The Odwalla Juice Company Crisis

The Odwalla Juice Company Crisis

Strayer University

Business Communication and Ethics

JWMI 505

Introduction

This paper will be review the 1996 Odwalla Juice Company’s handling of the Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria outbreak in their manufacturing plant and the steps they took to handle the disaster. Primarily focusing on their communication to the community, FDA and customers, especially those that became ill by the outbreak.

Situation Description

In 1996, a deadly strain of bacteria broke out among residents of some west coast states and eventually spread into western Canada. When the bacteria was traced to juice products made by the Odwalla Juice Company in Half Moon Bay, California, the company’s “loyal customers and market analysts were shocked in disbelief” (Feedback, 1998). Odwalla had prided itself on being a socially responsible company that was passionate about producing the healthiest juices on the market. The company’s reaction to the news would determine whether the company could survive the crisis.

Within a matter of hours, nearly two hundred Odwalla Inc. delivery trucks were en route to retrieving the juice maker’s apple juice products from retailers’ shelves in seven states (California, Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, Oregon, Nevada and Washington) and Canada. The voluntary recall was made effective immediately after the company learned of a possible link made among cases of E.coli infections by customers who had consumed the product. The recall was not demanded by any regulatory agency authority and was completely voluntary.

TIMELINE OF THE ODWALLA E.COLI CRISIS

[pic 1][pic 2][pic 3]

[pic 4][pic 5]

[pic 6][pic 7][pic 8]

[pic 9][pic 10]

Ethical Implications

 It appears that Odwalla wasn’t the model of social responsibility that they portrayed to the community, investors and their customers as they ignored signs that their products ran the risk of contamination with their lack of sanitation practices. It was run by executives who were not shy about noting their commitment to a more just society; such as, Odwalla relied upon media coverage to polish its brand much like Ben & Jerry’s and Tom’s of Maine.

Greg Stelenpohl, one of the company’s founders was quoted as saying “we didn’t test for E.coli because we believed evidence showed it was not found at that acid level.” Spokesperson Chris Gallagher added “Odwalla continuously upgraded its manufacturing process in the period leading up to the incident,” In other words, Odwalla sidestepped the issue of what it should have known about the health dangers of unpasteurized juice and when it should have known it could lead to contamination.("Odwalla Product Recall,” 1996).