Publications

May 1994 (Revised July 1995)
Case

Taco Bell--1994

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger

Taco Bell CEO, John Martin, boldly proclaims a growth goal of 200,000 points of access by the year 2000 (the company had approximately 3,600 in 1991). To realize such growth, Martin embraces a philosophy of continual change. The implications for Taco Bell are dramatic... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Food; Organizational Structure; Organizational Culture; Human Resources; Brands and Branding; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Goals and Objectives; Change Management; Expansion; Business Growth and Maturation; Communication; Growth and Development Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

March 1999 (Revised August 1999)
Case

Coop, The: Market Research

By: Ruth Bolton and Youngme E. Moon

Daryl Buckmeister, CEO of The Chicken Coop, must decide whether to invest in market research, how much money to spend, and which programs to fund. His two vice presidents (of quality and marketing) have presented very different proposals. View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Cost; Research; Markets; Quality; Decisions; Management Teams; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

September 1990 (Revised November 1990)
Case

DNAP: Looking to the Nineties

By: Ray A. Goldberg

Keywords: Marketing; Product Positioning; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

February 1982 (Revised June 1985)
Case

U.S. Retail Coffee Market (B)

Describes the corporate portfolio of General Foods, Procter & Gamble, and Nestle, thereby placing in context their coffee activities in the United States. The objective of this case is to allow students to evaluate each competitor's commitment to the U.S. retail coffee... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Markets; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

May 1978 (Revised June 1978)
Case

Campbell Warehouse Supermarkets

By: Walter J. Salmon

Keywords: Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

October 1997 (Revised May 1998)
Case

Asda (A1)

By: Michael Beer and James Weber

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Crisis Management; Management Teams; Business Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United Kingdom

01 Mar 2023
News

What’s in a Name

Late last fall, Dolly Chugh (MBA 1994) made a guest appearance on After Hours, the podcast where HBS professors discuss current events. (The podcast is part of the TED Audio Collective.) Chugh was joined by professors Mihir Desai and Felix Oberholzer-Gee in a... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing; Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing

03 Feb 2015
News

In a Bid To Entice Tastemakers, SodaStream Gets a New Look and Gourmet Flavors

Keywords: Food and Beverage Stores; Food and Beverage Stores

14 Oct 2014
News

The Steve Jobs of Beer

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

23 Jul 2014
News

Meal-Delivery Startups Look for Winning Recipe

Keywords: Plated; Blue Apron; Food and Beverage Stores; Food and Beverage Stores

10 Jul 2014
News

Harpoon Brewery CEO Steps Aside, Turns Stake over to Employees

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

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

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

03 Mar 2014
HBS Case

Decommoditizing the Canned Tomato

Consumers in the United States are so increasingly into fresh, local, and carbon neutral that if someone figured out how to grow a tomato that could walk itself to the grocery store, they'd be a millionaire. So why is Mutti S.p.a., a tomato processing company based in... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish; Food & Beverage; Food & Beverage; Food & Beverage

October 1988
Case

Harris Seafoods Leveraged Buyout

By: William A. Sahlman

Describes set of issues confronting Alison Lassiter, who is trying to help Charlie Harris arrange a leveraged buyout of the shrimp company he runs, a division of a publicly traded company, Katy Industries. Lassiter has prepared a memorandum discussing and analyzing the... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Equity; Cost vs Benefits; Negotiation Tactics; Negotiation Preparation; Financial Management; Strategy; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Planning; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

August 2024
Case

Coca Cola İçecek—Managing a Sudden Turbulence

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Namrata Arora and Gizem Cihan Dincsoy

In November 2021, Kerem Kerimoğlu, Coca Cola İçecek (CCI) Group Supply Chain Development Director, is alarmed by a news headline revealing a shortage of Turkish truck drivers impacting Europe. This crisis quickly affects CCI's distribution as third-party logistics... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Logistics; Supply Chain Management; Crisis Management; Distribution; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Turkey; Central Asia; Middle East

July 2022
Case

General Mills: Responding to the Killing of George Floyd (A)

By: Debora L. Spar and Alicia Dadlani

Jeff Harmening, CEO of General Mills, one of the world's largest manufacturers of breakfast cereals and packaged foods, was deeply disturbed and instantly aware that he and General Mills would need to respond. George Floyd, an African-American man who had been accused... View Details

Keywords: Race; Decisions; Social Issues; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Minneapolis; Minnesota; United States

January 2022 (Revised September 2022)
Teaching Note

White Claw: Defending Market Share as Competition Encroaches

By: Jill Avery

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 521-073. View Details

Keywords: Brand Management; Competition; Growth Strategy; First-mover Advantage; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Competitive Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; North America