Food safety, traceability and sustainability blog

Delivering Global Quality and Sustainability Through Tech-Enabled Auditing with Red Lobster

“We want to make sure that we’re providing the safest food at the highest quality. The only way to really do that is to keep track of each individual supplier on a regular basis. You have to turn to technology.” — Red Lobster Director of Total Quality and Food Safety Dennis Price.

Red Lobster has been leading the charge in delivering quality, sustainable seafood since 1968. And, with fans like Beyoncé, the brand has proven that excellence is to “Sea Food Differently,” particularly in terms of sourcing and standards. The Red Lobster commitment includes serving seafood “in ways that are traceable, sustainable, and responsible,” which is something that the entire food safety and quality team takes very seriously. Red Lobster Director of Total Quality and Food Safety Dennis Price spoke with FoodLogiQ on how his team leverages FoodLogiQ Connect auditing functionality to elevate standards throughout Red Lobster's global supply chain and ensure that the company is doing its part to protect ocean resources while serving customers across hundreds of locations.

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.

Modern Strategies for Executing Successful Food Safety Audits

Read FoodLogiQ’s latest E-Book, “Modern Auditing Strategies for Enterprise Food Brands,” to understand how to deploy successful food safety audits across your organization.

There is arguably nothing more important to a food organization than the continual quality and safety of the products created, served and delivered to their customers. Across industry verticals, food companies uphold brand promise and develop transparent, trusted reputations by repeatedly delivering on this quality. And reciprocally, they are constantly held to it. This reality applies across a variety of levels, from the regulatory realm, to supply chain partnerships, to individual consumers.

Adapting Your Auditing Strategy to Account for Leaner Operations

Introducing our guest blogger, John Paul (JP) Gutierrez, Vice President of Client Solutions and head of solution engineering at FoodLogiQ. Pulling from his 20+ years of experience in delivering SaaS-based solutions in the supply chain and supplier management space across a variety of industries, JP shares insights on recent auditing trends and recommendations for food organizations looking to adapt their auditing practices while faced with reduced operations.

Throughout 2020, organizations within the food industry have been dealt many an unexpected obstacle. One of the most popular challenges for enterprise Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) and retail grocer brands, in particular, has been maintaining a high level of output in the face of shifting demand, lean operations and fewer resources. An important method for understanding process efficiency, identifying production trends and variances, maintaining compliance and upholding trust has been auditing. Learn how food companies have shifted their auditing practice by format, frequency and execution, and how the adoption of digitized audits has counteracted many of the challenges brought on by a reduction in resources.

30 Minute Listen: Actionable Audits for Enhanced Food Safety ft. EFI

FoodLogiQ Product Marketing Manager Kirstin Meyerhoeffer is joined by EFI Data and Impact Manager Lexie DeGrandChamp for a discussion about auditing best practices, shifting to address changes brought on by COVID-19, finding the right combination of auditing formats and successfully deploying internal audits. Listen to the conversation on actionable audits, hear more about FoodLogiQ’s new internal auditing functionality, and learn how to best utilize quality data to uphold food safety and harness trust in your brand.

Whether executed internally, assigned to suppliers or conducted by a third party, audits enable organizations within the food industry to proactively identify and resolve issues while continuously delivering on brand promise. 

The Equitable Food Initiative’s Data and Impact Manager Lexie DeGrandchamp knows this firsthand. EFI is a nonprofit certification and skill-building organization that seeks to transform agriculture and improve the lives of farmworkers. The organization brings together growers, farmworkers, retailers and consumers to solve the most pressing issues facing the fresh produce industry. Its unparalleled approach sets standards for labor practices, food safety and pest management, while engaging workers at all levels on the farm to produce Responsibly Grown, Farmworker Assured™ fruits and vegetables.

DeGrandchamp manages data collection and organization from certified farms and participating retail partners, and helps tell the story of EFI’s impact on farms and farmworkers in the Americas. In short, she lives and breathes the troves of auditing data collected across dozens of locations internationally.