Benchmark a food and drink product against competition
Overview
This standard is about the skills and knowledge needed for you to benchmark a food and drink product against competition. Benchmarking is the process of comparing a food and drink product to a competitor’s similar product; identifying differences and similarities primarily in quality and cost but is also used in the identification of key attributes and new ideas. The current dynamic, consumer driven, nature of the UK food and drink industry requires food and drink businesses to be pro-active in the area of food and drink product development. This coupled with a continued drive to increase efficiencies and reduce costs makes benchmarking a useful business tool.
You must be able to use market intelligence to identify competitors’ products which can be used for benchmarking. You must be able to organise the benchmarking process including ensuring parameters and methods of benchmarking will gather the most useful and accurate information, meeting the needs of your food business.
This standard is for you if you work in food and drink manufacture and/or supply operations and are involved in benchmarking a food and drink product against competition.
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
* Plan activities*
- identify the benchmarking process
- identify the product requiring benchmarking
- identify the competitors product or products for comparison using market intelligence
- identify the parameters by which the products will be benchmarked
- liaise with colleagues to determine the methods by which the parameters will be judged
- prepare a technical document by which results of benchmarking can be recorded
**Carry out benchmarking
**
7. organise the benchmarking process ensuring all external influences are the same
8. check benchmarking process is carried out removing possible influences
9. encourage identification of key attributes/ideas in each food and drink product
10. communicate the importance of completing all areas of the technical recording document
11. gather and evaluate information
12. liaise with colleagues to determine the actions to be taken as a result of the benchmarking process
13. communicate to relevant colleagues actions to be taken as a result of the benchmarking
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
- the organisational requirements for the benchmarking of products
- the organisational methods of communication, including information technology and how to use them
- how to source market intelligence relating to your food and drink business and its products
- how to use market intelligence to determine which products should be used in the benchmarking process
- the technical parameters of a product which can be assessed in the benchmarking process
- how to decide which technical parameters of a product should be used in a specific benchmarking task
- what the different methodologies are for the benchmarking process
- why it is important to encourage the identification of key attributes or new ideas originating from the benchmarked products
- the organisational requirements for the recording of results during a benchmarking task
- how to gather and evaluate results of the benchmarking process
- how to use gathered and evaluated results to inform changes to food and drink products
- why it is important to feedback to relevant colleagues results of the benchmarking process
- the organisational requirements for the provision of feedback to colleagues