Motoya Okada

President and Group CEO,

AEON Co. Ltd.

The Why
This year, Aeon There is a great diversity of foods in Japan. Each region has its own
specific food culture which makes Japanese food and produce attrac-
has announced tive to both tourists and locals.
our Sustainable As a result, the Japanese food industry is comprised of a small number
Procurement Goals of big enterprises and a huge number of SMEs (small and medium

for 2020 in which

enterprises). Hosting the large-scale sports events in Tokyo in 2020
has triggered a movement of shifting AEON’s procurement standard
we will achieve from an in-house standard to a global standard. With that said, however,
there are a huge number of local certification programmes, operated
sustainability based by government, local authorities, industry groups, and individual
on GFSI-recognised buying companies. These have different levels of requirements when
it comes to food safety standards.
certification
programmes for all GFSI’s Japan Local Group has encouraged suppliers’ adoption of the
GFSI approach since its foundation.
PB items in fresh
We have fostered our unique food culture with careful and sensitive hy-
foods. Aeon will giene control. Amidst the globalisation of food procurement, we believe
continue to deliver it is important for Japan to proceed with global harmonisation for food
safety management systems while preserving our unique food culture.
safe foods to all
customers as a Setting a goal of 2020, when Tokyo will host large-scale sports events,
GFSI’s Japan Local Group aims to pioneer the harmonisation of Japan’s
leading company domestic food industries with global practices and standards.

in Japan and Asian

countries. The How
Farm to Table Integrated food safety management. We established
a management system throughout the entire supply chain including
production, processing and manufacturing to ensure food safety for
our customers.
Production. We have committed to a procurement goal GFSI-recognised, FSMS certified centers and 25% by
for 2020 with the basis on the GFSI-recognised CPOs GFSI-recognised, GAP certified ranches.
for our private brand primary products.
Processing and manufacturing. All factories manufac-
As for agricultural products, we committed to 100 % turing products for AEON were required to pass factory
implementation of GFSI-based GAP. In FY 2018, 92 % of inspection. In order to avoid duplication of inspections
private brand products are produced by either GFSI-rec- by different buying companies and to save time in the
ognised, GAP certified or 2nd party audited farmers. factories, AEON revised the system in 2016 and waived
factory inspection for factories certified to a GFSI-rec-
As for livestock products, we committed to 100% ognised certification programme. As a result, 35% of
implementation of GFSI-based FSMS for processing AEON’s suppliers have waived conventional factory
centers and GFSI-based GAP for ranches. In FY 2018, inspections, and the other 65% of them utilise modified
70% of private brand products were produced by AEON factory inspection standards which are based on
GFSI’s Global Market Programme.

The Benefits
We have confirmed 3 major benefits from this activity. the Global Markets Programme includes requirements
The first benefit is that more than 30% of food factories of Codex HACCP; and as a result, these factories can
which manufacture products for AEON no longer have take advantage of its management elements without
to duplicate factory inspections for each purchasing requiring any extra instruction or in-house factory
company. Initially, each factory was required to under- inspections.
take duplicated factory audits to sell their products to
each buying company. Now, they can save time and We expect to share factory inspection results with other
human resources by reducing factory inspections. The buying companies in the future, which would reduce
second benefit is that AEON can also reduce its time duplicated factory inspections. This will be of benefit
and cost spent undertaking factory inspections. Finally, both to selling and buying parties.

Figures

PRODUCT 2020 TARGET FY2018 RESULTS

Agricultural Conduct management through Good Agricultural Practice % of products GAP certified or
products (GAP) based on GFSI for all private brand products. 2nd party audited: 92.2%

Conduct management through Food Safety Management % of products with FSMS certified: 70%
Livestock
System (FSMS) and Good Agricultural Practice based on GFSI
products % of products with GAP certified: 25%
at the processing and farming for all private brand products.
Frans Muller
CEO, Ahold Delhaize

The Why
We serve more Food and non-food safety are critically important to Ahold Delhaize.
During recent years several food safety scandals led to increased
than 50 million concern about which food products to choose. New production tech-
nologies and improved visibility on product ingredients have impacted
customers a levels of trust in food. Now more than ever, trust is an important factor
for continued success in the food industry and in the retail food market.
week, so it is of The consumption of unsafe brand products or other food and non-food

vital importance
products, or food fraud in the supply chain could result in our custom-
ers’ injury, illness or even death. Moreover, product safety problems

that the food could potentially cause disruptions to the supply chain and negative
customer reactions. These may have a material adverse effect on the
we sell is safe. company’s reputation, results of operations and financial position.

To keep our
customers’ trust, The How
we continuously We require our food suppliers to comply with standards beyond what

work to improve
is legally required, by expecting our food suppliers to be certified with
a standard recognised by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). For

our food safety 2020, we are striving to achieve 100% of our own brand food products
to be certified with a GFSI-recognised certification programme, with
standards potentially a small percentage at an acceptable level of assurance. Our
own brand suppliers are spread all over the world and have different
to ensure challenges when it comes to food safety. To achieve our target, we
work together with our suppliers and support them in various ways.
everything we Sharing best practices and providing training are good examples.
Some suppliers have to make significant investments to achieve
sell is of the GFSI-recognised certification. For these specific cases we work

highest quality.
together in creating a plan to reach this certification or an acceptable
level of assurance.

For example, our brand Delhaize Serbia likes to involve more and more
smaller local suppliers, located close to the stores they supply to. While
this is appealing to customers who like to “buy local” and beneficial
for the local fresh producers and small manufacturers, it helping them to make improvements by. To date, almost
brought some challenges in terms of food safety certi- all suppliers of Delhaize Serbia comply with these
fication according to GFSI-recognised standards. When audits and many of them are working on the next step
engaging the suppliers, we found that they had very to achieve a GFSI-recognised level of certification. We
different levels in the set-up, processes, equipment, and also continue to focus on our own operations, in our
ingredients used in production. This meant that not all distribution centers, our transport and our stores. All
suppliers were able to initially achieve GFSI-recognised our great local brands have implemented food safety
certification. So we adapted our process to audit them systems to ensure food safety is managed well in our
based on the GFSI Global Markets requirements, in own operations, and many of our distribution centers
order to assess if they were at an acceptable level of have achieved GFSI-recognised certification, including
assurance. In this process we supported our suppliers in the distribution center of Delhaize Serbia.
identifying the changes required to meet our standards,

The Benefits
To make sure product safety is embedded at Ahold Del- dedicated teams make sure the products they sell to
haize and its great local brands, we have established their customers are safe. These dedicated teams within
a Product Integrity department. The Product Integrity the organisation create awareness with our associates.
team provides the brands with guidance and support Additionally, our goal for 100% of our own brands food
on the implementation of product safety measures but products to reach GFSI-recognised certification (or an
also provides assurance on the implemented food acceptable level of assurance) is another key way we
safety systems within the brands. Within each brand, strive to ensure the products we sell are safe.

