Flaquita's
Executive Summary
Flaquitas chicken wraps are patent-pending low carbohydrate (low-carb) tortillas developed by the Food Design & Innovations Group (FDI) at the University of Florida. The name "Flaquitas" was derived from the Spanish words "flaco" meaning skinny or flat and "ita" meaning the little one. True to the name, Flaquitas offer health conscious consumers a protein-rich, low-carb and fat-free alternative to flour or corn tortillas.
Competitive Advantages
The key advantage over its competitors is Flaquitas are composed of isolated chicken protein as compared to the flour and corn tortillas which are fortified by soy protein. Flaquitas chicken wraps are a healthy replacement for traditional high-calorie, high-fat tacos, burritos, and sandwich wraps. Apart from their nutritional benefits, Flaquitas are seasoned for use in various multinational cuisines like Mexican, Italian, and Asian.
Market
Researchers have estimated that 3.6% of Americans or over 10.5 million people are choosing a low carbohydrate diet. In addition, increased media attention over our nation's obesity crisis and diabetes epidemic has driven demand for nutritional and healthy foods. Finally, consumer demand for tortillas has grown in the last decade. In 2002, sales of tortillas accounted for 32% of all bread sales and are continuing to rise 8% to 9% annually, potentially dethroning white bread as the leader. In the US alone, tortilla sales are expected to reach $6 billion in 2004.
Profit Projections
Based on our initial estimate, ESMBA06 Team 3 expects Flaquitas start-up costs to be approximately $1,000,000 for the first five years. We anticipate generating $1.8 million in sales at base production volume with 44.4% gross profit margin in the first five years. Even though this plan sounds ambitious, our production and sales estimate accounts for less than 1% of total tortilla sales in the US.
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