When Stephanie Weinand joined Recall InfoLink, she was new to the recall industry. As she set out to learn everything she could about the complex supply chain process, she found an industry on the edge of innovation and change. Since then, she has established herself as not only a recall expert, but a sought after voice in the global conversation about recall modernization, brand protection, and food safety culture.

“Learning the logistics of the recall process and the unique needs of the supply chain when faced with a product safety crisis led me to understanding something even more important: innovation starts with good conversations,” Stephanie explains. 

For Stephanie, conversations come easily and form the backbone of her work around the world. She takes every opportunity to connect with others in the industry, participating in conferences such as GFSI 2021, the Food Safety Kongress, the World of Fresh Ideas, and others. She sees every interaction as potential for the exchange of great ideas and collaboration. 

Industry Insights, an experts-to-experts interview series, grew from this mindset. Since starting the series a year ago, Stephanie has been joined each month by global experts to discuss topics pertaining to food safety, brand protection, developing technology, and the recall process. Her recent interview with Nuno F. Soares was released in conjunction with a co-authored blog on digitalization and food safety.

Stephanie’s collaborative efforts have been met with enthusiasm, as seen by her routine conversations with food safety culture representatives. She has joined Bryan Armentrout of The Food Safety Foundation, Jill Stuber (The Food Safety Coach), and Gillian Kelleher with Kelleher Consultants LLC, among others, to lend her perspective on the importance of ground-up approaches to food safety and FSQ culture. 

After a successful partnership with Hans-Dieter Philipowski in the development of the new ENFIT guideline published earlier this year, Stephanie was invited to join ENFIT in creating the "New Guideline for the Safe Transport of Food '' as a sub-group leader. Her work demonstrates not only content matter expertise, but thought leadership in building out food safety principles and best practices. 

What’s ahead for Stephanie? Her latest conversations have been centered around new legislation enforcing sustainable food and fair trade practices, and the effects it will have on recalls in the near future. “The legislation reflects consumer sentiment,” says Stephanie. “We need to be good listeners – consumer demands drive industry change and show us where we need to improve.”

Whether tackling difficult environmental topics or discussing the latest in traceability technology, Stephanie is always on the front edge of developing issues. Most notably, she will be one of two speakers at an event hosted by Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft (DLG) for food professionals and German regulatory and government officials. 

Her presentation, titled Lebensmittelrückrufe – mit Transparenz und standardisiertem Datenmanagement zu mehr Verbraucherschutz (Food Recalls: Consumer Protection Through Transparency and Standardized Data Management) will focus on the importance of using digitalization for better food safety practices. Registration is free for the online event which takes place September 15th, 08:30am CET. Visit the DLG event page for more information and to register.