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VANCOUVER, 24th MARCH 2026 — The 25th anniversary of the GFSI Conference opened today by Sean Summers, Group CEO, Pick n Pay and Wai-Chan Chan, Managing Director, The Consumer Goods Forum, with incredible momentum. Over 600 executives—including top decision-makers from global giants like Loblaw Companies Limited, Pick n Pay, Costco Wholesale, OSI Group, and Wu-mart— gathered to tackle ecosystem-wide challenges around food safety, drive continuous improvement and explore new strategies to protect consumers worldwide. Drawing on 25 years of shared lessons, C-suite leaders used the milestone event to discuss actionable solutions and drive the business returns of operational excellence.
25 Years of Fostering Ecosystem Collaboration
The opening sessions set a business-driven agenda. Leaders established that advancing food safety requires continuous ecosystem collaboration to navigate shared challenges effectively. Executives from Pick n Pay, Dole and AEON reflected on the evolution of global food safety practices, highlighting how inclusive, voluntary partnerships help the industry reduce inefficiencies and build robust supply chains.
“The introduction of the benchmarking requirements has been a pivotal change. By moving from individual, market-by-market standards to a shared, aligned approach, we have reduced audit fatigue, brought the food safety ecosystem together, and touched the lives of billions of consumers.”
Elizabeth Andoh-Kesson, GFSI Interim Director, The Consumer Goods Forum
Modern Retail and the ROI of Consumer Trust
Consumer trust remains the ultimate currency of retail success. Mary MacIsaac of Loblaw Companies Limited outlined a powerful business case, demonstrating how safety and supplier capability building directly guide strategic retail decisions and protect brand value. Mary MacIsaac reminded us that brand reputation relies entirely on the food safety ecosystem from internal quality teams and operators to suppliers and vendor partners, the “invisible thread” that protects consumer trust and future-proofs global brands. These professionals are the true custodians of the brand promise, making safety real for hundreds of thousands of products every day.
“When quality and food safety are led from the CEO’s office and lived by 200,000 employees, they stop being compliance tasks and become the engine that future‑proofs the entire business.”
Mary MacIsaac, EVP and CMO of Loblaw Companies Limited
This focus also underscored the ‘Store to Door’ breakout where leaders from Costco, Loblaw, OSI Group, Pick n Pay and Wu-mart explored practical strategies to maintain stringent hygiene standards through the critical last-mile delivery phase. They proved that securing trust from the warehouse to the consumer’s home is a critical capability that drives lasting brand loyalty.
Supporting this mission, exclusive partner Merck Animal Health took to the plenary stage to outline actionable solutions that help businesses navigate the next frontier of food traceability and protect brand credibility. By leveraging science, technology, and advanced data insights, they demonstrated how enhanced supply chain transparency empowers organisations to independently build verifiable consumer trust from farm to fork
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s programme: The drive to secure end-to-end consumer trust continues tomorrow, as executives share capabilities for safeguarding complex supply networks and deploying AI to anticipate operational risks.
Regulatory Partnerships in Action
Dr. Joyce Irene Boye of Health Canada and Dr. Evelyn C. Soo of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) detailed how science-informed decision making is fundamentally reshaping national oversight.
Rather than relying solely on traditional compliance checks, the CFIA has built strong capacity in risk intelligence, allowing them to deploy a proactive, risk-based framework across both domestic and import establishments. With the enforcement of the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations, agencies now use standard inspection processes to evaluate the food system as a whole, focusing heavily on how operations implement preventative control plans to drive better risk management outcomes.
To successfully execute this proactive approach, both Health Canada and the CFIA rely on collaboration. By maintaining an open dialogue with international partners and industry stakeholders, regulators can actively exchange intelligence to anticipate what is coming down the pipeline. This ensures they can continuously adapt new policies and develop rigorous, science-informed solutions for future supply chain challenges.
Food safety is a shared responsibility. It is shared between the industry, who are at the front line of food production and food manufacturing, as well as consumers and federal, provincial and territorial governments, and international partners.
Dr. Joyce Irene BOYE, Director General, Food and Nutrition Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch, Health Canada
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s programme: The focus on regulatory evolution continues tomorrow when Dr. Donald Prater outlines the FDA’s strategic vision for a secure supply chain and regulatory adaptation.
Driving Real Returns Through Dynamic Risk Reduction
Alejandro Mazzotta of Chobani challenged the current audit landscape, arguing that leaders build stronger preventative systems by prioritising dynamic hazard control and real risk reduction over simple audit preparedness. This strategic shift drives meaningful improvements in preventing outbreaks and avoiding costly recalls.
Putting this dynamic hazard control into practice requires more than just deploying new technology. While artificial intelligence offers powerful tools for high-volume catering, technology cannot replace foundational leadership. During the ‘Future of Catering’ breakout, decision-makers from Goldbergs Group and Compass Group cautioned against deploying digital solutions before establishing offline-capable safety cultures. These executives highlighted that true operational agility comes from equipping the workforce to make critical, rapid decisions during unexpected disruptions, ensuring that teams use human judgement alongside digital tools to independently protect brand value.
Let’s challenge the status quo and propose changes that deliver real impact. We must truly modernise our approach and develop dynamic processes that centre entirely on identifying, evaluating, and addressing real hazards.
Dr. Alejandro Mazzotta, Senior Vice President of Quality, Food Safety and Regulatory Affairs, Chobani
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s programme: The conversation on transforming audit integrity will drive tomorrow morning’s agenda, featuring deep dives into data-driven inspection methodologies during the ‘Beyond Compliance’ sessions.
Investing in the Next Generation of Talent
GFSI is committed to the long-term resilience of the global supply chain and passionate about investing in its future leaders.
For the second consecutive year, GFSI has invited local students – from the University of British Columbia and the British Columbia Institute of Technology – to meet with senior food safety executives to discuss career paths.
During a dedicated pre-conference session yesterday facilitated by Julian M. Cox of the University of New South Wales, Mahir Bhagia (PepsiCo), Amy Parks (Dole plc), Robert Prevendar (Yum! Brands), Eduardo Martinez Debeza (Restaurant Brands International), Professor Jeff Farber (University of Guelph) shared practical insights on building successful careers in the food safety ecosystem.
Keep the momentum going. Look out for our Day 2 recap tomorrow as executives explore proactive supply chain management and AI-powered prevention!