Ensuring Consumer Satisfaction
We value our consumers' feedback, both positive and negative, and view every contact as an opportunity to establish a stronger connection with the people who purchase our products. This input helps us to understand consumers' preferences and to identify ways we can serve them better.
Each year, approximately 400,000 consumers contact us by calling our toll-free number, sending us letters, or visiting our website. Our Consumer Affairs team is charged with receiving, tracking and responding to all consumer feedback. Careful analysis of consumer comments helps us to improve our products and services.
Colleagues from Global Nutrition, Marketing and the Campbell's kitchen regularly meet to review recipe concepts.
Beyond simply listening to feedback, we are actively engaged in programs designed to help our consumers live better lives. We understand, for example, that it can be a challenge to manage the dietary needs of individuals who are allergic to certain foods. To increase awareness and provide additional education for families affected by food allergies, Campbell has partnered with the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) to offer free six-month trial memberships. By helping consumers participate in FAAN, we seek to assist those with food allergies to understand their dietary options and obtain the information they need to minimize health risks.
Consumers can reach Campbell 24/7 on the web...
Providing Value-Added Services
Campbell continually experiments with new programs to provide consumers with useful information on meal ideas, health and wellness, and other tips. For example, each day our Campbell Meal-mail program delivers nearly 500,000 recipes electronically to busy Americans who are hungry for convenient, great-tasting meal ideas that will please their families. Consumers can access our Campbell's Kitchen website (www.campbellskitchen.com) at any time and download recipe ideas that have been tested and approved by our Campbell's Kitchen team, often with the assistance of Campbell nutritionists. Consumers also have the opportunity to share their ideas and comments on recipes with one another on our Campbell's Kitchen website.
Or speak with a member of our consumer response team.
Tracking Consumer Feedback
Campbell conducts frequent surveys to gauge consumer satisfaction and improve our understanding of what our consumers expect from us. We constantly challenge ourselves to find new and innovative ways to meet or exceed these expectations. According to The Center for Client Retention, Campbell ranked second in 2007 among 16 benchmarked companies in the United States in exceeding consumer expectations for the handling of inquiries, and was also ranked first among our peer U.S. food companies in delighting consumers when handling their inquiries.
Protecting Our Consumers
Campbell maintains strict and consistent controls throughout our manufacturing processes, but we are also prepared to act swiftly and effectively if there is a problem with any of our products. If we suspect that the safety of a Campbell product has been compromised, the Corporate Crisis Management Team initiates a recall process to remove the product from store shelves and alert consumers not to consume it. Working through protocols established by government agencies around the world, we provide regular updates to our customers and consumers on the scope and status of any product recall. We also provide 24-hour support to our retail trade customers and consumers to address any questions and concerns. In 2007 the company conducted four product recalls, impacting fewer than 150,000 product units globally. Campbell produces more than six billion individual product units annually.
Campbell has a long history of industry leadership in sodium communication and of providing consumers with reduced sodium foods. When evidence first surfaced in the medical literature in the 1970s that high dietary salt intake was possibly associated with hypertension in segments of the population, Campbell was the first food company to voluntarily label its products for sodium content. Following this labeling initiative, Campbell was the first-to-market in the United States with reduced sodium soups, aligned with the then new Food and Drug Administration definition of healthy product requirements.
Today, the medical community, non-governmental organizations, numerous government agencies and food companies, including Campbell, consider reducing salt intake as a positive lifestyle choice to reduce the incidence of hypertension and cardiovascular disease in the general population. Reducing the sodium content of convenient processed foods is considered an important means of reducing salt intake. Campbell has continued to lead the food industry by investing in research around salt/sodium reduction in our products. With the addition of lower sodium sea salt, we have been
able to restage and launch more than 70 soups and beverages with reduced sodium levels across North America, Canada and Australia over the past three years. These new items provide consumers great-tasting food choices with reduced sodium. While we have made good progress in this area, we still have much to accomplish. To this end, we will continue to make investments in both research and in our products with the goal of continuing to provide leadership around the globe on healthy reduced sodium foods.
