Operations Management

510 – Operations Management

William Taylor

Bruna Martins

Southern States University

Introduction

The main reason why I decided to choose the Imperfect Produce Business, especially on the fruits and vegetables is to help reduce the waste of produce from the farm.

Imperfect produce business majorly deals with the fruits and the vegetables that are seen to be ugly from their physical outlook and the producers are isolating them from the best ones and in most cases, they go at waste, but they are nutrients just like the other ones which are taken to the store. Therefore, it is better not to waste food but instead ensure that there are people who could still realize that these kinds of fruits and vegetables are just of the same value compared to the perfect product, but the difference is only that they look ugly and these may not attract customers when they are packed in the store. Imperfect Produce is a business that focuses its main aim to fight the food waste which is common by identifying a home for the ugly produce and also some of the imperfect grocery items (Devin & Richards, 2018).

The imperfect produce business helps to source the products that are already isolated to go to waste from the farmers, and they are delivered to the clients but on a lower price as compared to the ones which have been packed to the store. The business is done by through door to door delivery to make it sell because most of the people are reluctant to buy such produces but when home delivery is done with a little lower price they buy the product. One important thing is that imperfect produce especially the vegetables, and the fruits are nutritious and delicious like the ones which are put in the store, and that is the main reason why they should not go at waste but ensure that they are also consumed because not everyone can afford the ones in the store (Foster, 2018).

Marketing functions of the imperfect produce

Marketing is a vital aspect of every business to ensure that the business becomes successful at the end of the day. Marketing is involving characters such as packaging, research and the best way to present the products and services to the clients. When there is a good marketing strategy, then, the customers get informed, and this helps to boost the sales of the products and the services. One of the marketing functions which is going to associate with my business is to ensure that research is well carried out to help me find my targeted clients. Through research, I have realized that most of the people become interested in my business of the imperfect produce since the prices of the products are little lower and in most cases, we deal with orders and deliver them door to door (Lynch, Berardy & Wharton, 2019).

Another marketing function that will be associated with my business is price setting, in the business, we have decided to offer our products at lower prices with 30% compared to the perfect produce sold in the stores. This will help to have a more significant number of the customers because we also get the products at lower prices because these are fruits and vegetables that the farmers have isolated to go at waste, but in the real sense, they are not having any problem that can affect people. The business will also be associated with the promotional channels as the marketing function. We will ensure that the business is fully advertised to get clients and also to keep the existing customers to be able to come back. We will use social media platforms to ensure that we can reach several good people to buy our products. We will also use outlets to ensure that those who are not able to access the social media are also informed about our imperfect produce so that we can get clients all rounds (Moreno, Cunha & Parisio, 2016).

Operation functions of the business

Operation of the business ensures that the business can run and operate by the aim of earning money. The operation of the business makes it possible to understand the system required for the business, the appropriate people for the business, the process that is necessary for the business to run smoothly and the essential equipment needed in the business. One of the business operations functions that will be associated with this type of business is the use of technology. Our business will be able to create e-commerce as one of the ways that will have to make our products to reach most of the people. This will ensure that the number of people can get our products without any problem (Plazzotta, Manzocco & Nicoli, 2017).

The other operation function that will be involved in this business is to ensure that there is a well-established process of delivering our products to the clients. In most cases, our business will be using an online method to make orders and provide the products to them. This will help to promote our business since we will be able to access several good people in the market. The benefit of using online software than manual in our business is to ensure that our business can keep the records of our clients well. And also be able to get the comments of the clients and other people concerning our business so that we can be able to improve the services when the customers are not contented (Porter, Reay, Bomberg & Higgins, 2018).

Location is also another operation function that will be associated in our business, our business we will be located in most of the town centres and market places since we are dealing food that needs to go fast because they can get spoiled. We had also said that majority of the clients would also be able to find our services online by making an order through online and payments and then the goods are delivered to the client in his or destination. This will ensure that the business caters for many people in the market who are interested and have realized the importance of imperfect vegetable and fruit (Devin & Richards, 2018).

The financial function of the business

Financial function of the business is usually the activity that is concerned with the process of planning and controlling of the resources involving finance in the business. We have realized finances acts as the lifeblood of every business, and therefore without fiancés, the business will not be able to run smoothly and meets its targets. In our business, one of the financial functions that will be embraced is to ensure that there I strategic planning and budgeting in the business. Finances in the business will be able to help the business to have objectives. The fiancés in the business will enable our business to be able to hire employees who are ready to work and ensure that the target of the business is met. It will also help our business to be able to do carry out the marketing process to reach clients (Foster, 2018).

The other financial function that will be associated with our business is to ensure that there is profit planning and cost control. The primary reason for carrying out a business to make profits at the end of the day, finances will help the business to identify some of the possible ways of improving the benefit in the business. For instance the fiancés we help us to acquire a variety of fruits and vegetables from different farmers at lower prices since the products are isolated and sell the products to our customers with relatively lower rates compared to the market prices and this will attract many of the clients hence the business will be able to make a profit. Managing unavoidable risks is also another function of the finance is the business since this will be in the right stage to help in analyzing some of the dangers that might occur in the international markets where we are planning to expand our business to. The business will also be able to check the credit standing of the clients and also be able to adhere to the loan terms that the business may take. It will also help the business to have a variety of financial data to assist in making some of the financial decisions in the business (Lynch, Berardy & Wharton, 2019).

Conclusion

The business of imperfect produce is one of the unique businesses that will attract most of the people since we have realized that a lot of good foods are wasted. These foods can still serve people because most of the farmers believe that if they don't present good fruits and vegetables to the market, then no one is willing to buy them. This idea came to ensure that some of the people who are not able to afford the perfect food in the market can still come for these isolated fruits and vegetables. Because they are bad, it is only that they don't look impressing for the farmers to present them to their clients, but in real sense, they have the same nutrition value to the ones which are considered to be perfect (Foster, 2018).

References

Devin, B., & Richards, C. (2018). Food waste, power, and corporate social responsibility in the Australian food supply chain. Journal of Business Ethics, 150(1), 199-210.

Foster, A. (2018). Imperfect Produce Pricing: Relationships between Price Percent Discount and Demographic Traits of Customers.

Lynch, H., Berardy, A., & Wharton, C. (2019). Food production and dietary patterns. In Environmental Nutrition (pp. 101-122). Academic Press.

Moreno, M. G. M., Cunha, M. M., & Parisio, F. (2016). Remote preparation of W states from imperfect bipartite sources. Quantum Information Processing, 15(9), 3869-3879.

Plazzotta, S., Manzocco, L., & Nicoli, M. C. (2017). Fruit and vegetable waste management and the challenge of fresh-cut salad. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 63, 51-59.

Porter, S. D., Reay, D. S., Bomberg, E., & Higgins, P. (2018). Avoidable food losses and associated production-phase greenhouse gas emissions arising from the application of cosmetic standards to fresh fruit and vegetables in Europe and the UK. Journal of Cleaner Production, 201, 869-878.