Driscoll's of Europe (DoE) was founded in March 2009 by the Californian Driscoll's Strawberry Associates, Inc. (from now on, Driscoll's) –the world’s largest marketer of wild berries– and the Spanish Alconeras, with an 80% and 20% stake respectively. Based in Breda (the Netherlands), it aimed to increase Driscoll's varieties sales in the continental European market, develop a strong brand position in this market, and consolidate the production of these varieties in Europe and North Africa. In this way, it would replicate in Europe the original model of the U.S. parent, which enhanced innovation, differentiation, and proprietary brand, and whose success was vouched for by the results obtained in the last decades.
The Case sets forth the decision that DoE’s Board of Directors has to take in February 2011, when one of the company’s best European customers informs that it will only continue to work with DoE’s products if these are packaged under its own private label. Is Driscoll's success model replicable in Europe? Would it need some sort of adjustment? What are the differences between the European and the U.S. markets?
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