The solution for improvement of horeca chanel in unilever food solution at ho chi minh city

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY
International School of Business
------------------------------

Nguyen Phuoc Huy Hung

THE SOLUTION FOR
IMPROVEMENT OF HORECA
CHANEL IN UNILEVER FOOD
SOLUTION AT HO CHI MINH CITY
MASTER OF BUSINESS (HONOURS)

Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2020


UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY
International School of Business
------------------------------

Nguyen Phuoc Huy Hung

THE SOLUTION FOR
IMPROVEMENT OF HORECA
CHANEL IN UNILEVER FOOD
SOLUTION AT HO CHI MINH CITY

MASTER OF BUSINESS (HONOURS)

SUPERVISOR: DR. PHAM PHU QUOC

Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2020

SUPERVISOR’S REPORT ON THE THESIS PROPOSAL SUBMITTED
FOR DEGREE OF MASTER of BUSINESS ADMINSTRATION
THE SOLUTION FOR IMPROVEMENT OF SALE REVENUE OF
RESTAURANT CHANEL IN UNILEVER FOOD SOLUTION
Student Name: Nguyen Phuoc Huy Hung
Supervisor: Dr. Pham Phu Quoc
1. General comments
 Remarks on the student’s attitude:
................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................
 Remarks on the assignment’s academic quality:
................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................
2. Overall assessment:
Meet requirement for submitting
Not meet requirement for submitting
3. Other remarks:
- Did the student follow the report schedule?
Yes
No
Other ………………………………
- The Turnitin plagiarism percentage:
Supervisor’s signature


Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................... 1
CHAPTER 1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ........................................................................................... 2

1.1. Unilever Vietnam......................................................................................................................... 2
1.2. Unilever food solution Vietnam .................................................................................................. 2
1.2.1. The business goal ................................................................................................................. 2
Figure 1.2.1: Structure of product portfolio in 2020 ...................................................................... 2
Figure 1.2.2: Proportion of customer segmentation in 2020 ........................................................ 3
1.2.2. Competitors.......................................................................................................................... 3
1.2.3. The suppliers ........................................................................................................................ 3
1.2.4. Target customers and brand positioning ............................................................................. 4
CHAPTER 2. SYMPTOM........................................................................................................................... 5
2.1. Symptoms of the problem.......................................................................................................... 5
2.2. Symptoms validation ................................................................................................................... 5
Figure 2.2.1: The Revenue in the same period in Ho Chi Minh from 2019 to 2020 ...................... 6
Figure 2.2.2: The Comparision of Revenue in the same period in Ho Chi Minh ............................ 6
Figure 2.2.3: The Comparision of Revenue in the same period in Mekong Area .......................... 7
Figure 2.2.4: The number of consumer using knorr products from 2015 to 2019 ........................ 8
CHAPTER 3. PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION................................................................................................. 9
3.1 Potential problem ........................................................................................................................ 9
3.1.1 The market has fierce competition ....................................................................................... 9
3.1.2 The price of products has not enough competitive advantage .......................................... 10
3.1.3 The promotion does not satisfy the demand of consumers ............................................... 11
3.2 Problem Validation ..................................................................................................................... 12
CHAPTER 4. CAUSE VALIDATION .......................................................................................................... 18
4.1. Potential causes ........................................................................................................................ 18
Figure 4.1: The Cause and Effect Map.......................................................................................... 18
4.1.1. Invest not enough properly in the sales team and tools to support.................................. 18
4.1.2. The influences of market.................................................................................................... 18
4.1.3. Competitors........................................................................................................................ 19
4.1.4. Promotion of Knorr products don’t touch right insight of consumers .............................. 20
4.2. Validating causes ....................................................................................................................... 20
CHAPTER 5. SOLUTION ......................................................................................................................... 22

5.1. Solutions for sale and marketing............................................................................................... 22
5.1.1. Enhance the image of Unilever Food Solutions brand, enhance and improve the quality of
the introduction of the culinary solution .............................................................................................. 22
5.1.2. Develop attractive promotions for customers and distributors ........................................ 22


