By Roger Hancock, CEO of Recall InfoLink
In a recall, knowing what is affected is only part of the equation. The bigger challenge is how to execute. The distinction between what and how is where many food businesses struggle during a recall.
Recalls are driven by data, and effective response depends on how that data is managed, shared, and acted on. Companies that succeed in recall situations are the ones that have made their data ready for action and have systems to support it. As food recalls continue to occur frequently, food businesses must shift their thinking from just what needs to be recalled (a product-centric approach) to also master how to run the recall (a data-centric mindset).
Proper Recall Management: Driven by Data
Suppose your processing plant recalls ground beef because of an E. coli outbreak. You determine what happened, how it happened, which products were impacted, and what happens next. Using integrated tech tools, you immediately alert key stakeholders, including trading partners, providing accurate, detailed information about the contaminated products (e.g., batch numbers, lot numbers, etc.).
To accelerate the notification process, you provide your partners a data package that can easily be customized and sent further down the supply chain. This enables retailers to alert consumers who purchased the contaminated products, providing clear, actionable messaging that outlines what they should do (e.g., destroy or return the products).
Your team is calm and confident because you’ve participated in collaborative mock recall simulations with your trading partners, practicing for this very scenario. Because you managed the recall properly, you’ve successfully contained the damage, minimized risks, and maintained brand trust.
In this case, you did everything correctly. You:
- Had a clear recall plan ahead of time
Participated in mock recall simulations that prepared your team
Implemented integrated tech systems
Used standardized data
Facilitated more streamlined info-sharing
As a result, your trading partners received fast, accurate, detailed recall information, allowing them to quickly pull the impacted products from the supply chain, store shelves, and consumers’ homes. You have effectively protected public health and your brand reputation.
Don’t Just Focus on What’s Being Recalled
In a poorly run recall, on the other hand, the recalling company focuses on what is being recalled—what products, timeframe, and distribution pattern—to the exclusion of how the process is managed. In this case, you discover that some of your company’s ground beef has been contaminated, but you struggle to activate a fast, effective response.
You use manual systems, like spreadsheets or even paper files, so you aren’t able to quickly access comprehensive and up-to-date shipping data, making it hard to pinpoint exactly where the tainted beef traveled. The information you provide downstream is hard to understand or incomplete. Messages that reach the consumers leave them more confused than reassured. It becomes clear that you don’t have the right processes in place to effectively manage and share critical data.
Your trading partners—including retailers—have a hard time determining whether the ground beef they received was part of the recall. Some grocery store employees remove all ground beef from store shelves out of an abundance of caution. By over-pulling products, these stores experience excessive food (and financial) waste. Meanwhile, other retailers postpone product removal while they try to interpret the recall information they’ve received. When these retailers delay taking action, they may have contaminated products sitting on their store shelves for longer than necessary, prolonging recall resolution.
Actionable Steps for Your Food Business
Clearly this worst case scenario is a recipe for disaster, but it doesn’t have to be. You can better protect public health and your brand by proactively making changes to your recall management:
Shift your mindset. Pivot from product-centric thinking (what is being recalled) to a data-driven mindset (how it is recalled). Remember, a data-first process drives proper actions for a faster, more complete recall.
Improve your data sharing. In a data-driven recall, trading partners know exactly what to do because the data is structured, accessible, and seamlessly transmitted through integrated systems. Better data sharing helps remove contaminated products promptly and completely.
Use data to drive proper actions. Companies must have accurate data to drive proper actions—like pulling product from store shelves, notifying trading partners, and alerting customers. All trading partners must get the most accurate, updated data about the tainted products and their path through the supply chain. Having clear, accurate, timely data leads to faster recall resolution. The converse is also true: when data is inaccurate, incomplete, or vague, it increases confusion, chaos, and risk.
Ditch manual methods. If you’re still relying on manual systems, it’s time to modernize. Stop using outdated tools like spreadsheets or faxes. A successful recall depends on structured, shareable data. Use innovative tech solutions to automate communications, like creating machine-readable product attributes— e.g., lot or batch codes — for rapid notifications.
Practice in advance. Conduct mock recalls with your trading partners, simulating the entire recall process, including how data moves across the supply chain. This exercise can uncover gaps in teams’ systems and knowledge, allowing you to resolve issues before a recall happens.
Focusing exclusively on what to recall will leave a company scrambling to ensure they’re taking effective actions. Instead, focus on how to recall products, using proper, integrated systems to manage and share standardized data. The latter will be far more effective in protecting public health and your brand’s reputation.
Roger Hancock, CEO of Recall InfoLink is one of the world’s foremost experts on recalls, with experience that spans the retail, tech, data, regulatory, and supply chain.
Recall InfoLink makes recalls faster, easier, and more accurate across the supply chain to protect consumers and brands. As the only company focused entirely on recalls, Recall InfoLink’s solutions drive immediate action, streamline the recall process, and simplify compliance. Recall InfoLink helps brands become Recall Ready by standardizing data, collaborating with their supply chains, and practicing recall simulations.