Case Analysis Ultimate_Writer

Mallory Humphrey

Mele, C. (2016, September 02). Gatorade Shakes Up the Sport Drink by Going Organic. New

York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/03/\business/gatorade-

Shakes-up-the-sport-drink-by-going-organic.html

This article introduces Gatorade's latest product, G Organic. According to the article, “Gatorade controls 70 percent of the sports drink market, but by producing an organic brand, it hopes to cash in on a growing demand for foods considered to be more natural and free of additives, pesticides and artificial ingredients seen as harmful “(paragraph 5). Essentially Gatorade is trying to broaden their target audience and be more inclusive when introducing and producing new products. According to the article, “the company was responding to a consumer demand. We heard pretty loud through the locker rooms, through our work with nutritionists, that there are an interest and a desire among athletes to go organic” (paragraph 10). Overall, by producing G Organic, the company hopes to capture a new market of individuals who are conscious of their health.

The article then takes a turn talking about while the product is organic, the drink, however, is still not healthy. Every 16.9-ounce bottle of G Organic has seven teaspoons of added sugar which is more than six -teaspoons the daily limit, according to the American Health Association (Paragraph 13). According to Lindsey Moyer a senior nutritionist with the Center for Science in the Public Interest, although the product does discontinue using artificial dyes which is a step forward for the Gatorade Company, organic sugar is no better than regular sugar and based on the ingredients, consuming this product is like drinking liquid candy (paragraph 12). A majority of the article is spent evaluating that although the name is appealing, the drink is not (health wise).

The outcome of the article predicts organic fruit and vegetable juices are expected to drive the growth of organic soft drinks which are predicted to rise from 2012 to 2017 at a compound annual growth rate of 4 percent, reaching a market value of $665.7 million, according to a 2013 analysis by the Canadian government of the American marketplace (paragraph 18). Overall, the company is proven to be one of the leaders in the sports drink industry and reaps benefits in many areas contained in the industry, therefore G Organic could be an amazing addition to their product line increasing profitability, or it could be a bust.

This article in accordance with the research paper would be beneficial in Section IV, C under industry trends because it analyzes how many companies are trying to produce healthier products and it follows the health craze that a younger market will be easy to target and increase profitability. However, it could also be used under section B Profitability Analysis to determine if the drink will be profitable due to its health implications. Just the name could be enough for healthy individuals to want to buy the product so it has potential to increase profitability, but the individuals who do their research and realize there are no huge differences between the products could hurt profitability by spreading bad WOM. Finally, it could also be useful when talking about competitive analysis in Section V, A. G Organic could be included as a strength for Gatorade showing that it is health conscious and the brand is trying to promote healthy living even more than they already do. They already hold a large amount of market share, but this is a competitive advantage that could send them flying above their competitors.

This article could be used in a positive or negative way when considering its impact on our paper, I believe G Organic could be considered a strength or a weakness in their company’s SWOT analysis depending on other factors researched in the future.