Quality and Value of Food

Table of Contents Introduction Food procurement Food storage Food preparation and service Conclusion Reference List Introduction Quality and value of food is an important factor in retention of loyal and creation of customers in a restaurant especially when targeting tourists. Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Quality and Value of Food specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Tourists sample food in order to gain the real sense of the place they visit; therefore, this has called for development of local and foreign foods in most restaurants as the competitive factor in the business. Food quality has positive association with value of money a customer is willing to spend on food. Quality of food has positive effects on retention and creation of customers. Food of poor quality keeps off the customers and even the new customers do not return if they encounter poor quality on their first visit. On the other hand, custome rs remain loyal to a specific restaurant if they experience food of good quality and value for the first time. Restaurant business is a very competitive industry and to be above our competitors, we have to look at the quality and value of food we are preparing and serving to the customers. Tourist customers look for aspects such as available varieties of food, quality, and value for money for their satisfaction (Clark Wood 1998). This paper will look comprehensively at the value and good quality of food in creation and retention of customers in a restaurant. Food procurement There are many people such as producers, suppliers, storage personnel, preparation and service staff involved directly and indirectly in determining the quality and value of food. Producers being the farmers are involved in producing food. Preparation of food of good quality means use of ingredients of good quality thus food production by farmers affects directly the quality and value of food. Customers have to get the value for money they are spending on producing food and this is only achieved if the farming materials used are of high quality. Farmers have to be in touch with requirements and changing tastes at restaurants. For instance, the quality of locally produced meat, vegetables and organic food has been creating extra value as this is desired by tourists and local customers. Suppliers also affect the quality and value of food offered at a restaurant (Crotts Raschid 2008). Advertising Looking for essay on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This means they should supply food on time when still fresh as some foods like vegetables are perishable and lose value with time. Thus this calls for the manager to be careful when choosing his suppliers. This ensures availability of quality ingredients whenever needed to avoid losing customers. Food storage According to Crotts Raschid (2008), food has to be stored pr operly and safely to ensure it does not lose quality and meets health standards. This calls for the manager to ensure that the restaurant has good storage facilities. Cold rooms for vegetables should always be well maintained and good hygiene observed when handling food thus the manager should ensure he has employed a qualified and experienced store keeper with knowledge of food handling techniques as this affects directly the quality of food prepared and served to customers. Food preparation and service When it comes to food preparation it affects directly the quality and value of food served to the customers. The manager should ensure that he has recruited the right staff with the knowledge and experience in production and preparation of different food items in the menu. This means there should be specialization of roles in the kitchen where by every cook prepares and produces what he/she is good at. Also, there should be use of specialized tools and equipment during food prepar ation (Crick Campbell, 2007). This saves on cost of production as there is minimized wastage of food. With good organization in the kitchen, production and preparation of quality food on time is achievable. This attracts and retains both local and tourist customers as they are satisfied with the quality of food and get value for money they are spending on food. The preparation area has to be well arranged to ensure minimized interruptions among the cooks which might cause delay in preparation of food. This ensures there is no mixed flavors’ among different food items thus food served is of the exact flavor as expected by the customer. Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Quality and Value of Food specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Food should be classified depending on their cooking time to ensure they are well cooked and do not keep customers waiting for long. The manager should always ensure his staff is le arning continuously to keep in touch with new menu items in the market and changing methods of preparation. Different food items in the market must be prepared well to compete effectively with other restaurants. In all the preparation and production units the chef should always check and emphasize on maintenance of good hygiene which can never be neglected when it comes to preparation of quality food. The manager should employ qualified and experienced waiters for them to offer high standard services to the customers. They should be well trained on hospitality as are the ones who are in direct contact with the customers. They should cooperate with the team in the preparation section and inform them accurately on demand of different food items on the menu and the expressed desires by the customers to avoid losing customers to other restaurants. This calls for a very effective team work in the restaurant in order to satisfy the customers (Ekinci Massey 2008). Conclusion It has been shown clearly that the quality and value of food are important factors in retention of loyal and creation of new local and tourist customers in a restaurant and thus a manager should pay close attention to these factors in order to be the leading food provider in today’s competitive tourism industry. Reference List Clark, M. A., Wood, R. C. (1998). Consumer loyalty in the restaurant industry—A preliminary exploration of the issues. