STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION ADVICE REPORT Lucinda Pronk 2212763 Els Kersten 2259XADV14 20 Oktober 2015
/INDEX 1. Organization identity /01 1.1 Albert Heijn /01 1.2 Mission and vision /01 1.3 Core values /01 1.4 Strategy /01 1.5 Conclusion /01 2. Issues /02 2.1 Food waste /02 2.2 Obesity /05 2.3 Organic livestock /06 3. Risk threat assessment matrix /09 3.1 What does Albert Heijn do? /09 3.1 The chosen issue /10 4. Stakeholder analysis /12 4.1 Stakeholder mapping /12 4.2 Six stakeholders /12 5. Advice /16 5.1 General strategy /16 5.2 Strategic options /17 5.2 Stakeholder approach /19 Bibliography /21 Reflection Crisis Day /25 Q&A List /28
/ORGANIZATION IDENTITY In this part general information about Albert Heijn will be presented, such as a bit of history, vision and mission, core values, their strategy and its relation with issues in the food industry. The identity of the organization is described, because when dealing with an issue (or a crisis) the identity of an organization is very important in knowing what the strategic options are to respond to the issue (or crisis). 1.1 Albert Heijn The supermarket Albert Heijn started with a little grocery in Oostzaan. It all started when the twenty-one year old Albert Heijn took over the store from his father in 1887. As of now Albert Heijn has over 860 shops and 80.000 employees in the Netherlands and 26 shops in Belgium. Customers have plenty of choice in A-brands and private labels, such as Albert Heijn private label, AH Excellent, AH Biologisch (organic) and AH BASIC. Besides the regular Albert Heijn store there is an AH XL, AH To Go and customers can order groceries online. Albert Heijn is part of Ahold company (Albert Heijn., n.d.) 1.2 Vision and mission The founder of the supermarket, Albert Heijn himself, wanted his store to be for everyone ‘Poor and rich should be able to do groceries in my store’. Albert Heijn still stands by his saying. It is the mission of Albert Heijn to make the ordinary affordable and the extraordinary attainable (Albert Heijn., n.d.) 1.3 Core values The success of the Albert Heijn stores comes from the enthusiasms of its founder, but also from his principles reliability, quality and service. Up until present day the Albert Heijn stores carry out these core values with the highest priority. 1.4 Strategy Albert Heijn has a very consistent strategy, which is aimed at making everything that has to do with grocery shopping as comfortable for the customer as possible. The strategy is based on three points: roots, commotion and regularity. The roots of Albert Heijn are an important criterion when developing the company. This can be derived from the fact that Albert Heijn regularly looks back to the reason why the company started. As mentioned in the vision, mission and core values, the reason and principles form when Albert Heijn first started can still be found in any Albert Heijn store. Besides the roots Albert Heijn manages to stir up the market with their new products, striking actions, pricing war, etc. Albert Heijn tries to seduce her customers and challenges their competitors. Regularity can be found in the power of repetition. Every Dutch person knows the ‘Hamsterweken’ (literally translated: Hamsterweeks) and the ‘Bonuskaart’ (literally translated: bonus card) (Zoelen, van, J., 2012). Besides the main strategy Albert Heijn also carries out some strategic option as a player in the food industry. Albert Heijn believes little steps can achieve big results. If everyone does something small every time, we can achieve more every time. This way Albert Heijn wants to help the environment, people, animals, the neighborhood and health. By doing more, the word ‘durability’ can have a meaning in our daily life. On the website of Albert Heijn their ambitions and goals to actually stimulate these topics are explained and what they have achieved already (Albert Heijn., n.d.) 1.4 Conclusion The strategy of Albert Heijn (and the mission, vision and core values) is important when dealing with an issue or crisis, also in relation to the reputation of Albert Heijn. A reputation is build on trust, which usually comes from the strategy. Reputation management is a process to build and protect the brand and secure its future. Issue management is one of the most effective tools an organization has to gather information, understand how the market en stakeholder networks position themselves and to be in a position to defend and respond in a way that maintain the organization’s identity (Dalton, J., 2011).
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/ISSUES In this part of the assignment three relevant issues will be presented. These three issues all play a part in the food industry, since Albert Heijn is a player in this field. First the issue will be described by references and sources. The issue checklist, obtained from the course Strategic Communication (2015), will be held in mind when describing the issue. The issue will then be analyzed according to the Issue Life Cycle Model (Dalton, J., 2011). Furthermore a definition of an issue obtained from Jaques (2007) will be used to determine why the issue can have an impact on the organization. The issue checklist - Is it an openly debated problem in society? - Is there growing media attention to the problem over time? - Is there a conflict (controversy, difference in opinion, discussion going on) between different stakeholders? - Is the problem ready for resolution? - Would the solution involve policy decisions? Issue Life Cycle Model
The Issue Life Cycle Model, obtained from John Dalton (2011), has five stages. In the first stage, the issue is latent. It is under the surface. In the second stage the issue rising, people start to hear about the issue. The third stage the issue becomes active, all the stakeholders now know about the issue. The last stage is where the issue can become a crisis and the issue becomes very intense. All stakeholders are involved and the media talks daily about the issue. In the last stage the issue has reaches the maturity stage. It becomes unimportant. Definition of an issue “A condition or event, either internal or external to the organization which, if it continues, will have significant effect of the functioning or performance of the organization or on its future interests.� (Jaques., 2007) 2.1 Food waste General information According to the website of the Rijksoverheid (the Dutch government) (n.d.) approximately 14 percent of all the groceries will end up unused in the trashcan. Dutch consumers throw away food worth of 2,5 billion euros, which is 50 kilo a person.
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Producers, intermediaries, hospitality and supermarkets waste food worth of 2,5 billion euros on top of the consumers. Products that are wasted the most are: milk, bread, vegetables, fruit, sauces, oils and fats. In 2009 the government set a guideline to reduce food waste with 20 percent by the end of 2015 (Giessen, van, der, G., 2014). The government believes consumers and business play a big part in this. If consumers and business work together, the target can be achieved. As an example the Ministry of Economical Affairs has set up the No Waste Network, where government and business work together to reduce food waste. Impact Food waste can have a big impact and has economical, ecological and social effects (DamnFoodWaste, n.d.) In terms of economical effects: food waste causes high cost for waste management. These costs consist of transport costs, operating costs for the purification plants, and in some cases the cost of waste separation (Quested, T., Johnson, H., 2009). The ecological effect has an impact on the climate change. Food production and consumption generates 20 to 30 percent of the European environmental impact. Food waste does not only costs money, but it also costs energy, which was put in production, packaging, transportation, refrigeration and food preparation. Every kilo of food waste, is equal to a waste of 1,3 liter gasoline. The waste of meat, dairy and vegetables attribute the most to climate change. Reducing food waste, will also reduce climate change, so less production of the greenhouse gas CO2 (Voedingscentrum., 2014). Food waste also attributes to social issues, such as a financial crisis, increasing food prices and international food shortages. Approximately 12 percent of the word population is undernourished. Besides the quality standards are set by bigger food instances, so they decide the food intake and the food waste of agricultural crops. Farmers can only sell a part of their harvest to companies in western countries, because consumer would rather not eat crooked cucumbers or apples with a brown spot (DamnFoodWaste., n.d.). Solutions On of the biggest solutions to reduce food waste would be to bring the left over food to the food bank, but that does not always happen. For example if an event is cancelled, all the food that was ordered, is left over. To bring all the food to a food bank would be logistically impossible. Besides, if the food is not packaged, the food bank cannot collect it, because it is not allowed from the Food and Drug Administration (Giessen, van, der G., 2014). Another solution includes having a sensor on food packaging to see if the food is still edible instead of looking at the date. Moreover in the United Kingdom they use the term ‘best before’. This means that the product is the best before the date, but it is still edible after the date. Also the appearance of feed needs to change. As mentioned before customer would not prefer crooked cucumbers, but these kind of vegetables are as much as edible as the ‘regular shaped’ vegetables (Giessen, van, der, G., 2014). On September 30th the Second Chamber has approved two motions. The first one was to expand the European list of products that are exempted from the ‘best before dates’. The second motion was to increase the two-hour norm to a four-hour norm. Now a lot of products, such as bread, will be thrown away after being outside of the cooling after only two hours (Brassen, B., 2015, No Waste Network., 2015). Recently in France a law passed which obligates supermarkets to give the left over foods to a charity, like a food bank, or to donate the food so it can be made into animal feed or compost. Furthermore supermarkets have to sign a contract with a charity to make the donation of food easier. The only question is, is if it is effective. 03