Figures

PERFORMANCE INDICATOR DESCRIPTION 2018 2017 2020 TARGET

% of production units of own-brand food products that have

Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI)-recognised certification 93% 91% 100%
or comply with an acceptable level of assurance standard

% of production units for own-brand food products that

89% 88% 93%
are certified according to a GFSI-recognised standard

% of production units for own-brand food products that comply

4% 4% 7%
with an acceptable level of assurance standard (other than GFSI)
Dave Clark
Senior Vice President Worldwide Operations,
Amazon

The Why
Food safety is At Amazon, we strive to be Earth’s most customer-centric company,
where customers can find and discover anything they might want
an area where to buy online. As we grow our selection and evolve our business to
delight our customers, we also encounter complexity as we operate as
we want to share a brand owner, a retailer, or as a marketplace. We solve this complexity
by constantly innovating on behalf of our customers to better serve
our progress and protect them. We have implemented technological solutions within

openly because
food safety for relatively straightforward tasks like temperature valida-
tion, as well as complex tasks like ingesting customer feedback and

we want to executing food recalls. We look at a high-risk process or event and ask
how we can eliminate the risk while driving innovation that reduces the
participate in the chance for human error. The solution results in safer food and better
protects our customers.
process, helping
to raise the bar
The How
for the industry.
Listening To Our Customers at Scale. We invest heavily into mecha-
As we grow nisms to listen to our customers and detect when something has gone

our customer wrong. We make data-driven decisions and always strive to respond
rapidly to customer anecdotes. On the rare occasion when data and a
offerings across customer anecdote disagree, we work on a solution with the tenet that
our customer is right. Through automation, we aggregate 30 million
food businesses, pieces of customer feedback a week globally in over 40 languages.
These interactions include customer contacts or feedback data such
food safety as product reviews, customer return comments, Customer Service chat,
Amazon social media accounts, etc. We leverage automation to handle
will continue both the scale and the data extraction challenge. We rely on Machine

to be our first
Learning (ML) and complex software-based logic to take a first pass at
understanding context across languages and unlocking the meaning

consideration. of customer comments without the need for employees to review

them one by one. This first pass of ‘labeling’ customer interactions is
critical to separate the true concern from the large amount of customer
interaction data. For standard processes and when ML judgment has
high confidence, we automate the action, otherwise, we cute recalls across all our businesses. We developed
rely on human Subject Matter Expert (SME) review. technology to automatically identify a recall once it is
available in public domain and include supplemental
Investigations and Traceability. We have invested and manual reviews to ensure we don’t miss any public
continue to invest in technology that allows us to track recall alerts. We then use syntax matching, image anal-
and investigate the details of products or food safety ysis, and query logic to identify, quarantine, and stop
issues. We built a comprehensive investigation system sales of all related products across Amazon’s complex
with decision logic that supports our investigations and catalog and various channels that may be subject to
enables us to deliver safety solutions at scale. With these recalls.
this capability, we actively tag and track issues from
the point of detection all the way to initiating suitable Private Brands Manufacturing Partner Qualification.
remedial action. Amazon Private Label food is a growing business with
an expanding network of manufacturing partners. We
Orchestrating Complex and Rapid Product Recalls. have mechanisms in place, designed by food safety
Amazon handles thousands of recalls every year for experts, to assess our suppliers and ensure we offer
food and non-food products. Through technological safe, consistent, and wholesome food products.
investment, we have built robust mechanisms to exe-

The Benefits
Listening To Our Customers at Scale. Our SMEs have Orchestrating Complex and Rapid Product Recalls.
accurately assessed safety risks hundreds of thousands Once we identify the product we orchestrate recalls
of times over the last several years, and all outcomes through our recall automation tool. The tool initiates mul-
of their judgment are used to further enhance our ML tiple parallel efforts to prevent customer orders, remove
automation efforts and improve our food safety concern the product from sale, rapidly isolate the product in our
detection. supply chain, and alert customers with a personal email
in a few hours.
Investigation and Traceability. The technology we’ve
built allows us to investigate and initiate checks across Private Brands Manufacturing Partner Qualification.
all business channels and global regions for similar Suppliers with GFSI-recognised certifications often have
issues and act proactively. Our customers continue to the required processes, procedures, and tools in place
teach us how to better serve them, and we will continue to demonstrate a high standard of food safety, and meet
to invest heavily in automation and technology to delight Amazon’s Food Safety qualification criteria.
them every day while ensuring their safety.
Dave MacLennan
Chairman and CEO, Cargill

The Why
Cargill’s partnership Cargill established a poultry business in China in 2011, to support our
customers’ increasing demand for high-quality animal protein and sub-
with GFSI has sequently built a vertically integrated supply chain, covering feeding,
been an important hatching, breeding, primary processing and further processing. Confi-
dence in food safety management and performance was paramount to
contributor to the our global food brand customers and to ensure we delivered, Cargill

value proposition
implemented a comprehensive food safety management system
based on FSSC 22000. By aligning with a GFSI-benchmarked certifica-
we offer our tion programme, our customers had confidence that Cargill’s approach
to food safety was internationally relevant, science-based and effec-
customers. We have tively managed. Leveraging GFSI has enabled Cargill Animal Protein
worked together China and our customers to lead in the industry and address Chinese
consumers’ increasing demand of safe and high-quality animal protein.
to raise the bar
on food safety
standards that The How
increase regulatory Through our risk assessment we defined three key operations in the inte-
confidence and grated supply chain for GFSI-benchmarked certification; the feed mill, our
primary processing facility, and our further processing facility. Our teams
help Cargill deliver worked tirelessly to complete 4 defined stages towards certification.

on our purpose Stage 1: Planning, training, and gap analysis - We selected the cer-
of nourishing the tification body (CB) and established an internal Cargill team. The team
designed a comprehensive work plan, key training requirements, and
world in a safe, leveraged internal auditing (calibrated with the CB) to identify gaps in
responsible and our food safety management systems.

sustainable way. Stage 2: FSSC 22000 pilot run – A 3-month pilot was performed to
allow our food safety teams to implement the management system
and continuously improve it. We deliberately used a cross-functional
team, including Food Safety, Quality, and Regulatory (FSQR), Research
and Development (R&D), Production, Maintenance, Warehouse, and
Sanitation to evaluate the system. Everyone learned a a PRIORITY and senior leadership engagement rein-
lot about each other’s work and it strengthened collabo- forced its importance.
ration and understanding across the organisation.
Stage 4: Receiving official FSSC 22000 audit -
Stage 3: Conduct internal audit - An internal audit The third-party audit team auditing process consisted of
was conducted by the team and management review two stages. In Stage I, the auditors assessed if the compa-
was a key element in evaluating the effectiveness of ny was ready for the certification and after that, auditors
the system. Management review demonstrated to the initiated Stage II, the formal assessment. We passed that
whole Cargill Poultry organisation that food safety was formal audit and attained certification for Cargill’s Animal
Protein China operations in April 2015. Success!!

