TruEarth Healthy Foods

Submitted to: Prof. Jayanthi Thanigan

Section : 5
Year:2016-18
Group: AA1

1.
Why was Cucina Fresca pasta successful? How would you compare the pizza
opportunity to that for pasta? How would you compare the actual product development
process for each?
TruEarth made whole-wheat pasta called Cucina Fresca pasta. The whole-wheat pasta were
not considered as tasty as other types of pasta but superior research and development at
TruEarth led to tastier whole-wheat pasta. The product offering provided customers, esp.
household with two working adults, with healthier option. The products included fresher and
superior ingredients. With the shift in the market place consumers where they were moving
away from purchasing highly processed foods and moving towards healthier option, TruEarth
were able to achieve good market penetration with their whole-wheat pasta lines. . Due to
TruEarths first mover advantage, they were able to secure good distribution channels and
the extremely valuable refrigerated self-space in a $4.2 billion market dominated by
companies like Kraft and Nestle.
The opportunity that pizza presents is also huge, because the market for pizza is roughly $1
billion larger than the pasta industry. TruEarth defiantly has got huge potential to make
millions of dollars creating a healthy pizza option that consumers are demanding which can
be made at home. Also, the pizza product line requires less up front cost in terms of machinery
so the initial capital outlay is appealing.
The product development process for TruEarth has changed dramatically over the years. The
primary reason being they have gone from a company that considered themselves food artists
with little structure to a large company that now has a brand value and a more formal
structure. The new structure has led to intense risk-return analysis pertaining to product
development. Another reason for this change branches from the fact that TruEarths
distribution channels have grown large enough and resulting in increased cost of getting a
new product on the shelves then it did when they has much less shelf space to fill. That is, if
pizza product line were to fail they would incur a larger loss on the amount of inventory than
they would have to put on the pasta product line initially.

2.
How do the pizza concept test results (Exhibits 7 and 8) compare with the findings
for pasta (Exhibits 3 and 4)?
The results of pizza concept test are not as strong as the results of pasta concept test. In both
the instances, 300 concept tests were conducted. While pasta was conducted across several
cities, pizza was conducted through mall intercept interviews.
An overview comparison between the purchase intent results observed in Exhibit 3 (Pasta)
and Exhibit 7 (Pizza) are shown below:

Comparision
Mean Price/Value rating

Mean Likeability

Top Two Box

0%

50%

100%

150%

200%

250%

300%

350%

400%

450%

Pizza

Top Two Box

60%

Mean Likeability
3.7

Mean Price/Value rating

3

Pasta

76%

4.1

3.2

Pizza

Pasta

Firstly, the purchase intent of non-customers is significantly less for the pizza test then it was
for the pasta test. When you add of current TruEarth customers, the purchase intent for pizza
is still less than the test results for pasta but is not that significant. But the lower percentage
of customers willing to definitely or probably purchase the product should not be all that
alarming. The reason for this lies in the fact that the market we are looking to enter is larger.
We can calculate the trial volume by using the available awareness and purchase behavior
estimates. The total volume is $1.685 million to $2.408 million, which translate to retail
market size of $21 million to $30 million. This estimate is exceeding the wholesale volumes
of $12 million to meet the companys return requirements.
Exhibit 4 (Pasta) and Exhibit 8 (Pizza) indicate the number of individuals which were
favourable to the concept. A summary of the results are shown below:

Measure

Pasta

Pizza

Favourable to Concept

76%

60%

-Whole grain

32%

19%

-Freshly made and dated

38%

31%

-Looks appetizing

22%

24%

-Product Selection

17%

16%

-Easy to prepare

21%

16%

Food Qualities LIKES

Preparation LIKES

Other LIKES
-TruEarth brand name

33%

24%

-Good price

18%

9%

-Limited selection

20%

23%

-Too expensive

8%

27%

-Limited time to product

16%

12%

DISLIKES

expiration

Overall, the result shows that concept for a whole grain refrigerated pizza kit was not as well
received as the whole grain pasta kit. These results show that the whole grain pasta kit (76%)
were more favorable than a whole grain pizza kit (60%). Other attributes where pasta
outscored pizza were: easy to prepare - 21% pasta versus 16% pizza and good price 18%
pasta versus 9% pizza. Also, test results showed that pizza was too expensive.
At the same time, analyzing the consumer view, concept comparison and the possibilities of
the first-mover advantage, it is highly likely that TruEarth have to enter the market with
challenges such as educating the consumers about the new product category, changing the
consumer preference and usage patterns of pizza-eating, competing with multiple
competitors, while extending the distribution channels and finalising product development,
which all require huge investment. In order to overcome above challenges, it is inevitable to
conduct an extensive marketing campaign, however, in the process; there is a high possibility
that TruEarth will lower the entry barrier for the competitors, who will enter when the market
is ready to accept the new product concept.