Nutrasweet in China

NutraSweet in China

NutraSweet is a sugar-free source of tabletop sweetener, which provides a low-calorie sugar replacement for customers who crave sweetness. NutraSweet falls under the brand names of Equal, Canderel, and NutraSweet; which are found in over 5,000 consumer foods and beverages sold worldwide. In 1965 the product was accidentally invented by a scientist working in a lab at Searle; a small pharmaceutical company. Since then the product has become immensely popular in the United States, Latin America, Europe, South America, and the Middle East. Now eager to branch out, NutraSweet's next big market to take on would be the largely populated country of China.

The question still remains, whether entering the Chinese market would be a smart decision for NutraSweet. Undoubtedly there is a large consumer market in China, however this does not guarantee that the large market is ready for NutraSweet product to be introduced to the Chinese society. Although the large consumer market in China seems to be profitable for new ventures, many new food ventures rarely get out of the red, and suffer a great deal. With careful planning and patience, a new venture could be successful with a market-based strategy and enter the Chinese Market now.

With the help of private research, in certain parts of China, there appears that there is a need by a group of consumers who would purchase NutraSweet. The problem with entering the market now is that the Chinese people, as a group know little about the NutraSweet product. One solution to this problem is for NutraSweet to concentrate their focus on marketing strategy in steps, this will also be cost efficient. The first step would be to focus on the city that appeared to have the most need for NutraSweet; this would be Guangzhou. Guangzhou had the most customers rate the product good/very good/excellent and large numbers even said they would purchase the product. It may not be the largest city in terms of population, but it would be easy to infiltrate their market. With the product in Guangzhou's grocery and market stores; doing this will allow middle-class families who shop at these stores to purchase NutraSweet. Another advantage with Guangzhou, since the city prefers sweeter foods, you can focus your attention on cities similar to Guangzhou and rule out other cities who may not prefer the same tastes. Once NutraSweet breaks into the market and starts to see success with the product, it can then start selling in other cities. Since Chinese customers view American products as high quality and upper scale, the influence of NutraSweet will begin to extend influence into other cities. This can be used