/ISSUES According to Jacques Creysel, director of the Federation for Trade and Distribution, it is not enough to only take on supermarkets, because they are responsible for 5 percent of the total food waste. Toine Timmermans, professor of the University of Wageningen, doubts as well if the law is effective. Most of the products supermarkets throw away are out of date and an organization, such as the food bank cannot do anything with it. Moreover a lot of products can still be sold if they are out of date, but a lot of supermarkets just throw away the food anyway, because otherwise they will be responsible. According to Damn Food Waste it is not such a bad idea to start with the supermarkets. Although consumers waste the most, it is a good idea to take on the whole food industry. Damn Food Waste thinks a similar law will be a good idea for the Netherlands as well, providing that there become clear guidelines (Codonesu, G., 2015). In addition to the food waste in France the supermarket Intermarché started a campaign to promote fruit and vegetables with dents and bulges, like the bizarre potato and the horrible orange. They sold the vegetables for 30 percent off the regular prices. On the labels it was specified it were ‘ugly’ vegetables. All the vegetables were sold out and the supermarket got 24 percent new customers. Competitors decided to start similar initiatives (No Waste Network., 2014). Supermarkets Dutch supermarkets waste about 24 billion kilos of bread, 16 billion kilos of meat and 145 billion kilos of other foods, such as dairy, vegetables and fruit (Versprille, H., 2015). In total supermarkets are responsible for 3 to 5 percent of the food waste. The Dutch associations of supermarkets says Dutch supermarkets do no throw away anything, except meat that is expired, since there is an European law that obligates them to do so. The rest is used for biofuel or reused as animal food. But according to Toine Timmermans (professor of University of Wageningen) biofuel is a waste as well. It produces very little energy compared to the energy it costs to produce food (NOS., 2015). The biggest part of producing food waste are the consumers. Supermarkets are in a direct line with these consumers, so supermarkets can play a role in creating awareness of and reducing food waste. 2014 was the year against food waste. Supermarkets agreed to do at least two consumer actions to make consumers aware of food waste. Examples supermarkets could do: - Give discounts on products that are close to their date, so they will be consumed instead of thrown away. - Collaborate with the food bank. - Convert products that have expired into biofuel. - Collaborate with the nutrition center to hand out flyers about food waste Life cycle model The issue of food waste is starting in phase three of the Issue Life Cycle Model. Not everyone is up to date about the issue, but more stakeholders are getting involved. More stakeholders are debating what good solutions might be for the issue. The issue is not that far evolved that it already can become a crisis, so is not at the end of phase three. The issue is becoming more active. More people of the public are going to talk about it. Supermarkets are trying to help reducing the food waste. The government is thinking about the issue and even setting up guidelines (like reducing food waste by 20 percent by the end of 2015 and approving the two motions). Relevance for organization As mentioned above supermarkets are responsible for 3 tot 5 percent of the total food waste. Besides supermarkets are in a direct line with the consumer and supermarkets can play a pioneering role in reducing food waste and creating awareness around the topic. Albert Heijn already works on reducing food waste and creating awareness, like collaborating with the Nutrition center and giving food the Food banks (more of what Albert Heijn does can be read in 3.1), so they are known with the issue. According to the definition of an issue created by Jaques (2007) (see introduction of chapter two) food waste would be an internal (waste of own food) and external (creating awareness among consumers) event to Albert Heijn. 04
If food waste is not reduced or awareness is not created, the issue can have a negative outcome on Albert Heijn, since Albert Heijn is in a direct line with the consumers. Besides Albert Heijn wants to be a store for everyone where the ordinary is affordable and the extraordinary attainable. When consumers for example would found out Albert Heijn is throwing away millions of food every year for no good reason or Albert Heijn does not care about the problem, not everyone wants to visit their stores anymore. Luckily Albert Heijn is already working on the issue, but it is not prominently visible. 2.2 Obesity General information In 2012 in The Netherlands 48,3% of the population is overweight including obesity. Men are more overweight (53%) than women (43,7%), but women are more obese (13,9%) than men (11,3%). In total 12,7% of the Dutch population has obesity. A person has obesity when their body mass index (BMI) is above 30. A person is overweight when their BMI is above 25 (Nationaal Kompas Volksgezondheid., 2014). There are five things that can cause obesity and usually they are connected with each other. The first one is lack of exercise, the second one is stress, the third one is too many food with unhealthy calories, the fourth is mental illness (like emotion-eating) and the fifth is a genetic predisposition (Echtgezondafvallen., n.d.) The cause of obesity however is not always the person’s fault. Impact A person who is obese has more health risks. For example obesity has a higher chance at infertility and arthritis, has influence on the mental health, has a higher risk at chronic disease, has a higher risk at heart problems, etc (Nationaal Kompas Volksgezondheid., 2014). Besides the impact obesity has on the person itself, it also has an effect on the society. Obesity is one of the top three social costs. Worldwide the costs for obesity are 2 billion dollars. On a yearly basis 2,8 million of the in total 59 million deaths are caused by obesity. These economical and social charges are expected to grow by 41% by 2030 (Consultancy., 2014). In a book called ‘De obesogene samenleving’ (the obese society) authors create a new perspective on the social and cultural context of the problem obesity. Various factors, such as food supply, commercials, pricing, family life and food cultures. The authors want to make it clear how obvious obesity and overweight are intertwined with the consumption society. That is why the cause of obesity cannot always be ascribed to a person himself. In the documentary ‘Super size me’ journalist Morgen Spurlock shows how companies like McDonalds seduce consumers every time to eat fat hamburgers, with big cups of cola (Munnichs, G., 2007). Solutions Some people think the government has to come up with policy decisions to prevent and stop obesity, in particular the ministry of health, welfare and sports (Dalen, van, F., 2011, Velpen, van, der, P., 2015). The ministry of health, welfare and sports is already working on preventing and reducing obesity. Organizations, schools and municipalities get money from the government to stop obesity. The goal is to let adults and children eat healthier and to exercise more (Rijksoverheid., n.d.) The policy of preventing and stopping obesity is also discussed in the second chamber (Rijksoverheid., 2012). Besides the government, employers can help reducing obesity as well. Employers are a bit hesitant to tell employees they need to stop their unhealthy lifestyle. It is not about telling the employees what to do, but to create an environment that stimulates a healthier lifestyle by offering different programs (Waard, van, der M., 2012). And as mentioned before the consumption society can be blamed as well. Producers of unhealthy food can play a part in offering healthier options.
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/ISSUES Supermarkets Food scientist and health experts think supermarkets contribute to overeating. After a long day of work a consumer goes shopping in a supermarket. The consumer has to go trough the whole store to make a healthy choice. Instead the consumer usually gets something easy and unhealthy and at the cash register the consumer grabs a chocolate bar. Most of the time the unhealthy products are on the shelves on eyeheight. Products that are on eye-height are the ones consumers get the most. Besides 80 percent of the products a customer buys are based on a decision made in the store. This means supermarkets have a huge share in seducing customers to buy specific products. Ralph Moorman (who wrote a book about making healthy choices while doing groceries) says obesity is a problem of society. Four million Dutch people visit the supermarket daily. The supermarkets are a part of the unhealthy environment and that is why supermarkets should play a role in reducing obesity according to Moorman. In 2006 and 2008 the Consumers Association presented a report about what supermarkets do to make a healthy choice easier. Most of the supermarkets did not score very high, besides Albert Heijn (Versprille, H., 2013). Although Moorman believes supermarkets are not helping the unhealthy environment, there are some things supermarkets do to make a healthy life choice easier (Passie voor Food., 2012): - Labels of food products show how what the nutritional value is per serving. In a glance consumers can see for example how many sugar a product contains. - Schoolchildren get a tour of the supermarket to show them where they can get healthy food. - Supermarkets develop more products with a ‘checkmark’ (healthier products) - Supermarkets stimulate sports by sponsoring or organizing a national or local sports event. - Supermarkets collaborate with food producers to reduce the amount of salt in soups, pizzas and ready-to-eat meals. - Supermarkets collaborate with food producers to offer alternatives for unhealthy saturated fats. Issue Life Cycle Model The issue of obesity is in between the third and fourth stage of the Issue Life Cycle Model. All stakeholders of the issue are involved and all are aware of the issue. The public is talking about is, the government is taking action, business can take action, researchers publish their findings, media is giving the issue attention, etc. The issue does not always evolve into a crisis, but for example when the documentary Super size me was shown, McDonalds (and other fast-food restaurants) got a lot of negative publicity. McDonalds now has healthier choices in the menu as well, such as salads. That probably was not their own choice, but more a choice to make the public happier. Super size me came out in 2004, so 11 years ago, but even now sometimes companies could have a crisis. For example when a company is exposed of how unhealthy their products are and how it could contribute to obesity. Relevance for organization As mentioned earlier food scientist and health experts believe supermarkets contribute to overeating. For example: unhealthy products are usually on eye-height and easier to grab. Supermarkets can play a prominent role to promote healthy eating, although it might be difficult, because telling people to change their lifestyle is intervening into their personal lives. Not every supermarket will be comfortable doing that. Albert Heijn tries to promote healthy eating by using hallmarks, selling diet products and educating the public (more can be read in 3.1). In relation to the definition of an issue by Jaques (2007) Albert Heijn could play a prominent role in reducing and stopping obesity, because obesity is an external event to the organization. If more people get obese, eventually the more supermarkets will be blamed, since some people believe obese is a problem of the society. Supermarkets are in a direct line with the consumers. Besides Albert Heijn wants to make the ordinary affordable and the extraordinary attainable. Healthy food should be affordable, since Albert Heijn is a store for everyone and extra healthy food should be attainable 2.3 Organic livestock General information Organic livestock is different way of farming than the mass industry.