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management 10 (4), 139-44. Crick, A., Campbell, A. (2007). McDonaldization, Mass customization and Customization: An analysis of Jamaica‘s all-inclusive hotel sector. Ideaz, 6, 22-41.Advertising Looking for essay on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Crotts, J., Pan, B., Raschid, A.E. (2008). A survey method for identifying key drivers of guest delight. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 20(4), 462-470. Ekinci, Y., Dawes, P. L., Massey, G. R. (2008). An extended model of antecedents and consequences of consumer satisfaction for hospitality services. European Journal of Marketing, 42(1/2), 35-68. This essay on Quality and Value of Food was written and submitted by user Lilly Foreman to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Definition of Gobbledegook Essay Example

Definition of Gobbledegook Essay Example Definition of Gobbledegook Paper Definition of Gobbledegook Paper 10/2/2011 Gobbledygook Gobbledygook is defined as when someone uses an extended amount of words in order to stretch their sentences out. According to Stuart Chase the author of â€Å"Gobbledygook† was founded by the Federal Security Agency and was said to help â€Å"Break out of the verbal squirrel cage†. Examples of Gobbledygook can be found in such places as academic and legal talk. An example of Gobbledygook can be found in the legal world. Gobbledygook is defined by most lawyers as â€Å"squandering words, packaging a message with excess baggage and so introducing semantic â€Å"noise†. Basically, it is all the fancy lawyer jargon that they use in order to get their points across and sound professional. The gobble in the legal system is beginning to be banned due to its ineffectiveness. Another common place you can see gobbledygook is in academic talk. An example is when you are writing an essay you are basically using gobbledygook to extend its length. Most of the professors believe that gobbledygook is needed sometimes because it does help get certain points made and some of the bigger words will have a better definition than the smaller ones. In conclusion, instead of using gobbledygook phrases to extend our writings we should just focus on how clear it is first. The federal security agency gives us a list of examples that can help get rid of the gobble; one example is instead of using â€Å"is of the opinion† just use believes. The fsa believes we need to stop producing so much gobble because the clarity of our writing is never there.

Business and Management Research (Leadership topic) Coursework

Business and Management Research (Leadership topic) - Coursework Example According to several eminent authors around the world, leadership activity plays critical roles in initiating the actions of the organization, motivating the workforce, providing guidance to the team followers, building a proper working environment and also coordinating with the upper management in order to ensure smother work flow (Duke, 2009; Mackay, 2007; Harrell, 2008). This segment of the study will undertake a critical review of the article, â€Å"Combinative aspects of leadership style and the interaction between leadership behaviours† by Gian Casimir and Yong Ngee Keith Ng. This journal article was published in the year 2010 in Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 31 No. 6, and can be found in pages 501-517. The authors carried out this study for the principal purpose of testing an alternative standpoint of interaction, which is purely based on the technique or way leaders amalgamates various leadership behaviours (Casimir and Ng, 2009). The two principa l leadership behaviours considered by the authors are socio-emotional leadership and task oriented leadership. The subsequent section of the study will enumerate brief summary and review the findings of the paper. In addition, this paper will also critically review the study by Gian Casimir and Yong Ngee Keith Ng in the context of its weaknesses and strengths. Review and Summary of the Paper The study by Gian Casimir and Yong Ngee Keith Ng was about examining the interaction between socio-emotional leadership and task-oriented leadership. According to the authors, there were two major underlying principles for which the subject of study was opted. The first and most important reason was that these two leadership styles have always been the centre of attention when it came to test of interaction in the field of leadership literature. The second reason was that the authors identified that a number of day-to-day organizational leadership involve attitudes and behaviour that can be arti culated as task oriented behaviour or socio emotional behaviour (Luthans, Hodgetts and Rosenkrantz, 1988; Judge, Piccollo and Ilies 2004; Komaki, 1986). Lastly the topic of interaction is also considered to be significant (Blalock, 1965; Cronbach, 1987). In the meantime, it is also necessary to define the two leadership style being discussed here in the study. A proper definition will help in better understanding of the subject and will also help in reviewing and summarising the paper. Task oriented leadership is often deemed as multifaceted and encompass wide range of behavioural traits (Glass, 2010; B. Bass and R, Bass, 2009; Northouse, 2011). Some of the typical function of task oriented leadership is allocation of resources, assigning the particular job to the followers, emphasizing on the deadlines, to cross check whether the followers are actually following the rules and regulation and maintaining the decorum of the organization and pressurizing the followers to work hard towa rds the achievement of the goals (Delamater, 2006; Heinemann and Zeiss, 2002; Lussier and Achua, 2009). Therefore, from the perception of the authors, it is evident that one of the most vital features of a task oriented leader is pressurizing the followers to accomplish the task in timely manner by delegating the tasks as per the capabilities of the followers (Misumi, 1985). On the

