Our situation....
The company currently possesses one site in South Australia from which all manufacturing and distribution is performed. This plant continues to receive investment in manufacturing and warehousing systems, and will continue to form the core of the company's operations. Our vision is to become a supplier of ingredients on a national basis as well as an exporter of high-value products. To achieve this, the company believes that physical expansion will be necessary, and this will initially require investment in facilities located in Eastern states. As the manufacturing facilities and processes in the South Australian site represent state-of-the-art, this site is capable of serving as a manufacturing base that can adequately support our vision.

Market philosophy....
As a manufacturing company involved with the supply of ingredients to organisations which span industrial markets down to direct-to-consumer foodservice outlets, planning a marketing approach requires great flexibility. There must be a difference in the way that we assess the opportunities involved with organisations of different size, and which operate in vastly different market sectors. We consider our ability to operate with such flexibility as being one of our major strengths. Our account management staff constantly balance the potential benefits offered by large customers with those offered by smaller customers. To maintain a respect for our approach to both small and large organisations, we remain aware that our rewards reside not only with the large turnover offered by large organisations, but also in the growth in the value of our brand amongst the networks of smaller organisations which we observe becoming more prominent.

The approach to industrial customers is driven by an underlying commitment to deliver solutions to satisfy their exact needs. In that sense, industrial customers work with us to obtain customised products to enable them to meet their own requirements. Whilst this approach is largely responsive, it enables us to develop proprietary solutions that demonstrate value in the partnership. Account management staff also lead customer development by observing local and international trends and opportunities, and assessing how these can be used to add value to our customers' offering. In our approach to industrial account management, identification of our customers' requirements is a primary motivation.

Collaboration....
Inpak Foods is constantly altering the way in which it defines markets. Where previously markets were viewed as the collection of customers, Inpak now tends to define markets in a broad sense, in keeping with a strategic marketing perspective. The underlying philosophy that a market is defined by the entire breadth of its value chain assists Inpak to deliver quality services and products for our customers. Our efforts in understanding the relationships between different elements of the value chain enables us to source products and services which enable us to meet customer demands. This broad focus also enables Inpak Foods to identify potential weaknesses or threats in markets, and to identify alternative solutions to ensure that our abilities to service customers are maximised. We aim to achieve this outcome both under known current market conditions as well setting ourself to compete in future markets as we attempt to predict them.

Product integrity....
The company possesses assurance under standard ISO9001, and endeavours to implement systems that control quality of products and services. Test facilities ensure that all products meet customer requirements for appearance, flavour, texture and all aspects of performance. Once again the strength of possessing a broad knowledge base amongst our staff means that products for different industry sectors may be tested and critically assessed by professionals with experience in the relevant area. This ensures that products meet the strict requirements of specific industries, having been assessed in a manner which is consistent with customers' evaluation procedures.

Innovative services ....
Inpak Foods views innovation in terms of our complete approach to markets. As explained earlier, the company concentrates on innovation that is designed to satisfy the immediate needs of the customer, whilst dedicating a smaller amount of time to innovation in "blue-sky" products of the future. In this latter approach to innovation, Inpak Foods sets an ambitious objective to increase the value of an entire market or market segment. This approach is another example of the company's macro view of markets from a strategic marketing perspective. The company firmly believes that for it to become more profitable in future, it must operate in high value markets. Companies attempting to achieve this can either shift their efforts toward different markets, or make an attempt to increase the value of their core markets. Whilst this is a major task, the company believes that it is possible, and seeks to take on this challenge where a skill and knowledge base exists to enable it to do so.
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