The first two groups are self-explanatory but the Agribusiness Products Group deals with ecycling animal by-products into animal feed, amino acids, supplements, and biofuel . Introduction We are going to look at how Maple leaf dealt with the Listeria outbreak in the package meat products group, how they dealt with the legal issues and how they interacted with the public perception of their company. The focus will be mainly on the nonmarket environment but we will briefly dive into Maple leafs market environments as well.
Fours I''s Issue The summer of 2008, reports that Listeria was found in numerous products and Maple Leafs products are being recalled. Not only have the products tested positive or Listeria but multiple deaths have been directly linked to Maple leafs products . This brings about two issues we need to address. The first issue is a public perception of Maple leaf and how this Listeria outbreak changed public opinion on the company. The second issue will be in the legal sector, from patrons that purchased Maple leaf meat products and became ill or passed on.
Consumers are becoming hyper aware about the safety of their food and any time a company has a misstep like Maple leaf they are going to be negative consequences. Intuition To see how far spread the issue has gone we will look at the institutions that are nvolved from Maple leafs Listeria outbreak. The media covered the issue with their own viewpoint and brought the issue to the public. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Public Health Agency of Canada were directly involved in confirming the presence of the listerosis bacteria .
Any wholesaler or grocery store will have to track down Maple leaf products and send them back. The suppliers to the Maple leaf plants would have to wait until the meat packing plants were up and running again. Direct buyers of Maple leaf products such as hospitals and nursing homes have a tough time dealing with the issue. The public''s sentiment of Maple leaf and how to handle this issue also can be considered an institution. Canada''s federal government was also affected with the idea of amending the food and drugs act.
Interest Groups The interest groups that were involved were as follows; trial lawyers, taxpayers, citizens that were directly affected by the Listeria outbreak, consumers of Maple leaf The two practices Maple leat uses to integrate the market and nonmarket activities are promoting the high quality of their goods mixed with promoting their high safety standards. These two areas work well together in promoting a strong brand image nd to stay in the right side of public sentiment. They also tie in their practices of supporting communities who need help with hunger issues with in the major markets where they distribute their products.
It is a smart move since, they are branching out globally and communities not only want to bring them in for the high quality products but also to help the less fortunate in their communities. You can also tie in Maple leafs quest for high safety standards directly from the nonmarket environment to the market environment by their actions to try to change the whole ndustry and their interactions in the regulatory field to change laws to increase safety. This shows leadership in the industry and makes Maple leaf look very proactive in the public eye.
Repositioning From an overall standpoint, Maple leaf has been quite present in the nonmarket environment and their position on their integrated strategy seems to be an effective method. That doesn''t mean they are perfect. There are some areas that they can improve on. Their focus on creating innovative safety practices is good, but their application in the nonmarket environment could be improved upon. Instead of Just argeting the whole industry and the safety practices they should focus a little more on consumer level food safety.
They should partner with more schools to help improve education in food safety and also improve the food preparation facilities within the schools. Their targeting of safety at home seems to be a little too broad and could see more focus. The work they do on improving the safety of their industry also needs to be made more public and their successes should be showcased. It took too much digging to find information on Maple leafs actions on improving safety within the industry.
Their involvement with the regulatory bodies within Canada should be increased and they should also be more active in other countries laws of other countries in regards to food safety in their industry. Conclusion Maple leaf response to the listeria outbreak was done in a timely fashion and was dealt with appropriately. They admitted their liability and compensated the appropriate parties. They not only talked about their own faults but shifted some of the focus to the industry as a whole to limit less attention to them directly. Their nonmarket strategy was handled somewhat effectively by being proactive before and fter the incident.
When it came to product safety. The innovative work they did recommend to the industry should have been celebrated and should of have been made more public . Their work with helping communities around the world with hunger problems is an effective strategy but more promotion is needed. As stated before, direct interaction in schools promoting food safety would be, more effective means of positioning in the nonmarket environment. An incident like this most likely would have ruined some companies, but the effective response by Maple leaf allowed hem to recover and slowly become a global leader in their industry.
References Oscar RoJo, T Maple leat t s buys labatt stake in bakery. Toronto Star. Retrieved on 04/01/13. Retrieved from http://libezproxy. nait. ca/login? url=http se arch. p roquest. co m/docview/436657341 ? accounti d=12654 Nagel, J. (2008, Aug 28). - Maple leaf foods six langley facilities on recall list. Langley Times. Retrieved on 04/01/13. Retrieved from http://libezproxy. nait. ca/login? url=http ://search. proquest. com/docview/373054826? accountid=12654 Maple leaf expands meat recall; more than 200 products involved. 2008, Aug 25). The Guelph Mercury. Retrieved on 04/01/13.
Retrieved from http://libezproxy. nait. ca/ login? url= http ://search. pr oquest. com/do cview/356098582? accountid=12654 Maple leaf foods putting its money where the dough is. (2012, Mar 28). Hamilton News, Mountain Edition. Retrieved on 04/01/13. Retrieved from http:// libezproxy. nait. c a/login? url=http://search. proquest. com/docview/ 954467123? accountid=12654 Swift, Allan. Canadian Press Newswire [Toronto] (2004, Nov 22). Maple leaf foods CEO calls for canadian DNA meat tracing standard. Canadian Press Newswire. Retrieved on 04/01/13. Retrieved from http://libezproxy. ait. ca/login? url=http:// search. proquest. co m/docview/359747308? accountid=12654 Maple leaf foods: Stepping up the focus on food safety. (2006). Canadian Grocer, 120(2), S20-S21. Retrieved on 04/01113 Retrieved from http:// libezproxy. nait. ca/login? url=http://sea rch. pro quest. com/ docview/222832487? Maple leaf foods says voluntary wiener recall completed; update I follow- up audit scheduled. (2009, Feb 26). Daily Gleaner. Retrieved on 04/01/13 Retrieved from http:// libezproxy . nait. ca/login? url=http://search. proquest. com/docvi ew/413182556? ompany-info. 2010). Retrieved on 04/01113 Retrieved from http:// www. mapleleaffoods. com/en/corporate/company-info/ Schmidt, S. (2008, Oct 09). Listeria found at maple leaf plant within standard: Company. CanWest News. Retrieved on 04/01/13. Retrieved from http://libezpr oxy. nait. ca/login? url=http://search. proquest. com/docview 1460077023? Baron, D. (2012). Business and its environment. (6th ed. ). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc. David, M. (2011). Listeriosis victims, families still waiting for compensation. CBC News Politics, Retrieved on 04/01113 Retrieved from http://
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