5.1.3. Develop the program working on electronic media .......................................................... 23
5.1.4. Create solutions to support the customers’ business ........................................................ 23
5.2. Solutions for distribution .......................................................................................................... 24
5.3. Building a professional sales staff ............................................................................................. 24
5.3.1. Theoretical Insight .............................................................................................................. 24
5.3.2. Enhancing the capacibility of sale force ............................................................................. 25
5.4. Innovate method of monitoring sales staff .............................................................................. 26
APPENDIX 1: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE................................................................................................ 28
APPENDIX 2: CHARACTERISTICS OF SURVEY SAMPLE .......................................................................... 30
APPENDIX 3 .......................................................................................................................................... 33


Improvement Of Horeca Chanel in Unilever Food Solution

1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Horeca is an acronym for the words Hotel (Hotel), Restaurant (in general, Restaurant,
food service), and Catering or Coffee (in general, Food, Beverage, Coffee service). , Bar, Club ...).
In Vietnam Horeca is defined as a HIGH-CLASS SALES CHANNEL for the Food & Beverage
Industry (Food & Beverage). Economic development, the demand for entertainment of the people
in the country is increasing, in parallel, Vietnam is also one of the attractive destinations for
international tourists. Therefore, the amount of goods and services for this special consumption
channel Horeca is in great demand. And there are now a lot of companies supplying input

materials that are entering this market, so the need for rapid innovation and innovation is an issue
that the company needs to focus on. With the presence of more than 25 years, Unilever's brands
have become so familiar in Vietnamese consumers' minds. Therefore, Unilever is no exception for
timely changes and improvements to keep pace with the rapid development of the era, especially
the Food Solutions division with products specializing in providing culinary solutions for
customers. found in fast-growing pace and stiff competition. Ho Chi Minh City is a key market,
with the largest number of customers in the horeca channel, but the business situation is declining
and failing to meet the targets set by the management. This also comes from a number of
subjective and objective reasons. Regarding objective issues, this is a force majeure element, hard
to solve. The article will analyze in depth the problems and causes stemming from the company
such as price policy, promotions and sales team. To help the company overcome the current
limitations, increase the efficiency in business operations and increase the competition in the
fierce market today, the author decided to choose the topic: “THE SOLUTION FOR
IMPROVEMENT OF HORECA CHANEL IN UNILEVER FOOD SOLUTION AT HO CHI
MINH CITY”as the research topic for her graduation thesis.


Improvement Of Horeca Chanel in Unilever Food Solution

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CHAPTER 1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
1.1. Unilever Vietnam
Unilever is a global company that specialises on fast-moving consumer products in
more than 190 countries across the world. Established in Vietnam from 1995, Unilever started to
invest more than 300 million USD with a modern factory in Ho Chi Minh City and Bac Ninh
Province. Through its network of more than 150 distributors and more than 300,000 retailers.
1.2. Unilever food solution Vietnam
Unilever food solution is the dedicated foodservice business of Unilever in general,
Unilever Vietnam in particular. The portfolio encompasses many of the world's big food brands

including Knorr, PG Tips, Flora, Colman's and Hellman's. A combination of a winning product
portfolio, customer insight, and investment in our people, helps Unilever food solution deliver
year-on-year growth through offering our bright minded chefs and caterers tailored solutions,
helping them to expand their business and do what they love. As the dedicated foodservice
business of Unilever, food solution leads the industry in providing innovative and high quality
professional food ingredients and value adding services created by 300 professional chefs.
Covering 50 cuisines, in 200 million dishes a day. Unilever food solution Vietnam has 3 main
brands: Knorr, Lipton and best food

1.2.1. The business goal
The target growth of Unilever Food Solution is 20% per year and business results
achieved the highest growth rate of all parts of Unilever Vietnam in recent years.

Figure 1.2.1: Structure of product portfolio in 2020
(Source: Company financial statements 2020)


Improvement Of Horeca Chanel in Unilever Food Solution

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In the horeca chanel, Food Solutions' customer segments are restaurants, restaurant
chains, hotels, canteens, supermarkets and wholesale markets. Currently, the most important
customer segment is wholesale market, followed by supermarkets, restaurants, hotels and
restaurant chains. It is shown in Figure on the 2019 customer segment chart as follows:

Figure 1.2.2: Proportion of customer segmentation in 2020
(Source: Company financial statements 2020)
1.2.2. Competitors
As a leader in the FMCG industry in general and food services in particular, Unilever

