Food safety and brand equity

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the interaction between an organisation's need to demonstrate compliance with legislative requirements and private assurance standards and the protection of their corporate and/or product brands. Design/methodology/approach This paper evaluates the mechanisms implemented to address legislative compliance, product liability, brand equity and maintaining stakeholder confidence within the context of the supply of safe food. Findings The paper finds that, within the international regulatory framework, individual organisations or indeed discrete supply chains must maintain stakeholder confidence in their ability to produce safe, wholesome food, whilst seeking to differentiate products and remaining competitive, especially where brand owners have put significant intellectual and financial resource into the development of either corporate or product brands. Increasingly the corporation identity is now the brand and this is a valuable business asset. In order to protect that asset, effective food safety management must be at the core of organisational strategy and, in the event that such controls fail, crisis management protocols should be in place that can be implemented quickly and effectively. Originality/value This paper is of both industrial and academic value .