A

PROJECT REPORT

ON

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING

INTRODUCTION

The popularity of snack foods is growing fast day-by-day and potato and banana

wafers have emerged as a potential snack food. A number organized as well as

unorganized groups are already there catering to the needs of tea stalls, restaurants,

railway stations, tourist places etc. Still there is a huge demand to be met for these

products in interior and remote places in different parts of the country.

In USA potato wafers are very famous. People of USA eat wafers as their

breakfasts. Still there is a great opportunity to fulfill the demand of potato wafers

consumers. Different flavors of potato wafers are available in the market to attract

the customers.

1. CULTURAL ANALYSIS:

1.1 INTODUCTION TO THE COMPANY:

Our company is a potato chips manufacturer. We will be exporting our product to

USA. Initially we will be launching few flavors of potato chips. Gradually we will be

introducing new flavors of potato chips. As American people are very much health

conscious, our potato chips would contain less oil and salt.

Our product’s name would be CRUNCHY potato wafers and the punch line would be

TASTE IT OR NOT?. The other details of the product are given in the preliminary

marketing plan.

1.2 HISTORY OF POTATO CHIPS

Where Was the Potato Chip Invented? - It is important to keep in mind that the

idea of frying potatoes was a normal part of American cooking by the middle 1850s

when the potato chip first appears. The "History of the French Fry"

[http://www.select-ware.com/fries/docs/history.html ] credits Thomas Jefferson with

bringing the idea from France in the "late 1700s."  From the descriptions of what

George Crum did with the sliced potatoes, they must have been sliced across the

narrow axis of the potato and fried.  They were also eaten with a fork at that time.  

So it is certain that restaurants all over the country were serving fried potatoes but

only at the Moon Lake Lodge in Saratoga Springs, NY, did a chef slice them thin

enough that they became something different.

When you consider how simple the idea of a potato chip is, the a possibility of

independent invention arises.  There is good evidence that something very much like

a potato chip was common enough in England to be included in a cookbook.  In

1854 in Soyer's Shilling Cookery, was a recipe for fried potatoes that required them

to be cut very thin, fried in about two inches of fat and manipulated with a skimmer to

keep them from sticking together (in Walton 1992, 24)

While it appears that Saratoga Springs is the place of origin, a history of the

community (Brandon 1901) made no mention of the invention.  Neither did another

light history of famous watering places (Barrett 1941).  This is not uncommon with

items of popular culture like the potato chip and does not mean that it did not happen

in 1853 in Saratoga Springs.

When Was It Invented? - The

summer of 1853 is clearly the

approximate time period. One

completely undocumented source

I found on the web boldly states it

was   Aug. 24, 1853 (D.T. 1997) 

but no one else seems to be so

certain.  1853 is the year,

however, but you will occasionally

see the dates a little mixed up of

1835.

Who Invented Potato Chips - All the writers agree that the inventor was a cook

named George Crum.  For many brief tellings that is all you find out about the man. 

But other sources mention his racial background, e.g. "Crum was part Indian, part

black, a former guide in the Adirondacks, and in his own way a rather colorful figure

in this area" (Gribb 1975).  Other times only his Indian heritage is mentioned (Snack

Food Association 1987; Barrett 1941).   He is occasionally mentioned in histories of

significant African-American figures but not as often in collections dealing with native

Americans. There appears little doubt that he actually existed, was a cook at Moon's

Lake House on Saratoga Lake and later purchased his own restaurant on the lake.

1.3 HISTORY OF USA:

The first Paleo-Indian inhabitants walked into North America across what is now the

Bering Strait from Asia. For the next 20,000 years these pioneering settlers were

essentially left alone to develop distinct and dynamic cultures. In the modern US,

their descendants include the Pueblo People in what is now New Mexico; Apache in

Texas; Navajo in Arizona, Colorado and Utah; Hopi in Arizona, Crow in Montana;

Cherokee in North Carolina and Mohawks and Iroquois in New York state.

The Norwegian explorer Leif Eriksson was the first European to reach North

America, some 500 years before a disoriented Columbus accidentally discovered

'Indians' in Hispaniola (now the Dominican Republic) in 1492. By the mid-1550s,

much of the Americas had been poked and prodded by a parade of explorers from

Spain, Portugal, England and France. The first colonies attracted immigrants looking

to get rich quick and return home, but they were soon followed by migrants whose

primary goal was to colonize.

The Spanish founded the first permanent European settlement in St Augustine,

Florida in 1565; the French moved in on Maine in 1602 and Jamestown, Virginia

became the first British settlement in 1607. The first Africans arrived as 'indentured

laborers' with the Brits a year prior to English Puritan pilgrims escaping religious

persecution. The pilgrims founded a colony at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts in

1620 and signed the famous Mayflower Compact - a declaration of self-government

that would later be echoed in the Declaration of Independence and the US

Constitution.