The Benefits
Having a clear and deliberate plan for achieving GFSI- collaborating with a GFSI-accredited CBs, approximately
benchmarked certification was a strategic decision for 30 Cargill employees are qualified internal auditors and
Cargill and GFSI-benchmarked certification has enabled this competency strengthens our food safety perfor-
credibility and trust from our customers and governments. mance. Cargill Animal Protein China was recognised for
food safety and quality both in 2016 and 2017 by the
Project planning, personal accountability, and clear China Business Network Seven-Star Alliance and Chi-
milestones were critical elements to our success and nese Institute of Food Science and Technology (CIFST).
with more than 2,000 employees receiving over 4,000 We are also proud to be recognised by McDonalds
hours of training, Cargill’s food safety culture was China as an “A Grade Supplier” for our high performance.
strengthened. We have seen improved coordination,
understanding, and personal commitment to food safety Cargill’s involvement with GFSI has been a positive
across that integrated supply chain and management. contributor to these successes in China. That good
work continues as GFSI supports activities in China and
The certification process established strong manage- as local companies see the benefits GFSI can bring to
ment commitment and food safety awareness. By their food safety programmes and performance.

Figures
External Audit Non-Conformance
(Primary Processing) Audit Score
 Horizon Scanning Process
Emmanuel Faber
Chairman and CEO, Danone

The Why
Consistent With a mission “to bring health through food to as many people as
possible”, and a commitment to continuously offer superior food ex-
and effective periences and innovations, it is paramount for us at Danone to ensure
that all our stakeholders fully trust our products and services. To honor
food safety this commitment, we engage all our teams, suppliers and partners in
our Food Safety Management System (FSMS), with the aim of ensuring
management that we design, manufacture and deliver products and services that

systems are
meet both regulatory requirements as well as the highest standards of
Quality and Food Safety.

crucial for us In a VUCA environment, and with the everchanging regulation and sci-
at Danone to ence linked to Food Safety, there is a need for systems that effectively
integrate both a predictive and reactive capacity to support food com-
meet the highest panies’ strategic decision-making, prevention, and mitigation efforts.
GFSI has always promoted approaches and systems that allow efficient
standards of risks analysis and anticipation. The collaborative work with SSAFE on
the Food Fraud vulnerability assessment or the recent working groups
quality and initiated on emerging risks illustrate it well.

safety. Not only Danone has leveraged these GFSI initiatives, implemented robust

do they help methodologies and a process which both aim to anticipate any emerg-
ing FS issues and reinforce its FSMS, with the objective of remaining at
minimise risks, the leading edge on Food Safety Science.

they contribute
to making food The How
safety a key asset The Horizon Scanning process has been set up by the Danone Food

for Danone.
Safety Center (DFSC) to identify emerging FS issues at their earliest
stage, to assess their potential impact on Danone’s business, and
to mitigate them if needed. It covers any new risk – whether real
or perceived by consumers – related to the safety of raw materials,
ingredients, food contact materials, manufacturing processes and
finished products.
Danone’s Horizon Scanning process is based on a four-step 4. When required, set up of mitigation measures inte-
approach which covers all emerging FS risks in the FSMS: grated in the FSMS.

1. Exhaustive and continuous monitoring of the scientific Since 2018, this process also encompasses more gener-
and regulatory environment by our in-house experts. al, transversal and long-term issues (e.g. Climate change)
For some topics, it has required to develop Early and risks perceived by civil society, not supported by
Warning System leveraging big data. scientific rationale but that may have a reputational
stake for Danone.
2. Consolidation of the information collected by a
multidisciplinary group (Scientists, Risk managers, Reg- To ensure an effective rollout of the process across all
ulatory affairs, Public affairs) in a database, enabling the divisions in the organisation, we have established a
qualification of the potential issues (severity, exposure, governance structure composed of a Horizon Scanning
regulatory pressure, etc.). A Scientific Advisory Board Steering Committee led by the Danone Food Safety
composed of internationally recognised experts en- Centre, a Product Compliance Board led by an EXCO
riches the analysis in all areas of FS Science. member, and a Risk Management Steering Committee
for each division.
3. Evaluation of the impact of each topic on Danone’s
business and the potential need to put in place spe-
cific mitigation plans.

The Benefits
By leveraging the anticipatory approaches promoted by are endorsed by internationally recognised scientists
GFSI as well as the outcomes of several working groups covering all the FS domains.
GFSI has initiated, Danone has developed an effective
“Horizon Scanning” process. This process coordinated at corporate level allows to an-
ticipate, prevent and manage the risks in a harmonised
The tight collaboration within this multidisciplinary team and agile manner all across Danone’s organisation.
has enabled us to adopt a holistic approach for all
identified issues. It is a valuable asset to Danone’s FS commitment as
it allows Danone to identify any emerging or evolving
The decisions taken are supported by robust analyses topic and to integrate it into its FSMS. The System is thus
conducted by internal experts who leverage advanced continuously improved, with an ambition for Excellence.
methodologies. The conclusions and recommendations

Figures
The effective rollout of the process topics and establishes a FS risk • a Risk Management Steering
across the whole organisation is a key mapping to prioritise Business impact Committee for each division,
factor of success and depends on assessment and Risk mitigation; which conducts the Business
the following governance structure: impact assessment and defines
• a Product Compliance Board led by the mitigation measures to be
• a Horizon Scanning Steering an EXCO member, which validates integrated in the FSMS.
Committee led by FS (the Food strategy and recommendations from
Safety Centre in our case), which HS Steering Committee and ensures
identifies and qualifies new issues/ the control of risks at Company level;
Doug Baker
Chairman and CEO, Ecolab

The Why
Ecolab provides Food safety is critical to the reputations of businesses – and to the
health and well-being of people everywhere. We know the top causes
solutions and of foodborne illness outbreaks can be eliminated through effective
cleaning and sanitizing – and we are committed to protecting people
expertise and businesses from the risks of illness-causing pathogens.

to improve Scientists have long identified Listeria monocytogenes as a problem for

food safety
its high lethality rate compared to other foodborne illnesses. Listeria is
tenacious and can also attach itself to the fryer grease that coats floors

throughout the and counters. A USDA and Purdue University study confirms a growing
contamination risk of Listeria in floors and drains. Additionally, a recent
world. Through report by Restaurant Hospitality identified unclean non-food contact
surfaces as the second leading cause of failed health inspections.
GFSI, we gain Ecolab’s own testing in 100 locations found Listeria, Staphylococcus,
and Salmonella on 49% of floors, 46% of mops and buckets, and in 66%
additional insight of floor drains. Current cleaning methods were not efficient to manage
it or control the cross-contamination implications.
into emerging
trends, share
information with The How
other members Consistency is a key component in the fight for food safety, and that’s
what a partnership with GFSI provides. In the 15 years that Ecolab has
and collaborate been a member, we have worked with GFSI and its membership to
provide a global perspective on food safety standardisation. These
on new protocols aligned values have helped make people safer around the world.

to further Ecolab collaborated with another GFSI member to address Listeria

monocytogenes in a retail environment. Ecolab developed a new
enhance food product and process to address a customer need. The customer then

safety. worked closely with the Ecolab team, testing in several store locations
to ensure consistency in the training, process and results.
There were a number of challenges to overcome environment. Formulated with enzymes that immedi-
including employee training, variety in test stores and ately work to degrade soil particles as well as with an
their conditions, management engagement, no formal antimicrobial agent to sanitise, the results compound-
regulatory requirement for sanitising floors or drains ed over time to lower the microbial load with each
and measurement of the product use and concentra- additional washing. Introducing an enzymatic solution
tion. However, grounded in the dedication of Ecolab also eliminated a step in the floor cleaning process.
and our retail partner as well as our joint commitment This allowed for additional time to be spent cleaning
to improving food safety, we persevered. more thoroughly. We were able to show a substantial
decrease in the presence of Listeria in a retail environ-
Enzymatic-based cleaners are able to digest fatty and ment thus reducing the risk of cross-contamination as
greasy soils over time ensuring a cleaner and safer well as some other unexpected benefits.

