Quest Foods Asia Pacific

and the CRM Initiative

Akshay Mehta
Apoorv Sharma
Mohit Bhandari
Preeti Agrawal
 Introduction

• Quest was Holland based company & major division of

UK based ICI.
• Product line includes: flavors & textures, cosmetics,
toiletries, dental products & household goods.
• Food division was organized around products, end users
and geography.
• Six product groups: Diary, beverages, bakery &
confectionary, meals soups sauces & dressings, snack
foods & meat industry
• Four end users: Bakery, savory, beverage &
dairy.

• Four geographies

• Success Mantra: global network, marketing

acumen, world class R &D, application skills,
culture of team building
 Food Flavouring Industry

• Flavoring industry consists of two different

market segments: Generic market & custom
flavoring market.
• Strict confidentiality of formulation.
• Quest focus: custom flavoring segment.
• It provides increased value added services:
market research for consumer flavor
preferences, innovation and cost effectiveness.
 The Competitive Landscape
Quest’s major competitors:-

• Givaudan Roure
• Firmenich
• International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF)
• Several Japanese players including Takasako
and Hasegawa
 New Trends in the industry

• Blurring of boundaries between developer and

manufacturer
• Reduction in development time
• New products and ingredients
• Functional foods and convenience food
solutions
• Quest committed to innovation
 Quest International

• Based in Naarden, Holland.

• Major division of UK- based ICI.
• Flavoring and texturing a part of the food
division which was organized around
(1)products (2)end users (3)geography.
• The food division had 6 product groups,4 end
users and 4 geographic regions.
 Quest International

Attributes contributing to quest’s success :-

1. global network
2. marketing acumen
3. World class R&D and application skills
4.Division culture encouraged people to work
together.
 Quest’s BPR Process

• An attempt to better serve customers by

streamlining the business processes.

• Improvement in critical measures of

performance-cost, quality, speed and service.

• To find a new business model

 Quest’s BPR Process

• BPR key enabler of the seven other priorities

they had set.
• Flexible design and possibilities.
• Should be earnings enhancing.
• Double revenues within 5 years.
• To align all the processes.
 Knowledge Management at Quest

• Two Methods of storing knowledge:

->In “Employees Brains”

->Process of Codifying Data

But the problem was Codification of highly

creative and innovative processes as the
creative process of the application specialist is
always unique.
 Advantage of Elaborate Global
Knowledge Management System
Information at the tip of the key decision maker if
he wants to design a new winning cookie flavor:
No need to Reinvent the wheel

• Manufacturing processes
• Cost structures
• Market Research
• Particular ingredients
• Specific information regarding flavors
 Quest’s CRM System

->Core of CRM:

• Allowing Customers to tap into Quest’s vast

global knowledge banks.

• The food business needs to be glocal:

Global customer base + Local culture and
country specific tastes.
 Quest’s CRM System

• Need: Developing flavors and textures for

different cultures

• Importance of CRM: Helps in bringing global

knowledge of Quest to local customers.

• Strengthen Quest’s position as a preferred

supplier by providing value added services to
customers.
 Features of CRM System

• GUI to share key data with customers.

• To expand GUI to enable customers share their
data regarding their processes and food
development initiatives with Quest.
• Facilitate global cooperation between
customers.
• Effectiveness and Efficiency of Sales People.
 Customer Interface

• Modular design which allows scalability of end use

applications within three product categories:
– Bakery/confectionary
– Dairy/ beverage
– Noodles

Interface with R&D, Marketing and Purchasing

Department of Quest’s customers.
 Three Stages in Rolling Out CRM

• Phase 1:Internet site (non-interactive)

– Generalized product information

– Major business of Quest globally
– Option to enter private area for special
customers
Three Stages in Rolling Out CRM

Phase 2: Interaction

- Customer needed specific information.

- Interactions facilitated by human interactions.
 Three Stages in Rolling Out CRM

• Phase 3: Full Integration

- Eliminating human interface

- Action on customer’s part will automate work
flow on Quest’s part directly
 4 technological requirement for
successful INTEGRATION
1. Compatibility of critical customer data fields.
2. Gathering and Codification of relevant data on
a global basis.
3. Testing (Internal Interface, Adding Filters, Beta
Testing)
4. Full Roll Out To Customers.
 Timing & Location Issues

• Widely believed by managers related to BPR

that sophisticated CRM will help create
competitive advantage.
• Common view point of management is that CRM
being rolled out is very slow.
• Slow speed of CRM rollout is a myth.
• Analyzing compatibility of critical customer data
fields, Universal codification of data & testing of
system would take a lot of time.
 Timing & Location Issues

• Another concern is Location of rollout of CRM

• CRM techniques being championed from
Singapore.
• Management believes markets like Asia which
are not yet mature do not need CRM.
• Cost of trying to get synergies far outweigh the
benefits.
• e-commerce is slower in Asia.
 Timing & Location Issues

• Less than 10% are multinationals in Asia which

would benefit from CRM.
• Worry over lack of resources in Asia Pacific
region for Quest International.
 Pressure to Implement CRM

• Challenge for providing CRM leadership.

• Initial estimates were that Quest needed
between half a year & two years to implement
CRM.
• Peculiar requirement of International
Snackfoods.
• Varying tastes in Asia makes a global CRM
tougher
 Pressure to Implement CRM

• Demand for greater transparency in Quest

Foods by International Snackfoods.
• Pressure from competitors to service
International Snackfoods.
• Globalizing the CRM standards is not
considered favourable by the customer because
it wants local tastes.
• Standardization in terms of quality is needed.
 Timing & Location Issues

• Widely believed by managers related to BPR

that sophisticated CRM will help create
competitive advantage.
• Common view point of management is that CRM
being rolled out is very slow.
• Slow speed of CRM rollout is a myth.
• Analyzing compatibility of critical customer data
fields, Universal codification of data & testing of
system would take a lot of time
 Moving Forward

• Reluctance of being outdone by a competitor.

• Tide in favor of CRM.
• Customers going for re-engineering & not
demanding CRM strongly.
• Country centered approach to product
development of customer meant that linkages to
Quest’s regional & global technology is less
important.
 Moving Forward

• Opinion 1: To delay CRM & focus on building

technology skills in major countries like China,
Korea & Japan.
• Actions in Asia shall have Global consequences.
• Opinion 2: Focus on small nimble technology
oriented food company.
• Partner Selection & Rollout Selection closely
related.
 Scenario 1:

• It implements internal knowledge management

system first & then proceed with BPR.
• This delays CRM for several years.
• Ensures internal systems work closely before
linking with a partner.
• Delay gives time for Asia to catch up with
technology.
 Scenario 2

• It goes into CRM with a customer who would

agree to act as learning partner.
• CRM would be developed based on strategic
business partner’s needs.
 How to choose

• Look at your business agenda & choose your

priorities.
• Then make decisions & allocate resources.
• CRM should infact complete its two objectives:
Provide the firm competitive advantage & Make
money for the firm.
Thanks 
• Quest Foods International is one of the
world's largest manufacturers of
fragrances, flavors and textures for the
food, beverage and consumer products
industries. Quest Foods' regional vice-
president is in the process of implementing
a business process re-engineering project
for the company. His current efforts focus
on developing an information technology-
based customer relationship management