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In organic farming the animals have more space, can go outside, live longer, show animal behavior, no use of preventive antibiotics and hormones and the animals keep their beak, curly tail, etc. (Bionext., n.d.) In 2013 Dutch consumers bought organic food worth of 984,2 million euros in the supermarkets. In comparison to 2012 the spending grow by 5,4 percent. From all the food that is offered 2,4 percent is organic food (Agriholland., 2015). In the Netherlands there are approximately 1.440 organic farming companies, which is 2,3 percent of the total. In organic livestock it is 5 percent of the totality. The share in organic food in the Dutch food industry is lower than close countries, such as Denmark (7,2%), Austria (6,0%), Swiss (5,7%) and Germany (3,5%) (Rabobank., 2015). Impact The reason why organic farming began is because the mass industry brings a lot of damage to the welfare of people, animals and the environment. Conventional meat (produced in the mass industry) comes from animals who live in small, uncomfortable spaces with little room for moving and who get fattened. The animals live a very stressful life and they are not treated in an animal friendly way. In the mass industry antibiotics are used extensively. The high use of these antibiotics causes an alarmingly increase of antibiotic resistance bacteria. This does not only mean treating animal diseases will get harder, but it also means treating human diseases will get more difficult. Furthermore the meat of conventional animals is unhealthier than meat that comes from organic animals, because of the unsaturated fats that can be found in conventional meat. In the accepted industry the environment and the natural cycle get disrupted, because of large polluting manure surpluses and animal feed that is transported from all over the world. Besides land in developing countries is used for the cultivation of fodder, which goes along with the devastation of valuable natural areas. Another negative outcome of the general industry is genetic modification used on animals as well as crops, because it is controversial. Some fear genetic modification can be very harmful for the health of human and animal (Bio & Het Beest., n.d.) Solutions The government is taking various actions to stimulate animal friendly farming and durability. Examples are the ban on battery cages and the mandatory group housing for pregnant sows. Since February 1st farmers can have more chicken on a square meter if they take good care of the chicken. The better they treat the chicken, the more chickens they can have. The government also wants to reduce the use of antibiotics and the emissions of ammonia, particulate matter, greenhouse gases and nitrogen and phosphate in manure (Rijksoverheid., 2014). The government is also thinking about the future of organic livestock farming. The government believes farmers, processors and buyers of the products from the livestock sector should take the initiative to make livestock farming (more) organic. Retail and supermarkets should play a crucial role in the process. The demand of organic products comes from the stores (and the consumers). The Ministry of Economical Affairs collaborates with social organizations, business and provinces to work towards organic livestock and durability (Rijksoverheid., n.d.) Another initiative to support organic livestock is the use of hallmarks. On the website of the Dutch organization ‘Milieu Centraal’ (n.d.) all the hallmarks used for meat can be found. There the public can see what all the hallmarks mean and to what extent the hallmarks represent animal friendly farming. Besides the government and the hallmarks social organizations are working towards organic livestock farming as well, such as the Dutch organization ‘Wakker Dier’ (n.d.) They believe all the animals in the livestock industry have a right to live an animal worthy life. The organization was also the one who showed the public about the ‘plofkip’. This is a chick that in six weeks time gets fattened from 50 grams to over two kilos. They showed how almost all of the chicken sold in the supermarkets were plofkippen (Wakker Dier., n.d.) 07
/ISSUES Supermarkets There is a lot of research that shows which supermarket offers the best organic meat and meat substitutes. In 2009 Jumbo was the best supermarket, because of the pricing and the supply. On average organic meat is 81 percent more expensive than regular meat. An organic chicken is even 218 percent more expensive than regular chicken. Supermarkets also have more actions with regular meat than organic meat. Only 2 percent of the meat offers in the flyers was organic meat (AD., 2009). Other research of the Consumentenbond (2013) shows consumers are more advantageous off at regular supermarkets than organic supermarkets. Organic product costs a quarter more at an organic supermarket than a regular one, while organic supermarkets offer a lot more organic products than the normal supermarkets. Issue Life Cycle Model The issue of the organic livestock is in between stages three and four. The issue is very active, because all kinds of stakeholders are involved and know about the problem. Different parties try to find solutions, but not everyone cooperates. The media is giving the issue attention from time to time if researchers found something new or if there is a scandal. When there is a scandal, such as the ‘plofkip’ the issue can result in a crisis. For example, when the news about the plofkip was released, Dutch supermarkets, which sold the plofkip had a crisis. Customers who care about animal friendly farming were angry at these supermarkets and did not want to buy the meat anymore. After a while there was less and less news about the ‘plofkip’, so the public opinion became less as well, but the issue of the organic livestock is still alive. Relevance for organization As mentioned earlier supermarkets can play a big role in offering organic livestock instead of meat from the mass industry, since supermarkets are in a direct line with the consumers. Albert Heijn already does a lot to promote organic livestock, such as their own brand: AH Organic (more can be read in 3.1) Looking at the definition of an issue from Jaques organic livestock is an internal event to Albert Heijn. If Albert Heijn would not do address the issue in any way, they would lose customers (who are aware of the mass industry) and social organizations would get involved, like Wakker Dier with ‘plofkip’. Albert Heijn is a store for everyone where the ordinary is affordable and the extraordinary attainable. This means for example affordable organic meat and attainable extra organic meat. .
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/RISK THREATMENT ASSESMENT MATRIX In this part the three issues will be placed on the risk threat assessment matrix. This way an issue can be chosen to do a stakeholder analysis and to write a communication advice.
The risk threat assessment matrix consists of two focus points: the likelihood of a risk/issue and the magnitude if the issue manifests (Dalton, J., 2011). The likelihood means the probability the issue could be a risk to the organization and the magnitude of a risk manifesting, the impact/importance it can have on the organization. The more the issue scores on likelihood and magnitude the more the issue has to be addressed. 3.1 What does Albert Heijn do? For choosing the issue, it is important to look at what Albert Heijn already does to address the three issues: food waste, obesity and organic livestock. Food waste Albert Heijn collaborated with the Voedingscentrum to reduce food waste. Together they came up with a marketing idea to create awareness for food waste: the ‘Eatingbuddy’. With this product consumers could easily measure the right portions for pasta and rice. Albert Heijn also uses discounts on products that are almost out of date: the 35 percent sticker. Food that is out of date does net get thrown away that easily. Most of the food is turned into biofuel or green energy. The products that are not sold will be distributed to food banks, so they can use it (Albert Heijn., n.d.) The packaging of food can also play a role; such as plastic packaging what Albert Heijn is trying to reduce (Groot, W., 2015). Besides taking care of the store four employees of Albert Heijn started a restaurant, which only cooks with products that will not be sold in the stores (Mooi, de, W., 2014). In the Responsible Retailing Report (Ahold., 2014) they report on the percentage of food waste compared to the total food sale. In 2014 1-2 percent of the total food sale was wasted, 60 percent of the waste was re-used, recycled or recovered and 16 percent went to landfill. Since December 2014 consumers can buy a ‘Buitenbeentje’ packet online. In this packet consumers will get vegetables that might have a different form or appearance than the ‘regular food’ consumers are used too. The fruit and vegetables come from the regular farmers and growers (Albert Heijn., n.d.) Remarkably Albert Heijn is the only supermarket that publishes facts and figures about the food waste, because other supermarkets are afraid of competition (Cammelbeeck, T., 2013). Also remarkably is the fact that not a lot of what Albert Heijn does to reduce food waste is known (except the collaboration with the Voedingscentrum) in comparison to healthy products and organic products. 09
/RISK THREATMENT ASSESMENT MATRIX Obesity Albert Heijn wants to take the lead to promote healthy eating by educating the public and to include healthy products in the product range. On some products hallmarks can be found which indicates how healthy the product is. Albert Heijn also tries to be honest about E-numbers and tries to reduce the sugar and salt level in many kinds of food. The ‘diet’ products Albert Heijn offers are really healthier than the regular ones. They do not only have less sugar and fat, but also fewer calories. Albert Heijn also sponsors initiatives to educate children, like the ‘I eat healthier’-program and JOGG, an organization that fights obesity (Albert Heijn., n.d.) The Responsible Retail Report (Ahold., 2014) shows 26,6 percent of the total food sales in the Netherlands consisted of healthy products. The goal was to sell at least 25 percent of healthy products. Organic livestock At Albert Heijn there is range of choices when it comes to meat and eggs. Not only in pricing, but also in animal welfare. For example at the meat area consumers can choose between organic and regular meat. Animal friendly produced products can be recognized by the hallmark ‘Better Life’ from the Animal Protection Care. Albert Heijn’s goal is to produce all the meat of his own brands in a sustainable way by the end of 2015. Their goal is especially true for chicken, veal, lamb and pork. Albert Heijn invests extra in animal welfare (Albert Heijn., n.d.) Albert Heijn used to have their AH Pure & Honest brand but that is going to be replaced by the AH Organic brand, which also means an extension of products. Albert Heijn wants to make organic food available and easily recognizable for everyone with a wide range by starting the AH Organic brand. Moreover AH Organic is the chosen winner in the category ‘Food’ of the Telegraaf Vrouw Awards 2015 (Albert Heijn., n.d.) In March 2015 Albert Heijn opened an organic pop-up store in Utrecht. The store offered a range of 1.200 organic products customers could experience. Together with the opening of the pop-up store Albert Heijn started a national campaign emphasizing organic food is accessible for everyone (Albert Heijn., 2015). 3.2 The chosen issue On the next page the risk threat assessment matrix for the three issues can be found. The issue obesity is the least in the likelihood-part and the magnitude-part. Obesity is an issue of society and not specifically attached to supermarkets. In comparison with the other two issues obesity is the least likely of being a prominent issue to Albert Heijn. That also counts for the magnitude of the problem. Organic livestock however is much more likely and the magnitude can be much bigger may the risk manifest. Supermarkets are directly responsible for the organic meat they offer and indirectly for the welfare of animals. If a social organization would find out the meat sold Albert Heijn is not animal friendly at all, the magnitude of the problem would rise to a great extent, especially in the media. In this case the issue could turn negative for Albert Heijn, but since Albert Heijn already has done a lot for the organic livestock and is promoting their own organic brand a negative outcome would not be very likely right now. The issue of food waste however is very likely; it is something that is happening and something Albert Heijn cannot deny. That is why this issue is the highest on the ranking of the likelihood. The issue is also the highest on the ranking of the magnitude. That is because food waste is an issue that is in an earlier stage in the issue life cycle than obesity and organic livestock. The extent of the issue has not widely been giving attention. This means the issue can be used in a positive way for Albert Heijn. Albert Heijn already does a lot for obesity/healthy eating and the organic livestock, every customer can see that, but they also do a lot to reduce and create awareness about food waste, which not everybody sees. The issue is something they can use to address the problem and turn into their favor. That is why the rest of this communication plan is going to focus on the issue of food waste. .
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/STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS In this part all the stakeholders of the issue food waste and Albert Heijn will be presented. Stakeholder mapping will be used to decide which five stakeholders are the most important. These five will be analyzed and prioritized. In the advice the five stakeholders will play a big part. Interesting stakeholders for Albert Heijn in relation to food waste: - No Waste Network (Ministry of Economical Affairs, Wageningen UR and other stakeholders) - Millieu Centraal - Voedingscentrum - Voedselbanken - Kromkommer (initiative to sell ‘weird-looking’ vegetables) - Minder Voedselverspilling (NGO) - Consumers/customers - Government - Samen de Spil (NGO) - Damn Food Waste - Political parties (such as GroenLinks, ChristenUnie, CDA, D66, PvdA, PvdD) - Media (newspapers, TV news) - SIRE - Competitors - Intermarché (and other French supermarkets) 4.1 Stakeholder mapping .
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The stakeholders are placed in the map that can be seen in the image on the left. The map falls apart into four categories, which are on the lines of interest and power. High power and high interest mean the key players. These are the stakeholders you must fully engage with and satisfy the most. High power and low interest means keep the stakeholders satisfied, but not too much that they become bored with your message. Low power and high interest means keep these stakeholders adequately informed and ensure them that no major issue will arise. Low power and low interest means monitoring the stakeholders, but not excessive communication (Thompson, R., n.d.) 4.2 Six stakeholders The five stakeholders that are most relevant to analyze and give advice on are the ones that have to be managed closely. These are the ones with the highest power and the highest interest. This means the six stakeholders are: Voedingscentrum, No Waste Network, Media, Consumers/customers, Intermarché and Competitors. Voedingscentrum The Voedingscentrum is an authority, which offers consumers scientific and independent information about a healthy, safe and sustainable choice of food. Besides consumers the Voedingscentrum also tries to stimulate business to offer a more responsible choice of food. Important is ‘to make the healthy choice the most easy choice’. In doing so, the Voedingscentrum also collaborates with local and other relevant professionals (voedingscentrum., n.d.) A lot of consumers listen to the Voedingscentrum, especially when it concerns the food they are eating. The interest in food waste is an ideological interest, althought the Voedingscentrum tries to be independent. The Voedingscentrum would like to see food waste being reduced by consumers and business life. An example of an interest in the issue was the campaign #lastpak releaser in May 2015. A GfK report concluded that many people throw away food because of too large packaging. There is too much food inside the packaging, especially for young people and single persons. The Voedingscentrum wanted consumers to post about too large packaging on social media using the hashtag #lastpak. Producers can help reduce food waste to make smaller and resealable packaging (Voedingscentrum., n.d.) The Voedingscentrum also has had a lot of criticism. For example about not being trustworthy, concerns about the ‘Eetmaatje’ and the judging of ‘superfoods’. Felix Cohen (former director of the Voedingscentrum) said the Voedingscentrum only changes their advice on decent research. The main point is, and remains, de ‘Schijf van Vijf’. The last version however dates from 2006. The next one will come in 2015 (Foodlog., 2014). The critisicm about not being totally trustworthy is because most of the money the Voedingscentrum receives is from the government. Besides they get money from sponsors, which they call ‘professorships’. An example of such a professorship is Ahold, owner of Albert Heijn. The Voedingscentrum itself says they do not take donations anymore from these professorships since 2011, but the information is very sketchy and it looks like the Voedingscentrum wants to hide their financial structure for the public. However nobody knows the real truth (Eerlijk over buikpsieren., 2013). Albert Heijn already collaborated with the Voedingscentrum, when they introduced the ‘Eetmaatje’ (eating buddy) (see 3.1). However the Eetmaatje are measuring cups made from plastic. The criticism says the measuring cups will only add to the plastic garbage, because everyone at home will probably already have a measuring cup. Besides they wonder if the measuring cups will structurally help throwing away less pasta and rice (Willems, N., 2014). For most of the public the Voedingscentrum still has a high power, but it could change when more criticism will follow. Since Albert Heijn already collaborated with the Voedingscentrum and maybe gives donations (Ahold) the Voedingscentrum it is still a party to manage closely. 13
/STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS No Waste Network The No Waste Network is an initiative from the Ministry of Economical Affairs. It stimulates entrepreneurs and institutions in the food chain to increase the value of food debris and to reduce food waste. In collaboration with Alliantie Verduurzaming Voedsel, Wageningen UR and other stakeholders the No Waste Netwerk tries to give food waste a lot of attention in an inspiring way through news, research and initiatives (No Waste Network., n.d.) The No Waste Network is not so much aimed at consumers, but more at entrepreneurs and institutions in the food chain. Their authority lies in the fact that the initiatieve for the No Waste Network comes from the Ministry of Economical Affairs. This means that on the website of the No Waste Network not only news about the food business can be found, but also the rules and regulations are present. The interest in the issue is from a political/ideological kind of view, since the Ministry of Economical Affairs is working together with other interest groups. The No Waste Network is a relevant stakeholder for Albert Heijn, because the stakeholder has a high interest in the issue and can have high power. Besides the No Waste Network refers to a lot of other organizations, which can help companies to stimulate their customers to reduce food waste, so those references could be helpful to Albert Heijn as well. Consumers/customers Without customers a company cannot exist. As described in the identiy of Albert Heijn, customers are very important to Albert Heijn. For example the loyalty program: the ‘Bonuskaart’, which gives costumers discount when shopping at Albert Heijn. Customers can also be divided into different target groups. For example Albert Heijn owns different brands. AH Excellent is aimed at customers with a little more budget, AH BASIC is aimed at customers with a small budget and AH Organic is aimed at conscious consumers. All customers shop at Albert Heijn for a reason. It could be that customers, who are aware of food waste, choose a supermarket they think handles the issue the best. Albert Heijn is already promoting organic and healthy food, but does not prominently step forward in the issue of food waste. Making a stand and telling the customers what they do for food waste or releasing a campaign about it, can cause an even better reputation for Albert Heijn and maybe even new consumers who become customers. Customers can also be ‘ambassadors’ of a brand and tell others about it. If Albert Heijn would take a pioneering role in the issue, the loyal customers can tell others, which will yield worth of mouth. Media Consumers (and customers) will mostly receive their information about Albert Heijn from the media. The media is very powerful source and some even say the media holds the power. The media uses framing. This means that they choose what they show in order to create a situation, which works to the advantage of the particular medium. What the public does not see in the media, they will not know. The power of the media also relates to mediacracy and agenda setting. Mediacracy means that someone at the top of the hierarchy controls the media, like a politician. Agenda setting means that the top of mediacracy cannot decide what we think, but it can decide what we think about it. They decide the topics the news writes about (and where the consumers talk about) (Bol, N., 2015). Although the media do not have a particular interest in the issue of food waste, when a crisis comes out, they are the first one to report it. Not everyone from the public understands the power of the media, so a lot of people just assume something is true (Bol, N., 2015). That is why it is very important for Albert Heijn to manage the media closely and to report and collect all the news that is written about them. Besides coming negatively in the news, Albert Heijn can also use the media to bring out a positive message by using for example press releases. Intermarché The Intermarché is a supermarket that operates in France and Belgium.
