Key Learnings from the Food Safety Innovation Conference 2025

Now in its third year, the Food Safety Innovation Conference took place earlier this week at the University of Lincoln. As to be expected, the day was a triumph of innovation, collaboration, and thought-provoking discussions.

With a dedicated group of industry sponsors and an impressive line-up of expert speakers, the 2025 Conference brought together leading voices from across the industry to impart real-life insights and actionable strategies.

In the interest of sharing some of the brilliant takeaways from the event, we have put together a brief overview. We will also be releasing a series of articles inspired by some of the key presentations and panel discussions, so stay tuned for more!

The Presentations

One of the key features of the Food Safety Innovation Conference is that all presentations are punchy and dynamic – addressing key trends and talking points within a 15-minute window.

Katie Satterthwaite – Setting the Scene

First to speak was Katie Satterthwaite, Director at Food Safety Excellence Ltd. As a Chartered Environmental Health Practitioner and the former Factory Standards Manager for Marks & Spencer, Katie is a trusted voice within the industry.

Drawing on the event’s theme for 2025 – Exploring innovations that reduce waste and enhance food safety across today’s evolving food industry – Katie explored the relationship between food safety and waste reduction.

Katie’s speech covered everything from plastic packaging to discarded food, running through the different areas of production where waste is most likely to occur. Katie also highlighted the potential cost benefits of food businesses making waste reduction a priority.

Declan Ferguson – People and Culture

Next to speak was Declan Ferguson, Director of Research and Development, Sustainability and Technical at Finnebrogue. Drawing on his 25 years of experience, Declan delivered a fantastic presentation on the industry’s most important asset: People and Culture. 

Declan’s speech provided a behind-the-scenes look at Finnebrogue’s journey to the successful reduction of employee absence and employee turnover, all while winning high-profile awards such as 2024 Employer of the Year (Supplier) and 2024 Best Place to Work.

Chris Boardman – Cleaning and Hygiene

Site Director at Humdinger Foods, Chris Boardman, followed Declan with a presentation on Cleaning and Hygiene. He focused on advances in automation and resource utilisation, sharing the essential questions to ask when assessing your processes, labour, chemicals, and equipment.

Chris also painted a picture of what automation really looks like at a food production site and provided a clear road map for the review and enhancement of an operation.

Serkan Atlas – Operational Excellence

Next, Serkan Atlas spoke on Operational Excellence within the food industry. As the Head of Operational Excellence at EMEA, Olam Food Ingredients, Serkan was the perfect person to deliver this message.

Serkan’s presentation provided a closer look at the most prominent causes of product recalls, highlighted the power of psychological safety, and even explained how the ‘5 Whys? of Root Cause Analysis’ helped to preserve a historic monument.

Tim Fox – Key Note Speech

Finally, Tim Fox, Senior Coach at Gemba Vision, delivered the Key Note Speech. In his presentation, Tim spoke about the importance of looking outside of the industry to find learnings from excellence that could help to enhance food safety and waste reduction goals.

Tim shared practical tools that attendees could use to drive, accelerate, and monitor improvement. He also revealed the ’10 wastes’ that every site needs to address, covering everything from product defects to over-production.