In January, Tesco and Iceland in the UK and Lidl, Aldi and Dunnes Stores in Ireland were found to be selling beef burgers containing horse and pig DNA.

Tesco beef burgers were implicated in the horsemeat saga

The majority of the samples contained just traces of the DNA. However, one sample of a Tesco Everyday Value beef burger contained 29% horse meat. What were the lessons for retailers?

Try to find out who your suppliers’ suppliers are.

Retailers quickly discovered it was no use just knowing what their own suppliers were up to – they needed to be fully aware of the entire supply chain.

Crisis PR is not an easy thing to handle.

While Tesco made an attempt to look as though it was being proactive, it could be argued it drew too much attention to itself and became synonymous with the scandal. Iceland also had problems. The frozen food chain was forced to apologise after founder Malcolm Walker said “well, that’s the Irish isn’t it” after Irish authorities said 0.1% horse meat had been found in Iceland burgers.

Create a transparent supply chain

Tesco appointed the National Farmers’ Union’s Tom Hind to the new role of agriculture director as part of its strategy to create a transparent supply chain, after the saga highlighted how crucial it is to have a good relationship with farmers and producers.

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