Discovering Modern Native Feasts: A Case Study in Acquisitions Practices at Arsenal Pulp Press

This report analyzes the acquisitions strategy at Arsenal Pulp Press, a Canadian independent publisher in Vancouver, British Columbia. The first section of this report describes Arsenal’s brand and mission, and how their mandate has changed over the years. The second section consists of a case study of Arsenal’s acquisition strategy in relation to their brand and mission: the acquisition of a cookbook produced during the summer of 2013, entitled Modern Native Feasts: Healthy, Innovative, Sustainable Cuisine. This section outlines how and why Arsenal decided to publish the manuscript, and how acquiring the work proved to be more problematic than expected for the company. The final section of this report considers why Arsenal made the decision to publish this manuscript in spite of the serious challenges that arose, describes how acquiring the work fit into the company’s overall acquisitions strategy and mandate, and explains why the project was deemed financially viable although so many unexpected hurdles had arisen.