IRVINS Salted Egg apologies for alleged lizard in their product–shows other Singaporean companies how it’s done

After Facebook user Jane Holloway reported on the social media platform that a bag of IRVINS Salted Egg Fish Skin allegedly contained a dead lizard last January 2, the company was quick to issue a statement that shows other companies how to deal with a brand crisis.

Wait, a dead lizard?

The popular snack company came under fire when a customer posted two photos on Facebook of a dead lizard on top of the alleged pack of IRVINS Salted Egg Fish Skin that contained it. The OP, Jane Holloway, said that her mother and brother had consumed half the pack when they found the dead animal.

Here is the full text of her post.

OMG I can’t believe IRVINS Salted Egg is not purely salmon fish skin but also gecko! My poor brother and mum ate half the bag before they found this inside!!! Soooo disgusting! How can this happen? This gecko was probably deep fried with the salmon skin by the looks of it. Eeeewwww!

Her post has been shared over 8000 times.

IRVINS responds and we think gets to keep their customers

While any unwanted animal in a food product is a huge concern, the way the company is handling this fiasco is certainly  one for Public Relations and Marketing textbooks. Take a look at their statement:

Here is the full text:

Dear Customers, Fans, Friends & Partners of IRVINS Salted Egg,
•
All of us at IRVINS Salted Egg were very shocked and devastated to hear that one of our customers discovered a dead lizard in a snack pouch that she opened.
•
Quality control is one of the most important aspects of our company and we are always on our toes because our customers’ safety is everything to us. We really want to sincerely apologize to the customer and everyone who is affected by this incident directly or indirectly. We take full responsibility for the goods that we sell and everything in it. I have since personally contacted the customer and will continue to do so to make sure that she and her family is alright.
•
We promise to investigate this further as we don’t have a full explanation on how the dead lizard ended up in our snack pouch and we promise to make the necessary changes in our production to ensure this will never happen again. The case has been reported to AVA and we will cooperate with them fully.
•
For all of our customers who still have our salted egg snacks at home, please kindly check on the back of the pouch for the expiry date. If you have a snack pouch that expires on 16 October 2019 or if you are uncomfortable with consuming our snacks, kindly email us at [email protected] so that our Customer Experience team could assist you with the product recall and refunds required for the snacks. All recalled products would be disposed of.
•
This is a major blow to us, however we promise that we will fix this issue and continue to be an honest and responsible company to all of you. Rest assured that we are doing the best we could to serve our customers with the best quality & service nonetheless.
•
Regards,
Irvin
IRVINS Salted Egg

The statement came out on the same day Holloway complained on social media.

So why is IRVINS going to come out of this crisis on the bright side?

There are a lot of reasons why the comment section for the company’s statement isn’t filled with haters and bashers. Here are some of them:

1. They issued the apology fast. They had a statement faster than any other person was able to call them out on, which lets people know they aren’t hiding and they’re ready to face this challenge. They listen to their customers.
2. They apologised in full and were honest. They were unaware of how this happened, if the situation was true, and a lot of other factors. But that didn’t stop them from saying sorry in a meaningful way without passing any of the blame.
3. They allowed their customers a way out. They can’t help it if they’re scared so IRVINS gave them a place to air their concerns. You can even get a refund on the same batch of product if you purchased it.
4. They notified the government themselves. They didn’t wait for someone else to do it, which shows they’re sincere in wanting to resolve this.

Take a look at the comments on the statement, which are unsurprisingly not vitriolic at all, compared to the usual Lynch mob when a company steps out of bounds:

Some people joked about the incident and still respected them because of their apology.

Instead of bashing, they were met with jokes.

Others praised their professional response.

While some were still willing to scarf down IRVINS chips like there was no tomorrow.

While others noted that IRVINS did not try to cover anything up.

What do you think of the response from IRVINS over the Facebook post? Let us know in the comments!

Header image from Jane Holloway Facebook post.