AGENDA

Ready to mingle and enjoy the Florida sunshine?! Join friends and colleagues old and new as we welcome back our community of food safety professionals in an open-air setting.

Enjoy a light breakfast prior to joining the SQF Professional Update (registration and additional fee required) or heading to the SQF Unites Expo.

In this year’s update, we’ll share recent updates to the SQF program including the SQF Code Edition 9, current results from the Compliance and Integrity Programs, new and existing implementation solutions, enhancements to the SQF assessment database, a GFSI benchmarking status report for key modules, the status of key SQF documents, and a peek at upcoming training and events. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of SQFI expectations for registered SQF Professionals and ways to enhance the assessment, implementation, and maintenance of an SQF System.

Registration and additional fee required.

In the SQF Unites Expo, you’ll find 40+ companies with everything you need to move your food safety practice forward.

Back by popular demand, emcee, Rachel Sheerin will kick off the conference in her signature style.

One More Thing, One More Time

Josh Sundquist, Motivational Speaker and Author

We’re excited to announce Josh Sundquist as the keynote for the SQF Unites Opening Session. Sundquist is a Paralympian and bestselling author, whose life story is a reminder of how all our stories are interconnected and how even the smallest actions and decisions impact the world around us. You’ll walk away with a fresh perspective on everything you have to be grateful for, with resolve to overcome personal and professional challenges, and with a commitment to do 1MT,1MT (one more thing, one more time), to reach your fullest potential. You’ll carry Josh’s empowering message of hope and determination in your heart and mind long after the conclusion of SQF Unites.

In the SQF Unites Expo, you’ll find 40+ companies with everything you need to move your food safety practice forward.

Join one of 20+ food sector category focused discussion groups to get ideas, swap best practices and share your successes and challenges with your food safety peers.

In the SQF Unites Expo, you’ll find 40+ companies with everything you need to move your food safety practice forward.

Take your pick of a wide range of food safety topics and join industry experts as they lead a Q&A session in small discussion groups.

Grab a bite to eat and join our sponsor partners to hear their thought leadership on a variety of timely topics.

Grab a bite to eat and join our sponsor partners to hear their thought leadership on a variety of timely topics.

Recall Outtakes: A Candid Conversation with Dole

Natalie Dyenson, VP Food Safety & Quality, Dole Food Company

At the end of 2021, Dole experienced a recall that required retailers to pull product off their shelves. With a quick response and effective follow-up Dole, quickly restored the supply chain. Join a candid conversation with Dole as they discuss how this recent recall had an impact on their operations and the supply chain. You’ll hear from Natalie Dyenson, VP Food Safety & Quality at Dole, on this recent experience, including the root cause and the impact from farm to fork.

In the SQF Unites Expo, you’ll find 40+ companies with everything you need to move your food safety practice forward.

Food Safety Insights 2023: A Peek into the Crystal Ball

How should you prepare for tomorrow’s regulatory challenges?  Join this session to hear the latest regulatory update and gain insight into FDA’s current priorities. Food safety experts will discuss what regulatory changes are on the horizon and how they could impact your facility and your food safety programs.  This session will explore some of the biggest issues in food safety, including traceability, allergen labeling, toxic elements in foods, FDA’s New Era of Smarter Food Safety initiative, implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act, and more!

Culture Wasn’t Built in a Day

Polly Tartaro, Food Safety and Quality Program Manager, The Killer Brownie Company

We’re now more than a year into the release of food safety culture requirements in edition 9 of the SQF Code, and it’s time to evaluate where we are and where we need to be. Join a panel of industry experts as they share some of the challenges to implementing a food safety culture and the key metrics used to assess and measure culture. Listen in on best practices for keeping food safety culture ever present and how to prevent it from stagnating.

Test Your System: Common Themes

Explore the SQF Code’s common expectations for testing your site’s food defense, crisis management, withdrawal and recall, and trace programs. You’ll understand the difference between conducting risk assessments and annual reviews and actually testing your systems.  Dive into examples of mock tests and learn how to utilize lessons learned from actual events.

