Business Report 1

The Australian Biscuit Company (ABC) is a multi Australian and Queensland award winner for sweet biscuits based in Brisbane, Queensland. ABC currently produces over 20 million packets of biscuits for the Australian retail grocery market per year, with distribution primarily directed to the two major supermarket chains. Two products hold market-leading positions within the Australian market, the Aussie Oat biscuit (similar to an ANZAC biscuit) and the Sunshine Surprise (shortbread biscuit with a passionfruit and orange cream centre). ABC currently has two dilemmas; saturation of the domestic grocery market for sweet biscuits which is stifling home market growth and the Brisbane plant has excess production capacity. The brief: 1 You are a Business Development Executive for ABC. You have been asked to prepare a business report for your Business Development Manager (BDM) to assist with the company’s export planning. The company is trying to understand the Mainland Chinese grocery market and buyer in the terms of the cultural environment and consider whether to customise or standardise a product for this market. 2 Your task is to conduct secondary research and review the cultural environment in relation to Mainland China for three specific elements. Your report is required to address the specific cultural elements of: • Language • Social Institutions • Values and attitudes 3 The outcome of your report should provide a profile the cultural environment, with supporting analysis, for the Mainland Chinese grocery buyer of biscuits and offer recommendations supported by rationale for either standardising or customising the above products for this market.