MTI’s success with USA’s Limoneira to be published in London

Thursday, 30 March 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The strategy-critical project carried out by MTI Consulting for Limoneira, the Nasdaq-listed and USA’s largest lemon producer, is to be published as a case study in an upcoming publication by Routledge of London in a book titled ‘Management Consultancy Insights and Real Consultancy Projects’.

Commenting on the success of this project, the President of California-based Limoneira Harold Edwards said: “From our inception in 1893, we have been part of the Sunkist’s global distribution system that gave us access to global markets, however we were essentially the supply chain, while Sunkist focused on the demand chain. Naturally, we had to share the rewards from the value-chain proceeds. In 2008, we wanted to explore the prospects of direct go-to-market model internationally and that we realized is a high-risk, high reward decision. Having previously worked with MTI (and Hilmy Cader, their CEO) in the Philippines in my role at Ralston Purina, we reached out to them.”

This strategy consulting project with Limoneira, which was based on MTI’s 8S, involved a comprehensive scan of the global lemon market, based on which the strategising process took place. An international team of MTI’s Strategy Consultants and Analysts were on the ground in Ventura County, California, working closely with the senior management of Limoneira, through consulting clinics and strategizing workshops.

The key focus areas of the plan centred around demand generation, brand equity development, customer conversion, channel transition management, new market development (especially from newly emerging regions) and then ensuring that Limoneira’s structure, staff and systems are all aligned to the strategy. The project culminated with a comprehensive presentation to the Limoneira Board that was subject to intense scrutiny and challenging – given extremely high-risk, risk-reward consequences of such a strategic decision.

“At the end of the MTI project we decided to go-to-market directly with our lemon business utilising our vertically integrated supply chain and the Limoneira brand. Looking back we are extremely pleased with that decision which has paid off significantly as reflected in our business performance and financial results. MTI played a pivotal role in this exercise and did so while getting the buy-in and inclusiveness of our team,” said Edwards.

MTI’s CEO Hilmy Cader who personally led the MTI team on this project said: “This was one of most intense international projects we’ve handled. The exposure our team got, including hands-on front-end market interface in many countries, has helped the team’s learning and sharpened our ability to handle such international projects.”

Limoneira is a leading global producer of lemons, oranges and avocados. The company’s portfolio also includes residential and commercial real-estate, water rights across 11,000 acres and now a dedicated sustainability company that is into solar farming.