A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Master

Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics.

Cheeses of the Atlantic

Internationalization of Insulac to the German Cheese Market

APPENDICES

Alexandra da Silva Lemos de Vasconcelos Franco

MSc Student Number 2577

A Project carried out on the Master in Management Program, under the supervision of

Professor Sara Alves.

January 25th, 2017

2

Table of Contents

Appendix 1: Production Cycle into Three Different Categories

Source: Insulac’s Communication.

Appendix 2: Insulac’s Product Portfolio

Insulac Product Portfolio Line Category VALFORMOSO a NAVEGADOR a INSULAC b

Cheese

Butter

Powdered Milk and

Sweet Whey Powder

a - Commercial Products; b - Industrial Products.

3

Source: Own compilation from Insulac’s website information.

Appendix 3: Production in tons. from 2006 to 2015

Source: Insulac’s Annual Report.

Appendix 4: Sales per Goods in 2014 and 2015

Group of Goods Sales

% Variance 2015 2014

Cheese 19 674 047,49 € 22 074 314,19 € -10,87%

Butter 2 331 764,86 € 2 421 131,26 € -3,69%

Powdered Milk 4 736 434,51 € 5 410 712,70 € -12,46%

Sweet Whey Powder 2 781 929,21 € 3 438 153,63 € -19,09%

Other Dairy Products 1 098 971,93 € 883 286,24 € 24,42%

Goods 29 877,04 € 50 070,69 € -40,33%

Services 7 520,08 € 4 686,38 € 60,47%

Total 30 660 545,12 € 34 282 355,09 € -10,56%

Source: Insulac’s Annual Report.

4

Appendix 5: Sales Volume from 2006 to 2015

Source: Insulac’s Annual Report.

Appendix 6: Sales Volume by Countries from 2013 to 20151

Source: Own compilation from information provided from Insulac.

1 The majority of the countries where there is no available data in the following years (2014 and/or 2015) is due to the indirect exporting. In other words, it does not mean they stopped to export to those places, yet they do not have that specific data as it is everything handled by their indirect exporters.

5

Appendix 7: Cheese Market Size in 2015 (US$ Billion)

Source: Euromonitor International.

Appendix 8: Top 6 Cheese Market Countries in 2015 (US$ Billion)

Source: Euromonitor International.

6

Appendix 9: Global Direct Competitors’ Analysis

The Kraft Heinz Company is an American globally diversified food producer. It

resulted of a very recent (July 2, 2015) merger between Kraft Foods and Heinz.

Currently, it is the fifth-largest food and beverage company worldwide and the third

largest in the USA. In 2015, it amounted $27.4 Billion of Turnover and it is present in

nearly 200 countries through more than 200 global beloved brands including brands

that represent more than $8 Billion at retail. Being a leader in the global community,

Kraft Heinz Co. has been serving more than $2 Billion in meals to hungry children over

the last decade through philanthropic focus. Its headquarters are in Pittsburgh and in

Chicago. It offers an incomparable portfolio of powerful and iconic brands. It owns

brands like Kraft, Heinz, ABC, Capri Sun, Classico, Jell-O, Kool-Aid, Lunchables,

Maxwell House, Ore-Ida, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia, among many others. In the Dairy

Market worldwide, they represent 1.9% of the whole market share, being specially

known for offering brands as Kraft, Philadelphia, Kraft Singles and Velveeta.

Lactalis Groupe is a French company operating in the Dairy Market, being the leader

dairy group in the world, leader dairy and cheese group in Europe, leader milk collector

in Europe and the leader cheese producer in Europe. It owns a spread portfolio of

recognized brands like Président, Galbani, Lactel, Bridel, Celia, Pride, Laicran,

Valbreso, Le Roitelet, Société, amongst others. In 2015, it amounted a Turnover of €17

Billion from their brands’ presence at more than 100 countries. Their major brands are

Président and Galbani. Currently, Président is offered in 140 countries reaching more

than €1.8 Billion of Turnover, while Galbani is accessible in 130 countries achieving a

Turnover of €1.5 Billion. In the Dairy Market worldwide, they represent 4.0% of the

7

whole market share, being particularly known for offering brands like Président,

Parmalat, Elegê, Galbani, Lactel, among others.

Bel Groupe is a French company operating in the Dairy Market, being the third

worldwide in branded cheese, the leader in 25 countries and a Top-3 contender in 45

countries. Besides, it is responsible for four brands out of the world’s 20 leading cheese

brands. It has presence around 33 countries from the 5 continents and its products are

spread through 130 countries of the globe. In 2015, it reached the €2.9 Billion of

Turnover, representing a growth of 5.9% when compared with the performance of

2014. Its successful core brands are The Laughing Cow, Kiri, Mini Babybel,

Leerdammer and Boursin that are the main drive of the company’s growth. In the Dairy

Market worldwide, they represent 0.8% of the whole market share.

Source: Companies’ Website and Euromonitor International.

Appendix 10: Portuguese Direct Competitors’ Analysis

Bel Portugal (Bel Groupe) is a cheese specialist, leader in the cheese market in

Portugal, through the brands Limiano and Terra Nostra produced in Portugal, as well as

the commercialization of the already known A Vaca que Ri. It also produces the brands

Pastor and Loreto in Portugal. The brand Limiano is the cheese leader in Portugal,

representing 11.7% of the brand share, followed by Terra Nostra that symbolizes 6.1%

of the brand share.

