12/12/2018 FarmBite Organic

Food Restaurant

Prepared as a Final Project for the MKT600 Course -

Strategic Marketing Management
Contents
Executive Summary....................................................................................................................................... 2
Introduction and Literature Review .............................................................................................................. 3
Mission/ Vision/ Objectives .......................................................................................................................... 4
Mission: ..................................................................................................................................................... 4
Vision......................................................................................................................................................... 4
Objectives: ................................................................................................................................................ 4
Concept and Process: .................................................................................................................................... 4
Concept: .................................................................................................................................................... 4
The process: .............................................................................................................................................. 5
SWOT Analysis............................................................................................................................................... 6
Customer Segmentation ............................................................................................................................... 6
Marketing Strategy ....................................................................................................................................... 6
Market Penetration Strategy .................................................................................................................... 6
Long Term Strategy- Share of Hearts ........................................................................................................ 6
7 Ps ................................................................................................................................................................ 6
Product:..................................................................................................................................................... 6
Price: ......................................................................................................................................................... 7
Place .......................................................................................................................................................... 8
Promotion ................................................................................................................................................. 8
People ....................................................................................................................................................... 8
Physical Evidence ...................................................................................................................................... 8
Recommendations ........................................................................................................................................ 9
Appendix ..................................................................................................................................................... 10
References .................................................................................................................................................. 12

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Executive Summary

This paper introduces a simple start-up Business Plan for opening a Restaurant in Byblos,

North of Lebanon with a maximum 200.000$ budget. This plan describes an organic

restaurant called FarmBite that serves organic healthy buffet. This concept is new and well

trendy in Lebanon and is dedicated to healthy conscious people. It is expected to show people

that healthy “slow” food can be delicious, tasty and affordable.

This business aims to promote healthy eating and at the same time generates a fair profit for

the owners.

Lastly, the following plan covers different important steps when starting a restaurant and all

the requirements necessary for its success. The steps include concept and philosophy of the

FarmBite, market analysis, marketing strategies and tactics, marketing mix, financial

expectations and forecasting, and recommendations.

Key Words: Organic, healthy, restaurant, FarmBite, health- conscious, customers, BioMass,
marketing.

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Introduction and Literature Review

As health practitioners, people’s health and wellbeing is our main concern. Therefore, the
opening of a new organic healthy food restaurant is our target and the following paper presents
the business plan of Farmbite Organic Restaurant.
Nowadays, people are becoming more health conscious and try to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
More and more people started to care about their healthy diet, food choices and body images.
Increasing physical activity, subscribing to fitness classes, following a well-organized diet,
eating organic food and other healthy activities are becoming a growing trend worldwide.
Organic food is still penetrating the food market and is increasing its share, not only in USA but
worldwide (Organic trade association, US Organic Industry Survey, 2018).
By definition, Organic food is perceived as food without "chemicals" and "growth hormones",
food that is "not intensively" produced and is grown as "natural". ‘Interest in organic food has
grown remarkably as consumers and marketers react to popular media about health and
environmental effects of pesticides, genetically-modified organisms, and food safety’ (Wiley &
Sons, 2007, 1).
For example, in the United States of America, consumer demand for organic food has grown
drastically in the recent years. Organic food sales have increased from $3.6 billion in 1997 to
reach $43.3 billion in 2015.’ (Organic trade association, State of the Organic Industry Fact Sheet,
2016). Possible increase could be due to awareness of the benefits of healthy food as well as the
concern about the health risks and diseases associated with fast food and conventional food
production methods (Refer to Figure 1 in Appendices) (Davis 2006: 1).
As for Europe, According to the Organic Europe organization, ‘Demand for good food and good
farming is on the rise in Europe’ and the sales of organic food in 2006 has increased by 38.4%
globally (Knudson 2007).
Also, according to Nadim Al Fuqaha, managing director at Global Links, organic food is gaining
popularity in the Middle East and there have been a consecutive rise in the demand for organic
food products in this area including Saudi Arabia and the UAE creating a market worth of
$300m. “The prospect for growth have entered a strong and promising phase in the middle east
as more and more consumers aware of the health benefits of these products” claimed al Fuqaha
(2013).
Lebanon, is one of the countries in Middle East that is highly affected by chronic diseases such
as heart diseases and diabetes. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, there is a
need to reduce modifiable risks for non-communicable diseases and to maintain healthy diet
through eating clean, locally produced, organic food. (MOPH, non-communicable diseases
epidemiological surveillance)
Therefore, opening FarmBite Restaurant is a Win-Win situation as we will be encouraging the
consumption of healthy food preventing diseases while generating a fair profit.

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Mission/ Vision/ Objectives

Mission: To offer a buffet including a variety of tasty and healthy meal made of ecological
organic products as well as to show them the benefits and the importance of healthy conscious
eating
Vision: To position FarmBite as one of the best healthy and fresh restaurant in the Lebanese
market while being able to grow and evolve and be always faithful to our philosophy and values.

