UnifineRichardsonCaseTeam5
Unifine Richardson Case
Team #5
David Griffin, Dylan Ventura, Daniel Kohler, Timothy Norris, Farheen Ashrafy
September 16, 2014
Unifine Richardson is a manufacturing firm based in Ontario. The firm sells salad dressings, sauces and syrups, and ice cream toppings to retailers, restaurants and caterers, and food manufacturers. They purchase roughly one million pounds of honey per year and buy almost all of their honey from one supplier, Harrington Honey, who provided them with a 50-50 blend of Chinese and Canadian honey. Unfortunately, on April 11, 2002, Unifine Richardson’s purchasing manager Rob Pincombe was informed that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency found traces of a potentially harmful antibiotic called chloramphenicol in Chinese honey. As a result, all Chinese honey imports would be rejected in Canada until the problem was fixed, leaving Unifine Richardson in a difficult position. Harrington Honey only had enough of the Chinese honey in their inventory to last about one month, and there was a risk that even this safety stock could be recalled. Unifine Richardson needed to come up with a plan to resolve this supply chain disruption so that they can meet their customers’ demands for the immediate term and ensure supply continuity. There are many risks for Unifine Richardson to consider such as increased costs, customer demand, product availability and the potential change in product quality. Harrington Honey’s decision to discontinue importing Chinese honey until the issue is resolved will directly impact their customers. Joanna Killian of Harrington Honey suggested that Unifine Richardson immediately set up a long term contract in order to secure an alternative honey source, as prices for non-Chinese honey were rising and the overall demand of alternative honey was also increasing. She gave Unifine Richardson three options, a 100 percent pure Canadian honey which cost $1.75 per pound, a 100 percent pure U.S. honey
Team #5
David Griffin, Dylan Ventura, Daniel Kohler, Timothy Norris, Farheen Ashrafy
September 16, 2014
Unifine Richardson is a manufacturing firm based in Ontario. The firm sells salad dressings, sauces and syrups, and ice cream toppings to retailers, restaurants and caterers, and food manufacturers. They purchase roughly one million pounds of honey per year and buy almost all of their honey from one supplier, Harrington Honey, who provided them with a 50-50 blend of Chinese and Canadian honey. Unfortunately, on April 11, 2002, Unifine Richardson’s purchasing manager Rob Pincombe was informed that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency found traces of a potentially harmful antibiotic called chloramphenicol in Chinese honey. As a result, all Chinese honey imports would be rejected in Canada until the problem was fixed, leaving Unifine Richardson in a difficult position. Harrington Honey only had enough of the Chinese honey in their inventory to last about one month, and there was a risk that even this safety stock could be recalled. Unifine Richardson needed to come up with a plan to resolve this supply chain disruption so that they can meet their customers’ demands for the immediate term and ensure supply continuity. There are many risks for Unifine Richardson to consider such as increased costs, customer demand, product availability and the potential change in product quality. Harrington Honey’s decision to discontinue importing Chinese honey until the issue is resolved will directly impact their customers. Joanna Killian of Harrington Honey suggested that Unifine Richardson immediately set up a long term contract in order to secure an alternative honey source, as prices for non-Chinese honey were rising and the overall demand of alternative honey was also increasing. She gave Unifine Richardson three options, a 100 percent pure Canadian honey which cost $1.75 per pound, a 100 percent pure U.S. honey