Crisis communication

Abbelen

Introduction

Abbelen is a German manufacturer of popular meat products, including hot dogs and hamburgers.

Communication issue

A quality control resulted in a series of hot dogs that were infected with lysteriosis, which resulted in the recall of contaminated products. 

Solution

In such situations, it is important that the customer is promptly and properly informed, and that he knows what to do. The key words are here information and solution. Communication activities started with informing the Federal Agency for Food Security of the incident, and all stores. Meanwhile, it was important to centralize all information and make it accessible to anyone (website, phone number). Afterwards, consumers were notified through the press, which regularly received short press releases to anticipate and answer the questions of journalists.

Results