Objectives:
 Maintain the best experience and offer the best services to our customers at BioFarm
 Give importance to each of our customers because our success depends on them.
 Prove to our customer that healthy food can be tasty, affordable and satisfying
 Develop dishes full of flavors and pleasant sensations for our customers.
 Provide health information and details about the products we are using to make our
dishes
 Encouraging local farmers organic practices through purchasing from our supplier
 Using bio, ingredients of the best quality available.
 Increase the rate of customer satisfaction
 Promote our restaurant all over the country through pictures and good reputation
 Make a fair profit and succeed
 Coordinate with other environmental and eco-friendly NGOs to promote our green
philosophy

Concept and Process:

Concept:
The name of the restaurant represents our philosophy; that is to eat healthy food from nature. Our
restaurant will be different than the casual ones. It will include a mix of green ambiance, great
view, light music, healthy tasty food and creative decoration with short fun health message
everywhere.
First, FarmBite will be located in Jbeil, a well relaxed and attractive site for tourists and for the
Lebanese. The restaurant will be next to a small farm in Jbeil where the customers can enjoy
their tasty healthy food while being surrounded by green plants, organic vegetables and fruitful
trees. The concept of putting some table outdoor, especially in spring and summer days, is to
integrate Green in our brand and present our clear message through the organic planting in the
location. Customers need to know what organic means and locally grown food really looks (as
shown in Figure 2, 3 and 4 in appendices)
Second, the music will be appropriate with the ambiance and depends on the time and the
occasion. For example, Fairuz and a delicious morning breakfast with a green view will create a
perfect combination.

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Also, some health messages are hanged on the wall or written on the menu, such as “You are
what you eat so don’t be fast, cheap easy and FAKE”, “Health is the real wealth”, “Don’t ask
why healthy food is expensive, ask why junk food is so cheap”, “Your fast meal can be your last
meal” and so on.
Lastly, our menu will be dynamic and depends on the season to ensure optimum honesty. For
example, summer are strawberries’ true season so it is not preferred to serve them in our fruit
salads in winter. In addition, ours Chefs will serve a daily buffet for our customers.
It is important to mention that opening a new restaurant needs a business license so we will work
on registering Farmbite in the Ministry of Labor and we will ensure to get a hygiene and quality
excellence certificate from the Ministry of Public Health.

The process:

The supplier of FarmBite is Biomass farm, located in Batroun, in North Lebanon. Few years
back, Biomass started through collective efforts with around 40 certified local organic farmers,
spread all over Lebanon who share the same commitment to organic farming and its standards.
Biomass fully abides by European regulations for organic farming. Biomass and its farming
partners are monitored and controlled on a regular basis by the IMC (Italian Certified Body).

In addition to this, a team of internal and external consultants follow all farming activities
closely, to guarantee that all Biomass standards and quality requirements are met. All the
products can be fully traced back to the farm.

Biomass produces and distributes fruits and vegetables, olive oil, jams, spices, and fresh or dried
herbs. The brand has quickly become a reference in the organic sector in Lebanon, thanks to the
success of its egg production. It then branched into yogurt and cheese with the creation in 2011
of the first 100% organic dairy factory in the Middle East. Nowadays, the biomass network has
grown to include a growing range of products:

 Biomass Organic fresh produce (fruits and vegetables)

 Biomass Organic poultry meat
 Biomass Organic olive oil
 Biomass Organic jams
 Biomass Organic honey
 Biomass Organic juices
 Biomass Organic grains and pulses
 Biomass Organic dried herbs
 Biomass Organic pickled products

Initially sold in local markets such as Souk Al Tayeb, Biomass products are distributed today
even in supermarkets. Their neat packaging, but especially the quality and variety of the products
have ensured the success of the brand, especially as Lebanon is experiencing a real boom in the
organic food sector (BioMass, n.d).
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We are very glad to have BioMass as our supplier because as mentioned above it has a good
reputation in Lebanon and people have confidence in its product and most importantly, it
includes local farmers from all over Lebanon. Therefore, we are supporting local businesses and
encouraging other farmers to take this initiative.

SWOT Analysis

Customer Segmentation

Marketing Strategy
Market Penetration Strategy

Long Term Strategy- Share of Hearts

On the long term and after generating a profit, we are planning on using a new marketing
strategy to increase our sales and expand our market share to be the first among our competitors.
We want to show our loyal and susptious customers that we have a strong philosphy and we are
commited to promote healthy lifestyles. Therefore, we support any organization that fights
pollution, promote healthy and concious way of living.
On the long term, we are planning to coordinate with local environmental NGOs (non-
govermental organizations) that support recycling, forestation, cleaning and so on. Parts of the
profits will go to the organization and thus our customer will be encouraged to visit our
restaurant more because they are health consious and enviromentalist people.
This will lead to a good reputation and strong belief in our mission and ethical work. Thus,
increasing share of hearts will increase our success, reputation and financial returns.
Example of NGOs we can possibily coordinate with, include Jouzour Lebanon, TERRE Liban
and others.
Lastly, we can thank and acknowledge people’s visit to FarmBite and contribution to the NGO.
Example of acknowledgmenet include: Dear customers, your support has by far lead to the
forestation of 100 trees in Lebanon, in partnership with X organization (followed by a picture of
the activity).

