Marketing Management Strategy of Metrolux Flower PLC

By: Birhanu Fanta (MBA Student)

February 2020

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION AND COMPANY BACKGROUND .. .2

2. 4 P’S OF MARKETING . .. .. .. 4

3. PRODUCT .. ... . 5

4. PRICE .. .. .. .8

5. PLACE/ DISTRIBUTION . .. 8

6. PROMOTION . ... . 9

7. SOURCE AND REFERENCES ...10

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 1. Introduction

1.1 About orchid

Orchid Business Group PLC is an Ethiopian company established in 2000 primarily operating
in the areas of Infrastructure, Construction and Logistics. The company has developed its
expertise over the last nineteen years in business and is advancing to new frontiers within the
industry.

The Mission of the company is to stand and work relentlessly to create a professional,
competent and effective work force so as to create job opportunities, bring forth excellence by
unleashing the potentials of everyone.

The Companies Vision is to see the lives of as many people as possible transformed whereby
advances in technology are made available to the regular person and become part of this as an
individual and a company.

The CEO of the Company, Mrs. Akiko Seyoum promises that her Company aims to do its best
to create and add meaningful value to its customers, staff, supply chain, the community and the
environment in which it operates.

She further explains Professionalism and excellence are at the center of the Company’s core
values, and they are achieved by having high quality staff who are not only great at what they
do, but will always go that extra mile when it is required. We are committed to creating
customer satisfaction by being responsive, flexible and most importantly, delivering on time,
on budget in a safe and assured manner.

We measure our growth not just by our work streams, but by the contribution we make to the
industry, our community, our customers, and last but not least, to our employees who are the
foundation of the company. I believe that if we value and respect all of our stakeholders,
growth will follow, and positivity and value creation will continue to flow.

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The Company is recently participating in the following areas of business:-
Orchid infrastructure (roads, bridges, Airstrips etc),
Civil works,
Foundation technology,
Water well Drilling,
Energy - Remote Field services(Oil, Gas, & Mining),
Lifting Services,
Construction Equipment /material Supply,
Engineered Formwork Systems,
Logistics and transport,
Coffee Export,
Floriculture, and
ICT Support and Development.

1.2 About Metrolux Flower PLC

METROLUX FLOWER PLC was established in June 2005 as a ROSE grower, primarily to supply
EU market.

The farm is located in Holeta Town, Oromia Region, 35 km west of the capital city ADDIS ABABA,
ETHIOPIA.
The total area of the farm is 28.16 hectare, with 17 hectares under production.

Since 2015, we start growing STRAWBERRIES for the EU, MIDDLE EAST and AFRICA markets.
Currently, we are growing
17 hectare of STRAWBERRIES all under GREENHOUSES.

committed to being recognized as one of the FINEST STRAWBERRY growers and striving to be the
leader in the domestic vegetable and fruit production industry.

We are working hard to meet our social responsibilities as well, by participating in a local community
development
Projects. Also, we are certified to the world renowned standards like the Global GAP and BRC. We
are determined to adopt and implement other standard required by buyers.
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A well-qualified, talented and devoted people, makes up METROLUX FLOWER PLC’s team.”
Metrolux Flower PLC is also a member of Ethiopian Horticulture Producers Export Association.

1.3 The 4 P’s of Marketing

1.3.1 Product

A good or service offered to meet consumer interest or demand. It could come in the form of
occupational therapy or a fidget spinner- choices are only limited to the imagination, BUT, are
highly dependent on marketplace curiosity or need.

1.3.2 Price
The cost people pay for a product. This includes base costs (materials, manufacturing, and
shipping) plus expenses (rent, office supplies, healthcare, etc.).
While you should always look to the competition, a smart business will tap into what people will
actually pay for it. That's the only thing that counts. If you can't rise above your bottom line and
make your target profit, then it’s a losing proposition.

Figure 1: the four P’s of Marketing.

Source: 4 P’s of Marketing – Angle 180, Inbound Marketing Agency

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1.3.3 Place
The “home” where the product resides, and that “home” can live in many different channels,
such as a physical store display, a newspaper, radio or TV ad, or a website or blog spotlight.
Really, a place is anywhere you can get your product in front of your target customers that
compliments your budget, including the price point.

1.3.4 Promotion
Product exposure and public relations efforts via advertising (through the channels mentioned
above) as well as word of mouth, direct mail, email marketing and social media. Promotion is a
communication tool that encapsulates the first 3 P’sby putting the right product in the right place,
at the right price, at the right time, with the goal of it being irresistible to customers.

Let us specifically see the different mixes of the strawberry product produced by Metrolux
Flowers PLC.

1.4 Product
Our product is strawberry fruit.

We provide high quality Ethiopia strawberries to the local and export market. We source the raw
fresh Ethiopia strawberries from family growers in the country.

Ethiopia’s strawberries are famous worldwide due to their sweet and natural aroma, a product of
the Oromia highlands. This Fragaria Xananassa tropical fruit first came into prominence in
Roman times as a medicinal fruit. It was not until the 1700s that it thrived under civilized society
in the French region of Britanny. The fruit has since become common in tropical regions,
especially Ethiopia, which first exported its strawberries in 2007. Since then, the fruit has
become one of the major sources of foreign revenue next to courghette, coffee, mango and herbs.

The main growing areas of Ethiopia strawberry is Oromia to the south-east of the horn of Africa
nation. Famers transport the produce to the regional markets such as, Mojo, where some foreign
export investors have set base. The region is situated at 1700m above sea level. Coupled with the
lush sunlight that lends the brilliant color to the fruits, the high elevation also adds sweetness to

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the super fruit. Due to the natural growing conditions, the fruits have a sugar brix percentage of
10%.