Food Solutions currently has competitors both domestically and internationally.
For Knorr spices: the main competitors are Aji and Maggi.
The Mayonnaise brand line has fierce competition from rivals from Japan, Kewpie and
Aji.
Lipton tea products have strong competition from foreign rivals Dilmah, Twinings,
domestic rivals Cozy, Tra Thai Nguyen ...
1.2.3. The suppliers
Currently Unilever Food Solution products are mostly imported products from the
Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand, three products produced in Vietnam are Knorr Seasoning
Seeds, Knorr Chicken Powder and Knorr Seafood Powder.
With the global scale, the suppliers of Unilever Food Solutions are big, reputable
suppliers, ensuring raw materials and quality as required.
The problem here is that the current production capacity of the plant still does not
meet the needs of countries in Southeast Asia, leading to a shortage of some peak season.


Improvement Of Horeca Chanel in Unilever Food Solution

4

1.2.4. Target customers and brand positioning
The product is positioned as "Product for professional chefs", and the target customers
are chefs of restaurants, hotels, restaurants, so Food Solutions products give customers the whole
prize. The culinary solution, not only at providing spice products with common features, will UFS
provide products that bring optimum benefits, the combination of products together to have
benefits and helps delicious food become the best.
In addition, Unilever Food Solution also provides special services to assist the chefs to
develop recipes, support the training of kitchen management, food safety and hygiene ... through
UFS's domestic and international professional kitchen team.
On the other hand, Unilever Food Solutions also organizes programs to help develop

the talent of the kitchen, the contest helps cooks have the opportunity to show their talents.


Improvement Of Horeca Chanel in Unilever Food Solution

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CHAPTER 2. SYMPTOM
2.1. Symptoms of the problem
Vietnam has always been rated as the favorite food and drink country and the most
attractive culinary culture of Asia. Statistics of Dcorp R-Keeper Vietnam and Statista show that
Vietnam's F&B industry currently has 540,000 restaurants, 22,000 coffee shops, bars and over
80,000 chain-based restaurants. Revenue in 2019 hits $200 billion, up 34.3% compared to 2018.
The industry's revenue forecast is likely to reach $408 billion by 2023. Along with the
development of the country, each year the number of new restaurants, hotels, restaurants ... is very
large. World famous food chain brands and restaurants together with local investors have created a
colorful picture of this service industry. Statistics in recent years show that retail sales of food and
beverage items account for 17% of total retail sales of goods and achieve increasing growth. Food
and beverage currently accounts for the highest proportion in the monthly expenditure structure of
Vietnamese consumers (accounting for about 35% of the spending level). Ho Chi Minh is the most
potential region with the highest number of restaurant and luxurious hotel in the whole country,
but the total sale revenue of Ho Chi Minh’s horeca chanel does not get the target that the board of
management expects and the growth rate is increasingly going down
2.2. Symptoms validation
The business areas are divided into 6 regions such as Ho Chi Minh, Mekong, East, Ha
Noi, Central, North. When separating targets for those regions, the firm has calculated based on
every potential area. The price of products will go up once a year of two years. The board of
management has expected that the growth rate of B2B channel, including wholesale, restaurant
and hotel, chain, in 2020 is 20% higher than that of 2019. However, in the first three months of
2020, the revenue of Ho Chi Minh’s horeca chanel has not achieved the expectation. These chart

will show more specifically


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Improvement Of Horeca Chanel in Unilever Food Solution

THE REVENUE OF FIRST QUATER
6000
5000

4950

4714

4000

3550
2950

3000
2226

2085

2000
1000
0

The sale of HCM's horeca

Figure 2.2.1: The Revenue in the same period in Ho Chi Minh from 2019 to 2020
(Source: Company financial statements 2020) and unit measurement: million dong

THE COMPARISION OF REVENUE IN THE SAME PERIOD IN
HO CHI MINH

6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0

THE FACT

THE TARGET
Jan-20

THE TARGET
THE FACT

Feb-20

Mar-20

Jan-20
5220

Feb-20
2560

Mar-20
3830

4950

2085

2950

THE TARGET

THE FACT

Figure 2.2.2: The Comparision of Revenue in the same period in Ho Chi Minh
(Source: Company financial statements 2020) and unit measurement: million dong
In the January of 2020, the revenue increases approximately 5% compared to the one
of 2019 and near to target. But in the next month, this number has a significant decrease about 200


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Improvement Of Horeca Chanel in Unilever Food Solution

million compared to the total sale in February of 2019. Ho Chi Minh is considered as the center
business area but not to achieve target. While other regions with smaller scale of economy such as
Mekong nearly obtain the target.

