Food Safety Innovation Conference 2025 Takeaways

On Tuesday, 24th June, industry leaders, innovators, and food safety professionals came together at the University of Lincoln for the much-anticipated return of the Food Safety Innovation Conference. Now in its third year, the event once again delivered a powerful blend of collaboration, forward-thinking discussions, and practical insights for tackling food safety challenges.

Backed by dedicated sponsors and an exceptional line-up of speakers, this year’s conference provided attendees with real-world strategies, success stories, and cutting-edge ideas for improving food safety while reducing waste. Below, we share some of the key highlights from the day, with more in-depth articles to follow inspired by the event’s top sessions.

Setting the tone for the day

Foodclean and Klipspringer are co-organisers for the event and Klipspringer’s Director, Alex Carlyon, welcomed delegates, introduced the stellar line-up of speakers and the days agenda.

Alex Carlyon Klipspringer Speaker at FSI

Speaker Sessions That Packed a Punch

True to the conference’s format, each speaker delivered concise, engaging presentations covering critical topics within a 15-minute window. Here’s a snapshot of what was shared:

Katie Satterthwaite – Food Safety and Waste Reduction
Kicking things off was Katie Satterthwaite, Director of Food Safety Excellence Ltd and a highly respected voice in the industry. Katie explored how innovations aimed at reducing waste – from packaging to production processes – can also strengthen food safety. She provided practical insights on identifying waste hotspots and outlined the potential financial and operational benefits of making waste reduction a strategic focus.

Declan Ferguson – The Value of People and Culture
Next, Declan Ferguson from Finnebrogue shared how cultivating the right workplace culture can have a direct impact on food safety performance. With over 25 years of experience and impressive accolades such as Employer of the Year (Supplier) 2024, Declan’s session highlighted how empowering teams and focusing on employee wellbeing leads to lower turnover, reduced absenteeism, and stronger food safety outcomes.

Chris Boardman – Smarter Cleaning and Hygiene
Chris Boardman of Humdinger Foods discussed how advances in automation are transforming cleaning and hygiene processes. His presentation guided attendees through key considerations for evaluating cleaning systems — from chemicals to equipment — and provided a roadmap for improving operational efficiency and hygiene standards simultaneously.

Serkan Atlas – Driving Operational Excellence
With a focus on Operational Excellence, Serkan Atlas from Olam Food Ingredients unpacked the root causes of product recalls and how fostering psychological safety within teams can reduce risk. He also introduced attendees to the powerful ‘5 Whys’ technique — a practical approach to getting to the heart of operational challenges.

Tim Fox – Learning from Other Industries
The conference’s Keynote address came from Tim Fox of Gemba Vision, who encouraged attendees to look beyond the food sector for ideas and inspiration. Tim shared tools for driving continuous improvement, revealed the ‘10 wastes’ every site should target, and demonstrated how cross-industry learning can advance both safety and sustainability goals.

Workshops that Delivered Practical Solutions

In the spirit of interactivity, the 2025 Conference featured a series of workshops designed to provide hands-on learning and real-world solutions.

Managing Food Safety Events
Led by Denis Treacy (formerly of Pladis Global) and Ben Grover (Klipspringer), this workshop provided practical guidance on handling emerging food safety issues swiftly and effectively to prevent escalation and avoid recalls.

Denis Treacy presenting a workshop at FSI

Cleaning Optimisation in Practice
Dan Turner (Foodclean) and Fraser Carlyon (Klipspringer) explored how optimising cleaning processes goes hand-in-hand with reducing waste and enhancing food safety, offering actionable strategies to achieve both.

Dan Turner Presenting at the FSI Conference

AI and Digitalisation for Food Safety
Matt Rayment and Astrid Dunning-Galo from C-Tech Automation – Seafresh Group delivered a fascinating session on leveraging AI and digital technology to boost efficiency and safety across production sites. Their step-by-step roadmap for digital transformation sparked plenty of food for thought.

Matt Rayment and Astrid Dunning-Galo presenting a workshop

Asset Care Excellence
The final workshop, led by Jonathan Reed (Hilton Foods UK & Ireland) and Alan Edwards (Activate Lubricants), demonstrated how proactive asset care strategies not only reduce waste but also support higher food safety standards. Their insights emphasised the importance of collaboration across all levels of an organisation.

Industry Experts Take the Stage for the Panel Discussion

The afternoon saw delegates gather for a lively panel session, chaired by Denis Treacy. The panel brought together experienced leaders including:

Neil Marshall, former Global Director of Quality & Food Safety at The Coca-Cola Company
Serkan Atlas, Head of Operational Excellence – EMEA, ofi (Olam Food Ingredients)
Nic Sharman, Director, Nic Sharman Consultancy
Chris Gilbert-Wood, Director, CGW Foodtech

The discussion covered key conference takeaways, emerging challenges, and practical advice on fostering talent, improving operational excellence, and addressing workforce retention in the food production sector.

Panel discussion at FSI

Looking Ahead

As the day drew to a close, Alex Carlyon returned to the stage to thank the speakers, panellists, sponsors, and all attendees for their contributions to what was an inspiring and highly productive event.

The 2025 Food Safety Innovation Conference left attendees with plenty of ideas, practical tools, and renewed motivation to raise food safety standards while reducing waste across the sector.

We’re already looking ahead to next year’s event – and we’d love for you to be part of it. To receive updates and secure an Early Bird Discount for the 2026 Food Safety Innovation Conference, register your interest today!