Art Nor AS: entering the French HoReCa market

Abstract

Art Nor AS is a Norwegian producer of sous-vide seafood products. The company currently employs 20 people. The company considers the northern part of Norway its main market and is currently looking to internationalize its business. In that concern we have been asked to perform a market survey to determine key characteristics of the French market for sous-vide seafood and give our recommendation for a potential market entry in France. We have conducted an external analysis and determined the environmental influencing factors that the actors in the industry have to relate to in their activity. We have performed a competition analysis and determined the structure in the competitive market and the external analysis suggests that the French market is highly competitive with a protectionist behavior from the government. Furthermore we have determined the international capabilities of Art Nor through a value chain analysis and using the Good Export Circle. Through our analysis we suggest that Art Nor’s international capabilities are limited compared to the vast majority of the competition. Based on the external and internal analysis Art Nor should position itself as a niche actor in the French market. The segmentation we have performed determines Art Nor’s primary market to be middle segment entities in the HoReCa market that has a more local purchase behavior. The internal capabilities of Art Nor, its vision for the internationalization process and the external factors suggest an entry strategy based on minimal FDI without local production. Based on this characteristics Art Nor will have four possible entry strategies to serve the chosen segment. These are Export- distributor, importer, agent and direct sales representation. We have determined that an entry strategy based on representation by agent will be the most beneficiary in Art Nor’s case. It will provide the company with an already existing market network, reduce the contact points for the company and reduce the necessary requirements for foreign direct investment.