THE COMPARISION OF REVENUE IN THE SAME PERIOD IN
MEKONG AREA
4000
3000
2000
THE FACT

1000

THE TARGET

0
Jan-20

THE TARGET
THE FACT

Feb-20

Mar-20

Jan-20
3700

Feb-20
1895

Mar-20
2683

3553

1820

2330

THE TARGET

THE FACT

Figure 2.2.3: The Comparision of Revenue in the same period in Mekong Area
(Source: Company financial statements 2020) and unit measurement: million dong
Market demand is currently very large for the food service segment, according to
statistics in Vietnam, restaurants and eateries provide about 100 million meals a day, an estimated
average market growth of 6.3% each year.
The main service channel is domestic restaurants and eateries, most of which will be
traditional Vietnamese eateries, followed by European and Asian restaurants such as Korean,
Japanese, Thai ... and Restaurant restaurants are not traditional Vietnamese with less than 25%
market share.
Restaurant chains are a trend and booming in the coming years. Currently, the chain of
restaurants belongs to two big brands: Golden Gate with nearly 200 restaurants for 19 different
brands and Red Sun with more than 100 restaurants nationwide.
In addition, the demand of eating out of Vietnamese people is increasing, people 's life
is getting more busy so the demand for eating out is getting higher and higher, not only in the
morning and in the afternoon, but in the evening, the number of customers comes. statistic eating
places also increased significantly. Moreover, the development of the new generation with the
current globalization, the need to explore cuisine and show lifestyle, sharing with friends through


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Improvement Of Horeca Chanel in Unilever Food Solution

social networks is becoming more and more popular making the meal also becomes easily shared
in the community, the need for unique new meals also increases.
The below chart will show the Knorr products consumption in the market from 2015
to 2019

THE NUMBER OF CONSUMER USING KNORR PRODUCTS

2365
2500
2000

2060

1958

1890
1568

1500
1000
500
0
2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

THE NUMBER OF CONSUMER USING KNORR PRODUCTS

Figure 2.2.4: The number of consumer using knorr products from 2015 to 2019
(Source: Company financial statements 2019) and unit measurement: operators
According to Nielsen Market Research Company in Vietnam, from now until 2022,
each year the seasoning industry will grow 25-32% + (double-digit growth), in which fish sauce
and soy sauce , seasoning seeds, monosodium glutamate, soup powder, marinated spice products,
instant noodles are highly competitive items. Particularly in the market of seasoning seeds, Knorr
is always stable in the top of the dominant brands in Vietnam. For the past four years, Knorr has
been consistently in the top 50 of the Brand Footprint report, proving the status of one of the
prestigious spice brands with a lifespan of 179 years.
Ho Chi Minh is a place that has the most rapid growth rate of the food and beverage
sector in the country and Knorr brand has the strong position in the market but the enhancing in
the amount of output sale in Ho Chi Minh is not high.


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CHAPTER 3. PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
3.1 Potential problem
3.1.1 The market has fierce competition
Competition in the market is an objective existent factor that the company is difficult
to control. As more and more competitors emerge, and the company does not have new

