Product details

The US consumer's love affair with good beef and the desire to pursue pure and natural products creates strong possibilities for niche marketing strategies for producers of grass-fed beef. The case that follows sets the potential for technology to drive marketing strategies for a small business embracing the cutting edge of a traditional industry. Right in the middle of a dynamic distribution channel is Koch Ranches where, for over seven generations, choice beef has been produced from their 4,400 acres watered by the Edwards Aquifer in Frio and Medina Counties in South Texas. The fact that natural grasses and an aquifer are key parts to the case will raise students' awareness of the roles these elements play in developing an old product, grass-fed beef that is new again addressing demands of some of the purest consumers, Millennials. As students see the main character, Gloria Koch Lynch, grasp for solutions to grow a business to be productive enough to support her own family and the families of her sons, they will be able to better understand relevance of decision making in all aspects of small business. Gloria, now the family matriarch, has two children in college, a husband that helps with the ranch, and a diminishing market for her family's products. Koch Ranches, K-R, are known for their quality, natural, grass-fed beef. Their market has been strong, but many of their current customers have either moved away to live near their children, or have passed away. The current market knows what K-R stands for in quality and natural goodness but as this market diminishes the brand equity for K-R may also diminish. Her children plan on moving back to the ranch once they graduate from college and start their careers in veterinary medicine and management. She and her husband, Kenny Lynch, are happy about the boys' decision, but are also concerned about how to grow their markets so that the ranch can support comfortable lifestyles for three families. Decision points involve varying the size of the herd, changing the process that makes income from the cattle, utilizing a marketing firm that has just come on board, entering at least two new markets, changing the distribution channel and maintaining the quality and quantity of their products.