As I took my seat before the opening keynote at this year’s North American Food Safety & Quality (NAFS) Summit, I struck up a conversation with a food producer sitting next to me. We exchanged the usual pre-session chatter — where we were from, what brought us to the event, what they were hoping to learn. She said finding and developing talent was top of mind, and that it’s been so hard to get people to fill their jobs. As she put it, “We’re running out of 50-year-olds.”
It was one of those simple statements that stops you for a moment. Over the next two days, that sentiment echoed through nearly every panel, hallway conversation, and breakout session. Food safety isn’t a compliance challenge; it’s a people challenge.
Every discussion that followed reinforced one truth: the future of food safety depends on how we develop, engage, and empower people. Culture, not compliance, is how we keep our food safe and our brands strong.
Many of the leaders I spoke with, the speakers and panelists acknowledged the same pressing reality: we’re losing institutional knowledge faster than we’re replacing it. The employees who’ve spent thirty years building food safety programs — the ones who “just know” when something isn’t right — are leaving.
Meanwhile, younger employees often step into plants with enthusiasm but little context. They want growth, purpose, and a sense that their work matters. When those things aren’t clear, they move on.
One executive summed it up perfectly:
“We have to change how we’re doing things to get the next generation in — and wanting to stay.”
That means shifting from old-school compliance training to development-driven learning — programs that teach the why, not just the what. The companies that succeed won’t just train employees; they’ll inspire them.
One story shared during the summit brought this to life.
A VP of Food Safety at a multi-billion-dollar company described visiting a plant and meeting an employee who was meticulous — someone who showed up every day, followed procedures, caught every issue, and never complained or caused any issues, a model employee. Curious about their motivation, the VP asked, “Why do you do what you do?”
The employee replied:
“I use this metal detector to see if there’s any metal in the food.”
When asked why they did this, the employee hesitated — they didn’t know.
After learning that their work prevents contamination, protects families, and safeguards the brand, everything changed. That understanding gave their work purpose — and pride.
That’s the power of leading not managing. When employees understand the why, they stop doing tasks and start taking ownership. Such a simple extra step by that leader changed the course of that employee's career.
Understanding why is how you create culture, and as one leader at the conference put it, “Outbreaks aren’t caused by microbes — they’re caused by culture. Culture lets the microbes in.”
Culture determines whether employees speak up, follow through, and hold themselves accountable. Every head in the room nodded. Because even the most sophisticated technology can’t compensate for a weak safety culture.
Building that culture means moving beyond procedural training toward holistic learning that emphasizes values, communication, and critical thinking. It’s not just about preventing contamination — it’s about cultivating passion, awareness, and pride across every shift.
Although there was essentially unanimous agreement that moving beyond dated, compliance-based training was critical to the future of the organizations, many conversations wrapped up with, “you’ll need to talk to my training team or my HR team.”
Training can’t live solely in HR or L&D — not if it’s going to change behavior and build culture.
Safety and training leaders must work in lockstep to co-own employee development—from recruitment through retirement. If food safety executives want employees to take ownership of safety culture, they must first take ownership of holistic workforce development. When every department sees food safety as the foundation of success, collaboration becomes the key to protecting your brand and building long-term careers for the next generation of workers.