Lactogal – Produtos Alimentares, S.A. is a Portuguese company that produces dairy

products, milk, fruit juices and mineral waters. It is present in Portugal and abroad

through the brands Agros, Mimosa, Gresso, Adagio, Matinal, Castelões, Castelinhos,

Vigor, Pleno, Milhafre dos Açores, among others. The brand Castelões represents 5.6%

8

of the brand share, followed by Agros that symbolizes 4.3% of the brand share in

Portugal.

Source: Companies’ Website and Euromonitor International.

Appendix 11: The “Six Forces” Model

Threat of Substitution: Moderate and Increasing

Cheese and the dairy products in general are part of the daily life of the majority of

people globally. Besides, as this industry offers a huge diversity of products, the prices

vary greatly. Although it is possible to substitute cheese with, for example, vegan or

soy cheeses, crumbled seasoned tofu, nutritional yeast flakes, yogurts or the common

charcuterie products (ham, sausage), jams or other products to spread (peanut butter), it

is more difficult to stop consuming the traditional dairy products, as they are healthier,

nutritionally richer and they are present in the daily routine of the most people since

their were born. This way, it is possible to declare that, with an increase of the price and

taking into account the vast variety of the same, customers may firstly change to other

cheaper cheeses or even start consuming smaller quantities (betting in smaller packages

format or sliced cheeses that help to avoid wastes) instead of switching to other

categories of products. However, it is important to highlight that, apart from breakfast

cereals, vegan substitutes and soy beverages that are gaining popularity in many

countries mainly due to health or dietary considerations, there is also the rising of a new

trend of Asian cuisines, in the Western Europe and in the United States, which in turn

do not usually use cheese in its composition resulting in a negative impact of its

consumption2. Nevertheless, those cases are still seen as niche markets without need of

2 Euromonitor International: Cheese: Opportunities and Threats in the Mature Markets. 2016. http://www.portal.euromonito.com/portal/analysis/tab (Accessed October 30, 2016)

9

concern. Concluding the threat of substitutes is assessed as relatively Moderate and

Increasing.

Threat of Entry: Moderate and Stable

When a company wishes to enter in any industry it must considers the barriers of entry.

Specifically in the global Dairy market, or even in the Cheese market, there will be

numerous entry barriers to consider, so the new entrants cannot enter on equal

conditions to those existing companies. One of the major barriers is the amount of

capital required to sustain the production, the R&D, the quality control, the

infrastructures and necessary machinery to make the milk transformation and support

the whole company. In this type of industries, fragmented and competitive, with the

leading of already very well established companies like Kraft Heinz Co., Lactalis

Groupe or Bel Groupe, the firms that really want to survive globally, will have to adapt

their processes to large-scale operations in order to achieve a certain level of cost

efficiency that ensures economies of scale and, thus, profits3. Otherwise, new domestic

entrants wanting to enter on a small scale, to a niche market, will have to accept the

higher unit costs, which does not means they can not compete with the big brands and

be profitable, yet in the local market4. Product differentiation is not a problem to the

new entrants, as cheeses are very similar among it selves and this is an industry where

new entrants can easily understand the know-how. The Store-Based Retailing (with

about 97,5% of distribution share) 5 is the most used distribution channel, like

supermarkets or hypermarkets, to retail cheese expressing the importance of the already

3M. Grant, R. (2010). Contemporary Strategy Analysis. 7th ed. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, pp.71-73. 4Hoovers. 2016. http://www.hoovers.com/industry-facts.dairy-products-manufacturing.1354.html. (Accessed October 30, 2016) 5Euromonitor International. 2016. www.euromonitor.com. (Accessed October 30, 2016)

10

known cheese brands, as in this type of distributors the capacity is always very limited

and restricted, knowing that more easily the retailers will promote their cheese private

labels in a better shelf space than a low cheese brand recognition6. Also, there are some

governmental and legal barriers to take into account as every country has its own

standard rules even when we are dealing with a food product. To highlight that Insulac

is very proud to be internationally certified facilitating the entrance in other foreign

markets. In sum, the threat of new entrants is assessed as relatively Moderate and

Stable.

Buyer Power: High and Stable

Regarding the bargaining power of the buyers, they are mainly Store-Based Retailers7,

including supermarkets, hypermarkets, independent small grocers, discounters, among

others. Given the huge variety of dairy products offered, in this case, cheeses, and the

small differentiation among the same, the buyer’s price sensitivity is smaller. Besides,

according to Grant (2010), “the less differentiated the products of the supplying

industry, the more willing the buyer is to switch suppliers on the basis of price”. This

will result in a highly competitive and apprehensive environment between suppliers

where price will be the key decision factor. Grant (2010) also states that, “the more

intense the competition among buyers, the greater their eagerness for price reductions

from their sellers”, which leads to great pressures to suppliers to decrease their prices.

