September 21, 2023

Virtual reCONNECT: Hear Industry Experts on Regulations, Food Tech, & Food Safety Culture

Introducing the sixth annual user group conference, Virtual reCONNECT, now proudly presented by Trustwell. It will be the event’s inaugural year under the Trustwell brand, following the merging and rebranding of ESHA Research and FoodLogiQ. The event will feature thought leaders in the industry and emerging trends, technology, and regulations shaping the future of food. Attendees will have access to hours of on-demand discussions, with several live keynote speakers over three days.

Hear from industry experts covering a range of themes, from preparing for FSMA 204 to the crucial role of cybersecurity in food technology. You can explore the entire agenda online, but here are some of the events you can look forward to at reCONNECT this year.

Kickoff Each Day with Live Keynotes

While the majority of reCONNECT’s sessions will be available on-demand, each day will also have a live keynote address for attendees discussing some of the major topics currently impacting the industry. These insightful discussions, hosted by Trustwell’s Chief Customer Officer, Katy Jones, will also include live Q&A with the audience.

Day 1 – Live Welcome and Building an Inclusive Food Safety Culture (12:30-2:00 PM ET)

Trustwell’s CEO, Stephen Bruce, and Katy Jones will kick off the sixth annual reCONNECT event with a live keynote welcome.

Following the kickoff, Katy Jones will host a panel discussion with Tia Glave and Jill Stuber, co-founders of Catalyst LLC. The discussion will focus on building a diverse, strong, and value-centric food safety leadership team, and how Catalyst launched their team of unstoppable, world-class food safety and quality culture champions. Discover how they have helped leading food companies change to an inclusive leadership approach, spark transformation, and build sustainable food safety cultures—and dive into the reasons why a food safety program is only as good as those who lead it.

Day 2 – The State of Food Safety and an Overview of Trustwell Connect (1:00-3:00 PM ET)

Starting our second day off strong, Katy Jones will be hosting a discussion with two food safety champions who starred in Netflix’s documentary Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food, Bill Marler and Darin Detwiler. The discussion will focus on their decades of experience in the food safety space, how far the industry has come, and how far we have left to go. The guests will also discuss their participation in the Netflix show and offer guidance on tools that can help industry experts promote a safer food safety system for all.

Following the first engaging keynote, the next live event will focus on Trustwell Connect.

Day 3 – Mastering Global Supplier Management and Closing Keynote (1:00-3:00 PM ET)

To close out the sixth annual reCONNECT event, Trustwell’s Business Solutions Director, Zoe Richards, will dive into the intricate world of supplier management and quality within the global meal kit delivery space. As a former director with Hello Fresh, Zoe will provide unique insights into how rising customer expectations, supply chain complexity, and immense amounts of data are helping companies establish blueprints for maintaining impeccable quality standards across a global brand.

Next, Katy Jones will wrap up the event with a quick review of the essential and insightful keynotes and on-demand conversations from the past couple days. Attendees can then round out the day with more on-demand sessions.

Regulations and What’s Happening on the Hill

Throughout the event, attendees will have the opportunity to tune into sessions focused on major topics impacting the industry. And no doubt some of the hottest topics of discussion this year are coming from regulations – for federal and state departments, as well as international regulations impacting the global food supply chain. Whether you're preparing for label regulation changes or FSMA 204, here are some of the events you won’t want to miss:

Fireside Chat: FSMA 204 – Planning for a Safer, Traceable Future, hosted by Trustwell’s VP of Supply Chain Strategy and Insights, Julie McGill, and joined by FDA CORE Response Team 3 Officer, Angela Fields.
Navigating the Nutritional Landscape: The Vital Role of Accurate Nutrition Analysis in Food Menus hosted by Trustwell’s VP of Marketing, Lydia Adams, and joined by Chick-fil-A’s Senior Nutrition Consultant, Jodie Worrell.
Navigating the Regulatory Maze: Insights into Food Labeling Regulations hosted by Trustwell’s team of regulatory experts, Liz Salvo and Megan Murphy.
FSMA 204’s Final Rule: A Look Ahead with Industry Experts, hosted by Julie McGill and joined by supply chain and quality assurance experts, Max Braun (Chick-fil-A) and Brando Tijerina (Taco John’s).
Restaurant Labeling is Back: How You Can Prepare Now to Meet the Deadline, hosted by Trustwell’s Liz Salvo and joined by NRA Vice President, Patrick Guzzle.
The Role of Food Labeling in Empowering Informed Food Choices hosted by Trustwell’s Katy Jones, and joined by Consumer Brands Association’s Senior Director, Rishi Banerjee.

Innovation and the Future of Food Technology

Food technology is evolving at a rapid rate, and as businesses try to keep up, understanding the application and value behind the latest food technology can get overwhelming. With advancements in artificial intelligence, stricter regulations, mounting cybersecurity threats, and interconnected business systems across the supply chain, businesses are facing unique challenges to maintain compliance, protect data, and simplify processes. Luckily, technological innovation is resulting in some creative solutions for these business challenges.

reCONNECT will feature several on-demand sessions highlighting some of the latest technologies in the food industry. Don’t miss these talks:

A New Era in Data Carriers: 1D, 2D, RFID, and Ambient IoT hosted by Trustwell’s Julie McGill, joined by technology experts Steve Statler (Wiliot) and Jeanne Duckett (Avery Dennison).
Expanding Internationally: How Whole Foods Market Launched recalls in Their UK Stores hosted by Whole Foods’ Senior Business Process Improvement Analyst, Brandon Gallenstein.
Preparedness in Recall & Incident Management: Navigating Recalls on an International Scale hosted by Five Guys’ Head of Technical & QA, Natalja Page.
Leadership Buy-in: Building a Business Case for Technology hosted by Salad & Go’s VP of Food Safety and Quality Assurance, Jeremy Schneider.
The Easy Button: How Specright & Genesis Work Together to Seamlessly Bring Products to Market hosted by Trustwell’s Lydia Adams and joined by Specright’s CEO, Matthew Wright.
A “Phygital” (Physical + Digital) Approach to Resilient Supply Chains hosted by GS1 US Senior VP of Innovation and Partnership, Melanie Nuce-Hilton.
Guarding the Gate: Cybersecurity’s Crucial Role in the Food Industry hosted by Trustwell’s Katy Jones, and joined by AnzenSage’s CEO and Founder, Kristin Demoranville.

Building a Culture of Food Safety

Regulations create guidelines and technology can be harnessed as tools to help businesses create stronger food safety systems. But without a solid culture of food safety, and the collaboration of personnel at every level of the business, companies will struggle to adapt as the global food supply chain evolves in the near future.

So, to round out the discussions at reCONNECT, we will also be hosting several live and on-demand discussions focused on building stronger food safety cultures from the inside out. You won’t want to miss these events:

Live Keynote: Serving Up Trust: Transforming Food Industry Culture with Catalyst LLC hosted by Katy Jones and joined by Catalyst LLC Co-founders, Tia Glave and Jill Stuber.
Global Food Systems & Building an International Foods Safety Brand hosted by Trustwell’s Julie McGill and joined by Institute of Food Technologists scientist, Sara Bratager.
Building Robust Food Safety Culture and Systems hosted by John Zimmerman, the Vice President of QA & Food Safety with First Watch.

Don’t Miss Virtual reCONNECT, October 10-12, 2023

This year’s reCONNECT is a must-attend event for food industry professionals. Join Trustwell in our mission to change the food industry for the better and register today to learn from leaders on food technology, food safety, and regulatory compliance.