British attempts to assert authority in its 13 North American colonies led to the

French and Indian War (1757-1763). The British were victorious but were left with a

nasty war debt, which they tried to recoup by imposing new taxes. The rallying cry

'no taxation without representation' united the colonies, who ceremoniously dumped

caffeinated cargo overboard during the Boston Tea Party. Besieged British general

Cornwallis surrendered to American commander George Washington five years later

at Yorktown, Virginia in 1781.

In the 19th century, America's mantra was 'Manifest Destiny.' A combination of land

purchases, diplomacy and outright wars of conquest had by 1850 roughly given the

US its present shape. In 1803, Napoleon flogged the entire Great Plains for a

pittance, and Spain chipped in with Florida in 1819. The Battle of the Alamo during

the 1835 Texan Revolution paved the way for Texan independence from Mexico,

and the war with Mexico (1846-48) secured most of the southwest, including

California. The systematic annihilation of the buffalo hunted by the Plains Indians,

encroachment on their lands, and treaties not worth the paper they were written on

led to Native Americans being herded into reservations, deprived of both their

livelihoods and their spiritual connection to their land.

19th-century immigration drastically altered the cultural landscape as settlers of

predominantly British stock were joined by Central Europeans and Chinese, many

attracted by the 1849 gold rush in California. The South remained firmly committed

to an agrarian life heavily reliant on African-American slave labor. Tensions were on

the rise when abolitionist Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860. The South

ceded from the Union, and the Civil War, by far the bloodiest war in America's

history, began the following year. The North prevailed in 1865, freed the slaves and

introduced adult male suffrage. Lincoln's vision for reconstruction, however, died

with his assassination.

America's trouncing of the Spaniards in 1898 marked the USA's ascendancy as a

superpower and woke the country out of its isolationist slumber. The US still did its

best not to get its feet dirty in WWI's trenches, but finally capitulated in 1917,

sending over a million troops to help sort out the pesky Germans. Post-war

celebrations were cut short by Prohibition in 1920. The 1929 stock market crash

signaled the start of the Great Depression and eventually heralded Roosevelt's New

Deal.

After the Japanese dropped in uninvited on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the US played a

major role in defeating the Axis powers. Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and

Nagasaki in 1945 not only ended the war with Japan, but ushered in the nuclear

age. The end of WWII segued into the Cold War - a period of great domestic

prosperity and a surface uniformity belied by paranoia and betrayal. Politicians like

Senator Joe McCarthy took advantage of the climate to fan the flames of anti-

communism, while the USSR and USA stockpiled nuclear weapons and fought wars

by proxy in Korea, Africa and Southeast Asia. Tensions between the two countries

reached their peak in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The 1960s was a decade of profound social change, thanks largely to the Civil

Rights movement, Vietnam War protests and the discovery of sex, drugs and rock 'n'

roll. The Civil Rights movement gained momentum in 1955 with a bus boycott in

Montgomery, Alabama. As a non-violent mass protest movement, it aimed at

breaking down segregation and regaining the vote for disfranchised Southern

blacks. The movement peaked in 1963 with MLK's 'I have a dream speech' in

Washington, DC and the passage of the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965

Voting Rights Act.

Meanwhile, America's youth were rejecting the conformity of the previous decade,

growing their hair long and smoking lots of dope. 'Tune in, turn on, drop out' was the

mantra of a generation who protested heavily (and not disinterestedly) against the

war in Vietnam. Assassinations of prominent political leaders - John and Robert

Kennedy, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King - took a little gloss off the party, and the

American troops mired in Vietnam took off the rest. NASA's moon landing in 1969

did little to restore national pride.

In 1974 Richard Nixon became the first US president to resign from office due to his

involvement in the cover-up of the Watergate burglaries, bringing American

patriotism to a new low. The 1970s and 80s were a period of technological

advancement and declining industrialism. Self-image took such a battering at the

hands of Iranian Ayatollah Khomeni that a conservative backlash, symbolized by the

election and popular two-term presidency of actor Ronald Reagan, sought to put

some backbone in the country. The US then concentrated on bullying its poor

neighbors in Central America and the Caribbean, meddling in the affairs of El

Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama and Grenada. The collapse of the Soviet Bloc's 'Evil

Empire' in 1991 left the US as the world's sole superpower, and the Gulf War in

1992 gave George Bush the opportunity to lead a coalition supposedly representing

a New World Order into battle against Iraq.

Domestic matters, such as health reform, gun ownership, drugs, racial tension, gay

rights, balancing the budget, the tenacious Whitewater scandal and the Monica

Lewinsky 'Fornigate' affair tended to overshadow international concerns during the

Clinton administration. In a bid to kick start its then-ailing economy, the USA signed

the NAFTA free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico in 1993, invaded Haiti in

its role of upholder of democracy in 1994, committed thousands of troops to

peacekeeping operations in Bosnia in 1995, hosted the Olympic games in 1996 and

enjoyed, over the past few years, the fruits of a bull market on Wall Street.

