Food safety, traceability and sustainability blog

Traceability, Technology and a Better Future at Virtual reCONNECT 2021

FoodLogiQ’s user group meeting is being held virtually for the second year in a row; learn what to expect from our annual event and why you should attend! Virtual reCONNECT 2021 is taking place May 17 - May 21, and features talks from leading brands like Whole Foods Market, First Watch, Chipotle, Chick-fil-A, Thrive Market, Chobani, Partake Foods, Testo, Avery Dennison and many more – request a pass today. 

At the heart of FoodLogiQ’s work is a commitment to building a more connected and safe food supply chain. Facilitating compliance, data quality and millions of Critical Tracking Events (over 67 million, to be exact!) is only a piece of the puzzle. We know that bringing our partners together—creating a platform for knowledge sharing, collaboration and community—is an essential piece of achieving a stronger and more effective food system.

That’s why this year, in addition to covering innovative use cases of the FoodLogiQ Connect platform from companies like Tyson and Dine Brands, we're taking on important topics like empowering women in the industry, democratizing food businesses, connecting as an industry, how food safety responds to crisis and building technical interoperability.

How Dine Brands Increases Value Cross-Functionally with FoodLogiQ Connect

Learn how Dine Brands Global Quality Assurance Specialist Jason Brown is leveraging the FoodLogiQ Connect platform to drive business continuity throughout the company, whose brands represent 6,000 restaurant locations worldwide.

Dine Brands Global is one of the world's largest full service dining companies in the world, and franchises two iconic brands, Applebee's and IHOP. A customer since 2018, the Dine Brands Quality Assurance team has evolved their programs by leveraging the FoodLogiQ Connect platform for years. Dine Brands’ current approach to food quality and safety? Building value through new efficiencies and superior visibility. 

Value-building is not always the first thing that comes to mind when one mentions food safety or quality assurance. As Dine Brands Quality Assurance Specialist Jason Brown points out, “Quality Assurance is not known as the money-making part of the organization.” The philosophy of building value is more often claimed by business units like franchise operations, advertising or innovation. Many believe that the importance of protecting customers, delivering top-tier, traceable ingredients and resolving incidents swiftly are investments reflected in red on their company’s balance sheet. And, when things are going well, quality and safety can remain out of sight, out of mind. “You don't really think about the things that are going on behind the scenes,” says Brown, “The restaurant doesn't care about how long it takes to get a credit until they need a credit.”

However, the Dine Brands team is proving that, armed with the right digital tools, value-building is something Quality Assurance can drive on a fundamental level.

Recall Readiness: Lessons Learned and a Look Ahead

FoodLogiQ’s new E-Book,“Recall Readiness: Lessons Learned & a Look Ahead,” details some of the major food recall events and foodborne illness outbreaks of 2020, as well as ways to establish recall modernization within your own organization.

Recalls are bound to happen in the food industry. While no organization wants to be at the center of a major outbreak or Class I recall, all organizations throughout the food supply chain must be prepared for this reality. In 2020, we witnessed several high-profile recalls with nationwide impact. From seafood, to produce, to onions and leafy greens, as well as hand sanitizers, which are being sold by many food retailers and used widely in essential businesses for health and safety practices. These major recalls come amid additional stresses brought on by challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

5 Key Takeaways from the 2021 GFSI Conference

Earlier this week, FoodLogiQ had the pleasure of attending and speaking at GFSI’s annual Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) Conference, hosted virtually this year. Hundreds of delegates and speakers from leading brands and organizations across the globe met to discuss the evolution, state and future of food safety between March 23 and 25. Known as one of the world’s most important conversations around food safety, the 2021 GFSI Conference focused on the theme “Food Safety: Rethink, Reset, Recharge,” and featured a wide range of sessions showcasing how each of these elements has been critical to the state of food safety, especially  through the supply chain disruption brought on by COVID-19.

Tech-Enabled Auditing in a Post-Pandemic World

Streamlined auditing is becoming a more central aspect of modern food safety compliance. Don't miss FoodLogiQ's upcoming demo on how to conduct tech-enabled audits.

Food safety audits are an essential practice for monitoring, managing and upholding product consistency, brand quality and regulatory compliance. Whether executed internally, assigned to suppliers or completed by a third party, audits enable food brands to proactively identify and resolve issues to continuously deliver on brand promise and uphold consumer trust.