You can tell a lot about a sector by how it handles a crisis. Supermarkets have transformed almost every part of their operations in the last decade, yet the moment a product recall hits, many still fall back on a printed notice at the till and a short update buried on a website.
In a world where shoppers expect next day delivery, instant refunds and real-time parcel tracking, a paper recall notice feels like a different century, writes Pete Gillett, Founder, Marketpoint Recall.
Aldi, Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer and Waitrose have all appeared on the Food Standards Agency’s recall alert list this year, covering issues from mislabelled dairy products to undeclared allergens in bakery, confectionery and ready meals. Each incident highlights the same pressure point. How fast can a supermarket trace the customers who purchased the item, contact them and demonstrate that the right corrective action happened at the right moment? For most supermarkets the honest answer is still “not fast enough”.
The growing recall gap
FSA alerts in 2024 remained at a similar volume to the previous year, but industry analysis shows each recall affected 2.5 times more products than in 2023, increasing the operational pressure on supermarkets. These alerts come with material consequences. Delays increase the risk of complaints, negative press coverage and calls to regulators. In the worst cases they lead to genuine harm.
The irony is that retailers already hold vast amounts of data. Between loyalty programmes, online baskets and scan-and-go behaviour, supermarkets know more about customer purchasing than almost any other sector. Yet when a recall hits, those data points often sit in different systems that cannot be connected quickly enough. The result is a patchwork process that relies on store posters and hope.
This is ‘the recall gap’. Retailers have the information but not the infrastructure to use it at speed. The good news is that the gap can be closed and the tools to do it are already available. Below is a five-point plan to help supermarkets raise their recall game in 2026.
1. Treat recalls as a core operational process
Most retailers plan for seasonal peaks, supply chain disruption and stock integrity issues. Recalls should sit alongside them. They are no longer rare or unusual. Treating recalls as everyday operational events allows teams to rehearse, refine and resource appropriately. Supermarkets that adopt this mindset will move faster and with greater confidence when the next alert arrives.
Supermarkets already run extensive food safety systems. The next step is extending that discipline to customer contact, data access and post-recall reporting. The retailers who prepare well tend to recover well.
2. Build a single view of the recall customer
The biggest blocker in food recalls is finding the right customers. Loyalty card data helps but only covers part of the picture. Click and collect sales, guest checkouts and in-store transactions make customer identification harder. Many shoppers remain unknown and unreachable.
Retailers should map every route that turns a purchase into a contactable customer. That might include QR codes on receipts, digital prompts at self-checkout or voluntary product registration for higher risk categories such as infant food or free-from ranges. The goal is simple. Increase the percentage of customers you can identify before you ever need to contact them in a recall.
3. Bring AI into the triage stage
AI has a clear role in recall management but it does not need to be complex or technical. The most immediate benefit is triage. When a recall hits, retailers face a surge of enquiries through call centres, live chat and social channels. AI can handle routine questions, route urgent queries to the right team and provide clear guidance on what customers should do next.
This speeds up the experience for shoppers and reduces cost for retailers. It also protects frontline teams from the spikes in workload that happen during a recall. In 2026 we will see more supermarkets use AI to keep recall communication accurate, timely and consistent across all channels.
4. Make engagement visible in real time
One of the biggest weaknesses in today’s recall process is visibility. A retailer may publish a recall notice but cannot usually see how many customers have read it, acted on it or ignored it. That creates operational risk and makes it harder to evidence compliance.
Tracking technology changes this. Retailers should use digital communication journeys that show open rates, click-throughs, confirmation of actions and customer questions. This gives teams real-time insight into engagement and allows them to adjust their messaging if certain groups are not responding. It also creates a clear record for regulators and insurers.
5. Retire the paper notice
Paper notices have a role as a backstop but they should never be the primary communication channel. Modern shoppers do not wait to read information at the till. They expect retailers to reach them directly and promptly.
In 2026 the most progressive supermarkets will retire paper notices as their main recall tool. Instead they will combine digital alerts, intelligent routing, customer identification and trackable journeys. The aim is not complexity but clarity. Customers should know what has happened, what to do and how to get support without having to search for information.
Time for a step change
Supermarkets have modernised almost every customer touchpoint, yet recall readiness remains the outlier. More frequent alerts, higher customer expectations and sharper regulatory scrutiny leave the sector with little justification for relying on processes built for a different era.
Recalls are never welcome but they can be managed well. The retailers who act now will be better equipped to protect customers during peak season, reduce operational cost and reinforce trust at a time when millions of shoppers rely on them most. Those who hold on to outdated methods risk entering the new year with a process that is not fit for the next decade of grocery retail.
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