizes with low levels of fat, and more natural ingredients.

Ice Cream for Breakfast

Rachel and Mariana aimed to reposition ice cream from dessert into a meal that sustained, nourished, and fuelled the body. But going beyond transforming the ice cream industry, they intended to disrupt food systems by providing access to comfort foods that were nutritionally beneficial and environmentally sustainable. The companys tagline stated, "If Mother Nature didn't make it, we didn't use it."

Disrupting the Ice Cream Industry

In July 2017, Snow Monkey announced the expansion of its distribution to Wegmans, Central Market and Nugget Market. With this, it was retailing in a whopping 130 stores domestically. The expansion came during summer when consumers indulged in ice creams to celebrate National Ice Cream Month.

Perfecting the Recipe for Future

In February 2018, Snow Monkey released three new flavours: Matcha Green Tea, Passion Fruit, and Cinnamon. The new flavours helped it expand its offerings. During the launch, Rachel said, "Snow Monkey is the only ice cream alternative that allows consumers to enjoy their favourite treat for breakfast, post-workout fuel, or indulgence without any of the guilt. We are continuously working toward our mission of reinventing America's favourite treats, and the ability to appeal to additional taste preferences with the launch of our new flavours takes us one step closer.

Assume you are the marketing manager for Snow Monkey, which has decided to enter the South African market with a new organic ice cream version. Apply the new product development process to come up with this new ice cream focusing on the following:

Test marketing

Four (4) marks will be awarded for any four (4) valid points explaining how the above stage of the product development process can be managed. Application of one valid point with a practical example will earn the candidate 2 marks instead of 1 mark.