Caribbean Broilers, We’re So Happy Your Food is Super Duper Safe. BUT…

Caribbean Broilers Safety Campaign Ad

Achieving ISO 9001 HACCP Certification is certainly a BIG thing – A BIG thing for Caribbean Broilers, or for any Caribbean company. We see it. We notice. We notice the extensive campaign being undertaken by the CB group to ensure that everyone is fully aware of their achievement. This is good. When companies make serious progress towards becoming more efficient, profitable, or internationally recognized, I think they are allowed to tout those achievements.

The HACCP Certification stands for the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point Certification and is a system of safety that gets implemented into Pharmaceuticals and Food Production. It gets used by the food and drug administration and also by the Department of Agriculture to ensure the implementation of safe products and procedures.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) describes it further “HACCP is a management system in which food safety is addressed through the analysis and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material production, procurement and handling, to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the finished product.” So we know its a BIG thing. Your food is ultra safe.

Certification is a BIG Deal…

These global certifications are a huge stamp of approval for the leadership, and management of any business, one that signals that the company is being run in top shape and the right precautions are being taken. The processes are normally rigorous and intensive but the outcome is normally very rewarding. In fact, if you’re still unaware of the impact receiving such tremendous endorsements you should read further. The Bureau of Standards, Jamaica explains

There is greater demand in international markets for products manufactured under the HACCP food safety system. The adoption of the HACCP approach may offer a legal defense in the event of liabilities associated with food borne diseases.

One article describing the impact of being HACCP certified states it as such,

The impact of the HACCP Certification is very colossal. Organizations that go onto attain this certification become sought after properties overnight and also become very highly asked for entities. Their market value also goes up manifold for the fact that they get certified by the highest serving body in and around town.

Caribbean Broilers Safety Campaign Ad #1

However We’re Disappointed

We’re disappointed that the link between certification and what that means for the company or the consumer cannot be readily made. We don’t have a problem with advertising campaigns, but if we don’t see the link, of if we cannot get any information about certain things, then we figure what’s the point. We’d like to know

1. Why is this campaign being done (now),
2. How’s the food safety now compared to previously,
3. How safe is the food/processes vs the competitors, and
4. How safe it is compared to the others in the region.

We’re disappointed because of the lack of information to put the ads in context. Caribbean Broilers, your website site has no information on your food safety, and there is nothing on Google about CB Foods being ISO 9001 HACCP Certified. Which makes it hard for us to get the point. At the end of the day we figured IF this is just for building awareness then it could be considered a big waste.

Caribbean Broilers Safety Campaign Ad #2

I was happy to open the Sunday Gleaner on February 26, 2012 to see not ONE, or TWO, or THREE full pages of advertisements by the CB Group. It was exciting and I was happy to see the CB Group launching a full fledged advertising campaign. Except, this time, I couldn’t justify the FOUR full pages of advertisements.

For our international readers, the CB Group is one of the two leading Jamaican companies producing meat (chicken, fish), feeds and related products. Back in December 2011 we wrote that Caribbean Broilers, handled up to 80,000 birds per day, taking control of about 35-40 per cent of the Jamaican market, while The Jamaica Broilers Group according to The Gleaner controlled about 40 per cent of the local chicken market, processing about 12,000 chickens per hour, or about 100,000 per day.

This is Not About Cost

And of course we’re not making this about cost either, because we know that a one page ad would not have caught us like the four pages did. However, the truth is we don’t see the point right this very minute, partly because

1. The websites say nothing about your safety commitment
2. The media says nothing about your achievement
3. The ads say little about what this means

A good estimate is that one full page ad is between J$250,000 to J$500,000 which means that FOUR full pages are around J$1.0 million to J$2.0 million. The campaign seems to be ongoing.

Sometimes it pays to just say it simply.  CB, probably what you should spend some time and money on, is trying to make your website appear as one of the top 10 search results in Google when we search for CB Chicken or even Caribbean Broilers, and making ilovecbfoods.com and mycbgroup.com easier to navigate and removing some of those flashy distractions. We’re excited for your safety achievement nonetheless.