As more than 50% of the distribution channels used to retail cheese are Supermarkets

(36,3% of distribution share) and Hypermarkets (19,8% of distribution share)8, each of

6 Euromonitor International: Cheese: Opportunities and Threats in the Mature Markets. 2016. http://www.portal.euromonito.com/portal/analysis/tab (Accessed October 30, 2016)7 Euromonitor International. 2016. www.euromonitor.com. (Accessed October 30, 2016)8 Euromonitor International. 2016. www.euromonitor.com. (Accessed October 30, 2016)

11

all will require a small amount of purchases and for those reasons, having a smaller cost

of losing a determined supplier and, thus, an high relative bargaining power over the

firms. It is also visible the vertical integration from some retailers that start producing

and selling their own-brand cheeses, the private labels, practicing lower prices and,

although the quality and the brand itself are many times determinant, increasingly

consumers are willing to switch brands due to the lower price9. In consequence, besides

the economic context and the consumers’ price sensitivity, the pricing strategies are the

most relevant key factor for the retailers, making pressure on the suppliers to lower

prices and, consequently, their profits, increasing their concern. Nonetheless, more and

more retailers consider the innovation and the consumer trends of their offer, as they

want to answer to the clients demand. Thus, the bargaining buyer power is assessed as

moderately High and Stable.

Supplier Power: Low and Stable

To produce cheese, it is necessary milk, bacteria culture (suitable to the type of cheese),

rennet (extracted from calves) and salt to form the rind. Apart from these ingredients, it

includes storage and cheese treatment infrastructures. Within the cheese market, the

suppliers are the dairy farmers that sell their milk to be transformed afterwards.

Commonly, these dairy farmers are small-sized when compared to the stronger cheese

producers they deal with, and thus their switching costs will be much higher than the

buyer’s switching costs. Besides as milk is a non-differentiated product and buyers

purchase huge quantities of milk, being extremely significant for the dairy farmer’s

final revenues, it consequently results in a higher supplier’s price sensitivity.

9 Euromonitor International: Cheese: Opportunities and Threats in the Mature Markets. 2016. http://www.portal.euromonito.com/portal/analysis/tab (Accessed October 30, 2016)

12

Although, there are cheeses made from different types of milk from different animals,

the farmers, usually, provide only one type of milk (for example, cow milk, goat milk

or sheep milk), weakening their power. As they typically are smaller scale, besides of

not having a huge impact on the market and given the non-differentiation of the raw

material, their relative bargaining power is low. Sometimes, dairy farmers integrate

vertically, by producing and selling their own cheese in the local and domestic markets.

Yet, those cases usually do not influence the big companies’ revenues10. In the overall,

the supplier power is relatively Low and Stable.

Industry Rivalry: High and Stable

Considering the competition within the global cheese market, as it can be understood

through the Competitive Landscape, it is led by big companies like Kraft Heinz Co,

Lactalis Groupe, Bel Groupe, Savencia Fromage & Dairy among many others that

constitutes a highly fragmented industry. For example, in 2015, given the

Concentration Ratio of the four largest cheese producers (CR4) it is achieved a ratio of

18.4% (companies market shares: 6.4%+6.3%+3.0%+2.7%) 11 , meaning that this

industry has a low degree of concentration, having better distribution among the firms.

Even when analyzing the CR8, for the eight largest cheese producers, it is attained a

ratio of 24%, which means that it continues to have a scarcely degree of concentration

as none of the biggest companies owns a very large portion of the market, increasing

the level of competition between them. Considering the diversity of competitors, being

a highly fragmented and, thus, a competitive industry, apart from the pricing strategy,

10 MarketLine. 2016. http://fesrvsd.fe.unl.pt:2118/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=b2d10f49-4c4e-42a7-bef1-0bc56b889c6e%40sessionmgr4010&vid=1&hid=4205 (Accessed October 31, 2016) 11Euromonitor International. 2016. www.euromonitor.com (Accessed October 31, 2016)

13

competitors differentiate themselves through its country of origin (that usually has a

level of aggregated quality) and the category of cheese they offer (ranging between

fresh, soft, semi-soft, firm, hard and veined cheese12). For instance, Italian and French

cheeses13 are very well known globally for its intrinsic characteristics related to the

origin. In those cases, many brands can take advantage of the origin of the cheese,

highlighting the quality associated and to avoid the pricing competition with other

brands. Yet, as there are many players within the industry offering a great diversity, the

price tends to be the truly decision maker. Thus, within a determined cheese category,

customers will be easily willing to switch between cheeses, given the non-

differentiation among them, encouraging the producers to lower their prices though it

will lead to smaller profits. As we could perceive in the Market Size and Growth

(External Analysis), the cheese market is expected to have a slow growth during the

next years, which means that companies will be competing for each other’s market

share, increasing the competition. Concluding, the industry rivalry is assessed as being

relatively High and Stable.

Complementor’s: Moderate and Stable

Cheese does not have a single and unique complementor that can be highly related with

its consumption, as it can be consumed in variable situations during the day, as for

example, for breakfast, as a snack or even as an accompaniment to the main dish. This

way, the consumption of bread, crackers, spreads like jams or chutneys14, some fruits,

12 Canadian Dairy Information Centre. 2016. http://cheese-fromage.agr.gc.ca/glossary-lexique_eng.cfm?menupos=1.3.4 (Accessed October 31, 2016) 13Wisconsin Cheeseman. 2016. http://www.wisconsincheeseman.com/articles/most-popular-cheeses-in-the-world (Accessed October 31, 2016)14 Igourmet.com. 2016. http://www.igourmet.com/cheese-accompaniments.asp (Accessed October 31, 2016)

14

olives or nuts, olive oil or honey, wine or even meat15 stimulates the demand of cheese,

depending on the different cultures around the world. Nevertheless, in the general, the

most relevant ones can be grouped in baked goods, spreads, fruits, nuts, wine and meat.