The product Pepsi Cola Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The product Pepsi Cola - Essay Example The advertisement was a well thought of product promotion strategy. Management was preparing for a great start. It is fit and proper to discuss first on the short historical background of how Pepsi came to be – its founder and short origin, and how it got its name, up to the present time where it has survived through the times and has taken a new name and role in the beverage business. Pepsi Cola was first invented or introduced by Caleb Bradham in the late 1800s or early 1900s in his pharmacy. The term â€Å"Pepsi† comes from pepsin, an enzyme which aids digestion and was also a popular ingredient in early soft drinks, while the term Cola was based on the African kola nut or caffeine. Pepsi Cola then tasted pretty close to the already popular â€Å"Coca-Cola†, although Caleb’s drink, Pepsi Cola, didn’t contain either the kola nut or any caffeine. (Soda Museum) The term â€Å"Pepsi† is an indicator. One of Pepsi-Cola’s earliest known a dvertisement is found in Feb. 25th, 1903 New Bern Daily Journal, which says that â€Å"It aids digestion.† This is because of the pepsin content. Another newspaper ad produced in 1908 said: â€Å"Pepsi-Cola is an absolutely pure combination of pepsin – that’s what your stomach needs these days – acid phosphate and the juices of fresh fruits.† (Soda Museum) The promotional kick-off must be effective because at the start Caleb was selling 2,008 gallons of Pepsi-Cola syrup, and by 1904 he was selling 19,848 gallons a year, the same year he started bottling Pepsi Cola. A year later, he also began selling Pepsi-Cola Bottling franchises, and by 1910 he had 280 bottling franchises and covered at least 24 states. By 1907, he was selling over 100,000 gallons of syrup a year, and in 1915 Pepsi-Cola Corporation had assets of over $1,000,000. (History of Pepsi-Cola.) Judging by the flow of events in the early years of Pepsi, the product and the accompanying ad vertisement proved effective.  

The English Subject Essay Example for Free

The English Subject Essay English has been a big factor to my being as an educated person and as a Lasallian student. I take pride that I go to a university which offers an outstanding quality of English education. During the third term of my freshman year in college, I took up ENGLCOM which was a subject that was divided into reading and writing class. At first, I found the two boring because I thought that I was already confident with my stock knowledge about English Communication, so I intentionally did not attend the first few meetings. I just relaxed and did other useless things to kill time for my scheduled class. After summing up my free cuts, I decided to go to class so I could catch up with the lessons. I surprisingly found myself lost. I did not have any clue about what was going on or what was being discussed. I started asking for help from my classmates. I tried studying about all the things I missed in class, and I saw that what was being tackled that time was not clear to me even if I had already graduated from high school. I quickly found myself very interested in what I was dealing with. I learned that academic reading and writing are fun and interesting. I was able to improve my vocabulary and the way I write essays since we were taught about words which were unfamiliar, and we were also consistently being asked to write essays about certain topics. There were even times when we were taught how to properly analyse commercial ads and how to correctly write certain types of letters. All of my first impressions disappeared; I found the subject very interesting and from then on, I regularly went to class. During our writing class, we were asked to compose four essays: an extended definition essay, an argumentative essay, an entry and an exit essay. I honestly had difficulty in writing. My thoughts were not complete, and I had a lack of supporting ideas. While we were writing the entry essay, I had somewhat an easy time writing using my stock knowledge. Same thing happened with the exit essay. When it came to the argumentative and extended definition essays, I found myself having a very hard time. It was kind of difficult for me to think of a topic that I could argue and add more definition to. I had a few mistakes at first, but I was able to correct them by improving my vocabulary and researching for more supporting ideas. I also applied the lessons and techniques that were taught to us until it also became a habit for me to keep updated with all the things around me. I became patient and specific with my writing. It was really surprising to me how much more I needed to know. As the term ends, I can say that ENGLCOM has helped me improve my writing and reading skills. I became more proficient in writing, analyzing, reporting and reading. I will try to compile all my works so I could set them as guides as I keep up with my life in college when I start with thesis papers and other things that involve reading and writing. I met my objectives because of everything this subject had to offer. It was indeed a very fun and interesting experience of learning more about English Communication.

