Benevento Foods: When the Rubber Hits the Dough

For the past 30 years, the president of Benevento Foods, a food processor located in northern New York State, has overseen unprecedented growth. In June 2014, the family-owned company has 90 full-time employees and provides baking mixes and bases to both small stand-alone bakeries and national grocery chains across the United States. It has plans to expand distribution to Mexico and Japan and to develop new product lines, especially for gluten-free items. However, it faces a serious quality failure: one of its customers has discovered pieces of rubber in the latest delivery of baking mix. Is this an isolated event or indicative of a bigger issue? Is it symptomatic of a poor quality culture, lack of accountability on the shop floor and/or a misallocation of resources? What can be done to solve the current problem and make sure it does not happen again?