Recalled plant-based milk brands must rebuild trust by apologizing: marketers

TORONTO — Marketing experts say two brands that recently had to recall plant-based milk contaminated with Listeria can come back from the deadly outbreak, but they must move quickly to regain consumer trust.

They say both Danone and Walmart should apologize swiftly for their recalled Silk and Great Value products, respectively, and specifically outline to the public what they are doing to rectify the situation.

“I have yet to see an apology from Danone, which means they’re already behind from a crisis management perspective,” David Pullara, a marketing instructor at York University’s Schulich School of Business, wrote in an email.

Pullara’s advice comes a day after Ontario’s health ministry revealed the province has seen two deaths linked to 18 plant-based beverages, including oat, almond and coconut milks. Fifteen carried the Silk name and three were branded Great Value.

Twelve people, including 10 in Ontario, one in Quebec and one in Nova Scotia, have fallen ill after drinking the products first recalled on July 8.

Listeria can make people sick up to two months after they consume contaminated products, public health experts have said.

“This is every company’s nightmare. No company wants to be responsible for people dying after consuming its products, and yet, that’s what has happened here,” Pullara said.

“But the sad truth is that companies are run by people, and people make mistakes. Companies have made tragic mistakes before and have been able to recover from them.”

Danone Canada head of communications Jennifer Vincent did not answer questions Thursday about whether the company would issue an apology or what steps it would take to rectify the situation.

She directed The Canadian Press to a Wednesday statement from Danone Canada president Frédéric Guichard that described the outbreak as “devastating.” He offered his “sincere sympathies” to those impacted by the outbreak and said the company has removed affected products from store shelves.

On Friday, Vincent added that the company was working with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to “thoroughly” investigate the matter.

A frequently asked questions page on the company’s website says the recalled Silk products were made in a third-party manufacturing facility, but Danone refused to reveal who the third-party manufacturer was, citing “legal and confidentiality reasons.”

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency also declined to identify the manufacturer.

Walmart Canada spokesperson Stephanie Fusco said the company was “deeply saddened by this week’s tragic news” and “committed to understanding the causes of this situation.”

Walmart’s Great Value plant-based beverages are manufactured under license by Danone, she said.

“We have been working closely with Danone and public health officials since the start of this matter,” Fusco said. “In particular, we are seeking to determine whether the health issues are related to Great Value-branded products, Silk-branded products or both.”

Joanne McNeish, an associate professor at Toronto Metropolitan University specializing in marketing, said the companies involved in the outbreak need to move quickly to contain the problem.

“They need to stop production, take machines apart to deep clean them and clean the production facilities thoroughly,” she said in an email. “These companies test regularly but I would suggest testing more often.”

Reassuring the public is also key. That can involve talking to media and posting on social networks about what remedial steps they are taking.

It’s a playbook that Maple Leaf Foods leaned on in 2008, when Listeria was traced back to the company’s deli meats. Twenty-two people died and even more were infected.

Pullara recalled then-CEO Michael McCain offered a sincere apology, resolved to find out what went wrong and promised to not let it happen again.

“If Danone wants to come back from this and rebuild consumer trust, they need to take a page out of Michael McCain’s playbook: We screwed up. We’re sorry. And we promise this will never happen again,” Pullara said.

Asked about the recent recall, Maple Leaf pointed The Canadian Press to a safety page on its website describing some of the measures it has taken to prevent another tragedy. Among those measures are audits of its manufacturing facilities, which are tested in an “aggressive manner,” and regular swabs and sanitizations of production areas and manufacturing equipment.

The company said it conducted more than 478,000 tests in 2023 to measure product quality and safety, including the detection of allergens, micro-organisms, and pathogens.

If brands in the plant-based milk recall don’t do this kind of work quickly, McNeish suggested rivals are circling.

“They will use this opportunity to grab shelf space and promote their products,” she said. “This is an opportunity for these brands to gain market share in the absence of Silk on the shelf.”

To fend them off, reassuring the public of their product’s safety and perhaps even offering high-value coupons to get consumers to try their milks again would go a long way, McNeish said.

— with files from Nicole Ireland

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 19, 2024.

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press