Crisis management at crisis point

Many processors are neglecting crisis management and so could encounter serious difficulties over product recalls, according to the latest survey of members of the Society of Food Hygiene and Technology (SOFHT).

The findings show that out of 100 SOFHT members, 35% still have no crisis management system, an alarming increase since a 2004 survey, which put the figure at one in five.

A third of respondents who believed a crisis was imminent also had no management system in place. Yet despite this, 74% of SOFHT members believed they could deal with a crisis effectively. And 88% believed they were better placed to deal with a crisis than they were three years ago, yet 26% of those had no crisis management system.Results also indicated that smaller food companies remained less likely to have a crisis management system than large companies.

The research also highlighted a fundamental disparity between FTSE 100 and 250 companies, and SOFHT members. Among SOFHT members, 61% reported their management had had no senior management media training, versus a quarter of the FTSE firms. A total of 48% of SOFHT members’ crisis teams had not been trained, against 19% from the FTSE companies.

Further data showed that 46% of SOFHT members claimed to have experienced a crisis such as a recall in the past year, compared to 19% of the FTSE businesses. And 58% said they believed the public had lost confidence in the UK food industry.

The findings were presented at Food Manufacture’​ conference, ‘Product Recall: avoid, manage and survive’ at Ardencote Manor, Warwick. Commenting on the results, Simon Houghton-Dodd, Tate & Lyle quality and environment manager and SOFHT business development director, said: “This problem [not treating product recall seriously enough] has been going on since God knows when and shows we are just not learning the lessons.

“If we in the food industry are adopting this attitude, is it any wonder the public have lost confidence in us? It just begs the question: when will we ever bloody learn?”

Further figures published by the Chartered Management Institute and Cabinet Office show that manufacturers seem to be ignoring the impact of high profile disasters.

The findings from this report show that while only 40% of processors are prepared for disaster and have a business contingency continuity plan, 75% admit the issue is business critical.