(Narrow Vulture?)

Dominance in a chosen market is a key strategy for success. How a company gains that dominance is not for the faint-hearted. I remember some years ago my love for Eagle potato chips. The corporation was the Avis of nut products and had entered the potato chip industry as a way of increasing its overall market penetration for snack foods. Oh, I dearly loved those potato chips. It however had not escaped my notice that as time went on, they became harder and harder to find and when I did find them in a grocery store I often had to get down on my knees and reach far back on a shelf to get them. Then, they disappeared completely. I was like an addict without a fix and cursed my misfortune of living in a small town because I was sure that the potato chips could now be found only in major markets. I did not find out what happened until sometime later when I read an article about Frito-Lay's business strategies for market dominance. It seems that Frito-Lay keeps close tabs on its competitors through taste-tests as well as economic indicators. Frito-Lay determined that Eagle chips were superior in taste to its products (I readily concurred). Frito-Lay also determined that there was no way it could develop a product that tasted as good nor was it willing to expend the resources to try. So instead they developed a strategy that would use its size, vast market network, strong product placement relationships with grocery stores, and pricing discounts to drive Eagle out of the market totally. Eagle, being a smaller company and new to the potato chip sector, could not hold on to enough market share with Frito-Lay's onslaught so chose to exit the market. This example should be illustrative of the dastardly deeds which can and do occur in business practice.