Table 1: Ethiopia’s Exports of Edible Fruits: Volume in Metric Tons ( MY Oct-Sep )

HS Code Products 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17
08039000 Banana, fresh - - 4,216 6,854 9,086 7,722
08031000 Plantains - - 2,384 3,583 3,691 4,797
08051000 Oranges, fresh or dried 3,298 3,062 3,331 3,008 2,176 2,256
08045000 Guavas, mangoes and mangosteens, fresh or 1,705 2,021 2,175 2,339 2,047 2,186
08055000 dried (Citrus Limon , Citrus Limonum) and Limes
Lemons 1,072 1,096 980 909 1,149 1,032
08072000 Papaws (papayas), fresh 464 567 692 841 1,089 970
08101000 Strawberries, fresh 748 579 741 464 602 636
08071100 Watermelons, fresh 32 40 64 83 84 554
08044000 Avocados, fresh or dried 9 9 3 7 40 191
Sub-Total 7,328 7,372 14,588 18,088 19,964 20,344
Others 5,503 7,678 4,125 463 340 901
Grand Total 12,831 15,050 18,713 18,551 20,304 21,245

Table 2: Ethiopia’s Exports of Edible Fruits: Value in ‘000 USD ( MY Oct-Sep)

HS Code Products 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17
08101000 Strawberries, fresh 1,271 621 1,291 986 1,829 2,459
08039000 Banana, fresh - - 950 1,451 2,105 1,767
08051000 Oranges, fresh or dried 1,444 1,384 1,382 1,233 1,013 1,021
08031000 Plantains - - 318 467 505 8
08111000 Strawberries, frozen - 1 - 113 534 26
08045000 Guavas, mangoes and mangosteens, fresh or 391 591 620 615 506 58
08072000 dried (papayas), fresh
Papaws 89 101 136 147 185 16
08055000 Lemons (Citrus Limon , Citrus Limonum) and Limes 173 174 159 137 181 15
08044000 Avocados, fresh or dried 4 2 1 12 30 15
Sub-Total 3,372 2,874 4,857 5,161 6,888 7,733 0
Others 1,330 1,432 1,058 89 98 3
Grand Total 4,703 4,306 5,916 5,250 6,986 8,110 7

Table 1 & 2. Export of Edible Fruits in Metric Ton and in Dollar.

Source: ERCA. *Data for 2017/18 covers nine months from Oct-Jun.

We export strawberries to traditional and new exporting destinations ranging from the U.A.E to
the neighboring Djibouti, Yemen and the European Union. These countries receive raw or table
strawberries. They also come handy with processed jam, baked products and juice.

Ethiopia strawberries mature in 75 or 90 days. In the cooler regions, they mature late, which
means they are available earlier in the warmer regions. Because of their availability year-round,
they feature in fruit pies courtesy of their high vitamin content. The strawberry contains 97
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percent of the daily value of vitamin C, making it rank together with orange as the top 5 vitamin
C fruits. It also has zero saturated fat and 8 percent of dietary fiber.

Because of our liaison with multiple family growers, we provide strawberries every day of the
week during the peak season to meet the importer’s needs. Farmhands pick the fruits each day,
meaning that they can be easy to deliver to your destination on demand. We guarantee air
shipment of the otherwise highly perishable fruit in one to two and a half days after harvesting.
This makes the fruit the freshest in comparison with those from other far-off countries. In case of
overnight storage, the fruit receives air saturation of around 0 degrees celsius to prevent loss of
moisture.

1.4.1 Packaging

We pack our Ethiopia strawberries in pallets when they are inside small cases or punnets of at
least 250 grams per fruit selection. Before storing them, we ensure that they are pre-cooled just
above 33 degrees Fahrenheit (-5 degrees Celsius) to prevent dehydration and shrinking. We keep
around nine fruits in every fruit punnet for the finest grade 1 selection. Grade two consists of
medium quality fruits which are 15 to 25 in every punnet. There is also a third grade made of 28
to 32 usually relatively small-sized fruits in every punnet.

1.4.2 Delivery

We deliver the fruits using custom boxes that contain ten by 250 grams per box. Each box
consists of clear labeling to distinguish it from the rest, especially in terms of grade and size.

You can avail the sumptuous Ethiopia strawberries from us at fair and competitive prices. We
obtain the fruits from family growers who use only organic means with low pesticide use in their
orchards. The handling of the produce involves phytosanitary handling right from the picking to
the transportation phase. We also use custom cleaning methods and reduce water contamination
of the fruits which may lose some of their color when washed in the packinghouse.

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1.5. Price
Price: we do marketing assessment to determine the price. We do the assessment by phone and
by personal visit to the market.

To determine the price for the export market, we assest our competitors prices and compare from
customers offer and decide on what price to sell it. We also consider our production cost and air
flight costs as well.

Past records show that 1 kg of strawberry is sold at 50 birr in local market and about 100 birr in
the export market.

1.6. Place/ Distribution

1.61 Local market
Though the main fruit and vegetable markets in Addis Ababa are Piassa, Mercato, Mesalemia
and Ehil Bereneda, and for our local market, we sell for distributors in Piassa (Atkelet Tera).

Figure 2. Sales at exhibition.

1.6.2 Export market

We export directly to U.A.E to, the neighboring Djibouti, Yemen and the European Union markets.

For export market, we also use wholesalers and sometimes supermarkets.

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1.7 Promotion
Promotion, we use our website to promote our products, we also attend different trade fairs to
promote our products and find local and international buyers to our products.

Every year we took part in trade fairs in Germany and other places in Europe to create International
marketing Networks to our strawberry products.

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 Sources and References
1. Company Brochure

2. Company Website: www.Metroluxflowers.com

3. Informal Interview with the Manager of the farm.

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