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Their strategy is based on three principles: low prices, proximity and tailor-made. Low pricing is because Intermarché wants to offer a bigger welfare for a large audience. Proximity, because they want to be close to the people and make it easy for them to visit the store. Tailor-made means development on a human scale, so listening to the audience (Intermarché., n.d.) Stéphane Génicot is the director of Intermarché and in an interview he said Intermarché wants to be a convenience store: the stores need to be on human scale, where customers can get their important groceries fast and cheap. Furthermore they want to offer their customers quality products, innovation and respect for their principles (Storecheck., 2012). As mentioned in the analysis of food waste (see 2.1) Intermarché released a campaign promoting weird looking fruit and vegetables. For their campaign they made a commercial (www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQQMygivn0g), where they explain why they released this campaign and where the vegetables are coming from. Besides in France a law was adopted which was based on supermarkets fighting food waste. Albert Heijn has their own initiative for weird looking fruit and vegetables, called ‘Buitenbeentje’, where consumers can order a packet online. There is a lack of promotion for this initiative though (for example from all the Albert Heijn stores I ever visited I never heard of this initiative, neither saw something in the news). Although Intermarché might not have very high power on Albert Heijn (but a high interest in the issue), Intermarché can still be a stakeholder to look at for inspiration concerning setting up a campaign. Competitors As mentioned in what Albert Heijn already does for the issue of food waste (see 3.1), Albert Heijn is the only supermarket that publishes facts and figures about their food waste. Other supermarkets are too afraid of competition. This means Albert Heijn could have an advantage in the food waste issue, because they can truly say the food they waste, because they have a reliable source. Other supermarkets might waste less, but they do not publish the figures, so consumers, who are conscious about food waste, do not have much choice. They cannot compare the supermarkets. They only know the facts and figures of Albert Heijn (if they even bother to look up the information). For Albert Heijn it is still very important to manage the competitors closely. If a competitor releases a campaign about reducing food waste and showing they even waste less than for example the Albert Heijn, the Albert Heijn has to respond. Since their strategy is aimed at commotion and they try to stir up the market, by for example challenging their competitors, it would be more logical if Albert Heijn were the first one to release a campaign about food waste, instead of following the competitors. For example the supermarket Jumbo started a campaign in which they offer their customers to buy a voucher to donate a meal to the food banks. Jumbo also adds a third dish, when two vouchers are bought (Voedselbanken., 2015). Following a similar campaign would not be wise for Albert Heijn.
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/ADVICE In the last part the advice will be presented. The advice begins with a general strategy, followed by two strategic options. In the stakeholder approach will be explained how to deal with every stakeholder from the stakeholder analysis. The advice is based on issuemanagement, since food waste is still in an ‘issue phase’ and it is unlikely it will developt into a crisis. 5.1 General strategy Albert Heijn is trying to reduce their food waste. For example they have changed their plastic packaging, worked together with the Voedingscentrym, opened a pop-up restaurant where the chefs cook with leftover foods and started the initiative ‘Buitenbeentje’ online. Even tought Albert Heijn does a lot, and even publishes the facts and figures as the only one, the issue is still not that visible, specifically in the stores. Albert Heijn should play a pioneering role in the issue of food waste to turn the issue into their favor. They should step forward in contributing to the issue. The pioneering role works well for Albert Heijn, because it fits with their strategy principle: commotion. They try to be the first one to stir up the market by challenging for example their competitors. Audience Introducing their strategy Albert Heijn should take into account their audience. Being a pioneer in the issue of food waste firstly appeals to the conscious shopper. This is the first target group Albert Heijn can focus on. The second target group is the rest of their customers. After all Albert Heijn is for everyone as mister Albert Heijn said himself. The first target group is the one they have to reach first, only then can the excitement of this group can continue to the second target group. Message Taking the pioneering role means showing what Albert Heijn does itself in reducing food waste, but it also means stimulating their customers to think about their own food waste. As seen in the analysis of the issue of food waste, supermarkets are responsible for 3 – 5 percent of the total food waste. The biggest group in food wasting is the consumer. Supermarkets are in a direct line with the consumers, so supermarkets can work together with consumers to reduce food waste. The message for Albert Heijn shoul be about working together towards less food waste, but in an easy way. Albert Heijn wants to make their customers doing groceries as easy as possible. To make the ordinary affordable and the extraordinary attainable is their mission. So Albert Heijn takes the facilitating role in inspiring the costumers. They set the example; the customer (specifically the first target group, the conscious shopper) will follow. The message falls apart into two parts. The first part is about what Albert Heijn does, the second part about what the consumer can do. Tone of voice Reducing food waste is a serious matter, but just informing the consumers about it will not help. Besides most of the commercials from Albert Heijn are filled with humor or are ‘feel-good’ commercials. They never say the specific message; they try to show it in their commercials. In the case of the strategy about food waste, the tone of vice should be the same. It should be informative, but in a humorous or ‘feelgood’ way. Frame As said before Albert Heijn can turn the issue into their favor by showing what they do. They can also try to frame the issue in their favor. The frame they should choose should be a positive frame. For example reducing food waste is not difficult at all. It can even be fun. Besides look at what Albert Heijn does in reducing food waste and what you, the consumer, can do. Long-term The general strategy is set for the long-term. Spreading the message about working together towards less food waste can be used for a longer period. The message and strategy are the overall principles from where Albert Heijn can operate.
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The implementation of spreading the message and the strategy can be done for example in many creative ways. It is important for Albert Heijn to have a general strategy and message for whenever the issue of food waste will expand to a greater extent. Albert Heijn will be prepared for whenever this may happen. It is also important that Albert Heijn keeps scanning the environment and the market. In the Howard Chase Model (Dalton, J., 2011) in the image below a model of how to manage an issue can be found. Albert Heijn starts with the environmental scanning (like looking at the market and stakeholders). They identify the issue every time, has it expanded for example? They monitor the issue, what is going on? They analyze the issue, how can we use it in our advantage? Strategic options will follow, as well as an implementation and evaluation. A strategic campaign and a message will start. In this case the general strategy and message are formed. All Albert Heijn needs to do is keep identifying, monitoring and analyzing the issue, so they can adjust the strategy or message and come up with strategic options.
5.2 Strategic options To make the strategy and message more operational two strategic options will be presented on how to carry out the strategy and message. Buitenbeentjes The ‘Buitenbeentjes’ project is already an initiative where consumers can buy weird looking fruits and vegetables, but only online. As described in the analysis the Intermarché in France sold weird looking vegetables and fruit in the stores, which were sold out in no time and it got them 24 percent new customers. Albert Heijn is going to take the leading role. They can also sell ‘buitenbeentjes’ in the store, not only because of the success it had in France, but because Albert Heijn can contribute in making weird looking fruit and vegetables normal. Placing a special section with only weird looking fruits and vegetables in the stores will be a first step in making less food waste more visible. Besides Albert Heijn wants to make grocery shopping for their customers as easy as possible. Selling those kind of fruits and vegetables in the stores is an easy way for the customers to get their hands on the silly fruits and vegetables. Furthermore Albert Heijn can still carry out their core values: service, quality and reliability. Albert Heijn offers the service of selling those products, guarantees their quality (weird looking fruits and vegetable are just as tasty as normal ones) and that makes them reliable.
