Coca-Cola is one of the largest beverage companies in the world, and is best known for its flagship beverages which carry the Coca-Cola (or Coke) brand. However, the company manufactures beverages which are not carbonated or cola-based, and these include Minute Maid products of frozen and refrigerated orange juice. The company has a strong market presence in the United States, and this research considers some of the factors which the company would need to take into account if it were to decide to export Minute Maid products to France.
The economic and investment climate of the destination country is important to exporters because this climate determines how successful the product will be in the destination country. France has a culture which is similar to the United States, a workforce which increasingly works outside the home, and there are already supermarkets and so-called hypermarkets which can serve as outlets for the product. France has recently experienced some civil unrest as citizens protest the rise of supermarkets, for example, which might contribute to difficulties for a company exporting American food to French supermarkets. By examining these and factors such as the transportation infrastructure of the country, it is possible for Coca-Cola to determine the success of its Minute Maid export strategy.
The economic and investment climate of the destination country has a strong influence over the success of an export venture. Understanding this environment is, therefore, critical to the Minute Maid project. France is the eighth-largest trading partner of the United States worldwide and the third-largest in Europe (after the United Kingdom and Germany).
The population of France is estimated at 58 million as of 1996 with a high level (11 percent) of unemployment. Consumer spending has not returned to the levels it was at prior to the recession, but the French economy is considered to be in a recovery mode. The...