The Benefits
The positive scientific results were obvious. Floors process. They were also happy that the process was
were cleaner and the risk of cross-contamination was a one product solution that could be used for cleaning
greatly reduced in the test stores. Contamination levels and sanitising both floors and drains. It made their jobs
dropped from 41% to 2% in test locations. easier and delivered superior results consistently.

By turning the water temperature down and removing This new product and process produced additional
the rinse and sanitise steps from current wash, rinse and unintended benefits. The reduced build- up improved
sanitise procedures, we achieved better results with the floor coefficient of friction by 10% making surfaces
50% fewer nightly cleaning steps, 78% less water use, less slippery and adding to employee safety. There was
and 89% reduction in utility spend. a realised labor savings of 86 hours annually per store
based on the reduction of process steps. The stores
Employee engagement also improved. More than 60% also saw a significant decrease in flying insects as a
of employees said the floors looked much better com- result of cleaner floors and drains.
pared to how they looked with their previous cleaning

Figures

Test Stores - % of Positive

50% 89% 78% Baseline vs. Week 5
fewer nightly reduction in total less water
cleaning steps utility spend used
% of Positive

Cleaning Steps Utility Spend Water Used

per night per night per night
Store #
Rodney McMullen
Chairman and CEO, Kroger

The Why
Over 600 million The changing landscape of food manufacturing has impacted the way
Kroger produces and sells food to our consumers. Some of the more
people suffer impactful changes included the advanced technology for identification
and tracking of foodborne illness; the interconnectedness in communi-
from foodborne cation worldwide, with consumers having information at their fingertips;
and the global market in which consumers expect anything, anytime,
illnesses every anywhere. All these changes have brought more attention to food

year; food safety

safety issues, as witnessed by product recalls that were national and
often global. This was Kroger’s call to arms. Keeping in step with our

is one of our core industry partners, Kroger began the GFSI journey to ensure food safety
and quality for our consumers, who demand safe high-quality products
values, and we’re which Kroger is dedicated to offer.

committed to The Kroger Co. has a history of valuing food safety, not only in our 35
manufacturing facilities, but also as an expectation for our many suppliers
providing safe, and co-manufacturers. Kroger currently utilises in-house and external
manufacturing to produce a multitude of brands under several Kroger
high-quality food banners and other brands, including Simple Truth, Simple Truth Organic

to our customers.
and Private Selection. Our number one priority is to safeguard our 11
million loyal customers that shop in our 2,800 stores every single day.

The How
Our journey with GFSI began in 2008 with a deliberate action to raise
the bar around food safety and quality. GFSI provided a standardised,
industry accepted, in-depth system to ensure the food safety and
quality of Kroger-branded products. The building blocks of our GFSI
journey began in our manufacturing facilities. Kroger become one of
the first major retailers to require all our suppliers to achieve a GF-
SI-recognised certification.

At the start of pursuing GFSI-benchmarked audit standards and

certification for our manufacturing plants, we reviewed several cer-
tification programmes and chose SQF. As a company, a strong internal food safety system and enhance our
we constructed a timetable as to when all plants would food safety culture, allowing us to focus on year-to-year
be certified. The first step was to have gap audits improvement.
conducted by a certification body to determine where
our opportunities were. Our corporate food safety team Today, in addition to our manufacturing facilities, we
then worked with each of our plant teams to fill gaps. require all our ingredient suppliers and co-manufactur-
Training materials were developed and shared with all ers to be certified to a GFSI-benchmarked programme
our plants. Once ready, we then pursued a GFSI-bench- in order to do business with the company. Kroger has
marked audit standard. This entire process took one also been an active member of the SQFI Technical
year to complete for all manufacturing facilities, and all Committee, helping to shape future versions of both the
plants were successfully certified. GFSI and its certifica- manufacturing and storage and distribution codes.
tion bodies had laid the framework for Kroger to build

The Benefits
Since GFSI is a globally-recognised programme, it has always audit ready. GFSI has also led to the creation of a
allowed us consistency in expectations from country consistent industry and regulatory food safety standard
to country and supplier to supplier. The ability to pull to which our suppliers are held accountable.
and review audits for any of our suppliers has reduced
apprehension of doing business in foreign countries; As we are on our food safety culture journey, GFSI has
it provides us with assurance that they’re following a played a critical role in establishing visibility from what
uniform food safety standard. We have realised other the food industry views as an important part of a food
benefits since adopting GFSI at all our facilities, the big- safety programme. GFSI has enabled us to keep in step
gest one being creating uniformity of policy and practice. with our peers and partners, ensuring food safety within
GFSI has allowed us to have the same comprehensive multiple levels of our manufacturing process, including
approach to food safety enterprise-wide. Since adopt- suppliers and customers.
ing GFSI-benchmarked certification, our facilities are

Figures
The Kroger Co. has a history of valuing food safety, not 100% of our manufacturing facilities are
only in our 33 manufacturing facilities, but also as an audited to a GFSI benchmark standard.
expectation for our many suppliers and co-manufac-
turers. Kroger currently utilises in-house and external 36 manufacturing facilities with SQF certification,
manufacturing to produce a multitude of brands under with 94% plants being rated “excellent” in 2018.
several Kroger banners and other brands, including
Simple Truth, Simple Truth Organic, and Private Se- 10,000+ direct raw material suppliers
lection. Our number one priority is to safeguard our 11 and co-manufacturers are certified to a
million loyal customers that shop in our 2,800 stores GFSI-benchmarked audit standard
every single day.
35 distribution centres pursuing GFSI-
benchmarked audit standard.
Chris Kempczinski
President and CEO, McDonald’s

The Why
Food safety McDonald’s is the world’s leading global food-service company
with over 38,000 restaurants in 120 countries. More than 80% of

is our number McDonald’s restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by local
business men and women. At McDonald’s, we are proud of creating

one priority… memorable experiences by reaching customers, wherever they are,

and innovating new tastes and choices, while staying true to traditional

it is something
customer favorites. Food safety is our number 1 priority. McDonald’s
recognises that food safety should not be a competitive advantage

that requires
within the food industry. We are committed to harmonising food safety
standards and sharing best practices globally. Additionally, Cindy Jiang,

all of us to
our Senior Director of Global Food Safety (Food and Packaging) has
been an active member of the GFSI Board since 2008. McDonald’s

stay focused
understands the potential benefits for the food industry to harmonise
food safety audit standards and practices at food manufacturing sites
globally. We are proactively working with the GFSI community to devel-
24/7/365. op efficient processes and tools to make “once certified, recognised
everywhere” a reality for food manufacturer plant audits. With fewer
redundant food manufacturer plant audits, plant personnel can focus
more on managing food production facilities and improving the food
safety practices, such as cleaning, sanitation, maintenance, HACCP
implementation, prevention of food fraud, etc. The GFSI Benchmarking
Requirements has served as a guide for all the recognised food safety
audit standards. It has played a significant role to reduce the number of
food safety audit standards and redundant food safety audits globally.
As a result, McDonald’s requires suppliers to be certified to any of the
GFSI-benchmarked food safety certification programmes.

