Sweet Lisbon 1 | Page 51

Referring to the beginning of our report, the ice cream market is characterized by a low industry concentration, a high threat of substitution, as well as negligible entry barriers. Hence, excessive rivalry among competing sellers and the threat of new entrants are constantly pushing our handmade ice cream providers to innovate and differentiate their business models. In the course of our analysis, we made out significant differences in performance on key success factors between the four major competitors of the market. Amorino is a successful global company, distributing its products and services in 17 countries. However, it has difficulties to compete with lower-priced local businesses that constantly add new flavors to their menus. In the future, we will likely see differing ice cream designs of the brand. According to the Multiattribute Model of the Customer Analysis, Santini is by far the best performer in the market. However, regarding its ice cream presentation and customer waiting times, the brand needs to generate better respective value proposals to its customers. It will be interesting to see whether the Santini brand changes its traditionbased image in case of global expansion. Artisani is an ice cream provider that is currently not exploiting its full potential. In our competitive advantage analysis, Artisani’s performance never stands out. Given its great networking capabilities with suppliers and other stakeholders, the brand is likely to create added value for customers in the future. The company will focus on better promoting its core competences in order to increase brand recall rates. Last but not least, Nannarella is the stereotype niche phenomenon in the Lisbon ice cream market. With high scores on price, ice cream presentation, and flavor, the company competes with already established brands, such as Artisani. Nannarella’s future strategy is difficult to pin down. However, it is to be expected that the company will open a second, and even a third store in a more frequented region of Lisbon to balance customer demand. Basing on this, the brand’s main challenge will be the successful retention of its image of “the little corner shop” throughout expansion. All four companies are highly competitive ice cream providers in Lisbon. Given their differing performances on industry key success factors, it is evident that they all try to approach a unique positioning in