Marketing Intenacional de Expansao Nordsee

An International Market Analysis on the Viability of

NORDSEE’s Expansion to the Brazilian Market: a closer

look at the Brazilian consumer and market profile

International Marketing Course

Professor Dr. rer. pol. Thomas Baaken

BA. MA PhD Sue Rossano Rivero

M. Sc. Victoria Galan Muron

Table of Contents

Introduction ........................................................................................................................1

Company Overview and History ......................................................................................1

International Strategy in the Middle East and MENA ..................................................2

Brazilian Consumer and Market Profile .........................................................................4

Conclusion and Recommendation with SWOT Analysis Overview .............................7

Sources ................................................................................................................................9

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i. Introduction

The present academic work has its main objective in addressing the viability of the

NORDSEE fast-food chain’s expansion from the European Market to the Brazilian

Market, while taking into account the role different characteristics of each given

market play for the expansion, such as: customer profile and how it is influenced by

cultural aspects and habits, steps of an internationalization strategy and selection of

most appropriate entry strategy, as well as providing necessary links within the

current global trends in the food industry, and how these factors can affect the success

or failure of its further internationalization to the yet-unexplored Brazilian market.

Different analysis and marketing tools will be used as a form of assistance and

guidance during the carry-out of necessary evaluations for the buying-decision

process and whether or not NORDSEE GmbH should move forward with an

intercontinental expansion to Brazil. In order to provide more tangible examples and

be able to make adequate forecast projections of its likeability of success in Brazil,

the company’s previous experience of expansion to the Middle East and North Africa

will be used as reference source of comparison.

ii. Company Overview and History

As title of background and backup information for this study, the German NORDSEE

Holding GmbH is the largest franchising fast-food chain company in Europe

specialized in serving healthy and pleasurable – with a luxurious touch – fish dishes

from the North Sea through – in 2012 – about 400 sales outlets in Europe and in the

Middle East. NORDSEE Holding GmbH privately owns their restaurants in Germany

and Austria, however they are also present in Slovakia, Romania, Russia, Czech

Republic, Dubai, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Egypt, Hungary, Belgium, Italy and Poland

through their franchising system. The history of NORDSEE dates back to 1896 when

Adolf Vinnen founded the “Deutsche Dampffischerei-Gesellschaft NORDSEE” in

Bremen, Germany. The major objective of the company during the time of its

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foundation in 1896 was to provide fresh seafood to locations far away from the coast

in the quickest possible way, thus also leading to the opening of the first restaurant in

Bremen in the same year. Taking into consideration that NORDSEE is a secular

company, it has gone through many restructurations, mergers and acquisitions, having

belonged already to Unilever and Dresdner Bank during the 80’s. Although nowadays

the company belongs to the Kamps Food Retail Investment Group since its

acquisition in 2005, its headquarters remain close to its origins in Bremerhaven,

Germany. The restaurant chain also employs about 6.000 employees between their

headquarters and sales outlets.

The restaurant’s business concept focuses not solely on the servings of restrained

seafood dishes as in regular restaurants, however their approach has been constantly

evolving within the years to – in the eighties – culminate in a spin-off concept which

unfolded into the three business areas present nowadays: restaurant (in-house

gastronomy), take-away snack sale and retail. Each one of these business areas

respectively accounted in 2012 for 50%, 38% and 12% generation of total net sales in

the amount of € 349Mio out of approximately 81Mio purchasing transactions

conducted by around 19Mio customers in Europe and in the Middle East.

iii. International Strategy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

Within the same business line and concept it was already present in Europe,

NORDSEE chose the Middle Eastern market as a target to expand its operations for

the