Hi, I'm Bryan Armentrout.
Food Safety is my passion. I have worked in food safety for over 20 years. If you work in food safety and quality assurance, it’s not just a job; it’s a life mission. You are protecting people; you ensure that children are safe. It’s a moral and ethical calling that I take seriously.
If you are here, you likely agree with me.
Finding the right people to help you build your systems and processes to ensure your promise to the public is maintained is mission critical. No amount of sales skills, marketing savvy, or fancy communication can overcome a food safety or major quality incident.
Unfortunately, the risk in your business is often not easy to see. It’s more than a program; it’s how you do business. It’s what we call food safety culture.
Does your food safety system give you peace of mind at night? If not, I can help.
Top Three Dangerous Food Safety Myths
Myth #1
Most people think that what they have is good enough.
If you view quality as a separate function that is hidden away until needed and whose only purpose is to have a good audit score, then I am not for you.
Why? Because when I hear someone say, "We have a quality issue," I know they don't get it.
They view quality as an impediment to getting production out the door. Quality systems are challenging to implement, but here's the irony in what I just said.
If you do it right, they are actually simple and elegant. They show people what is expected and how to react if they don't go the way we expect.
Here's what you can expect from me.
Actionable steps to building a quality system that everyone will understand and be proud of.
No dictating from an ivory tower. Quality and productivity are the same and good ones are built on the floor with the people who actually do the work. No theory, just real-world lessons learned in the trenches.
Clear steps and progress that you track and know that you got what I promised.
Simple, right?
Well, only if everyone is on board and understands what is going on. That starts at the top - from the CEO and Board of Directors on down.
Myth #2
We never had a problem before. (Therefore, we never will...)
When I hear this, it's a really bad sign. It's complacency. It's arrogance.
It's a recall waiting to happen.
Did you know that the average cost of a recall in the US is now over $30 million dollars?
If one happens to you, it's a life-or-death struggle for your company, and if the FDA thinks you are a bad player, your chances of coming out of it intact are not good.
I have been the Recall Coordinator for serious recall issues. When it happened, I essentially took control of the company for the duration of the crisis. Decisions need to be made quickly and without hesitation if you are to survive.
Nothing else matters. Everything stops until the crisis is over.
You need to prepare. You need to practice, not just at the plants. You need to involve everyone, especially Sales. It needs to become second nature to your business.
If you ignore what I'm saying, your only other option is to find out how it works in the real thing. That would keep me up at night. It should for you, too.
Plan for the best, prepare for the worst. I can help you with both if you are ready.
Myth #3
Your corporate systems have no impact on food safety.
Think about it. Who audits your corporate systems? Just finance, right? You hire a team of external auditors that come in once a year to check the books. But why is that?
They ensure that your systems are accurate and in line with accepted practices. No one wants to be surprised by another Enron. They are ensuring that you follow the best practices. It's all about trust.
It should be the same for all your other departments. But who audits their food safety practices?
No one - they are left to do as they please. It may be good, it may be bad. It's left to chance and that's bad for your business.
Individual departments have their own goals. As the saying goes, what gets measured gets improved. If I work in Procurement and my performance bonus is tied to how cost-effectively I can purchase commodities, what do you think I will do? Am I worried about quality issues with the unknown Chinese supplier, or is my mind on the new car I'm going to buy with my bonus at the end of the year?
You need to shake up how things are done with outside eyes to help you.
My company does something that no one else does: it's called Enterprise Risk Assessment.
Depending on your situation, I can call on a long list of world-class experts in Procurement, Legal, Operations, R&D, or any other function that puts you at risk.
I don't know everything, but I know people in their area of expertise that do.
If you want to really find out where the holes are in your company, I can help. As an added bonus, your products launch faster and at less cost. This program pays for itself.
You have never seen a program like this before, I guarantee it.
My FSPP Overview
Here's My First Sales Pitch to You
Learn more about me and my approach.
Visit my YouTube channel or LinkedIn Live stream to watch some of my interviews with industry leaders.
Read some of the articles I have posted. Gain an understanding of who I am and why what I'm saying is different from the typical run-of-the-mill "quality guy".
You will find that what I do not only makes your life easier, but it will also make you more money. If you like what you are hearing, let's see if we can work together.
Pretty simple, right?
Thanks for reading this page, and let's get to work!