Free Essays: The Themes of Mary Shelleys Frankenstein :: Frankenstein essays

The Themes of Frankenstein Mary Shelley discusses many important themes in her famous novel Frankenstein. She presents these themes through the characters and their actions, and many of them represent occurrences from her own life. Many of the themes present debateable issues, and Shelley's thoughts on them. Three of the most important themes in the novel are birth and creation; alienation; and the family and the domestic affections. One theme discussed by Shelley in the novel is birth and creation. She does this through the main character, Victor Frankenstein, who succeeds in creating a 'human' life form. In doing this, Frankenstein has taken over the roles of women and God. Shelley discusses how Frankenstein has used his laboratory or 'workshop of filthy creation' (page 53) as a kind of 'womb' as he has worked on his creation. He also refers to his task as his labour, suggesting that he has literally given birth to his creation. After so much time spent in painful labour (Page 51) The passing of time from when Victor first began his creation and finished it is also significant. Winter, spring, and summer passed away during my labours (Page 54) The length of the three seasons is nine months, representing the time a natural human baby takes to be formed in its mother's womb. This once again suggests that Frankenstein has found a way to take over the role of women, and they become powerless, weak and flimsy. They no longer have a purpose in life, as Victor Frankenstein can now create new life forms - a process which women needed to be involved in previously. An example of women's powerlessness in the novel is the condemnation of Justine for a crime she did not commit. Had she been a man, she would probably have been set free. Frankenstein succeeds in removing the only powers that women had, as well as stripping God from his role. Through the theme of birth and creation, Shelley criticises Victor not only for creating the new being, but also for abandoning it when it comes to life. Victor first wishes to create the being because he thinks: A new species would bless me as its creator and source ... No father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve theirs. (Page 52-53)

Strategic Analysis of ALDI Essay

1. Introduction Albrecht Discount Inc., globally known as Aldi, is a German based family owned global discount chain of supermarkets. Aldi constitutes of two independent groups, that are Aldi Nord (North) and Aldi Sud (South) legally and economically independent but family related (Aldi Sud Business, 2013). It is the market leader in the industry of international grocery retailing and owns and operates chain of discount grocery stores in Europe, Australia and United States. It’s stores retail and supply general merchandise and food including meat products, fresh meat, frozen and refrigerated foods,  sweets and snacks, dairy and bakery products, beverages and pantry items in addition to home care and personal care products (Report Linker, 2013). In the present Aldi Inc.’s strategic analysis is carried out to identify and evaluate its strategies against its business environment to critically analyze whether the strategies pursued by Aldi are effective in maintaining its market leader position or not. In doing so environmental analysis of international grocery retailing industry is carried out to bring about the opportunities and threats the industry is facing and SWOT analysis is carried out to shed light on Aldi’s strengths and weaknesses and opportunities and threats the industry is facing on the whole. Aldi’s strategies are then evaluated against the SWOT to analyze the effectiveness of its strategies in maintaining its market position. 2. Brief Background on Aldi Aldi Inc., was founded by Karl Albrecht and Theo Albrecht in 1913 in Essen and started trading in bakery products, later in 1914 Karl Albrecht’s wife Anna Albrecht opened the first grocery store. In 1919 they acquired a commercial and residential building in Essen and enlarge the grocery store. 1945 the brothers took over the family business and opened more stores and by the end of 1948 they were four Albrecht stores. In 1954 Albrecht expanded further more and opened its stores outside Essen and branch enlargement took place with 77 stores with core business as food self service. In 1961 two legally separate groups were established known as Aldi Sud and Aldi Nord yet the family remained connected. 