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/ADVICE To get attention for the weird looking fruits and vegetables Albert Heijn can make a commercial that will be played on TV. This way Albert Heijn can reach a large audience. An example for a commercial: the commercial starts with a farmer collecting weird looking vegetables and placing this in a crate outside his house. His younger son comes to collect a crate for food for the animals, but accidentally grabs the crate next to the one with the weird looking vegetables. In the next shot the wife of the farmer shouts “honey, where are the vegetables for the soup?” “outside just around the corner”. The wife sees the crate with the weird looking vegetables and smiles (like she just thought of a perfect idea). Then at dinner the farmer/dad and son say how much they like the soup. The wife answers it is because it is made with love from the weird looking vegetables. The father and son look at each other like they are both thinking of the same thing. In the next shot the store form the Albert Heijn can be seen with the special shelves with the weird looking fruits and vegetables. A spokesperson tells about the new action ‘Buitenbeentjes’ and buying these products for a reduced price, while in the background the farmer and his son can be seen trading their products for money with the manager. The commercial ends with ‘Buitenbeentjes. Gewoon bij Albert Heijn’ (because weird looking vegetables and fruits are just as normal and most of Albert Heijn’s commercials end this way). The aim of this commercial is to make the consumer aware that the weird looking vegetables taste just as good as normal shaped ones. The reason why the farmer wanted to give the fruits and vegetables to the animals is because he thinks consumers only want regular ones, but he has never actually tasted these weird looking vegetables, until his wife makes the soup. Immediately the father and son think of selling the products to a supermarket, so it can still be used for consumption. THT vs. TGT As mentioned in the analysis (see 2.1) there is some discussion about the ‘best before date’. In the Netherlands the terms ‘Te Gebruiken Tot’ (TGT) and ‘Tenminste Houdbaar Tot’ (THT) are used, but a lot of people do not know the difference. TGT means if you eat the product after the date you risk getting sick. THT means the producer can guarantee a good quality until the date, but after the date the food is still edible without too many risks. Still a lot of people throw the food away when it is over the date stated on the packaging (Poley, P., 2014). Albert Heijn can contribute to showing the difference and making it clearly for the majority of the people. For example Albert Heijn can introduce two new shelves in their store. One is filled with products with a TGT date and one is filled with products with a THT date. This way the customers can see the difference in products that usually have a TGT (like meat, milk and fish) and products that usually have a THT (like potato crisps, eggs and soda). It makes it easier for the customer to see which products they can still use after the expiration date. Customers will get more inside in which food they do not have to throw away. Not only is it a good thing for their wallet (buying products again means spending more money), they also contribute in reducing their food waste. Albert Heijn just takes the facilitating role in making it easier for the customers. The vision, mission and core values will still be maintained, because Albert Heijn is only showing the difference in THT and TGT by simply putting the products on different shelves. Also for this strategic option a commercial can be made to reach a large audience. An example of a commercial: a woman is cleaning out her kitchen en finds a bag of potato crisps. She looks at the date and at the date on the clock on the wall. She looks disgust and throws it away in the garbage bin. In the next shot she closes the door while she says goodbye to her boyfriend. The boyfriend wants to snack and goes into the kitchen only to find healthy food. Annoyed he looks around until his eye catches the garbage bin. He sees a piece of the bag of potato crisps. In the next shot he is sitting on the sofa and eating the potato crisps. His girlfriend comes home and looks surprised seeing him eating the potato crisps. “You want one?” The girlfriend hesitates but eventually tries one. When she is eating the potato crisp she discovers it actually still tastes nice. In the next shot the couple is shopping in the Albert Heijn store and sees the THT and TGT shelves. A voice over explains the difference. 18
The aim for this commercial is to inform the consumers with humor that some products are still edible even the current date is passed the date stated on the product. The shot of the Albert Heijn store with the shelves shows that Albert Heijn cares about knowing the difference and that they are willing to help making it easier for the consumers. The reason why both commercials would fit in with the identity of Albert Heijn is because both commercials use humor, which most of the commercials of Albert Heijn, do. This fits well with the strategy principles regularity and roots. All the commercials have the same approach and because of that consumers will easily recognize Albert Heijn the first second the commercial begins. Albert Heijn stays true to their roots and communicates in a consistent way. 5.3 Stakeholder approach Voedingscentrum Although Albert Heijn collaborated with Voedingscentrum in the past, a future collaboration would not be a smart thing to do. As described in the stakeholder analysis the Voedingscentrum received a lot of criticism and though many people still believe what they say, if a crisis would arise and the Albert Heijn would be involved it would damage not only the reputation, but also the strategy. It is better to not take any risks and carry out the strategy and message alone. This way Albert Heijn can also control the information that comes out better. If Albert Heijn wants to take the leading role, they have to do it alone. This fits with their identity, since one of the strategy principles is their roots. They stay true to themselves and base their decisions on their roots. In communication with the Voedingscentrum it would be wise to keep them up to date, but not collaborating. No Waste Network The No Waste Network is an important stakeholder to monitor, especially in regards to the rules of THT and TGT when looking at the second strategic option. The No Waste Network is an initiative of the Ministry of Economical Affairs, so monitoring what the government does, would be a good idea. Besides the Ministry of Economical Affairs other stakeholders are involved in the No Waste Network as well, who might come with relevant research Albert Heijn can use. Besides closely monitoring the No Waste Network, keeping them up to date is an important part as well. The No Waste Network has a news page where they post about positive initiatives. Albert Heijn can keep them up to date about their initiatives to reduce food waste. This way Albert Heijn can control the information they post and create a positive image of their strategy. Consumers/customers Consumers and customers are the most important stakeholder. They are the ones that Albert Heijn wants to reach and wants to stimulate in contributing to less food waste. That is why it is critical to monitor the effect of the strategy and message (and the strategic options) on the consumers and customers to see the results. Are the strategy and the message working? What do the consumers and customers think of the strategic options? Etc. Involvement of the consumers and customers is very important, because the strategy is focused on working together. It should also be that if a customers or consumer has a great idea in reducing food waste, Albert Heijn can help in being the facilitating role. This way not only Albert Heijn and the consumers/customers are working together, but they are also co-creating, which could be an ultimate goal. Media The media are an important stakeholder to keep in mind as well. As described in the stakeholder analyses the media holds a great power. Albert Heijn needs to think a step ahead if they want to control the information the media brings out. Albert Heijn can send press releases and monitor what is said and written about them. On any negative comments, they should respond immediately to keep the positive framing. Therefore Albert Heijn needs to be transparent. Although the facts and figures of food waste are published they are not easy to find. The facts and figures should be more prominently visible for every consumer to see. This also shows that Albert Heijn has nothing to hide. 19
/ADVICE Intermarché The Intermarché is not a direct competitor, since they are operating in France (and Belgium) and this advice report focuses on the Albert Heijn in the Netherlands. However Albert Heijn can monitor the Intermarché in regards to the success they had with their campaign of weird looking fruits and vegetables. Albert Heijn can be inspired by the success and use it for their own purpose. Competitors As mentioned multiple times before Albert Heijn’s strategy is based on the principle of commotion. Albert Heijn tries to stir up the market and thereby challenges their competitors. In regards to the strategy Albert Heijn should monitor their competitors closely in order to remain the pioneering role in the issue of food waste. Albert Heijn should be the first one in what they do. Competitors will follow and Albert Heijn can respond by doing something new again. They should always be one step ahead of their competitors.
