Focus Session - What You Don’t See Can Hurt Them: Protecting Your Customers, Business Partners, and Brands Through Food Safety

Description: This panel brings together food safety experts to guide breweries through the critical role of food safety in protecting consumers. While beer itself is often considered shelf-stable, the brewing process involves equipment, chemicals, and raw materials that pose potential risks if not properly managed. These practices become even more imperative for breweries producing non-alcoholic beer or alternative beverages, where the reduced alcohol content or added sugar can heighten the risk of contamination. Additionally, many retailers now expect breweries to have formal food safety programs, making these protocols not just a regulatory requirement but a competitive advantage. Our panelists will break down FDA expectations, highlight common missteps in program creation — such as inadequate hazard analysis, poor traceability systems, and overlooked equipment risks — and share practical resources to build robust, compliant plans. By adopting strong food safety practices, craft breweries can safeguard their products, build trust with customers and business partners, and strengthen their position in the market.

Relevance: Dealing with regulations is not fun and honestly incredibly daunting. This panel will show attendees how to make food safety approachable and how it will benefit many facets of their company.

Brewing Summit 2025 Theme: As breweries expand their portfolio beyond traditional beer, Food Safety becomes less of a suggestion and more of an imperative. This panel will allow teams to learn from folks representing a brewery as well as a representative from someone in the food industry.