1962 first ALDI – Albrecht Discount branched was opened in the discount principle and entire branch network was changed into ALDI format. Gradually internationalized its business by first entering in Austria with acquisition of Hofer retail chain, then further expanded in Germany, entered in the United States, UK, Ireland, Australia, Switzerland, Slovenia and Hungary, in that order (Aldi Sud Facts and Figures, 2013). Aldi Group is active in nine European countries and in European market is one of the leading retail companies and a well known retail chain all over the world. Aldi Sud is into retail food trade and comprises of 31 companies located in Southern and Western Germany and Aldi Nord operates its own branch network of 2500 outlets in the northern and eastern Germany (Aldi Sud  Business, 2013; Aldi Nord, 2013). Aldi Group has more than 10000 stores worldwide with annual turnover of 75bn yet its core market is Germany (Fitzgerald, 2013). Aldi stores are known for their efficiency, no frills stores, low levels of staff, few big brand names and modest opening hours (Fitzgerald, 2013). Their main core competency is cut price through cost cutting, selling cheap and low quality products(Grocery.com, 2013) and its mission is â€Å"simply smarter shopping† (Aldi US, 2013). Aldi’s big rivals include TESCO, Morrison’s, Sainsbury, Asda, Carrefour and Lidl (Sky News, 2013; Butler and Bowers, 2013). The Albrecht’s has expanded into new territories but remains a closely guarded company and never disclose its profit margins citing commercial sensitivity and do not share much information with other branches managers (Fitzgerald, 2013). Aldi has to triple its staff and check outs to cater to the extra one million customers coming to its 500 stores in UK. The firm shunned premium big brands for its cut price own versions of premium ranges to attract new customers looking for cheaper products (Steiner, 2013). The retail market is seeing intense competition and big retail supermarkets are losing market share to discount stores and up market grocers such as Aldi all over Europe and other international markets. 3. Market Identification of Aldi It is an intensely family owned private company. Both Aldi Sud and Aldi Nord operate in retail markets however Aldi Nord mainly in Europe whereas Aldi Sud operates in the United States and Australia among other international locations. It has Aldi stores are located in Germany, Austria, Australia, Denmark, France, Belgium, Greece, Ireland, Hungary, Netherlands, Luxemburg, Poland, Slovenia, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, United states operating in 36 states and United Kingdom (Grocer.com, 2013). Its customers are mainly ‘do it yourself’ shoppers and bargain hunters (Grocer.com, 2013). Aldi in 2013 has outshined its biggest rivals in UK with doubling in annual profits and sales increase of 40.6% being a cut price grocer and holds 3.7% of market share in UK (Steiner, 2013; Sky news, 2013). It earned profit of 157.9 million in 2012 from 70.5 million in 2011 and sales increased from 2.7 billion in 2011 to 3.8 billion in 2012. It opened 34 new stores that were crucial in its strong performance in 2012 (Steiner, 2013). Aldi Ireland revenues increased by 30.7% in 2012 outstripping its German rival Lidl,  opened 3 more stores, in addition to 40 stores in Ireland that are being refurbished or extended. Together Lidl and Aldi control 12.5% of Irish grocery market (Fitzgerald, 2013). Aldi United states’ annual revenue is $68,700 million (U.S) with 1400 stores in 36 states employing 11,000 employees (Grocer.com. 2013). Aldi SUD in Germany consists of 31 independent companies, with more than 1820 branches, employing more than 33,600 employees (Aldi Facts and Figures, 2013). Aldi Nord operates in Eastern, Western and Northern Germany with around 2500 outlets (Aldi Nord, 2013) 4. Environmental Analysis International grocery retailing industry is facing intense competition and become a real battleground, retailing giants are offering plenty of price discounts to attract customers, that is seriously impacting their suppliers and pressure to regulate the sector is growing (Fitzgerald, 2013). The following section analyzes in detail the opportunities and threats the retail grocery industry is facing through PESTEL Analysis. 4.1 PESTEL Analysis 4.1.1 Political factors Legislators of European countries are being pressurized to regulate the retail market because intense competition and price cut is negatively impacting the manufacturers and suppliers (Fitzgerald, 2013). Retail companies are being accused of paying the lowest price to their suppliers, which is harming their business seriously, and are on the brink of collapse. Political campaigns are being carried out and interest groups are asking customers not to buy products their because of that (Osborne, 2012). 