Supermarket Deli

Case Study Intro

The client is a national supermarket chain that is facing a very difficult situation. Low- price competitors like Wal-Mart, Costco, and Dollar General are stealing share and eroding margins in the traditional grocery business. Therefore, other departments within its stores, such as produce and deli, are becoming increasingly important to our client’s financial health.

In particular, the client is concerned about their deli department, a $700M business that has been reporting no profit growth over the last few years. The deli department consists of two main business lines: 1) deli meats and 2) prepared foods (sandwiches, fried chicken, etc.)

We have been asked to help the client understand why their deli profits are not growing and what they need to do to turn things around.

Case Study Overview

Case study questions like this one require you to solve a profitability problem for a client. In this case, the client is a supermarket chain that has asked you to find out why 1 line of business has seen 0 profit growth in recent years, and to also recommend a strategy to get back to consistent profit growth.

We recommend that you use the Profitability Framework to build out a structure for the case, keeping in mind that the basic framework by itself likely will not be enough to effectively solve the case. Get creative and build a custom structure tailored to the specific needs of the case.

Prepping for a final round interview at BCG? This case study is similar to a case you will see in a final round. In addition, there are several math exhibits to analyze/interpret inside the case.

BCG Interview Tips

BCG is consistently impressed with candidates that showcase 1 of 2 things: a logical structure, and clear communication.

Dig deep to build a structure that follows business principles.

In this case, focus on your communication and overall “polish” – think presenting your final recommendation to a F500 CEO in Chicago.

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