How Produce Industry Rebuilds Trust After Cyclospora Outbreaks

Crisis communication strategist Amy Philpott outlines why outdated response playbooks fail and how targeted messaging restores credibility.

In a typical food safety outbreak, a consumer response goes from “What’s happening?” to “What do I do to protect myself and my family?” to “Who is to blame?” and then “What is being done to prevent this from happening again?” says Amy Philpott, a public relations and crisis communication expert specializing in the food, agriculture and fresh produce industries.

But Philpott says that’s not happening in the recent cyclospora food safety outbreak, as there are few outbreaks in different stages. Because there are different timelines, consumers need different information — and that has made the response playbook almost obsolete.

“Consumers are asking all of these questions at the same time,” she says. “We’ve lost any sort of linear flow that we normally have, and that’s making it challenging.”

Why Traditional Food Safety Playbooks Fail During Cyclospora Outbreaks

While consumers have a need for information, various polls show their declining trust in government and health agencies, Philpott says.

“As an industry, we have always attached our credibility in the food safety arena to that of the agencies that regulate us,” she says. “While that’s not the only place we get our credibility, it’s a good source of credibility for us. But what that means is that when their credibility is high, ours is high. When theirs is low, ours start to wane as well.”

Compounding the outbreak is the explosion of social media channels. In this information vacuum, pseudoscience and misinformation thrive.

Standing Out With Targeted Food Safety Messaging

So, can the fresh produce industry cut through the social media noise? Philpott says it’s important to understand which consumers to target.

“We say consumers, but in reality, consumers are not one homogenous group,” she says. “There is research that can be done to segment out … the people who will actually listen to what we have to say, and these are the channels that they frequent where they get their food safety news from.”

While it’s important to understand which audiences will be receptive to messaging, Philpott says it’s equally important to understand which audiences the messaging won’t resonate with and the platforms they follow.

Knowing what questions and anxieties the targeted segment has is key to better provide that information.

“I think if that were done, what we would find is that industry groups and spokespersons on the industry side are doing a great job of providing information,” she says. “What I don’t know is whether that information is actually answering the concerns and questions that the people who would be receptive to our messaging actually have.”

Philpott says industry leaders often rely on the traditional food safety playbook that shepherded the sector through past recalls. While most industry organizations have a social media presence, many are not consumer-facing, she notes.

Part of that playbook used to involve posting a press release or statement on a website or social media account, and it would be noticed. That’s not the case today.

“Right now, it’s being drowned out by so much of this social media misinformation, because of that lack of information or the void that’s being created by health authorities not having a lot of facts to provide. But I would argue that even when you don’t have a lot of facts, you need to keep the communication going in order to maintain the connection with the people you’re trying to communicate with.”

Preparing Produce Safety Prevention Messaging for the Next Cyclospora Season

Philpott says that while food safety experts predict that “cyclospora season” will eventually come to an end this year, that doesn’t mean the news cycle is over. Expect more noise next May.

“Even if consumers don’t remember it, news reporters do, as do consumer advocates,” she says. “It’s going to come up. We’re going to be asked as an industry, ‘What have you done to make this season safer than last?’”

This is where the fresh produce industry needs to be prepared, says Philpott, adding that prevention is one area of messaging that is severely lacking.

“Eventually that will be the only answer that matters,” she says.

As companies prepare prevention communications, consumers may think, “This is what you were doing before it happened, but it still happened. So, what are you doing differently?’” Philpott says improvements could be increasing training, increasing the frequency of reviews and testing.

“I’m not suggesting that we have to have an entirely new cyclospora protocol, but people aren’t going to believe there’s a difference in safety unless there’s a difference in something that we’re doing,” she says. “The message is going to have to have that type of content to it.”

It could also be as simple as discussing the plan to move forward with robust traceability efforts.

“I think going in that direction would help to convince consumers that something different is happening, and that’s why it’s different and you can consume lettuce,” she says.

Channel Distribution and Influencer Strategy

From there, Philpott says it’s important to take a good look at the channels of distribution for those messages. Is it best coming from a company or from a third-party influencer who has more credibility? What platform is the best to deliver the message? She says answering all those questions is critical to putting the best foot forward.

“Once we figure out who we can actually influence, who are they already listening to?” she says. “Is that health professionals? Is it nutritionists and dietitians? Is it scientists? Who is it? And maybe using them to help us with that message and distribute that message.”

Philpott says that everyday communication outside of a food safety outbreak or crisis actually helps to build credibility and be seen as a trustworthy source of news. Information shared needs to be clear, empathetic, easy to understand and relevant to the audience, she says, even if a company seeks legal guidance.

She also cautions produce industry businesses against the urge to use the conversation around food safety as a competitive edge.

“If we start divvying up the food safety pie among ourselves based on the type of product or the growing practices or the region or anything else, it’s only going to hurt ourselves because the consumer doesn’t care,” she says. “The consumer wants safe produce regardless of where it was grown or how it was grown.”

And this is where, at this point in the cyclospora outbreak, Philpott says “much of the work that needs to be done very likely needs to be done with a unified voice at a higher industry level versus a company-by-company level.”

“To the degree that associations and produce groups can carry the collective voice, the more effective it will be,” she adds.

Philpott emphasizes the foundation of successful food safety risk communication means “knowing who you’re talking to, what’s important to them and how to reach them.”

“I don’t think, as an industry, we do enough research on who we’re talking to,” she says. And from a risk communications standpoint, “it’s easy to just consider all consumers the same.”

But the bright spot is that while it will take a collective effort to move forward from this cyclospora outbreak and rebuild consumer trust, Philpott says, “we as an industry have seen challenges around food safety that have threatened or potentially had the potential to threaten entire categories and beyond. And we have dealt with them. We can do this.”

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Source: The Packer

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