Continue the conversation and make new connections as we explore the learning session topics in more depth during group discussions.

I Validated…or did I Verify? Did I do Both?

When it comes to validation and verification do you seek clarity? Through real life examples learn how to develop an effective verification and validation program. Get your questions answered about these two widely misunderstood topics, and then figure out what comes next.

How It Started…How’s It Going: An EMP Journey

An environmental monitoring program, or EMP, is the key prevention step to controlling foodborne recalls and outbreaks, but not everyone believes their site needs to implement this program. This session will provide real-world scenarios and dive into who needs to implement an environmental monitoring program and walk you through a case study that had actionable outcomes and share the lessons learned and corrective action to improve environmental monitoring at the site. This session is for everyone, whether you are just starting out on your own EMP journey or discovering what you need to know to improve your own environmental monitoring program.

Hidden Efficiencies in Internal Audit and Inspection Programs

Site growth and new requirements add layers to the internal audit and inspection program, leading to duplicated and overlapping efforts. Internal audit reports can take significant time to write and often include confusing and duplicated non-conformities. Discover how to ensure safe and efficient growth using scalable internal audit and inspection processes. In this session, you’ll learn to identify hidden efficiencies to drive assurances in preparation for the certification audit using lean methods to streamline the audit planning, implementation, and follow-up processes.

Continue the conversation and make new connections as we explore the learning session topics in more depth during group discussions.

In the SQF Unites Expo, you’ll find 40+ companies with everything you need to move your food safety practice forward.

This fast-paced session, brought to you by our sponsor partners will introduce you to a variety of industry topics in a 5 x 5 format (5 slides in 5 minutes)

Take a break from cerebral activities and join your peers for an evening of festivity and fun. More details coming soon!

Ask SQFI Anything (Town Hall) & SQF Excellence Awards

LeAnn Chuboff, VP Technical Affairs, SQFI

You have questions, we have answers. Join us for an interactive Q&A session with the SQFI technical team. We’ll also recognize this year’s nominees for the SQF Excellence Awards and the winners of the FMI Foundation Food Safety Auditing Scholarships.

In the SQF Unites Expo, you’ll find 40+ companies with everything you need to move your food safety practice forward.

Join SQF Unites speakers as they lead a Q&A session in small discussion groups.

Connecting the Dots from Risk Analysis to Risk Assessment

Geoff Farrell, Global Senior Technical Manager, NSF

Harness the power of the risk assessment, the best-kept secret to successful SQF System implementation. The risk assessment is the backbone of an effective food safety system with the power to understand the risks associated with your processes. To prevent it from becoming complicated and time-consuming, the key is keeping the process simple. We’ll show you how! This interactive roundtable will review best practices for conducting a successful risk assessment and guide attendees through real-world examples using a risk assessment tool.

Not Your Top Non-Conformances…but Should They Be?

Based on an analysis of hundreds of audit reports, it’s clear that sites and auditors alike struggle with understanding certain code elements. Join our all-star panel of SQF auditors for an interactive discussion on the most misunderstood SQF Code elements of 2022.

Farm to Fork Food Safety in an Ever-Evolving Supply Chain

As food supply chains continue to evolve, increase in complexity, and face the continued threat of unanticipated external forces, supplier programs must adapt to ensure the integrity and safety of the products we consume. Join industry experts to take a deep dive into best practices for developing and sustaining an effective approved supplier program that promotes knowledge sharing, drives continuous improvement, is crisis-ready, and adheres to SQF Edition 9 Code requirements.

Choosing Your Lens: Make the Impossible Possible

Ben Nemtin

We’re thrilled to announce bestselling author Ben Nemtin as our keynote for the SQF Unites Closing Session. Ben weaves the remarkable story of how The Buried Life grew from 100 impossible dreams into a global movement and connects his lessons to the fabric of our daily lives. His message of radical possibility combined with his “5 Steps to Make the Impossible Possible” will leave you not only inspired but also equipped with tools to tackle the seemingly insurmountable. Ben reminds us that it’s never too late to start your list and leave your lasting impact on the world.