This post is the second in our six-part Solution Stories series, where in each story, we profile a real-life crisis and how it evolved and was managed. We also offer a digital solution that could support effective crisis management in similar circumstances.
On April 8, 2022, Belgium’s federal food safety authority (FASFC) revoked the license of Ferrero Rocher’s production site in Arlon, Belgium, after a salmonella outbreak was linked to its Kinder chocolate products made at the factory. At the FASFC’s request, Ferrero also recalled all batches of products produced at the Arlon site, regardless of their lot number or expiration date. Around the same time in the US, Ferrero issued a voluntary recall for chocolate products manufactured at the same production facility. The events were the blazing result of a smouldering crisis that had presented itself months earlier. Ferrero’s insufficient attention to early red flags resulted in severe setbacks for the business. When the worst was over, Ferrero faced a battered reputation, loss of customer trust and financial damages. Had they handled it differently, they could have mitigated the scale of impact. The incident also has the dubious honour of being recognised as one of the more poorly handled crises from the past three decades in our book, ‘Crisis Management: 30 Years in Review: The Good, the Bad and the Truly Ugly.’
By May 2022, more than 300 people from 16 countries were reported sick from the salmonella outbreak linked to the Arlon site. Those affected included neighbouring France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and countries further afar, such as Canada and the United States. Most of the victims were young children under 10 years of age who became sick after eating Kinder chocolate produced in Arlon. Many ended up in hospital. The crisis had a significant fallout for the Ferrero Group. By the time the FASFC gave the Ferrero plant ‘conditional authorisation’ to reopen production lines in mid-June and final approval to fully restart manufacturing in September, the cost of the recall event was estimated to likely exceed US$60m in revenue and business interruption losses.
Ferrero had discovered salmonella contamination in its Arlon facility as early as mid-December 2021. After finding a defective filter at two raw material reservoirs, the manufacturer immediately replaced the filter. In addition, it destroyed five days’ worth of production. However, Ferrero did not inform the Belgian federal food safety agency of the incident. This decision was within its rights as long as contaminated products had not left the company, which was believed to be the case. However, it emerged that products had indeed left the facility.
Ferrero was widely denounced for its poor judgement amid rising reports of infections in Europe attributed to eating contaminated chocolate. Food safety consultant and microbiologist François Bourdichon told Food Manufacture that there is no room for ‘mild decisions’ when it comes to food safety.
British health authorities started investigations on January 7, 2022. On March 23, the British authorities established a preliminary link between the cases and Ferrero products and informed the company. National authorities started to issue public health warnings from April 2. When Belgian authorities shut down its Arlon plant on April 8, Ferrero issued a statement apologising.
At the time, Belgian consumer organisation Test Aankoop/Test-Achats acknowledged that while salmonella contaminations can occur, Ferrero was aware of the situation in December and that it “did not react decisively enough.” A spokesman said it seemed Ferrero tried to keep the matter quiet.
The UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland (FSS) raised concerns about delays in Ferrero’s information sharing, contributing to multiple separate recalls.
Ferrero later launched an online platform to offer help and compensation to those affected.
Ferrero found itself amid another outbreak in July 2023, when it detected salmonella again at the Arlon plant.
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Caroline Sapriel is Managing Partner of CS&A International, a consultancy specialising in risk, crisis, and business continuity management.
