Test 2. Case Study: Read and understand the case below and do what is required after reading the case. (25 pts.)

Orient Bakeshop Buko Pie Production

Laguna is known for having some of the best, if not the best, buko pies in the country. The problem, however, is that there are far too many buko pie shops along the main thoroughfares, and each claim to be the first or the original maker of the famous pie. But the true, original inventor of the buko pie is found in Los Banos, Laguna. In fact, the owners whould have wanted The Original Buko Pie to be their trade name, except that the Department of Trade and Industry forbade the use of such a claim or adjective as a brand. Eventually, they resolved to name their bakeshop Orient, which was short for Original Enterprise. Buko pie is now considered to be a traditional Filipino desert. It is made from young coconut (buko), combined with sweetened condensed milk to make a dense, creamy custard filled with buko meat. Once only available in the Philippines, todays buko pie makers-and there are a number of them-make use of blast freezing technologies to make these frozen pies available for export as well. Orient Bakeshop began its operations in 1965 and today remains as a family-owned business. For over 60 years, the business had just one outlet in Anos, Los Banos. But it became a very popular outlet, with a long queue of customers regularly seen lining up by the side of the National Highway where the store is located. Meanwhile, other information buko pie shops around its periphery get only a small fraction of the market. While this long queue may seem like an advantage at first, it is also a problem as customers complain about the inconvenience of having to travel all the way to Anos just to buy their products, only to be faced with such a long waiting line. Still, for the longest time, the owners had the opinion that it was a matter of pride that people went out of their way to buy their products. We wanted to be the choice and not just an option, says one of the owners. It was not until 2013 when the company finally decided to open a second branch, this time along the Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay Road. As with the original branch, the second branch did its own baking in-house, rather than relying on deliveries from the main branch because the family believed that the transportation expenses would eat into the profits. The Tagaytay branch performed decently, with queues happening as well, but its sales nevertheless hovered at just around 70% of that of the main branch. In fact, while the main branch consistently hit its sales targets, the Tagaytay branch was only hitting around 70%. So what makes Orient buko pies better than other bakeshops? We only use natural ingredients. No preservatives and we do everything by hand. No mixers, says its general manager. But what people say distinguishes our pies from the rest is the filling. We only use coconut that is harvested the same day. So if on a certain day we only get a thousand coconuts, that is, all the pies we are going to bake. When we run out, we ran out. Moreover, the general manager believes that the best coconut meat comes from 40-day-old coconuts harvested in Laguna and Batangas. Therefore, they have stringent standards regarding the quality of the coconut meat that they receive. If the delivery fails the quality control check (because it is either too hard or not cleaned well enough), then the vendor gets it back. Each buko pie requires about four to five fresh coconuts worth of coconut meat. On average, their daily sales ranges from 500 to 1,000 pies, with the original branch typically selling 1,000 boxes a day during peak season and half of that during non-peak seasons, while the Tagaytay branch sells about 500 boxes during peak and 300 boxes a day during non-peak seasons. Orients biggest competitors in the buko pie market are () Colettes Buko Pie and Pasalubong, which had about 40 branches across Laguna, Tagaytay, Batangas, and even in Cebu; (2) Letys Buko Pie, which offered different pie sizes and had at least four branches around Laguna; and (3) El Mare Buko Pie, with just one branch in San Pablo, Laguna. Letys Buko Pie has, in fact, been aggressive in pursuing the frozen buko pie market. Frozen buko pies has become a product strategy that, because of its longer shelf life, allowed the business to export its products as well as provide it with the capability to open market stalls nationwide. This is a market that Orient has not explored at all. The family behind Orient Bakeshop is wondering about their growth options. Was opening the Tagaytay branch a good decision, or should they just close it down and improve production capacity at the original branch instead? Should they follow aggressive rollout of Colettes and pursue a wide distribution network? Should they venture into frozen buko pies?

Requirements:

1. identify the possible strengths of this selected company based on what you can research about it and its competitors in the industry;

2. identify the possible weaknesses of the firm based on your research about it and its competitors;

3. learn about the company and identify possible trends that can affect it over the next several years. Which of these would you classify opportunities, and which would be threats; and

4. fill out your SWOT matrix and perform your SWOT analysis. What strategies would you recommend for this company to further improve its competitiveness? Note: Follow strictly the template below.

STRENGTHS:	WEAKNESSES:
OPPORTUNITIES :	THREATS: