TACO SHELLS
Devin
McDonough
Spring 2013
INTRODUCTION
Taco Shells seems to be controlled by Manufacturers
Only 5 National Brands participate
Very little Private Label presence
Betty Crocker is the leading manufacturers, but the others are
not much behind
 Harp’s carries the largest depth of SKUs, but does not have
the highest GMs




 Consumers are not brand loyal and are willing to switch
 Assortment is not very important to this category
 Target carries only 5 SKUs and has the lowest GMs
 Little to no category management-no Private Label
 Only 2 brands
NUMBER OF SKU’S
Harp’s
22
Wal-Mart
16
Harter House 12
Country Mart 7
Target
5
• I found only 34 SKUs at the
5 stores audited
• The assortments varied with
a rather large range of 17
• Taco Shells were not carried
at Walgreens, Dollar General
or Sam’s Club
• Taco Shells have not been
audited in previous
semesters
DEMOGRAPHICS
Popular in families with kids
• According to Blattberg’s Category Role Matrix, Taco
Shells are ‘Under Fire’ because the sales dollars are
medium and the GM% is low
• Based on Competition and Penetration, Taco Shells
are classified as ‘Win with Depth’
• Interesting because of the large range of SKUs
• Taco Shells show a fairly low GM% with an average
of 20% across retailers
• Only penetrate 21.5% of houses in the total US, so
not a very large percentage of households
• Only buy about 6 times per year
TOTAL HOUSEHOLDS - (BASE)
MEXICAN TOTAL U.S.
SHELLS WEST
SOUTH
CENTRAL
ITEM $
ITEM
PENETRATION
PURCHASE
% ITEM $ ON
% DOLLARS
CYCLE (IN
DEAL
WITH
ELAPSED DAYS)
MANUFACTURER
COUPON
118,912,630
21.5
64.4
15.9
3.0
17,914,830
28.6
63.3
12.4
3.2
CATEGORY
ROLE
DISPLAY SPACE
Share of Display Taco Shells
Wal-Mart
MFR
Harp's
Harter House
B & G Foods % of Display Space
% of SKUs
# of SKUs
Betty Crocker % of Display Space
40%
8%
40%
1
2
36%
35%
20%
60%
32%
33%
14%
60%
7
7
4
1
3
% of Display Space
24%
15%
15%
10%
% of SKUs
31%
18%
8%
14%
5
4
1
1
% of Display Space
24%
18%
20%
20%
% of SKUs
19%
18%
25%
29%
3
4
3
2
# of SKUs
# of SKUs
Mission
% of Display Space
Food Service % of SKUs
12%
18%
# of SKUs
Private Label % of Display Space
% of SKUs
# of SKUs
Total
5%
44%
# of SKUs
La Tiara
Target
48%
% of SKUs
Kraft
Country Mart
4
5%
18%
25%
50%
6%
14%
25%
43%
1
3
3
3
% of Display Space
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
% of SKUs
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
16
22
12
7
5
# of SKUs
LEADING MANUFACTURER
Found in all
stores
No single SKU
found in all
stores
Betty
Crocker
Prices are within
a few cents of
competitors’
Old El Paso
brand
GROSS MARGINS
Ta c o Sh e l ls s h ow l ow G M %
H a rp’ s s e e ms to h ave to o m a ny SK Us
a n d Ta rg et to o few
P ri va te La be l s h ow s s t ro n gest a t
H a rp’ s a n d Co un t r y M a r t
La Ti a ra P ro duce s h i g hest G M %
Gross Margins by Facings
% Gross Margins by Manufacturer
HarpsWM-%GM
%GM
HH-%GM CM-%GM
MFR
B&G
Foods
Average GM%
Betty
Crocker
Average GM%
Kraft
Average GM%
N
N
N
La Tiara
37%
Average GM%
N
Mission
Food
Average GM%
Private
Label
Average GM%
Total
Average GM%
N
Target%GM
1
24%
55%
10%
7
7
4
1
3
12%
14%
19%
5%
5
4
1
1
27%
36%
24%
24%
3
4
3
2
13%
15%
14%
1
Total
5
5
11%
11%
1
2
4
Total
Harter House
13
8
1
22
19%
22%
33%
21%
19%
40%
1
2
3
Total
Country Mart
1
2
Total
5
6
1
12
23%
25%
19%
23%
4
3
7
29%
37%
32%
Target
Harp's
.1139
4
31%
11
5
16
2
16%
16%
Average % GM
1
2
Total
12%
9%
N
N
# of SKUs
Wal-Mart
1
3
3
3
14%
21%
23%
32%
11%
16
22
12
7
5
MFR
Betty
Crocker
Kraft
La Tiara
Mission
Food
Service
Private
Label
Total
Country
Mart
Avg GM%
12%
37%
% of
Facings
# of SKUs
40%
8%
2
1
Avg GM%
10%
9%
16%
24%
55%
% of
Facings
# of SKUs
60%
44%
32%
33%
14%
3
7
7
4
1
Avg GM%
12%
14%
19%
5%
% of
Facings
# of SKUs
31%
18%
8%
14%
5
4
1
1
Avg GM%
27%
36%
24%
24%
% of
Facings
# of SKUs
19%
18%
25%
29%
3
4
3
2
Avg GM%
11%
% of
Facings
# of SKUs
18%
4
Avg GM%
16%
31%
19%
40%
% of
Facings
# of SKUs
6%
14%
25%
43%
1
3
3
3
Avg GM%
11%
14%
21%
23%
32%
% of
Facings
# of SKUs
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
5
16
22
12
7
GM% AND FACINGS
B&G
Foods
% Gross Margins by Manufacturer and Location
Harter
Target
Wal-Mart
Harp's
House
PRIVATE LABELS
• Private Labels in Taco Shells are not very
strong brands and get very little display
space
• Private labels have an average of 25% gross
margin
• All stores but Target carried Private Label
brands
• Harp’s, Harter House and Country Mart have
3 different SKUs of Private Label
• Wal-Mart only carries 1 SKU of Private Label
and displays it on the top shelf in the
furthest right facing
PRIVATE LABEL PRESENCE
 I think Private Label will have a decreasing presence
in the future of the Taco Shell category
 Stores do not display them as well as national brands
 Wal-Mart even has separate displays outside of the
Hispanic Foods aisle for Taco ingredients
 Stores are making more on Private Labels but not much
 There are no Private Label Taco Kits-which are very
common in national brand SKUs
Assortment
•Cut out similar SKUs (12
shells and 15 shells)
•Add PL meal kits
Display
•Merchandise PL in between
Old El Paso and La Tiara
shells, in middle of display
HARP’S RECOMMENDATION
Increase
Private Label
•Increase the attention to
Private Label
•Add SKUs and assortment