The food and drink industry is extremely competitive, with many companies targeting the same set of customers. A competitive strategy is essential to ensure that your company has a “competitive advantage” in the market which will enable you to win business and maintain business.

No company can develop business in isolation of what their competitors are doing, as a strong competitor will represent a threat to existing business. This will limit how much you can sell and what price you can charge.

Similarly, a weak competitor may offer you an opportunity to grow your business by targeting their customers with a product or service which is better, cheaper or different.

Note that in some cases, your products and prices may be very similar, but you can secure a competitive advantage by offering a better service such as more frequent deliveries or a merchandising service.

Competitor analysis is therefore an essential element of forward planning for your business, so that market threats from competitors are anticipated, and changes put in place before it is too late.

As the great Chinese strategist Sun Tzu said in 500BC:

“If you know your enemy and yourself, you will win every battle”