As the discovery of food diseases continues to grow, there are constantly cases popping up in restaurants and food stores. There are many cases that are brought to the attention of the public, and this case is no exception. On September 14, it was discovered that three people from one family had become sick from E. Coli. It was later discovered that the E. Coli came from 96% lean Ground Round beef bought in the Stew Leonard's store located in Yonkers. To learn more about the E. Coli disease click here.
Guth and Marsh (2005) teach how the strategic public relations process involves research, planning, communicating, and evaluating. The way the case has been handled so far has included some of these steps.
RESEARCH: When it was discovered that three people from one family were sick after eating the same beef from Stew Leonard's, research began to find out what kind of beef, when it was packaged and where it came from. Once it was found that the beef the family purchased was the 96% lean and the date it was purchased, Stew Leonard's was able to put out the information. According to this article, Stew Leonard's was able to find the exact dates and that there were 65 packages of that meat sold because of the production records they keep.
PLANNING: It was stated in many articles and on news broadcasts that Stew Leonard's planned to deal with this issue by refunding any meat purchased between June 30 and August 1. It was detected in the research that the exact date the meat was sold and packaged was July 21; however, they expanded the date range as a precautionary. I was not able to find how Stew Leonard's plans to handle the family that was harmed by eating the meat.
COMMUNICATION: There have been many communication tactics. With an issue like this it is important to let the public know so that more people are not harmed. I was not able to find any press releases; however, I did see the article in many places online. I also saw the newscast of the problem on major new networks such as ABC and NBC news. There was a great deal of media coverage to make sure the public in the New York area was made aware.
EVALUATION: There has not been a lot of evaluation on the topic as of yet because the issue is not over. They are still waiting to see if anyone will come back with meat from this time span and how the sales will be. Since Stew Leonard's has a good reputation and acted on this situation right away, it is hopeful that this will not affect the store too much.
Stew Leonard's is a great store to shop in and to work for. This was my first job, and my father has been with the company for many years and now is a store director. Therefore, this topic was close to my life and worried me when I heard about it. In my evaluation, I believe it was handled the right way and everything will turn out fine for the store.
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2 comments:
Shannon,
Good background description … I liked your reference to Guth and Marsh in the preview. It provided you with a credible source for your analysis.
Your research section provided a useful link and shows that you did a good job with your research. In our Case 1 and 2 papers, however, you will use this section to explain how River Communications and IBM conducted research to support their public relations programs.
Similarly, in your planning section, you did a good job of explaining how Stew Leonard’s planned their approach to the problem, from a business perspective (e.g., refunds). In our case analyses, we will focus on how public relations programs were planned.
Nice, tight communication section. You mentioned a few articles that you came across. Adding a few links to these articles would have allowed us to read them, too … and develop a greater appreciation and understanding for your case.
It sounds like Stew Leonard’s received lots of coverage, though. I wonder if this was due to their proactive approach … or just the news media’s interest in the story.
Yes, as a case that’s still evolving I can see how they might still be conducting evaluation.
Thanks for the personal note about your relationship with this company. Cases that mean something to us are much more interesting, aren’t they?
Thanks for your contribution,
Mark
Such an incident is probably one of the worst things that could happen to a grocery store. I agree that it is very important to immediately make the public aware in a situation like this; to prevent any harm and to also show that the company cares for the well-being of their consumers. Refunding those purchases is definitely a good tactic, I would also suggest guaranteeing safe meat from now on and offering samples in the store to show people it is safe.
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