The Business of School Snacks

Students of schools in the Greater Metropolitan Area in Costa Rica spend more than $2 million a week and up to $12 million a month during recess.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Seeing this phenomenon, Christian Calderon believes the food and beverage businesses in schools may have advantages, since their customers would always be near the point of sale. Taking advantage of a decree requiring healthier meals in schools in the country's cafeterias, Calderón set up a site selling smoothies and salads in a school in the area and plans to expand the business to two more schools in 2014.

According to market specialist Antonio Jimenez, another advantage with this type of business in the market, is that it caters to an audience which is impulsive in that they more often buy because of the product's attributes rather than its benefits. Despite these advantages, there are few who profit from this segment.

According to a study by the firm Información Total (IT), about one third of students eat packaged foods and bottled beverages, and a fifth a cooked meal in a cafeteria, which represents a great opportunity for small and large businesses who sell prepared foods.

"SMEs need to realize that the real battle is at the point of sale, because there everyone, big and small, are equal to the consumer," says Jimenez.

A less complicated logistics scenario and an opportunity to innovate with better ideas, are some of the advantages of doing business in school sodas. "It's a very large market, but it is unattended," said Freddy Guzman, manager of IT.

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