1. Taco shells
Devin McDonough
Spring 2013

2. Introduction Taco Shells seems to be controlled by Manufacturers
Only 5 National Brands participate
Very little Private Label presence
Betty Crocker is the leading manufacturers, but the others are not much behind
Harp’s carries the largest depth of SKUs, but does not have the highest GMs
Consumers are not brand loyal and are willing to switch
Assortment is not very important to this category
Target carries only 5 SKUs and has the lowest GMs
Little to no category management-no Private Label
Only 2 brands

3. Harp’s Wal-Mart Harter House Country Mart Target 22 16 12 7 5
Number of Sku’s 16
Wal-Mart 5
Target 22
Harp’s 12
Harter House 7
Country Mart
I found only 34 SKUs at the 5 stores audited
The assortments varied with a rather large range of 17
Taco Shells were not carried at Walgreens, Dollar General or Sam’s Club
Taco Shells have not been audited in previous semesters

4. Popular in families with kids
demographics
Popular in families with kids

5. According to Blattberg’s Category Role Matrix, Taco Shells are ‘Under Fire’ because the sales dollars are medium and the GM% is low
Based on Competition and Penetration, Taco Shells are classified as ‘Win with Depth’
Interesting because of the large range of SKUs
Taco Shells show a fairly low GM% with an average of 20% across retailers
Only penetrate 21.5% of houses in the total US, so not a very large percentage of households
Only buy about 6 times per year
Category role

6. Display space Betty Crocker gets the most display space
Kraft gets less display space than # of SKUs should bring
Private Label gets very little display space

7. Leading Manufacturer Betty Crocker Found in all stores
No single SKU found in all stores
Prices are within a few cents of competitors’
Old El Paso brand

8. Gross Margins Private Label shows strongest at Harp’s and Country Mart
La Tiara Produces highest GM%
Taco Shells show low GM%
Harp’s seems to have too many SKUs and Target too few

9. GM% and Facings

10. Private Labels in Taco Shells are not very strong brands and get very little display space
Private labels have an average of 25% gross margin
All stores but Target carried Private Label brands
Harp’s, Harter House and Country Mart have 3 different SKUs of Private Label
Wal-Mart only carries 1 SKU of Private Label and displays it on the top shelf in the furthest right facing
PRIVATE LABELS

11. Private Label Presence
I think Private Label will have a decreasing presence in the future of the Taco Shell category
Stores do not display them as well as national brands
Wal-Mart even has separate displays outside of the Hispanic Foods aisle for Taco ingredients
Stores are making more on Private Labels but not much
There are no Private Label Taco Kits-which are very common in national brand SKUs

12. Harp’s recommendation
Increase Private Label
Increase the attention to Private Label
Add SKUs and assortment
Assortment
Cut out similar SKUs (12 shells and 15 shells)
Add PL meal kits
Display
Merchandise PL in between Old El Paso and La Tiara shells, in middle of display