Granite City Food & Brewery Companys Analysis

Introduction to the firm

Granite City Food & Brewery has a comfort food menu, which includes homemade food and craft beer.¹ The company aims to provide customers only with fresh products, and thus, has private brewers at every restaurant.

External environment

As a matter of fact, the United States have a flexible political and legal system for the business in order to provide all the needed conditions for the prosperity and success of the industry. However, there are certain aspects that influence the industry. They are the following ones, namely:

High taxes on alcohol;
High expenses on registration of the business;
High costs of the health insurance. This factor is related to the company that has a large workforce. Granite City Food & Brewery is the example of such corporation;
The minimum age of the alcohol consumption is 21. This aspect excludes people aged below 21 from the target group;
The regulations regarding the alcohol distribution vary from state to state. However, in some states, the distribution of alcohol is prohibited between 6 a.m. and 12 p.m.²

Driving forces

The brewery industry in the United States is developed and represented with a number of companies; however, it is worth highlighting that a number of enterprises face certain difficulties. Smaller companies show a better index of economic growth. The restaurant industry is highly regulated by the federal laws in order to meet health and safety standards. The main driving forces are the following ones, namely:

Technology;
Increasing older population;
The popularization of organic food.

According to the research, nowadays, the industry is unattractive as it scored 6,10. As for the external factor evaluation matrix, Granite City Food & Brewery has the score of 2,65, which can be considered as just above average.³ The brewery has a stable position. The company responds to the external environment; however, improvement is needed.

Internal Analysis

The main sphere of competence is beer and fresh food. The strengths are the following:

Brand name;
Low debt;
Innovative products (menu);
Own hardware and software;
Low costs;
Discounts;
High-quality service and food;
Good management team;
Long-term strategy to expand the production across the United States;
Effective supply chain management.

Weaknesses

Underestimated intellectual capital;
Weak retention policy;
Lack of in-house management;
Terrorism in the Middle East;
Higher prices in comparison to rivals.

The score for IFE is 3,15.⁴

Current Strategy

Differentiation strategy is the focus of the Granite City Food & Brewery. The company aims to create different products in order to satisfy the needs of different customers groups. They have developed the menu for people who are on various diets. There is a gluten free menu as well as the catering menu on the website. The company applies unique brewing process, which is now patented.

Although the company successfully implements its strategies, some issues should be addressed. There are the following aspects that should be taken into account:

Avoidance of large cities;
Lack of technologies that are implemented in the working process;

Large cities offer new possibilities for business development because there are millions of tourists who visit New York, Philadelphia, and Boston every year. Benefits and revenues of the company would increase if they located their restaurant in a large city.