The categories that had the major Compounded Annual Growth Rate from 2011 to

2016, was the nuts, fruits and meat with a rate of 1,9%, 1,6% and 1,3% respectively and

are foreseen to continue to grow until 202016. In the overall, the force of the cheese

complementor’s is Moderate and it is assessed as Stable.

Source: Euromonitor International and M. Grant, R. (2010). Contemporary Strategy

Analysis. 7th ed. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Appendix 12: Key Success Factors

The success within the Cheese Industry can be achieved by different factors that make

the company survive and grow. While some companies intend to compete on a price

basis strategy, reaching a wide range of consumers, other firms compete via product

innovation and differentiation, following the new consumer’s trends.

What do customers want? Analysis of Demand

How does the firm survive competition?

Analysis of Competition

Key Success Factors

• Diversity of customers, with different preferences in terms of cheese type, texture, country of origin, taste; • Customers willing to pay a higher price for a premium quality and for an innovative product (new trends); • Majority of customers are highly price sensitive.

• Intense competition given the highly fragmented market, with a relatively similar product and easy to replicate; • Differentiation can yield a superior competitive position practicing a price premium, but imitation is quite rapidly.

• Combination of innovation at prices not very high, given the competitive prices of the market; • Constant updating to follow the new consumer trends and foster differentiation from the competitors;

15 Golden Age Cheese. 2015. http://goldenagecheese.blogspot.pt/2015/10/the-best-foods-to-complement-cheese-tray.html (Accessed October 31, 2016) 16 Euromonitor International. 2016. www.euromonitor.com (Accessed October 31, 2016)

15

Appendix 13: Organizational Resources’ Platform

The “Six Forces” Model, assumes that the industry structure drives competitive

behaviour and that is fairly stable. Yet, under dynamic competition, it is the competitive

strategy that leads to the industry structure. In external environments subjected to rapid

changes, it is the internal and unique organizational resources that offer a more secure

basis for strategy than the industry focus. Through Insulac’s Organizational Resources’

Platform, the resources that sustain the company in the market are assessed as:

16

Through the illustrative assessment, we obtain that the Location, the Alimentary

Safety Management System and the Research&Development are the three core

resources to the business, meaning they are unique and sustainable within the company.

Source: Own compilation.

Appendix 14: VRINNO Framework

With the company’s resources, the firm itself is creating potential for abnormal returns

(profit earning potential), which means they have to capture its value to have a

competitive advantage. To assess the resources’ platform, we need to check if they are

Valuable, Rare, Inimitable, Non-substitutable, Non-transactional and Organizationally

Embedded, so it can guarantee a Sustainable Competitive Advantage.

Location

Alimentary Safety

Management

System

R&D

Temporary

Competitive

Valuable

(Competitive Parity)

The Azorean dairy products are very well known for its high quality associated to

the intrinsic characteristics of its naturally environment.

As we are dealing with a food product,

this resource is critical to ensure to Insulac an higher credibility and

The department of R&D is extremely

important, because they are

the ones who

17

Advantage associated quality. Besides, customers

will be more loyal and it will facilitate its entrance in new foreign markets.

strive for further innovation and a

more value-added offer within the

company.

Rare

Although there are competitors using the inputs

from the same location, they are as small as Insulac,

which means they are globally rare. Besides, as it

is an archipelago, the area is limited, increasing the

importance of the already existing products.

This can be assumes as a rare resource, as

being part of Insulac’s priorities, they already

collect many safety systems that require a lot of procedures and controls during the

transformation of the input, yet requesting time and tolerance.

Although each company invests in R&D, due to

the high competitive

industry, Insulac’s products have

specific characteristics and tastes, being, in a

certain sense, rare.

Isolating

Mechanisms

Inimitable

Cheeses are by itslef an imitable product, meaning

they can be easily replicated. However, given

the unknown location by the majority of people, that

ensures the high quality of its products, the replication

is difficultier.

It is imitable as it can be replicated by other

competitors.

It is an imitable resource, being

able to be replicated by

other companies.

Non-

Substitutable

A location can not be substituted. Although, there

are many other places globally that also offer

extremelly good conditions to the cheese production.

Non-

Transactional

A location can not be transferred and neither its

inputs (milk), as it needs to be very fresh to produce cheese with high quality.

Organizationally

Embedded

As it is where Insulac’s headquarters, factory and

the whole processes happen, it is completely

organizationally embedded.

Sustainable

Competitive

Advantage

Source: Own compilation.

Appendix 15: Core Tool

18

Source: Core Tool, GlobalEdge.

Appendix 16: Criteria’s Description

Criteria Description

Urban Population The number of people living in urban areas, meaning its market potential size. It is seen as more relevant than total population, because there is a higher probability of availability of the product in the urban areas instead of the rural areas.

Index of Economic

Freedom

The degree of a country’s market structure, where higher indexes represent freer markets. It is measured based on four pillars - Rule of Law, Limited Government, Regulatory Efficiency and Open Markets. The index is represented in an interval that ranges from 0 to 100 and it is divided into five categories – Free, Mostly Free, Moderately Free, Mostly Unfree and Repressed – where the scores below 50 are considered Repressed17.

Country Risk

The set of associated risks when investing in a foreign country (including sovereign risk, currency risk, banking sector risk, political risk and economic structure risk). It is represented in different possible levels such as AAA, AA, A, BBB, BB, B, CCC, CC and C, from the best or the lowest to the worst or the highest (that thus may discourage the foreign investment) country’s risk level respectively18.

