Deep Roots Distillery

Introduction

        Deep Roots Distillery has two important core values that they strive for at all times. The first is family, this is embraced with the family owned and operated business model as well as forming from family owned land. The second is innovation, this plays in well to the “Fun Retirement Project” idea that Beamish talks about, it means they have the freedom to create new flavors and constantly explore new products. An example of innovation is when they created a set of three 50mL bottles as a gift set. Knowing a company’s core values helps give understanding to their mission statement “We will provide spirits made with passion and local ingredients to be shared form our family to yours.”

Challenges

        There are several common challenges that face a small “mom and pop” business, and this is no different for Deep Roots Distillery. The largest challenge facing Deep Roots is their small size and low recognition compared to other competitors on the island. This appears even more when one considers how large the competitors are. Another challenge that they face is the fact that no salaries have been paid out. With the little amount of resources and capital they have they do not have the means to pay out salaries and be able to compete.

Threats

        To begin to TOWS breakdown we will start with the threats to the company. The largest threat is also the same challenge mentioned above, that their competitors better name recognition and ability to sell and ship merchandise keeps Deep Roots from advancing as quickly. Another threat they face is with the certified organic products, seeing as not all their products are certified organic. They will need to make sure products are labeled, produced, and marketing correctly.

Opportunities

     One major opportunity that Deep Roots needs to make use of is the networking and opportunities brought around by the Food Island Partnership. This is help them in beginning to grow their name and recognition. While building this they can play off the trend of consumers to eat at organic and locally sourced food. If they can build recognition with the FIP that will help them take full advantage of the current consumer trend. The third opportunity they could take advantage of is building their recognition through social media. By establishing this early it will help them expand easier when they grow large enough begin dealing with online orders and shipping to foreign customers.

Weaknesses

The first weakness to address is their small batches of products. Currently this limits how much they can grow and hinders their ability to expand to international markets. On the flip side it could be considered a pro in the future by making the product less available with more demand, especially with maybe seasonal or special releases. They face another weakness with not all products being certified organic it can cause confusion by consumers and make marketing difficult. This was also talked about above. The last weakness is very obvious they have low capital and a small amount of resources, this is also a challenge they will have to overcome. This also hinders the company’s ability to grow.

Strengths

A strength that Deep Roots Distillery has is an established line of products built up from a family owned and operated company. Accompanying this is a second strength and that is they source several of their ingredients from their own farms and land, which will help lower cost of production. Combined this helps keep costs down

OL 501 Milestone One Worksheet

In this milestone, consider your chosen company’s mission (purpose for existing) and values. It is also time to evaluate the internal and external environments of the company. You will do this with a Threats, Opportunities, Weaknesses, and Strengths (TOWS) analysis. Write in prose, expanding on the answers to compose a 2- to 3-page paper (exclude the leading questions).

1. Identify the organization’s vision, mission and values.

-Mission: We will provide spirits made with passion and local ingredients to be shared form our family to yours.

-I feel their core values revolve around the “Fun retirement aspect” in that creative and family would be two top cores value.

1. Explain the challenge(s) facing the organization. Support with specifics from the case.

-The largest challenge facing Deep Roots is their small size and low recognition compared to other competitors on the island. This appears even more when one considers how large competitors are.

-No employee salaries have been paid out, while it allows them more capital to compete with, it will hinder their ability to move forward in the future.

1. Identify and discuss two to three threats the company faces from the external environment. Similar to opportunities, these could take the form of shifts in market taste, changes in laws or regulations, competitor actions, and others. Support your response with information from the case.

-Their competitors better name recognition and ability to sell and ship merchandise keeps DRD from advancing as quickly.

-They will face issued with the certified organic products, seeing as not all their products are certified organic. They will need to make sure products are labeled, produced, and marketing correctly.

1. Identify and discuss two to three opportunities in the external environment that the company may be able to take advantage of. These could be new products, changes in laws or regulations, a misstep from a competitor, expansion into new locations/countries, and others. Support your response with information from the case.

-DRD can certainly take advantage of the fact that consumers are currently trending to smaller mom and pop places to get a more “local” experience.

-DRD should take advantage of the FIP to assist in growing their brand.

1. What are the company’s weaknesses? What does it not do well or needs to improve? Support your response with information from the case.

-Small batches of products at a time is a weakness for now but could be a pro in the future by making the product less available with more demand. However currently it limits how much they can grow and hinders their ability to expand to international markets.

-They face another weakness with not all products being certified organic it can cause confusion by consumers and make marketing difficult.

-The last weakness is very obvious they have low capital and a small amount of resources. This also hinders the company’s ability to grow.