The country that we researched to export Peanut Butter & Co peanut butter to is Germany. Germany is located in the Western and Central part of Europe. The Capital is Berlin that is also the largest city in the country. Other large cities in the country include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne and Frankfurt. Germany is part of the European Union, out of all the states that make up the European Union Germany is one of the most populous countries and has the largest economies. We chose to export peanut butter to Germany, because it is a rare item to find in the country. The German people are more familiar with a product called Nutella. Nutella is a creamy Chocolate hazelnut spread that is used on all food such as breads, fruits and more. Peanut Butter and Co offer a variety of product but one similar product to Nutella is their “Dark Chocolate Dream” peanut butter. Peanut Butter & Co could have an advantage over Nutella because recently the price of Nutella rose due to a shortage of hazelnuts. The Dark Chocolate Dream as well as the other peanut products they contains no cholesterol, no trans fats, no hydrogenated oils, and no high-fructose corn syrup. It is also gluten-free, certified vegan, and certified kosher. Since the Germans are all about eating healthy with no artificial additives this product will be a perfect fit in the country.
The United States has to follow regulations and directives form the FDA. Germany also has to follow strict protocols in order to receive products from outside countries, called the European Union. As a member of the European Union (EU) they must follows all EU directives, regulations and obligations. When reading the policies it is recommended that it be read in combination with the Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards (FAIRS) report which is produced by the US mission to the EU.
The German Food Law consists of about 230 different ordinances, including the Food Labeling Ordinance, Packaging Ordinance, Dietetic Foods Ordinance, various hygienic and veterinary requirements, as well as numerous other special product or product group rules and regulations. The provisions of the Food Law are voluminous, frequently quite complicated and often subject to interpretation. Ultimately the German importer has final responsibility for the marketability of any imported products into Germany. The German law enforcement agencies hold the German importer solely responsible for any violations of the Food Law since they cannot take action against foreign producers including those in other EU countries. Violations of the Food Law by the importer constitute a punishable offence. (Dietmar Achilles, FAIRS)
The Parliament of Germany, the Bundestag is represented by six parties that have 630 members which is made up of the following, The Christian Democratic Union/ Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) forms the largest parliamentary group with 311 seats. The second largest parliamentary is Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) that has 192 seats. The Left Party parliamentary group holds 64 seats and lastly the Alliance 90/The Greens parliamentary group has 63 seats. The way the number of seats is determined is by their relative strengths and is decisive for the composition of the Council of Elders and the Committees. In Germany, the political parties play a significant role in it government and society. The political parties take part in the formation of the political will in the country according to the German Basic Law. The Bundesrat plays a part in the passing of federal legislation. Currently in 2014 about 50 percent of all the laws passed in Germany are required to get the approval from the Bundesrat. The German political structure is quite different from that of ours here in the United States. For instance, their President and head of state can be elected for up to two five year terms rather than four and is used more as a figure head of representation whereas the Federal Chancellor, called the Bundeskanzler, takes on the role of running the government and day to day politics of the executive branch.
Their federal legislative power on another note rests in the hands of what are called the Bundesrat and Bundestag. The Bundesrat is the upper body within the German political system which, at first glance, resembles that of our US Congress because they are the representative body of Germany’s many states. However, there are two major differences between their system and ours. Their members are not elected but instead are appointed by their state cabinet, which consists of the Chancellor and cabinet ministers, where they can be removed at any time and the states aren’t represented equally amongst its number of delegates. Due to the dense population of Germany, their representatives are mathematically based on what that states population is in order to ensure a fair process.
The Bundestag on the other hand is the lower house within Germany’s system yet has more power. And its members are actually elected to their position of four years rather than appointed. They do however have a somewhat complicated way of determining the election outcomes. They use what is called a Mixed Member Proportional Representation (MMPR) in order to determine a more accurate and proportional vote. This is done by first having half of the Bundestag members being elected directly from two hundred and ninety-nine constituencies and then the other half being elected from the list of parties on the basis of each of the 16 regions which make up Germany with another two hundred and ninety-nine votes. With this system, each voter really has two in the elections. The first determines the local representatives are sent for Parliament and the second vote defines the strength of each party in the Bundestag. Therefore, each party is allowed a certain amount of seats in proportion to the amount of votes that they had received.
