Just because you have a co pack manufacturer producing ice cream for you, does not mean you are not held responsible for the products they make.
To invest in your own ice cream facility or use an outside co-pack manufacturer, that is the question.
Dr. Bob’s Ice Cream, located in California with multiple locations recently closed it’s doors and shut down their website and FaceBook page, because the FDA found Listeria Monocytogenes in the facility and issued multiple warning letters. What’s important about this facility closing is that it not only affected the Dr. Bob’s Handcrafted Brand, but other company’s they packed private label ice cream for. So essentially Dr. Bob’s business model was to produce their own brand as well as contract with other private label companies to produce their ice cream. Unfortunately with the Doctor closing the business it also effected a number of other brands.
Food Safety News published a few articles and named 4 companies that were immediately affected by the listeria recall and plant closing.
Manila Sky
Here is an excerpt from the DailyNews,
“So far, four California-based ice cream companies based in Los Angeles, Anaheim, Santa Barbara and Palos Verdes Peninsula, have been served FDA recall notices for their products produced at Dr. Bob’s Pomona kitchen, according to notices by the federal food safety agency. It has recalled:
- On Nov. 2, AC Creamery of Anaheim — “Manila Sky Purple Yum”
- On Nov. 4, McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams of Santa Barbara — seven flavors (mint chip, peppermint stick, salted caramel chip, sweet cream, Turkish coffee, vanilla bean and Dutchman’s chocolate) sold in pint-sized containers
- On Nov. 9, ISB Food Group of Los Angeles — Nancy’s Fancy butterscotch Budino gelato and Nancy’s Fancy peanut butter with crunchy peanuts gelato with expiration dates of March 18, 2017
- On Nov. 9, ISB Food Group — L.A. Creamery honeycomb ice cream and L.A. Creamery salted caramel ice cream with expiration dates of March 18, 2017
- On Nov. 10, Agave Dream, of Palos Verdes Peninsula — chocolate, lavender, vanilla, chocolate chip and cappuccino
Small said it was in communication with all the companies that contract it.”
Many of my clients will ask about finding a co-pack facility to produce their product as opposed to making their own. The client believes that it is the more convenient way to produce at essentially a lower cost. I discuss a number of reasons to consider before deciding on a co-packer to manufacturer a dairy or nondairy frozen products and among them is this current example of Dr. Bob’s.
Not only did Dr. Bob take down their brand, they took with them at least 5 others. In abandoning their customers, those companies now have to scramble and find another facility that will make their products, a huge undertaking. Don’t easily believe that manufacturers are willing and interested to take on your private label product and in many cases you need to convince them why your product would be a compliment to their existing production.
When or if the closed facility reopens, my guess it will take at least 6 months to be issued clearance by the FDA. Multiple inspections and corrections will take place before manufacturing begins. In the meantime their old clients will need to find another facility which could take a number of months and here’s why.
The new co-pack facility will need to already have in place:
- Fillers that use the same size container, lid and manufacturer
- The same case count pack and case material
- A license to produce the same category of frozen product
- Production line time to accommodate the new volume
The private label client moving to a new facility will need:
- To meet the co-packers minimum order requirements
- To establish new credit terms
- Make a large investment to build inventory back up
- Possibly pay additional shipping cost depending on the US facility location
- Possibly pay a higher cost for their product
The challenge the ice cream clients may face once product is back in the marketplace:
- Their previous customer base may be reluctant to again purchase their product
- Face deterioration of their brand name and loyal customer following
- Apologize for a problem they were not responsible for
- Explaining how their product is still high quality
So the lesson learned from Dr. Bob’s event is if you use a co-packer to produce your product, be sure to have a back-up facility already making your product and understand that even though you may have others make your product, you essentially are still responsible for any outside consequences such as Listeria Monocytogenes in your product.
Contact Darryl to learn about the up’s and down’s of using a co-pack manufacturer for your product. Making your own in your own facility may be the better option. In some instances it could be the difference between having a good reputation or not.
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