MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Monogram Meat Snacks LLC, a division of Monogram Foods, has voluntarily recalled nearly 192,000 pounds of ready-to-eat (RTE) pork sausage items due to product tampering and a possible contamination. These products were sold in convenience stores and other retailers nationwide.
This isn’t the first jerky recall in convenience stores over recent months. In September 2018, Lake Jackson, Texas-based Buc-ee’s recalled nearly 700 pounds of its Hill Country Brand Teriyaki Beef Jerky due to a metal contamination.
- Click here to read CSP’s tips for handling snack recalls.
Monogram’s recalled pork sausages are heat-treated and shelf-stable. They were produced and packaged between Jan. 16 and March 7, 2019. The problem was discovered March 11, when Monogram confirmed that these products were distributed into U.S. commerce. No illnesses have been reported.
The recalled products include:
- Duke’s Hickory Peach BBQ Smoked Shorty Sausages, Made With a Peach BBQ Relish (5-ounce package)
- Duke’s Hot & Spicy Smoked Shorty Sausages, Made With Fresh-Diced Serrano Peppers (5 ounces)
- Duke’s Original Recipe Smoked Shorty Sausages, Made With a Classic Blend of Spices & Freshly Chopped Herbs (5 ounces and 16 ounces)
- Duke’s Cajun Style Andouille Smoked Shorty Sausages, Made With Roasted Red Peppers & Cajun Spices (5 ounces)
- Duke’s Hatch Green Chile Smoked Shorty Sausages, Made With Roasted & Diced Hatch Chiles (5 ounces)
Memphis, Tenn.-based Monogram Foods Solutions is a manufacturer and marketer of packaged meat products, snacks and appetizers. The company produces both branded and private-label items, including beef, bacon and turkey jerky, meat sticks, pickled and smoked sausages, pickled eggs, potato skins, onion rings and jalapeno poppers. Monogram’s Wild Bill’s Slow Smoked Jerky garnered $11.4 million in total convenience-store sales in 2018, making it the 10th most popular jerky brand in the c-store channel, according to Chicago-based IRI.
CHICAGO -- The number of consumer packaged goods (CPG) recalls has expanded in 2018, forcing snack and candy manufacturers, as well as c-store retailers, to bolster safety practices and preventative measures to protect their employees and customers. In the past two months alone, multiple snack brands have faced recalls due to traces of salmonella, as well as mislabeled ingredients. During a time when consumers are more aware than ever of what they are eating, understanding how to effectively tackle a recall may be the difference between bouncing back and flatlining as a business when one arises.
Here are five tips for c-store retailers to avoid recalls …
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Not all recalls are created equal. Some are less extreme than others, seeing products return to shelves within a couple weeks, while more serious recalls take months for products to return to their normal stock, Tim Young, category manager of snacks, candy and edible grocery for Newcomb Oil Co., Bardstown, Ky., told CSP Daily News.
For instance, in April, Stewart’s Shops Corp. recalled units of its pint Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup ice cream due to improper packaging—the lid indicated the ice cream contained the c-store chain’s Chocolate flavor. This dilemma wasn’t as severe as Mondelez’s recall of Ritz Crackers in July due to traces of salmonella; however, it is something important to identify among front-line employees, said Young.
Young said it’s crucial for c-store retailers to understand the depth of each recall so they can properly identify which direction to take.
“[Your team] needs to make sure they understand if this recall is short or long term,” he said. “This will help them understand the kind of potential lasting impact this recall could have on the category as a whole.”
Young emphasizes constant communication during recalls, stemming from the vendors and suppliers down to the consumers themselves. He said that early communication and providing customers information on the recall will instill their trust in the brand, resulting in increased loyalty.
Newcomb’s main method of communicating with consumers during a recall is through signage. Whenever a product gets taken down, Young and his team places a note where that item would usually be stocked, detailing the recall and when the product is expected to return. Young did just that when Hostess recalled its Cookies 'n Creme Brownies in August due to a labeling issue, telling consumers the treat was “temporarily out of stock.”
“With 24-hour news at our fingertips, you can never get away with a recall,” Melvin Kramer, president of EHA Consulting Group Inc., a food safety consulting firm based in Baltimore, Md., told CSP Daily News. To bounce back from recalls, Kramer suggests being transparent, honest and apologetic to consumers and other affected parties. This applies to retailers and manufacturers, he said.
He also recommends a team approach, gathering people within the company who are best at problem-solving and having them discuss these issues with the public.
“It’s like everything else in life—it’s how you treat people,” he said.
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Recalls may result in a down period for c-store retailers, who often find themselves in limbo after a major product gets removed from shelves, said Kramer. The consultant was blunt in offering retailers advice when this occurs: He suggests c-store operators increase prices for the rest of their products to make up for the potential loss.
“There is significant amount of money changing hands in recalls,” he said. “Can you imagine if 7-Eleven had to take all of their branded corn chips off the market? It costs them time, money and a lack of profitability.”
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Product recalls can happen at any time, and retailers don’t have a choice whether to keep the recalled items. This makes it vital for c-store retailers to keep tabs on which products are being recalled, said Kramer. This can be done by monitoring actions by the Food & Drug Administration and other food safety organizations.
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