And as for the judicial branch of the German government, their version of the Supreme Court is called the Federal Constitutional Court whose role is to protect the country’s constitution and is comprised of 16 judges which are separated into two Senate panels where they will hold a non-renewable officer position for a twelve year term. Half of the judges are selected by the Bundestag and the Bundesrat by a two-thirds majority. And once a judge has been appointed, only he or she can remove themselves. The judicial system is also split into three types of courts. There’s ordinary court, which is meant to deal with criminal and civil cases, specialized to deal with administrative, labor, fiscal and patent law complications, and constitutional which deals with judicial review processes.
Germany is a great place for business because of the stability of their government. Germany offers investors a high degree of economic and political stability. Germany has low interest rates and low inflation. Germany has one of the world’s highest employee productivity rates. More value is created per capita than almost any other place in the world. The Germans have a federal democracy that has had continuous political stability since World War 2. Their government is stable and the Germans usually go on strike making a conducive environment for economic planning.

Germany has a population of about 80.9 million including 6.9 million nationals. Out of the 80.9 million people in the German population 13% makes up the age group 0 to 14 years old. Out of this 13% there is a population of 5,386,525 male and 5,107,336 females. In the age group 15 to 24 years old which accounts for 10.6 percent of the population that is made up of 4,357,713 males and 4,188,566 females. The largest percent of population of 41.7 percent are individuals who range in age from 25 to 54. Out of this age group, 17,116,346 are male and 16,664,995 are female. The age group 55 to 64 has 5,463,221 male and 5,574,166 were females, this age group makes up 13.6% of Germany’s population. The last age group of 20.9 percent that makes up the rest of the population is ages 65 and older which has a male population of 7,468,552 and 9,659,265 females. In Germany the average age of a female is 47.2 years old and the average age for a male is 45.1 and the combined average age is 46.1. The ethnic groups that makes up Germany’s population is about 91.5 percent are German, 2.4 percent are Turkish and 6.1 percent is a mix of ethnic group such as, Greek, Italian, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian and Spanish. In 2014 the migration rate in Germany is 1.06 migrant(s) to every 1000 citizen in the country. Germany has long been known for a country of immigration. Out of the 80.9 million citizens about 7 million of them have a foreign passport which is the largest amount out of the 28 members in the European Union. There are over six million people who have some sort of foreign background living in Germany and they make up one fifth of Germany’s population. For example, Berlin the capital of Germany has about 3.4 million citizens living there and out of the 3.4 million, 900,000 are not originally from Germany. The Gross National Product (GNP) is the total value of goods and services that are provided to Germany during a one-year period, equal to the gross domestic product plus the net income from its foreign investments.
