9:30 am – 9:40 am

9:40 am – 10:40 am

Why Food Safety Culture?
There are well-established food safety and quality protocols and processes within the convenience retail industry. That said, there is also a greater need for leadership to foster a top-down food safety culture that protects and sustains the future of the business.

Dr. Lone Jespersen, founder of Cultivate and food safety culture expert, will share exclusive insights on the NACS Convenience Store Food Safety Culture Maturity Model, the first and only global convenience retail industry specific model that advances food safety culture by initially focusing on the leadership level.

10:40 am – 10:50 am

Break

10:50 am – 11:05 am

EcoSure and Retailer Q&A
Lisa R. Robinson, vice president of global food safety and public health at Ecolab Inc., will be joined onstage by Dr. Jay Ellingson to talk about the state of food safety in our stores.

11:05 am – 12:00 pm

What the Pandemic Taught Us About Safe Food Handling
From recalls to managing the food supply, to the role of regulators and in-store food safety training, the global SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic has had a massive impact on the food safety system. Dr. Ben Chapman, a professor and food safety extension specialist at North Carolina State University, will discuss what the industry has learned since March 2020 and how we can best prepare for the future.

Dr. Chapman is also the project chair of FoodCoVNET, which provides science-based strategies and practices to reduce the public health and economic impacts of COVID-19 on the food sector. He’ll share ongoing research on virus persistence, inactivation and transfer.

12:00 pm – 12:35 pm

Lunch

12:35 pm – 1:55 pm

The Hidden Dangers of Recalls–Navigating (and Avoiding) Regulatory, Civil and Criminal Exposure
From norovirus to E coli, a foodborne illness outbreak can impact and, in many cases, devastate, the entire food chain from grower to retailer to end user. This interactive session will put your team on high alert as an issue arises that may require a large-scale recall. How quickly should you act, what is your risk of regulatory exposure if you make the wrong call, and what is your civil or other exposure? Shawn Stevens, founder of the Food Industry Counsel, will walk you through these scenarios and questions, and help your team create a plan of action so the next time you are faced with a real-word situation, you can react in minutes—not days or weeks.

1:55 pm – 2:05 pm

Break

2:05 pm – 2:50 pm

Vendor Failure? What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You
Suppliers routinely face significant food safety challenges that are often invisible to their customers until it’s too late. Unfortunately, your supplier partner’s challenges can get you into trouble if you are not routinely asking the right questions. In this session, Shawn Stevens, founder of the Food Industry Counsel, will help you tap into today’s complex supply chain issues and explore best practices to vet new suppliers and identify the right questions you should be asking of your supplier partners to reduce risk. Ultimately, these conversations will lead to stronger relationships built on trust and transparency and serve to better protect public health.

2:50 pm – 3:30 pm

• Dr. Jay Ellingson, Chief Scientific Officer, Kwik Trip Inc.
• Nancy Wilson, Director, Quality Assurance, Risk Management & Safety, Wawa Inc.
• Jeremy Zenlea, Director, Head of Health and Safety, EG America

3:30 pm

Conclusion