Did Malaysia Milk's voluntary recall of Marigold HL Milk save it from a PR disaster?

Malaysia Milk has made a precautionary and voluntary recall of its Marigold HL Milk from the local market. Moreover, the company has requested customers who have purchased the affected products to return them to Malaysia Milk for a replacement.In statement released by the company, it said the move came following various customer feedback indicating that the viscosity of Marigold HL Chocolate Milk was higher than usual.Although the customer feedback is mainly pertaining to the Marigold HL Chocolate milk, the company said it will also recall other products such as Marigold HL Plain Milk, Marigold HL Strawberry Milk, and Marigold HL Milk with Plant Sterols.The statement said, “Our quality control unit and manufacturing team have already ascertained the source of the issue, and subsequently rectified it. Malaysia Milk is committed to ensure products reach retail outlets as fresh as the day they leave the Malaysia Milk plant. This is in keeping with our commitment to quality."It also apologised for the inconvenience caused by the product recall and added that customers’ health and safety is its top priority."We are doing everything we can to provide as much information and support as possible,” it said in the statement.The brand also made an announcement on its Facebook page to let its consumers know of the matter. Many have cheered the brand on saying it was "bold" of them to voluntarily recall the product. While the matter could have potentially become a PR disaster, David Lian, managing director at Zeno Group Malaysia said this was avoided by how fast the brand reacted to the situation.The faster a brand reacts in such a situation, the better it is. It is important to nip the problem in the bud.Although Marigold made the right move by recalling its products, he added that this news would leave an adverse impact on it brand’s presence. The next step, he explained, would be to test its products, fixing the problem and rebuild the brand to gain customer test."The company needs to rebuild the brand on lines of transparency and honesty. A tactical offer on price will not help. Going forward it need to build on confidence and competency of the brand,” he said.Taking a different view on the matter was Lars Voedisch, managing director, Precious Communications. Voedisch questioned why the company did not yet reveal the details about the real problem leaving consumers unaware of what was actually happening.He called the statement by Malaysia Milk “half hearted” and said this "has left significant space of speculation amongst the consumers."If it has not explained what the problem is, how do consumers know if it is fixed.The real problem here is not the recall but how the brand plans on rebuilding its customer trust.