Creating and Implementing an
Integrated Food Safety
Management System
Chris Hand & Mike Moffett
Wawa, Inc.
NEHA Conference – 2009
Agenda
• Who is Wawa?
• The Supply Chain and Associated Risks
• Mitigating the Risk – Program
Implementation
• Verification and Validation
• Evolving to Meet New Challenges
Wawa History
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Wawa Market Area
• 570 stores in 5 states
– Pa., NJ, Del., Md.,
Va.
– 255 Gas stores
• Corporately owned
stores
• $5 Billion in sales
• $2 Billion in Foodservice
sales
• $900mm in RTE –
Express case products
Industry Leader in Foodservice
Wide Variety of Quality
Products
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Menu Offer
• Minimize risk – everything commercially
processed RTE
• Remove complexity
• Prepare upstream
QA Team Integration
• Partner with Marketing and R&D on new
product development
• Work with Facilities on new store design
and equipment selection
• Active participants with industry and
regulatory partners
• Linkage to Store Operations
• Crisis Management Team
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Vendor Audit Program
Why Does Wawa Audit Vendors?
• Allows Wawa to enforce standards that
are based on industry best practices to
help ensure Wawa provides a safe
product and the product meets our
internal specifications.
Vendor Audit Program
All vendors of Wawa branded items
must be approved prior to being
used in Wawa stores.
•
Includes all foods and food contact
packaging
•
Excludes all grocery items branded
with another company’s name
•
Occasional auditing of vendor’s
raw material supplier based on risk
Vendor Audit Program
The Main Objective
The vendor must demonstrate that they
have identified risks associated with
their product and have developed
programs and policies which mitigate or
eliminate the risk involved.
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Vendor Audit Program
Vendor Management Program Elements
•Management Commitment
•Sanitation and Pest Control
•Auditing Programs
•Traceability
•Facilities
•Foreign Object Control
•Equipment
•Allergen Control
•HACCP and Quality
Programs
•Analytical and Sampling
Programs
•Proper Employee Hygiene
•Food Security
Supply Chain Management
• Temperature control
• Delivery trucks and vehicles
• Effective Routing
Supply Chain Monitoring
• Auditing of cold chain through the use of
temperature indicators
• Proper delivery equipment
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Supply Chain Temperature Monitoring
Benefits and Possible Future
Uses
• Status lights enable quick decisions and further
investigation
• Enables temperature mapping for trailers and pallets
• Food Grade and Waterproof packaging
• Easily mailed back in the postal system
• File with a bill of lading or other documentation
• Could expand usage to include future accept, reject
decisions at store level
Product Management
• Specification Data Base
– Secure Data in off site location with backup
– Managed by third party
– Customized based on our specification
sheet
– Approval process includes key
stakeholders
– Document Control
– Internet accessibility
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Store Operations
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Diverse associate population
Complex Offer
Training & Coaching
Clear, frequent communications
FSSA Development Process
A Risk Based Food Safety Audit was conducted to
evaluate food handling practices.
• Food Safety Specialist observed critical processes:
– Receiving
– Storage
– Preparation
• Re-heating
• Hot holding
• Cold holding
– Personal hygiene
– Store Sanitation
Food Safety &
Sanitation Audit
•
•
•
•
•
•
~360 food safety questions
Point value ranges from 1 to 20
3 Surprise inspections annually
3 “between” inspections
Data stored on server; reporting tools
Penalties for failure
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Food Safety and Sanitation
Audit
• Audit questions are weighted based on
their level of risk
Temperature
Coding
Food Safety
Sanitation
Food
Appearance
FSSA Average Point Value
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Category
Hand-held technology
The advantage of the hand held technology
approach is the ability to provide a timely,
consistent audit.
• Drop down menus provide details on
discrepancies and ensure reporting integrity
• Builds a database on Wawa server with the
ability to generate multiple reports
• Provides an Exception Report at Store level
• Supervisor and Area Manager receive
Exception Reports through Wawa intranet
• Flexible in-house reporting capabilities
Internet
Connection
VPN
Corporate Server
Reports via
Email, Access and
AE Launchpad link
To server
Bluetooth
Tablet PC
MS OS
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Blue tooth enabled
Portable printer
8
Coaching & Training
• Serv-Safe in house
– Bilingual associates
• Different Regulatory requirements
• QA Field associates
Monitoring
• 24 x 7 Staffed Call Center
• All issues are logged and assigned to
appropriate departments
• Trending & Reporting
• Assoc. Health
Verification & Validation
• FSSA Data Review
• Customer & Store Issues
– QA support analyst
• Vendor and store corrective actions
• Product testing and shelf life studies
• Product Quality Checks – Performance
to specifications
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Bringing it all together
•
•
•
•
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Each in flow segment supports
the others
Seamless transition, not standalone activities
Constant communication between
segments
Quick, effective corrective action
Design recognition and reward programs for
exemplar performance
Celebrating Success
Future Opportunities
• Define cost of quality and failure
• Implement SQF standards with key
supplier partners
• Integrate vendor metrics into Marketing
Vendor Report Card
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Thank you!
• Michael Moffett
– Michael.moffett@wawa.com
– 610-361-6101
• Chris Hand
– Chris.hand@wawa.com
– 610-361-3700
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