innovations that go faster than its competitors, especially in the catering and spice industry, the
company will face many difficulties. The first problem that comes up is the reduced revenue.
Not as bustling as other food products always pay attention to consumers by events,
promotion to gain market share is quite cumbersome and "monumental", the market of wedge
seeds takes place silently, but downright fierce and fierce. Companies that already have a foothold
in the market always launch "moves" to gain market share, while new brands try to find a gap to
continue exploiting each customer.
In Vietnam, spices always prove to be an attractive market and have a lot of potential
for exploitation. This is evidenced by the fact that more and more "giants" in the domestic and
international food industry have invested in production expansion (the latest is Long Thanh
Ajinomoto Plant), which can include floating brands. excels are favored by many consumers and
known as Knorr (Unilever), Maggi (Nestle), Aji-delicious (Ajinomoto), Chin-su (Massan), Vedan
(Vedan), ... With growing demand, in recent years, the domestic processing and processing food
industry has developed rapidly with the rate of 150-200% / year. Since 2001, Maggi seeds have
been added to Vietnam market, and Maggi has also jumped in. Previously, Ajinomoto and Vifon
created a fierce competition to gain market share. According to a study conducted in 2003,
Vietnam market consumes about 10 million liters of soy sauce and about 1,500 tons of seasoning
seeds each year.
Currently the market share of the three foreign brands of grain are Knorr (Unilever),
Ajinomoto (Ajinomoto) and Maggi (Nestlé) if the average in the world is approximately the same.
According to Kantar Worldpanel Brand Footprint 2013, the Maggi wedge of Nestlé was chosen to
buy the most with 1,580 points, Knorr 1,290 points and Ajinomoto 980 points.
But product competition is still the hottest "battle" because a brand has just announced
a new strategy, then soon other brands have launched a strategy to follow.
For example, in July 2013, Ajinomoto announced a quality improvement for Aji-Ngon
seasoning seeds with an investment of US $ 3 million for bone and meat basement extracting
workshops, and improved packaging. With this strategy, Aji-Ngon believes that it will quickly


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Improvement Of Horeca Chanel in Unilever Food Solution

increase its market share because it is the first company to invest in the extraction line of the
stewed water in the bones of the bones, ribs, lean shoulder meat and pork lean meat. Most
recently, the product "Aji-delicious Pork with Calcium supplemented" seasoned by this company
in late September 2014 has appeared dense in distribution channels.
In addition, Nestlé then released Maggi 3 sweet wedge-flavored wedge seeds with two
types of pig and chicken. Unilever also did not slow down when it announced that it had
cooperated with the Nutrition Institute in the program of National Nutrient Supplement; and the
middle of August last year officially launched Maggie products that added vitamin A.
And yet, these three foreign brands also take advantage of more market access in
remote areas. Kantar Worldpanel's latest research results show that growth in seasoning value is
4% in urban areas and 15% in rural areas. The proportion of households that choose to buy
seasoning grain products currently accounts for 72% in urban areas and 62% in rural areas.
3.1.2 The price of products has not enough competitive advantage
Unilever Food Solutions products are priced according to the market-leading strategy,
with prices commensurate with quality. Knorr, Best Food, Lipton products are all priced at least
5% - 10% higher than other competitors.
I do survey to research customer perception of price activities. In the survey
questionnaire, customers have 5 factors related to price. The first Cronbach’s alpha test results are
variable GC5 “Flexible payment form” because the correlation coefficient is 0.287 <0.3. After
variable type, we have the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient from 0.697 to 0.717. Running Cronbach’s
alpha for the second time gets the following results:
Observed variables

Size

Medium

Form

Value

Difference
Standard

UFS product prices compete with similar products

290

3.72

.861

UFS product price is commensurate with quality

290

4.29

.900

UFS product price is stable

290

3.76

.864

Debt is well supported

290

3.83

.895

Total

290
According to the survey results, customers are satisfied with the product price because

the product quality is equivalent (4.29), in terms of debt, it is also evaluated quite well and the


Improvement Of Horeca Chanel in Unilever Food Solution

11

product price is less volatile compared to the market, however, the lowest rated factor is the
competitive product price compared to similar products (3.72), which can be seen on the average
price of products compared to competitors, Unilever Food Solution products are higher than
current competitors. This makes some consumers unsatisfied with products and they has the
tendency to change the products of competitor to minimize their cost
3.1.3 The promotion does not satisfy the demand of consumers
Because Unilever Food Solutions operates directly with kitchens or restaurant owners,
most sales promotion programs are promotions by offering discounted programs with products.
related to kitchens such as sugar, cooking oil, spoon and fork ... to stimulate the direct needs of

customers to their businesses.
Unilever Food Solutions also organizes conferences to share with different customers
about products, menus, culinary trends ... so that customers can better understand the products,
companies and services that UFS bring.
Enhance UFS's image through major anniversary programs such as "60 years of Knorr
Chicken Powder", the biggest event held since the beginning of 2017 is the "Ngon Quan Viet"
program, the show is the For the chefs across the country to have the opportunity to participate to
show their talents or the place to learn from their masters in the Kitchen industry, the program is
organized throughout the North, Central and South regions. through 9 rounds of competition, and
the final round will be held in Ho Chi Minh.
From the beginning of 2017 until now, Food Solutions has focused on developing
digital marketing channel into website, Facebook and EDM. Information about the company,
products, dishes ... is constantly updated on the website and Facebook. In addition, events,
conferences and competitions are regularly updated on social networks.
I do survey to research customers' perception of marketing promotion activities. In the
survey questionnaire, customers have 3 factors related to marketing. Test results with Cronbach’s
alpha coefficient of 0.647 and measurement variables with a total correlation coefficient> 0.3
should not exclude any factor


