Assignment 15

Conducting these interviews have shown me that I am on the right track but may still be lacking in terms of competitive advantage.

My first interview was with a girl in her early-mid 20's that I met at the gym. She is always trying to improve herself and her diet. She told me that quality is a big factor for her when purchasing her food along with making sure it's healthy and tries to buy local/organic products when she can. Cooking is big for her so most of the food she buys is at the grocery store but when she goes out, it's normally Bolay as long as the line isn't too long. Since she normally goes to the same few restaurants, she's generally satisfied with her purchases and bases it off of the comparison between quality and price.

My second interview was with a mother of two who is working hard to balance her life and maintain a healthy diet. She said she enjoys Chipotle and Bolay but her kids don't so it's hard for all of them to agree on dinner. It's also a struggle for her because she doesn't always have time to wait in the lines which are always out the door around the time she picks the kids up from school, it's just not convenient for her. When I asked if she had considered the online ordering she told me that they don't always get to her order right away because they're so busy so it's like taking a gamble. She's usually dissatisfied by the time she gets her food from these places because it wasn't worth the effort of getting her kids out of the car, waiting in line, having to get the kids to agree on something to eat, and then having to make another stop for them. She said "Lately it's so annoying that I don't even go anymore, I just get something that everyone will enjoy even if it's not the best thing I could be putting in my body.

My final interview was with a 20 year old college boy who is all about keeping up with his fitness. He said he's been trying to meal prep but has grown tired of the process. Ideally he would like to get his food from Whole Foods, but it's way to expensive. He likes Chipotle and Bolay but Bolay is a little pricey and you can only eat so much of something before you get tired and have to move on. He wishes there were more options in Gainesville. Lately he's been less and less satisfied with his purchases just because he's tired of eating the same things. He usually evaluates his purchases by considering his food ans asking himself if it was worth the price.

From these interviews, I've gathered that this segment values quality, price, and convenience when it comes to choosing their food. They go for things that are healthy for them (since this segment is based on improving eating habits) and choose what they do by a mix of price and quality. It seems the only competitive advantage this business would have is potential price and convenience but I'm not sure if it would be enough to win these customers over.