• Provide technical recommendations and advice to the GFSI Board on issues relating to Retail/Wholesale in the food supply chain.

The ultimate objective of this Working Group is to define the requirements that a retail/wholesale food safety management scheme should have in place to ensure confidence in sourcing of product and in the systems that are in place to supply safe food to the consumer.

Working Group co-chairs Robert Frappier, vice president quality assurance for Ahold USA, and Adam Johnson, senior director of food safety and pest management for Walmart, welcomed the GFSI Board’s decision to convene this Working Group. They said, “As retail and wholesale outlets are the last link in the supply chain as far as responsibility of safe food handling is concerned, we are committed to ensuring that the food reaching our customers’ tables is safe. We look forward to working with the other experts in this Working Group to make this happen.”

The Working Group held its first face-to-face meeting on July 18 and 19 and will report on its progress to the GFSI Board of Directors, who is responsible for driving the strategic direction of the Global Food Safety Initiative. A global stakeholder consultation on the benchmarking criteria developed by the Working Group is currently planned for the end of 2013 to ensure transparency in the development process.

Payton Pruett, vice president of corporate food technology at The Kroger Co. and GFSI board liaison to the Working Group, commented, “The current retail landscape is fragmented. GFSI’s collaborative work in this area can help unite the industry and be a platform for retailers and wholesalers wanting to pursue harmonization in the management of their outlets. For many years, it has been the buying companies mandating certification against GFSI-recognized schemes. Through certification, retailers and wholesalers will now be able to demonstrate a commitment to continuously improving food safety management systems in their own operations.”