The virtual annual Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) conference, part of The Consumer Goods Forum, will take place from March 23–25, 2021. Food safety professionals around the globe are encouraged to take part in the conference.

The theme for the 2021 conference is "Rethink, Reset, and Recharge." The interactive three-day forum, now in its 20th year, will convene hundreds of experts, decision makers, and innovators from over 60 countries, to share food safety best practice and encourage ongoing collaboration and action. 

Attendees will hear inspiring examples of leadership, ingenuity, and innovation, with expert speakers providing insights to address common challenges – helping to achieve the shared goal of safe food for consumers around the world. Senior leaders and experts from Amazon, HelloFresh, The Coca-Cola Company, Mars, Incorporated, Cargill, Target, PepsiCo, Walmart, Queen’s University Belfast, Georgia University of Technology and the World Health Organization are among those delivering talks and presentations.

The most urgent topics in food safety, such as COVID-19, supply chain disruption, and public health, will be discussed. Other topics include building trust and transparency with consumers, as well as best practices, innovations, and technologies set to shape the future of food safety. The wide-ranging speakers include renowned experts and academics, CEOs, public authorities, industry leaders, innovators and grassroots professionals.

As part of the interactive conference experience, attendees will be able to create personalized virtual versions of themselves, which they can move around a 3D immersive site to meet and mingle with others—no matter where they are in the world.

Key sessions and speakers across the three-day program include:

• Leading in times of crisis with Dirk van de Put, Chairman & CEO, Mondelēz International
• The evolution of E-Commerce: How Covid-19 has impacted food safety operations—including insights from Amazon’s Head of Food Safety EMEA
• COVID-19, Public health and food safety: A call for leadership and resilience—with the Assistant Director-General of UHC/Healthier Populations at the World Health Organization
• The frontier of food safety: New science, discoveries and innovations—with Mars, Incorporated
• Doing the right thing: Food Safety Trust and Transparency—with the Director General of Consumers International and the University of Oxford
• Auditing tomorrow with Yunling Zheng from Cargill
• Crisis Communication: Fear Marketing and How It Drives Consumer Behavior—with FSM's own Barbara VanRenterghem, Ph.D.
• Keynote Speech from Dr Andrew Steele, Scientist and Author of Ageless: The New Science of Getting Older Without Getting Old

This year’s event also includes all-new sessions such as "Ask GFSI" Q&A panels on the final day—giving attendees the chance to put a wide range of topics directly to the GFSI leadership to hear their views on key issues. The official conference partners are Ecolab and Greenfence.

To find out more about the Conference and register to secure your ticket, visit: www.mygfsi.com/events/gfsi-conference/

The GFSI is a landmark initiative of The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), a global industry network working to support better lives through better business.