The 2000 presidential election made history by being the most highly-contested race

in the nation's history. The Democratic candidate, Al Gore, secured the majority of

the popular vote but lost the election when all of Florida's electoral college votes

went to George W. Bush, who was ahead of Gore in that state by only 500 votes.

Demands for recounts, a ruling by the Florida Supreme Court in favor of partial

recounts, and a handful of lawsuits generated by both parties were brought to a halt

when the United States Supreme Court split along party lines and ruled that all

recounts should not continue. After five tumultuous weeks, Bush was declared the

winner.

1.4 BRIEF COUNTRY PROFILE

1.4.1 Geographical setting:

Location:North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico

Geographic coordinates:38 00 N, 97 00 W

Map references:North America Area: total: 9,631,418 sq km

land: 9,161,923 sq km water: 469,495 sq km note: includes only the 50 states and District of Columbia

Area - comparative:about half the size of Russia; about three-tenths the size of Africa;

about half the size of South America (or slightly larger than Brazil); slightly larger than China; almost two and a half times the size of the European Union

Land boundaries:

total: 12,034 km border countries: Canada 8,893 km (including 2,477 km with Alaska), Mexico 3,141 km note: US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is leased by the

US and is part of Cuba; the base boundary is 29 km Coastline:19,924 km

Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: not specified

Climate:mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, arctic in Alaska, semiarid in the great plains west of the Mississippi River, and arid in the Great Basin of the southwest; low winter temperatures in the northwest are ameliorated occasionally in January and February by warm chinook winds from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains

Terrain:vast central plain, mountains in west, hills and low mountains in east; rugged mountains and broad river valleys in Alaska; rugged, volcanic topography in Hawaii

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Death Valley -86 m

highest point: Mount McKinley 6,194 m Natural

resources:coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates, uranium, bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver, tungsten, zinc, petroleum, natural gas, timber

Land use:arable land: 19.13% permanent crops: 0.22% other: 80.65% (2001)

Irrigated land: 214,000 sq km (1998 est.) Natural hazards: tsunamis, volcanoes, and earthquake activity around Pacific

Basin; hurricanes along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts; tornadoes in the midwest and southeast; mud slides in California; forest fires in the west; flooding; permafrost in northern Alaska, a major impediment to development

Environment - current issues:air pollution resulting in acid rain in both the US and Canada; the

US is the largest single emitter of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels; water pollution from runoff of pesticides and fertilizers; limited natural fresh water resources in much of the western part of the country require careful management; desertification

Environment - international agreements:

party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands,

Whaling signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Biodiversity, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Hazardous Wastes

Geography - note:

world's third-largest country by size (after Russia and Canada) and by population (after China and India); Mt. McKinley is highest point in North America and Death Valley the lowest point on the continent

1.4.2 Government (Political System)

Country name:conventional long form: United States of America conventional short form: United States abbreviation: US or USA

Government type:

Constitution-based federal republic; strong democratic tradition Capital:Washington, DC

Administrative divisions:50 states and 1 district*; Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas,

California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia*, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

Dependent areas:

American Samoa, Baker Island, Guam, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Islands, Navassa Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palmyra Atoll, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Wake Island note: from 18 July 1947 until 1 October 1994, the US administered the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands; it entered into a political relationship with all four political units: the Northern Mariana Islands is a commonwealth in political union with the US (effective 3 November 1986); the Republic of the Marshall Islands signed a Compact of Free Association with the US (effective 21 October 1986); the Federated States of Micronesia signed a Compact of Free Association with the US (effective 3 November 1986); Palau concluded a Compact of Free Association with the US (effective 1

October 1994) Independence: 4 July 1776 (from Great Britain)

National holiday: Independence Day, 4 July (1776) Constitution:17 September 1787, effective 4 March 1789

Legal system: federal court system based on English common law; each state has its own unique legal system, of which all but one (Louisiana's) is based on English common law; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations

Suffrage:18 years of age; universal Executive branch:

chief of state: President George W. BUSH (since 20 January 2001); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President George W. BUSH (since 20 January 2001); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president with Senate approval elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by a college of representatives who are elected directly from each state; president and vice president serve four-year terms; election last held 2 November 2004 (next to be held November 2008) election results: George W. BUSH reelected president; percent of popular vote - George W. BUSH (Republican Party) 50.9%, John KERRY (Democratic Party) 48.1%, other 1.0%

