Have you ever wondered how the fruits and vegetables you enjoy end up on the shelves and cold cases in your local grocery store? There is always one person (or a team of many) who purchases produce from growers and works with a packer/shipper/cooler to arrange shipping and delivery to a store. They are truly "consumer facing," and face a deteriorated brand image, lost sales from stores, increased costs for replacing product, operational costs involving extra labor, warehouse overhead, and finding other transportation, as well as potential fines if the carriers hauling the produce are found to be out of compliance with new food safety rules. 

Buyers of fresh produce for foodservice and grocery industries are aware that they are the ‘consumer-facing’ stakeholder in the food supply chain.  We’ve seen in recent days and weeks how consumer trust disappears when their food is at risk due to potentially harmful or unsafe conditions.

Because they are often ‘shippers’ under FSMA (arrangers of transportation), they are responsible for ensuring that the equipment, particularly the trailers, is clean and sanitary prior to use.  Unfortunately, companies don’t always understand or evaluate the costs that are directly related to unsanitary trailer transportation conditions.