Congratulations to the Fleurieu Milk Company who was named the winner of the 2022 Dairysafe Food Safety Culture Award at the SA Dairy Awards gala dinner on Friday night.
The award was presented by the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development Claire Scriven and Dairysafe Chair Roseanne Healy, and comes with prize of a $5,000 education, training and development grant to be used by the recipient.
Dairysafe’s Food Safety Culture Award recognises industry champion dairy processing businesses that have made outstanding progress in food safety culture journeys.
“Positive food safety culture is good for business and helps deliver safe, high-quality dairy products consistently,” said Ms Healy.
“This award recognises businesses that have integrated food safety into their business culture. One of Dairysafe’s strategic priorities is to lead the South Australian dairy community to embrace a food safety culture, and this award aims to bring the benefits of food safety culture to the attention of SA processors.
“Positive food safety culture comes from a focus on skills, knowledge, values, management commitment and communication which drives sustainable and resilient dairy processing businesses, supports business confidence and favours innovation and growth. And that is exactly what the judging panel has observed at the Fleurieu Milk Company.”
The Fleurieu Milk Company aims to be a leader in food safety culture in the dairy industry and is committed to always striving for improvement.
Fleurieu Milk Company is an acknowledged employer of choice in the region and appreciates the important role it maintains in the local community. This is the foundation of company’s approach to food safety culture – it is a ‘whole of organisation’ attitude which, within the business, is supported by significant resourcing, training, technology and tools.
Theirs is a work environment where staff are incentivised through communication and recognition processes. There has been considerable investment in learning, with an in-house digital learner management system being a feature. Communication is key and is supported by appropriate tools that include feedback loops. Innovation is a feature with systems implemented by the business that support just in time reporting, data analysis and performance measurement. And the business has ensured the ongoing development of food safety culture is underpinned by the company’s strategy.
Congratulations are also well deserved by the two other finalists:
- The Union Dairy Company
- Beston Pure Dairies
“These two companies demonstrated they are well on the way in their own respective food safety culture journeys, doing terrific work that clearly benefits food safety outcomes for their businesses,” Ms Healy said.
The judging panel thanks all dairy processors that nominated for the 2022 award and looks forward to reviewing even more nominees in 2023.
Congratulations also to our Board member, Michael Connor, who won the Brenton Higgins Memorial for exceptional service to the dairy industry at the SA Dairy Awards.
