Abstract

Anglo Dutch FMCG Major Unilever found itself amidst salmonella crisis in Israel, when Telma cereals were found to be contaminated in August 2016. Without the company’s knowledge the contaminated batch of cereals were distributed and reached the consumers. Unilever then recalled the cereals, but its production license was suspended. Unilever rapidly lost market share to competitors. Before it could emerge from the crisis, the company faced another round of contamination. With two contamination occurrences in quick succession, Unilever was again in trouble. CEO of Unilever Israel, Anat Gabriel faced the challenge of minimizing the damage done to the company’s image and regaining the lost market share.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Debate on crisis management and communication strategy of organizations.
• Revival course after a major setback in terms of losing customers’ trust in the product or brand.

Keywords

Crisis Management, Communication Strategy , FMCG, Unilever, Israel, salmonella contamination, crisis communication, goods manufacturing