Go Natural case study : internationalization of the Healthy Food Concept

• Autor(a) principal: Cotrim, Marta Franco Rainha de Abreu
• Data de Publicação: 2014
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/17966
• topic: Domínio/Área Científica::Ciências Sociais::Economia e Gestão

Go Natural is a Portuguese Healthy Food Concept founded in 2004 by two entrepreneur siblings, Diogo and Joana Martorell. With a selective and distinctive offer of high-quality food, Go Natural managed to create a new niche segment: Healthy Food in Shopping Centres, in a time characterized by a market offer based on international fast-food chains and traditional Portuguese cuisine. This dissertation aims to evaluate a real challenge that Go Natural experienced in 2013. Being in the market for a decade, the company is facing a strategic decision that may influence its future grow: to internationalize or not to Brazil, a growing and potential market. After suffering with the effects of the economical crisis affecting Portugal and changing consumers’ eating-out habits, Go Natural performed a category extension project named Kitchen, in order to reach the new emerging Fast Casual segment that was attracting more and more consumers, downgrading from full-service restaurants. Go Natural’s goal is not only to re-conquer consumers by offering them an added-value, but at the same time stabilize the company’s growth and strengthen its position in the national market. The internationalization process requires an extensive analysis of the Brazilian partner, market and consumer, in order to evaluate if this is the right timing for Go Natural to go abroad. To address the key success factors and differentiation basis that sustained Go Natural through its tenyear existence is also another objective of this study. The Literature Review section of this dissertation approaches pertinent topics such as brand revitalizing strategies through product and brand extensions and the analytical aspects of the decision making for the successful internationalization process. The Go Natural case study intends to give an extensive perspective of the Portuguese and Brazilian fast-food market and related future challenges. The main conclusion from this study is that Go Natural is ready to go to Brazil, as it has gathered the required experience in Portugal, as well as a stable basis to continue on growing and is now ready to expand into a new market with an experienced partner.