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Improvement Of Horeca Chanel in Unilever Food Solution

Size
Observed variables

form

M Difference

Medium

Standard

Value
UFS products are advertised regularly,

290

3.55

.633

290

3.57

.684

290

3.65

.784

impressively and remember long
The

product

has

many

attractive

promotions
Effective sales and marketing
programs
Total

290

According to the customer survey results as shown in the above table, we see that the
variables are highly appreciated by customers. In particular, the most appreciated factor is direct
marketing programs from companies through employees to customers (3.65). Next came the
evaluation of the company's promotions quite attractive (3.57) and finally the UFS products were
advertised regularly, impressive and long-term, this factor was rated poorly most effective in
promotion programs compared to other factors (3.55). This can show that the current promotion
has not met the needs of consumers.
3.2 Problem Validation
Based on my knowledge I have after two-year experience in Unilever and the survey
data, I identify some potential problems as the above. After that, I contact with south area manager
to explore about the main problem.
As the south area manager of Unilever Food Solution in Ho Chi Minh city, Mr
Nguyen Xuan Huy said: “The difficulty of the spice industry is that when this enterprise releases
new products, other businesses immediately have similar products with many stimulus measures,
so the market is always fierce competition. Brands that already have a place in the market launch
many programs to gain a percentage of the market share, while new brands try to find a gap to cut
their feet. However, competition promotes growth. Many labels jump into the game will create

more motivation, while demonstrating that this piece of cake is very lucrative. The problem lies in


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Improvement Of Horeca Chanel in Unilever Food Solution

how businesses can improve products, meet the diverse tastes of Vietnamese people. That problem
was answered by Knorr during many years in Vietnam.”
Survey data shows that the problems that happen in Horeca channel, I contact with line
manager to explore about the main problem.
The depth interview with Line Manager (Ms. Vi):
Q&A

Coding (key
answer)

Category
(Concept
theory)

Q1. How do Unilever Food
Solution

products

provide

compared to competitors?
Ms. Vi: Each company provides

spice products with different
advantages, prices or services,
customers will know how to
choose according to their needs.
I found that in general, the
prices and services that Food
Solution

provided

reviewed

and

were
adjusted

accordingly. Especially, when
customers buy spices directly
from the company, they will be
supported by the professional
kitchen team of the company in
setting up menus or making new
dishes

for

customers

when

customers request. This is a
special

support

from

the

company that no competitor can
do.
Q2. Why aren't sales growing as
expected while the product is

Quote
in (description

of

coding from answer)


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Improvement Of Horeca Chanel in Unilever Food Solution
Q&A

Coding (key
answer)

Category
(Concept
theory)

still selling and every month
salespeople are still opening
new customers?
Ms. Vi: Every month, the sales
staff still bring new customers to
the company, but the sales of
new customers are not high.
Most of the promotions are good
monthly, they only focus on
selling to patrons, which is the
reason why sales revenue cannot
grow. In addition, there are new
customers every month, but
there is a loss of sales among
small

and

medium

scale

customers for many reasons.
Firstly, the company has many
sales channels, each month the

promotions for the channels are
adjusted

differently,

so

the

resale price varies. There are
months

when

the

market

channel has a better promotion,
then customers turn to buy at the
market.

Second,

seasoning

products are easily replaceable
except for specific spices that
are difficult to replace, so few
competitors. Some salespeople

do not take good care of their

Quote
in (description

of

coding from answer)


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Improvement Of Horeca Chanel in Unilever Food Solution
Q&A

Coding (key
answer)

Category
(Concept
theory)

customers, they only focus on
customers who have high sales
volume, do not often visit small
customers and do not send
monthly

promotions

to

customers, then customers will
be easily invited by employees
of other competitors or agents to
offer good prices because they
usually buy many items with
one agent.
Q3. Do you think that the price
of Food Solution's products is
not flexible, making it difficult
to reach and persuade potential
customers with high purchases
but are using cheap spices like
business companies? Does the
catering

industry

provide

companies and schools?
Ms.

