Recently, a scandal about the "lamb roll with duck" in the Chaodao store of the sub-brand of the well-known hot pot brand Banu has been widely spread on the Internet, causing great concern among consumers. The incident originated when a blogger with the screen name "Banu Hairy Belly Hot Pot" exposed the news that the mutton rolls at the Chaodao Beijing Hopson Hui store were detected to contain duck meat. The photos posted by the blogger show that the "mutton roll" advertised by the Chaodao store is as high as 80 yuan per catty. As soon as the news came out, it immediately caused heated discussions on social media.
In response, Banu Group responded quickly, saying that it would take the initiative to send the lamb roll products of the Chaodao store for inspection. The latest laboratory report confirmed that the lamb rolls did contain duck meat. As a countermeasure, Banu Group announced that it will pay a total of 8.354 million yuan to customers who have consumed "mutton rolls" in Chaodao stores, involving 8,354 tables. In addition, the Group also announced that a number of Chaodao stores such as Beijing Hopson Hui, Fengke Wanda Plaza, Longde Plaza and Shijingshan Wanda Store will be closed for rectification from now on, and a comprehensive and thorough investigation of its stores will be carried out.
After the disclosure of this matter, many consumers expressed strong condemnation. They asked why the Chaodao store sold "lamb rolls" at a high price of 80 yuan, but they contained duck ingredients. Some consumers even criticized the Banu Group by name for its serious dereliction of duty in quality management, and asked the relevant person in charge to resign. Another consumer sarcastically said on Weibo: "Banu is shoddy ah, and it is unreasonable to dare to sell it so expensive with fake truth."
After the incident, the public relations department of Banu Group also entered a high-speed operation. The group's public relations personnel have repeatedly stressed to the media that this matter is completely the result of a management error, and there is absolutely no intention to defraud consumers. They said that the Group attaches great importance to this matter, will thoroughly investigate and deal with those responsible, and will strengthen group-wide quality supervision to prevent such incidents from happening again. In order to resolve the strong dissatisfaction of consumers, in addition to compensation, Banu Group also took the initiative to contact the consumers involved through various online and offline channels to apologize and compensate.
This is not the first time that the Banu Group has fallen into the "food quality" turmoil. In February this year, Banu was exposed to the news that a "selenium-rich potato" was "clearly priced at 18 yuan, only 5 potatoes" because of the launch of a "selenium-rich potato" in the Xi'an store, causing an outcry in public opinion. In this regard, the Banu Group explained that the price was clearly marked as a large portion, but it was actually a small portion of 9 yuan. But that explanation failed to quell consumer anger. In mid-March, under pressure, Banu announced that it would remove selenium-rich potato dishes and compensate customers who had consumed them.
Industry insiders analyzed that the mutton roll incident once again highlighted the weak links in the product quality supervision of Banu Group. On the one hand, the Group's management supervision of various brand stores is ineffective; On the other hand, the Group's corporate culture has the problem of valuing profit over quality, and attaching importance to image over integrity. Some commentators believe that this matter should prompt the Banu Group to carry out comprehensive reflection and rectification from the management system to the corporate culture. Only by truly establishing a scientific and standardized quality management system can we avoid such incidents from happening again, comprehensively repair the brand image, and win back the trust of consumers.