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/BIBLIOGRAPHY AD. (2009). Jumbo beste supermarkt voor Biologisch vlees. Retrieved from: http://www.ad.nl/ad/nl/1012/Nederland/article/detail/2058666/2009/07/23/Jumbo-beste-supermarkt-voor-biologisch-vlees.dhtml Agriholland. (2015). Dossier Biologische Landbouw. Retrieved from: http://www.agriholland.nl/dossiers/bioland/ Ahold. (2014). Responsible Retailing. Retrieved from: https://www.ahold.com/Responsible-retailing-5/Responsible-Retailing-Reports.htm#!/Responsible-retailing-5/Responsible-Retailing-Reports/Responsible-Retailing-Report-2014.htm Albert Heijn. (2015). Albert Heijn opent biologische winkel. Retrieved from: http://www.ah.nl/over-ah/pers/persberichten/bericht?id=1279382 Albert Heijn. (n.d.) Biologisch van Albert Heijn, dat smaakt naar meer! Retrieved from: http://www.ah.nl/over-ah/merken/biologisch Albert Heijn. (n.d). Dierenwelzijn. Retrieved from: http://www.ah.nl/over-ah/meer-doen/dierenwelzijn Albert Heijn. (n.d.) Gezondheid. Retrieved from: http://www.ah.nl/over-ah/meer-doen/gezondheid Albert Heijn. (n.d.) Voedselverspilling. Retrieved from: http://www.ah.nl/over-ah/meer-doen/voedselverspilling Albert Heijn. (n.d.) Meer doen. Retrieved from: http://www.ah.nl/over-ah/meer-doen Albert Heijn. (n.d.) Geschiedenis. Retrieved from: http://www.ah.nl/over-ah/geschiedenis Albert Heijn. (n.d.) Mediatheek. Retrieved from: http://www.ah.nl/over-ah/pers/mediatheek Albert Heijn. (n.d.) Buitenbeentjes. Retrieved from: http://www.ah.nl/buitenbeentjes Bio & Het Beest. (n.d.) Waarom biologisch vlees? Retrieved from: https://bioenhetbeest.wordpress.com/waarom-biologisch-vlees/ Bionext. (n.d.) Dierenwelzijn. Retrieved from: http://www.bionext.nl/consument/alles-over-biologisch/biologische-veeteelt Bol, N. (2015). De macht van de media. Retrieved from: http://youngcritics.nl/2015/05/04/de-macht-van-de-media/ Brasser, B. (2015). Stop verplicht weggooien van broodjes na 2 uur. Retrieved from: http://www.metronieuws.nl/binnenland/2015/09/stop-verplicht-weggooien-van-broodjes-na-2-uur Cammelbeeck, T. (2013). Rapport Voedselverspilling. Retrieved from: http://www.consumentenbond.nl/morello-bestanden/overig/rapport-voedselverspilling-26-4-2013zonder-groente-en-fruit.pdf 21
/BIBLIOGRAPHY CBL. (n.d.) Voedselverspilling. Retrieved from: http://www.cbl.nl/activiteiten/duurzaamheid/voedselverspilling/ Codonesu, G. (2015). Nieuwe wet verbiedt Franse supermarkten eten weg te gooien. Retrieved from: http://www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/4496/Buitenland/article/detail/4037943/2015/05/22/Nieuwe-wet-verbiedtFranse-supermarkten-eten-weg-te-gooien.dhtml Consultancy. (2014). McKinsey: Obesitas kost maatschappij 2 biljoen per jaar. Retrieved from: http://www.consultancy.nl/nieuws/9556/mckinsey-obesitas-kost-maatschappij-2-biljoen-per-jaar Consumentenbond. (2013). Biologische producten bij natuurvoedingswinkels kwartduurder dan bij supermarkt. Retrieved from: https://www.consumentenbond.nl/actueel/nieuws/nieuwsoverzicht-2013/biologische-producten-bij-natuurvoedingswinkels-kwartduurder-dan-bij-supermarkt/ Course Strategic Communication. Koot-Peters, F.E., Kerstens, E.J.H. (2015). Dalen, van, F. (2011). Overheid moet vanuit de overheid aangepakt worden. Retrieved from: http://www.gezondheidsnet.nl/overgewicht-moet-vanuit-de-overheid-aangepakt-worden Dalton, J. (2011). Reputation and Strategic Issue Management. Retrieved from: http://www.id.uw.edu.pl/zasoby/profile/42/Dalton_v1.pdf DamnFoodWaste. (n.d.) Food Waste? Retrieved from: http://damnfoodwaste.com/?page_id=18 Echtgezondafvallen. (n.d.) 5 Oorzaken + Gevolgen Obesitas: Behandeling Kan Zonder Kliniek. Retrieved from: http://www.echtgezondafvallen.nl/gevolgen-obesitas/ Eerlijk over buikspieren. (2013). Is het Voedingscentrum wel zo eerlijk en onafhankelijk? Retrieved from: http://eerlijkoverbuikspieren.nl/voedingscentrum-eerlijk-en-onafhankelijk-of-niet/ Foodlog. (2014). Felix Cohen is klaar bij het Voedingscentrum. Retrieved from: http://www.foodlog.nl/artikel/felix-cohen-is-klaar-bij-het-het-voedingscentrum/ Giessen, van, der, G. (2014). Langer houdbaar dan 2014: over de Nederlandse norm tegen voedselverspilling. Retrieved from: http://www.trouw.nl/static/nmc/nmc/varia/longreads/voedselverspilling/index. html Groot, W. (2015). Losse groenten bij AH tegen voedselverspilling. Retrieved from: http://www.duurzaambedrijfsleven.nl/retail/4223/losse-groenten-bij-ah-tegen-voedselverspilling IntermarchĂŠ. (n.d.) Onze waarden. Retrieved from: http://www.intermarche.be/nl/de-waarden Jaques, T. (2007). Issue management and crisis management: An integrated, non-linear, relational construct. Public Relations Review, 33(2), p. 147-157. Milieu Centraal. (n.d.) Vlees. Retrieved from: http://keurmerken.milieucentraal.nl/keurmerken/inhoud/voeding/vlees Mooij, de, W. (2014). AH-ers openen restaurant tegen voedselverspilling. Retrieved from: http://www.outofhome-shops.nl/nieuws/algemeen/ah-ers-openen-restaurant-tegen-voedselverspilling 22
Munnichs, G. (2007). De dikmakende samenleving. Retrieved from: http://www.kennislink.nl/publicaties/de-dikmakende-samenleving Nationaal Kompas Volksgezondheid. (2014). Hoeveel mensen hebben overgewicht? Retrieved from: http://www.nationaalkompas.nl/gezondheidsdeterminanten/persoonsgebonden/overgewicht/hoeveel-mensen-hebben-overgewicht/ Nationaal Kompas Volksgezondheid. (2014). Wat zijn de mogelijke gezondheidsgevolgen van overgewicht? Retrieved from: http://www.nationaalkompas.nl/gezondheidsdeterminanten/persoonsgebonden/overgewicht/ wat-zijn-de-mogelijke-gezondheidsgevolgen-van-overgewicht/ NOS. (2015). Supermarkten zijn verantwoordelijk voor zo’n 3 tot 5 procent van de verspilling. Retrieved from: http://nos.nl/op3/artikel/2037159-supermarkten-zijn-verantwoordelijk-voor-zo-n-3-tot-5-procent-van-de-verspilling.html No Waste Network. (n.d.) Over No Waste Network. Retrieved from: http://www.nowastenetwork.nl/over-nowastenetwork/ No Waste Network. (2014). Franse supermarkt IntermarchÊ stopt de voedselverspilling. Retrieved from: http://www.nowastenetwork.nl/franse-supermarkt-intermarche-stopt-de-voedselverspilling/ No Waste Network. (2015). Tweede kamer stemt in met 2 moties rond aanpak voedselverspilling. Retrieved from: http://www.nowastenetwork.nl/tweede-kamer-stemt-in-met-2-moties-rond-aanpak-voedselverspilling/ Passie voor Food. (2012). Supermarkten strijden mee tegen overgewicht. Retrieved from: http://www.passievoorfood.nl/detail/article/supermarkten-strijden-mee-tegen-overgewicht/ Poley, P. (2014). Wat zeggen afkortingen over houdbaarheid? Retrieved from: http://www.gezondheidsnet.nl/voeding/wat-zeggen-afkortingen-over-houdbaarheid Quested, T., Johnson, H. (2009). Household Food and Drink Waste in the UK. Retrieved from: http://www.wrap.org.uk/sites/files/wrap/Household_food_and_drink_waste_in_the_UK_-_report.pdf Rabobank. (2015). Biologische veehouderij. Retrieved from: https://www.rabobankcijfersentrends.nl/index.cfm?action=branche&branche=Biologische_veehouderij Rijksoverheid. (2012). Beantwoording Kamervragen over het beleid ten aanzien van obesitas. Retrieved from: https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/kamerstukken/2012/03/01/beantwoording-kamervragen-over-het-beleid-ten-aanzien-van-obesitas Rijksoverheid. (2014). Ontwikkelingen in de veehouderij. Retrieved from: https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/veehouderij/inhoud/ontwikkelingen-in-de-veehouderij Rijksoverheid. (n.d.) Voedselverspilling. Retrieved from: https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/voeding/inhoud/voedselverspilling Rijksoverheid. (n.d.) Overgewicht terugdringen. Retrieved from: https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/overgewicht/inhoud/overgewicht-terugdringen Rijksoverheid. (n.d.) Toekomstvisie veehouderij. Retrieved from: https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/veehouderij/inhoud/toekomstvisie-veehouderij
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/BIBLIOGRAPHY Storecheck. (2012). IntermarchĂŠ wil buurtwinkel bij uitstek blijven. Retrieved from: http://nl.storecheck.be/intermarche-wil-buurtwinkel-bij-uitstek-blijven/ Thompson, R. (n.d.) Stakeholder Analysis. Retrieved from: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_07.htm Velpen, van, der, P. (2015). Obesitas-epidemie: vws neem je verantwoordelijkheid! Retrieved from: http://www.binnenlandsbestuur.nl/sociaal/opinie/columns/obesitas-epidemie-vws-neem-je.9494043. lynkx Versprille, H. (2013). De macht van de supermarkt. Retrieved from: http://www.dehormoonfactor.nl/de-macht-van-de-supermarkt Versprille, H. (2015). Supermarkten starten acties tegen voedselverspilling. Retrieved from: http://www.parool.nl/parool/nl/34/ETEN-DRINKEN/article/detail/4098530/2015/07/10/Supermarkten-starten-acties-tegen-voedselverspilling.dhtml Voedingscentrum. (2014). Feiten en cijfers over verspillen van voedsel door consumenten in 2013. Retrieved from: http://www.voedingscentrum.nl/Assets/Uploads/voedingscentrum/Documents/Professionals/ Pers/Pers%20overig/Factsheet%20Voedselverspilling%20huishoudens_14%20januari%202014.pdf Voedingscentrum. (n.d.) Over ons. Retrieved from: http://www.voedingscentrum.nl/nl/service/over-ons.aspx Voedingscentrum. (n.d.) Te grote verpakking veroorzaakt voedselverspilling. Retrieved from: http://www.voedingscentrum.nl/nl/pers/persberichten/te-grote-verpakking-veroorzaakt-voedselverspilling.aspx Voedselbanken. (2015). Jumbo helpt voedselbanken ook dit jaar weer. Retrieved from: http://www.voedselbankennederland.nl/nl/nieuws/245/nieuws/jumbo-helpt-voedselbanken-ook-ditjaar-weer.html Waard, de, M. (2012). Dik is duur. Retrieved from: http://www.vno-ncw.nl/SiteCollectionDocuments/Forumartikelen/Forum_0112_dik_is_duur_16886.pdf Wakker Dier. (n.d.) De aanpak van Wakker Dier. Retrieved from: http://www.wakkerdier.nl/campagnes/algemene-info-wakker-dier Wakker Dier. (n.d.) Stop de Plofkip! Retrieved from: http://www.wakkerdier.nl/plofkip-campagne Willems, N. (2014). Is het eetmaatje verspilling? Retrieved from: http://www.foodlog.nl/artikel/is-het-eetmaatje-verspilling/ Zoelen, van, J. (2012). De voorspelbaarheid van Albert Heijn. Retrieved from: http://www.mt.nl/443/63749/merkanalyse/de-voorspelbaarheid-van-albert-heijn.html
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/REFLECTION CRISIS DAY Process