Legislative branch:bicameral Congress consists of the Senate (100 seats, one-third

are renewed every two years; two members are elected from each state by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and the House of Representatives (435 seats; members are directly elected by popular vote to serve two-year terms) elections: Senate - last held 2 November 2004 (next to be held November 2006); House of Representatives - last held 2 November 2004 (next to be held November 2006) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Republican Party 55, Democratic Party 44, independent 1; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Republican Party 231, Democratic Party 200, undecided 4

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (its nine justices are appointed for life on condition of good behavior by the president with confirmation by the Senate); United States Courts of Appeal; United States District Courts; State and County Courts

Political parties and leaders:Democratic Party [Howard DEAN]; Green Party [leader NA];

Libertarian Party [Steve DAMERELL]; Republican Party [Ken

MEHLMAN] Political pressure

groups and leaders:

NA

International organization

participation:AfDB, ANZUS, APEC, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, CBSS (observer), CE (observer), CERN (observer), CP, EAPC, EBRD, FAO, G-5, G-7, G- 8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, MINUSTAH, NAFTA, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS, OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, PIF (partner), SPC, UN, UN Security Council, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMOVIC, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Flag description:13 equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white; there is a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing 50 small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars (top and bottom) alternating with rows of five stars; the 50 stars represent the 50 states, the 13 stripes represent the 13 original colonies; known as Old Glory; the design and colors have been the basis for a number of other flags, including Chile, Liberia, Malaysia, and Puerto Rico

2. ECONOMIC ANALYSIS:

2.1 POPULATION:

Population:295,734,134 (July 2005 est.) Age structure:0-14 years: 20.6% (male 31,095,725/female 29,703,997)

15-64 years: 67% (male 98,914,382/female 99,324,126) 65 years and over: 12.4% (male 15,298,676/female 21,397,228) (2005 est.)

Median age: total: 36.27 years male: 34.94 years female: 37.6 years (2005 est.)

Population growth rate:0.92% (2005 est.)

Birth rate:14.14 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) Death rate:8.25 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate:3.31 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Sex ratio:at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 6.5 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 7.17 deaths/1,000 live births female: 5.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 77.71 years

male: 74.89 years female: 80.67 years (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate:

2.08 children born/woman (2005 est.) HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:0.6% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

950,000 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

14,000 (2003 est.) Nationality:noun: American(s)

adjective: American Ethnic groups:white 81.7%, black 12.9%, Asian 4.2%, Amerindian and Alaska

native 1%, native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander 0.2% (2003 est.) note: a separate listing for Hispanic is not included because the US Census Bureau considers Hispanic to mean a person of Latin American descent (including persons of Cuban, Mexican, or Puerto Rican origin) living in the US who may be of any race or ethnic group (white, black, Asian, etc.)

Religions:Protestant 52%, Roman Catholic 24%, Mormon 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 1%, other 10%, none 10% (2002 est.)

Languages:English 82.1%, Spanish 10.7%, other Indo-European 3.8%, Asian and Pacific island 2.7%, other 0.7% (2000 census)

Literacy:definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 97% male: 97% female: 97% (1999 est.)

2.2 ECONOMIC STATISTICS :

Economy - overview:The US has the largest and most technologically powerful

economy in the world, with a per capita GDP of $41,800. In this market-oriented economy, private individuals and business firms make most of the decisions, and the federal and state governments buy needed goods and services predominantly in the private marketplace. US business firms enjoy considerably greater flexibility than their counterparts in Western Europe and Japan in decisions to expand capital plant, to lay off surplus workers, and to develop new products. At the same time, they face higher barriers to entry in their rivals' home markets than the barriers to entry of foreign firms in US markets. US firms are at or near the forefront in technological advances, especially in computers and in medical, aerospace, and military equipment; their advantage has narrowed since the end of World War II. The onrush of technology largely explains the gradual development of a "two-tier labor market" in which those at the bottom lack the education and the professional/technical skills of those at the top and, more and more, fail to get comparable pay raises, health insurance coverage, and other benefits. Since 1975, practically all the gains in household income have gone to the top 20% of households. The response to the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 showed the remarkable resilience of the economy. The war in March/April 2003 between a US-led coalition and Iraq, and the

subsequent occupation of Iraq, required major shifts in national resources to the military. The rise in GDP in 2004 and 2005 was undergirded by substantial gains in labor productivity. The economy suffered from a sharp increase in energy prices in mid-2005, but by late in the year those prices dropped back to earlier levels. Hurricane Katrina caused extensive damage in the Gulf Coast region, but had a small impact on overall GDP growth for the year. Long-term problems include inadequate investment in economic infrastructure, rapidly rising medical and pension costs of an aging population, sizable trade and budget deficits, and stagnation of family income in the lower economic groups.

GDP (purchasing power parity):$12.37 trillion (2005 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):$12.77 trillion (2005 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:3.5% (2005 est.)

GDP - per capita:purchasing power parity - $41,800 (2005 est.) GDP -

composition by sector:

agriculture: 1% industry: 20.7% services: 78.3% (2005 est.)