Currency Risk As currency varies within different countries, it is important to measure the exchange rate risk, meaning the impact of currency devaluation on an exporting company’s sales. It is represented in different possible levels as the Country Risk.

Political Risk As the political system varies within different countries, it is important to consider the level of risk of the political system of the country, as it will have an impact on the profitability of the company given political changes within the country. It is represented in different possible levels similarly to the Country Risk and Currency Risk.

Appendix 17: Country Data on Preliminary Screening Criteria19

Urban Population

Index of Economic Freedom

Country Risk

Currency Risk

Political Risk

Albania 1,658,584.0 65,9 B B B

Austria 5,680,563.0 71,7 A BBB AA

Azerbaijan 5,271,567.0 60,2 B B CCC

Bosnia and Herzegovina

1,515,288.0 58,6 B B CC

China 762,590,291.0 52 BB BB B

17 Index of Economic Freedom. 2016. http://www.heritage.org/index/ (Accessed November 18, 2016) 18 Investopedia. 2016. http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/countryrisk.asp [Accessed November 18, 2016) 19 Coutries or independent territories such as Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kosovo, Liechenstein, Monaco, Montenegro, Russia and San Marino were not considered given the lack of information available and the Russian embargo. Also, the ones where Insulac is already presente were not included.

19

Colombia 36,864,092.0 70,8 BB BB BB

Croatia 2,490,878.0 59,1 BB BB BB

Czech Republic 7,701,546.0 73,2 BBB BBB BBB

Denmark 4,976,492.0 75,3 A A AAA

Estonia 886,097.0 77,2 A BBB BBB

Finland 4,617,006.0 72,6 A BBB AA

Germany 61,304,912.0 74,4 A BBB AA

Hungary 7,012,074.0 66 BB BB BBB

Iceland 311,427.0 73,3 BB BB BBB

Ireland 2,934,827.0 77,3 BBB BBB BBB

Italy 41,931,550.0 61,2 BB BBB BB

Kazakhstan 9,341,721.0 63,6 B B B

Latvia 1,333,112.0 70,4 BBB BBB BBB

Lithuania 1,935,515.0 75,2 BBB BBB BBB

Luxembourg 513,620.0 73,9 AA BBB AAA

Macedonia 1,186,880.0 67,5 B BB CC

Malta 411,522.0 66,7 BBB BBB A

Moldova 1,599,190.0 57,4 CCC CCC CC

Norway 4,181,314.0 70,8 AA AA AAA

Poland 23,004,514.0 69,3 BBB BBB BBB

Portugal 6,568,080.0 65,1 BB BBB BBB

Serbia 3,943,289.0 62,1 B BB BB

Slovakia 2,907,182.0 66,6 A BBB A

Slovenia 1,024,661.0 60,6 BBB BBB BBB

Sweden 8,408,901.0 72 AA AA AA

Switzerland 6,125,070.0 81 AA A AA

Turkey 57,738,359.0 62,1 BB B B

Ukraine 31,500,885.0 46,8 CC CCC C

UK 53,798,969.0 76,4 BBB BBB A

20

To proceed with the preliminary screening and reduce the initial set of countries, the

macro criteria used to base the analysis were the Urban Population, the Index of

Economic Freedom, Country Risk, Currency Risk and Political Risk. The countries

were eliminated if they had less than 5 Million habitants in the Urban Population, as

Insulac has the need to increase its production scale being limited by the market size,

less than 59.9 of Index of Economic Freedom, comprising the Repressed and Mostly

Unfree countries (the lowest levels of economic freedom), and with a Country Risk,

Currency Risk and Political Risk level higher or equal to B, which represent the riskier

levels.

Concluding, the preliminary screening resulted in a reduction of 23 countries, achieving

a new set of 10 countries, namely, Austria, Colombia, Czech Republic, Germany,

Hungary, Italy, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and UK, to be now analysed in-depth.

Portugal was also considered in terms of comparisons.

Appendix 18: Detailed Description of the Criteria

Criteria Description

Urban Population (Million)

The number of people living in urban areas, meaning its market potential size. It is seen as more relevant than total population, because there is a higher probability of availability of the product in the urban areas instead of the rural areas.

GNI PPP (Current International $)

Gross National Income transformed to international dollars using Purchasing Power to Parity method20.

GDP Growth (CAGR%)

Forecasted compounded Gross Domestic Product growth rate in US dollars, representing the prospects of a country’s economy growth, which are greatly correlated with the development of the disposable income in that country and, consequently, the triggering of expenditure on certain products and services.

GNI PPP Per Capita (Current International $)

Gross National Income Per Capita transformed to international dollars using Purchasing Power to Parity method, representing the market intensity and the country’s habitants’ individual disposable income.

20Global Finance. 2016. https://www.gfmag.com/global-data/glossary/gdp-gni-definitions (Accessed November 20, 2016)

21

Country Risk

The set of associated risks when investing in a foreign country (including sovereign risk, currency risk, banking sector risk, political risk and economic structure risk). It is represented in different possible levels such as AAA, AA, A, BBB, BB, B, CCC, CC and C, from the best or the lowest to the worst or the highest (that thus may discourage the foreign investment) country’s risk level respectively21.

