PORTER’S ANALYSIS
New Entrants: In general, there are few barriers to entry in the smoothie industry, which would make this force very strong.
• Economies of Scale: There are no considerable decreases in average costs as output increases. Smoothies are generally high margin products, which means that new companies could be profitable without having to sell too many products.
• Capital Requirements: In the smoothie industry, there are few fixed assets that would need to be purchased in order to operate. Therefore, new companies could enter without needing large amounts of capital.
• Product Differentiation: Although there is some level of differentiation among ingredients and flavors, predominant similarities exist among current products. New companies could
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Thus, these forces are very strong.
• Number of Competitors: In the smoothie industry, there are a high number of competitors, many of equal size, which creates an intense rivalry. Smoothie King is the original smoothie chain and is high-priced and nutritional with strong brand recognition. Planet Smoothie is a mid-priced, high-quality, eco-friendly company that is constantly innovating. Maui Wowi is a franchise-based company that sells other beverages and foods in a variety of store formats. Other limited service restaurants do not focus primarily on smoothies, but do offer smoothies or smoothie-like options.
• Rate of Industry Growth: It appears that enthusiasm over smoothies tapered out, so this market is not growing very rapidly, which leads to a more intense rivalry.
• Product Characteristics and Diversity of Rivals: Besides flavors and ingredients, all smoothie companies have similar product offerings, which increases rivalry.
Societal Environment: In general, these forces seemed to have some varying levels of impact at various stages in this company’s life