Labor force:149.3 million (includes unemployed) (2005) Labor force - by

occupation: farming, forestry, and fishing 0.7%, manufacturing, extraction, transportation, and crafts 22.9%, managerial, professional, and technical 34.7%, sales and office 25.4%, other services 16.3% note: figures exclude the unemployed (2005)

Unemployment rate:5.1% (2005)

Population below poverty line:12% (2004 est.)

Household income or

consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%: 1.8% highest 10%: 30.5% (1997)

Distribution of family income -

Gini index:45 (2004)

Inflation rate (consumer

prices):3.2% (2005 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):16.8% of GDP (2005 est.)

Budget:

revenues: $2.119 trillion expenditures: $2.466 trillion, including capital expenditures of NA (2005 est.)

Public debt:64.7% of GDP (2005 est.) Agriculture -

products:wheat, corn, other grains, fruits, vegetables, cotton; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products; forest products; fish

Industries: leading industrial power in the world, highly diversified and technologically advanced; petroleum, steel, motor vehicles, aerospace, telecommunications, chemicals, electronics, food processing, consumer goods, lumber, mining

Industrial production

growth rate:3.2% (2005 est.)

Electricity - production:3.892 trillion kWh (2003) Electricity -

consumption:3.656 trillion kWh (2003) Electricity -

exports:23.97 billion kWh (2003) Electricity -

imports:30.39 billion kWh (2003) Oil - production: 7.61 million bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - consumption:20.03 million bbl/day (2003 est.) Oil - exports: NA (2001) Oil - imports:NA (2001)

Oil - proved reserves:22.45 billion bbl (1 January 2002)

Natural gas - production:548.1 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:640.9 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - exports:11.16 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - imports:114.1 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:5.195 trillion cu m (1 January 2002) Current account

balance:$-829.1 billion (2005 est.) Exports:$927.5 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.) Exports - partners:Canada 23%, Mexico 13.6%, Japan 6.7%, UK 4.4%, China 4.3%

(2004) Imports:$1.727 trillion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

Imports - partners:Canada 17%, China 13.8%, Mexico 10.3%, Japan 8.7%, Germany

5.2% (2004) Reserves of

foreign exchange and gold:

$86.94 billion (2004 est.)

Debt - external:$8.837 trillion (30 June 2005 est.) Economic aid -

donor:ODA, $6.9 billion (1997) Currency (code):US dollar (USD) Exchange rates:1 British pounds per US dollar - 0.5457 (2004), 0.6139 (2003),

0.6661 (2002), 0.6944 (2001), 0.6596 (2000); Canadian dollars per US dollar - 1.3014 (2004), 1.4045 (2003), 1.5693 (2002), 1.5488 (2001), 1.4851 (2000); Japanese yen per US dollar - 108.13 (2004), 116.08 (2003), 125.39 (2002), 121.53 (2001), 107.77 (2000); euros per US dollar - 0.8048 (2004), 0.8866 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.08540 (2000)

Fiscal year:1 October - 30 September

2.3 TRANSPORTATION:

Airports:14,857 (2004 est.) Airports - with

paved runways: total: 5,120 over 3,047 m: 191 2,438 to 3,047 m: 223 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1,402 914 to 1,523 m: 2,355 under 914 m: 949 (2005 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 9,773

over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 7 1,524 to 2,437 m: 156 914 to 1,523 m: 1,736 under 914 m: 7,873 (2005 est.)

Heliports:153 (2005 est.) Pipelines:petroleum products 244,620 km; natural gas 548,665 km (2003) Railways: total: 227,736 km

standard gauge: 227,736 km 1.435-m gauge (2003) Roadways: total: 6,393,603 km

paved: 4,180,053 km (including 74,406 km of expressways)

unpaved: 2,213,550 km (2003) Waterways:41,009 km (19,312 km used for commerce)

note: Saint Lawrence Seaway of 3,769 km, including the Saint Lawrence River of 3,058 km, shared with Canada (2004)

Merchant marine:

total: 486 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 12,436,658 GRT/14,630,116 DWT by type: barge carrier 7, bulk carrier 19, cargo 152, chemical tanker 19, container 92, passenger 17, passenger/cargo 57, petroleum tanker 79, refrigerated cargo 2, roll on/roll off 28, vehicle carrier 14 foreign-owned: 49 (Australia 2, Canada 8, China 1, Denmark 20, Malaysia 2, Netherlands 1, Norway 2, Singapore 11, Sweden 1, United Kingdom 1) registered in other countries: 680 (2005)

Ports and terminals:Corpus Christi, Duluth, Hampton Roads, Houston, Long Beach,

Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, Tampa, Texas City note: 13 ports north of New Orleans (South Louisiana Ports) on the Mississippi River handle 290,000,000 tons of cargo annually.

