The Independent’s Playbook: Partnering for Safety

By Jim Dudlicek / NGA Managing Editor and Content Strategist

The Beatles got by with a little help from their friends - why shouldn't you?

It's no secret that independent grocers have their hands full. Owner-operators routinely ply both front and back of house, taking on multiple responsibilities to ensure things run smoothly.

With so much on their shoulders, having strategic partnerships to provide guidance for certain business operations makes sense. And in matters of food safety, getting it wrong is not an option.

That's why Ecolab is NGA's official food safety partner, with a suite of services that members can access. Ecolab understands customers' realities and delivers offerings to meet their needs. Additionally, Ecolab recognizes the wisdom in maintaining effective partnerships to strengthen food safety programs, as Mandy Sedlak, Ecolab's director of global food safety and public health, noted in a recent article.

"Food safety programs can be more robust with wide and deep partnerships," Sedlak advises. "Get curious about what others are doing and share best practices on food safety issues."

Among her suggestions:

- Get involved with Healthy People 2030objectives, which include guidance on reducing foodborne illnesses.

- Get involved at industry and regulatory meetings, including the Conference for Food Protection, Association of Food and Drug Officials, National Environmental Health Association, International Association of Food Protectionand the Global Food Safety Initiative.

- Collaborate with your suppliers to ensure you're all maintaining consistent standards.

- Get involved in industry networking, like NGA's share groupsor opportunities to meet grocery professionals from across the country at The NGA Show.

- Build a partnership with your local health department, to better know regulations, confer on best practices and know who to contact in an emergency.

For its part, Ecolab maintains a knowledge center at our partnership sitethat's updated with the latest food safety news and information, along with webinar recordings and training programs encompassing numerous food safety procedures.

So, if you feel your food safety program could stand some refreshing, you're interested in the latest news or just need to bone up on the basics, strategic partnerships are a great solution. By partnering with Ecolab, NGA has made the task a lot easier for its members.

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