Trustwell’s 2024: Our Year in Review Featuring New Products, Industry Leadership & Top Tools

As 2024 winds down and we turn our attention to 2025, it's time again to reflect on Trustwell's significant accomplishments, key announcements, and top insights from our team's thought leaders over the past year. We're proud to present Trustwell's 2024 in review and raise a toast to the goals we've achieved with the help of our incredible customers this year.

2024: By the Numbers

2024 was our first full calendar year as Trustwell, taking the best of what ESHA Research and FoodLogiQ had to offer and transforming the food industry with tools that set the global industry gold standard. We made major strides as a unified organization; the numbers tell the tale.

New Year, New Leadership 

When your mission is to transform the food industry, you need an all-star team, starting with experienced, dedicated leaders with skin in the game. We hit the ground running in 2024 with a leadership team who have what it takes to build a culture that never quits.

• In February, Katy Jones was appointed Chief Executive Officer, marking a major milestone in her decade-long journey with the company that started at FoodLogiQ in 2015.
• In March, Trustwell welcomed Caitlin Bond and Maria Burch to the executive leadership team in the roles of Chief Financial Officer and Chief Customer Officer, respectively. Bond's previous role as CFO-in-residence at The Riverside Company and Burch's deep history in customer experience, including her time at FoodLogiQ, allowed both leaders to bring a deep familiarity with Trustwell's mission and goals — as well as a wealth of expertise and proven track records for getting results.

3 New Future-Focused Tools for the Food Industry

We knew it would be a big deal to combine the capabilities of the next generation of our flagship nutrition software product, Genesis Foods, and the data capture capabilities of FoodLogiQ into a unified suite of software solutions under the umbrella of Trustwell Connect.

We also knew it was just the beginning—the food industry cannot be transformed without focusing on innovation and improvement. This year, we launched three new future-focused tools designed specifically for food businesses across the global supply chain. 

[Get the eBook]: Food Safety & Traceability Software Buyer’s Guide

1. AskReg: The AI-Powered Compliance Assistant

In April, we rolled out the next generation of Genesis Foods, adding new ways to formulate faster and automate accurate labels for multiple global authorities. We also introduced AskReg, an AI use case designed to make regulatory compliance a little less daunting and a whole lot more human. 

Interactive, Intuitive Compliance Assistance

AskReg is the first chatbot of its kind, designed specifically to simplify complex information about food industry regulations — spanning topics from recipe formulation and packaging requirements to traceability rules and certification requirements. AskReg interactions are human-readable and context-aware, so you can break down complex guidelines into actionable insights in an intuitive interface for both desktop and mobile users. 

Backed by Expertise and Designed for Multiple Markets

AskReg provides accurate, immediate answers to complex regulatory questions with primary source links — and it supports multiple markets. So, users can chat with AskReg to gear up for the 2026 FSMA 204 deadline with information straight from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). And AskReg is trained on information from regulating authorities in the US, EU, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, and Canada. 

Even More Guardrails with AskReg Allergen Identification

The AskReg Allergen Identification feature utilizes advanced algorithms to analyze ingredient and sub-ingredient names, highlighting potential allergens that may not be immediately apparent. This innovative technology streamlines the identification of potential allergens within custom ingredients, ensuring accurate allergen disclosures across all recipes and product labels.

2. FoodLogiQ Product Management: Food Spec Management, Simplified

In November, we introduced FoodLogiQ Product Management, enhanced by Trustwell’s leading labeling software, Genesis Foods. This addition offers a streamlined and thorough approach to food product specification and lifecycle management, complementing FoodLogiQ’s extensive tools for ensuring food safety and compliance, fostering collaborative supplier relationships, and promoting supply chain transparency.

FoodLogiQ Product Management brings together legal, compliance, and food safety teams, enhancing traceability and reducing audit risks through several key features:

• Customizable Templates: Create and manage specifications with over 100 built-in attribute options, including custom attributes tailored to specific needs.
• Integrated Workflows: Simplify approvals by directing specifications to stakeholders across teams, ensuring compliance with audit-ready documentation.
• Facility-Level Specification Management: Assign specifications to one or multiple facilities and monitor their responses in real-time, tracking decisions against the master specification.
• Genesis Foods Integration: Quickly incorporate up-to-date ingredient and allergen statements into product specifications, minimizing the risk of data entry errors.

3. Embedded Analytics: Data-Driven Decision Making at Your Fingertips

We closed out 2024 by releasing some powerful new dashboarding tools for FoodLogiQ — Embedded Analytics. Designed to help food industry leaders go beyond basic reporting for true data-driven decision-making and strategy. 

Enhanced Data Capture and Analysis

Advanced analytics tools provide a deeper level of insight into supply chain data. By expanding the range of data points captured, including event and withdrawal associations, the platform goes beyond traditional incident response and supplier compliance metrics. This comprehensive approach enables users to gain a more holistic understanding of their supply chain operations.