2.4 COMMUNICATION:

Telephones - main lines in use:181,599,900 (2003)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 158.722 million (2003)

Telephone system:general assessment: a large, technologically advanced,

multipurpose communications system domestic: a large system of fiber-optic cable, microwave radio relay, coaxial cable, and domestic satellites carries every form of telephone traffic; a rapidly growing cellular system carries mobile telephone traffic throughout the country international: country code - 1; 24 ocean cable systems in use; satellite earth stations - 61 Intelsat (45 Atlantic Ocean and 16 Pacific Ocean), 5 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region), and 4 Inmarsat (Pacific and Atlantic Ocean regions) (2000)

Radio broadcast stations:AM 4,854, FM 8,950, shortwave 18 (2004)

Television broadcast

stations:1,740 (2004)

Internet country code: .us

Internet hosts:115,311,958 (2002) Internet users:159 million (2002)

3. SNACK INDUSTRY OF USA:

3.1 INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

The "salty snack" industry includes potato chips, corn chips, tortilla chips, ready-to-

eat popcorn (except candy-coated), pork rinds, potato sticks, and extruded snacks

such as cheese puffs. Overall, retail dollar sales for snacks during 2001 totaled

$21.8 billion, an increase of 5.1 percent from 2000. Potato chips and tortilla chips

controlled the snack foods market.

In the mid-1990s, private label brands of salty snacks grew at unprecedented rates.

According to the Private Label Manufacturers Association, store brands reported a

15.4 percent increase compared to an 11 percent increase in sales of national

brands.

Even though the salty snacks industry experienced an almost flat overall growth rate

in the mid-1990s, low fat and no fat salty snacks experienced tremendous growth.

Low fat and no fat potato chip sales grew 48 percent in 1995, as compared to 1994;

also, low fat and no fat tortilla chips grew 67 percent in 1995, again compared to

1994. However, by the beginning of the twenty-first century, the craze for low fat and

no fat snacks was on the decline.

3.2 ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE

The salty snack foods industry has a unique structure, since Frito-Lay controlled

more than 67 percent of the total market share with total retail sales of about $14.2

billion in 2002. Kraft Foods Inc., with the Nabisco brand business, holds second

place with total 2002 retail sales of $29.7 billion. Although the industry has some

elements of a monopoly (aggressive pricing and distribution policies among chip

makers), the regional presence of many large and small manufacturers keeps it

highly competitive.

Numerous companies of varying size make up the snack industry. Many compete

only on a regional level, although some find it difficult to price their products

competitively with the larger manufacturers. Others, however, create a market niche,

sometimes with a specialty product such as kettle-style potato chips or baked chips

sold through health food stores. If their products meet with success among

customers, the smaller makers can often charge higher prices than the biggest

manufacturers. Larger manufacturers are generally full-service snack companies—

those offering a full range of products, including potato chips, tortilla chips, and other

salty snacks. The smaller producers are more likely to specialize.

3.3 CURRENT CONDITIONS

Sales for the snack food industry reached $21.8 billion in 2001, up 5.1 percent from

2000. Sales in all markets—food, drug, and mass merchant—rose in 2001. Much of

the continued strength of the snack industry in the face of a wounded economy was

attributed to the desire for "comfort foods" following the events of September 11,

2001.

Potato Chips. Potato chips increased 7 percent in sales from 2000 to 2001,

with more than $6 billion. Pound volume also increased 3 percent to 1.85

billion pounds. New flavor introductions accounted for the rise in sales along

with a continuing increase in the snack trend in general. Spicy flavors such

as jalapeno and Cajun seasonings had become a popular and profitable

trend in potato chips in the early 2000s. Frito-lay also introduced the market's

first gourmet chip in 2001—Lay's Bistro Gourmet Potato Chips—with a

variety of gourmet flavors. Prepackaged chip-and-dip snacks, convenient for

on-the-go consumers, also became an important trend in chips, including

Frito's Tostitos Chips & Salsa kits, as well as a chili and cheese dip version

of its Frito Sloppy Joe and Scoops.

Tortilla and Corn Chips. Tortilla chips showed an increase of 5 percent in

sales for 2001, standing at 4.15 billion. Pound volume rose 1.3 percent that

year, to 1.5 billion pounds. Corn snacks sales rose 2.1 percent that year.

Flavor introductions were also a trend fueling tortilla chips, along with

changes in shapes and textures. Frito-Lay's Doritos Extreme line of

generously spiced chips enjoyed considerable success in 2001. The

company also developed Doritos Ranchero and Doritos Salsa Verde tortilla

chips, Fritos Sabrositas lime and chili corn chips, and Churrumais fried corn

strips with chili and lime seasonings. Whereas Doritos held the top spot in

tortilla chip sales in 2002 with $677.7 million, Frito-Lay's second-place Tostito

line is one of the fastest growing tortilla chip brands. For the year ending

October 2002, Frito's was also the corn chip leader with $176.6 million in

sales, followed by Frito's Scoops with $128.6 million.

