Zoeys Culinary

Zoeys Culinary is caterer based in Pretoria. Their portfolio covers an array of events from weddings, corporate functions, parties, and any other private occasions. Due to the COVID19 pandemic, the business has also included a private chef service and food delivery services. However, there are some problems with their marketing planning as mentioned below: Marketing is done separately, by the marketing team based in Pretoria where the Head Office is situated with no input from other branches and department. The focus of the marketing department is just increasing the sales of their services, and no other aspects like customer retention are really considered in the marketing budget. Some of the chefs employed at Zoeys Culinary do not have any formal training and are therefore not qualified to do the job. Employees at Zoeys Culinary are of the opinion that their managers are selfish and are not willing to help them advance their skills and career. Due to the COVID19 pandemic the business is not doing well, and staff are worried that the business might close. Senior management solve problems daily as they arise since there in no clear strategic plan or objectives. Due to the reduction of revenue, Zoeys Culinary has seen some budget cuts and no funds were budgeted for marketing environment research. Top management is focused on solving problems and managing challenges to such an extent that there in no time to focus on end results and business performance. There does not seem to be a focus on planning marketing and business objectives in a logical order as activities are done haphazardly. There is evidence that the marketing planning approach is not systematic hence Zoeys Culinary is facing so many challenges. A further analysis of the businesses revealed that Zoeys Culinary charges very high prices for its services. Customers who were surveyed are of the opinion that the business is robbing them. Some customers complained that the Zoeys Culinary misled them when the caterer described the portions of food they serve for functions. Unlike what the customers were promised, the food portions were significant small, leading to a lot of people, being disgruntled clients. Customers who had used Zoeys Culinary and are from the lower end of the market indicated that they received very poor service, as Zoeys Culinary only delivered food for a birthday party, four hours later that the agreed time. Lastly, when the health inspector visited their premises in Pretoria, she noticed that the kitchen was in a poor condition, which posed a health hazard to the employees. The health inspector also noted that Zoeys Culinary prepared food using used cooking oil. There had been rumours that that specific used cooking oil has previously caused some clients to get sick.

Question 8

Marketing receives much criticism. Identify some marketing criticism in the scenario and provide some justifications or response that Zoeys Culinary can use to counter the criticisms. (7 Marks)