For Germany in the second quarter of 2014 the GNP increased from the first quarter of 736.95 EUR Billion to 738.27 Billion. The second quarters GNP reached its all time high for the country in 2014. From 1991 to 2014 the Gross National Product was averaging 541.58 EUR Billion over the years. The Deutsche Bundesbank reports Germany’s Gross National Product (GNP). To evaluate the health of the countries economy in Germany we would look at the Gross Domestic Product (GNP). It represents the total dollar value of all the goods and services produced over a specific period of time. The GDP for Germany is reported by the Federal Statistical Office, which reported the following for 2014. In the second quarter of 2014 the Federal Statistical Office reported Germany’s GDP expanded 0.80%. Germany’s annual growth rate was averaging 1.30% from 1992 to 2014. In 2011 Germany in 2009 the GDP hit a record low of a -6.80% during the second quarter but rebounded in 2011 which then reached a high of 5.20% in the first quarter. ("Germany | Economic Indicators") Like the United States and other nations Germany uses the following to determine what income level its citizens belong in. Upper Class which includes Royal families, scholars, Administrators and other wealthily people. Germany also uses Middle class, which are people who fall in between upper and lower class. Such jobs that they might have are architects, lawyers, artist, teachers and musicians. The lower class is Germany is divided into two subcategories, working class and under class. The Working class in Germany are people who supervise the people in the under class and have mainly jobs that involve labor. The under class is a class which is at the bottom of society this group are usually the poorest people and under privileged. For the average family living in Germany their income per year is 30,721 USD. The age of the group of individuals who are part of the average family are from the age 15 to 64 years old. Families of four with a net income after taxes have an income between 2,400 and 5,000 EUR per month. The percentage of people considered to be in the middle class makes up 44% of the German population. The German upper class is made up of 45.6% of the population their income is between $43,000 to 123,000 USD a year. A small percent of 3.1% of those who are in the upper class that make more then $123,000 USD a year. For about 14% of the German society they are consider being in poverty due to their low income. For the average citizen living in Germany 30 percent of their income is spent on rent or other housing related costs. After living expense about 12 percent of their income is used to purchase, food, personal hygiene and household products. Since the German people spend a good portion of there income on food introducing a rare item such as peanut butter to them would give all income classes a cheaper and healthier food option. For example those who are in the middle and lower class could feed their families especially the children a peanut butter sandwich at a low cost. If the German middle and lower classes were purchase Peanut Butter & Co brand of peanut butter it could give them a opportunity to lower their grocery bill a small amount and give them more money to spend else where.

Germany has one of the most sophisticated transportation systems in the world. The major cities of transportation and communications centers are Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, Munich and Hamburg. These cities either lye at the intersections of major east- west or north-south route or transshipment for ships, barges roads or railroads. For decades trucks have been played an important part in freight transport in Germany. Truck freight, railways and inland shipping can carry billion-tons- kilometers of freight yearly. The inland shipping system in Germany is the worlds most highly developed in the world, with over 6,900 of kilometers of navigable inland waterways. Aside from railroads, inland waterways, ships, roads and barges, Germany has a large system of international air travel. Lufthansa, the national airline that has an extensive domestic and global route system has transported millions of tons of airfreight. The largest international airport is Frantfurt-Rhein Main, which is an important center for airfreight. Germany’s river ports with container liner services are Port of Breman located in Breman Port of Hamburg located in Hamburg. Peanut Butter & Co peanut butter will export the product to Germany using either airfreight or a shipping container depending on the size of the shipment. The area in which the exported goods will be sent will be either to Frantfurt-Rhein Main airport or the Port of Hamburg. After arriving at the airport or port in Germany the shipment will be picked up and transferred by a trucking system which will sort and deliver the products to the multiple retailers that will be selling the peanut butter in their stores in and around Hamburg.
Germany is the third largest exporter and importer in the world and accounts for more then half of the European Union international trade. Almost all of Germany’s exports are focused on industrially produced goods and services. For example, German mechanical engineering products such as vehicles and chemicals are highly valued internationally. Much of the exports of goods and services are made up of 52 percent of Germany’s GDP. About 69 percent of German exports are shipped to European countries and 58.2 percent are delivered to member states of the EU. Germany’s key trading partners is France with 9.5 percent of the total exports. German exports to the United States were 7.9 percent in 2012 and about 6.6 percent went to the UK. The total value of exports for Germany as of 2014 was 18.45 trillion USD of merchandise. In October of 2014 the value of exports from Germany was 10,2500.00 EUR Million. The exports of goods and services had an annual growth of 2.9 percent in 2013. Imported goods to Germany are mainly from the Netherlands these imported goods were worth 86.6 billion euro, which accounted for 9.5 percent of the German imports. China, France, United States, Switzerland and Russia are also other primary partners to Germany. The primary imports that come from these countries are, machinery, data processing equipment, vehicles, chemicals, oil and gas, metal, electric equipment, pharmaceuticals, food products and agricultural products. As of October of 2014 the imports to Germany was 80,600.00 EUR Million.
