A Complaint About Frozen Lamb

OUMH2203

ENGLISH FOR WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION

Topic : A Complaint About Frozen Lamb



To : Mr. Zamberi Bin Said, Branch Manager
From : Aza Ali, Store Manager
Date : 28 Oktober 2011
Subject : A Complaint About Frozen Lamb

1.0 INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this report is to submit customers’ complaints regarding some frozen lamb delivered by a supplier has a peculiar taste. For your information, this is the first time I received such complaints. I hope to sustain our customers’ trusts and these complaints will destroy their confidence in us.
I would like to make a few suggestions in order to improve our frozen products maintenance. Immediate actions must be taken as soon as possible in order to sustain our reputation in the market. If we delay in taking action to overcome this problem, we may lose most of our regular customers and suffer a big loss in a near future. I have paid a visit to the factory that supplied us the frozen lamb three days ago. I have also visited the frozen food storage in our hypermarket.
There are several conditions that might have caused these problems and some recommendations and suggestions will be laid out in this report for consideration. I hope that the recommendations will be taken into consideration and necessary actions will be taken as soon as you finished reading this report.

BODY CONTENT
Last week we received five complaints from five different customers regarding the peculiar taste of our frozen lamb that was delivered by our regular supplier. An email from a customer complaining about this matter is enclosed with this report. There are a few possible problems that may have caused the frozen lamb to develop a peculiar taste. As we all know, we are a large dependant company which has a huge network throughout the country. Therefore, this complaint should not happen and an immediate action should be taken in order to overcome this serious problem.

2.0 POSSIBLE PROBLEMS
2.1 Supplier Careless
The first possible cause which may have contribute into the peculiar taste in frozen lamb; the supplier might be careless in handling the frozen lamb. May be the temperature was not right causing the lamb to lose its freshness. We must make the supplier aware of this problem and hope that they will check and improve their storage method as soon as possible. From the observations during my visit to the supplier’s factory, the van used to deliver frozen lamb is not equipped with modern freezer. This will definitely affect the quality of frozen lamb during the process of transmission.
I also found out that the supplier used an old and outdated freezer to store the frozen lamb. They change the freezer temperature manually based on the level of cold frozen lamb. They rise in temperature of the freezer when lamb frozen and drop the temperature when frozen lamb is tender. This act may be affective in order to save on electricity costs, but it has affected the quality of the frozen lamb.
There are methods for storing fresh lamb safely. The first rule of thumb is to never allow lamb to be exposed to heat or left at room temperature. “Once purchased, lamb must be properly stored to prevent the meat from going bad. The ideal temperature should be below 0 degrees. “ (Saad Fayed, 2011).

2.2 Freezers failed
The second possible cause; our own freezers might already failed to function properly due to overused and such freezers cannot bear the capacity of frozen food stored there. For the past few months, our order capacity had increased tremendously due to customers’ request for frozen lamb. Some meat was not be stored in a freezer due to the storage box is full. These conditions cause the meat left outside the freezer for 12 hours before admission into the freezer room to lose its freshness.
According to Martins-seafresh.co.uk website, they recommend the -18 ° C storage for frozen meat all the time before use. I strongly suggest that we purchase new freezers specially for storing frozen lamb only. This will prevent the supplied meat to be left out of the freezer in the long term. Thus able to maintain the freshness of meat that we bought.

2.3 Full of Storage
The third possible reason; there are so many types of frozen food stored in our freezers such as fish, chicken, sausages, burgers which has affected the quality of frozen lamb that has been stored together in the same freezer. The mixture of different types of food seemed to influence the freshness of frozen lamb. This problem is similar to the second problem. We do not have a large space to store frozen food. Other fresh products such as fish can not be stored in the freezer for a long time. Fish can only be stored for 8 months while the frozen lamb can be stored up to 10 months.
From my monitoring on our frozen storage box, I found that frozen products stored are not labeled with the manufacturing and expiring date. I cannot identify which frozen food that has expired in the storage. Fish stored for more than eight months is not removed from the freezer causing it to stink and affect other frozen items including fresh goat meat that has just arrived. Besides, the different smells of chicken, fish, beef burgers and sausages also damaged the quality of our fresh lamb.

