Grocery store takeout and in-store dining is the fastest growing segment in the foodservice industry. Lockton, the world’s largest privately held insurance broker, offers grocery stores with dining services insights on business risks.
Product recall expert at Lockton, Ian Harrison, explains what grocerants should look for to protect their business and their customers in Grocerants Are on the Rise, and So Are the Risks. The report points out that foodborne illnesses outbreaks linked to U.S. grocers more than doubled from 2014 to 2015, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
While Millennial habits have led to the popularity of in-store meal preparation, consumer confidence that food in grocery stores is safe is decreasing. Food safety and sanitization methods are vital to this industry, and so are protocols for handling food poisoning claims. Serious damage can be done to an entire chain of stores from a food contamination claim or Food and Drug Administration violations.
Although the risks are broadening with this trend, so is insurance. Traditionally, economic loss protection insurance has been two separate policies; food manufacturing and food service. The rise of hybrid processing and service creates a new vertical integrated risk.
The new insurance policy combines exposures like foodborne illness, supplier contamination, and public health shutdown of retail locations in addition to processing exposures of accidental contamination.
