It’s been a tough couple of weeks for a major bread manufacturer. Glass might have been dropped into a mix containing dough for countless loaves of bread already shipped to stores across the country. Now, the recall has been extended to 6 brands in 11 states. This major national PR crisis involves household names such as Sara Lee, Nature’s Harvest, Great Value, Kroger, L’Oven Fresh and Bimbo brands. According to the recall notices, the affected loaves have a “best by” date ranging from August 29 to September 1.
Company spokesmen said customers can return the bread to stores for a full refund. While this is certainly the first step in the process, it is far from the last step needed to re-establish consumer trust. Customers need to be reassured, and the company needs to be shown trustworthy. So far, Bimbo brands has made all the right calls.
First, it explained the accident without trying to minimize it. A light bulb at a certain factory broke. Accidents happen, even when you take great precautions. Second, no injuries were reported. While one customer reported finding a small piece of glass on the outside of the bread, no one has claimed to have ingested any of the broken bulb.
Next, the recall was nearly immediate and entirely voluntary. Sure, they would have had to do it later anyway, but Bimbo wasted no time in jumping into action to protect both their customers and their reputation. That’s a tall order for a company that is billed as the “world’s largest baking company.” Imagine the fallout if they had waited, and some child had taken a glass sandwich to school in her lunch!
Instead, the company did right by its customers. It took responsibility and recalled the problem bread.
The biggest difficulty in this sort of situation is communicating the problem to the general public. The people potentially impacted need to know, but you have to release the information without creating a brand-devastating panic. This requires a delicate PR touch and precise message control. So far Bimbo is hitting the right marks … it will be interesting to watch how this all plays out.
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