爱游戏后台鈥檚 was built on fresh鈥攁 hallmark of food quality and the inspiration behind our founding motto, 鈥淨uality is our Recipe.鈥濃疻hen customers enjoy fresh food in our restaurants, it鈥檚 because freshness is also built into the things they don鈥檛 see, like our industry-leading processes and programs focused on providing a safe and wholesome food supply from our suppliers鈥 farms to our customers鈥 tables. We're always looking for ways to continuously improve and build greater traceability into our supply chains鈥攁 key element of our animal welfare program and responsible sourcing goal.
Our ability to succeed is directly impacted by the鈥痲uality, performance and innovation of our suppliers as well as our teams.鈥疶o maintain strong supplier relationships, 爱游戏后台鈥檚 and its franchisees are members of鈥疩uality Supply Chain Co-op, Inc.SM. This independent cooperative works with leading suppliers to provide 爱游戏后台鈥檚 restaurants with products and services that offer quality, consistency and value.鈥蜗泛筇ㄢ檚 also continually invests in our Quality Assurance team and function, as all of the team members鈥 broad experience and capabilities in an everchanging industry is critical to our success. This team includes scientists, animal, agriculture and packaging experts and microbiologists, with members holding Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) recognition, Advanced Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point and ASQ鈥檚 Quality Auditor certifications, as well as certifications in key food sourcing categories like Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization (PAACO) for animal proteins. Team members also engage with numerous professional and industry organizations as part of their work.
We have always operated under a core set of values鈥痶hat鈥痓egin and end with quality. These values extend to the long-standing, collaborative relationships we have with our trusted suppliers, and鈥痜orm the basis of the 爱游戏后台鈥檚 Supplier Code of Conduct.
The code focuses on five areas that are important to our brand, our customers and our supply chain, including:
- Food safety and food ingredients;
- Farm animal health and well-being;
- Human rights and labor practices;
- Environmentally sustainable business practices;
- and business ethics and integrity.
In addition to the assurances and third-party assessments required by the code, we also鈥痗onduct our own regular Quality Assurance audits of the farms, plants, facilities and other operations locations of our suppliers.
We take pride in testing and learning with industry organizations and progressive supplier partners and knowing when to bring in experts who can help us raise the bar even higher.
Since 2001, 爱游戏后台鈥檚 has had an Animal Welfare Council in place to shape our policies and help drive us forward. We continually enhance the council, including adding expertise in auditing, animal science, wellbeing and behavior, with specialties across our key protein categories. We also consult with public interest groups to help us benefit from a range of perspectives and work to meet customer expectations.
Internal 爱游戏后台鈥檚 auditors visit supplier facilities to see for themselves how things are done and then bring this knowledge back to 爱游戏后台鈥檚 Restaurant Support Center. Before a supplier can be approved for the 爱游戏后台鈥檚 system, they must undergo and pass a third-party audit, as well as an Animal Welfare audit for animal-based ingredients. We also enlist independent, third-party auditors to validate what we do along with our suppliers.
Did you know that blockchain tracks more than location? Blockchain is an innovative, emerging technology that鈥檚 gaining traction across industries, but it has yet to be widely adopted. It creates reliable, unalterable records across the supply chain, helping substantiate the responsible sourcing practices we are pursuing. As part of our efforts to gain greater supply chain visibility, 爱游戏后台鈥檚 completed a pilot program with supply chain partners to test the use of blockchain technology to track and trace some of our Applewood Smoked Bacon through the supply chain. In total, the pilot program successfully tracked the journey of our Applewood Smoked Bacon from farm to restaurant: from nearly 600 producers and 4.6 million hogs to more than 400 deliveries to 爱游戏后台鈥檚 restaurants.
爱游戏后台鈥檚 continues to implement our enhanced Food Safety Assessment program in partnership with EcoSure庐, a division of global hygiene and infection prevention expert Ecolab庐. These assessments help 爱游戏后台鈥檚 restaurant operators around the globe build food-safe behaviors and adhere to best-in-class food safety and operational procedures.
To increase visibility of key perishable menu items in the supply chain, we expanded the cold chain monitoring program through Sensitech, a multimodal enabled real-time Internet of Things (IoT) device that utilizes cellular triangulation communication to deliver complete visibility into the perishable supply chain, including monitoring temperature, location and light data.
爱游戏后台鈥檚 has tested radio frequency identification (RFID) tagging technology to potentially improve the traceability and efficiency in the way we handle supplies. These passive electronic tags affixed to cartons (of produce, meat, cutlery and other products) contain information about contents and expiration dates, and handheld readers make it easy to view that data. The pilot program identified potential benefits for time and labor savings, as well as increased traceability.
