BRINGING FOREIGN SOURCED PRODUCTS INTO THE U.S
SPLENDID TEA

Background:

BaoBae is a company that is Headquartered in Hong Kong.When the company started 8 years ago, its main business was gifting of baby items.In 2019, the owner changed hands.The main business is still gifting of baby items, but the owner, Star Products, now uses BaoBae platform to sell other lines of products, such as Reishi Mushroom Supplement, Reishi Cookies and Chocolates, Organic Oolong Tea,Rosewater, and now Surgical Mask.The company wants to launch this platform to service the target market in Japan and in the U.S.

Objective:

The objective of this term project is to do International Marketing Research to advise the company (client) as to how you would alter (if you determine so) the Product Positioning, Price, Distribution and Promotional Methods for the U.S. Market.

The product you will focus on is Splendid Tea sourced from Taiwan.The website is used just for product info for B2B.

http://starproducts.com.hk/splendid-te/

This will be a series of assignments covering –

• Secondary Research
• Primary Qualitative Research – Observation
• Primary Qualitative Research – Interview
• Primary Quantitative Research – Survey

Instruction:
25 points

Individual work
Conduct Secondary Research

• Familiarize yourself with the Splendid Tea that our client, Star Products HK, is selling.
  The price of the vacuum pack in a can is $30 wholesale and $50 MSRP.It is not the top of the line, but still is considered a premium product.

• Research the oolong tea market in the U.S.This is a very competitive market with multiple products at various price points.
  • How many oolong tea brands are there in the U.S.?

  • How many oolong tea brands are carried at a typical American supermarket targeting an average tea drinker/nondrinker?
  • Name those brands.
  • List the prices of those brands.
  • How many oolong tea brands are carried at a health food store targeting tea drinkers who are more well-informed tea drinkers who consume tea for health benefits?
  • Name those brands
  • List the prices of those brands.
  • How many oolong tea brands are carried at Chinese or Asian supermarket targeting those comfortable with Chinese brands of tea?
  • Name those brands
  • List the prices of those brands
  • How many oolong tea brands are carried at Chinese Tea Specialty store targeting tea connoisseurs?
    (You will not be responsible to identify the brands at such stores since it will be a difficult task if you do not purchase anything at the store)
  • What is the price range of oolong tea?
  • Research at least 3 reasons why customers shop at these stores knowing that the prices may at higher.
• Research consumers’ perception about tea.
  Because of the price point of the product, Splendid Tea will be marketed as a premium brand.

  Research what consumers perceive as “premium tea.”

  • How is “premium tea” defined?Price?Brand name? Origin of tea? Etc.
  • How important is the brand name?
  • Any type of tea considered better than others? Oolong, Jasmine, Green, Chrysanthemum, Puar, etc. What constitutes quality tea?
  • What is their understanding of Oolong?
  • What constitutes “premium tea”
    • Characteristic 1
    • Characteristic 2
    • Characteristic 3
  • What benefits are sought in “premium tea”? Health? Taste? Fragrance?

Now comes the crucial questions since these are the point of differentiation of Splendid Tea over competition.

• Is where the tea is sourced important?
• Are consumers aware that vast majority of tea must use insecticides?
• Howe valuable is being insecticides-free?