4.1.2 Economical factors Economic slowdown in developed countries and Euro zone crises has affected the industry greatly as customers with less income to dispense are forced to shop for cheaper and retailers owned goods swallowing their brand and switching from expensive brands. High flying retail giants are feeling the pinch as there was considerable drop in their sales and profits and more and more customers are switching to discount stores and up market grocers  (Butler and Bowers, 2013). Cash strapped households due to shrinking in their budgets as a result of high inflation that is not proportional to wage rises are flocking to discount stores (Sky News, 2013). The below graph shows consumer retail expenditure five year growth rate of UK (Verdict, 2009). Figure 1: Total consumer retail expenditure of UK- five year growth rate (Verdict, 2009) Burgeoning population, rise in immigration, developed nations beginning to emerge from recession and economic recoveries, falling in unemployment rates, urbanization leading to renewal of growth in retail industry. Disposable income, GDP and consumer spending are the macroeconomic factors that affect retail industry directly (Reuters, 2012). Asia pacific is dominating the industry as it driving the increase in global retail trade, representing 35% of the global retail market and will grow highest among all other regions between 2012 and 2017 (Reuters, 2013). 4.1.3 Social and cultural factors Consumers are becoming more and more socially responsible and considering increasingly the social impact of their purchases and supporting mainly those retailers who are also socially responsible and assert sustainable practices. Consumers are avoiding retailers who they think are irresponsible, encourage sweat shops, exploit suppliers, and outsource manufacturing and carryout unethical practices. Consumer preferences are changing more rapidly than ever before and retailers are struggling to cope up with their changing preferences. Economic recession is giving rise to generational differences, as whole generation experiencing recession are using money more cautiously and less credit cards (Mack, 2013). 4.1.4 Technology factors Technology is changing the way consumers shop retail products and the way retail businesses operate in bad and good ways. Online retail shopping has increased in manifolds along with creating more awareness among consumers, leading to price comparisons to find the best deal across the world. It is presenting both opportunity and threat as technology is helping in boosting retail stores performance but also forcing them to adapt to new changes  brought forward by technology or else give way to competitors who are doing so (Mock, 2013). Technological growth such as mobile commerce has provided opportunity for retailers to better interact with customers and give them more convenience and better service (Reuters, 2013). RFD Radio Frequency Identification Device has facilitated end to end tracking of ingredients and better stock control through business intelligence tools (PWC, 2013). 4.1.5 Environmental Factors Retail chains are being pressurized to be more socially responsible and adopt sustainable practices as their low price strategies are affecting the suppliers and the environment as a whole. Retailers are also accused of harming the environment as they are blamed for increased consumption of food products and causing global food insecurity and also for increased used of harmful plastic material for packaging. They are also accused of indulging in unethical practices to drive the products prices down and not caring for the environment (UNEP, 2003). To minimize this negative trend retail chains have to sustainable materials for packaging and carrying and in turn putting that costs on consumers (Osborne, 2012). 4.1.6 Legal factors Tax issues such as VAT, excise duties, environmental and property taxes, HR taxes, cross border transactions tax issues, corporation taxes and compliance with laws and legislations and increasing costs of corporate social responsibility are presenting challenges to retail industry and increasing their cost of operations. Accounting regulations like adopting of IFRS and passing of Sarbanes Oxley legislation on demand of stakeholders heightened the regulatory pressures on the retail and consumer industry (PWC, 2013). 4.2 Key Trends affecting the industry Consumers are switching from up market retail chains to low price retail chains (Butler and Bowers, 2013). Price inflation of retail products putting more pressure on retailers to decrease its impact on customers and cut down on profit margins (Butler and Bowers, 2013). E commerce and M commerce are increasing leading to increase in online retail (Mack, 2013) Customers are more aware and comparing prices online to gain best deal (Mack, 2013) Burgeoning population, urbanization, economic recovery are renewing growth  in retail sector (Reuters, 2013). Consumers preferences are changing more rapidly than before (Mack, 2013) Consumers are seeking more convenience and using other mode