The How
McDonald’s commitment to product safety and quality at our res-
taurants starts with an expectation of supplier excellence. A strong
supplier commitment to food safety and quality is important to ensure
that McDonald’s restaurants can consistently deliver safe, high-qual-
ity, great tasting products to our customers every day. additional McDonald’s specific requirements. An output
Our Supplier Quality Management System (SQMS) is an of this exercise is an auditable addendum checklist.
expectation document which outlines the McDonald’s Suppliers simply have to add on the addendum to
requirements with respect to suppliers’ food safety and their GFSI audit to be fully compliant with McDonald’s
quality management systems. Subsequently, supplier expectations. Engaging auditing firms and other
compliance to SQMS requirements are verified through stakeholders in the process means that mapping tools
audits by recognised 3rd party audit firms. McDonald’s and audit reports are practical in nature. Finally, an
approach to supplier expectation management is to update to the auditing standards by CPOs, may trigger
identify gaps between SQMS and the GFSI benchmark a review and revision to our addendum. The success
certification programmes, such as BRC, IFS, SQF, FSSC of keeping these documents current is the on-going
22000 and GlobalGAP etc. Collaboration between the relationships we have with suppliers, CPOs and audit-
GFSI benchmarked Certification Programme Owners ing firms. Collaboration is key for all stakeholders to
(CPOs), suppliers and certification bodies (CBs) allows continue the journey with us to ensure that high quality
us to map these gaps and subsequently identify the of food safety audits remain meaningful.

The Benefits
Having consolidated a number of food safety auditing chain. At McDonald’s, we have seen overall improve-
standards and programmes for the food industry ment on food safety practices at food manufacturer
globally helps the food industry to reduce redundant level globally while reducing the number of redundant
audits and allocate more resources on improving food audits by multiple parties/customers. However, there
safety practices. Many people were questioning how are issues with auditor performances from time to
GFSI would make it work in terms of reducing the time — on occasion, we’ve had experiences where a
number of food safety standards in early 2000, and food plant received high audit scores that our internal
now people can see the results. With collective efforts staff would not agree with. This is an opportunity to
from the food manufacturers, food service companies, train and calibrate with auditors and also have food
and food retailers, we have made huge progress on production facility to maintaining strong food safety
reducing the number of food safety audit standards culture and deliver high performance every day.
and elevating food safety practices along the supply

Figures
Collaboration is key to the success of using GFSI- with auditor consistency, we should follow the established
benchmarked food safety audits. All stakeholders must be processes to inform CB/auditing firms so that they can
engaged and committed. This is a journey, and it takes time address the issue. Let’s continue to work to make the GFSI
to achieve better results. When people experience issues food safety certification programme better together!

Collaborate with suppliers, auditing firms to strengthen the quality of food safety verification
Boris Minialai
CEO, Metro Turkey

The Why
At Metro Turkey, Globally, Turkey is an important country for sourcing, especially for
primary products such as fruit, vegetables and fish.
we see food In Metro Turkey we embrace local tastes, helping to save local products
safety as the from sinking into oblivion. Of utmost importance is capacity building
of local producers to ensure sustainable business from this product
basis of the diversity. By supporting traditional and local farmers and producers,

sustainability
product authenticity and availability is ensured, local flavors and tastes
are preserved, our carbon footprint is reduced through selling local

of our business products to local customers and the local economy is supported.

and manage it A crucial step in capacity building in the supply chain is ensuring
product safety and global hygiene standards. Once local suppliers
with a scrutiny obtain certification to global product safety standards, they are one
step closer to becoming global suppliers, contributing further to local
that exceeds economies. This is why we initiated a Supplier Support Programme to
increase awareness on GFSI in our local supply chain in 2010.
all commercial
concerns. We
work diligently to The How
cultivate a culture In 2010, in order to build capacity of our local, own-brand suppliers that
do not have food safety certification, METRO Turkey pioneered Metro
of food safety Assessment Solution (MAS) Audits. MAS was developed by Metro
Group and is based on GFSI-recognised certification programme
in our supply requirements. We used MAS as a training and development tool for
transition to GFSI-recognised certification programmes. The first year
chain and help we organised pro-bono trainings and pre-audits to understand sup-

preserve local
pliers’ current status. We prepared individual roadmaps for our local
suppliers and continued with regular audits.

tastes and flavors. Since there were few or no auditors for GFSI-recognised certification
programmes in Turkey at the time, we collaborated with certification
bodies to send local auditors abroad for training and experience.
When GFSI-recognised certification programmes were METRO was the first company to initiate and use the
updated, we informed and trained local suppliers. With IFS Global Market Tool in Turkey. We translated the tool,
these efforts, METRO Turkey led the way to raise aware- trained auditors and invited other market players to use
ness on GFSI-recognised certification programmes and this system. In 2017, our efforts paid off and a major inter-
developed the auditor pool in Turkey. national retailer in Turkey also participated. We provided
free training for METRO suppliers on Food Defense and
To lead by example, we internalised GFSI-recognised Food Fraud issues that accompany the revised IFS Food
certification programmes in our own operations. We Standard and we prepared Turkish checklists to ease
established IFS Cash & Carry Wholesale system in our the transition process.
stores and in 2011 became the first and only company in
Turkey to hold this certificate. Our Antalya fruit and veg- We are happy to see that the number of our local own
etable platform and our FSD Distribution Center were brand suppliers certified to GFSI-recognised certifica-
the first companies to be certified with the IFS Logistics tion programmes rose steadily since 2010 (please refer
scheme in Turkey and this also encouraged our logistics to “Figures” section).
providers to obtain certification.

The Benefits
As METRO Turkey, we see GFSI-recognised certification • Certification raises industry awareness of food safety
programmes as important tools to improve standards of culture for both producers and customers which
local suppliers which can carry them forward to become contributed to societal health.
international. Due to our active encouragement of sup-
pliers the GFSI-recognised certification rate in our own • Through industry wide collaborations such as that
brand suppliers rose from 34% in 2010 to 67% in 2017. with the IFS Global Market Tool System, achieving
Our approach has meant that: food safety standards has become easier and more
beneficial for local suppliers. As of the first half of
• METRO’s product safety and quality audits serve as 2017, 104 suppliers have already qualified to be listed
training tools for suppliers. in this system, showing their eagerness to take part in
global initiatives.
• Local suppliers increase their prospect of becoming
global food suppliers, expanding their businesses • Championing global food safety standards has
andcontribution to local economies. helped to solidify our METRO’s brand image as a
trustworthy company that does not give up on food
• With the increased rates of certified suppliers, local safety and quality
tastes can become global sensations.

