• First, the company had effective safety systems already in place, so Kraft was able to detect the contamination during routine internal testing and then immediately alerted the Food and Drug Administration. This kind of due diligence and transparency was entirely absent during January’s peanut butter recall – and thousands of consumers suffered as a result.
  
  
• Second, Kraft voluntarily pulled pistachios from the shelves before receiving any reports of illness or even a government warning. As a result, the FDA Associate Commissioner for Food Safety seemed confident enough to state that “we are not dealing an outbreak here” only days after the contamination was discovered.
  
  
• Third, thanks to Kraft’s cooperation with supplier Setton Farms, answers as to questions about what caused the contamination were available almost immediately. When it was explained that the mixing of raw and roasted nuts at Setton’s California processing facility was to blame, the confusion that typically drives consumer anxiety during food safety scares was virtually eliminated.

Clearly, Kraft understood that transparency, action, and answers calm public nerves and contain the brand damage that may result from any high-profile food safety incident.

Furthermore, Kraft demonstrated just how effective the existing food safety framework can be when industry (both brand-name companies and lesser known suppliers) and government work together rather than play cat-and-mouse.

With increasing frequency, brand-name food companies are suffering for the sins of suppliers to whom they have outsourced the production of ingredients. Unlike the supply chains of 40 years ago, food, drug, and consumer product companies now seldom own or operate the plants where raw ingredients for their branded products are made. That makes it harder to control quality and especially challenging to streamline a crisis response when an outbreak and subsequent recall occurs.

 

For example, in the case of the peanut butter recalls of early 2009, Kellogg, McKee Foods, and other branded food manufacturers were frustrated in their initial attempts to obtain clear information from their supplier (the now shuttered Peanut Corporation of America) and translate that information into clearly defined messages for millions of confused consumers.

 

Operating as a stand-alone (and largely anonymous) company, PCA had its own operation to protect while the branded food companies bore the brunt of publicity – and the attendant costs of recalls – in their efforts to prevent damage to their own reputations.

 

In today’s complex global marketplace, with supply chains often stretching around the world, brand-name companies must now take their suppliers into account when preparing crisis communications plans. In some cases, those companies will have to coordinate and approve crisis plans for their suppliers so that implementation is swift, seamless, and efficient. Most important, suppliers must be made to feel accountable for protecting the brands that reassure consumers and drive business growth.

 

After all, a supply chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

 

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Crisis Communications Desktop Reference                      

                             

When news cycles are measured in minutes rather than hours, rapid responses to crisis are absolutely essential to winning the communications battles.To help ensure success in the Court of Public Opinion, Levick Strategic Communications presents the Crisis Communications Desktop Reference. It is a fully searchable, downloadable desktop resource covering more than two-dozen topics of urgent concern to business. It provides, with a click of the mouse, the strategic guidance you need at the moment a crisis strikes. Download the complementary Crisis Communications Desktop Reference today. 

  

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Making Your Point
 
Making Your Point, a new book by Levick Senior Vice President David Bartlett, examines the fundamental strategic considerations driving effective communication. It defines that key component called “emotional intelligence.” It provides the simple powerful tools to make a point in person, prepare and deliver effective speeches and presentations, get messages across in a media interview, and communicate during crises. Making Your Point is an easy-to-use communications guide for professionals and non-professionals alike.  Order your copy today.

  

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Stop the Presses: The Crisis and Litigation PR Desk Reference

  
Stop the Presses: The Crisis and Litigation PR Desk Reference – now in its second edition – is a survival manual for corporate leaders, board members, lawyers, and communications specialists. This book provides the dos and don’ts of crisis planning and communications and articulates the essential strategic guidelines for navigating myriad bet-the-company issues. Order your copy today.