of payments like credit card, debit card etc. (Osborne, 2012; Mack, 2013), New consuming habits such as value shopping in FMCG products and clothing, luxury shopping in furniture and technology (PWC, 2013). Trends towards retailers being more socially responsible and sustainable retailing (PWC, 2013). Consumers supporting local suppliers and against outsourcing (Fitzgerald, 2013) Customer polarization that is have are shopping in up market stores, have not shopping more in low price stores, driving the growth of the industry (Sky News, 2013). Global retail trade growth is driven by Asia Pacific markets and will see highest growth rate. 5. SWOT Analysis 5.1 Strengths Highly efficient stores, staff levels are kept low, operates with only few big brand names and opening hours are fairly modest (Fitzgerald, 2013). High brand value and large extended network of branches covering major developed markets in the world. Continuous expansion in new markets to cater to increased footfall of customers. Basic packaging and limited advertising to keep costs low. Cost advantage derived from economies of scale (Fitzgerald, 2013) Own cheap luxury brands giving stiff competition to expensive luxury brands (Fitzgerald, 2013) Increase in sales mainly coming from new stores (Butler and Bowers, 2013) Discount pricing are impressively cheaper attracting shoppers away from bigger retail giants such as Tesco, Sainsbury Cherry pick bargains offered by Aldi increasing the number of shoppers (Butler and Bowers, 2013) Robust growth over the years (Fitzgerald, 2013) Good for buying staples (Ferruza, 2011) 5.2 Weaknesses In England Aldi does not accept payments through credit card restricting customers who want to pay through credit cards (Osborne, 2012) Charges  customers for a carrier bag (Osborne, 2012)  Low staff levels not able to handle increased customer footfall Reputation damaged because of recent horsemeat scandal and employee spying accusations (Snoops, 2013; Stuart, 2013; The Guardian, 2013). Serious limitation of product selection only 2800 products varieties are offered while other supermarket offer 30000 and shopping cart has to be rented for a quarter, (returned later after cart is kept back) (Grocery.com; Ferruza, 2013) Less glamorous store , interior ambience of stores is not so great, stores are like warehouses, does not decorate shelves, spends very less in packaging, stocking and transportation (Grocery.com, 2013) Stocks low quality products (Ferruzza, 2011). Less glamorous stores, ambience not attractive in stores, it’s like warehouse style store, no frills Stocks low quality products Limited product selection Low level of staff Charges for carrier bags and shopping carts Does not accept payment through credit cards Reputation damaged due to horse meat scandal and employee spying Sells mostly own brands label and limits the number of outside brands Very low advertising and store promotion and only in-house advertising Opportunities Economic recovery in development markets, burgeoning population, urbanization renewing growth Technology such as m-commerce and e-commerce increasing sales Customer polarization increasing discount retailers sale Economic slowdown in the past, inflation and high unemployment rate forcing customers to buy cheaper products Global retail trade growth is high in Asia pacific region and driving the market Price inflation moving customers to discount stores Threats Customers inclination towards sustainability, corporate social responsibility and preference to local suppliers threatening the cost efficiency of discount stores Taxation, and heightened regulations Technology creating operational complexities Consumer changing consuming habits and preferences threatening the industry 6. Identification and evaluation of the Strategies pursued by Aldi Aldi’s competitive strategy is to gain competitive advantage over its rivals through efficiency. Its competitive strategy is low cost leadership that it derives from economies of scale, cost efficiency, low staff level, low quality products, limited product selection and high bargaining power with suppliers (Fitzgerald, 2013; Butler and Bowers, 2013; Steiner, 2013). Its strategy to achieve its mission of simple smarter shopping it has implemented the following strategies in view of its changing business environment. 