Figures
Local own-brand food suppliers certified to METRO was the first company in Turkey to achieve IFS
GFSI-recognised certification programmes Logistics certification for our platform and Distribution center,
increased from 34% to 67% in 7 years. and still the only company in Turkey to hold this certificate.

We received IFS Cash & Carry Wholesale certificate METRO was the first company to initiate and use
in 2011 and became the first and still the only IFS Global Market Tool System in Turkey.
company in Turkey to hold this certificate.
Dirk Van de Put
Chief Executive Officer,
Mondelēz International

The Why
I commend the As a company selling some of the world’s favourite and most trusted
brands, Mondelēz International has food safety and maintaining the trust
outstanding work of its consumers at the heart of its core values. One demonstration of
that GFSI has done these values is our commitment to the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI).

and continues Our journey with GFSI began in 2006. Since joining, the company

to perform to
has implemented GFSI at all of our plants. We have been active both
in promoting GFSI with other stakeholders and active leaders in the
raise food safety development of GFSI programmes.

standards around In 2007 there were a number of food safety issues globally that gener-
the world. I’m proud ated an internal review of our Supplier Food Safety programmes. We
concluded that many of our suppliers would benefit from additional sup-
of the contribution port and identified that GFSI would provide the leadership in Food Safety

that GFSI has that would help them. Furthermore, GFSI would allow for our Global
auditing programme to be applied consistently right across the globe.
made to advancing
As the food industry grows more international there is a need for ap-
a unified and proaches like GFSI that ensure safety standards are not compromised.
comprehensive
food safety
benchmarking The How
system across our As GFSI benchmarks food safety certification programmes, we accept
all standards meeting its requirements. Our organisation CEO/Chairman
industry. participates actively on The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) and is a
liaison from the CGF Board to the GFSI board.

The first stage in our journey was to select the Foundation for Food
Safety Certification (FSSC22000) as the standard that best meet our
needs. We took an active lead in developing the PAS220 standard
that is now part of FSSC22000 which strengthened the Food Safety
elements in it. We subsequently worked in a cross functional team to get
this adopted globally by the International Standards Organisation (ISO).
We required all of our internal and external manufac- our sites and timetables were developed to on-board
turing partners have FSSC22000 certification for their each site. Learnings were shared globally within our
sites. For our suppliers we leave standard selection organisation to facilitate the transition.
up to them, but recommend that they understand the
different standards before selecting the right one for GFSI-recognised certification is considered as a “cost
them. We invested in supporting the suppliers’ and of entry” to becoming a Mondelēz supplier and we will
making clear our expectations to help them in select- only take on suppliers that have a certification. We have
ing the right standard. communicated clearly to all suppliers our commitment
to GFSI-recognised certification. We have participated
For our internal and external manufacturing sites we in GFSI emerging markets events and invited all our
set clear timetables by when they required certification. local supplies to participate to help the on-boarding
Training materials were developed and shared within process. Maintaining the certification is a must for
our organisation. A gap analysis was completed at remaining a supplier and we verify this as part of our
select sites. We selected a certification body to audit supplier approval program.

The Benefits
GFSI’s focus is a simple set of rules for accepting differ- • provides a standard our suppliers can understand,
ent standards, establishing harmony between countries harmonises the support they receive and helps them
& enhancing audit efficiency by: enter new markets
• allows us to manage risk better as emerging risks
• benchmarking food safety standards worldwide are highlighted and taken account of in up-dates to
• facilitating cooperation between standard owners the standards

The benefits for Mondelēz, are that GFSI Overall participation in the GFSI has helped Mondelēz
• is accepted by a large number of retailers, producers reach its objectives of putting consumer safety at the
and manufactures globally. heart of everything we do, maintaining customer and
• reduces the number of Audits at our manufacturing consumer trust in our global brands and ensuring we
sites and suppliers are able to promote the same level of consumer protec-
• drives consistence in audit execution tion for all our consumers across the world.

Figures

Process against our GFSI-recognised

ensures the integrity of our products Today, nearly 100 percent of our
certification commitments* and the ingredients we use. Our internal facilities are certified against
120
science-based risk identification the internationally recognised
100

80
and management processes help and independent Foundation for
60 us assess and control factors that Food Safety Certification [FSSC
40
could potentially compromise 22000]. We are on track to meet the
2014 2015 2016 2017

ingredients, packaging, manufacturing commitment regarding direct raw

processes or finished products. material suppliers with 97% of our
We made commitments** to have suppliers holding a current and valid
Safety begins with each recipe we • all our internal and external GFSI-recognised certification. We
make. We start with the highest manufacturing sites certified have made a similar commitment for
quality ingredients; and have set high against FSSC 22000, and suppliers of packaging materials
standards with a comprehensive, • all direct raw material *Data from 2017
quality management system that suppliers certified by 2017 **The commitments excludes acquisitions
Mark Schneider
CEO, Nestlé

The Why
At Nestlé, our Nestlé operates across supply chains whose complexity increases
with the global sourcing of materials and the variety of distribution
Quality policy channels. In pursuing our company purpose of enhancing quality of
life and contributing to a healthier future, we face a growing number of
encourages challenges in our supply chains, including emerging food safety risks.

participation Our consumers and customers demand greater transparency and

and promotion
reassurance as to the food products they choose to purchase, their
ingredients, and origin. In order to protect the trust that consumers and

of quality customers place in our brands, we must strive to build absolute trust in
our ingredient supply chains.
responsibilities Ours is a complex, multi-layered upstream supply chain with tens of
amongst all thousands of direct suppliers, and even greater numbers of indirect
suppliers. With transparency remaining a great challenge for the whole
our employees industry, food safety risks may emerge virtually at any point of the food
value chain.
and third
parties through
In 2014, our supply chain of frozen berries was associated with cases
of Hepatitis A. After conducting a thorough investigation, we launched

standards, a company-wide project to ensure that such incidents would not recur.

education,
training and The How
coaching, The project was the result of a multi-disciplinary collaboration between
our Research Center, and our Business, Corporate Quality Manage-
supervision ment, and Corporate Agriculture Units. The objective was to develop

and effective
and communicate the DOs and DON’Ts of hygiene and sanitation in
the growing, harvesting, storage and transportation of berries.