Intuitive User Experience and AI-Powered Insights

The platform's user-friendly interface features multi-object dashboards, advanced visualization options, and AI-driven search, making data exploration accessible to users of all technical levels. The "Explain Visualization" feature further empowers users by providing clear, concise explanations of complex data visualizations, ensuring that valuable insights are easily understood and actionable.

Streamlined Operations and Cost Savings

FoodLogiQ's Embedded Analytics tools streamline operations and reduce costs by automating report generation and eliminating the need for costly API maintenance. Teams can customize their dashboards to focus on the most critical metrics, collect data from various operational sources, and set up automated alerts for timely updates. This efficient approach simplifies IT workflows and empowers users to make data-driven decisions easily.

Trustwell's 2024: Leading the Industry

So much of Trustwell's legacy is deeply rooted in the expertise of our team and leadership. From regulatory seminars led by in-house subject matter experts and industry veterans to newly published resources and partnering with innovative businesses with values and skills that complement ours, here's how Trustwell recommitted to its role as a learning and leadership resource in 2024.

FSMA 204 Readiness with the Food & Drug Administration

We started the year off with a webinar cohosted by Angela Fields, Senior Consumer Safety Officer from the Coordinated Outbreak Response and Evaluation (CORE) Network at the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to provide an inside look at the FDA's plans for 2024 and help attendees get a head start with FSMA 204 preparation and planning for the year.

In June, Trustwell's VP of Supply Chain Strategy and Insights (Julie McGill) co-hosted a session with Fields at GS1 Connect — Preparing for FSMA Rule 204 With Help From the FDA —  for food safety professionals in attendance.

Watch the Webinar: The FDA's Roadmap for FSMA 204

Our friends at the FDA joined us again in the fall to deliver the keynote address for our 17th annual Virtual reCONNECT conference. Angela Fields returned with Adam Friedlander, a policy analyst with CORE to open our yearly event with a comprehensive overview of the traceability rule and deep dives into critical tracking events and the tools you'll need to simplify compliance when the time comes.

Trustwell also cohosted a moderated panel at the Food Safety Consortium in October entitled Navigating Global Food Systems: Insights and Strategies for Compliance with FDA's Food Traceability Rule with Friedlander, Sara Bratager (Sr. Food Safety & Traceability Scientist at IFT) Alex Hoang, (FSQA manager at Chipotle Mexican Grill) and Todd Dolinsky, Trustwell's own Chief Product Officer.

Also in October, our CEO, Katy Jones, spoke at the FDA's Virtual Public Meeting on the Final Rule for Additional Traceability Records for Certain Foods, where she emphasized the importance of not delaying FSMA 204 implementation. 

Thought Leadership & Industry Partnerships

Throughout 2024, Trustwell bolstered its reputation for providing industry-leading expertise with the publication of seminal resources, participation in global conferences, and forging new partnerships with industry-leading organizations.

• Released our comprehensive Guide to FSMA 204 Compliance, the go-to resource for supplier management, Supplier Management Playbook, and our vital consumer report, 2024 Consumer Sentiment Report on Food Transparency & Recall Response.

• Put one foot in the future with Trustwell reCONNECT 2024 — Tech That Connects: Modernizing our Food Supply Chains. Sessions included conversations and insights from industry leaders like Steve Statler, Ryan Richard, Jerry Gupta, Gwen Evenstad, and Mike Rose about how to leverage new technologies for a future-forward food industry

• Attended GS1 Ascend in February, where CEO Katy Jones shared her insights on sustainable supply chains.

• Took the stage at Food Safety Summit in May where our experts Julie McGill and Megan Murphy presented their session on food industry technology advancements — Recipe for Success: Technology and Traceability Across Your Supply Chain.

• Announced new strategic partnerships with IoT leader Wiliot and global market leader in bag closures Kwik Lok to introduce new innovations in supply chain management and traceability

• Celebrated Emma Killough's recognition as one of Food Safety Magazine's 2024 Rock Stars of the Supply Chain in February, announced that Trustwell was named a Market Leader in 2024 Food Safety Management by Featured Customers in April, and celebrated Julie McGill's AIM Professional of the Year Award in June.

The Year Ahead: What’s in Store for 2025

Stay in the know when you subscribe to updates from Trustwell, or follow us on LinkedIn to be a part of the conversation in 2025.

Ready to kickstart 2025? Join us for our next webinar on January 16, 2025: Future-Proof Your Supply Chain: Streamline Operations with Smarter Specification Management. We'll share the best ways to:

• Ensure Resilience in Product Management: Explore the vital role effective product management plays in overcoming supply chain challenges and ensuring operational continuity during disruptions.
• Streamline Specification Management: Discover the value of a centralized platform for creating, managing, and approving product specifications with greater accuracy and efficiency.
• Optimize Time-to-Market Strategies: Gain actionable insights into accelerating product development and simplifying collaboration to reduce complexity and enhance speed to market.

Reserve your spot