6.1 Strategies implemented by ALDI Constant rolling out new stores with increased size between 10,000 and 15,000 sq.ft in all countries it is operating (Fitzgerald, 2013). Backward vertical integration, producing cheaper luxury products to attract consumers who are  switching from expensive luxury brands (Grocery.com; Fitzgerald, 2013). Renovation and expansion of existing stores (Fitzgerald, 2013). Started using advertising campaigns to attract more up-market customers to promote its own luxury brand labels deviating from its past strategies (Butler and Bowers, 2013). Increased checkout points and staff level in its store to cater to extra one million customers coming to its stores all over Europe (Steiner, 2013). Delivering high value to customers who are looking for cheaper deals through efficiency in transportation, presentation and packaging (Steiner, 2013). Online sales and apps for attracting internet savvy consumer and engaging customers through social networks (Aldi App, 2013). Sustainable sourcing and reducing environmental impact through recycling and minimum packaging (Aldi Nord, 2013). 6.2 Critical Evaluation of the Strategies In view of Aldi Inc.’s SWOT and the strategies it has implemented it can be said that Aldi’s strategies are in sync with its changing business environment and taking advantage of its strengths and minimizing its weaknesses. By expanding its store sizes, renovating and redecorating its existing stores and opening new stores of bigger sizes it has tried to minimize its weakness of less glamorous warehouse type store. And by opening more stores consistently over the years it is taking advantage of burgeoning population that is resulting in increase of customer footfall (Fitzgerald, 2013). It has also taken care of its weakness of low staff level and increased staff level and checkouts to cater to increased customer footfall (Steiner, 2013). It has started rolling out advertising campaigns for promotions to attract luxury customers and elevated its market positioning by retailing luxury products and changing its reputation of a retailer of low quality products (Butler and B owers, 2013). Aldi is gradually moving from discount store principle to convenient store principle, opening stores in affluent locations, offering luxury products, delivering both value and quality to broaden its consumer base (Skynews, 2013). Through vertical backward integration it has taken advantage of the opportunity presented by the consumer shifting from expensive luxury products to comparatively cheaper luxury products by producing its own luxury label offering them at less price. Broaden its customer base by opening stores in affluent  locations and changing its positioning from a discount store to a convenient store, this is to take advantage of opportunity presented by economic recoveries of developed countries. It has sustained its cost efficiency competitive advantage by lessening costs on packaging, transportation and offering cherry deals. Aldi apps facilitate m-commerce, and it also sells online and interacts with customers using social networks, thus it is taking advantage of op portunities presented by digital media technology. It has minimized threat presented by environmental factors by adopting recycling and has become more socially responsible by adopting sustainable practices for sourcing to minimize the threat presented by customers inclination towards sustainability. However Aldi has not fully taken advantages of other opportunities such as taking advantage of growing Asia Pacific market, it is operating only in Australia and has not yet entered Asian countries where high growth is expected and many governments have opened foreign direct investment in retailing. Price inflation of products and heightened laws and regulations will threaten its cost leadership strategy and in future might increase its operational costs and it may not be able to sustain its competitive strategy for long however it has not taken any measures to address these threats. Increasing staff level will increase its labor costs adding to its operational costs further. 7. Conclusion Aldi Inc. is evolving and implementing strategies to take advantage of opportunities and thwart threats presented by its environment by exploiting its strengths and reducing or eliminating its weaknesses. It has resulted in success as Aldi has experienced great success in 2013 with increased profit and sales compared to other supermarket chains however it may not be able to sustain its competitive advantage for long because prices and costs are increasing and profit margins are decreasing with retail market being saturated in developed countries, it has to expand its operations into new markets for sustaining growth and maintaining market leader position. 8. References Aldi App, (2013), Smart Phone, Aldi App, Aldi Us, Available at https://www.aldi.us/en/services/smartphone-app/, Accessed 25 November, 2013. Aldi Nord, (2013), â€Å"Business†, Aldi Nord, Available at http://www.aldi-nord.de/unternehmen.html, Accessed 28 November, 2013. Aldi Sud Business, (2013), â€Å"Aldi Sud Business†, Aldi Sud, Available at https://unternehmen.aldi-sued.de/de/ueber-aldi-sued/unternehmen/, Accessed 24 November, 2013. 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