The grocery stores in Germany are unlike the ones here in America in many different aspects. For example here in America we have an isle dedicated for our hundreds of different breakfast cereals where in Germany they have a small variety of only about a dozen. In German grocery stores they have larger varieties of cheese, meats, breads and other foods than we would have here. Other differences with German grocery stores unlike the ones here in the United States is when you go to check out the cashiers is mostly sitting down and they are not bagging your items for you but they are placing them into your cart. Here in the United States we are given paper and plastic bags to load our groceries in but in Germany they require you to bring your own bags to load your groceries in. If you do not have bags they may have both paper and plastic bags for you to purchase for just a few cents each or you can purchase a reusable shopping bag. Here in the United States we accept both cash and credit at grocery stores but in Germany they usually only accept credit very rarely you’ll see stores accepting cash. Germany has two types of places for people to purchase their groceries from. For example, stores such as Aldi, Lidi, Alnatura and Edeka, which are like our grocery stores here in America. These stores are usually located in smaller cities around Germany. In larger areas such as the big cities they have Costco like wholesale store. Example of such stores are Olobus, Handelshuf, Kaufland and Metro these stores carry a variety of bulk food items as well as electronics, household good and more. The locations, which Peanut Butter & Co would sell their peanut butters, would be in the grocery stores in Hamburg and surrounding areas such as Aldi, Lidi, Alnatura and more. Depending on how the German people react to liking and purchasing the product could expand selling their product in the wholesale stores in bulk.
The concept of culture comes from a locations history. The literature and art they create, the food they eat, as well as the language they speak. Germany has a very distinct culture that prides itself on their lifestyles as well as politics. The German language is the official language of Germany and Austria. The German language is one of the most important cultural languages. The language that was spoken by Mozart, Beethoven, Freud, Einstein, as well as many other great artists and scientists. The German government has limited responsibilities for culture. It is devolved by the German states called Länder. After World War 2 was over, the Germans were occupied by the Allies. Many German territories were split off and the Cold War resulted in the division of the country into democratic West Germany and communist East Germany. Millions of Germans fled from communist East Germany into West Germany, which was experiencing rapid economic growth. In 1989, the Berlin Wall was destroyed, and East and West Germany were once again reunited. In the late 1990’s Germany was one of the founding countries of the Eurozone. Germany still remains as one of Europe’s economic powerhouses. They contribute to be a quarter of the Eurozone’s GDP. Germans are considered “masters of planning”. This culture prides itself in forward thinking and knowing what they will be doing at a specific time on a certain day.
Germany is located in Western Europe. It borders the North Sea between France and Poland. Germany shares borders with Denmark, Poland, and Czech Republic. Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, as well as the Netherlands. Germany has an irregular, elongated shape. It is a plain dotted with lakes, moors, marshes, and heaths retreats from the sea and reaches inland, where it turns into a landscape of hills crisscrossed by streams, rivers, and valleys. These hills lead upward turning into plateaus and woodlands and then into mountain ranges. Germany’s climate is moderate and is generally without sustained periods of cold and heat considering its location on the globe. Northwestern and coastal Germany has a maritime climate caused by warm westerly winds from the North Sea. Inland, the climate is continental, marked by greater seasonal variations in temperature. The alpine regions in the south and some areas of the Central German Uplands have a mountain climate.
The structure of German families has changed from the “breadwinner” model to many different types of family situations. Some 65% of mothers are now employed, and many families in Germany have become smaller. Women will try to take a few years off for childcare but it is still very uncommon for the husband to stay at home and raise the children. There is also a large increase of couples not having children at all. The relationship between parents and children in Germany is one where the wishes of children are respected and accommodated, but the parents still have the final say.
