4 Stars for Liberty Richter

While this blog is my collection of horrible customer service anecdotes, I have on occasion given accolades. This is one of those occasions.

I am involved in the "food allergy community" (I hate using the c-word for everything . . . perhaps I should say "underground"? LOL.) Both of my daughters have food allergies; one of my nephews does, too. Reading every label on every food product is second nature to me, and I am always on the lookout for safe food alternatives.

One of the products my sister buys for my nephew (and many parents in my Community/Underground buy) is called VeganRella, manufactured by Liberty Richter. It's a cheese substitute that contains no dairy, no soy, and no legumes, making it unique in the allergy world.

Last week, VeganRella changed its recipe to contain expeller-pressed soy oil. This came as a very unwelcome surprise for parents (and kids!) whose only source of "cheese" is VeganRella. A grassroots effort was launched, with POFAKs (that's Parents of Food-Allergic Kids for those of you not in the peanut-free gallery ;) calling to voice their disappointment.

In a phenomental move, Liberty Richter has decided to resume the production of VeganRella with canola, instead of soy, oil. Until this incident they were unaware that their product was so popular in the allergy world. And in the meantime, they even offered my sister (one of the moms who called) a small stash of the canola oil version to last my nephew until the new canola oil batches hit the stores in a few weeks-- after a thorough cleaning of their production equipment, to reduce the potential for soy contamination.

This kind of service is virtually unheard of; some day I will rant about Hain Celestial, maker of Rice Dream products (and many, many, many others.) To have Liberty Richter address this issue promptly and resolve the matter in a way most beneficial to both manufacturer and consumer is, simply, fanfrickingtastic.