Technology
Can tech address food safety?
Tech is changing the game for food safety.
July 8, 2024 by Bradley Cooper — Editor, ATM Marketplace & Food Truck Operator
Food safety is a central issue for restaurants. Outbreaks not only make customers sick, they are expensive to fix both on the supply chain level and more importantly: the reputational level. If you don't react quickly enough, your brand image can suffer as customers quickly lose trust in a restaurant that cannot deliver safe food and beverages.
"In a world where news spreads quickly via social media, such issues can quickly become front-page news or go 'viral' on the web. As a result, consumer loyalty and brand reputation are more important than ever before," Colin Rose, director of NSF TraQtion® , said in an email interview.
Restaurants have addressed this in a number of ways, including training employees, crafting new initiatives and utilizing innovative tech solutions to monitor food safety and react to potential risks.
To learn more about how tech is changing the game in food safety, Fast Casual spoke with Rose in depth.
Q. We see many examples of sanitation products to address food safety, but what role can tech play?
A. When it comes to managing multiple businesses, franchises, product lines or all the above, it can be challenging to monitor vendors and stakeholders and ensure that they are all following food safety and organizational requirements. Businesses are increasingly being tasked with managing high standards, improving compliance and monitoring their sustainability goals. As a result, technology is playing a greater role in mitigating food safety risks and reducing the potentially negative impacts of product recalls, ingredient shortages and cybersecurity attacks. By effectively utilizing technology, food businesses can expect increased profits and growth while building a more resilient and sustainable business.
Q. How do you see the cloud helping with this issue?
A. Cloud-based technology can be used to collect and store data under one roof, ensure that information is stored securely, which also allows for improved transparency and communication between operators and suppliers. This technology can also be used by businesses to work smarter and faster by making processes more efficient, reducing error and encouraging collaboration.
Q. How can restaurants more carefully manage supply chains to avoid outbreaks?
A.An outbreak and/or recall can result in both short-term and long-term damages to a restaurant business, including a loss in profits, a decrease in consumer loyalty and a hit to the brand's reputation. By employing the use of cloud-based technology, restaurants can more quickly respond and act to address an outbreak. Establishing more stringent processes and document control for both operations and suppliers can also reduce the risk of outbreaks.
Q. Speaking of supply chain solutions, can you tell us a little bit about NSF's solution?
A. NSF TraQtion® , a cloud-based software solution offered by NSF, a leading global public health and safety organization, allows companies to manage complex and critical data more confidently. The software reduces administrative overhead, data errors and requirement misinterpretation with proactive supplier management. It directs suppliers to an online portal to upload documents, complete questionnaires and communicate. Users gain access to intelligent compliance engines that detect potential issues by comparing information against company requirements. This data can be used to assess risks and analyze trends and supplier performance for continuous improvements, allocate resources and make decisions.
NSF TraQtion® was developed to help organizations maintain higher levels of food safety and quality compliance. Modular-based offerings include Supplier and Compliance Management, Product Specification Management, Corporate and Supply Chain Sustainability Management, Audit and Assessment Management, Complaints and Issues Management and Artwork Management. The software is a leading example of how a cloud-based program can aggregate multiple supply chain processes into a single platform.
Q. What makes it unique from other solutions?
A. What's especially unique about this solution is that it pairs decades of NSF's food safety expertise with real-time digital insight. NSF TraQtion® expedites data, documents and records collection instantly during audits and assessments, allowing for effortless delivery when program documentation is requested or required.
While adopting digital solutions is pivotal, safeguarding data is paramount. The escalating threat of data breaches underscores the need for stringent security measures. NSF TraQtion® is certified to ISO/IEC 27001, an international standard developed for information security management systems. Platforms with this certification provide assurance against data loss, firewalls, and virus and malware protection. Additionally, a Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PSI-DSS) compliant software ensures data confidentiality, integrity and availability are never at risk.
Q.How can it empower restaurants to tackle food safety and improve the overall customer experience?
A. Food safety and customer experience go hand-in-hand. NSF TraQtion's® Complaints and Issues Management module allows restaurants to stay on top of issues and feedback, saving time by providing real-time collaborative management of issues so that they can be quickly resolved. The tool can also identify trends for future improvement and identify at-risk suppliers. Through the Specification Management module, users can immediately identify an issue or supply chain disruption by seeing the sources of all ingredients in a recipe or formulation. This can save time and money, allowing users to pinpoint the source of an issue quickly, take action and minimize any impact on customers.
Q. How can it help restaurants save money?
A. If not properly and swiftly handled, a recall or outbreak can cost a business tens of thousands of dollars or more. By using cloud-based technology such as NSF TraQtion® to put an easily accessible and implementable risk management plan in place, restaurants can be better prepared for a food safety incident. Through NSF TraQtion's® Supplier and Compliance Management module, suppliers can be more efficiently onboarded and managed, potentially resulting in hours of saved labor and costs. Overall, the software minimizes back-and-forth messaging, meetings and calls by digitizing and streamlining both communication and documentation.
Q. Can you share any pricing details?
A. NSF TraQtion® is pay-to-use for a set period, typically as an annual subscription. The solutions are versatile and cost-effective; companies simply choose which modules fit their needs. NSF takes care of the hosting, administration, security, and continuous improvements of NSF TraQtion® so you can focus on your day job. No software licenses, hardware, or IT administration resources are required. License and maintenance costs are shared by all customers using the multi-tenant cloud platform. Teams and suppliers have access to technical support. To get a quote and book a demo, visit nsf.org/TraQtion.
About Bradley Cooper
Related Media
Food & BeveragePresented ByOracle
Subscribe
Get the latest news and resources from Fast Casual.
