3 Big Takeaways from the American Food Manufacturers Summit

This year’s summit made one thing clear: food manufacturing leaders are rethinking how they train, protect, and empower a rapidly changing workforce. Conversations across operations, safety, and quality leaders pointed to three unmistakable trends shaping the future of the industry. 

1. Driving Toward Safety Culture — But Plants Still Need a Clear Path to Put It Into Practice 

Speakers shared compelling data about the impact of consistent safety behaviors. Standardized processes resulted in improved incident rates, reductions in serious events, dramatic improvements in accuracy and bottom line improvements. 

However, across industries, leaders echoed the same challenge: They know the food safety culture they want, but struggle to make it stick across every shift and job role. 

As audits and regulatory oversight from bodies like the FDA and USDA continue to decrease—driven by reduced headcounts and fewer inspections—the external checkpoints organizations once relied on are no longer guaranteed. Regardless of these reductions, customers will still expect the same level of quality and consistency, placing greater quality control responsibility on the plant itself to uphold and verify those standards internally.

For more, read our article: As food safety enforcement slows, the spotlight shifts to your brand.

Food safety and quality teams were especially passionate — committed to high standards, focused on preventative controls and eager to spread that mindset beyond their departments. What they need now is a system built for today’s workforce:  interactive micro-module aligned with how the next generation of workers learn, and a system that allows them to be audit ready in at a moments notice.   

2. Turnover and Labor Shortages Requires Faster Onboarding and Knowledge Transfer 

Industry tenure has compressed significantly. What many workers once learned over years now needs to happen in a fraction of the time due to high turnover and shorter job cycles. 

Plant leaders discussed: 

• The shift toward accelerated skill-building 
• The pressure to onboard quickly without sacrificing food safety or quality 
• The growing need for job-role-based content accessible on any device 
• Strong early indicators from companies that are investing in modern training systems 

The theme was consistent: plants need a learning and development model built for how today’s workforce learns.  Long manuals, SOP documents, and PowerPoints will not keep their attention and drive competency.  Relying on tenured employees to train consistently and accurately is also not a scalable and reliable model.   

For a deeper look at this trend, the Q&A “Smarter Training, Stronger Margins” explores how manufacturers are preparing for this shift: 

 👉 Read the full conversation with WorkForge’s Mike Burica 

3. Manufacturers Are Actively Searching for a New Frontline Training Model 

Across breakout groups and roundtable discussions, leaders shared what they’re looking for next: 

• Updated, engaging content that reflects real production environments 
• Multilingual training to support an increasingly global workforce 
• Microlearning that builds proficiency faster 
• Flexible delivery — QR codes, tablets, mobile devices — right where work happens 
• Job-role-specific pathways that reduce variability and protect quality 

The message was clear: to invest in your business you need to invest in your people. 

The Opportunity Ahead — and what WorkForge was Built For 

The Summit reinforced what WorkForge hears every day: Manufacturers are committed to stronger food safety, sharper skills, and higher quality — they just need a scalable, modern system that turns those goals into daily habits and go beyond compliance to build careers that stick. That’s where WorkForge fits. 

Our approach is built for today’s realities — with configurable role-specific learning pathways, mobile-ready content, custom training options, and a learning management system designed for food manufacturing, we help plants turn workforce development into measurable operational strength.