BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY FOR SME – SNACK PREFERENCES OF MILLENNIAL GENERATION: A CASE STUDY OF A FISH-BASED CRACKER PRODUCER IN INDONESIA

Abstract

The development of technology and internet has made business competition even more fierce and intensive. Consumers increasingly have bargaining power with sellers as a result of the flow of information that is increasingly accessible regarding the price, quality and specifications of a product. On the other hand, currently millennial generation is the group of consumers with the largest population and is predicted to have the purchasing power to surpass the baby boomers generation. This condition is a promising opportunity as well as a challenge for business development. This study aims to identify and formulate a business development strategy for “Wanita Pesisir”, a SME that produces milkfish amplang cracker located in Saliki Village, Muara Badak District, East Kalimantan Province. Using sequential mixed method through distributing questionnaires to 68 millennial consumers online to describe their preferences and snack buying behavior, then follwoed by a focus group discussion (FGD) with the group members of ‘Wanita Pesisir’’ to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the organization from the internal side and the opportunities and threats that exist from the external side. Results of this research found that millennial customers are more health conscious and demanding for healthy and tasty snacks. Wanita Pesisir currently is in a good position so it should use aggressive strategy to expand its business.

Keywords

• cracker
• millennial generation
• consumer behaviour
• development
• business strategy