Assignment 4 - Forming an opportunity belief

1) My beginning point

I am a Vegetarian for a already 4 years now and I never have a problem with my diet when I am able to cook for myself. But as soon as I am on the go and I have to get food in restaurants it oftentimes becomes kind of difficult. Since I am in the US (maybe you should know that I am an international student and originally from Germany), I think about vegetarian food quiet often, because it is really difficult to get vegetarian food in fast food restaurants. That is why I think, there might be an opportunity for more vegetarian food in fast food restaurants or maybe even a vegetarian fast food chain.

2) Describing my belief

The unmet need is vegetarian or vegan food in form of fast food, like vegetarian burgers. I think most of the people who are conscious about their nutrition or eat vegetarian/vegan would wish to have more vegetarian alternatives at fast food restaurants. Simply, because it’s more healthy than the fat meat provided by most fast food chains. Although there have always been people with special diets, the trend to vegetarian or vegan food increased in the recent years, causing more people to think about their nutrition. Until now, people who eat vegetarian or vegan don’t find much at fast food restaurants. Instead of eating a proper (veggie) burger, they thus have go with salad oftentimes. But why should you be limited in your meal choice when there are a lot of delicious vegetarian meals, which could be offered? Definitely an unmet need for me and I believe for many others too. That is why I think that an opportunity for a new vegetarian fast food chain or more vegetarian food in fast-food restaurants exists to 80%.

3) Identify the prototypical customer
I think the prototypical customer is a person between 16 and 30 years, maybe a student or even a young professional. The prototypical customer cares about his nutrition and might be a vegetarian or vegan person. Since students and young professionals are very busy, they oftentimes do not have enough time to cook for themselves and go for the fast-food option. The problem with fast-food for the prototypical customer is, that it’s fast but not healthy and most of the time not vegetarian too.

4) Interviews

Interview Partner #1: Torie (17y, freshman at the UF):

• Do you care a lot about nutrition and do you have any special diets?
  
  Her answer: “I do care about my nutrition. I don’t eat red meat for example, because it’s not good for you. But since red meat is supposed to contain a lot of iron I try to substitute that by eating a lot of broccoli. But besides that, I don’t have any special diet.” 

• Would vegetarian food at fast food restaurants be an unmet need for you?
  
  Her answer: “I don’t really think about vegetarian options as long as they have chicken and turkey for me. As long as they have chicken and turkey, I don’t look for the vegetarian side of the menu. But I do have vegetarian friends, and we oftentimes have to go to other places where they can find something vegetarian.” 

• Is the need for vegetarian fast food new for you or has it always existed? (e.g. was there a change from high school to college, or a change in your nutrition, etc.)
  
  Her answer: “Since I never had the need for vegetarian food, it is neither new nor always existing.” 

• What are you doing to meet the need?
  
  Her answer: “Since I don’t have the need, I do not have to take any action.” 

Interview Partner #2: Ann (20y, international student from the Netherlands):

• Do you care a lot about nutrition and do you have any special diets?
  
  Her answer: “I do care a lot about my nutrition and I care a lot about what I eat. I am a vegetarian, so I have a special diet” 

• Would vegetarian food at fast food restaurants be an unmet need for you?
  
  Her answer: “I would really like there to be some more vegetarian options, especially when you are out with a group it is always kind of difficult, sometimes I can only eat fries” 

• Is the need for vegetarian fast food new for you or has it always existed? (e.g. was there a change from high school to college, or a change in your nutrition, etc.)
  
  Her answer: “I am a Vegetarian for one year now. I was also a vegetarian as a kid and back at this time it was really hard to find something vegetarian. Even now I try to avoid to go to fast food restaurants because I have so little options. It’s definitely worse here in the US than back home in the Netherlands.” 

• What are you doing to meet the need?
  
  Her answer: “I always ask for vegetarian options (e.g. in the dining hall for vegetarian burgers).” 

Interview Partner #3: Anna-Maria (23y, law student in Germany):

• Do you care a lot about nutrition and do you have any special diets?
  
  Her answer: “I do care about my nutrition. I try to eat healthy stuff, like a lot of fruits (e.g. for breakfast I always eat a muesli with fruit and nuts, or oatmeal). I like to eat fast-food as well, but I try to keep it at a minimum. I also try to cook for myself as often as possible and to get as much unprocessed food as possible. I don’t follow any special diet aside from being vegetarian  for two months now. But that’s the only special diet I follow.” 

• Would vegetarian food at fast food restaurants be an unmet need for you?
  
  Her answer: “Vegetarian food at fast food restaurants would definitely be an unmet need for me. I have recently been to Canada and there they have a fast-food chain called A&W, which has a beyond meat burger. This burger was really awesome, but you can hardly find it anywhere else. Thus, I would be very happy to have more vegetarian options like this in fast-food restaurants.” 

• Is the need for vegetarian fast food new for you or has it always existed? (e.g. was there a change from high school to college, or a change in your nutrition, etc.)
  
  Her answer: “The need for vegetarian fast food has not always existed, because I decided only two months ago to go vegetarian. Before my time as a vegetarian, the need wasn’t really there. But I was always aware of the fact that vegetarians have only very limited options in fast-food chains like McDonalds. But since the time I stopped eating meat, need for more vegetarian food options developed really quickly.” 

• What are you doing to meet the need?
  
  Her answer: “I always try to get a vegetarian alternative of fast-food meals, e.g. vegetarian kebab or just eating fries instead of a burger. But to be honest, I stopped going to fast-food restaurants back in Germany, because they just don’t offer much for vegetarians.” 

5) Reflect

The most surprising thing of all three interviews was, that all three persons knew about the limited vegetarian options in fast-food restaurants and all three were in situations where they had to leave a fast-food restaurant due to its limited vegetarian menu. Furthermore, I learned that only the two girls, who eat vegetarian, really care about vegetarian food options. Although my first interview partner cares about her nutrition, she does not look for healthy food options in fast-food restaurants. Maybe people already committed to eat something unhealthy when deciding for a fast-food restaurant?

6) Summarize

• How much of your original opportunity is still there?
  
  My original opportunity is still there. I think there are enough people who eat vegetarian or who regularly watch out for vegetarian food options, that a vegetarian fast-food restaurant would definitely have a future. An alternative would be to produce vegetarian food options and offer them to the big fast-food chains. 

• Do you believe that your new opportunity is more accurate than when you started?
  
  No, I don’t think so. Although the interviews strengthened my belief that fast-food restaurants should definitely provide more vegetarian food options, I am not sure whether it is better to open up a vegetarian fast-food restaurant or to produce vegetarian alternatives and offer them to already existing fast-food chains. 

• How much do you think entrepreneurs should 'adapt' their opportunities based on customer feedback? (In other words, is there a trade-off between adapting and staying firm?)
  
  I think it is important for entrepreneurs to stick to their ideas. Oftentimes they are so new, that customers cannot really imagine them. But I think it’s always important for entrepreneurs to have the reality in mind and what customers are currently thinking about their idea.