QUALITY MANTRA
Food safety risks greater in Asia
tend to reveal similar patterns of consumer trust being affected adversely, and the global network of today’s media & communications only serves to intensify this dynamism. Incidents like the tainted infant formula controversy, and the resulting swift consumer response, underscore the importance of ensuring food safety. Moreover, accomplishing appropriate safety measures in fresh categories is particularly important. Retailers understand that fresh categories are critical because they strongly influence customers’ choice of store and are also important for other reasons. Retailer brands dominate the fresh category, exposing them to the highest risk of damage from food safety incidents. Also, supply chains are complex, fast & dynamic, creating more opportunities for things to go wrong.
Importance
Fresh food safety is a major issue even in developed markets. Recently, both Europe and the US have incurred food incidents, such as Escherichia coli contamination, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and foot & mouth disease. From contaminated spinach in the US to beef in the UK, food-borne diseases have resulted in losses of billions of dollars and shaken consumer confidence. The situation in Asia is at even greater risk. The severity of the issue is difficult to fathom, because most incidents in less developed economies are never recorded or monitored. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that over 7,00,000 people die in the region and many more Hypermarket Vs fresh market - fruit/vegetables* are debilitated annually High from single outbreaks of Trust to offer good quality 0.5 food- and water-borne Can touch/ Lowest prices Specialises feel products on all items in good diseases - many of which quality fresh 0.4 No food safety Prepackaging concerns are never documented. The Can buy most items Easy access Best promotions Well organised 0.3 Like to visit frequency and severity of Excellent service Part of food safety incidents in well-known Pleasant 0.2 Take family/ national chain friends for fun shopping environment Asia is a constant danger, Product origins are known Makes people feel important 0.1 especially in developing countries. Although the Low -1.5 -1.0 -0.5 0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 tainted infant formula Fresh market better Hypermarket better controversy is the most * Derived importance Source: ‘How The World Shops’, McKinsey & Company, 2006 infamous of those Figure 1: Food safety drives store choice recorded recently, there are extreme food safety Do you agree with the following statements?* Agree incidents as well. Percent Disagree I am now looking more cautiously at food labels before making my decision I am more likely to cook at home now so I know what ingredients are in what I eat I find out more information about brands before selecting one I eat out less than before
14
86 81
16 73
27 61
39
I prefer international brands of food as they are considered safer
43
I have changed the place I buy my daily groceries as a result of current food concerns I have changed the types of food I regularly eat I have recently changed the restaurants that I used to go to regularly
57
56 60
67
44 40 33
* An online survey conducted with 515 urban Chinese, aged 18+, in tier 1 and 2 cities about their perceptions of food and beverages Source: ‘Food Quality Concerns: Impact on behaviour and attitude’, Synovate, Oct. 2008
Figure 2: Consumers have become more cautious about food and food safety
Threats to fresh food There are three primary threats to fresh food safety, the dangers posed by which cannot be eliminated completely, but can be restricted to some extent. Residual chemical compounds are hazardous to consumers’ health and also retailers’ reputations,
Courtesy: Outperform Consulting
eg growth stimulants & antibiotics for fish/seafood, and pesticides & fertilisers for fruit/vegetables. Microbial contamination in meat/poultry and fish/ seafood often contain microorganisms at levels that can cause illnesses with alarming frequency. Veterinary diseases are relatively infrequent, but even single cases of virulent diseases such as BSE, bird flu and foot & mouth disease can increase the risk manifold. Poor consumer knowledge poses serious dangers to fresh food safety. For example, in India, meat, poultry & fish are often sold uncovered, and consumers prefer fresh products over cold ones. Thus, retailers could lose money by using cold chain practices.
Safety goes beyond risk management The potential downside risk justifies focussing on fresh food safety. Measures to improve food safety provide dramatic benefits to an economy because they actuate improvement along the entire supply chain. Food and related industries represent a significant portion of gross domestic product (GDP), especially in developing economies. Moreover, many fresh food safety practices also promote overall industry productivity. For instance, In India, Suguna Poultry pioneered the contract-farming model, capturing the benefits of distributed farming and economies of scale. Distributed farming prevented the risk of massive outbreaks of animal disease, while consistent and high-quality chicks and centralised veterinary support
May 2010
Modern Food Processing
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