Vi:

Food

Solution's

products will not be able to
discount too much to compete
because this also affects the
profitability of the distributor.
Firstly, Food Solution in general
and Knorr brand in particular
have famous brands. Secondly,
the company's products meet the
quality

requirements

of

the

Quote
in (description

of

coding from answer)


16

Improvement Of Horeca Chanel in Unilever Food Solution
Q&A

Coding (key

answer)

Category
(Concept
theory)

Ministry of Health and the
Department of Food Hygiene
and

Safety.

The

company's

products have many competitive
advantages compared to other
competitors so do not pay too
much attention to the price
issue, but let customers see the
benefits when customers use the
company's

products.

For

customers who are industrial
catering

companies,

the

products they use are mainly
wedge

seeds.

In

terms

of

seasoning, knorr seasoning has a
higher content of meat than the
seasonings

in

the

lower

segment, so its use will be less.
In terms of cost per serving, the
difference will not be much.
Q4.

Some

customers

have

commented that the company's
promotions

are

not

very

attractive, how do you comment
on this issue?
Ms. Vi: The promotion program
is

launched

by

the

trade

marketing department, the sales

side can only contribute ideas
but cannot take initiative. Trade

Quote
in (description

of

coding from answer)


17

Improvement Of Horeca Chanel in Unilever Food Solution
Q&A

Coding (key
answer)

Category
(Concept
theory)

Quote
in (description

of

coding from answer)

marketing parties rarely go to
the market, so they do not know
the insights of customers to
offer promotions to attract the
attention of customers. In this
matter,

she

will

raise

her

opinion to the higher level so
that the management can find a
solution.

Based on my interview with line manager, I have the main problem is: The
competitors increasingly has many improvement to launch new products at reasonable price and
suitable with the chef’s taste but the company does not have the promotion program not to meet
the the needs of customers.


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18

CHAPTER 4. CAUSE VALIDATION

4.1. Potential causes

Quality of sales team

Competitors
The
promotion
program
does not
meet the the
needs of
customers

Don’t touch right
insight of consumers

The influences of market
Figure 4.1: The Cause and Effect Map

4.1.1. Invest not enough properly in the sales team and tools to support sales
The company's sales team is under great pressure on sales. They do not have enough
time to make the invitations as well as maintain the necessary relationships with customers. They
mainly sell traditional products such as seasoning seeds and basic spices, some other products
such as lipton tea lines ... have not been given proper attention.
Sales professional training courses are only at the level of providing basic knowledge
for new employees, there are no advanced training courses. With the diversity and specific
characteristics of the products, in addition to the general skills for a salesperson, the bank staff
must also have a deep understanding of the field of economics, cuisine, law and foreign affairs. So
training to get a professional sales staff is a job that the company needs to take care of regularly.

The policy of recruitment, training and income distribution for the sales staff of the
company has not really become a driving force for them to improve sales efficiency. Frequent
fluctuations in personnel also significantly affect the sales of the company.
4.1.2. The influences of market
In early 2020, restaurants were affected by the dual effects of the Covid-19 epidemic
and the Government's Decree 100, which led to many difficulties in business. If in January 2020,
restaurants reduce revenue from 10% - 20%, then in February and March that figure has increased
to 50% - 70%. In January 2020, after the Government's Decree 100, restaurants were one of the
worst affected. Although some restaurants have taken measures such as having a driver team to
take customers or inform customers about checkpoints around the restaurant ... but in general, the