Currency Risk As currency vary within different countries, it is important to measure the exchange rate risk, meaning the impact of currency devaluation on an exporting company’s sales.

Political Risk

As the political system varies within different countries, it is important to consider the level of risk of the political system of the country, as it will have an impact on the profitability of the company given political changes within the country.

Index of Economic Freedom

The degree of a country’s market structure, where higher indexes represent freer markets. It is measured based on four pillars - Rule of Law, Limited Government, Regulatory Efficiency and Open Markets. The index is represented in an interval that ranges from 0 to 100 and it is divided into five categories – Free, Mostly Free, Moderately Free, Mostly Unfree and Repressed – where the scores below 50 are considered Repressed22.

Cheese Market Size (US dollars)

The total Cheese Market value, through the total sales generated by cheeses in a certain country in a one-determined year (converted to US dollars).

Cheese Market Growth Rate (CAGR%)

The forecasted Cheese Market annual growth rate, through the predicted compounded annual growth rate of the sales revenues.

Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI)

The market concentration, where a highly concentration level represents a weakly competitive market, being thus more attractive23. It is computed:

Where Si is the market share of the firm i and n is the number of firms.

Importance of Cheese in the Dairy Products Industry

(%)

Relative importance of cheese in the dairy products industry, meaning the sales revenue generated by the cheeses divided by the revenues generated by the dairy products in a given year.

Expenditure on Cheese Per Capita (US$)

Assesses the estimated market intensity, in other words, it is the average consumer expenditure on cheeses per country in US dollars.

Consumption of Cheese Per Capita (Tons)

Assesses the estimated market intensity, in other words, it is the average consumer expenditure on cheeses per country.

Tariff on Imports of Portuguese Cheeses

The estimated tariff applied by the country to imports of Cheeses from Portugal.

21 Investopedia. 2016. http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/countryrisk.asp (Accessed November 18, 2016) 22 Index of Economic Freedom. 2016. http://www.heritage.org/index/ (Accessed November 18, 2016) 23Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, D.C., (1993). Federal Reserve Bulletin. pp. 188-189.

22

Appendix 19: Criteria Year and Source of Data

Level Criteria Year Source Link

Macro

Indicators

Urban Population 2015 World Bank, World Development Indicators

http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS

GNI PPP 2015 World Bank, World Development Indicators 201624

http://wdi.worldbank.org/table/1.1

GDP Growth 2015-2021

International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database, October2016

http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2016/02/weodata/index.aspx

GNI Per Capita 2015 World Bank, World Development Indicators 2016

http://wdi.worldbank.org/table/1.1

Country Risk 2016 The Economist Intelligence Unit (October 2016)

http://country.eiu.com/AllCountries.aspx

Currency Risk 2016 The Economist Intelligence Unit (October 2016)

http://country.eiu.com/AllCountries.aspx

Political Risk 2016 The Economist Intelligence Unit (October 2016)

http://country.eiu.com/AllCountries.aspx

Economic Freedom 2016 The Heritage Foundation http://www.heritage.org/ind ex/

Micro and

Firm-

Specific

Indicators

Cheese Market Size 2015 Euromonitor International http://www.portal.euromonitor.com/portal/

statistics/tab Cheese Market Growth

2016-2021

Euromonitor International http://www.portal.euromonitor.com/portal/statistics/tab

Herfindahl-Hirschman Index 2015 Euromonitor International http://www.portal.euromonitor.com/portal/

statistics/tab Importance of Cheese in the Dairy Industry

2015 Euromonitor International http://www.portal.euromonitor.com/portal/

statistics/tab

Expenditure on Cheese Per Capita 2015 Euromonitor International http://www.portal.euromonitor.com/portal/

statistics/tab Consumption of Cheese Per Capita 2015 Euromonitor International http://www.portal.euromonitor.com/portal/

statistics/tab

Tariff from Portugal 2015

International Trade Center, Trademap

http://www.trademap.org/Country_SelProductCountry.aspx?nvpm=1|620||||0406|||4|1|1|2|1||2|1|1

Appendix 20: Standardization for the Scoring Model

Formula 1. 𝑆𝑖𝑗 = !!"!!"#.!!"

𝑥99+ 1

Where Sij is the scaled final value for a determined country j for criteria i; Xij is the

average score of the country j on criteria i; min.i is the minimum value of criteria i; and

Ri is the range of criteria i. This formula provides a better and more intuitive

comprehension of the index and it was developed by Cavusgil (2004)25.

24 World Development Indicators. 2016. https://issuu.com/world.bank.publications/docs/9781464806834?e=0/35179276 (Accessed November 20, 2016)25Cavusgil, S.T., Kiyak, T. and Yeniyurt, S. 2004. “Complementary approaches to preliminary foreign market opportunity

23

Appendix 21: Standardized Score of Each Selected Country per Criteria and Final

Ranking

Aus

tria

Col

ombi

a

Cze

ch

Rep

ublic

Ger

man

y

Hun

gary

Ital

y

Pola

nd

Port

ugal

Swed

en

Switz

erla

nd

UK

Urban Pop. 1 57 5 100 3 66 32 3 6 2 87

GNI PPP 5 12 3 100 1 53 20 2 7 8 65 GDP

Growth 52 100 21 51 31 29 71 49 47 29 1

GNI PC 71 1 36 72 24 47 25 32 70 100 56

Country Risk 67 1 34 67 1 1 34 1 100 100 34

Currency Risk 34 1 34 34 1 34 34 34 100 67 34

Political Risk 100 1 34 100 34 1 34 34 100 100 67

Economic Freedom 54 49 61 67 25 1 42 21 55 100 77

Market Size 5 1 5 100 1 92 13 8 16 27 78

Market Growth 38 84 58 57 41 1 100 54 44 41 19

HHI 61 27 73 97 58 94 79 74 1 99 100 Cheese in Industry 47 1 54 60 24 100 31 62 56 82 49