2.4 Using Chemical or Additive
The fourth possible reason; the usage of chemical or additives in order to prolong the freshness of frozen lamb might contribute to the peculiar taste. As we know, additives or chemicals have been used to preserve color and freshness of frozen meat. Commonly used method is Packaging gases: “These are the gases other than air, placed in a container before, during or after the introduction of a foodstuff in that container. They protect foods against deterioration caused by oxygen or air. Carbon dioxide (E290) and nitrogen (E941) are the gas-conditioning the most used (carbon dioxide is also a Conservative). “(M.EL Atyqy, 2011). We never see how the supplier of goat meat packing supplied by them. They might use monoxida carbon gas which can be harmful to our customers or the actual quality of frozen lamb. Some meat is packaged in modified atmosphere packaging with a gas mix of 70% nitrogen, 29.6% carbon dioxide and 0.4 % carbon monoxide (CO) (Metlet Toledo, 2009). Most chemicals can hold fresh meat up to 23 days. However, it can cause illness if it exceeds the specified date.
We must take action by sending a sample of frozen lamb delivered by that specific supplier for inspection of the chemical content. For your information, we have never sent any sample of our frozen food to the chemical department for testing. This is a very important to ensure that the goat meat purchased from a supplier does not contain chemicals that may harm the buyer.

3.0 SUGGESTIONS
In order to overcome this situation, we must take necessary steps to make changes in order to improve our products and services. Starting early next month, we should have a target of zero complaints from customers. There are some steps that we can take into consideration:

3.1 Supplier Responsibility
Make sure the supplier will take full responsibility in maintaining the frozen lamb during storage and delivery. We can send a reminder letter to the supplier so that they more cautious and careful when handling frozen lamb for us. We can check the quality of the frozen lamb upon receipt from the supplier. If they failed to do this, we can consider in getting another supplier that is more reliable and trustworthy. We can also recommend to the supplier to replace the old conventional freezer with the modern model, as well as the van equipped with freezer that they use to deliver the frozen lamb. When they have a better quality freezer and a new van equipped with freezer, suppliers will be able to maintain the temperature below 0 degrees celsius while delivering our frozen lamb.

3.2 Purchasing new freezers

Purchasing new freezers that are more reliable and heavy duty can also be taken into consideration. We can isolate the frozen food and lambs according to their categories and this will avoid the frozen food from affecting each other. This will preserve the quality and taste of the frozen food. Based on my visit, I would like to recommend that we purchase three new freezers in order to meet the needs of our frozen goods. The cost for each new freezer is RM 7,000 and the total cost of purchasing new freezers is approximately RM 21,000.

3.3 Investigation committee

We must set up an investigation committee that will be in charge of visiting and evaluating frozen food and frozen lambs stored at the supplier’s centre. Reports must be submitted weekly. This committee will monitor the storage and distribution of frozen lamb which we ordered. This committee must also determine the expiry date that should be labelled packed mutton received by us. Indirectly, we can identify frozen lamb that have been stored too long time and should be sold immediately prior to their expiry dates.

3.4 Diversify Products

Other than selling frozen lambs, we can also diversify the selling of frozen lambs. We can cut the lambs into correct pieces and marinate them for sale. This will give the customers more choices when purchasing frozen lambs. In this way, the original freshness of the meat will be preserved. We can increase profits by diversifying the selling of frozen lamb.


4.0 Conclusion
The cause of the problem is so complex. There are many factors that might have contributed into developing the peculiar taste in the frozen lamb sold at our hypermarket. A discussion or meeting must be held immediately in order to determine the action that have to be taken to overcome this serious problem. We do not want the problems that occurred in one of our branches to affect the integrity and reputation of other branches. We must maintain the trust of our customers and hold up the reputation that we have now.
If we want to buy new freezers, the cost and budget shall be incorporated into the upcoming budget. Besides, the cost for electricity will increase if the quantity of freezers is increased. We also need a strong marketing strategy in order to gain a large profit to cover the total cost of increased electricity bills. We also need to take into account the extra space to house the new freezers that will be purchased. In addition, additional labor is required for the work of storing and lifting frozen goods. Other alternatives, that we can take into consideration, is paying overtime wages to existing employees who are capable of doing the extra work.
Based on the third proposal, an investigation committee will be set up as soon as possible. The candidates of the committee are our existing employees and no doubt this will affect their current work. They will conduct a visit at least once a week to the supplier’s factory. They are also required to submit periodic reports every week. This extra work will interfere their focus on existing work. Therefore, a comprehensive plan of action must be planned in a meeting to be held soon.
In general, some of the actions suggested will require expensive cost and involve a large change in our workforce. But if we solve the root of these problems that pitted our customers are 100% due to our suppliers. We can recommend the effective steps as stated in the proposal (a) above.
With this report, I include a memo inviting all Branch Managers to discuss about the peculiar taste of frozen lamb problems that we are experiencing. I hope you can attend the meeting which will be held next week.