Extruded Snacks. Cheese snacks were up 3.7 percent in 2001, with more

than $1 billion in sales. Flavor intensification also ruled this segment, with

makers introducing zesty new flavors and lively packaging. In 2001, Frito-Lay

launched Flamin' Hot Cheetos and Mystery Colorz Snacks Cheetos, which

featured a color-changing additive to turn the consumer's tongue blue or

green.

Reduced Fat and Fat-Free Products. Continued negative publicity caused

sales of many fat-free snacks to plummet in 2001 and 2002, with Frito-Lay

pulling its fat-free Wow! Chips off the shelves of some retailers after a 10.6

percent decrease in sales.

Regional Competitors. Frito-Lay is the undisputed leader in the salty snack

category, with more than 67 percent of industry sales. The company has a

firm grip on premium shelf space, outspends every other company in

marketing and merchandising, and has a superior distribution system.

Independent companies in the industry continued to consolidate or go out of

business and, by 1998, there were 111 snack companies. One exception is

Utz Quality Foods Inc., which in 2001 became the third leading maker of salty

snacks in the United States. The family-owned, $200 million company is

making headway in the segment commanded by Frito due to marketing on

the Internet. With a small investment in software, the company experienced a

12 percent rise in sales to supermarkets and convenience stores—three

times the industry's growth.

3.4 INDUSTRY LEADERS

The Frito-Lay Company reported sales of more than $14 billion in 2001. The Frito-

Lay Company is based in Plano, Texas, and has 30,000 employees. Because of its

67-percent market share, Frito-Lay's activities and innovations reverberated

throughout the salty snack food industry. Sales from the manufacturer accounted for

60 percent of the total of its parent company Pepsi Co. A competitive battle for

market share during the early 1990s prompted Frito-Lay to carry out a

reorganization, which included repricing products and laying off 1,800 executives. In

addition, 2,000 employees were shifted from administrative positions into sales jobs.

For years large corporations tried to challenge Frito-Lay's dominance in the snack

business. Anheuser-Busch, Keebler, and Borden all tried and, after battling the giant

in advertising and merchandising dollars, all decided to get out of the salty snack

business. The closest brand to competing nationally against Frito-Lay was Eagle, a

brand owned by Anheuser-Busch for 20 years. After losing about $75 million on the

brand, Anheuser-Busch sold the division to Proctor and Gamble (P&G).

P&G, a leader in packaged goods, has the money and the stamina to take on Frito-

Lay, a fight analysts will be watching closer. Some analysts look to P&G's

development of Pringles as a sign they're in for the long haul. P&G stuck with

Pringles, a relatively new type of chip, and in the late 1990s, 30 years after its

introduction, Pringles was generating $1 billion in sales each year and sales were

growing at about 20 percent a year.

P&G bought the Eagle brand in 1996 and waited until 1998 to begin test marketing

the brand, beginning in Portland, Maine. Frito-Lay has cause for concern. Before the

Eagle brand began its testing, P&G's share of the snack market had started climbing

—from 5.8 percent to 7.4 percent.

Kraft Food Inc., the leading food producer in the United States, acquired Nabisco,

the largest cookie and cracker company in the world, in 2001 and reported snack

sales of more than $5 billion in 2001 and 2002. The company is ranked second in

the snack industry.

3.5 AMERICA AND THE WORLD

The snack market worldwide reached $55 billion in 2001. U.S. export growth slowed

that year, totaling $1.28 billion, relatively unchanged from 2000. The largest markets

were Canada and Mexico, which accounted for 52.1 percent of the U.S. export

market with exports valued at $667.2 million, a 6.2 percent increase from 2000.

Other export markets included Latin America, with $117.9 million, up 2.15 percent

from 2000; Western Europe, with $128.9 million, up 19.83 percent; Eastern Europe,

with $2.7 million, down 4.49 percent; Japan/Chinese Economic Area, with $117.3

million, down 16.37 percent; elsewhere in Asia, $109.5 million, down 16.43 percent;

Australia/New Zealand, with $20.3 million, down 42.65 percent; the Middle East and

North Africa, with $47.8 million, up 17.31 percent; elsewhere in Africa, $3.0 million,

down .83 percent; and the rest of the world, with $65.8 million, an increase of .06

percent in 2001.

4. THE PRELIMINARY MARKETING PLAN:

1. THE MARKETING PLAN

A. Marketing Objectives:

Target market: Our main focus would be youngsters, children (age: between 10

to 18). Generally they use to go in theatres, dance bars, etc. They eat wafers

while watching movies.

Old age people are more health conscious, so for them we have prepared less

calorie wafers.

