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MiMfg Magazine
September 2018
Keynote
Ben Zorn
Conversation Koeze Company
us briefly about Koeze
Q: Tell
and the company’s effort to
invest in Michigan’s continued
economic growth.
Zorn: Koeze Company is 108
years old and over that time
our family owners have been
involved in every aspect of the
food business from the farm to the
table. Today, as manufacturers of the
world’s best selection of gourmet nuts, fine
chocolate and peanut butter, we are investing
constantly in food safety. For example, we worked
with a testing equipment company to adapt for
peanut butter an automated sampling machine
designed originally for sampling extremely heavy
crude oil. Investments such as these are some of
the best we can make and learning what our fellow
manufacturers are doing helps us invest wisely.
is a member of MMA’s Food Manufacturers
Q: Koeze
Committee. What led the company to join and
what vision do you have for its role in advocating
on behalf of food manufacturers?
Zorn: Koeze has participated for many years in a
joint effort by peanut butter manufacturers to
improve the industry’s food safety performance.
From that experience we’ve learned the value of
coming together to share knowledge about food
safety challenges. Food safety is becoming much
more driven by scientific knowledge rather than
old rules of thumb passed down in the factory, and
keeping up is a challenge for everyone. In our
experience staying current is especially hard for
regulators who are often generalists covering many
different processes and products. We also are in a
much stronger position when we don’t see eye-to-eye
with regulators because we can draw on the expertise
of other food manufacturers to educate them.
Q:
You are working to coordinate the development
of a Food Safety subcommittee within MMA.
Why does this area require a unique focus?
What are some immediate issues you expect
the subcommittee to focus on?
Zorn: Providing safe food to our consumers is priority
No. 1. All manufacturers want to provide safe food
1 1 Has been with the Koeze Company since
March of 2015 as Director of Operations.
1 1 Has been a leader across eight different
food facilities for over 23 years
1 1 Is certified in HACCP, Preventative Controls
for Human Food and SQF Practitioner with
a passion for food safety
to their customers. Two heads are better than
one, so let’s gather food facility leaders from
around the state to discuss the best practices at
their facilities and help each other improve food
safety. We also want to understand how the FDA
and the Michigan Department of Agriculture are
enforcing the new Food Safety Modernization Act
so that we can be better partners with our regulators.
We all win by learning the do’s and don’ts as new
regulatory policies are developed and implemented.
of their subsector, why should
Q: Regardless
manufacturers take on an active role in
advocating on behalf of their business
and the industry as a whole? How can they
become more engaged?
Zorn: The Food Safety sub-committee of the
MMA will thrive with an engaged, diverse group
as we tackle food safety challenges. Our initial
focus will be on learning from each other and
strengthening the network of food manufacturers
in the state. That creates a base if down the road a
more robust policy and advocacy agenda emerges.
The plan is for the sub-committee to meet
quarterly. Locations will rotate between the
manufacturing facilities of the committee members.
We will discuss recent regulatory visits and discuss
the experience. Then we’ll take a tour of the host’s
facility and learn how best practices are implemented
on the plant floor. If you are interested in learning
more and want to get involved, please reach out to
Brianna Mills, MMA director of political and
strategic partnerships, at [email protected].
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Got More!
If you’re intersted in learning more about the
MMA Food Manufacturers Committee or Food
Safety Subcommittee, contact MMA’s Brianna
Mills at 517-487-8523 or [email protected].