CASE STUDY Pet Food Recall

Transcription

1 CASE STUDY Pet Food Recall

2 Most manufacturers remain largely unprepared and slow to act when a recall hits despite the recurring news of thousands of products recalled each year.

3 SWIFT & PROACTIVE When a leading pet food manufacturer faced a product recall that potentially impacted millions of dogs in the U.S., it took swift and proactive action. When a few early reports of mild pet illnesses, possibly stemming from the company s rawhide chew products, started surfacing on social media, the company quickly set off to investigate the claims. Investigators found that an anti-microbial chemical agent used to clean food processing equipment was used in the manufacture of some of its chew toy products in Mexico and Columbia. But the chemical is not approved for use in the U.S. vomiting. Yet it immediately initiated a voluntary recall in June 2017 of all brands of products that potentially were impacted. The company also implemented changes across its affected manufacturing facilities to prevent the problem from reoccurring. And it worked closely with retailers to ensure that affected products were quickly removed from inventory. With pets involved, the brand s parent company chose to err on the side of caution. It received relatively few reports of pet illnesses based on the volume of possibly affected rawhide chew products on the market; mostly complaints were of unpleasant odors and some reports of diarrhea and

4 The company was able to quickly warehouse and quarantine more than 1.5 million products

5 THE CASE FOR PREPAREDNESS The company was able to be so proactive partly because of lessons learned from a previous recall. The battle-tested parent company had recall plans in place and was better prepared to initiate the right steps based on their recall experience. But the bigger reason it was able to move so quickly and confidently was its engagement with product recall expert, Stericycle Expert Solutions. After their assistance with the previous recall, the company was confident in Stericycle s ability to guide it through the rough logistical and regulatory waters of a massive recall involving millions of potentially affected products. Stericycle Expert Solutions deployed a range of recall capabilities, including satisfying complex FDA compliance requirements, coordinating seamless notification and response, data management, retrieval, and warehousing. In the first week before the recall was even initiated, Stericycle Expert Solutions was brought in to help flesh out the strategy. Because the parent company manufactured the rawhide chew products for multiple privatelabel store brands, the first challenge was notifying and coordinating recall logistics with all the impacted companies. While the companies had the option to manage their own recalls, most opted to rely on Stericycle s expertise. Next, Stericycle quickly ramped up a large call center operation and set up a consumer hotline where pet owners could call for information and arrange for product returns. Stericycle handled all pre-paid return shipping for the company, as well as managed consumer reimbursements. It also handled follow-up responses, sending out response forms, and coordinating communications with consumers who needed to be contacted more than once. The staff worked

6 ceaselessly, including evenings and weekends, to ensure the highest level of responsiveness. Next came the logistical challenges of receiving and warehousing the recalled products. Within the first week more than 1,000 pallets of recalled products started arriving at Stericycle s facility in Indianapolis, with thousands more pouring in shortly afterwards. The challenge was compounded by the fact that many pallets were mismatched, or contained incorrect products, or By engaging experts to guide them through a disruptive recall event, the parent company was able to move fast and address the anxiety of pet-loving customers, which ultimately protected their brand reputation. The company understood the value in being prepared and proactive when a recall strikes, because the odds of one happening are always high. Michael Good, Vice President, Marketing & Sales Operations, Stericycle Expert Solutions. had infestation issues due to rodent and insect damage, creating potential cross-contamination problems. Yet Stericycle was able to quickly warehouse and quarantine more than 1.5 million products. Once the recall is complete, Stericycle will also handle safe destruction and disposal of the contaminated products. Most companies would be overwhelmed dealing with all the mismatched products and preventing cross-contamination from infected inventory, said Michael Good, Vice President of Marketing & Sales Operations with Stericycle Expert Solutions. We have well-established protocols and best practices for managing the chaos. Data management was also critical to the company s recall success. Stericycle Expert Solutions was able to tie all data relating to the recall into one system to give the company full visibility into the progress, as well as satisfy FDA compliance requirements.

7 CRITICAL RECALL SUCCESS FACTORS Understanding of the complexities involved Scalability, experience, and knowledge Flexibility, responsiveness, and perseverance A trusted partner with the recall reflexes to act quickly & effectively

8 We protect what matters. StericycleExpertSolutions.com 2017 Stericycle, Inc. All rights reserved.