Expendt. Cheese PC 26 1 21 33 12 41 10 30 55 100 33

Consumpt. Cheese PC 59 1 66 79 37 90 32 72 100 99 70

Tariff 100 1 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

Scoring 44 29 47 73 33 58 53 49 46 70 57

Std. Scoring 35 1 42 100 9 67 56 45 40 92 63

Ranking 9 11 7 1 10 3 5 6 8 2 4

assessment: Country clustering and country ranking.” Journal of Industrial Marketing Management, 33: 607-17.

24

Appendix 22: Detailed PESTLE Analysis

Political

Germany is governed under a strong democratic system, where its government is

constituted by the legislature, judiciary and executive powers. The federal government

is the major source of authority that every state and municipality should obey. In 2014,

Germany ranked 9326 percentile on the rule of law indicator in 2016, which measures

the degree to which agents have confidence in and accept the rules of society

(particularly, the quality of contract enforcement, the police, the courts, and the

likelihood of crime and violence).

In 1958, Germany was one of the founding members of the European Community, then

named as European Union in 1993. Besides, it is a prominent member of numerous

international organizations such as the United Nations (UN), North Atlantic Treaty

Organization (NATO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the G8, the G20,

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the OECD27. It has

been involved in peace-building missions in many places such as Afghanistan, the

Middle East and Africa 28 . Germany performs fairly well in Transparency

International’s Corruption Perception Index in 2015, being positioned at 10th out of the

overall 167 countries.

26 Worldwide Governance Indicators. 2016. http://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/index.aspx#reports (Accessed November 25, 2016)27MarketLine. 2016. http://fesrvsd.fe.unl.pt:2260/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=f8818d90-5e83-474d-9111-3558389ece80%40sessionmgr103&vid=1&hid=120 (Accessed November 28, 2016)28MarketLine. 2016. http://fesrvsd.fe.unl.pt:2260/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=f8818d90-5e83-474d-9111-3558389ece80%40sessionmgr103&vid=1&hid=120 (Accessed November 28, 2016)

25

Economic

Having a GDP of $3,356 trillions, Germany represents the world’s 5th largest economy

in PPP terms and the greatest of the EU. About 69,1% of their GDP comes from the

service sector, 30,4% from the industry and only 0,6% from the agriculture. It is a

highly developed country specialized in the industrial sector and focused on

engineering and chemical products, being globally well-known for its advancements,

and having many examples of successful brands in the sectors of automobile,

machinery, metals and chemical goods, such as Porsche, Mercedes Benz, Audi, BMW,

Volkswagen, T-Mobile or SAP29. Consequently, Germany is the leading exporter of

machinery, chemicals, automobiles and household equipment and benefits from a

highly skilled labour force. The projected GDP compounded growth rate is around

3,40% for 2015-202130. Worldwide, it is the 4th largest exporter and importer. It mostly

exports motor vehicles, machinery, chemicals, computer and electronic products,

pharmaceuticals, metals, transport equipment, textiles and plastic products and it

imports machinery, data processing equipment, vehicles, chemicals, oil and gas, metals,

agricultural products and pharmaceuticals31.

Currently, it is facing critical economic challenges given the Eurozone crisis. From the

industry perspective, it enjoys the availability of highly skilled labour force. Germany’s

flexible labour markets and its highly innovative small and medium enterprises are the

key reasons behind its economic resilience during the debt crisis. As a result, the

unemployment rate in Germany was of 4,6% in 201532.

29PESTLE Analysis. 2016. http://pestleanalysis.com/pest-analysis-for-germany/ (Accessed November 27, 2016)30Central Intelligence Agency. 2016. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gm.html (Accessed November 25, 2016)31 Central Intelligence Agency. 2016. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gm.html (Accessed November 25, 2016) 32 Central Intelligence Agency. 2016. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2129rank.html#gm (Accessed November 25, 2016)

26

Social

With the largest population of the EU, about 81 Million well-educated and

cosmopolitan habitants, it is a highly culturally diversified country reflected by its

different types of art spread through the nation (architecture, literature, music or

sports). It is known by renowned people such as Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes

Brahms, Johann Sebastian Bach or famous buildings like the Abbey Church of St.

Michaels or the Cologne Cathedral33. Given the economic crisis, Germany as well as

the other Western European countries, has been facing demographic challenges that

impact the sustained long-term growth. The ageing population, representing 21,45% of

the total population in 2014, low fertility rates, of 1,47 children per woman in 2014,

and a large increase in net immigration are increasing pressure on the country’s social

welfare system.

Regarding the organizations, they are mostly structured by a hierarchy, where the

power is on the top level senior managers. The functions and responsibilities are always

very well planned and defined, encouraging the workers to be more individualists and

less social with their colleagues within companies. Germany is one the countries with

the most liberal immigration laws for highly skilled professionals, although it also

exists gender disparities in the labour market, characterized by a devaluation of women.