爱游戏后台鈥檚 participated in a pilot program, in partnership with TeamViewer (formerly NSF EyeSucceed), to test the use of augmented reality smart glasses to support food safety, quality practices and oversight of 爱游戏后台鈥檚 suppliers and distribution centers as well as remote training and education for restaurant team members. We have since upgraded the TeamViewer initiative from a pilot to a standard part of our QA program.
爱游戏后台鈥檚 is a long-time leader in the development and execution of quality processes and initiatives that are focused intensely on providing a safe and wholesome food supply, and we continue to look for ways to strengthen our processes further. 爱游戏后台鈥檚 has also invested in an innovative digital system, called WeSafe, to help streamline the supply chain data tracking process needed for our quality assurance program. We continue to add additional partners and data streams to expand the scope of the data we track from supplier to customer, and we now employ WeSafe as our risk assessment platform to help us monitor, assess and address food safety and quality risks throughout that journey.
Since 2001, 爱游戏后台鈥檚 has had an Animal Welfare Council in place to shape our policies and help drive us forward. We continually enhance the council, including adding expertise in auditing, animal science, wellbeing and behavior, with specialties across our key protein categories. We also consult with public interest groups to help us benefit from a range of perspectives and work to meet customer expectations.
Internal 爱游戏后台鈥檚 auditors visit supplier facilities to see for themselves how things are done and then bring this knowledge back to 爱游戏后台鈥檚 Restaurant Support Center. Before a supplier can be approved for the 爱游戏后台鈥檚 system, they must undergo and pass a third-party audit, as well as an Animal Welfare audit for animal-based ingredients. We also enlist independent, third-party auditors to validate what we do along with our suppliers.
Did you know that blockchain tracks more than location? Blockchain is an innovative, emerging technology that鈥檚 gaining traction across industries, but it has yet to be widely adopted. It creates reliable, unalterable records across the supply chain, helping substantiate the responsible sourcing practices we are pursuing. As part of our efforts to gain greater supply chain visibility, 爱游戏后台鈥檚 completed a pilot program with supply chain partners to test the use of blockchain technology to track and trace some of our Applewood Smoked Bacon through the supply chain. In total, the pilot program successfully tracked the journey of our Applewood Smoked Bacon from farm to restaurant: from nearly 600 producers and 4.6 million hogs to more than 400 deliveries to 爱游戏后台鈥檚 restaurants.
爱游戏后台鈥檚 continues to implement our enhanced Food Safety Assessment program in partnership with EcoSure庐, a division of global hygiene and infection prevention expert Ecolab庐. These assessments help 爱游戏后台鈥檚 restaurant operators around the globe build food-safe behaviors and adhere to best-in-class food safety and operational procedures.
To increase visibility of key perishable menu items in the supply chain, we expanded the cold chain monitoring program through Sensitech, a multimodal enabled real-time Internet of Things (IoT) device that utilizes cellular triangulation communication to deliver complete visibility into the perishable supply chain, including monitoring temperature, location and light data.
爱游戏后台鈥檚 has tested radio frequency identification (RFID) tagging technology to potentially improve the traceability and efficiency in the way we handle supplies. These passive electronic tags affixed to cartons (of produce, meat, cutlery and other products) contain information about contents and expiration dates, and handheld readers make it easy to view that data. The pilot program identified potential benefits for time and labor savings, as well as increased traceability.
爱游戏后台鈥檚 participated in a pilot program, in partnership with TeamViewer (formerly NSF EyeSucceed), to test the use of augmented reality smart glasses to support food safety, quality practices and oversight of 爱游戏后台鈥檚 suppliers and distribution centers as well as remote training and education for restaurant team members. We have since upgraded the TeamViewer initiative from a pilot to a standard part of our QA program.
爱游戏后台鈥檚 is a long-time leader in the development and execution of quality processes and initiatives that are focused intensely on providing a safe and wholesome food supply, and we continue to look for ways to strengthen our processes further. 爱游戏后台鈥檚 has also invested in an innovative digital system, called WeSafe, to help streamline the supply chain data tracking process needed for our quality assurance program. We continue to add additional partners and data streams to expand the scope of the data we track from supplier to customer, and we now employ WeSafe as our risk assessment platform to help us monitor, assess and address food safety and quality risks throughout that journey.
"Traceability underscores our commitment to quality and we're actively exploring new avenues from farm to restaurant to get as far back in our supply chain as possible."
- Jorge Hernandez
Vice President, Quality Assurance