REFERENCES
http://www.mideastfood.about.com/od/tipsandtechniques/a/lambstorage.htm
http://www.martins-seafresh.co.uk/frozen_facts.htm
http://www.azaquar.com/en/iaa/index.php?cible=gia_additifs_2
http://us.mt.com/global/en/home/supportive_content/product_information/Retail_AMI_Case_Ready_Meats.rxHgAwXLlLnPBMDSzq--.ExternalFileComponent.html/Case_Ready_Meats.pdf


APPENDICES
Appendix 1

Jemilah bt. Jabbar
1689 Lorong Selasih ¼
Taman Selasih
50450 Kuala Lumpur 09 Oktober 2011

Store Manager
Hypermarket Mega
Lembah Keramat
54200 Kuala Lumpur
Dear Sir,
Subject: A Complaint Regarding Peculiar Taste in Frozen Lamb
I would like to attract your attention to the subject mentioned above regarding a very peculiar taste in frozen lamb purchased from your hypermarket.
Yesterday morning (8th Oktober 2011), I have purchased two packs of frozen lamb weighing 1 kilogram each at your hypermarket nearby. I have prepared the meat for lunch immediately after arriving home that morning. For your information, I have been cooking lamb meat for years and this is the first time that I have experienced a very weird and peculiar taste in the meat. My family also complained about the weird taste. We were worried if the lamb meat had gone bad already and might cause stomach discomfort afterwards. There was no weird smell during the preparation of the meat. The texture and color of the meat was also normal. Only the taste was a little bitter and definitely not normal at all.
I have been purchasing frozen lamb from your hypermarket for quite some time now and I was very pleased with its quality and freshness, but this recent event has made me a little worried to purchase more frozen lamb from your hypermarket again.
I hope you will investigate this matter thoroughly in order to determine why the frozen lamb generated such peculiar taste and I am very sure that I am not the only one who is complaining about this problem.
I hope this letter will help you to improve your service and products. I also hope this letter will make your hypermarket take a more serious safety steps in selling high quality frozen lambs which are fresh and well preserved for the customers.
I hope to hear from you very soon regarding this matter. I thank you for your attention.
Yours sincerely,
Jemilah bt. Jabbar


Appendix 2

MEMO

To: All Branch Managers
From: Store Manager
Date: 15 November 2011
Subject: A MEETING REGARDING CUSTOMERS’ COMPLAINTS ABOUT PECULIAR TASTE IN FROZEN LAMB PURCHASED
Dear Sir/Madam,
I hereby would like to attract your attention to the subject mentioned above.
For your information, recently we have received five complaints regarding peculiar taste in frozen lamb purchased at our hypermarket in Lembah Keramat. All of them complained about the bitter taste in the meat.
The complaints are very serious and therefore we are calling a meeting to discuss this matter. The meeting will be held as stated below:
Date : 20 November 2011
Time : 9.00 am
Place : Alpha Meeting Room, 3rd Floor, Headquarters Hypermarket Mega
Chairman: General Manager, Hypermarket Mega
Agenda: Please check attachment A

Along with this memo I have attached a full report about this matter for your reference before the meeting. Your attendance is very much appreciated and I hope we can reach into a strong decision to overcome this problem as soon as possible.
Thank you very much for your attention.
Yours sincerely,
Aza Ali


Attachment A
AGENDA
A MEETING REGARDING CUSTOMERS’ COMPLAINTS ABOUT PECULIAR TASTE IN FROZEN LAMB PURCHASED

1. Call meeting to order/ welcome / open meeting
2. Matters arising
3. Possible cause of the problem
4. Suggestions
5. Conclusions
6. Appointment of Investigation Committee Members
7. Any other business
8. Arrange/announce due dates and details of next meeting
9. Adjournment of Meeting