Assignment Task: ABC Dairy Ltd (ABC) was incorporated in 2008 as a dairy company (manufacturer and wholesaler). The company's product development was done in Seneca College Food Science Department, however, when they first started, the products were made by co-packers.
The company is focused on cultured dairy products such as Yogurt, Kefir, Sour Cream, Yogurt drink (Ayran) among others. Their current annual sales is close to $3M. Their products are also sold by distributors, and through direct sale to chains such as Costco and Walmart. ABC Dairy Ltd (ABC) also has in place private label production contracts with restaurant chains across Ontario.
From 2009 to 2019 ABC enjoyed a steady increase in the sales of its products. For example, one of their flagship products, Ayran (salty yogurt drink) sold about 400 liters a week when they started in 2008. They subsequently reached 4000 liters a week in sales in 2019. Their co-packers do not have enough capacity to keep up with their increased demand. As a result, they started running into supply issues.
In 2017, with expansion in mind, they incorporated a new company Ontario Dairy! Inc. This was in order to initiate a dairy processing plant project to make products in house. In 2018 Ontario Dairy! Inc. purchased the assets of a former dairy processor in Ajax, On. This started the company's process to produce all their products in-house from 2019.
As a result, the company has their own Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) licensed dairy plant, which has provided them with the following:
Access to 10 million liters of raw milk supply a year
Ability to develop new products
The ability to offer a private label to high volume clients
ABC and Ontario Dairy! Inc. have the same ownership structure, located in Mississauga, On. Both companies: ABC and Ontario Dairy! Inc. are federally incorporated.
They have limited international experience. However, before the pandemic, they exported four shipments to the New Jersey area to test the export procedure and to get customer feedback. The custom and shipping process were smooth and they had great customer feedback.
As a Government Business Development Consultant, employed by Export Development Canada (EDC), the company needs your team's advice in order to access the United States Market (or any market that you think would be best).
The company ideally wants to target States in The Northeastern United States of America. They would appreciate your help with the following:
Question: What Intellectual Property Protection should the company consider?