Publications

August 1984 (Revised June 1985)
Teaching Note

Federal Trade Commission and the Shared Monopoly Case against the Ready-to-Eat Cereal Manufacturers, Teaching Note

By: Richard S. Tedlow

Keywords: Monopoly; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

11 May 2017
News

Going with the Flow

launch of WaterRev, an investment company that focuses on novel technologies which enable sustainable practices of water use. In 2012, she joined the board of the Boston Beer Company, producer of Samuel Adams, Angry Orchard, and other View Details

Keywords: Robert S. Benchley

28 Aug 2017
Research & Ideas

Should Industry Competitors Cooperate More to Solve World Problems?

their supply chains. The geographical dispersion of production sites is low, and therefore different players can benefit from collaborating on select engagements in priority river basins. Other examples include tackling obesity and nutrition in the context of the food... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Financial Services; Manufacturing; Agriculture & Agribusiness; Mining

23 May 2017
First Look

First Look at New Ideas and Research: May 23, 2017

alcoholic beverage to a sophisticated natural product and fine accompaniment for gourmet food. By creating wine as a symbol of social status, the reimagined wine industry became a reinforcer of social and class divisions in the United... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

Web

Commencement 2012 Address | About

generously? The second story stems from a conversation I had while on vacation in the Caribbean over Spring Break—where I half expected to run into some of you, to be honest. Over the course of a few days I struck up a friendship with the food and View Details

18 Jul 2018
Research & Ideas

No More General Tso's? A Threat to 'Knowledge Recombination'

Turmeric is prepared into medicine. Doucefleur In the early 1990s, an Indian plastic surgeon at the University of Mississippi, S. K. Das, was about to amputate the leg of a patient because of a wound that wouldn’t heal. Colleague Hari P. Cohly stopped him. A researcher... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Food & Beverage; Food & Beverage; Food & Beverage

15 Dec 2008
Research & Ideas

The Surprisingly Successful Marriages of Multinationals and Social Brands

What happens when giant multinational corporations acquire relatively small companies that enjoy iconic status as socially progressive brands? According to recent research out of Harvard Business School, such marriages can be good for business and good for society.... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Food & Beverage; Food & Beverage

13 Jul 2010
News

Setting an Industry Standard

Keywords: beer; brewaries; Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing; Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing; Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing; Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing

27 Oct 2014
Research & Ideas

The Coffee Economy That Bloomed Out of Nowhere

Near the Guatemalan border in Mexico's Chiapas region, sandwiched between the Sierra Madres and the Pacific Ocean, there's a fertile pocket of land called the Soconusco. While once a hotbed of cacao production for the Aztecs and then the Spanish, the area was decimated... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Food & Beverage; Food & Beverage

February 1978 (Revised April 1985)
Background Note

Note on the Corn Wet Milling Industry--1972

By: Michael E. Porter

Keywords: Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

Find at Harvard

May 2025
Case

Fidji Simo: Growing the Pie at Instacart

By: Hubert Joly, Leonard A. Schlesinger and James Barnett

In January 2025, Instacart CEO Fidji Simo considers strategies for continuing to grow Instacart from a grocery delivery platform to a holistic grocery technology company, including in-store grocery technology and expanding partnerships across the grocery sector. View Details

January 2025
Case

The Vision of Wonder

By: Michael S. Kaufman and Daniella Bertolotti

Serial entrepreneur Marc Lore successfully disrupted three marketplaces—trading cards, diapers (founded Diapers.com and eventually sold to Amazon for more than $500 million) and ecommerce (founded Jet.com competing directly with Amazon and eventually sold to Walmart... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Exit or Shutdown; Entrepreneurship; Disruptive Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

February 1986
Case

General Foods Corp.: Project Duck Soup

General Foods must decide whether to acquire Entenmann's Bakery. Price and financing must also be decided. The teaching objectives include analysis of strategic fit, selection of purchase price, and financing method. Another issue is the debt to equity ratio that is... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Corporate Finance; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

May 2022
Case

Thinking Outside the Wine Box (A): Mekanism and the Franz for Life Campaign

By: Tomomichi Amano, Elie Ofek, Mengjie Cheng and Amy Klopfenstein

This case provides an overview of “Franz for Life,” an advertising campaign that independent advertising agency Mekanism created and executed to revitalize the brand image of Franzia, a low-cost boxed wine. For several years, Franzia’s popularity declined among... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Digital Marketing; Social Marketing; Marketing Communications; Product Positioning; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

January 2022
Supplement

SpartanNash Company: The Amazon Warrants (B)

By: Benjamin C. Esty, E. Scott Mayfield and Daniel Fisher

A continuation of the events described in the (A) Case, “SpartanNash Company: The Amazon Warrants,” (HBS Case No. 222-022). View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Value Creation; Consumer Behavior; Negotiation; Distribution; Ownership; Partners and Partnerships; Business Strategy; Equity; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

January 2022
Case

SpartanNash Company: The Amazon Warrants (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty, E. Scott Mayfield and Daniel Fisher

As of 12/31/21, Amazon held $22 billion of equity and warrants in related companies. In fact, it often requests a free grant of warrants when it enters into a new commercial agreement with a supplier. Over the past 20 years, Amazon has gotten warrants in almost 20... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Value Creation; Consumer Behavior; Negotiation; Distribution; Ownership; Partners and Partnerships; Business Strategy; Equity; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

September 2019 (Revised July 2025)
Case

Keroche (A): Fighting for Share in the Kenyan Alcoholic Drinks Market

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Pippa Tubman Armerding

This case discusses the challenges faced by Kenyan alcoholic drinks producer Keroche Industries Limited in 2003, when the Kenyan government accused the company of manufacturing and selling substandard alcoholic drinks, revoked its liquor licenses, and shut down its... View Details

Keywords: Keroche; Alcohol; Wine; Manufacturing; Informal Market; Regulation; Illicit; Illegal; Shutdown; Factory; Low-income Consumers; Multinational; Local; Government; Allegations; Accusations; Negative Press; EABL; Tusker; Beer; SAB; Chang'aa; Naivasha; Rift Valley; East Africa; Lawsuit; Legal Battle; Business Ventures; Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Production; Safety; Quality; Distribution; Small Business; Family Business; Crime and Corruption; Customer Focus and Relationships; Decisions; Income; Demographics; Geographic Scope; Geographic Location; Goods and Commodities; Government Legislation; Growth and Development; Business History; Lawsuits and Litigation; Laws and Statutes; Lawfulness; Goals and Objectives; Consumer Behavior; Market Entry and Exit; Problems and Challenges; Social Issues; Poverty; Strategy; Competition; Entrepreneurship; Manufacturing Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Kenya; Nairobi; Africa