7 Ps
Product:
As mentioned above, Farmbite will be located in Jbeil, North of Lebanon. It is surrounded by
nature and has a magical view. It is located ten minutes away from the town and is easy to reach.

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The music, the decoration and the concept were already mentioned. We believe that the
combination of healthy organic food, the environment and the atmosphere will make FarmBite
stand out among its competitors in the food industry.
As for the food, after many discussions, we decided to start by a healthy buffet on weekdays and
weekends. This way, our customers can taste different kind of dishes and deserts and will not be
limited to one type of meal. The buffet includes different type salades, typical lebanese food
(labneh, hommos, kebbe , tabouleh..), a variety of meat and chiken dishes ( Kafta, rez a djej,
wara2 enab..), and variety of desserts.
The choice of dishes depends on the days of the week and changes according to customer needs
to avoid boredom and to make each experience at BioFarm special and different than the
previous one. The buffet is dynamic and options of food change on special occasions.
For example, during lent season or on Fridays, the menu will include more fish dishes and
vegetables.
On valentine’s day, we will put classic romantic music and we will serve a special offer of italian
food such as pizza and spagetti.
We are also planning to celebrate special dates relevant to our environmental and green
philosophy. For example, on International Green day, we are considering a 10-15% discount to
encourage everyone to come and try our healthy buffet as well as reading some cultural
information about this specific day.

Price:
After excessive research, we decided that 20$ per adult and 10$ per kids under 10 is both
affordable for customers and beneficial for the owners. This price includes access to the variety
of food in the buffet including lebanese appetizers, main courses and desserts.
First, organic food is more expensive than fast food because farms are smaller than conventional
ones and it takes more time to produce crops since chemicals and growth hormones are not used.
Second, like any business, our goal is to turn Farmbite into a profitable business so we need to
cover our expenses and generate a profit. We are expecting to have a profit by the second or third
year depending on the succes of the restaurant.
As we start and get a clear idea about our costs and benefits, we will do a cost-benefit analysis
and sum up the breakeven point.
With a budget of 200.000$ and owning the land, we believe that we can acehive our dream
restaurant, even though we have many costs and expenses.
Our cost on the first year includes the business license, inventory of food (payments to the
supplier), advertising and promotion budget, decoration (interiors, music, lights..), customers
needs (napkins, forks..), wages and salaries and others.
We expect that the Start up cost will be divided as table 1 in appendices below shows.
It is important to mention that there are many monthly fixed expenses that should be taken into
considerations. Examples are included in the chart 1 in the appendices (no numbers since it is
still a plan and the cost depends on many real factors).

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Place

Promotion
People
Physical Evidence
The restaurant consists of indoor and outdoor spaces. Outdoor spaces will be limited to spring
and summer days, as opposed to indoor spaces in cold days. The client capacity (one shift) is the
following:
10 four people tables indoor  40 people sitting
8 four people tables in the terrace outdoor  32 people sitting
So our total capacity in cold days is 40 people while on the other days, it extends to 72 people.
We are planning on opening from 12:00 to 23:00 will possible extensions on weekends.
Lastly, the process is already mentioned in the section above.

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Recommendations

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Appendix

Figure 1 shows the increase in organic food sales in USA from 1997 to 2005 (source Davis,2006)

Figure 2,3,4: Forecasting the design and views in BioFarm, Source: BioMass, Batroun

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Table 1: Expected start up costs

Land Rental 0$
Construction (wood 20.000$
material)
Legal permits 1.000$
Decoration and Furniture 5.000$
Kitchen and other 35.000$
Equipments
Cleaning supplies 200$
Office Supplies 100$
Napkins 80$
Advertising and 500$ ( mainly focusing on
Promotions non expensive strategy-
social media)
Uniforms 300$
Printed Menus 350$
Free Food and Drinks on 1.000$
the opening
Food inventory Cannot be determined,
(cannot be bought all at
once like clothing or other
goods)
Loans (if 200.00$ were a Depends on the type of
bank loan) loan and agreement

Monthly Expenses

Rent Expenses
Water and Electricity Expenses
Salaries
Taxes
Amortization
Laundry/ Garbage..
Food/ Goods Supply

Figure 5: Expected Monthly Expenses

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References
 https://ota.com/resources/organic-industry-survey
 https://www.ota.com/resources/market-analysis
 https://gulfnews.com/uae/dubai-more-local-organic-food-to-hit-malls-global-village-soon-
1.1261063
 Non Communicable Diseases Prevention and Control Plan (NCD-PCP) Lebanon 2016-
2020 https://www.moph.gov.lb/en/Pages/2/193/esu#/en/Pages/2/3687/non-communicable-
diseases
 biomasslb.com/
 Davis, Sarah F., and Carl K. Winter. "Organic Foods." Journal of Food Science 71.9 Chicago,
Illinois: (2006).
 Knudson, William A. "The Organic Food Market." Business Innovation in Agriculture, Food and
Natural Resources. Michigan State University: 2007.

Badon tezbitttt APA style

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