The role of education in Germany is very important. The Basic Law of 1949 granted all German citizens a right to self-fulfillment. The goal of this educational policy is to provide each citizen with opportunities to grow personally, professionally, as well as a citizen in accordance to their abilities. The Lander is there to provide equal education opportunities and quality education for all. Education is free in Germany except for college, graduate, and postgraduate students who pay a fee each semester. For primary education students are expected to attend school for nine years starting at the age of six. For secondary education there is a variety of educational programs, tracks, and opportunities available for students. To graduate from these schools you would have to pass the Abitur, the qualifying exam for higher education. In the 70’s nearly every student that passed this test had access to higher education. That has now changed because the demand for universities has increased much more than the supply of universities. Higher education in Germany consisted of 314 institutions with about 1.9 million students in 92-93. German students can complete their first degree in about five years. Tuition amounts to no more than a fee each semester so most students just have to worry about living expenses. Unlike the US, Germany does not have elite universities. Instead, particular departments of certain universities are commonly seen as very good in a certain field. Also, different form the US in the fact that there is not much of a campus life and collegiate athletics are nearly nonexistent. The literacy rate of Germans over the age of 15 is 99 percent. It is ranked 30 out of 194 countries.
The German legal system is a civil law based on a comprehensive compendium of statutes, as compared to common law systems. They use an inquisitorial system which, means the judges are involved in investigating the facts of a case. The system of law was founded on the principles of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany though most of the important laws were developed prior to the 1949 constitution. Germans pride themselves on having quality products so the patent and trademark participation is very important to them.
In the mid 90’s German social structure consisted mainly of a large, prosperous central stratum which, contained upwards of 60% of their population. This stratum included mid-level civil servants, most salaried workers, skilled blue-collar workers, and the farmers. A small wealthier group consisting of an upper middle class and upper class offsets the poverty that the poor lower class experience. Germany ranks among the world’s leading countries. In terms of income, German families had the second highest among Europe in 1991. The Germans are very proud individuals. For many years most of the population was made up of German descent. For the population today about 95 percent of the citizens are of German descent.In the 90’s this began to change drastically with the Germans beginning to strongly believe in immigration as well as making these immigrants citizens.
German foods vary from each part of the country, but most of their diets consist of meat and varieties of sweet dessert and Stollen which, is a German fruit cake. When Peanut Butter & Co enters Germany the people of Germany can add peanut butter to their diets. They can use the peanut butter for a snack, a meal or even incoroporate it into their favorite dish. How about Peanut Butter Sausage or even Peanut Butter Beer? Since the Germans are world renowned for their sausage. Germans are also famous for their rye bread. They also produce large quantities of beer as well as consume large quantities of beer. In a 2010 report it showed that Germany ranked second in the world in per-capita beer consumption. From a study done from 2004 to 2007 the malnutrition rates in Germany have dropped.
There are many types of housing available in Germany. From mansions and country estates that the rich own to tents and welfare hotels for poor and homeless. Most Germans live in apartments or single-family houses. The rate of home ownership has dropped significantly from the early 1990’s until now. It used to be that about 40% of Germans owned their home. Now only about 25% of them do.
The national dress in Germany is the “tracht”, which in early times identified a person as belonging to a certain group in terms of social and legal status, origin or trade. Today, this term is used to describe any clothes that people in rural communities would wear. The women’s national dress is the “dirndl” which consists of a closefitting bodice combined with an apron of a different color. The more known national dress is the “lederhosen” which consists of knee-length trousers or short-pants made from leather are worn with rustic shoes and wool socks. Germans pride themselves in dressing well, regardless of where they are going. Appearance is very important to Germans, especially when regarding business. Business dress in Germany is formal and conservative. Businessmen wear dark conservative business suits. Women also dress conservatively and are refrained from wearing heavy makeup and excess jewelry.
