GFSI Japan hosts strategic seminar on food safety culture

On 22 December, the GFSI Japan local group convened a high-level “knowledge sharing” forum in Tokyo to address food safety culture.

Since their inception in 2020, these Japanese-language seminars have enabled The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) member companies to translate global standards into actionable local insights. This latest session was dedicated to moving the concept of “culture” from a theoretical requirement to a tangible operational reality.

Bridging theory and practice: the technical working group’s approach

The seminar provided a structured roadmap for leadership teams to assess and enhance their organisational mindset:

Strategic context: The technical working group (WG) leader provided an in-depth analysis of the GFSI’s involvement in food safety culture, ensuring an understanding of the global landscape.

Concrete benchmarking: Members of the technical WG presented sample responses to the “guiding questions” found in the 2018 GFSI position paper. These examples were tailored to real-world organisational scenarios to help participants bridge the gap between abstract policy and daily operations

Active implementation: Participants engaged in individual and collective workshops, formulating their own strategic responses to the guiding questions and exchanging views on the practicalities of cultural change.

Measurable impact

According to the post-event evaluation, 100% of the participants were able to articulate both the significance of the cultural shift and the specific actions they intended to spearhead within their own organisations.

The planning team has affirmed its commitment to these localised seminars as a primary tool for continuous learning and collective problem-solving.

An invitation to leadership

As the food safety landscape continues to evolve, the GFSI Japan local group invites all leading consumer goods companies to participate in these critical dialogues. By joining these sessions, organisations can contribute to a robust approach to food safety that begins at the leadership level.