During the pandemic, a number of major risk management decisions were required to be made, and in some instances there were unintended or unexpected consequences for the food industry.  How have these impacted food safety?

• Exploring the latest thinking around the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 by food and food packaging
• Understanding how COVID-19 has impacted concerns on food safety and caused specific issues with food production systems
• Addressing unintended consequences of COVID-related management measures that had the potential to lead to food safety issues
• Exploring new ways to conduct business and ensure business continuity in the face of multiple operating challenges in the food production sector, supply chains, retailing and food service industry
• Effectively communicating science-based facts and combating fake news around COVID-19 and food safety

Using a collaborative approach is increasingly essential to ensuring that both food security and consumer needs are met.  This session brings together the whole ecosystem of retailers, manufacturers, logistics providers and food producers to explore the crucial role they all need to play.

• Why cross-sector collaboration is key to ensuring food safety along the supply chain
• Connecting with regulators and councils to understand how we can work together towards safe food
• Sharing data to help food systems to become more transparent and collaborative
• Leveraging on collaborative approaches to establish standards that combat food fraud and protect food integrity

This session will prepare NZ export businesses for meeting the Chinese Customs compliances, establishing credibility for bringing in products that are safe and authentic, and building trust with Chinese customers.

• Uncovering what has changed in the exporting industry and how consumer values and attitudes have shifted
• How does China’s new measure for the administration of import and export food safety targeting chilled products impact NZ exporters?
• Things to know and prepare in order to meet the compliance requirements from the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC)
• Insights into the requirement for Chinese labelling and full-process tracing

As consumers continue to demand more transparency on the products and companies they are buying from, manufacturers, suppliers and retailers are striving to exceed consumer expectations and leverage this for a competitive advantage.

• Integrating food science with behavioural science to manage food safety risk
• Creating a roadmap to drive commitment to a food safety culture
• What does food safety culture look like on the ground level?
• Learning from real examples of a true food safety culture

• Strengthening supply chain resilience, recoverability and best practices that has kept food safe through disruption
• Exploring the changing expectations and requirements that retailers have placed on their suppliers
• Quantifying the impact of recent global supply disruption on supplier assurance
• Examining how manufacturers have managed disruptions in key ingredient availability while maintaining food safety and product integrity
• Maintaining food safety in supply chain management - a combination of the people, processes and technologies
• Best practices on managing sudden changes to your operation and prevent food safety issues

• Why is traceability still an issue?
• Identifying the requirements for vulnerability assessment—what does a model fraud vulnerability assessment look like?
• Quantifying the challenges of data access and lack of interoperability between systems
• Identifying new areas of fraud risk for niche markets such as organic and vegan products
• Assessing technology innovations—how can they be integrated with legacy systems?

• Evaluating the impact of the implementation of PEAL (Plain English Allergen Labelling) in the NZ food safety space
• International (regulatory) developments in allergen management and labelling
• Positioning your business to respond to consumer and regulatory demands

This session will discuss leveraging technology and other tools to create a safer, more digital and traceable food system.  Denver will share King Salmon’s journey in embracing digital evolution to increase food safety.

• Using whole genome sequencing and data capturing tools to trace and improve
• Capitalising on data-driven decision making to improve food safety
• How insights, proprietary data and new technology is making a real difference for businesses

In 1997, Codex Alimentarius have included HACCP as an annex in the “General principles of Food Hygiene”, that was a key moment harmonising HACCP application. To date, this document is the framework that many governmental legislations and Food Safety certification programmes use, hence fully understanding the latest requirements in the 2020 amendment is important to food safety professionals.

This presentation will cover key updates and definitions, talk about Critical Control Points (CCPs) determination within the context of the updated requirements, and highlight updates your HACCP Plan might need. 

Social evolutions are changing the face of food safety.  A new generation of consumers is establishing a new set of values around food and expanding the concept of food safety to include functional healthy properties and nutrition, animal welfare and sustainability in the widest sense.  This session explores these and other developments to provide insights into the future for the food and beverage industries.

• Back to business – priorities and challenges for food safety
• Balancing competing demands: Sustainability, food safety and the “new normal”
• Managing the tensions between consumers’ sustainability expectations and keeping their food safe
• Changing perceptions on the use of genetic technologies within the food industry
• Responses to emerging sustainability and food safety issues and the value of partnership to bring the whole industry forward
• How much does the EU Green Deal affects NZ’s food safety industry?
• Enhancing operational behaviour and staying agile