Food firms warned not to ignore social media

28-Nov-2013 - Last updated on 31-May-2017 at 08:52 GMT

More than a third of food businesses still have no social media policy, according to Roythornes' survey

Food firms that ignore social media risk reputational damage and abuse by their employees, warns food law firm Roythornes.

Significant numbers of food firms still operated no social media policy, said the firm. It based the conclusions on a survey of food clients and members of the Fresh Produce Consortium, The Food and Drink Forum, the British Frozen Food Federation, the Artisan Food Trail and Tastes of Anglia. The key trends are summarised in the infographic below.

Peter Bennett, head of the food team at Roythornes, said: “While there has been an improvement in terms of the number of employers introducing controls, over a third of businesses still do not have a social media policy. Two-thirds are failing to manage the risk this presents in terms of data transfer and viruses.”

‘Abuse of social media’

Those firms without rules in place should introduce them as soon as possible, urged Bennett. “We need to stress that without fundamental rules and practices in place, employees’ use, or abuse of social media in the workplace will go on unmonitored.

“Those who do not currently have a policy need to consider it; the popularity of social media and the expanding number of channels means that robust, wider reaching policies are now needed.”

But the annual survey also revealed some positive news. More than 63% of firms had now introduced a social media policy for employees, up by 13% compared with last year.

The survey noted a 10% increase in the number of businesses monitoring their social media presence and a growth of engagement with digital channels. The number of users on YouTube, for example, had grown by a quarter.

Digital channels

Meanwhile, the number of firms allowing staff to bring their own devices in to work had slightly increased to 43%.

There had also been a 30% increase in the number of companies introducing controls over how employees can use social media channels at work.

“We are seeing positive steps being taken, with more companies using digital platforms and checking on their online reputation than last year,” said Bennett.

“However, there has been very little movement in the number who check on employees’ social media use while at work.” The percentage of employers who do check accounted for only 32.5%.

Read the full report here.