The company is considering three nut mixes for inclusion in the new product line: Regular Mix, Deluxe Mix, and Holiday Mix. Each mix is made from 5 nuts in different combinations:

• The Regular Mix consists of 15% almonds, 25% Brazil nuts, 25% filberts, 10% pecans, and 25% walnuts
• The Deluxe Mix consists of 20% of each type of nut
• The Holiday Mix consists of 25% almonds, 15% Brazil nuts, 15% filberts, 25% pecans, and 20% walnuts

An accountant at Brown & Haley completed a cost analysis and determined that the profit contribution per pound is $1.65 for the Regular Mix, $1.90 for the Deluxe Mix, and $2.35 for the Holiday Mix.

Different nuts come from different suppliers. They are shipped in bulk containers and ordering a partial container is not possible. The currently available container sizes and costs are as follows:

Type of Nut	Container Size (pounds)	Cost per Container
Almond	6000	$7800
Brazil	7500	$7350
Filbert	7500	$7150
Pecan	6000	$7200
Walnut	7500	$7450

One container of each of the types of nuts has been ordered and is on the way.

The sales and marketing teams have projected that initial demand for the different types of mixes will be as follows:

Type of Mix	Orders (pounds)
Regular	10,000
Deluxe	5,000
Holiday	3,000

The president of Brown & Haley wants to commit to producing enough of the various mixes to meet the projected initial demand, even if not immediately profitable, in order to introduce these new mixes to the market.

1. How much of each type of mix should be made using only the nuts already ordered and keeping in mind the President’s requirement to meet the initial demand for each type of mix? What is the resulting optimized profit?
2. Sometimes small amounts of certain types of nuts become available in secondary markets. Which types of nuts should be pursued in order to increase profit?(excel please)

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Req1 Almond Brazil Filbert Pecan Walnut cost per container 7800 7350 7150 7200 7450 Pounds 6000 7500 ... View the full answer