Last week’s ground beef recall is unlikely to make a lasting impact on the financial performance of US meat processor ConAgra.
Analysts and company representatives were quoted as saying that Conagra’s quick response to the scare should shore up its reputation in the eyes of consumers and customers, while its vast size would also minimise the impact of the recall.
The company looks unlikely to lose any customers as a result of the recall, which was sparked when the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and inspection Service notified the company it had found evidence of E. coli in ground beef of a ConAgra customer. In fact, the USDA has been criticised for its delay in notifying ConAgra of the discovery.
ConAgra reports annual turnover in the region of US$27bn, providing it with a significant cushion against the impact of product recalls.
Although ConAgra supplies about a third of the beef used by fastfood giant Burger King, that company issued a press release stating that the effect of the recall on its operations had been negligible.

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