Preparation In preparation of the crisis day I read all the published articles on the portal. So I read about the case The Interview and visited the websites mentioned in the paper. I also read about the roles, the reflection form and the substitute assignment. Yes, I read the substitute assignment and I believe more students have read it. I do not think it is such a good idea to already publish the substitute assignment, because when I read it I did not think it was such a hard assignment. In class I noticed not a lot of students where present during the crisis day. Maybe some did have other appointments, but I think some might have read the substitute assignment and figured they rather do that than coming to class. I thought it was a bit weird the substitute assignment was already published. Besides that I thought it would be a fun class, something else and I was looking forward to it. Crisis day The crisis I was in the first group, which meant we could choose which company we wanted to represent, but since none of us knew what the exact assignment would be, we just went with the first one. Looking back I am so glad we had the first one: Netflix. The case was a crisis, but luckily not as severe as the International Film Festival Berlin’s case. We first started with reading the assignment and figuring out which were facts and which were rumors so we could use that for our story. We discussed this part very long, but probably because everyone had to figure it out for themselves. Then we decided which people/roles would be speaking during the press conference. We first started with three roles, spokesman of Netflix, Head of IT from Netflix and the spokesman of the General Intelligence and Security, but we limited down to only the two spokesmen, because those two seemed the most important to us. We wanted all the people who were talking at the press conference to have enough lines and text to tell. The people in our group who were going to represent these roles made their own statements after we decided on the general story. The girl who was the moderator prepared herself for that role. The other three people, including myself decided to come up with questions the journalists might ask. We wanted to come up with answers for our spokesmen, but unfortunately there was not enough time and we could only answer a few. The questions we came up with can be found at the end. The reason why I did not choose to be a spokesman is because I am not really good at improvising. If someone asks me a question I have never thought of and I do not have facts I find it hard to come up with a good answer. I consider myself more a ‘background’ person. I can write down statements, I can come up with difficult questions journalist might ask, but improvising on the spot is not for me. Looking back I think I contributed well to our crisis. I am always in for discussion, so before we had the complete story I tried to ask difficult questions already so we would really think about what we were going to say. Luckily the others felt the same and in the end I think we did a pretty good job. We had a good statement. Maybe a few difficult questions were asked, but luckily our spokesman of Netflix had the ability to improvise and gave satisfying answers. The crisis we eventually came up with was the facts about Netflix being hacked and credit card information stolen to be true, but the information to be published online untrue. We sympathized with the victims of the cyber-attack, because customers are everything to us. We also explained our next steps of making our system better. The spokesman of General Intelligence and Security told the journalists about the ongoing investigation and gave away some facts, but not the whole story, since that could risk the investigation. Being a journalist During the other two conferences I asked one question every conference. 25
/REFLECTION CRISIS DAY I said I was from RTL News, but that was mainly because I heard everybody else being from the news and RTL News was not mentioned yet. I did not look into RTL News beforehand; it was just something I had to come up with to ask questions. I wish I would have had more time to prepare for the other cases and to come up with questions, but I guess it was my own time-management. We spent all our time working on the case of our group we forgot to prepare for the others. Therefore I decided to write along questions when the others read their statements during their press conferences. These questions can be found at the and, together with the Q&A of our own press conference. I do like to come up with difficult questions, not to mess with the others, but to make them more aware of a problem and see If they actually thought the problem through. Because it was just an exercise and you had to talk to your classmates I found it hard to ask the questions in the beginning, but when I heard the others, I felt more comfortable asking the difficult questions. I know in a press conference a journalist is not supposed to ‘attack’ the company, or well that is hopefully not the main goal, but sometimes it kind of felt like that. Some information I heard in the statements I thought they could elaborate on, but asking the questions almost feels like an attack.
Content
Own conference For our own conference I thought we came up with a good story and good statements for the spokesman of Netflix as well as the spokesman of the General Intelligence and Security. I did not personally write the statements, because I thought it would be better if the people who were actually going to say it, wrote their own statements, so they could use their own words. In the story we used the facts we had (cyber-attack and stolen credit card information) but denied the rumors by verified information from the General Intelligence and Security (online published information). I do agree with a tip we got from the class. I believe we could have sympathized a little bit more in the beginning, especially because we confirmed sensitive information had been stolen. We did stress the clients mean everything to us, but we did not stress how sorry we felt for this to happen and how we could not imagine how insecure our clients were feeling about their credit card information. I also really liked that the story the spokesman of the General Intelligence and Security told could be close to reality. Since there is an investigation going on, a special force like that cannot give all the information, because it could damage the investigation. And it is sensitive information, which could risk the security of many other people, if the information was released. Other conferences The second group, the case about PathĂŠ, I thought did the least of all three. I mean they did a good job in sympathizing with the victims. I really felt their statement was real and honest. However I missed something about thinking the problem through. I know the group wanted to empathize the sympathizing, but I thing it backfired. Because they were stressing their sympathy so much, they did not think about preventing the situation form happening, why they made certain decisions, etc. So a big plus for sympathizing with the victims, a big no for not seeming to have the situation under control. The third group, the case about the International Film Festival Berlin, had by far the toughest case. Their case involved deaths, which makes it much more harder. Because of not enough preparation time they could only come up with their statements and not possible questions that could have been asked. This was quite visible when the difficult questions were asked. However I did think the people who were speaking, were speaking very calm and came across very honest and considerate. I also liked the fact that they had an E-mail Address and phone number available for people with any other questions.
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Experience
Learning goals Crises can be very sensitive subjects. As demonstrated in the lesson you cannot always prepare for all the questions that will be asked. Especially when a lot emotion is involved. Although you try your best to satisfy everyone, when a crisis happens you cannot do everything right. I think that is the main thing I learned from it. A crisis usually comes unexpected and you have to respond the best you can, but sometimes the crisis that has happened is something you cannot control. Of course you have to defend and protect your reputation, but I believe the first thing you have to do is show compassion for the victims of the crisis. If you show you care and understand the seriousness of what has happened, you set the first step. The second step is protecting the reputation. If you only care about the damage the crisis may have on your reputation I do not think you are doing crisis communication very well. For the future What I also learned from this experience is that my strongest asset is to ask difficult questions, which means I try to think of every side of a crisis. I think it is important to look at as many perspectives as possible, because only then can you see the magnitude of the crisis and it helps you making a Q&A list. Although I enjoyed the experience, for the future I do not see myself working as a crisis communication manager. I think it will be very stressful. Besides I like to make everyone happy, which is very difficult in a crisis as I explained. I do believe I can do a good job as crisis communication manager, but not for a very long time. What I could not do for sure is being a spokesman. I like to be in the background and to write a statement for example. * The evaluation is based on the reflection form on the portal, the video recording of the press conferences and what I felt I needed to evaluation on.
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/Q&A LIST Q: How did the hack happen? A: “We know the hack did not happen from the inside. None of the employees are involved. So that means an external group was involved in the cyber-attack.” Q: What is being done to avoid the data to be published online? A: “We are doing everything we can to prevent this from happening. We have strong team working on it 24 hours a day.“ Q: What will be done to prevent a next possible cyber-attack? A: “Our IT team is already working really hard on adapting our safety plan for future cyber-attacks. We are using the information we learned during this process to do everything we can to prevent this form every happening again.” Q: Can you tell me more about the hackers? (like which country, age, names, etc.) Q: How can you verify the data will not be published online? Q: You are saying you are 99% sure, why are you not 100% sure? Q: Why weren’t you able to prevent the hack? Q: What can be done with the credit card data? Q: Will The Interview stay available on Netflix? Q: Aren’t you afraid the hacked data will be published online if you keep The Interview available? Q: What do you think the consequences are of keeping The Interview available? Q: What have you done with the threats? Q: Whose credit card data is stolen? Q: Did the cyber-attack also affect your employees? Q: Who is affected the most by your actions? What are you going to do about it? Q: Have you contacted Sony? Since they had a cyber-attack too? Q: Is there a link between the hack and North Korea? Q: How are you so sure North Korea has nothing to do with it? Q: Do you know which hacking techniques are used? Q: How do you know only credit card data has been hacked and not other information? Q: Are going to give the victims of this cyber-attack any compensation?
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“You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.” - Rahm Emanuel