Apologia Case Study: Heinz Baby Food Recall and Crisis Management

This case study examines the Heinz baby food recall, focusing on the recall of Heinz Turkey Stew baby food due to potential insect contamination. It details the company's proactive measures and communication strategies, including informing consumers about the product with the CFIA number 13162 and providing alternative product suggestions. The study emphasizes the use of multiple communication channels, such as the company website and social media, to reach parents. It also highlights the benefits of the company's response, including maintaining customer loyalty and building a positive corporate image. The study recommends accessing US government guidelines for baby products and suggests a video message from the CEO. This case study provides a comprehensive analysis of the recall, its impact, and effective crisis management techniques. The document includes a discussion of the benefits for both consumers and the organization, alongside references to relevant literature on marketing and communication strategies.

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Brief summary of the Case
The activities regarding food recalls are done proactively within the United States.
Usually baby food products rarely get recalled in the US market as it is determined by strict
guidelines. However, checking the recall list of Baby food products in the US market, the Heinz
Turkey Stew Baby Food can be discussed. Heinz has recalled the baby Turkey Stew for the
possible contamination with insects (Cms.gov, 2020). According to the news, the company
informed that the jars with CFIA number 13162 should be recalled.
Planning for the solution
 The company needs to communicate about this particular product with CFIA number. It
will help the parents to identify the product and avoid health risks (Hatchett, 2014). The
CEO of the company must provide information about the risk factors associated with the
particular product. Along with this, they must provide alternative products to replace the
particular item.
 Website is the latest medium to communicate with the potential consumers. Website is
the platform that promotes a particular business or product (Tang, Gallagher & Bie,
2015). It helps to attract the consumers and raise high traffic for the business. Hence, the
CEO should communicate the apology message with their company website to aware the
consumers.
 Along with the company website, social media also a great platform to communicate the
message with the potential consumers (Mann et al., 2014). In this digital era, people are
becoming technology savvy and social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram,
Twitter, and Pinterest are much popular as creating global networks. Hence, The CEO of

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the company must share an apology note over the possible social media platforms to
make the consumers aware about the recalled product.
 The social media will spread the data among the ideal groups. In this case, the groups of
new parents is ideal. Social media will play an active role to reach the message to the new
parent. It will help to show the concern of the company for their consumers (Vinerean et
al., 2013).
 To avoid the associated risks with this particular product and other baby products in
future, the parents need to access various online documents. First, they must download
the guidelines and safety standards by the US government made for baby products
(Ashley & Tuten, 2015). This guidelines will help the consumers to measure the quality
of the selected baby products.
 Video is an important mode of presenting a message to the targeted audience. Video is
more effective than simple message of apology letter as it is attracting multiple sensory
organs of the consumers. Hence, the CEO can opt for a video recording with a speech for
the consumers. The CEO can state the exact location from where the consumers can find
the CFIA number. The CEO can also show the alternative products for the recalled
product.
Benefits
The mentioned recommendation can provide benefit for both the consumers and the
organization. Benefits the customer can gain are
 Customers become aware about the health risks associated with the baby food item.
Becoming aware from the initial stage helps them to avoid health related issues and any
other negative consequences.

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 From the guidelines and standards of baby food products the consumers can measure the
level of health risks associated with this product. Not only this particular products, these
guidelines will help to measure all the baby food products apart from Heinz also.
 Apart from this, the consumer can get suggestion for alternative products of the same
category with proper nutritional value.
The resolving plan will also provide some benefits to the company also. These are
 First of all recalling a product means withdrawing the service from the marketplace to
avoid any negative consequence. Recalling a product is one of the way to retain customer
loyalty. It is one of the way to show concern about consumer wellbeing.
 Providing suggestion for alternative products will not bring any negative consequence on
the company’s economic status.
 Promoting through the social media platforms will increase the consumer network for the
business organization. On the other hand, it will provide a positive impact on the new
parents group available on the consumer market.
 Video promotion through the social media channels will help the company to build a
positive corporate image among the entire industry. These are the possible ways a
company can draw from the apology message of recalling the product.

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References
Ashley, C., & Tuten, T. (2015). Creative strategies in social media marketing: An exploratory
study of branded social content and consumer engagement. Psychology &
Marketing, 32(1), 15-27.
Cms.gov. (2020). Historical | CMS. Retrieved 17 February 2020, from
https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/
NationalHealthExpendData/NationalHealthAccountsHistorical
Hatchett, L. (2014). Duncan Hines: How a Traveling Salesman Became the Most Trusted Name
in Food. University Press of Kentucky.
Mann, M., Byun, S. E., Kim, H., & Hoggle, K. (2014). Assessment of leading apparel specialty
retailers’ CSR practices as communicated on corporate websites: Problems and
opportunities. Journal of Business Ethics, 122(4), 599-622.
Tang, L., Gallagher, C. C., & Bie, B. (2015). Corporate social responsibility communication
through corporate websites: A comparison of leading corporations in the United States
and China. International Journal of Business Communication, 52(2), 205-227.
Vinerean, S., Cetina, I., Dumitrescu, L., & Tichindelean, M. (2013). The effects of social media
marketing on online consumer behavior. International Journal of Business and
Management, 8(14), 66.