From waste to taste

: how to adapt “Loop mission’s” business model for the German market

Abstract

Twelve million tons of food are disposed in Germany annually. This presents an ecological, economic, and ethical problem. Inspired by the success of “Loop Mission” in Canada, this thesis explores the feasibility of adapting their business model for the German market, as “Loop Mission” is converting unsellable fruits and vegetables into smoothies. For this purpose, their business model was analyzed through an interview, followed by a market analysis that examined the macroeconomic and competitive landscape as well as cultural differences and concluded with a survey testing market acceptance among consumers. The findings indicate that "Loop Mission’s" smoothies would have significant potential in the German market, with the market size and consumers' willingness to pay particularly promising. From an operational perspective, it is important to find strong procurement and distribution partners or even partners to adapt to local packaging sizes. From a marketing perspective, it would be advisable to switch to a fact-based strategy, emphasizing arguments such as nutritional aspects. In contrast, the sustainability aspect can be considered an additional unique selling proposition. Notably, the identified target group of women aged 25-34 with an academic degree and higher income has proven to be lucrative early adopters and innovators, demonstrating a willingness to pay between 2,50€ and 3,00€ according to the value-based pricing method. The physical presence of the products emerged as a must. Word-of-mouth seems to be the most effective marketing strategy followed by social media ads. Considering the above, entering the German market for “Loop Mission” style products seems promising.

Date of Award	24 Jun 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Rute Xavier (Supervisor)