Two-A-Day: A Choice of Target Market Selection of Apple Export Business

Before 2008, the Two-a-Day Group and other apple growers in South Africa had been successful in exporting their fruit to the EU and UK at healthy profits. But with the global recession, market share and profitability continued to diminish leaving these businesses with a difficult decision to make - which target market would they focus on and what would their strategy be moving forward in the face of each of the challenges these strategies represented? Standing at a crossroads, South African exporters were left with only a few options. That is, wait it out and hope the European economy recovers, change focus towards growing African economies, or band together by forming an alliance to target a global market. Each of these choices was compounded by regional taste differences and complex distribution challenges, forcing these companies to conduct a large amount of marketing research to guide their strategic decisions.