Maple Leaf Foods- Rebounding From Tragedy

Sometime we look at major headlines that show us what's happening in the marketplace and how its impacting the world and economy. According to Dave Scholz vice president of Leger Marketing in Toronto has suggested that one company is poised to recover from negative publicity which is Maple Leafs Foods lnc. Part of the recovery is attributed to the way they brought back their production and handled the listeria crisis in 2008. If you look at Maple Leaf Foods its one of Canada's oldest and most identifiable food companies around Canada. In 2009 Marketing Leger Corporation Reputation Survey plummeted from 66 out of 100 to 8 out of 100. By January 2009 the score risen to 40 out of 100, in many cases the major components that have helped Maple Leaf Foods regain its customers support are trust, transparency, credibility, commitment, and honesty. Maple Leaf CEO Michael McCain took responsibility for the situation and remained proactive towards the crisis. The company took a major step by becoming an industry leader in food safety, also Maple Leaf Foods worked harder to rebuild the crumbling relation ship between itself and the public. The out break was damaging Maple Leaf with a $27 million dollar lawsuit, however Maple Leafs profit margin were decreased since the company used coupons and price discounting to regain its customers back. Michael McCain had told the media that this past year was without a doubt the worst year in history. In August 2008, McCain appeared on television ad to issue a candid and a heart felt apology to the people that have bought Maple Leaf products in the past year. The consumers feedback revealed that this strategy was successful and people appreciated the honesty and credibility of Michael McCain. However after this outbreak additional recalls and ongoing media reports on listeria will not help Maple Leaf rebuild its reputation back.

Do you find that after the outbreak in 2008 Maple Leaf Foods should now be more careful after what they went through that caused the listeria in the meat products?