Snack Food

Case Prompt

A large salted snack food company has steadily been losing market share over that past two years, from a high of 20% to the current level of 18%. Profits as a percent of sales, however, have been growing.

What could be causing this? Give me some factors you would attribute to causing a drop in market share.

Case Study Overview

This business case interview involves a snack food company that is slowly losing market share. Your job is to dig into the data, crunch the numbers, and determine the cause(s) of the decline.

The Market Study framework is a good starting place for your structure for the case. However, don’t rely on the basic case frameworks in case studies. You’ll want to build the best possible structure for the problem at hand, which often means thinking outside the box and incorporating bits and pieces of other frameworks into your structures.

Preparing for a first round interview? This business case interview is a good practice case for a 1st round case. No math diagrams appear inside the case.

McKinsey Interview Pointers

Crush your McKinsey interview by becoming proficient with the case frameworks.

Not only will you need to know the 4 main frameworks inside and out, but also be able to blend them together to create custom structures inside case interviews.

1 more pointer in this business case interview: do an audit of your performance, identifying 1-2 areas with room for growth. Prioritize those areas in your practice going forward.

Need out-loud case practice? Book time with an expert coach who can give valuable feedback on your performance.