communication. At Nestlé, we believe that developing and sustaining food safety

capacity across the entire value chain requires the engagement of all
fields of competence, and all supply partners. To achieve our project
objective, we engaged actively with our Tier 1 & Tier 2 Programme, we crafted material that would be simple,
suppliers while leveraging support from trade associa- informative and meaningful for farmers, including for the
tions such as PROFEL (European Association of Fruit & smaller and less developed structures.
Vegetable Processors).
In addition to specific guidance developed by the Nestlé
As a result, we completed a series of three projects Research Centre, the best practices are based on
in Morocco, Chile, and Serbia. Each of the projects GFSI-recognised food safety certification programmes
provided a unique platform for the exchange of com- (e.g. GlobalGAP) making the training material a valuable
petence and the food safety assessment of different tool to progress towards certification.
berry production systems. Through constant dialogue
and especially, through field work directly with farmers To allow the broadest possible reach and adoption,
(e.g. in Morocco) we identified the key risk factors and training booklet and posters were translated in five
together, have developed best practices to manage languages, including Spanish and Arabic.
food safety in agricultural production.
Also, fulfilling our commitment to Creating Shared Value,
We developed a modular training booklet entitled we have disseminated all training material through
‘Minimizing the risk of microbial contamination in pri- external partners including PROFEL, the UK Food Stand-
mary production of berries’ supplemented with visual ards Agency and local Authorities.
tools (posters). In the spirit of the GFSI Global Markets

The Benefits
This project provided a unique platform for the ex- benefits for all stakeholders in the food value chain.
change of competence and continuous improvement More information: www.nestle.com/aboutus/suppliers
of food safety in agricultural production, delivering

Figures
47 laboratory sites with ISO 17025 10,000 sites supplying 363,000 farmers trained through
accreditation for food safety verification ingredients and packaging Nestlé’s capacity building programmes.
materials to Nestlé factories Nestlé sources raw materials from
24 dedicated analytical facilities almost a million farmers across the world.
with ISO 17025 accreditation 78% of our Tier 1 ingredient These farmers are critical to a long-term
for food safety verification suppliers are certified against a GFSI- supply, and therefore to our success.
benchmarked certification programme. By understanding and managing
50 million analyses performed Our ambition is to reach 100% where and how our ingredients are
yearly on ingredients supplied coverage for our direct suppliers, but produced, and the issues farmers
to Nestlé factories also to ensure that suppliers in all tiers and their communities face, we can
are on the GFSI food safety journey. help develop thriving communities
3,000 audits performed yearly and support better livelihoods for
at Nestlé’s direct suppliers’ sites those with whom we live and work.
Doug McMillon
President and CEO, Walmart Inc.

The Why
As the world’s When Sam Walton founded Walmart in 1962, he couldn’t have imagined
the food safety discussions we have today. Walmart serves nearly 265
largest grocer, million customers each week. We have more than 11,000 retail units,
more than 50 of our own manufacturing plants around the world, and
we help people an ever-growing eCommerce presence. Sam Walton put the customer
first, and that principle is core to what we do. Our customers trust in
all over the world the safety of the food we sell, and we take that responsibility seriously.

save money and In 2008, Walmart began requiring all U.S private brand food suppliers

live better. We to receive a GFSI-recognised certification, and by 2010, GFSI was a

requirement across all markets. Since then, our food business and
are committed to private brand sales have grown significantly. However, many of the
challenges we have identified in the global supply chain are non-
playing a leading unique to Walmart. With thousands of private brands, national brands,
and developing food suppliers, we recognise food safety is an issue
role in providing that can’t be solved alone.

access to safe,
high-quality The How
foods for our The Global Markets (GM) Programme gave us the opportunity to work
customers. with small and developing suppliers in markets where GFSI adoption
fell short of Walmart’s requirements. Our GM approach enables
suppliers to obtain an assessment from select certification bodies.
After passing an audit, suppliers must commit to working towards full
certification within two years.

We believe in empowering and supporting our suppliers to meet these

goals. In many of our markets, we provide GM participants with training
workshops and resources. Examples include:

• Mexico and Central America: Building on the success of Walmart’s

Tierra Fértil programme in the agri-food sector, we began using “Es-
cuela de GFSI y Alimentos Seguros” (GFSI School and Safe Foods)
 and “Universidad Walmart” (Walmart University) to • Africa: Our Food Safety team led a discussion within
train suppliers on various topics, including the GM the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa to rally
programme and GFSI standards. This approach has retailers to use Food Safety standards and adopt the
helped small and developing suppliers raise their GM Programme and GFSI-recognised certifications.
food safety standards. The number of suppliers with
GFSI-recognised certifications increased from 111 in • China: Walmart is an active member of the China
2017 to 202 in 2019. Chain Store & Franchise Association (CCFA), a joint
effort with GFSI to provide suppliers with a third-party
• Chile: Walmart’s Food Safety teams partnered with audit platform to fulfil requirements from multiple
Certification Programme Owners (CPOs) on training retailers. A Walmart representative co-chaired the
and awareness modules for different supplier levels. CCFA-GFSI Joint Working Group to help create train-
ing for participating suppliers.
• India: We are training small and developing sup-
pliers on GM and raising awareness by providing In addition, food safety market leaders actively partic-
easy-to-understand requirements and resources, ipate in local GFSI groups in Argentina, Chile, Japan,
in-person meetings, videos, and other tactics. These China, and Mexico. These local groups help regulators
resources make the programme more accessible to understand the importance of the GM Programme and
less-developed suppliers. GFSI-recognised certifications as a tool to improve food
safety standards.

The Benefits
Walmart believes in continuous improvement. We have Suppliers have seen the benefits, as well. The pro-
a relentless dissatisfaction with the status quo, and gramme is an opportunity to not only improve food safety
we recognise participation in the global food safety and other compliance standards, but also to sell products
community as fundamental to our success. GFSI is to new customers and markets beyond Walmart.
the foundation of our supplier programme and has
allowed us to take a global, unified approach with our Food safety is foundational to Walmart’s success as
supplier partners and in our own manufacturing facilities. a company and to our suppliers. The cross-functional,
Through the GFSI Global Markets Programme, new public-private collaboration – internally and exter-
suppliers could join our supply chain from markets nally – is supporting the acceleration of food safety
where GFSI was less established and where regulations programmes around the world.
vary. In addition, we were better equipped to track food
safety management progress.

Figures
Since 2017, GFSI-benchmarked certifications have # of GFSI-Certified Suppliers vs. # of Suppliers Passing Argentina

Global Market Audits, 2017-2019 Chile

consistently increased in regions leveraging the Global *Private brand some small and developing suppliers CAM
Mexico
Markets Programme and where certified suppliers were 700 China

scarce. Many suppliers who started in the Global Mar- 600

Japan
India
kets Programme shifted from passing Walmart-initiated 500

Global Market audits to achieving full certification. Our 400

food safety journey is not over, but we’re proud of the 300
progress in our supply base to lift food safety standards 200
around the world.
100

0
GFSI-Certified Suppliers GFSI-Certified Suppliers GFSI-Certified Suppliers
Suppliers Passing Global Suppliers Passing Global Suppliers Passing Global
Market Audits Market Audits Market Audits

2017 2018 2019

Colleen Wegman
President and CEO,
Wegmans Food Markets

The Why

Food Founded in 1916, Wegmans Food Markets has 101 stores in 7 states.
The complexity of our operation, with in-store restaurants, internal
manufacturing and distribution, requires that we work closely with our

safety is supplier partners and build trust with our customers and employees
through two-way communication.

everyone’s We are proud of our reputation for high standards and operate with a
continuous improvement mindset. The company’s mission is to “help

business!
customers live healthier, better lives through food.” We are focused on
managing risk and always looking for the best ways to do so.