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entire business time before Tet, the restaurant's best time for business, is severely affected. Unable
to cope with the situation, a new agent was called Covid-19. After the influence of these two
factors, a series of restaurants and bars in the central business district such as District 1, District 3
and Phu Nhuan District could not hold out, leading to hanging signs to close.
4.1.3. Competitors
The biggest competitor of Knorr seasoning powder is Nestle's Maggi seasoning
powder. In addition to a large and potential competitor like Maggi (Nestle) wedge, there are other
competitors such as Aji-ngon seasoning seeds (Ajinomoto), Chin-su (Massan) seasoning seeds,
Vedan seasoning seeds (Vedan) ... Aji-ngon has quite a good step when focusing on investing in
technology, raw materials and markets. With the advantage of being a monosodium glutamate
company, the price of Aji-ngon seasonings is always more competitive than Knorr. On the other
hand, Aji-ngon has the technology of extracting bone and meat stews in place, so the cost of raw
materials is thus reduced compared to Knorr.
From the perspective of buyers, many depend on prices, so to compete, companies are

racing to reduce production costs. For example, from using glass bottles that have been converted
into pet plastic bottles, or previously used wedge-grain packaging using three-layer aluminum
films, now they are converted into PP laminate materials, saving 10-25% of the cost. into ...
Knorr of Unilever VN Company produced with the advertisement "wedge seeds from
meat", "increased the meat for the" tornado "fragrance. Aji-delicious by Ajinomoto VN Co. with"
delicious stew and meat bones "and" slogan " from meat-sweet from bone ". Maggi of Nestlé VN
Co., Ltd produces with the slogan" bold taste of meat. "Born later, Masan launched Chin-su
seasoning seeds" non-monosodium glutamate "to hit psychology of strange people. corresponding
to this substance.
Observe on the packaging, most wedge granules have clearly stated "nutritional value"
including indicators of energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate with a clear content. In addition, many
brands also have a "user guide" dose used in some cooking cases. In addition, depending on each
brand, the content of substances or materials such as stewed bone and meat (1.8% -Aji-delicious)
is announced; chicken flour (1.9% -Knorr); Young ribs and fresh lotus seeds (30g / kg-Chin-su) to
create an attractive base of raw materials from bone meat of the product. When launching Chin-su
seasoning beads with the element of "non-monosodium glutamate" to compete with rivals, Masan
seems to officially declare war on giants in this field, Unilever VN, Nestlé VN, Ajinomoto VN.
In addition to the big brands, there are also small private companies, spice traders are
also competitors of knorr products. Because they do not have a reputation in the market, they


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20

mainly use price strategy to attract customers. There are also some companies that mimic
packaging with bigger packaging, making the cost per unit of product lower.
4.1.4. Promotion of Knorr products don’t touch right insight of consumers
The promotions of knorr products have almost no change over the months, mainly
only with gifts for customers are sugar and cooking oil, do not meet the requirments of customers.

In the last months of the quarter, the company also launched a program to donate coca or pepsi
soft drinks to customers when buying goods with a value of 3.5 million or more. For small and
single restaurant customers, this program is effective. But for large restaurants, this program is not
very effective because most restaurants sell more beer than soft drinks and soft drinks often used
by employees in restaurants. Other rivals such as Nestle Maggie, in the last months of the year,
often offer many attractive promotions. For example, with an invoice on 4.5 million, guests are
given a blender or a meat grinder. Maggie did not offer promotions every month, but during the
promotion months, they launched a program that attracted customers more than knorr. The
promotions of knorr products have almost no change over the months, mainly only with gifts for
customers are sugar and cooking oil. In the last months of the quarter, the company also launched
a program to donate coca or pepsi soft drinks to customers when buying goods with a value of 3.5
million or more. For small and single restaurant customers, this program is effective. But for large
restaurants, this program is not very effective because most restaurants sell more beer than soft
drinks and soft drinks often used by employees in restaurants. On the knorr product, there is also a
program to redeem gifts when customers buy directly from the company. This program is really
effective for large customers, especially customers with sales of 20 million / month or more. But
for small customers, low sales, customers who accumulate points for a period of 3-6 months can
exchange gifts, this program is not very attractive to them. Other rivals such as Nestle Maggie, in
the last months of the year, often offer many attractive promotions. For example, with an invoice
on 4.5 million, guests are given a blender or a meat grinder. Maggie did not offer promotions
every month, but during the promotion months, they launched a program that attracted customers
more than knorr.
4.2. Validating causes
Unilever Food Solution faced the problem that the revenue of restaurant chanel in Ho
Chi Minh don’t get the target growth as the expectation of company. With four potential causes
are listed above, now company in updated cause-effect diagram are needed to be check. Based on
surveys of Unilever Food Solution internal documents, survey are conducted in 20 employees and
50 customers who are using Knorr products and it is conducted in the first quarter in 2019. With