Although, one major quality of the Germans is that they are more rational than

emotional (they are more persuaded by facts), being thus more objectives, they valorise

and preserve the relationship with their families.

33PESTLE Analysis. 2016. http://pestleanalysis.com/pest-analysis-for-germany/ (Accessed November 27, 2016)

27

Technological

Germany is a country highly dedicated to the national science, technology and

research34. They have a Ministry of Science and Technology, specially dedicated to

manage this component within the country. Besides, they also contribute to the

scientific and technological advancements within the European Union by the provision

of funding to be spent in the area, scientists or laboratories35. Their infrastructural

facilities are also one of their cores, helping the development of any business in

Germany. Its telecommunication systems are known for being worldwide

technologically advanced. In terms of media, about 90% of the German homes have

cable or satellite TV36 which facilitates the spread of the brands’ communication. In

2015, about 91% of all households had access to computers from home and 90,3% had

Internet access37, representing the 8th largest internet population in the world38.

Regarding the transport system, they have an advanced full-blown system of roadways,

railways, ports or airways.

Legal

Germany has a comprehensive legal and regulatory framework at the federal, state and

regional levels, and boasts of strong investment and business freedom. According to the

Index of Economic Freedom, Germany accomplished the score of 74,4 in 201639, being

above the global average and symbolizing a strong system. As being a member of the

European Union, Germany mostly follows free trade policies. It imposes no customs

34 PESTLE Analysis. 2016. http://pestleanalysis.com/pest-analysis-for-germany/ (Accessed November 27, 2016)35PESTLE Analysis. 2016. http://pestleanalysis.com/pest-analysis-for-germany/ (Accessed November 27, 2016)36 BBC. 2016. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17301193 (Accessed November 26, 2016) 37 OECD. 2016. https://data.oecd.org/searchresults/?r=%2Bf%2Ftype%2Findicators&r=%2Bf%2Ftopics_en%2Finnovation+and+technology (Accessed November 26, 2016)38 Internet Users by Country. 2015. http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users-by-country/2015/ (Accessed November 26, 2016) 39 Index of Economic Freedom. 2016. http://www.heritage.org/index/ranking (Accessed November 26, 2016)

28

duty on the import of goods from other EU members and on industrial goods from

Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. However, it imposes customs duty in

the range of 0–20% on industrial goods shipped from non-EU countries. Besides,

according to the World Bank’s Doing Business Report40, regarding the ease of doing

business, Germany ranked the 17th position out of 190 countries.

The loopholes in the country’s taxation system are one of the worries of the German

government, as German tax authorities lose billions of euros every year given the tax

evasion and tax avoidance. Overregulation of professional services and licensing

system are some of the other challenges threaten the future investment within the

services sector.

Environmental

The German government aggressively supports the adoption of renewable energy, and

really intends to replace nuclear power largely with renewable energy. Consequently,

the share of renewable energy in gross electricity consumption has been increasing

reaching a share of 31% in 201541. The Environmental Performance Index positions the

strong performance of Germany as the 30th out of 180 countries42 in 2016, reflecting

the government’s commitment to create a sustainable environment policy. Considering

the air pollution, Germany faces a significant threat from airborne particulates, which

contributes to the high pollution levels. Deaths caused from ambient air pollution are

also one of the highest within the OECD economies.

40The World Bank. 2016. http://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings (Accessed November 26, 2016) 41EIA: U.S. Energy Information Administration. 2016. http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=26372 (Accessed November 26, 2016) 42 Environmental Performance Index. 2016. http://epi.yale.edu/country-rankings (Accessed November 26, 2016)

29

Appendix 23: Germany Dairy Product Sales Value % Share by Category in 2015

Source: Euromonitor International.

Appendix 24: Germany Cheese Market Sales: US$ Million in 2015

Source: Euromonitor International.

Appendix 25:German Cheese Market Competitors

Savencia Fromage & Dairy is a French company, being the 1st worldwide focused on

cheese specialties, owning international and local brands, which are sold in 120

37%

21%

15%

15%

13%

Cheese

OtherDairy

YoghurtandSourMilkProducts

DrinkingMilkProducts

ButterandMargarine

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

6300

6800

7300

7800

8300

8800

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Cheese Market Size in US$ Million YoY Growth %

30

countries. It is among the world’s leading milk processors, the 2nd cheese group in

France and the 5th worldwide. It aggregated a Net Sales of €4.4 Billion in 201543.

Hochland SE is a German company with 85 years of expertise in the cheese

production, being one of the largest manufacturers and refiners of cheese in Europe. It

supplies all major cheese varieties to national and international markets. In 2015, it

amounted a turnover of €1.2 Billion44.

Groupe Bel and Groupe Lactalis were already analysed in detail in the Global Direct

Competitors’ Analysis (Appendix 11).

Appendix 26:AveragePriceofCheeseperKilo

Range Average

Portugal 5€ - 10€ 7,21€

Germany 5€ - 12€ 7,58€

Source: Cost of Living45.

43Savencia Fromage&Dairy. 2016. http://www.savencia-fromagedairy.com/en/ (Accessed November 29, 2016) 44 Hochland Group. 2016. http://www.hochland-group.com/HochlandGroup/en/default.asp (Accessed November 29, 2016) 45 Numbeo:Cost of Living. 2016. https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/ [Accessed 2 Dec. 2016]