To accomplish our goals, we rely on our knowledgeable employees,

including an experienced food safety team.

“We first heard about the Global Food Safety Initiative in 2000 through
our industry trade association, the Food Marketing Institute. In 2001,
we went to a GFSI meeting in Toronto to learn more. We identified it as
a best practice and began accepting GFSI-recognised certification for
seafood in December 2004.”

The How
Wegmans didn’t take a heavy-handed approach when it came to request-
ing that our food suppliers seek certification to one of the GFSI-recognised
Certification Programmes. We were pleasantly surprised to learn when we
first started in 2008 that over 40% of our food suppliers were already certi-
fied. We realised we needed to walk the talk by requiring GFSI-recognised
certification for our own internal manufacturing facilities. Only then could
we speak from a position of experience and help our smaller suppliers
because we better understood what they needed to do to get certified.

Education, tools, templates, support, regular communications and

outreach, we did it all. Today 96% of all our Wegmans Brand suppliers
are certified. All of our internal manufacturing facilities sessions throughout the regions where we operate, we
are certified. and we continue the GFSI journey as we paid half the cost of their certification audits when it
start to focus on certification for our stores and distribu- came to growers’ GAP certification. Today, we continue
tion facilities as well. to offer numerous training and education opportunities
to help our smaller suppliers on their GFSI journey,
For Wegmans produce suppliers, in addition to con- partnering with the experts as needed.
ducting numerous Good Agricultural Practices training

The Benefits
At Wegmans, we have seen many benefits for our (SQA) team to focus where it is needed most, e.g.
customers over the years through our support of GFSI. attending first production runs and providing support
Greater business efficiencies and increased confidence for small suppliers.
in our food safety processes are just a few examples. It
fits right in with our preventive approach to food safety. We work to prevent food safety incidents from happening
GFSI helped us to strengthen food safety management in the first place, and this ultimately contributes to better
systems, reduce risk and has made us better at meeting serving our customers and the industry as a whole.
government food safety requirements. It helps us to stay
ahead of new regulations and ensure compliance. Our engagement with GFSI is beginning to help us sup-
port capability building. As an example, we are now using
Although Wegmans is a regional supermarket chain, the framework for the GFSI Global Markets Programme
we source ingredients and products from all over the as we partner with artisan cheese producers. We help
world. GFSI adherence has helped us better manage them grow their business, while making the cheeses they
costs, allowing our small Supplier Quality Assurance supply to us safer for our customers in the process.

Figures
The Wegmans family has taken a safety is Prevention and the Global for food safety where we get to share
leadership role in food safety for over Food Safety Initiative supports that. We best practices, build our food industry
25 years. Danny Wegman, Wegmans’ actively promote GFSI within our own network and learn from industry leaders
Chairman is the current GFSI co-sponsor company, further back our supply chain (e.g. at GFSI events, Focus Days, Global
for The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) and forward as certification heads to Food Safety Conference, Technical Work
board. Colleen Wegman, CEO is actively retail. The Global Food Safety Initiative is Groups, Local Groups). GFSI works to
engaged in Food Safety initiatives more than certification. It becomes a way stay current and continues to evolve to
through our trade association; the Food of life and is firmly entrenched in the food meet the ever-changing needs of the
Marketing Institute (FMI). Food safety safety culture at Wegmans. consumer along with changes in food
has never been a competitive issue for science and regulation. There is strength
Wegmans Food Markets and that is the We believe that GFSI provides all the in us all partnering when it comes to
same for GFSI. For us, the key to food stakeholders with an international forum Food Safety.

440

576
600 Wegmans Bulk Produce Wegmans Brand Suppliers
375
Certified to GFSI Approved Programs Certified to GFSI Approved Programs
450 385 267
250
300

125
150
90
57 27 30
26 18 5
0 0
PrimusGFS Global GAP SQF BRC Canada GAP SQF BRC FSSC 22000 IFS PrimusGFS BAP/GAA
Deng Jie
General Manager,
Weifang Artisan Foods Co., Ltd

The Why
Our mission is Weifang Artisan Foods Co. Ltd., founded in 2000, specialises in the
planting, processing and exporting of fresh and frozen vegetables,
to be a reliable wasabi and curry. Since 2014, we have been expanding in the Eu-
ropean market. In order to ensure that our products can meet food
and preferred safety requirements in the European and the international market, a
quality management system was a pressing need. GFSI represents
partner of our the global food safety requirements, especially for retailers, so in

clients and
2014 and 2016, we applied for BRC and IFS certificates, which have
been recognised by GFSI. We believe that GFSI will play a most im-

society, to portant role in helping us to strengthen our food safety management

in the future.
guarantee the
highest possible The How
quality and to
We aim to provide safe, delicious, high-quality food to our clients.
improve our We guarantee the highest possible quality for our products, having

business and
an adequate and well trained staff that monitors the process from
start to finish. Planting, harvesting, storing, processing and logistics

staff welfare. - every step of our management is controlled by traceability systems

at Artisan Foods.

Our fields and farmers have achieved GLOBAL G.A.P. certification. We

pay close attention to the soil, water, pesticides and fertiliser control so
that we can make sure that the raw material is safe.

The HACCP management system helps us analyse potentials hazards

in each process, to identify the key hazards, establish control pro-
cedures and eliminate or diminish the main hazards and risks to an
acceptable level.

In line with the terms and requirements of the BRC and IFS, we hold
an internal audit every year, which allow us to find any non-conform-
ities in our management system, analyse the cause We have also established staff training programmes, so
of the problem, establish corrective measures, verify that all employees are involved in the food safety man-
effectiveness of these measures and improve the agement of the factory. Everyone checks and eliminates
efficiency of our internal system operations. risks to make Artisan Foods better and better.

The Benefits
Thanks to the implementation of GFSI-recognised Meanwhile, a lot of problems in factory management,
certification programmes BRC and IFS food safety especially in the workshop, had not been fundamentally
management system, our customers are very satisfied resolved before. But now that we have an on-site audit
with our product safety management. No complaints table, all of the managers participate in monthly audits
have occurred since we enhanced the whole process of the factory so that all problems can be corrected,
of security risk management. And product orders in the tracked and verified. Through constant audits by the
European market are increasing every year. requirement of food safety management system, many
issues were completely resolved and the remaining
issues in the factory are being reduced. Since everyone
is seeing this continuous improvement, the enthusiasm
is also growing higher and higher.

Figures
In 2014, the total export volume to European market was
350 MT, and we estimate that the export volume will
Exporting Volume to EU (tons)*
reach 1600 MT in 2016. The steady increase in export is 1800

due to the good reputation of our product and customers’ 1600

1400
recognition of our safety management. We believe that the 1200

quality and safety management system will play an even 1000

800

bigger role in the future. 600

400
200
0
2014 2015 2016

*Data from 2016