COFCO Xinjiang Tunhe Co., Ltd., Spanish Version Case Solution And Analysis, HBR Case Study Solution & Analysis of Harvard Case Studies

In 2005, COFCO Ltd., one of China's greatest and most successful companies, obtained Xinjiang Tunhe, a tomato processing company, which had been, in recent years, poorly handled. Tunhe's management team shifted and set out to create a culture of professionalism and impressed upon the employees the customer came. Tunhe president, Qin Yelong, had ambitious targets for the company. He needed Tunhe to be the world's largest provider of tomato products (mainly paste) within three years. To do so, Tunhe needed to ensure relationships with top-of-the-line international customers, like H.J. Heinz and Unilever. These companies were interested in Tunhe as a provider, but needed guarantees the business could provide a reliable supply of high quality before they could finalize long term contracts with Tunhe and safe tomato paste year in and year out.

Qin and his management team understood that to be number one, Tunhe would need to take a lead role in modernizing China's present "peasant way of agriculture." The challenge: How to handle so many farmers (the amount was expected to grow to 300,000 if Qin's earnings goals were achieved) so as to ensure consistent tomato quality and security without drastically increasing prices. Qin realized that Tunhe had a chance to create a new style of agriculture, which could be the model for all agribusiness in China moving forward. On the other hand, a misstep could lead Heinz and other big international companies to look elsewhere for their supply conditions.

PUBLICATION DATE: June 30, 2008 PRODUCT #: 515S08-HCB-SPA

This is just an excerpt. This case is about SALES & MARKETING