About 90 Percent of the German population participates in the social security system. The system is supported partly by taxes, but mostly from payroll deductions. There is currently a strain on the system because there are not enough young people active in the system. The contributions are based on income and are automatically deducted from their gross salary. The most important part of the German social security system is their child allowance, maternity benefits, and student loans for universities.
Germany has one of the oldest healthcare plans in history. They pay into healthcare by being taxed. They may opt out of this and purchase their own private insurance if they like. This results in substantial savings for younger individuals in good health. With age and illness, private premiums will rise and the insured will usually cancel their private plans and turn to the government option.
Our company is built on passion for peanut butter. We want everyone to enjoy learning more about Peanut Butter & Co. Whether you visit our Sandwich shop in NYC, pick up a few jars in your local supermarket, or order someone a gift assortment from our online store. We look forward to the opportunity to serve you and give you the best experience that you never thought peanut butter could give you. Lee Zalben is the founder and president of New York City's world famous Peanut Butter & Co. While as an under-graduate student at Vassar College, he and his friends were known to make the wackiest but the best tasting peanut butter sandwich during late night study breaks. It was then when he had the idea of opening a peanut butter sandwich shop sprouted. The dream died out until he saw a vacant store near NY University. The next day he quit his job at the time and became a 26 year old entrepreneur starting a business plan for his dream shop. On December 21, 1998, the vacant storefront became the Peanut Butter & Co. Sandwich Shop, offering various kinds of peanut butter sandwiches. After a short matter of time people starting demanding to take the peanut butter home. Today, Peanut Butter & Co. is sold in over 10,000 stores around the country and in Canada, the U.K., Japan, and Hong Kong.
Peanut Butter & Co.'s line of all-natural peanut butter contains no hydrogenated oils, no cholesterol, no trans-fats and, no high fructose corn syrup. Our flavors are gluten-free, vegan (except for The Bee's Knees which is vegetarian), and certified kosher. Finally, the most important factor is that we only use United States grown peanuts in our peanut butter. There are currently 10 different peanut butter flavors which are as follow; Peanut Butter- Smooth Operator, Crunch Time, Cinnamon Raisin Swirl, The Heat is On, White Chocolate Wonderful, Dark Chocolate Dreams, The Bee’s Knees, Might Maple, Old Fashioned Smooth, and Old Fashioned Crunchy. To keep our company growing we have to switch it up. We have to provide the best ways to eat peanut butter to the point you can’t have enough of it, that’s why in 2005, Peanut Butter & Co published a cookbook which has numerous recipes for using peanut butter. We continue to find ways to bring you healthful and delicious products. We've just introduced our product nuts and snacks called Butter Toffee Peanuts, our new line of all-natural baking mixes and our new peanut butter packets that you can enjoy on the go; we call it “goodness at your fingertips.” We also have our famous Jams & Jellies which is our peanut butter soul mate, it’s called Seriously Strawberry. With the help of our cookbook and these product lines we are creating, we want to be able to provide the best to every bite.
Our new goal is to expand a litter further because as our saying goes “A world without peanut butter is a world we don't want to live in, and a country without peanut butter is one we're not sure we want to travel to.”(Lee Zalben) Sadly, many countries don’t share America’s love for peanut butter. After sometime researching all the geographical regions, we looked into Europe. Peanut butter is an especially tough sell in most of Europe. American peanut farmers have even tried advertising peanut butter to Europeans to give them a feel about the product since it could be a golden export for us, but no one's biting. The average European still eats less than one tablespoon of U.S. peanut butter in an entire year (Spiegel, Alison) . Peanut butter might be available in other countries, but it is either extremely hard to find, very expensive or sometimes barely similar to the peanut butter we know in the U.S. According to the export peanut butter market, we were surprised to discover the country with the largest market potential for peanut butter in Europe is Germany.
The country climate of Germany gives a positive outlook for peanut butter, the primary use being as a breakfast option in the bread spread category. As soon as we are able to show them the quality of our peanut butter, slowly but surely we can expand our product line over in Germany as well. We can leave their taste buds wanting more with just a tease of what’s about to come with our phenomenal product. Daily patterns are malleable to suggest that peanut butter be a component, an additive, an ingredient, or a snack. We can then begin to promote all the different ways the United States enjoys their peanut butter.
While researching on the competition that’s out in Germany we discovered German breakfasts are the stuff of legend. They have all sorts of options consisting of different cheeses, meats, multiple jams and honey, boiled eggs, fruit and vegetables, smoked fish and of course, every kind of roll seeded bread your heart could desire. What caught our attention is jams and honey. Germans only eat homemade jams as their favorite choice of spreads. This is where we want to target, those families that are missing jams other half peanut butter. We don’t want to take their jams away we want to add to their favorite choice of homemade jam with the perfect peanut butter to go with it. Some homemade jellies that a typical German eats are raspberry-mint, quince jelly, and strawberry-rhubarb. Some people even put jam on one side of their bread and pure honey on the other side. In United States we all know that peanut butter should be the spread on that other side of that jelly sandwich. We need to promote our peanut butter by showing the Germans the best way to eat Jams. We would consider this as an advantage rather than a competition because we don’t want to replace their favorite spread but just add to it. Especially since the jams of their choice are homemade.
A product that seems to be hitting headlines and has a high market in Germany is Nutella. As of today Nutella is the leading breakfast spread in Germany, aside from their jams. Whether they eat it for breakfast, snack, or desert, Nutella always leaves them wanting more. We need to change that and make sure Peanut Butter & Co. gets our foot in the door to show off how great our product is. Marketing strategy would be who we are targeting, how are we going to target to them, price strategy, and how we will advertise our products. Since Nutella is their leading spread this would be a little challenging. They already build loyal customers and are now promoting it with Soccer. In 2004, Nutella entered into a sponsorship deal with the German FA and launched a marketing campaign based around up-and-coming, young internationals. This was how they promoted their spread in Germany. So they’re latest commercial is about a soccer team fighting over the Nutella spread with the Maid. This was a successful market strategy because Germany main sport is soccer, or as they call it international “Football”.
Peanut Butter & Co. does not see much of a difference of the people they’re targeting to. We want to reach all age groups. The formula for success is realizing who your loyal customers, new customers, are and how to keep them both. As kids in the U.S we grow up eating peanut butter sandwiches, but what adult today does not like peanut butter. Most of the peanut butter on the supermarket shelves are formulated, packaged and marketed with kids in mind. But in reality, adults eat more peanut butter than kids every day so we don’t want to limit our target market. Most families grew up on mass market brands, as we get older, we are ready for something a bit more sophisticated and that's where Peanut Butter & Co. comes in. We're the good-for-you, indulgent treat that appeals to adults as well as kids. (Lee Zalben)
In the U.S.A our prices for a 16oz jar of peanut butter starts at $5 and their prices goes up depending on the size you get. For such an amazing quality product that’s a bargain. To export these products and still have a fair price in Germany we need to calculate how much the export cost would be. A box of 24 16oz Peanut Butter & Co. jars would be a total of $144.00 U.S currency. Per Santander Trade to export one parcel box 22x19x12, will cost $195.82 U.S currency. Of course we will be delivering more than one box at a time, but this is just to get an idea of what we should charge for each jar in Germany. We have decided to divide the whole exporting price ($195.82) by the 24 jars and came up with a price of $8.00 U.S currency. Their prices in Germany are a bit in the expensive side too. This is still cheaper than the competition (Nutella) jar that is $10.49 U.S currency for the 29.1 OZ (825 g) glass jar. (Wolf Paulus) In conclusion, we see that we have a great advantage to promote our product in Germany. Germany doesn’t know what they’re missing. At first it may be challenging to break them out their habits, but nothing is impossible. We have faith in our product that it can launch out to be a golden ticket for Peanut Butter & Co. We also may have to our advantage that Nutella is made out of hazelnut because due to a frost in Turkey, 70% of this year’s hazelnut crop has been wiped out. According to a NY article, “Hazelnut prices has skyrocketed hitting a 10-year-high and causing many to worry that prices will only continue to increase with the impending shortage”(Sophia Rosenbaum) . That’s not going to be good for Nutella business. Once the price goes up in the U.S they will also increase to export their product out. Fortunately for Peanut
Butter & Co. that can increase our business for being able to provide a high quality spread that Germany would love with every slice of bread and still is a bargain. The German economy is more than a favorable trade partner because it is the fourth largest economy in the world, contributing more than one fifth of the annual European Union’s GDP, and is the sixth largest market for American exports. Germany also has one of the largest consumer market places in the EU with its dense 80.8 million person population and a variety of over 60 world trade events. Especially in the North Rhine-Westphalia region, commonly referred to the heart of Europe because it borders the Netherlands and Belgium. But not only is Germany a good place to export our product, it could potentially be a jumping off point for profit in other countries due to its ties with the surrounding European Union member states.
As a member of the European Union, Germany is one of the 18 countries that currently uses the Euro as its traded currency and have done so since its formation back in 1999. By doing this, they have allowed themselves to become part of what is called an Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) which allows them to operate within a single or ‘common market’ place with the other member states. This union helps to create a free trade area, or trade bloc, within the different countries in order to ensure that the movement of labor, capital, and goods and services can be easily moved throughout by all. This is furthermore achieved by removing as many restrictions, barriers and tariffs as possible between the agreeing nations in order to control inflation and other trade hindering factors. And to ensure that these policies don’t go unheeded, the European Central Bank was then created to work with the national central bank of each member state in order to comply with commonly agreed upon standards. However, every country still relies on their own organization to create and maintain its overall structural policies. For Germany, that organization is the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht, or rather BaFin for short. An efficient banking supervisory system is essential in Germany’s economy if they want to obtain an adequate financial and banking system and BaFin is used as the facilitator. They currently manage over 1,850 banks and 700 financial services institutions in Germany and aim to maintain an certain stability within the European Banking System and hope to implement these practices throughout Europe. But Germany’s financial structure doesn’t just end there. Although Germany’s financial structure is overall watched by BaFin and the EU, there are different subsections to the structure itself which operate differently, both in their legal form and ownership, from each other and are therefore handled differently.
The country’s financial structure is described as that of a three pillar system which is comprised of private commercial banks, public banks and cooperative banks which all carry out commercial banking undertakings, such as accepting deposits or making loans, but do operate differently. Private Banks are those that are not government –owned but rather by an individual or limited group of partners and aren’t incorporated. Germany has over 300 private banks but its major players include the Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank and Dresdner Bank which are highly internationalized. These types of firms focus their energies on consumer relationships and market activities but overall only account for about 38% of Germany’s total assets.
Public Banks however are financial institutions that are held under a public sector such as the federal government, the country’s states or administrative districts and hold 29.4% of all banking assets. These firms’ beliefs are that it is in the best interest of the organization to focus on the public interests of their community and maintain a relationship with small and medium sized enterprises in order to attain a close and local interaction. In turn, even though it is they are required to not have an overall loss on their records, it isn’t their prerogative to maximize their profits because customer relations are valued more highly. In fact, due to their well-known degree of public trust, most middleclass citizens will have an account with Sparkeassen, Germany’s leading publicly owned bank.
Additionally, Cooperative Banks provide retail banking services, like taking deposits and lending money, to just about everyone but are specifically owned and controlled by its members and attains 11.8% of banking assets. The cooperative and retail banking services that are offered also include the actions carried out by credit unions, mutual savings banks and building societies. These banks are also regulated under both banking and cooperative legislation policies and are typically traded on the public stock markets and adhere to the cooperative principle of one person, one vote. This sector is managed by two central institutions which act as the primary credit banks known as the DZ and WGZ Banks which also compete with private banks for commercial and investment business.

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