Food safety issues will test your relationships
Prepare for the inevitable
Producing food and beverage is a challenging business. There are so many factors that can impact the safety of the food you produce. As we continue with our series on building relationships with retailers, we will explore what you need to do when you do have a food safety issue or recall.
No producer or processor wants to have an issue with food safety or a product recall. Unfortunately, you probably should look at it as inevitable. That does not mean you are doing things wrong or taking the proper care. These issues can be caused by something totally out of your control like an ingredient or an equipment malfunction. If you look at it as inevitable, you can prepare and be ready as opposed to react.
Prepare in advance
The best time to prepare for an issue is before it ever happens. You and your employees can plan a rational approach. You can figure out what you are good at and where you need help. Consider what could go wrong and develop standard operating procedures (SOP’s) to get you through the situation.
Your SOPs have to deal with the processing and functional tasks. They should also be done for your response to consumers and customers. You should have a plan to deal with a minor food safety issue and all the way to a major recall. Consider who should communicate to customers and what the message will be.
Be proactive with customers
The last thing you want is your customer to hear about an issue from anyone but you. These are never calls you want to make, but it is part of your job. Get as many facts as you can before you make the call but err on the side of early as opposed to late. Tell them as much as you can and remember they are more concerned with the impact on their business, than the impact on your business.
Retailers understand there will be issues. They have dealt with them in the past and they will deal with them in the future. It is a reality of the business we are in. Retailers do get frustrated with issues, especially if they are preventable or caused by a supplier’s inability to execute.
Obviously, the safety of consumers takes precedence, but you also need to understand it will impact your relationships. The challenge for retailers is their stores are mentioned more in recalls than the manufacturer and when products are not available, they lose sales.
Strive for building confidence with customers and consumers
If/when you do have an issue, your strategy with customers should be to get back on track as soon as it is safe to do so and ultimately build confidence.
Getting back to producing products safely and on the shelf is so important. You will need to focus on both consumers and customers. The message is similar, but you need to tailor it for the audience. Consumers need the confidence the food and beverage they are buying for their family is safe. This needs to continue for a while.
Your customers need the confidence you are getting back to where you need to be. They also need to understand what you are doing to create demand and deliver sales. You need to find the right balance between not enough and too much information. This is where it is so important to know your customer. Some category managers will want to be informed daily, and others will be satisfied with a few updates.
The severity of the situation will impact this and the experience your category managers have will also play a role. A seasoned veteran who has dealt with issues in the past will probably (not always) be satisfied with less frequent communication whereas a new category manager might want more updates. Every category manager is different, and they do change as they get more experience. When you have a good relationship, you can even ask how much they want you to communicate.
Build your relationship before, during and after the issue
You have to find your own style but there is nothing wrong with talking about some of the challenges you face. You do not want to be chicken little and talk about it all the time. It does help if they understand some unique issues you might face.
You can improve your relationship with customers during an issue. Proactive communication and few surprises will help you when you are in the middle of a food safety event or recall.
It is reality to breathe a sigh of relief when the issue is over.
You should not stop communicating with your customer. Just let them know the changes you have made are delivering positive results. You can share this in an email once in a while. We never want to brag about food safety, but you can report on it. It helps them to know you are on it. Your category manager will get asked questions internally. Make sure they have the answers to defend their decision to keep your products on their shelf.
Turing a negative into a positive
We said this last week and we will repeat it again. If you handle a challenging situation properly you can get through the issue and have a better relationship in the long term.
Peter
SKUFood Recipes for Success Podcast
The response to our SKUFood Recipe for Success podcast has been great. We want to thank everyone who has been with us as a guest. So many interesting conversations about our industry.
In this episode of Recipes for Success, we sit down with Karl Wirtz, President of WG Corporate, to explore the vital but often misunderstood world of co-packing in the food industry. With decades of experience helping brands find packaging solutions from concept to shelf, Karl shares invaluable insights into what makes a successful co-packing partnership and why more food businesses are turning to experts like WG Corporate to bring their visions to market efficiently and effectively.Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
If you would like to be a guest send us a note. We are always working on the upcoming episodes.
Loblaw takes leadership position in restrictive covenants issue
It has been common practice for retailers to leverage their position in the value chain with clauses in leases to restrict other retailers from selling competing products. The strategy was for the large retailer to say, ‘if you want our big store, which is a draw to your development, we do not want other stores selling competing products’. Landlords would agree because they wanted the anchor tenant. This would also be the situation when the retailer owned the real estate. This would be more common for Loblaw or Sobeys as they own more locations.
The Competition Bureau has been investigating this practice. Whether it is the investigation or Loblaw deciding to take a leadership role in keeping Canada a vibrant market we will probably never know.
Suppliers should watch this issue because there could be opportunities for your products in some smaller stores in the same markets where Loblaw has been able to control the assortment.
Grocery Code of Conduct getting closer to full implementation
One of the benefits of dedicating time to industry associations like Food and Beverage Atlantic is you get to learn more about what is happening in the industry. At our board meeting last week, we had an update from Karen Proud, who is the President and Adjudicator of the Office of the Grocery Sector Code of Conduct (OGSCC).
You can expect more updates as the infrastructure is created. As we have stated before, we believe the biggest impact will be retailers respecting suppliers have an avenue to ensure there is fairness. The dispute resolution will be interesting to watch. Here is a copy of the most recent newsletter shared by the OGSCC.
For companies in Atlantic Canada, Food & Beverage Atlantic, with the support of ACOA, is proud to launch a new program designed to help processors and manufacturers across Atlantic Canada overcome critical operational challenges- fast during this challenging time.
Where is Peter speaking?
I do have travel coming up to Toronto, Saskatoon and Calgary so if you want to connect or have an event in any of these locations give me a call or send me an email.