B. Product adaptation & modification:

American people are more health conscious so it would be differ from the taste of

Indian potato wafers. It would contain less oil, salt & chilly powder.

Our potato wafers would be available in different flavours:

1) 40% Reduced Fat- The first reduced fat chip to be able to maintain the integrity of

the classic chip, these chips are not fabricated potato crisps made from dehydrated

potato flakes nor do they contain any bizarre fat substitute. By combining our

traditional hand-cooked process with flash baking, we’ve produced a potato chip with

the same intensity as our classics without altering or sacrificing the purity of the

process or ingredients.

2) No Salt- The same legendary crunch and all natural goodness of our Classic chip

without salt being added.

3) Robust Russet- This is a unique potato chip made with real Russet potatoes.

The chips inside this bag cook darker than other potato chips, but don’t worry ---

they’re not burnt. Russet potatoes, unlike white potatoes, contain higher amounts of

sugar and when cooked carefully will produce a darker, more robust chip that

maintains the integrity of the potato.

4) Sea Salt & Cracked Pepper- A special blend of cracked pepper and delicate

white pepper, combined with a natural sea salt and other subtle seasonings make

our Sea Salt & Cracked Pepper potato chips. The result is a pepper-based blend of

spices that are the ideal compliment to our delicious hand-cooked chips.

5) Beachside Barbecue- A blend of tangy barbecue seasoning made from carefully

selected, all natural ingredients.

6) Sea Salt & Vinegar- a flavor that comes from blending the finest sea salt with

carefully dried vinegar, a combination that is the perfect complement for our crunchy

hand-cooked potato chips.

7) Jalapeño & Aged Cheddar- We’ve blended the authentic extreme heat of the

southwestern jalapeño cheddar flavor with our rich Premium Aged Cheddar. The

result is a spicy, yet creamy jalapeño cheddar flavor that is sure to please even the

most discriminating "heat junkies".

8) Reduced Fat Fresh Garden Herb- This chip is a delightful flavor balance of

some of the finest herbs, such as thyme, sage and basil.  The result is a delicious

chip with a light, appealing taste, without being overbearing.

Packaging component:

The wafers packet would be made up of plastic and would be air tight, so wafers will

remain fresh and crunchy. The colour of the packet would be ORANGE and pictures

of wafers would be there on the packet.

The back side of the packet would show the ingredients, SEAL of SNACK FOOD

ASSOCIATION, manufacturing date, batch no., and the expiry date etc.

The PUNCH LINE would be TASTE IT OR NOT?

The picture of the packet is shown below.

C. Promotion Mix:

1. ADVERTISING:

a. Objective: The advertisement would be such that it should attract the

people to purchase the wafers and would show that we provide wafers

with less calorie along with better taste.

b. Media Mix: The different Media would be used for an advertisement like

Television, Internet, Newspapers, food related magazines.

c. Message: The message would be- Better taste, quality of the wafer with

less calorie.

d. Costs: The cost of the advertisement would be 15% of revenues.

2. SALES PROMOTIONS:

a. Objective: sales promotion would be done to increase the sell of the

products. Sales promotion would be done by sponsoring events,

providing discount coupons.

b. Coupons: To increase the sell of the potato wafers discount coupons

would be given on big packets of wafers.

3. PERSONAL SELLING: sales persons would be hired to do door to door selling

of wafers. They will be meeting to individual retailers to persuade them to

purchase wafers.

D. Distribution: From origin to destination

1. Mode selection: Motor carriers would be selected for the distribution because

they would be more cheaper and effective mode of transportation for short distance

or to distribute within city.

For long distance, either railroads or ocean carriers will be used. For long distances

railroads are more cheaper compared to motor carriers.

E. Channel of distribution:

1. TYPES OF RETAILERS:

- Local Groceries Shop

- Stalls and Exbitions

- Door to Door Selling

- Hospitals and School Canteens

- Theatres

- disco theque

2. WHOLESALE MIDDLEMEN:

Local wholesalers would be the middlemen to provide wafer packets to the

retailers.

3. WAREHOUSING:

Warehouses would be placed to different areas because it would be convenient

and cost effective to distribute products to the retailers. The number of warehouses

would be more where the demand of chips is more in particular areas.

The warehouses would be clean and spacious.

F. Price Determination:

Price will be determined after considering the different costs like-

- Cost of the shipment of goods

- Transportation costs

- Handling expenses

- Wholesale & retail mark-ups and discounts

H. Methods Of Payment:

Open accounts would be provided to the existing retailers and wholesalers and

advance payment would be taken from the new retailers.

The other methods can also be adopted like:

- Letters of credit

- Sight, time or date drafts

I. Resource Requirements:

- Finances

- Production: 1. machinery

2. Raw materials like Potato, salt, chilly powder & other

ingredients

- Personnel required for production, marketing, distribution, promotion etc.

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. WEBSITES: