Supply Chain Expert Discusses The Future of Food Safety at GFSI Conference

Global food safety professionals will discuss ongoing challenges and the future of food safety at the GFSI Conference from April 24-27 in Atlanta. On the opening day of the conference, LRQA’s Global Technical Director for Supply Chain Assurance, Kimberly Carey Coffin, will lead discussions linked to GFSI’s theme for 2023 – Delivering Safe Food in Turbulent Times: The Need for Agility & Resilience.

With consumer expectations, investor demands, and global events accelerating the rate of change, LRQA is calling on the food industry to revisit their approach to change and focus on ‘how’ rather than ‘what’ they do to meet evolving goals.
“Establishing a resilient business model requires a process-driven approach that evaluates threats and allows you to establish a framework or plan on how to respond to potential incidents,” Kimberly explained. “The past three years have shown us that change in the risk landscape is inherent. It’s therefore crucial that food and beverage businesses have agile and resilient supply chains. Put simply, being agile and resilient is all about having the ability to move quickly, adapt, and recover easily. In a food industry context, managing risk in a changing environment is essential so that delivery of safe food is not compromised.”

Kimberly will discuss how organizations can take a step back to assess the suitability of current systems, processes, and procedures, and identify key gaps to achieve a more harmonized risk-based approach to supply chain management.

She adds, “It’s a balancing act which takes into consideration your regulatory requirements and customer expectations, as well as internal commitments and objectives. At GFSI, I’ll explore the key areas that are really important in respect to maintaining food safety and quality during times of change. This is crucial as change is now the only constant for businesses, and perhaps the new greatest threat.”

Kimberly and the wider LRQA team will be available at stand 15-16 for any questions or further discussions. For more about LRQA, please visit: www.lrqa.com.